Chapter 694

Kirilov, after listening to ellenburg's words, said with a smile, "old man, you don't have to say the rest. From my understanding of Comrade o'shanina, she certainly did not forgive you at that time. Don't say it's her, even if it's me, I won't forgive you. You should know that an excellent commander with a bright future is almost in prison because of your irresponsible report. No one can stand it. "

After listening to the criticism of her old friend, ellenburg nodded and said, "if Comrade o'shanina still refuses to forgive me, I would like to apologize to her again in public." Then he stood up straight, as if ready to bow to me again.

He bowed to me twice in public and apologized. I don't think even Stalin himself enjoyed such treatment. If he bows and apologizes to me three times in a row and is known by those who have ulterior motives and reports to Stalin, I will not be able to bear it. So I stood up in a hurry, raised my hand to stop his movement behind him, and said in a relaxed tone, "well, well, comrade ellenburg, this matter has passed for a long time, and I haven't paid attention to it, so you don't have to apologize to me any more."

As soon as my words came out, friedwin, who was sitting next to ellenburg, quickly stood up and said, "yes, comrade ellenburg, since Colonel o'shanina has said that, don't worry about the past. What's more, we went to the headquarters of the independent division today to interview, not to apologize. "

Fernando Wen's words immediately freed us all from embarrassment. I immediately followed his words and said, "yes, comrade ellenburg, I heard that you have been in Stalingrad all day today to interview the commanders and fighters who are fighting with the Communist aggressors. Can you tell us what you think after the interview?"

What I said immediately attracted ellenburg's attention. Instead of insisting on apologizing to me, he sat down with Fernando, took off his top hat and put it on the table. He said with great emotion: "I've been running in the city all day today, although I don't go to many places because of time, and the commanders and fighters I interviewed are very limited. But I have a feeling that the officers and men of the 62nd army who stick to Stalingrad are really not simple. They have done a great job

"Old man, can you be more specific?" Kirilov, when ellenburg's speech came to an end, urged him: "don't say that in Stalingrad, even in all the battlefields of the country, countless brave commanders and fighters are fighting tenaciously with the aggressors who are armed to the teeth in order to defend our great motherland."

"Before I came to Stalingrad, I heard a commentary from BBC radio station on the radio, which made me remember deeply: Poland fell in 28 days after the war, while the German occupied only a few houses in Stalingrad in 28 days; France fell in 38 days, while the German occupied only a few streets in Stalingrad in 38 days. " Ellenburg said excitedly: "through the conversation of the commanders and fighters, I know that although many enemies have rushed into the city, our soldiers have set the battlefield everywhere on the roof, stairs, walls, windowsills and basements, fighting with the enemy tenaciously all the time."

Kirilov didn't express any opinions when he heard ellenburg's words, but he had a happy smile on his face. Ellenburg then said, "what impresses me most is the 'Red October' tractor factory and the 'barricade' factory. The enemy has occupied most of the factory. But what are our workers doing? Outside the factory building, the officers and men of the 39th division of our guards were fighting fiercely with the enemy outside the factory building; But the workers are in the factory building, using lathes and milling machines to repair damaged guns, and even some tanks that have broken down. "

When ellenburg said this, kirilov came close to me and said in a low voice, "because of the heavy losses, the 70th division of Colonel lyudnikov's guards have now retreated to the dormitory area between the barricade factory and the Volga River."

I nodded in silence. Judging from the loss of the ludnikov division, it would be very difficult to block the enemy's steps towards the Volga River even if they had retreated to the existing area.

I have to admit that ellenburg's eloquence is very good. In the short time that kirilov spoke to me, he has already expressed a lot of his own views: "according to what I learned from the group army headquarters, the headquarters once issued severe orders, demanding that all commanders and political staff of the troops under his command keep close to the front positions Bunkers and trenches, the formation of combat units, fighting to the last bullet.

Is it necessary to say the role and significance of higher level commanders and political workers talking with soldiers in bunkers and forward positions? From my own experience, I know that when I have a heart to heart talk with soldiers in the bunker, I can share their pain and their joy; Or have a cigarette. Analyze the war situation together; Or come up with ideas about how to fight; That is to build up such confidence among the soldiers: "since the commander is here, we should stick to this position tenaciously!" In this way, soldiers will never retreat before receiving orders from their superiors. They will fight with the enemy to the last breath.

The important thing is to let all soldiers know that their achievements will not be buried. In this case, we can be confident that they will complete any task. Although the army suffered serious losses, the party and League organizations are still developing and toughening stronger. Dozens, hundreds or even hundreds of soldiers submitted their applications to join the party on the line of fire. Everyone is eager to take part in the battle. If necessary, they will be as brave as the Communists and members of the Communist Youth League. "

At this point, he stopped, looked at me with his eyes, then said with a smile, "comrades, at this point, I will inevitably mention Comrade oshanina. No matter in the 62nd or 64th army, the superior commanders all agree that you are an excellent and brave commander, and often take the lead in fighting with the commanders and fighters in the front line. Here, I'd like to give you a suggestion. As a division commander, you don't have to squat in the front-line bunker, because your position should be in the command post, where you should lead the whole fighting process. Of course, I'm not against you going to the front. Under special circumstances, as an excellent commander, when he foresees that the war situation is extremely critical, he should not stay away from the front, but should be as close to his soldiers as possible. In this way, the soldiers will not complain about you, on the contrary, they will cover you with their chest, and they will try their best to complete their tasks. "

As soon as ellenburg had finished, kirilov echoed him and said, "you are absolutely right, old man. O'shanina is a brave and passionate commander, but she always likes to run to the front, like a company commander or even a platoon leader, to command the troops. If she is only a company commander or platoon leader, this is undoubtedly commendable. But as the head of a division, it is dereliction of duty for her to leave her post. Not only can we not get praise, we should also be criticized. Don't you think so, my old man? "

Ellenburg chuckled a few times, did not express his own opinion, but timely turned the topic aside: "the reason why I took the initiative to ask your independent division to interview this time is that I apologized to Colonel o'shanina, and the other reason is that your independent division has made outstanding achievements since its establishment, which is unmatched by other troops. Let's not say anything else. Let's say the mamayev post that you are holding fast to. The enemy has been attacking here for more than a month. The flag of your independent division is still flying high in the position. I just want to know how you have achieved such brilliant achievements? "

As for the question of ellenburg, I have already had the answer in my mind. However, when I looked at the propaganda minister of the municipal Party committee sitting next to him, I hesitated again. After all, there were outsiders present, and many of them were not so convenient. When I was hesitating, suddenly a familiar voice came from behind me: "Yo, you are very busy here."

I turned around and found that it was trakov standing at the door. He jumped up from his seat and welcomed them. At the same time, I asked curiously, "Comrade commander, how did you come to us?"

Instead of answering my question, trakov asked himself, "it seems that the mamayev post is quite quiet these days. The enemy in front of you has not launched any offensive against you?"

"Well, comrade commander." Akhromeyev quickly took over the topic report and said: "since the German army was attacked and shelled by us at night, it has stopped the frontal attack on mamayev post. But their long-range guns are still bombarding the Volga River, and planes are flying over our highlands to bomb the docks, trying to cut off our contact with the other side. "

After shaking hands one by one with ellenburg and verdowan, trakov said in a friendly way, "Comrade ellenburg, welcome to Stalingrad. I'm sorry I didn't meet you when you came. Please forgive me Then, shaking hands with kirilov, he continued, "I received a call from Comrade gurov from the headquarters of the front army saying that he will cross the river and return to Stalingrad tonight, so I will come to you and wait for him to return."

When trakov sat down at the table, basmanov and razumeyeva were obviously not suitable for sitting down, so they reluctantly returned to their respective posts. After we were all seated, trikov asked ellenburg with great interest, "Comrade ellenburg, what were you talking about before I came here?"

"Well, comrade commander." After looking at me, ellenburg said to trikov with a smile, "I want to interview Colonel oshanina to find out how the independent division achieved such brilliant results? But judging from her expression, she seems to have some worries, so she didn't accept my interview

Hearing what ellenburg said, trekov turned his eyes to me and asked strangely, "o'shanina, why don't you accept the interview with Comrade ellenburg? Do you have any worries?"

I said with a bitter smile, "Comrade commander, it involves a lot of military secrets. Is it appropriate to say that here?" With that, my eyes unconsciously turned to fern dowan, who was sitting next to ellenburg. I couldn't figure out his origin, so I didn't dare to say anything

I didn't expect that trikov waved his big hand and said carelessly: "Comrade oshanina, you can say whatever you think of. Don't worry. There is no outsider here. Even if you are wrong, no one will blame you. "

With trekov's permission, I had a lot of confidence. After sorting out my ideas, I began to make a formal speech: "as we all know, the independent division was not established for a long time. Almost all the soldiers came from the Gulag concentration camp, while the commanders at all levels came from the military punishment camp. When it comes to equipment, of course, it's also very poor. Although the headquarters of the group army has provided us with some supplements, most of the commanders and fighters are unarmed. Except for a small part of the army's equipment, which was rationed by the superior, the guns, artillery and even tanks used by the officers and soldiers of the independent division were seized from the enemy. "

When I said this, trakov put in a word: "in fact, when we set up the independent division, its purpose is like building a large number of logistics forces. Since they are not the main logistic forces, it is certain that their weapons distribution can not be compared with other forces. It's just that I didn't expect that this army, under the command of Comrade o'shanina, would become such a powerful force. " At this point, he made a sign to me to go on.

I calmed down, then said: "with weapons, how can we fight the next battle? This question made me ponder for a long time. After careful consideration, I think that in the brutal battle of Stalingrad, if our division does not want to be destroyed by the enemy, it must adopt a very different way of fighting from other forces, avoid the war of attrition with less casualties and more results, and fight more skillful battles with less casualties and more gains. "

When I saw ellenburg scribbling in his notebook, I was afraid that he couldn't keep up with me, so I slowed down. He didn't expect to be noticed immediately. He immediately raised his head and said to me, "Captain oshanina, please speak at your usual speed. I remember coming."

I nodded and went on in my own way of thinking: "I know very well that my subordinates lack sufficient training and combat experience, and the quality of individual soldiers is obviously inferior to that of the enemy. In addition, our army has no air supremacy on the battlefield, even the number of cannons is not the same. If the local people take the usual dense sea of people tactics to attack the enemy with firepower advantage, or mechanically stick to every inch of land at all costs, the whole army will be destroyed under the powerful firepower of the enemy. Therefore, in the early days of the formation of the independent division, I used the tactics of ambush or night attack to attack the weak links of the German army, to maximize the consumption of German forces and seize their military supplies. In this way, our soldiers can improve their overall morale in victory after victory, and at the same time establish the belief that our army will win. "

"Let me say a few words." When akhromeyev waited for my words to come to an end, he couldn't help interrupting and saying, "I think the success of an independent division has something to do with an excellent teacher. First of all, he is very good at carrying forward military democracy. For those immature tactics, he has to discuss with us before making a final decision. Secondly, she often decentralizes her powers to give full play to the subjective initiative of the front-line commanders, so that they can adjust their deployment according to the actual situation of the battlefield. This can be proved by the fact that the German army has never been able to occupy the northern highlands of mamayev post. "

"The chief of staff is right." As soon as akhromeyev finished speaking, kirilov said: "I came to the independent division. After getting along with Comrade oshanina, I learned that the backward tactical awareness will lead to great deviation in understanding. Before, I always thought that as long as we can defend our city and keep our defense line, it is worth the sacrifice. But with the change of my understanding, I found that many of my previous views were wrong. Although the commanders and fighters who blindly put their best troops into unnecessary consumption, regardless of the actual situation of the battlefield, showed great courage, in the end, except for a tragic ending, it was of no help to the whole war situation. I think if we want to win, we must first know how to preserve ourselves. Only by preserving ourselves can we eliminate more enemies. "

After kirilov's words, there was a terrible silence in the room. I didn't expect kirilov to be so bold that even the opinions I usually instilled in him were spoken in front of trakov. You know, like other senior commanders, trakov likes to use carpet style sea of people tactics, filling out one victory after another with human lives. Kirilov's words are undoubtedly hitting each other in the face.

I watched trakov's expression, and saw that his face was black and blue, and his breathing became rapid. Seeing his expression, my heart went up to my throat. My heart said kirilov exposed his shortcomings in public. Would he not be angry at kirilov?

Trikov slapped the table and stood up, staring at kirilov. Just when I thought he was about to lose his temper, he burst out laughing and said aloud, "well said, comrade kirilov, that's very good of you!"

Trekov's expression startled me. My heart said that he didn't mean to be ironic. Then I should be furious. Unexpectedly, he went around the table to kirilov, reached out to him and said sincerely, "thank you, comrade kirilov. What you said is very good. At the same time, it reminds me that in such a cruel battle at present, if we still use the old tactics, our troops will pay more sacrifices. "

Seeing their hands tightly clasped together, my heart hung in my throat. It seems that trekov is also a commander who can correct his mistakes. It is precisely because of his excellent quality that he can go further in the future.

After the interview with kirilov and me, ellenburg ran to the telephone to interview razumeyeva and Naga. Fearing that the two girls might have made a mistake, he went over.

There were only me, trakov, kirilov and akhromeyev left at the table. Trikov looked around, then looked at me and asked, "o'shanina, the army of the group is now stretched out. I'd like to hear your opinion on how to deal with the enemy who is stronger than us next."

I thought for a moment and answered, "with our present strength and weaponry, counterattack against the enemy will not only have little effect, but will consume our valuable soldiers in vain. Therefore, I suggest that the group army should organize small and capable units in the troops under its jurisdiction to attack suddenly and rapidly at night, constantly encroach on the city positions occupied by the enemy, and continue to contain and consume the effective strength and technical equipment of the German army. In this way, the pressure on the front of our group army's defense will be reduced, so that we can gradually organize our group army into units with broken internal structure and exhausted commanders and fighters, and withdraw across the Volga River for rehabilitation and replenishment. "

After listening to this, trakov nodded and said with satisfaction, "Comrade oshanina, your proposal coincides with general Krylov's idea. He also said that the current group army is not strong enough, and heavy weapons are not superior to the Germans. He suggested that I change my tactics and use the existing forces to consume as many Germans as possible who rush into the city."

After talking with trakov for a long time, I didn't hear him mention when reinforcements would come. I felt a burst of frustration. Kirilov and akhromeyev's expressions were not much better. After looking at each other, they also frowned and stared at the map in front of them.

Seeing that there was something wrong with the atmosphere, trikov immediately began to laugh: "Comrade oshanina and Comrade kirilov, I know what you are thinking. I'm worried that the current strength of the group army is not enough." At this point, he revealed to us in a low voice, "to tell you the truth, the front army has assigned us the 308th division, which was originally affiliated to the 24th group army. The Division has just been transferred from Siberia, and its division commander is Col. gurdyev, and its political commissar is Comrade svelin. They are all commanders with rich combat experience."

When they heard that reinforcements were coming, kirilov and akhromeyev suddenly came to their senses and put their heads to trikov. Kirilov asked with a smile, "now that reinforcements are coming, can you supplement our soldiers?" Hearing that they were bargaining with trakov, I kept silent and planned to wait until they met.

As expected, trikov shook his head like a rattle and refused kirilov unequivocally: "no, comrade kirilov. The loss of your independent division is great, and the loss of other troops is not small. Anyway, there are still more than 2000 people in your division, and there are only 300 or 500 other divisions or brigades. In some divisions, in addition to the division level leaders who have to take part in the fighting in person, even the wounded who have slightly improved have taken up arms again. Even if there are new soldiers coming, I will give priority to them. " Kirilov and akhromeyev, who hit the wall, sighed disappointingly and sat listlessly back to their positions.

Looking at the factory area on the map, I suddenly remembered that kirilov had mentioned to me earlier that the 70th division of ryudnikov's guards had been deployed to the open area between the factory area and the Volga River. So I asked trekov curiously, "Comrade commander, the German army is fighting with our army in the factory area. After a long time of fighting, the troops of Colonel ryudnikov are fighting with us, The troops are on the verge of exhaustion. Maybe they can't help much in this battle for factory area? Perhaps when Col. gurtyev's 308th division arrives, it must immediately throw itself into this area to assist the 39th division of the guards in destroying the enemy who rushed into the factory area. "

Trekov waved his hand and denied my statement: "although the war situation in the factory area is very tight, the 308th division can not enter this area for the time being, because today the German pincer offensive in Orlov area has been successful, which encircles the 3rd Battalion of andreushenko infantry brigade, several companies of Motorized Infantry Brigade 2 and the 315th battalion of infantry. We must throw the 308th division into the area east of Orlov to fortify and prepare for the enemy's attacks from all sides. At the same time, when the time is right, attack Orlov and rescue the besieged troops. "

"But Comrade commander," I kindly reminded trikov when he finished saying, "if the enemy occupied the factory area, then all the passages from the main force of the group army to the wharf would be cut off, so that the independent division stationed at mamayev post would become an isolated army, facing simultaneous attacks from all directions with our existing forces, It won't last long. "

"Don't worry, Colonel oshanina." "Although I don't put the 308th division into the factory area, other troops will be responsible for the defense of this area," he comforted me

Trikov's words kindled a new hope in our hearts. Kirilov couldn't wait to ask, "Comrade commander, are there any other reinforcements?"

Trekov nodded and said, "yes, according to the orders of the superior. Major general ruolujev's 37th division of close guard infantry will be transferred from the fourth group army of tanks to cross the river to reinforce us and enter the city no later than the evening of October 3. After entering the city, the regiments under the jurisdiction of the division should immediately occupy the line of defense and start fighting in the early morning of the next day. Their main task is to defend the factory area, assist in fighting the 39th division of the guards and the militia forces here, and eliminate all the enemies in the area. " Two new reinforcements are coming soon, which means that the defensive pressure we bear at mamayev post will be greatly reduced, and my mood will suddenly become relaxed.

Ellenburg and fern dowen interviewed wanrazumeyeva and they came back and said goodbye to us. Kirilov quickly called busmanov over and told him, "Comrade captain, send Comrade ellenburg a squad to escort him out of the Highlands safely."

After thanking kirilov, ellenburg said goodbye to all of them one by one. When she finally came to me, she turned her head and took a look. She saw that her companion, Frederick, was saying goodbye to all of us. Suddenly, she whispered to me, "Comrade o'shanina, please follow me." Then he went to the door. When he came to the door, the person nearest to us was five or six steps away. He said to me in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, I'll tell you a piece of good news secretly. Maybe you can resume your rank of general soon."