The reason why I called Shedelikov and asked about Perstian's whereabouts was that I thought that when I remained behind enemy lines, he commanded the independent division, and he was solely responsible for many personnel arrangements.

After a moment of silence, Sederikov replied: "Report to Comrade Division Commander, since all the tanks of our division have been lost, Captain Perstian and his tank men have all been converted into infantry and incorporated into the fourth regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar...... "Before he could finish speaking, I couldn't wait to hang up the phone and quickly shook the fourth regiment.

After the phone was connected, a lazy and impolite voice came from the earset: "The regimental headquarters of the fourth regiment here, where are you and what's the matter?" After that, he yawned loudly.

The attitude of the person who answered the phone made me feel unhappy, but this was not the time to lose my temper, I suppressed the anger in my heart, gritted my back molars and said: "I am the division commander, Colonel Oshanina, I have something to find Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar, is he there?" ”

As soon as I finished speaking, there was a chaotic sound in the headphones, including low shouts, the clatter of guns, and even the sound of a wooden stool at the end, perhaps the person answering the phone got up too quickly and knocked over the stool he was sitting on. Then, the originally lazy voice became serious: "Hello, Comrade Division Commander. I beg your pardon, I didn't know it was you, so ...... I beg your pardon for my recklessness. Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar was sleeping, and I immediately woke him up. ”

Gaidar's voice soon sounded in the headphones: "I'm sorry, comrade division commander, I beg your pardon. When you call. I'm sleeping. To know. I had just finished supervising the troops, and I was tired all day, and I couldn't help but feel a little tired, so I fell asleep before I knew it. ……”

Hearing Gaidar explain to me in such a verbose way, I impatiently interrupted him and first reminded him: "After the transfer of the third regiment, only your fourth regiment will be left for the defense of the settlement. and Lieutenant Colonel Oleg's fifth regiment. It is necessary to organize the fighters to build more fortifications in the settlements and prepare for the possible fierce offensive of the enemy. ”

"Understood, Comrade Division Commander." Gaidar's language became refined again, "There are quite a few construction engineers in our regiment, and under the guidance of these professionals, we have built a lot of new fortifications in the past few days. ”

"Very well, Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar, that's right." After complimenting him, I changed the subject and asked, "That's right." Captain Pelsjian is with you, right? ”

"Yes, he's here. Please wait. Then I heard him shouting, "Hey, Persjian, the division commander has something to look for you, hurry up and answer the phone." ”

After a while, the familiar voice of Pelsjian came from the earphones: "Hello, Comrade Division Commander, I thought I had forgotten by you." ”

"Comrade Captain, how did you end up at Gaidar's command?" I asked curiously about Persjian coming to answer the phone so soon.

Pelsjian's tone said with a hint of helplessness: "Comrade division commander, it's like this, after all my tanks were lost in the early battle, I and my subordinates were all converted into infantry. Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar said that it was a waste to use our tank corps as infantry, so he turned us into his guard platoon, which usually lived in his regimental headquarters. ”

After listening to Pelsken's words, I understood why he was able to pick up my phone after Gaidar shouted twice, and secondly, I understood what was going on when I heard the sound of a gun striking in my headphones.

I coughed, cleared my throat, and continued to ask: "Comrade Captain, how many tank crews are there under your command?" ”

"Comrade division commander, please wait a moment, I'll count it." Then I heard him counting his men in one, two, three, four, five. When he counted seventeen, he didn't go any further, and then I realized that there were probably only so many people left in the tank detachment.

Before he could speak, I preemptively said, "Captain Persjian, I heard it all, and you have seventeen more soldiers under you. With you, it should be eighteen, right? ”

"That's right, Comrade Division Commander." Pelce replied.

I silently calculated in my heart that it might still be a little difficult for eighteen people to drive back ten tanks, and I couldn't help but hesitate. When Persjian heard that I didn't speak, and didn't hang up the phone, he cautiously asked: "Comrade division commander, do you have any important tasks for calling me at this time?" ”

I nodded silently, and suddenly remembered that he couldn't see my expression, and hurriedly said: "That's right, Captain Persjian, the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Regiment held on the 107.5 heights on the left flank of the Mamayev Heights, captured ten German tanks in the battle that just ended. Originally, I wanted you to bring people to drive all these tanks back, but now there are only eighteen of you in total, and there are too many people? ”

"Do you just drive the tank back, or do you want to drive it to battle?" Pelsjian asked tentatively.

"Just drive the tank back and hide." I replied earnestly, "At the moment we don't even know where the enemy's camp is, so we attack recklessly, and maybe before we get there, the tanks run out of fuel." The tanks were either blown up by aircraft or recaptured by the enemy. ”

"Comrade division commander, do you know that if we just drive the tank back, we will be eighteen people." Pelsjian said proudly: "Anyway, it's not for us to go to war, so some tanks only need one driver." ”

When I heard him say this, I immediately laughed dumbly, isn't that what he said, and I didn't send them to war, one driver of a tank was enough, and there was no need for gunners and sighters at all, I was drilling the horns of the bull myself.

In this way, if you just drive the tank back, you will still have rich manpower. But if you want to participate in the war, you need at least twice as many tank crews. But in this situation, where do I go to find a suitable tank crew? Thinking of this, I couldn't help but sigh softly.

My sigh was heard by Pelsjian, who asked with concern: "Comrade division commander, are you still worried about the lack of tank corps to put all these tanks into battle?" ”

Hear him say that. I sighed to myself. He's a roundworm in my stomach. I can even guess what I think. But if you guess it, if it were him, you might not be able to conjure dozens of tank crews out of thin air. I half-jokingly retorted, "What?" Captain Persken, can you find the right tank crew to operate these tanks? ”

"Don't dare to say anything else, it's not a trivial matter to find dozens of tank crews."

Although Pelsjian said it with confidence, I was still skeptical: "Oh, you can really find a tank crew?" ”

Then. Pelsjian lowered his voice and said to me mysteriously: "Comrade division commander, you may not know that there are several tank divisions or tank brigades in the city at present, but these troops do not have a single tank, and those tank crews have been converted into infantry. As you know, the tank crew is a technical unit, and if it was used by ordinary infantry, it would be a waste. ”

"Alright, alright. Captain Persjian, "Although he is not finished yet." But I already understood what he wanted to express, and hurriedly interrupted him: "I understand what you mean, and as soon as dawn comes, I will go to the headquarters of the group army to find the commander and ask him for a few tank men to supplement you." ”

"This is very good," Persjian asked with some excitement: "Comrade division commander, I would like to ask, when will we be able to receive those captured tanks?" ”

"Now, of course, do you want to put the tanks at the foot of the hill on the high ground, and wait until dawn for the enemy planes to blow them all up?" Speaking of this, I remembered that the distance from the settlement to the location where the tanks were parked was not close, so I asked with concern: "Are there any cars in the settlement?" ”

"Report to the division commander, no, not a single one." Pelsjian replied dryly.

I heard him reply that there were no cars in the settlement, so I quickly covered the microphone and asked Kirillov: "Comrade commissar, have the trucks with flying thunder guns returned?" ”

Kirillov glanced at the door, then shook his head and replied, "No, I haven't seen Captain Morozov yet." ”

I let go of my hand on the microphone and continued to say to Pelsjian: "Captain, listen, immediately gather your men and rush to Heights 107.5 on foot to receive the tanks parked at the foot of the mountain. If you're lucky, you'll probably be able to run into the truck I've sent to pick you up halfway through. That's it, Comrade Captain, I wish you good luck! ”

After putting down the phone, I looked at Akhromeyev and Kirillov, who were standing at the table, and said to them: "I have ordered Captain Perstian to take his men and immediately rush to receive those tanks. However, since there were no trucks in the settlements, it might be dawn if they had walked until they had reached their destination and driven their tanks back, so I was prepared to send two of them to their destination when Morozov's four trucks returned, and then bring back the captured German prisoners. ”

After I finished speaking, Kirillov first nodded in agreement: "It's better for the division commander to think it through, and ...... when the German prisoners are transported back."

As soon as he was halfway through his words, the phone on the table rang again, and Akhromeyev grabbed the microphone and said loudly: "Hey, this is the headquarters of the independent division, where are you?" After listening for a while, he handed over the microphone and whispered to me, "The division commander is Captain Godunov, the acting commander of the 3rd Regiment. ”

I took the phone and put it close to my ear, and said into the microphone: "Hey, is this Captain Godunov?" I'm Colonel Oshanina, do you have anything to do with me? ”

"Report to the division commander," Godunov said politely, "I am now at the command post on the 107.5 heights, with Captain Khrushov. ”

"You just led the troops to outflank the Germans, right?" Hearing him say that he was on the high ground on the west side at the moment, he immediately understood who commanded the army he had just seen, and the reason why he asked this question was to confirm his conjecture.

"Yes, Comrade Division Commander," Godunov replied in the affirmative, perhaps fearing that I would blame him for leading his troops without asking for instructions, and explained to me: "I had just led my troops to the vicinity of the high ground, and when I saw that the Germans were attacking our positions, I wondered if I could sneak around behind them and beat them up while the enemy had not discovered us." So ......"

"So you led your troops back to the northern slope of the high grounds, and flanked the friendly forces rushing down from above, and eliminated the enemy attacking the high grounds. Is that so? ”

Godunov laughed embarrassedly twice. Flatteringly asked, "I do this." Comrade division commander. You won't blame me, will you? You know, we have wiped out all the enemies who attacked our positions. ”

"Alright, alright, Captain Godunov, I have seen all the merits you have made, so don't show credit in front of me anymore." Speaking of which, I looked at the map spread out in front of me and thought about it, and felt that the first and third regiments of the second regiment were placed on the high ground. Something is wrong, although Godunov is the acting regimental commander and Khrushov is the battalion commander, but both are captains and are not subordinate to each other, and once the battle is fierce, it will be troublesome for them to fight separately, and one of them must be transferred. Thinking of this, I said again: "Comrade Captain, I now give you a new order to immediately get the troops of your regiment. Receiving the defense of the heights, let Captain Khrushov take his battalion. Withdraw to the garrison of the 2nd Regiment and stand by. ”

Godunov unusually cheerfully agreed: "Yes, comrade division commander, I will convey your order to him immediately!" ”

Before I could finish talking to Godunov on the phone, I heard Morozov's familiar voice coming from the door: "May I come in?" ”

When Kirillov saw that I was on the phone, he shouted in a pretentious manner: "Come in, Captain Morozov, Comrade Division Commander is looking for you on something." ”

When Morozov heard that I was looking for him, he hurriedly walked up to me and stood upright, quietly waiting for me to give him a new order after I had finished the call.

After I put down the phone, I looked at Morozov, who was standing straight, and thought in my heart that all the cars in the division, including the jeep I was riding, were handed over to the army group headquarters, where did Morozov find the four trucks? So before I asked about the casualties of the flying thunder artillery combat group, I first asked Morozov curiously: "Comrade Captain, where did the trucks of your artillery battalion come from?" Could it be those German trucks captured during the day? ”

Unexpectedly, Morozov shook his head and replied: "No, the trucks that came back with heavy artillery have been handed over to the retreating 125th Regiment to transport the wounded of the regiment." These four trucks were sent by the army group command to deliver explosives to us. ”

I nodded secretly, and said in my heart that it was a truck from the army headquarters. However, now that there were no vehicles available in the division, to transport Captain Perstian and his men, and the captured German tank crews, they had to continue to borrow these trucks, so I ordered Morozov: "Comrade Captain, you have the soldiers unload all the things on the trucks, and send two to meet Captain Perstian and them in the direction of the settlement." By the way, I've just ordered them to go, so maybe you'll run into them halfway through. ”

Morozov nodded and said obediently: "Okay, I'll personally take the car to pick them up." ”

Seeing that Morozov was about to turn around and leave, I hurriedly stopped him and continued: "By the way, after you send Captain Perstian and them to the tank, when you return, you will also bring back those German tank crews captured by the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Regiment. After speaking, he waved at Morozov, "Okay, you can go now." When the captives are brought back, you come back to the headquarters. ”

After Morozov left, Akhromeyev finally had time to ask us about the use of the flying thunder cannon, and he asked curiously: "Division commander, political commissar, how effective is that flying thunder cannon?" ”

"Chief of Staff, you said flying thunder cannon!" Kirillov, who had witnessed the power of the flying thunder cannon with his own eyes, immediately explained to him excitedly when he heard Akhromeyev ask: "That guy is really amazing, you didn't see the explosives bag fall into the explosion, and you blew up the enemy in a radius of fifty or sixty meters, even the tankmen hiding in the tanks are no exception, although they were not killed, but most of them were stunned by the shock wave of the explosion, so our fighters were able to catch so many tank prisoners and capture ten ......tanks in their entirety."

When Kirillov had finished speaking, I said to him thoughtfully: "Comrade Commissar, I think we should let Morozov and them hurry up and make more explosive packs, so that when we are defending, we can inflict greater damage on the attacking enemy." ”

Kirillov nodded approvingly, and echoed me: "Yes, this time with only forty-eight explosives packs, such an unexpected result was achieved. If we were to use 200, 300, or even 1,000 explosives packs, I really can't imagine what kind of damage we would inflict on the enemy. ”

After chatting for a while, Kirillov suddenly mentioned the captured tank crews, and he offered to ask me for his life: "Comrade Oshanina. Later, when the trucks carrying the captives return. I followed these trucks to the headquarters of the army group. The first is to return the trucks, and the second is to hand over these prisoners to the command of the army group. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, I waved my hand again and again and directly rejected his request: "Comrade Political Commissar, I should personally do the matter of escorting the prisoners to the headquarters of the group army." You and Chief of Staff Akhromeyev will stay in the command. ”

My words caused not only Kirillov to be unhappy, but even Akhromeyev with a look of displeasure, and he said dissatisfiedly: "Comrade division commander. Just now, when you and the political commissar were watching the actual battle of the flying thunder cannon on the top of the hillside, I stayed in the command headquarters. This time, in any case, I will be entrusted with the difficult task of escorting the prisoners. Besides, you are the commander of a division, and you cannot just leave your command position. ”

After listening to Akhromeyev's words, Kirillov also echoed and said: "Yes, Comrade Oshanina, I think the chief of staff has a point, you are the commander of a division, and you cannot casually leave the command position of the independent division, as for the escort of prisoners. I'll leave it to me or the Chief of Staff. ”

Seeing that the two formed a common front so quickly, I couldn't help but smile and said, "Political commissar, chief of staff." Both of you have a point. But when I went to the headquarters of the group army this time, it was not only to escort prisoners and return trucks, not to mention a few of us, even if I sent a company commander and platoon commander at random, I could complete it. I went to see the commander to ask him for some tank crews that had been reorganized into infantry, so that I could replenish Perstian's tank detachment and build up its combat effectiveness in a short time. After I explained this, the two of them were relieved, and they no longer fought with me for the task of escorting the prisoners.

After almost an hour, Morozov again came to the command and respectfully reported to me: "Comrade division commander, the truck escorting the prisoners has stopped at the bottom of the hillside, please instruct what to do with these prisoners?" ”

Before I said what I wanted to do with the prisoners, I asked him: "Captain Morozov, do you know German?" "When I asked this, I thought to myself, if he didn't understand the Germans, I'd take Mihayev with me and let him be my interpreter.

Unexpectedly, Morozov nodded vigorously and replied to me: "Report to the division commander, although my German level is not as good as Mihayev's, if you want to interrogate the prisoners, it should still be a big problem. ”

Morozov's words immediately put me to shame, for many of my commanders were fluent in German, and I knew almost nothing of the German language, except for a few words such as "lay down your arms, shoot and not kill." However, at this time, in front of my subordinates, I still had to maintain the image of my superiors, so I pretended to be casual and said: "Okay, Comrade Captain, since you know German, come with me to the headquarters of the army group." ”

When I got to the place where the truck was parked at the foot of the hill, I saw the German prisoners crouched in a row under the truck, surrounded by nearly a company of soldiers pointing guns at them.

Seeing this, I turned to Morozov, who was following me, and said: "Divide these prisoners into four groups, put them all on trucks, and then we will go to the headquarters of the army group." ”

As soon as Morozov received my order, he ran over and ordered the fighters to separate the captives and put them one by one into the truck. Although most of the soldiers who served as guards around them were from the 2nd Regiment, they saw me, the division commander, standing aside, and they carried out the orders given by Morozov without discount.

At the time of departure, Morozov and I sat in the bed of the first truck, where there were four German prisoners and six fighters who were heavily armed to guard them. Looking at the German captain who was sitting in the carriage with his head down, I touched Morozov's arm, bowed to the prisoner, and whispered to him: "Comrade Morozov, ask the German captain his name and the number of the unit!" ”

Morozov nodded, and said to the German captain. The captive was stunned for a moment when he heard someone say German, then quickly came to his senses and spoke to Morozov with questions and answers.

Morozov chatted with the captain for a while, stopped talking to the other party, and reported to me in a low voice: "Report to the division commander, this captain's name is Bossel, and he is the commander of an armored battalion of the German 14th Tank Army. According to him, he was an instructor from the School of Armored Forces in Vienna, and today is his first time in combat. ”

After listening to Morozov's words, I nodded, and then asked with interest at Bossel: "Mr. Captain, did you ever think that you would be captured by us on the battlefield?" ”

Hearing the translation, Bossel shook his head vigorously, and again uttered a tirade: "Madam Colonel. Originally, our troops attacking the high ground had already seized the initiative on the battlefield. Although the defenders were constantly increasing their forces from the southern slope to the positions in front. But in my estimation, in half an hour at most, they will all die under our fire. Unexpectedly, at this moment, you shamelessly used heavy artillery to bombard us, and as a result, our attack fell short. ”

After listening to the captive's words, I asked curiously, "Mr. Captain, can you really confirm that you are under heavy artillery attack?" ”

Bossel pondered for a moment, then nodded affirmatively, "Yes." Judging by the power of the shell explosion at that time, it was definitely not the 152 mm howitzer you were used to, which had a caliber of at least 200 mm or more. ”

After listening to Morozov's translation, I smiled at him, then turned to Bossel in front of me and said: "Mr. Captain, I have to say that your judgment is correct, the caliber of the weapons we use is indeed more than 200 mm. ”

Bossel sighed, and then asked curiously, "When did you equip this kind of artillery, how come I have never heard of it?" ”

"I haven't heard of it. Because of this weapon, we will only equip it tonight. And you. Captain Bossel and your men have unfortunately fallen victim to our testing of the power of this weapon. ”

After listening to my words, Bossel actually pleaded: "Madam Colonel, I wonder if you can show me this new type of artillery. Because after I was captured, I found that although I and my men were stunned, the body of the tank was barely damaged, which was unbelievable. ”

The Flying Thunder Cannon is the secret weapon of the Independent Division, how could I let these prisoners visit, so I said in a cold tone: "Mr. Captain, when this battle is over, if you have the opportunity, I will let you see this new weapon, but only if you live until that time." ”

When Bossel was about to say something more, a sudden shout came from the front: "Stop, stop!" "I turned my head and saw a makeshift checkpoint at the intersection in front of me, with several triangular iron frames in the middle of the road, and sandbag fortifications with machine guns on both sides of the road.

A second lieutenant officer wearing a large-brimmed hat with two fighters with submachine guns walked towards our truck. Walking to the window on the driver's side, he said in a stern tone: "Comrade soldier, please show your ID!" ”

I stood up, holding the baffle in my hand, and looked down at the officers who were checking their documents with the help of the light of the flashlight, and at the same time, I asked loudly: "Hey, comrade commander, which part of you are in?" ”

The second lieutenant was startled by my voice, and hurriedly raised his flashlight to shine it at me. Unexpectedly, after the flashlight only shook on my face for a moment, the second lieutenant quickly put away the flashlight, raised his hand to salute me, and politely saluted: "Hello, Commander Oshanina!" We are from the 10th Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. ”

Hearing this commander call out my name accurately, I couldn't help but ask curiously: "Comrade commander, did we know each other before?" ”

Unexpectedly, the second lieutenant's head swung like a rattle and replied, "No, I have never seen you." But I heard from my colleagues that the commander of the independent division who was sticking to the Mamayev post was a woman, and she was the only female colonel in the whole army, so I guessed your identity as soon as I saw your rank just now. ”

Seeing that this commander was very friendly to me, I also said to him with a pleasant face: "Comrade commander, since you know my identity, can you let us pass?" You know, we have an urgent matter and need to rush to the headquarters of the army group immediately. ”

"No problem," said the commander, turning and waving his hand behind him, five or six soldiers immediately ran out of the sandbag fortifications on the side of the road, and moved the tripods in the middle of the road to the side of the road.

Seeing that the road ahead was clear, the second lieutenant looked up at me and said, "Colonel Oshanina, the barricades in front have been removed, and you and your men can go." Have a nice trip! With that, he took two steps back and raised his hand to salute me.

I hurriedly raised my hand in return and said in a friendly manner, "Thank you, Comrade Second Lieutenant. Good luck! Then I raised my hand and slapped the roof of the bridge hard, and shouted to the driver: "Drive!" (To be continued......)