Chapter 642

After nightfall, I took the pilot popkov with me and got into the jeep of lieutenant colonel weinlub to the group army headquarters in the city.

When I was still in the division headquarters, I introduced popkov and Wei inlubu to each other. Although they just politely said hello to each other at that time, they didn't say anything to each other, at the moment, although one was sitting in the co pilot's seat and the other was sitting in the back row next to me, they had a hot conversation.

The topic of the conversation was that lieutenant colonel Wei inlub, who was sitting next to me, saw the German night plane hovering in the air and couldn't help but scold in a low voice: "damn German, I won't stop for a while at night."

"Comrade commander," said popkov, who was sitting in the front row, turning to him, "it's a pity that our air force is equipped with a limited number of night aircrafts. Otherwise, the German air force would not be so arrogant as it is now."

"By the way, comrade captain." Wei yinlubu then asked curiously, "may I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead, comrade commander." Popkov said politely.

"How many enemy planes have you shot down since the outbreak of the war?"

Wei yinlubu's question also aroused my interest, so I looked at popkov curiously, waiting for his answer.

Popkov grinned and replied, "Comrade commander, since I joined the air force, I have completed 117 combat missions, 29 air trips and shot down 11 enemy planes. Of course, compared with my comrades in arms, there is still a certain gap. For example, our ace pilot, Captain berkrushkin, has shot down 13 planes, two more than me. "

After listening to popkov's mention of pokreshkin, weinlubu burst out laughing, which made popkov and I laugh. Wei yinlubu laughed for a long time and burst into tears. Then he stopped laughing and explained to us, "I've heard of this pocre shkin before. It's said that on the first day of the war, his fighter took off to fight. Because of his lack of experience and the wrong command of the tower, he actually shot down one of our own bombers. Fortunately, no casualties were caused, In addition, the complicated situation on the front line at that time made his mistakes more lenient. The next day, he took off to fight again and shot down a German plane cleanly. It was a meritorious act. " Speaking of this, Wei yinlubu suddenly said in surprise, "Comrade captain, how did I hear that the German Ace Pilots shot down dozens or even hundreds of planes? What's the matter? Is there so much difference between our air force strength and that of the German army? "

Popkov bowed his head for a moment, then slowly replied: "Comrade commander, it is understandable that the number of planes shot down by German pilots is more than that of our pilots, but it is obviously abnormal that the number gap is so large. In contrast, our pilots' technical level is not bad at all, and their combat performance, speed, weapons and equipment are not weak. In fact, the results of the German ace pilots were greatly exaggerated.

If our numbers are lower than those of the Germans, it's just because we and the Germans have different air combat missions. The main task of our fighters is to ensure the smooth operation of heavy bombers, attack planes, reconnaissance planes and airborne planes, and active air combat is in the secondary position. At that time, in order to provide air cover for ground forces, convoys, ferries, airports and command posts, our fighters could not escape from the battle even before the enemy's superior forces, because air operations determined the outcome of ground operations. The task of the Germans is different. They are all "free shooters" who specialize in hunting our planes, especially heavy ones. However, while they won the air tactical victory, they suffered strategic defeat on the ground, which is the essence of our air combat policy. As for me personally, what leaders value is not the number of enemy planes I shoot down, but the number of bombers, assault planes and reconnaissance planes I cover. "

As soon as popkov finished speaking, I couldn't help but snatch in front of lieutenant commander weinlub and ask curiously, "Captain popkov, I want to know how do you count your results?"

Popkov explained clearly to us: "the pilots of both sides used manuals to record the results of the air combat, but our pilots did not pay attention to it. They did not remember it much. The German pilots remembered it more and boasted about the results of the war wantonly. This is also the propaganda war and psychological war of the German army, which is inconsistent with the real situation. Before, I was involved in the trial of a captured German pilot who told us how they falsely reported the results. For example, if a squadron has 12 airplanes and they shoot down three airplanes in an air battle, then every pilot will record that they have shot down three airplanes without any special explanation. In this way, the total number of their achievements will be 36. "

After listening to these words, I have doubts about the achievements of those famous German Ace Pilots in history. Erich Hartman, who shot down 352 enemy planes in total, is his real achievements half that of the legend?

At this time, the car body suddenly a shock, then stopped. I was thrown forward by inertia and almost hit the back of the chair in front of me. I quickly held the back of the chair and asked the driver, "Comrade driver, what happened? Did it break down?"

The driver shook his head and said in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, it's not that the car broke down. It seems that the wheel is entangled by something. I'll go down and check it." With that, he pushed the door open and got out of the car.

Seeing that the driver got out of the car, Wei yinlubu looked outside and said to me, "Comrade Colonel, let's get out of the car and wait." Without waiting for my reply, he added: "although it is only 500 meters away from the headquarters of the group army, it is very unsafe. Apart from being bombed by German planes, it is also attacked by cold artillery from time to time."

It was too cold in September. I had planned to stay in the car and wait for the driver to deal with the fault. Wei yinlubu said that. Without saying a word, I pushed the door beside me and jumped down. I didn't want to be a target in the car.

As soon as I turned around and closed the door, I heard Wei yinlubu jump out of the car heavily and ask the driver loudly, "what's the matter?"

The driver stood up straight and replied, "report, comrade commander, it's the telegraph line that has got the wheel entangled."

After hearing this, Wei yinlubu immediately ordered him: "deal with it as soon as possible. We can't stay here too long. We should leave as soon as possible."

The driver agreed, and squatted down to deal with the wire wrapped around the wheel.

Seeing that our car stopped, the jeep immediately behind also stopped, including busmanov and two security guards jumped out of the car, trotted to me and asked curiously, "what's the matter, sir?"

As I looked at the streets full of craters and rubble, I casually replied, "the wires on the road have entangled the wheels of the jeep. The driver is dealing with it."

As soon as I finished, I heard the driver's anxious voice: "Comrade commander, can you help me find a bayonet or pliers? I don't think it can be completely cleaned up if we don't break the wire

After hearing this, Wei yinlubu turned to us and asked, "which of you has bayonets or pliers?"

Basmanov saw my eyes also looked at him, quickly said with a wry smile: "Comrade division, I and my two soldiers are equipped with submachine guns, no bayonets. As for the pliers, there is no more. "

I looked at the submachine gun hanging on the chest of the three of them. Knowing that he was not talking nonsense, I quickly yelled at Wei yinlubu: "Comrade commander, we don't have bayonets and pliers here."

All of a sudden, there was the roar of shells in the air. Almost at the same time, I heard basmanov yell: "Sir, be careful!" Then I was thrown to the ground by him, and the other two soldiers pressed me up, almost breaking my ribs.

After the shell exploded in the distance, busmanov and two soldiers who were pressing on me also got up one after another. I got up from the ground with difficulty and muttered, "you three are heavier than polar bears."

Basmanov could not help scratching the back of his head and grinning in embarrassment.

I saw that there was only Wei inlubu standing in front of the jeep, but I didn't see the shadow of popkov. Knowing that he was helping the driver to remove the fault, I glared at basmanov and said discontentedly, "what are you doing here? Why don't you go to help the driver deal with the wire wrapped around the wheel?"

Seeing that I was angry, busmanov waved to the other two soldiers: "follow me." Then he quickly ran to the front.

Lieutenant commander Wei yinlubu came over, put the hat in his hand on his head, and said with admiration: "Comrade Colonel, your men are really good. Just when the shell came, the three of them jumped on you without hesitation. I don't think it will hurt you to say that the shell explodes so far away, even at the side of the car. "

I didn't know how to discuss this matter with him, so I quickly cut off the topic: "Comrade commander, is this section of the road bombarded by the enemy every day?"

Wei yinlubu nodded and answered solemnly: "no, the current war situation is not good for us. There are enemies in several directions who are not far away from the city, so they can bombard and bomb the city frequently."

Just as we were talking, several shells landed nearby and exploded. Except for one shell that made a big hole in the wall of a building on the side of the road, the rest fell into the rubble, blowing up the broken bricks everywhere.

Although the impact of the shell was far away from me, my heart began to panic. If Wei inlub had not stood in front of me, I would have been in front of me to urge the driver and basmanov to speed up, so as not to stay here in fear.

When the eighth shell landed near us and exploded, my tense nerves were about to break. Suddenly, the driver's voice came from the front: "Comrade commander, the wire has been untied, you can get on the bus."

Without waiting for Wei yinlubu to call me, I rushed to the jeep, opened the door and sat in. At the same time, I solemnly urged Wei yinlubu: "Comrade commander, get on the bus quickly. The commander has been waiting for us so long. It's time to wait." At the same time, I secretly prayed that the German shells would not come back and let us arrive at the headquarters safely.

However, it didn't work out as expected. Within 100 meters of our car, two more shells fell on the front and rear of the car and exploded, causing bricks and stones to crash on the roof of the car. At that moment, my heart was raised to my throat. Although I was wearing a helmet, I was also afraid that the stone would break into the roof and hit me with blood.

Fortunately, after these two shells exploded, there were no more shells coming, and we drove to the gate of the headquarters without danger. Lieutenant commander Wei yinlubu opened the car door, jumped out of the car, called a sentry at the door and told him in a loud voice: "Comrade sentry, send this pilot comrade to our reception team. By the way, he's also injured. By the way, ask a health worker to examine his wound. "

I got out of the car and went to popkov. I reached out to him and said, "Comrade captain, it's time to say goodbye. Let's shake hands for the last time."

Popkov held my hand tightly, shook it hard and said, "Comrade Colonel, thank you for taking care of me these two days. I hope we can still fight together in the future."

"There will be a day." As soon as I said this, I heard Wei yinlubu urging me at the door: "hurry up, comrade Colonel, the commander should wait." I nodded to popkov, released his hand, and walked quickly to the door.

Weinlub took me to trakov's headquarters. As we walked in, we saw gurov buried himself in the papers, while trakov and krailov were standing at one place and making a phone call. Seeing us coming in, without waiting for me to raise my hand to salute, trakov waved to us while facing the microphone, indicating that we should go out first.

After Wei yinlubu and I left the headquarters, we stood in the corridor outside and looked at the staff officers and signalmen coming and going. I felt that I was a bit in the way. I just wanted to ask Wei yinlubu if we could find a place to sit down and wait for the commander when they were free. Unexpectedly, he suggested to me in advance: "Comrade Colonel, this is the new headquarters of the group army. You'd better come here for the first time, or I'll show you around?"

I nodded and said, "OK, OK, of course. Please show me the way."

When Wei yinlubu showed me around the new headquarters, he said to me as he walked: "Comrade Colonel, this tunnel is named" chalijin grottoes. ". It's a large shelter tunnel divided into ten rooms. The ceiling and surrounding walls are lined with veneers. After the top cover is ten meters, it will take at least one ton of bombs to penetrate individual parts of this tunnel. So it is very safe to say that the headquarters is located here. "

I followed him and walked out of the headquarters through an exit. When he saw several concrete blockhouses outside the cave and was about to ask him where they were, he pointed to the riverbed where there was only a small amount of water before and said to me, "this is the riverbed of the zarica River, and the other exit is Pushkin street that we passed when we came here. Once the enemy attacks the city and rushes into the headquarters, comrade commander, they can get out of danger smoothly through this exit. " After introducing all this, he heaved a sigh of relief, raised his voice and said to me, "well, comrade Colonel, time is almost up. We will go to the headquarters to see if the commander is finished."

When I got back to the headquarters this time, in addition to krailov still calling the troops below, trakov and gurov were already at leisure. When they saw me walking into the headquarters, they immediately called me: "Comrade oshanina is coming. Come and sit down quickly. Let's study the counterattack tomorrow."

I went to trekov, sat down, looked at the map on the table, and asked frankly, "Comrade commander, if tomorrow's counterattack is made according to my suggestions, I want to know when the counterattack will be implemented?"

Trikov habitually raised his hand to look at his watch, and then said to me, "the plan you submitted has been studied by several of us, and we think it is very suitable for the current situation, so we directly adopted your plan without any modification. As for the counterattack time, we will start artillery preparation at 3 a.m. tomorrow. Half an hour later, that is 3:30, our troops will begin to carry out counter attack. I'd like to hear your opinion before the battle starts? "

I'm not excited to hear that trakov said that he adopted my combat plan. Originally, this plan was made by trakov, but I embezzled it and gave it back to him. My brain was spinning rapidly, thinking about the problems I might encounter in the counterattack. After thinking about it for a while, I raised my head and said to trekov, "Comrade commander, to ensure the victory of the counterattack tomorrow, we must consider three aspects: first, whether the communication between the headquarters and the participating forces is smooth; 2、 Without the assistance of the air force, our offensive forces might be defeated in the bombing of enemy planes; 3、 The number of troops participating in the counterattack is limited, so the results that can be achieved are also very limited. So I boldly suggest to you that we should ask the front army to send more reserves, so that we can strengthen the strength of the counterattack forces. "

After listening to me, trikov and gurov, who were sitting next to him, looked at each other and laughed. When I was confused by the two people's laughter, trikov restrained his smile and said to me, "Comrade o'shanina, it seems that lesbians are more careful in their consideration. But you can rest assured that we have considered these details for a long time. Before you came here, I personally checked the communications and the preparations of the troops for the counter offensive. At present, everything is normal. Except for night flights and cold guns, the enemy has nothing to do. It seems that they are all resting or preparing for tomorrow's routine offensive. "

"As for the air force, comrade oshanina, you don't have to worry." Gurov also added: "commander yelimenko assured us that he would send a strong air force to cover our combat operations at dawn. At the same time, it also tells us a good news: the headquarters is preparing to equip us with the 13th division of the close guard infantry, which will begin to assemble in the east coast area of krasnos Loboda tomorrow evening. "

After gulov finished, trakov added: "although only one division has been given to us, it is also very exciting news for us. In this way, we will have more troops to fight back." My heart began to beat faster when I heard that general rojmtsev's guard division was coming. In the history I know, the fate of Stalingrad was firmly in the hands of the division for a period of time. Now, the troops that stick to the mamayev post have become the independent divisions that I command that do not exist in history, so that the close guard division can mobilize enough troops to participate in the counterattack. Maybe in this way, the counterattack that trikov will carry out tomorrow will still have the hope of success. It's so easy to wait for the end of the two people's harmony, I tentatively said to trikov: "Comrade commander, should we send someone to meet the guards, so that they will not cross the river and bump into the enemy's artillery strike area and suffer unnecessary casualties."“ Colonel o'shanina, you don't have to worry about that. " I don't know when krailov returned to the table, and then I said, "I just called Colonel tupichev, the engineer director of the group army, and asked him to lead the group army's staff team to cross the river overnight to krasnosloboda area to meet the guards division." They had already considered all the things that should be considered when they met with trakov, and I would not worry about the counterattack tomorrow. Next, I reflected the difficulties faced by the current 107.5 highland to several commanders of the group army. After listening, trakov raised his head and asked krailov, "chief of staff, how do you think about this?" Krailov fixed his eyes on the map on the table, knocked on the table with his fingers, pondered for a long time, and then replied: "at present, the independent division is the most complete and most effective unit in the group army. I don't think it's worthwhile to consume our elite units just to stick to the 107.5 highland. So I suggest that when our superiors send us new troops, let them take over the defense of highland 107.5, so that the scattered forces of the independent division can be concentrated, and the mamayev post and the wharf beside can be turned into a fortress that the German army can't conquer. " When I heard that krailov held me so high, I had to smile bitterly and say, "please rest assured that the commander, the military commissar and the chief of staff, as long as the forces of the independent division are concentrated, they will become a force that the enemy can't underestimate. In addition to sticking to our own positions, we will not continue to launch counter attacks against the enemies in front of us, so that they will not be able to draw out their forces to join the friendly forces attacking our city. " My statement made gulov smile. He nodded his head and said with satisfaction, "well, good, comrade oshanina. Since you have such determination, I'm relieved. Next, we will continue to discuss tomorrow's counter offensive. " The shelling before the counterattack started at three o'clock on time. However, due to the shortage of shells, the original 30 minute shelling lasted only 15 minutes. Trikov, who got the report from the artillery commander, decisively gave an order to krailov: "Comrade chief of staff, order all the troops to act immediately and launch a fierce attack on the enemy face to face!" Krailov nodded, went to a telephone beside the wall, took the earphone and the transmitter from the operator's hand, and cried out: "comrades in command, the commander orders, in order to protect the great Stalingrad and eliminate the bandits, all take action! Move forward and charge immediately to the enemy's position After the order of attack was issued, more than a dozen troops launched a fierce attack from their respective starting positions on the German troops stationed outside the city. From 4 o'clock, the battle reports were continuously sent back to the headquarters, and the commanders of each unit reported that their units had broken through the German position in front of them and made their way into the enemy's line of defense for several kilometers. On hearing the good news, there were happy smiles on both trekov's and gurov's faces. At 6 o'clock, the war reports from all the troops were a little bad. Almost unanimously, German fortifications were found, and infantry lacking heavy weapons and artillery support were frustrated in several attacks. In order to appease the people, Krylov gave them a shot in the arm and told them to hold on for a while. As soon as our air force appeared at dawn, we could break through the enemy positions in front of us. But the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. Half an hour later, a telegram from the commander of the front army shattered everyone's hope. "Because of the shortage of fuel and ammunition, the air force is unable to provide the necessary support for your offensive forces," the telegram said shortly