When Oleg sent someone to the commander of the anti-tank rifle company, I briefly explained what Chuikov had said on the phone.

After saying that, I was going to call Gaidar, the commander of the 4th Regiment, and I was going to order him to send a battalion, with the cooperation of the tank battalion, to carry out a counterattack on the Soviet Avenue behind the heights, in order to take back the dormitory area from the hands of the Germans. As for whether the tank battalion, which has been hidden by me, will be bombed by enemy planes after attacking, and the entire army is wiped out, I don't care much about this. I know better than anyone else, and I don't want the enemy to gain a firm foothold in the dormitory area, and then use it as a starting position for the attack, and attack the Mamayev Gang that our division is holding on.

As soon as I picked up the phone, Kirillov, who was pale, said excitedly: "Comrade division commander, you should immediately call Captain Akhromeyev and ask him to immediately send three regiments to attack first, cooperate with the commanders and fighters of the 92nd Brigade to counterattack the high ground, and strive to seize our position from the enemy's hands as much as possible." Then he said to himself indignantly: "A brigade guarding a high ground has not even held it for a day." Such a commander should be court-martialed. ”

Hearing Kirillov say this, I also think that I should call Akhromeyev first, after all, he is in charge of the overall situation at the Mamayev post at this moment, and I believe that after receiving my order, he will send troops to the nearest reinforcement. The departure of the infantry and tank battalions of the 4th regiment a little later will not affect the overall situation.

When Akhromeyev's calm voice came from the earpiece, I suddenly felt a trace of dissatisfaction in my heart, although I and the commissar were not in the headquarters, but the loss of friendly troops on the high ground was such a big thing. They didn't even notify us. That's because of this thought. So the tone of his speech was not so polite: "Comrade Chief of Staff." Why didn't you call me and the commissar when something so big happened? ”

My reproach confused Akhromeyev, and after a long while, he asked puzzledly: "Report to the division commander, I have nothing to hide from you and the political commissar?" The positions of a regiment, although attacked by the Germans several times, were all repulsed by our valiant fighters? ”

"And what about the positions of the 92nd Brigade? Do you just watch the Germans occupy the 107.5 heights and storm the streets of the Soviets and remain indifferent? ”

"Comrade division commander. I don't understand what you're talking about? Only five minutes earlier, the observation post on the hillside had called me to say that the sailors of the 92nd Brigade had beaten the Germans who had attacked the heights to the point of fleeing. As for the side of Soviets Street, it is not a coincidence due to the obstruction of the view, but there is no sign of fighting in this area? ”

I was stunned by Akhromeyev's report, why did he say that the situation was different from what Chuikov said, could I have heard it wrong? Thinking of this, I hurriedly asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff." Again, you repeat, what about the current 107.5 heights? ”

"Report to the division commander. The 107.5 heights are still in the hands of our army, to be precise, the Baltic sailors are holding the heights. And on Soviet Street, behind the heights, there were no signs of fighting. ”

"I know, Comrade Chief of Staff." With that, I hung up.

Seeing that I put down the phone, Kirillov came over and asked with concern: "Comrade Oshanina, how is it, what did Captain Akhromeyev say?" ”

I frowned and thought back to Akhromeyev's words, thinking that he didn't seem to be talking nonsense, and it was impossible for Chuikov to joke with me about such a thing, so what was the problem? Hearing Kirillov's questioning, I quickly repeated Akhromeyev's words to him, and then said: "Comrade Political Commissar, the situation reported by the Chief of Staff is completely different from that reported by the commander, and it must be clarified first. In this way, the 5th Regiment and the Tank Battalion will not be used for the time being. Later, when the anti-tank rifle company arrives, I will take them back to the Mamayev post, while you, the commissar, will continue to stay here and wait for further news from me. ”

Kirillov understood my character, so he didn't argue with me about who would go to find out the news and who would stay in command, but just told me: "Comrade Oshanina, no matter what, it's not very safe over there, so in addition to the anti-tank rifle company, I'll build yì, you can take another company of infantry back." "To put him at ease, I agreed without hesitation.

The company commander of the anti-tank rifle company, a captain in his forties, walked up to me, raised his hand and saluted and reported: "Comrade division commander, Captain Hubar, the commander of the anti-tank rifle company, reports to you. ”

I looked at the captain in front of me who was straightening his waist and asked casually, "Captain Hubar, what is the structure of your anti-tank rifle company?" ”

"Report to the division commander, my company is organized according to the 'three threes', and the whole company has three platoons, each platoon has three squads. In addition, there is a seven-person company headquarters including a company commander and an instructor. Each platoon consisted of 24 men, armed with 9 anti-tank rifles armed with 9 PTRD, accompanied by a horse-drawn carriage. ”

When I heard that there were still three carriages in the anti-tank rifle company, I hurriedly said to Hubal: "Captain, the place we are going to go later will not be available in horse-drawn carriages, so we can only go on foot." ”

"Understood." As soon as I finished speaking, Hubal replied quickly and simply.

"Where are your troops?"

"Waiting outside the command post, ready to go."

Hubar and I walked out of the command post and immediately saw the company standing outside. Hubal stepped forward and ordered loudly to the troops: "The wagon stays, and the ammunition men of each platoon carry all the ammunition on the wagon, and all of them march to the new place of battle." After the ammunition had lifted the ammunition boxes on the carriage, he continued to give the order: "Turn left, form a three-way column, and walk in unison!" ”

Another infantry company that Oleg assigned me was the infantry under Captain Igratov. Seeing that the anti-tank rifle company was deployed, they followed closely.

Not long after walking, Mamayev Hill and 107.5 Heights appeared in my field of vision. There was a fierce sound of gunfire in front of me, and I listened for a moment and immediately judged that the sound was coming from the direction of the 1st Regiment, not from the direction of the 92nd Brigade. As a result, I was even more confused. Why is there no movement in the direction of the position of the 92nd Brigade? Was it really occupied by the Germans?

I walked forward for another ten minutes or so. Captain Iglatov, who was walking beside me, suddenly pointed to the left front. He said loudly: "Comrade division commander, you see, it seems that our troops have retreated over there. ”

I turned my head to see a group of infantry in khaki uniforms trotting towards us. Could it be that these are the commanders and fighters of the 92nd Infantry Brigade? Thinking so, I at the same time ordered Hubar and Iglatov: "Let the troops stop advancing and spread out where they were!" ”

With my command. The two hundred or so fighters immediately dispersed, jumped into the crater or hid in the ravine, put their guns in their hands, and prepared for battle.

As the group of officers and soldiers got closer and closer, I could see that in the middle of the soldiers were two commanders wearing large-brimmed hats and military overcoats. I was hesitating whether I should stop them down and ask what part they were. But I heard someone behind them shouting: "Stop, stop, you all stand for me!" ”

I looked in the direction from which the voice came from and saw that it was a sailor officer. He was followed by two sailors who were also running in our direction. And shouting as he ran.

To find out what was going on, I walked over to them. Hearing someone shouting from behind, and seeing me in front of me, the officers and men stopped. The two commanders came out of the crowd and asked me dissatisfiedly: "Hey, I said, Comrade Colonel, what part of you are from, and why are you blocking our way?" ”

I looked at the collar badges of the two people in front of me with my hands behind my back, one was a colonel, and the other was a deputy regimental political commissar, and said lightly: "I am Colonel Oshanina, the commander of the independent division responsible for holding the Mamayev post, I don't know which part of the colonel and political commissar in front of me are?" You're so flustered, where are you going? ”

The two of them were immediately dumbfounded by my question, and at this moment, the sailor officer caught up with them, panting and asking the two of them: "Comrade commanders, you are retreating, and you are acting without orders." ”

The colonel left me aside, waved his arms at the sailor officer, and said in a loud voice: "Are you blind, don't you see that the German tanks have already rushed into the Soviet Avenue and rushed to a point only 100 meters from our headquarters?" If we had stayed, we would have been taken prisoner by the Germans. After saying that, he turned around and left.

The sailor officer rushed in front of him with a few arrows, blocking his way, and retorted: "Comrade commander, in the navy, the commander is the last to abandon ship. The one who commands the sailors should understand this, you know? ”

The political commissar came over to help the colonel: "Comrade battalion commander, let me remind you that it is in the navy, but we are in the army, so we are in command." ”

After his political commissar finished speaking, the colonel shouted at the sailor officer: "Comrade Vlasov, you listen to me, we are not afraid of the dead, and we have withdrawn the brigade command post to a desert island in order to continue to better command the troops. After saying that, he turned around and walked in the direction of the Volga River.

Vlasov hurriedly chased after him again and asked, "Is it?" But Colonel, how do you command the troops there? ”

The colonel stopped, turned to Vlasov, and said unceremoniously: "According to the regulations, the commander's order does not need to be discussed, hurry up and carry out the order!" As soon as he had said that, he walked again towards the river, as if he wanted to get out of this place of right and wrong at once.

Vlasov took another step forward and loudly stated his attitude: "Comrade Colonel, even if all of you run away, but the people of our political department will not go anywhere, we will stay here and live and die with the position." ”

The colonel, who did not want to talk to Levasov again, suddenly caught a glimpse of me standing by with a blank face, and probably felt embarrassed, drew his pistol, pointed it at Vrasov, and shouted viciously: "Since you do not obey the order, then I will shoot you now." ”

Seeing that the matter was about to make a fuss, the political commissar came out to play a round again, and he rushed to the middle of the two, separated the two, and loudly expressed his opinion: "Comrade brigade commander, since he is unwilling to leave, let him stay." Dead or alive, his own business at that time, let's go~~" After speaking, he pushed the colonel towards the river.

Since I and this unit are not subordinate to each other and have no right to interfere with the decisions of the brigade commander, I can only remain silent. But when the colonel was seen drawing his gun. My hand was also on the holster. If he really wanted to kill Vlasov, I might have shot him to stop it. At this moment, seeing the colonel and his commissar slipping towards the river, leaving only Vlasov with a bitter face, he stepped forward to greet him: "Comrade battalion commissar, I am Colonel Oshanina, commander of the independent division. If you don't have enough troops to defend your position, I can send troops to reinforce you. ”

Unexpectedly, Vlasov didn't want to accept my kindness, so he just snorted and said coldly: "Thank you for your kindness." But as long as one of our sailors remains, we will decide not to allow the enemy to occupy our positions. Then he turned around and said loudly to his two men, "Let's go, let's go back." ”

Iglatov and Hubar walked up to me and watched blankly as the infantry retreated towards the river, while the sailors returned to their positions, ready to fight the incoming enemy. Both of them asked puzzledly: "Comrade division commander, what the hell is going on?" ”

From the conversation between the few people just now, I have already figured out what is going on, it must be the brigade commander and political commissar of the 92nd Brigade. Frightened by the Germans who rushed near his headquarters, he lied to Chuikov about the loss of the heights. And he took the opportunity to slip away. However, I did not want to discuss this matter too much with my subordinates before reporting this matter to the army group headquarters, so I only said vaguely: "Captain Iglatov and Captain Hubar, the two of you will lead your troops here to prepare for battle." I'll send someone to inform you later. With that, without waiting for the two of them to salute me, I trotted up the hill.

As soon as I walked into the headquarters, Akhromeyev stood up and reported to me: "Comrade division commander, I have just learned that the 107.5 heights have not been lost and are still in the hands of the 92nd Infantry Brigade. ”

I waved at him and said, "I see." Then I pointed to the phone on the table, turned to Razumeyeva and asked: "Comrade lieutenant, can this phone talk to the headquarters of the army group now?" "At such a time, if I contact the headquarters by telegram, it is very likely that something will go wrong, so I will ask the command if the phone number can contact the headquarters, if not, I can only call the 5th regiment first, inform Kirillov of the detailed situation, and ask him to report to the headquarters on my behalf.

Lazumeeva stood up, nodded vigorously, and said affirmatively: "Report to the division commander, I have sent someone to overhaul the telephone line, and at present, this phone can be used to talk to the headquarters of the group army." ”

When I heard that I could talk to the headquarters, I immediately picked up the microphone and shook the phone, ready to report from Chuikov what I knew. I heard a voice coming from the earpiece, it was the one from the communications squad in the morning, so I politely said to him: "Hello, comrade soldier, I am Colonel Oshanina, is Comrade Commander here?" ”

"I'm sorry, Comrade Colonel," said the signal corpsman politely, "the commander and the military commissar are not at the headquarters, I'll let Comrade Chief of Staff answer the phone, okay?" ”

"Okay, you can let the chief of staff answer the phone."

Soon Krylov's deep voice came from the earpiece: "Hey, Colonel Oshanina, has your division's counterattack on the 107.5 heights begun?" ”

"Not yet."

"What do you say, more than half an hour has passed, and your counterattack on the high ground hasn't started yet?!" Krylov's voice suddenly became stern in the earpiece.

"Comrade Chief of Staff, please listen to my explanation. When I returned to Mamayev Heights, I found that the 107.5 heights had not been lost, but were still in the hands of the sailors. ”

"What? 107.5 Heights Not Lost? Krylov was taken aback, and then asked rhetorically: "Did you see it with your own eyes, or did you listen to someone else?" ”

"I saw it with my own eyes." I didn't have a good impression of the contact with the brigade commander and political commissar of the 92nd Brigade, so I didn't hide anything for them, so I told Krylov what I had just seen and heard.

After Krylov listened, there was no sound. After a while, he said in an uncertain tone: "Comrade Oshanina, I hope you will go to verify it once, because the brigade commander Tanasolov and the political commissar Andreyev, I knew each other before the war, and with my understanding of them, the two are not greedy for life and afraid of death, so they should not do such a thing of running away from the battle." ”

Seeing Krylov's refusal to believe it made me feel a chill, but I still had to say carefully: "In this case, Comrade Chief of Staff, I will call you in another hour." When the time comes, I will report to you and Commander Chuikov about the real situation on the 107.5 heights and on Soviet Street. ”

"Okay, I'm waiting for your report." At this point, Krylov paused for a moment, and then he specifically told me: "Comrade Oshanina, you must be safe. ”

"I will." After that, I hung up the phone first.

When I put down the phone, Akhromeyev, who had already understood the situation, took the initiative to ask me: "Comrade division commander, at present, the 107.5 heights are the focus of the German army's attack, and you are the commander of the first division. ”

I waved at him, vetoed his suggestion, and instructed him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you should continue to stay at the headquarters, the Germans are still attacking the positions of the first regiment, and you still need to stay in command." Later, after I leave, you can report what happened here to the political commissar who remained in the Fifth Regiment. ”

"Bring the guard battalion with you?" Akhromeyev asked with concern.

I nodded at his suggestion. For the sake of my own safety, I even wanted to take a regiment to the high ground. However, at present, the heights are still in the hands of our army, and there are too many people, so it is not too interesting, so I only said: "Let Basmanov take a company with me." (To be continued......)

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