Chapter 545

Raskin returned to the headquarters of the group army in the afternoon of that day, leaving me in the residential area to wait anxiously for Khrushchev's thunder. In fact, when talking to the military commissar of the front army, although he didn't finish what he said because of the air raid, I can guess that he would say, "from now on, you are dismissed!"

However, until dark, I didn't receive any information from the headquarters of the front army. Even the communication from the headquarters of the group army remained silent.

After calling several of them to hold a battle summary meeting, I completely figured out that what should come should always come, even if I want to avoid it. Anyway, things have happened. As for what kind of fate is waiting for me, I can't control it. Let's go with it.

Early in the morning, I woke up with a quick knock on the door. When I look at my watch, it's just five o'clock. It's not quite light yet. I don't know whether it was razumeyeva or operator No. 4 last night, so I asked out loud and unhappily, "who? Can I help you? "

People outside may have recognized my dissatisfaction and the knock on the door suddenly stopped. After a while, I heard the timid voice of razumeyeva outside the door“ It's me, sir. The commander is online. He wants to speak to you. "

Hearing that it was the commander who wanted to speak to me, I could not help shivering. If I had to contact me so early, was it the intention to inform me of the punishment decision of the headquarters of the front army? I put on my boots, took a deep breath, went to the door and opened the door.

Lazumeyeva stopped at the door. Seeing me go out, he quickly raised his hand to salute me and repeated what he said just now: "Comrade division commander, the commander is online, and he will talk to you immediately."

Seeing the earphone and transmitter of the telephone set on the table, I strode over. Razumeyeva took the lead, grabbed the earphone and transmitter and handed them to me.

I put on my headphones, blew on my transmitter and said in a loud voice, "I'm lieutenant commander o'shanina."

Immediately I heard a familiar but unexpected voice: "I'm trekov, commander oshanina. I have an important task to give you." Unexpectedly, it was not commander shumilov who wanted to talk to me, but deputy commander trakov.

"Comrade commander, is that you?" Suddenly I heard trakov's voice. I couldn't believe it, so I asked tentatively, "where are you now?" I said in my heart, how could Khrushchev suddenly change his sex and release trakov so quickly?

"Where else? Of course, in the headquarters of the group army! " Said trekov aloud“ O'shanina, I heard from Colonel Raskin that yesterday you saw that the enemy plane was about to attack Stalingrad. The intelligence did not get the due attention of the superior. Instead, you advocated without authorization and reported to general Zhukov by leaping over the level. Is there such a thing? "

"Yes, comrade commander." I gave trekov a positive answer, and finally said with regret, "it's a pity that I'm still a little slow. What happened to Stalingrad? Is it a big loss? "

Trikov sighed and said, "well, how can we say that yesterday's frenzied German bombing caused huge losses to Stalingrad. After the bombing, there was hardly a complete building in the city. The civilian casualties are even more serious. The civilians killed by the explosion can be seen everywhere. Their broken limbs are scattered everywhere. The young people who are responsible for cleaning up the scene are scared to vomit on the spot. "

I didn't want to continue this painful topic, so I asked interactively, "Comrade commander, you just said you have a task to hand over to our division, don't know what task? Although our division has not been established for a long time, we have fought several battles and the results are quite satisfactory. "

"It's because you played well that I confidently and boldly assigned this important task to your division." It seems that trikov forgot that two days before he was dismissed, he did not have the slightest confidence in our division's ability to capture the enemy occupied residential areas. Now, he plans to use our division as the main force.

I hesitated for a moment, then asked cautiously“ General trakov, what mission are you going to send our division to? "

"Yesterday morning, the enemy suddenly launched an attack in spardanovka. They concentrated their forces to attack the 158 highland, which was held by two battalions of the 154th marine brigade. Due to the fierce fire of the enemy, the battle was carried out in the evening, and all the remaining troops were occupied by the enemy and forced to retreat into the tunnel. I have ordered the 29th division commander kolobkin to organize the troops to carry out counter assault this morning and restore the positions lost yesterday. " At this point, trakov stopped for a moment, accentuated his tone, and continued: "your division's task is to dispatch a battalion to cooperate with colonel klobkin's counterattack, and then cooperate with the troops left in the tunnel to recover the 158 heights."

After listening to trakov's task, I couldn't help hesitating. As a division commander, I know better than anyone. To let a group of poorly equipped soldiers without military training attack the enemy's tightly defended positions is undoubtedly to let them die.

When he heard that I didn't reply, trikov was a little anxious and urged, "o'shanina, what's the matter with you? Why don't you talk?"

My reply was somewhat blunt: "Comrade commander, as you know, my troops are poorly equipped and lack sufficient military training. If we want them to take part in such battles, I am afraid they are not competent."

"Commander oshanina," trikov said coldly in a business tone, "you have to figure out one thing. I'm giving you orders, not discussing with you, so you have to carry it out unconditionally."

I was a little annoyed by trakov's attitude, but I couldn't lose my temper with him. I could only obediently reply, "understand, comrade commander, I promise to finish the task." Speaking of this, I pondered for a moment, and then put forward a condition to him: "Comrade commander, I have a request, I hope you can agree. My troops are poorly equipped. If we use such troops to fight hard with the enemy, we may not be able to achieve the expected goal even if we run out of them. Therefore, I hope you can supplement some submachine guns and machine guns for our division, so as to enhance the firepower of the attacking troops. "

After listening to my story, trikov laughed and said, "I thought you were going to ask for something. It's this thing! Don't worry. I'll get in touch with colonel klobkin and ask him to give you some more. In another half an hour, the motorcade I sent should be here, and the combat troops will take these trucks to the 29th division. "

At the end of the conversation with trakov, I went to the door and yelled out, "somebody

With my shouts, a soldier came to me immediately, raised his hand to salute me, and politely asked, "what instructions do you have, sir?"

I took a look at him, recognized him as a soldier in the guard class, and told him, "go immediately and call the three major chejerikov, Oleg and Gaidar, and say I have something to look for them." The soldier agreed. As soon as he was about to turn around and leave, I suddenly thought of two more people. I stopped the soldier and told him, "and the commander of the artillery company, Lieutenant molozov, and the commander of the eighth company of the second regiment, Captain Pugachev, also called over."

After receiving the notice from the soldiers, several commanders came to the command post one after another. After they came in and saluted me, they sat down at the table and waited for me to assign tasks to them.

When Captain Pugachev entered the command post, everyone was stunned, especially the second leader Oleg turned his head and asked me curiously: "Comrade division, what did you call Pugachev to do?"

Pugachev heard his head's words, the whole person was frozen in place, his face showed an embarrassed expression. It's no wonder that before yesterday, he was still a little company commander. I didn't even ask his name when dealing with him. But seeing him on the battlefield yesterday made a big difference to me. After he returned to the residential area with the troops, I specially met him and asked his name.

When I knew his name was Pugachev, I jokingly said that more than 100 years ago, there was a rebel leader named Pugachev, and his troops had been active in the Volga River Basin. Are you not his descendants? At that time, Captain Pugachev blushed. He even said that he had the same name. Although he was also a Cossack, he was not the descendant of the hero.

At the moment, seeing him in an embarrassing situation, I quickly helped him out and said, "major Oleg, Captain Pugachev was specially called by me. What we discussed at today's meeting is also related to him." At this point, I turned to Pugachev and said, "Comrade captain, sit down. We will have a meeting soon."

When I delivered trakov's order, the commanders in this room were silent. After a while, Gaidar said quietly: "it seems that no matter what our achievements are, the independent division is an Artillery Force. Where there is danger and what is the most difficult task, it will be left to us to complete."

"Major gedar, you talk too much." Shejerikov impolitely interrupted Gaidar's complaint and said to himself, "our army, which is composed of soldiers from the punishment camp and prisoners from Gulag concentration camp, is originally used to attack and trap, or to the most dangerous places. Why is it necessary to make these irrelevant complaints. Let me tell you the truth. If the division commander hadn't been taking care of us all, we would have been closely monitored by the internal and external supervision teams during the war. Let alone retreat, we would have been shot if we charged slower. "

"Major xiejerikov is right," Morozov also said with assistance, "I heard that in other units, soldiers of this origin in our division were organized into a commando team, and the rear was monitored by the supervisors with machine guns, so that they would dare to attack the enemy. When they were killed in the front, they would immediately make up for it later. After a battle, there will be no survivors in the commandos. "

Morozov's words made everyone silent again, because everyone knew that what he said was not alarmist, but bloody fact. After a while, Oleg, the second group leader, asked, "Sir, what should we do?"

I looked at you, and then said, "I plan to transfer five companies from the settlement to form a special battalion, and the battalion commander will be captain Pugachev."

When I said my name, Pugachev sprang up from his seat and replied loudly, "yes! I promise to finish the task. "

I quickly raised my hand, pressed it down, motioned him to sit down, and then said, "in addition to the infantry, I also plan to let Lieutenant Morozov take two cannons with the army, because our division's equipment is too poor. Without artillery support, our troops will pay huge casualties on the way of attack."

As soon as my voice fell, Gaidar stood up and asked for a fight: "Comrade division, you asked major xiejerikov to direct yesterday's battle. Today, let me direct this battle anyway."

"No, major gedar." Oleg then jumped out and objected: "the day before yesterday, your troops captured the Italian infantry battalion. Yesterday, the troops under the command of major chejerikov annihilated the Hungarian battalion. Today, it's my turn to command the troops anyway!"

"Major Oleg, just because you are inexperienced in commanding operations, you should give me major gedar to command such a dangerous battle as today." Shejerikov also stood up against Oleg's offer.

When he heard that, gedar quickly echoed: "major shejerikov is right. Major Oleg is inexperienced in fighting. He may not be able to command a battle of this intensity. Comrade division, let major chejerikov and I take command! "

"Why?" Oleg said unconvinced: "if every time you and major shijerikov go to command combat, then I don't have the chance to develop combat experience."

Seeing that everyone was about to quarrel in the command post, I quickly raised my hands and pressed them down. At the same time, I said loudly, "be quiet, keep quiet for me!"

After everyone calmed down, I continued to assign tasks: "I declare that today's battle, a special battalion composed of infantry, is under the command of captain Pugachev; The artillery responsible for providing fire cover was under the command of lieutenant Morozov; I'll be commander in chief, and major Oleg will be my deputy. Shejerikov and gedar stay in the settlements to prevent possible enemy attacks. "

The commanders here all know that I am a man of one mind and one mind, so after I announced the name list of the fighters, although xiejerikov and Gaidar were not happy, they could only hide in their hearts and did not dare to argue with me face to face.

Seeing the dejected look on shijerikov's face, I comforted him and said, "don't be dejected, comrade major. Judging from the current situation, this battle can't be finished in a few months. There will be plenty of opportunities for you to take your troops out and show your skills. This time, you should be aggrieved and stay to guard the residential area. You know, this is our foothold now. Once we lose it, we can only cross the defense line of the guard division and the 208 division and go back to our own camp

He stood up and expressed his determination to me: "don't worry, sir. As long as Gaidar and I are here, the enemy will not try to take the settlement away from us. "

After driving for an hour with my troops in a truck provided by trakov, I entered the defense area of the 29th division and met the liaison officer who came to meet us.

As soon as I got out of the car, I couldn't wait to ask the liaison officer, "Comrade lieutenant, where is your division commander?"

"The division commander is on Highland 165, organizing troops to assemble and prepare for a counter offensive against the enemy." Seeing that I wanted to return to the jeep, the second lieutenant stopped me and explained, "Comrade commander, it's only two or three kilometers away from highland 165. There are mines laid by the enemy on the road ahead. Vehicles can't pass through. We can only get to highland 165 on foot."

Hearing this, I made a sign to major Oleg, who had just got out of the back car, to let the troops off. He understood my gesture and yelled at the back, "all listen to my command, get out of the car!"

The soldiers jumped out of the car one after another, listened to the command issued by their company commander, and began to line up beside the truck. I waved to Oleg again. When he came, I specially told him, "Comrade major, we will reserve a platoon to help Lieutenant Morozov's artillery carry the guns."

After all this, I turned to the liaison officer and said, "come on, comrade lieutenant, take me to your division commander."

The second lieutenant looked at the assembled soldiers and said hesitantly, "Comrade commander, we are not waiting for your soldiers?"

I waved my hand and said, "no, let's go to the division command post first. They will catch up soon."

When I walked into the headquarters of the 29th division in the tunnel of highland 165 and saw me appear, klobkin immediately came up around the wooden table and gave me a bear hug. At the same time, he said excitedly, "great, commander oshanina. As soon as your new force arrives, we will have a better chance of recovering highland 158."

"Col. klobkin," I said frankly, rather than continuing to talk to him, "tell me what's going on."

Klobkin pulled me to the table, pointed to the map above and said to me, "commander oshanina, after the enemy occupied the 158th highland defended by the 154th marine brigade, in addition to strengthening the fortifications on the top of the mountain, they also built a trench on the hillside to the east of the highland to connect the two lines of defense through the traffic trench. Since the distance between the 158 highland and the 165 highland where we are is only 1500 meters, once they take it as the starting point of attack, the pressure we will bear will be multiplied. That's why I report to the headquarters of the group army and prepare to launch a counter attack today to try to get this Highland back from the enemy. "

"What are the enemy forces?" I asked coldly“ According to the investigation, the enemy has a company on the hillside position, and there may be two companies on the top of the mountain, as well as two tanks and a lot of mortars. The enemy's fortifications can be used to kill our troops from a commanding position when our troops attack. "“ What measures have you taken? " When I heard that the enemy's defense was so tight, I doubted whether my troops could rush to 158 heights“ I intend to bombard the enemy's fortified hillside and hilltop positions for half an hour before the attack. " At this point, he was a little embarrassed to smile, and then said: "you know, our artillery reserves are not much, half an hour of shelling, is our limit."“ How many troops do we have? " I continued to ask myself what I wanted to know“ The marine brigade can send out one battalion, and our division can send out two battalions, so that almost one regiment of infantry can take part in the counterattack. Of course, I also have a tank unit. When attacking, I will let them charge with the infantry to provide the necessary artillery cover for the infantry. " When he said this, he stopped for a moment and asked me, "commander oshanina, how many troops are there in your division?"“ Five companies of infantry, with a platoon of artillery, "I said after finishing the troops I had brought, I also learned his tone and said," these are the best soldiers of our division, and they are also the limit of my troops. " After hearing what I said, klobkin burst out laughing: "yes, yes, five more companies of infantry, at least we have a better chance of winning." At this time, a lieutenant commander came up to him and asked him in a low voice, "Comrade division, it's time to attack. Can the shelling begin?" Klobkin raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he nodded and said in a positive tone, "let's go!" The Commander agreed, quickly ran to the side, picked up the microphone in the corner, and yelled: "Hello, artillery battalion? The division commander ordered that the shelling begin! " After a short time, there was a deep explosion outside. Klobkin shook his head at me and said, "commander o'shanina, come on, let's go outside and have a look." We followed the tunnel to the trench on the hillside, and klobkin guided me to an observation post to observe the effect of our artillery attack on the enemy's position. At this moment, the 158th highland, whether it is the hillside or the peak position, is shrouded by our army's artillery fire. Looking at the rising flames and smoke, I nodded secretly. I saw that the combat effectiveness of the artillery of the 29th division was not bad, and the shells were hitting very accurately. At least most of the shells fell in the enemy's trenches. When I looked back from my telescope, I found that there was a circle of barbed wire at the foot of the mountain. It seems that the obstacles our army would not lay behind their positions were all laid by the Germans overnight. I don't know whether the Germans would lay mines behind the barbed wire. Looking back, you can see that the open ground between the two Highlands is full of bullet holes. Whether it's a bomb or an airplane, our tanks will be affected by this special terrain when they attack. We don't know whether they will become the target of the enemy's tank guards.