Chapter 604

After I said this with anger, I pointed to captain Morozov, who was sitting behind Gaidar and kept silent all the time, and said impolitely, "Captain Morozov, please tell us how your mortar company provides artillery support for the attacking forces."

Morozov was sitting in an unobtrusive position without saying a word, when he heard me call his name, he stood up in a hurry and asked nervously, "Comrade teacher, don't you know what I should say?"

When he asked, I was stunned. I hesitated for a moment, and then decisively told him: "just tell us how your artillery provided artillery support for the attacking troops, and why they failed to suppress the German fire on the high ground, resulting in the repeated failures of the three regiments and four regiments."

Seeing what I have said, Morozov, who has no way out, can only harden his head and begin to tell you about the artillery's performance in the battle just now: "before the attack, commander kosga and commander Gaidar told me that we must use mortar fire to suppress the German fire on the hillside and cover the infantry to rush up the hillside smoothly. As my well-trained Gunners were all lost in the brutal fighting in the early stage, the new recruits who have just been added to the fighting today. " Speaking of this, his courage gradually grew up. He looked me in the eye and said boldly, "Comrade division commander, as you know, artillery is different from other arms such as infantry. After new recruits are added to the company, they have to go through at least half a year of relevant training to really form combat effectiveness."

I nodded, gestured to him and said politely, "I understand that. Go on."

"I have eight 81mm mortars in my company, all of which were captured from the Germans. Although after a week of intensive training, the operation skills of these new Gunners are still a little stiff. After a round of volley, except one shell fell on the hillside and exploded, the rest of the shells fell on the hillside.

Seeing that we were shelling German positions, the infantry began to charge. They formed a line of scattered soldiers, curved like a long black snake. Twenty meters behind the line, it was the same line of scattered soldiers. As the infantry charged very fast and soon approached the hillside, I was afraid that the fire would hurt my own people, so I ordered to stop shooting. At this time, the Germans on the hillside saw that the shelling had stopped, and they came out of the hiding place one after another, or squatted or lying on the hillside, shooting madly at the charging team below. In the face of bullets flying like raindrops, our soldiers fell one after another. In this case, the troops should choose to lie down, fight back and wait for our artillery support. "

"That's right. In this case, we should lie down and fight back on the spot and wait for our artillery support. Captain Morozov, did they do that? "

Unexpectedly, after listening to me, Morozov shook his head in agony and replied, "no! I heard the battalion commander, who organized the attack, waving his pistol and telling the soldiers of the ground charge, "go ahead, go ahead! Go! Why are you cowards lying on the ground? Aren't you afraid to grind your belly out? forward! Get up and move on! Go ahead! If anyone doesn't rush forward, I'll shoot him! " In his shouts, the soldiers had to bravely stand up from the ground and bravely rush up to the enemy's position. But this is futile. The enemy's firepower is too dense. Many soldiers just stand up and fall down like pillars before they can take two steps. "

"Commander Gaidar," I asked angrily to the four commanders in front of me, "who is the blind commander of the battalion? Call him here immediately. Who gave him the right to let our soldiers die in vain. Have you forgotten that I once told you that the most precious thing in the army is not the weapons but the lives of every Red Army soldier? You, go and call the battalion commander here immediately. I'll ask him how to command him? He is not qualified to be a commander at all. He is only assigned to be a soldier in the army. "

After I lost my temper, Gaidar looked embarrassed and replied in a low voice, "Comrade division commander, that battalion commander can't come. He died on the second charge. "

I have heard more than once before that the Soviet Army's tactics were inflexible, and the offensive tactics followed the pattern of the cold weapon era. The Soviet army won the final victory by relying on people's sea fighting skills and sacrificing the lives of a large number of soldiers. Since the crossing, I have witnessed many similar situations with my own eyes. I know that many commanders will not fight at all except to win at the cost of countless lives. In order to avoid similar things happening in the independent division, I stressed to several commanders more than once that the lives of the soldiers are precious, so we can't fight hard with the German army when fighting. We should know how to fight skillfully and try to reduce the casualties of the troops. I didn't expect that today's battle of the three regiments and four regiments to attack the Highlands still caused huge casualties, and even the three regiments' commander kosja was injured.

Thinking of this, I took a few deep breaths and tried to calm my anger. Then I made a sign to Gaidar and Morozov to let them sit down. I glanced at the commanders again, trying to make my voice more stable: "comrades, the reason why I am not satisfied with today's attack on the Highlands is that our commanders are too light on the enemy, thinking that we have more troops than the Germans, and that if we beat one in ten, we will surely win. Without careful deployment, the attack was launched rashly.

But what is the effect of such a hasty attack? No, it has no effect at all, except for causing heavy casualties and losses to our army. Captain Morozov said that his Gunners were all recruits, and their personal skills were limited. In order to prevent the artillery from injuring their own people, when our army rushed to the hillside, the artillery stopped shooting. As a result, our infantry had to attack the German positions without any firepower cover.

At this point, I can't help criticizing lieutenant commander Gaidar. Although there is no artillery support, your two regiments are still equipped with a large number of heavy and heavy machine guns. Why don't you use them to suppress the enemy on the hillside? According to the report you gave me, Lieutenant Colonel kosga was wounded by German mortars while providing fire cover for the attacking troops with heavy machine guns. Even if the artillery is not of any use, if you build more machine gun fire points, the intensive fire formed by heavy and heavy machine guns can completely suppress the Germans on the hillside. "

Hearing my severe criticism, Gaidar stood up again and admitted his mistake to me: "Comrade teacher, I was wrong. At that time, I was too light on the enemy. I thought there were more than 100 German soldiers on the hillside, and they didn't have time to build fortifications. As long as we launched a charge, we could destroy them and take back the position. "

Seeing that he realized his mistake, I patted him gently on the shoulder and said gently, "commander Gaidar, please remember, as an intermediate commander, you can't make such a mistake of belittling the enemy at any time, because a wrong decision of the commander will lead to countless soldiers to pay the price of blood and life. All right, sit down. "

After that, I will discuss with you the distribution of troops to defend the mamayevgang highland. The highland under our feet is big or small. If there is only one regiment, there will be less troops; But if the whole division were put here, such a dense formation would suffer heavy casualties under German shelling and bombing.

However, the commanders here are obviously aware of this problem. Xie jielikou took the initiative to put forward: "Comrade division, although there are many casualties in today's air raid and highland attack, our total strength is still 8000 or 9000, if all of them are piled up in this highland. Under the double attack of German artillery and air raid, at least thousands of soldiers would die in vain. So I suggest that two regiments be left on the mamayev post and the remaining three regiments be withdrawn to the city. "

I looked at the map of mamayev post in front of me, raised my head and asked the rest of the commanders, "Lieutenant Colonel xijerikov has already expressed his own opinions. What are your opinions?"

Pugachev and Gaidar also nodded in agreement: "we agree with the proposal of lieutenant colonel shijerikov. Since our division has added 6000 new soldiers some time ago, although it has not yet formed combat effectiveness, the total strength of the whole division is tens of thousands of people, and we still have as many as 8000 or 9000 people to go out today. If you keep such a dense formation on the hill, it's easy to become the target of German aircraft

After staring at the map for half a day, Oleg, who had not spoken for a long time, finally asked, "Comrade division, I want to ask where do you plan to put the extra troops? It's three kilometers away from the city. If they are all transferred to the city, it will be too late for reinforcements if the troops in the highlands are insufficient. "

"Comrade commander is right," political commissar verol of the fifth regiment also stood up and echoed Oleg: "once the highland is tight, the road leading here will be blocked by German artillery fire or enemy aircraft. Even if our troops go out, they will suffer heavy casualties on the road. When we get to the highland, it is estimated that there will not be many reinforcements left."

After listening to the worries of Oleg and veroll, I said confidently, "three regiments, four regiments and five regiments don't have to withdraw into the city. There is a large residential area in the southeast of the highland near the wharf. I observed that there are some solid high-rise buildings inside. It's no problem to hide the troops of the three regiments there. Once the troops on the high ground are tight, your reinforcements can quickly come from the residential areas, and it's only a few minutes' walk. "

After hearing what I said, Oleg looked at the map again. After looking at verol, he nodded with a smile and flattered me, saying, "it's the best choice to put a few regiments in the residential areas of the highlands

Ignoring his flattery, I raised my head and said to sergeant shijerikov, "sergeant shijerikov, the task of holding the main position of mamayev post is up to you and your regiment. Remember that most of the troops are put in the Tibetan cave on the south side of the hillside. Don't put too many troops in the front of the defense."

"Yes, sir." "The number of Tibetan caves is not enough. When I go back, I urge the soldiers to dig them all night and try to finish enough before dawn," he said

"Sergeant Sergeant kirikov, it's not a fight, it's a must." I said with solemnly expression: "go back to tell the soldiers that they sweat more often and less blood during the war. Now dig up a shovel of soil, and then they will be able to get a piece of shell after they are beaten."

After hearing what I said, xiejerikov nodded his head and promised, "OK, sir, I'll relay your original words to the soldiers."

I turned my eyes to Pugachev again: "Comrade captain, this highland where the division headquarters is located is guarded by your second regiment. My request to you is to dig more bomb shelters, air raid shelters and hiding holes, and try to reduce the number of troops on the surface positions, so that the enemy's reconnaissance planes can not figure out how many troops we have on this high ground. "

"Yes, I'll give your order to the soldiers at once."

After nodding, I stood up straight and said to the remaining Gaidar, Oleg and verol, "the remaining three regiments will be under your command and will be transferred to the settlement immediately. Pay attention to concealment and never expose. Our division has no air defense force. Once the German Air Force finds us, we will be lambs to be slaughtered. "

Oleg turned to look at the three Germans sitting at the door and asked me in a low voice: "Sir, what about those Germans? Will you follow us to the settlement? "

I turned my head and looked at Grimes and Beckman sitting at the door. After a little thought, I slowly shook my head and said, "forget it, let them and their troops stay on the high ground. Maybe they can be useful."

With these words, I called Morozov to myself and explained to him, "Captain Morozov, when I was just in the headquarters of the group army, I proposed to the higher authorities that we had no artillery and air defense forces. They have promised to send us two artillery companies in the near future. When the artillery company comes, immediately merge the mortar company with them and set up an artillery battalion. You will be the commander of the artillery battalion and also the commander of the mortar company. Do you understand? "

Molozov may never have dreamed that this big pie would fall on his head. He nodded excitedly and said, "Comrade division, please rest assured that as long as we are supplemented with artillery companies, preferably anti tank artillery companies, we will be able to fight the attacking German tanks with our present favorable terrain."

I had already explained what I had to do. Just as I was about to announce the end of the meeting, I suddenly found that an acquaintance was missing in the room, so I quickly asked, "by the way, which one of you knows where Captain pelsky of the tank unit is?"

At perskin's command, xijerikov, Oleg and Pugachev all shook their heads and said, "I don't know. We haven't seen him for a long time." He specially added: "Comrade division commander, in the battle some time ago, after the tanks in captain pelsky's tank unit were completely lost, he and the surviving tank soldiers retreated from my position to the position of the third regiment. They stayed in the third regiment until we moved, and maybe Colonel kosga knew where he was

"Don't bother Colonel kosga," Gaidar said in time. "I know where Captain perskin is. If there are tanks today, I think he will provide artillery support for us with tank guns. After the battle, he and Godunov, a battalion commander of the third regiment, stayed on Highland 107.5. "

Just now, I personally ordered Gaidar to withdraw the first battalion of gordonov when the tank army arrived. Since perskin and gordonov are together, they will lead the troops back together later. Thinking of this, I waved and said, "it's OK. Let's finish the meeting." Seeing gramus, they also stood up and wanted to leave. They immediately called out to them, "gramus, Captain Beckman, you stay. I have something else to tell you."

When the commanders left and there were only me, razumeyeva and three Germans left in the headquarters, I waved to them and said in a friendly way, "gentlemen, please come and sit down."

After the three people sat down at the table, I first politely expressed my thanks to them: "Capt. Grimes and Capt. Beckman, thank you very much for your help today. It was only with no casualties that the 5th regiment captured the 107,5 heights occupied by the enemy." In order to avoid stimulating their sensitive nerves, I deliberately avoided using German or German words, and changed a general name - enemy.

Beckman could understand me. He said with a smile, "you're welcome, sir. Since we are all on the same front, it's our duty to serve you."

After listening to the translation of second lieutenant gretka, Grimes frowned and spoke in German seriously. The second lieutenant quickly translated for me: "Sir, I think you are too strict with your subordinates. Without any preparation, it is not easy to attack the highland guarded by a company of German soldiers, who can capture the highland with only 700 casualties. "

I was surprised by what Grimes said, and I couldn't help asking curiously, "why do you say that? You know, if I were to direct this attack, the number of casualties would be less than half

"According to my experience in fighting with the Russian army, it seems that the Russians are not afraid of death. They are in a dense formation, and without any firepower cover, they are fearlessly charging towards the positions of our army, wave after wave. Our soldiers just need to hide in the fortifications and pull the trigger at the crowd. The final result is that waves of Russians are killed by us in front of the positions. For example, in the first half of this year, my company held fast to a highland near the village of riabink near the landing site of lerev, and repulsed more than 20 Russian troops in one day. After cleaning the battlefield, we found that we killed more than 800 Russians, while my company only killed 17

I can't help but sneer when I hear that. After all, your company still has 17 casualties. In my mind, the more exaggerated is the strong attack on the sirovsk highland. According to the battalion commander, they only attacked one of the enemy's blockhouses. As a result, the battalion commander lost all the company commanders and almost all the platoon commanders. When he encouraged the soldiers to launch the last charge, there were less than 100 soldiers left in the 700 strong battalion, but the enemy's machine guns suddenly went silent. The Red Army soldiers who broke into the blockhouse killed the second gunner, only to find that the first gunner was crazy because he couldn't stand the mountain of corpses in front of him.

"Since captain Grimes said that, I'd like to say something." Beckman, who was sitting next to him, saw that gramus had finished speaking. My face was flat and there was no sign of anger, so he couldn't help interrupting and saying, "I think your troops are different from other Russian troops I've seen."

"Oh?" Beckman's words aroused my strong curiosity, I quickly asked: "do not know what is the difference between my troops and other troops?"

Beckman shrugged his shoulders and said, "well, in my impression, the Russians are very dull. In the battle of Kharkov, my company captured a large number of Russian soldiers. It's funny to say that they were all captured by us in a forest without fighting. When I interrogated an officer afterwards, the other party replied that they had received the order to stand by in the forest. When the large army was defeated, they did not get the order from the superior, so they did not dare to do anything, and they had to stay in place and stand by. As for your troops, without further orders, the two commanders dare to change the march route without authorization and put their troops into battle. "

After hearing what Beckman said, I couldn't help laughing bitterly. When I looked at the position of razumeyeva, I saw that she was looking at us strangely. So I waved to her and said, "Comrade lieutenant, there's no business for you here. Go out first. If there's anything, I'll call you. Go out and see captain busmanov and tell him that I have something important to discuss with captain gramus. No one is allowed to come in without my orders. "

After razumeyeva left, I said to Beckman solemnly, "three gentlemen, please swear in the name of officers that you will never reveal my conversation with you to others."

Seeing that my expression was serious, not like joking with them, the three of them looked at each other, and then swore in accordance with my proposal that they would never reveal what I said to them.

Seeing that the three men carried out my proposal to the letter, I calmed down and said, "gentlemen, I think you should know that there was a large-scale cleansing campaign in the Soviet army a few years ago?" Seeing that the three men were nodding their heads, it was obvious that they knew no less about this matter than I did, so I directly ignored the political inducement, process and far-reaching influence of the Great Purge on all fields of the Soviet Union, and only talked about its influence on the army. "For various reasons, there was a great purge from top to bottom in our army, including all the commanders, almost all the division and brigade commanders in the army More than half of the group leaders, all the political commissars at the army level of the group, almost all the political commissars at the army, division and brigade levels, one third of the political commissars at the regiment level, and many middle and lower level commanders were purged. And these sudden vacancies are replaced by a large number of middle and lower level commanders, as well as Cheka members of the interior department. We can imagine how sad it is for the troops that a large number of commanders or even battalion commanders are suddenly promoted to the rank of division or above. At the same time, the serious consequence is that the anti cleansing campaign has greatly wiped out the subjective initiative of the commanders of the army, which is just opposite to the mental outlook of your German officers' regiment and the sergeant class of the national defense forces. "

Hearing my praise for the German troops, a few of them could not help smiling with pride.

I went on to say: "it is precisely for this reason that it is very common in our troops that we have to report trivial matters to our superiors before we dare to make decisions. The reason for this situation is undoubtedly the invisible shackles imposed on our commanders and fighters by the shadow of the Great Purge, which restricts the normal exertion of our army's combat effectiveness. "

After I said these words, I can't help sighing with relief. Although all these words are true, they are treacherous at this special end of the year. If any of the three of them disclose my words, it is estimated that in two days, the people from the Ministry of interior can send me to see Marshal khachevsky.

After listening to what I said, Grimes nodded his head and said with deep sympathy: "Comrade division, I think our army was able to achieve such huge results at the beginning of the war, which led to the total rout of the Russian army. The reason, of course, is the sudden outbreak of war. But after listening to what you said, I personally think the most important thing is that the Russian military command system has fallen into chaos. When faced with the fierce attack of our army, the commanders of countless troops are in a panic, and the combat troops are not strictly trained, which leads to the extreme lack of tactical literacy. "

"Well, Captain Grimes, don't go on. These topics are too sensitive. If they are heard by the interior department, all four of us will be killed." Beckman saw that gramus had a tendency to continue to speak, so he quickly stopped him and asked me, "Sir, what are you going to do with us? Will you stay here and fight side by side with you, or will you be sent to the prison camp with those soldiers who refuse to surrender? "

Beckman's words immediately attracted the attention of gramus and greteka. During this period of time, it is estimated that they are also worried about their own fate and future“ Gentlemen, "I stood up and said," I can tell you very responsibly that in the near future, mamayev post will become the focus of the struggle between the Soviet and German armies and a meat grinder that will devour countless lives. If you all stay, the chance of survival is no more than 10%. If you are sent to the prison camp, you will be sent to Siberia soon. You know, almost all the young and middle-aged people in our country have gone to the front line, and countless people have fallen on the battlefield. At present, there is an extreme shortage of labor force in China, and prisoners of war will become a substitute for the labor force needed for China's economic development. " At this point, I deliberately pause for a moment to observe the expression of the three people. After listening to the second lieutenant's translation, Grimes still sat there with no expression on his face, while Beckman's face became uncertain, as if he was considering whether to stay in mamayev post or go to the prison camp. Without waiting for Beckman to express his views, I went on to say: "although prisoners of war are not equal to prisoners of reform through labor, there is not much difference in their treatment. I have heard people say that the prison camp is usually made up of some shabby huts, which can not withstand the bitter wind of Siberian winter. A large number of prisoners of war die every day. " What I said obviously frightened captain Beckman. He took off his cornice cap, took out his handkerchief and kept wiping the cold sweat on his forehead. I ignored him and asked Grimes, "Captain Grimes, what do you think?" When he heard my question, gramus's expression became dignified. He asked me seriously, "Sir, I want to ask you, where are you going to stay in the coming days? Is it mamayev post or retreat to the city? " With a smile, I said faintly, "Captain Grimes, mamayev post is my post. I will never leave here until this battle is over." After listening to the translation, Grimes also showed a smile on his face. He stood up, took the initiative to extend his hand to me, and said sincerely, "Comrade division, no matter where you stay, Captain Grimes and I will be with you."“ Captain Grimes, you have made the right decision. " I held his hand tightly and said with a smile, "in a few months, you will see how right the decision you made today is." After releasing gramus' hand, I turned to Beckman and asked, "how about you, Captain, going to the POW camp or staying with us at mamayev post?" The eyes of the three of us all stay on captain Beckman. He keeps wiping his sweat with his handkerchief, and at the same time he keeps whispering. It seems that he is making a difficult choice. Four or five minutes later, he stopped sweating, put his handkerchief into his pocket, and put the eaves hat on his head again. Then he straightened up, raised his hand and saluted me. With a firm expression, he said, "Mr. o'shanina, I've made up my mind. I'd like to be your subordinate like Captain gramus and stay with you at mamayev post. "