Gaidar and Shaping were surprised by my arrangement. After Ke Licheng left, Gaidar couldn't wait to say: "Comrade division commander, this arrangement is not appropriate. You must know that the Germans had nearly two companies of troops on that position, and there were only about 100 men under Ke Licheng, and the ratio of enemy and enemy forces was four to one. ”

"Comrade division commander, I think ......" Xia Ping, the political commissar of the regiment, also wanted to persuade me to change my mind, but I raised my hand to interrupt him, and at the same time expressed my attitude: "Political commissar Xia Ping, you don't have to worry. Although the Germans had nearly two companies in force when they moved into the forward positions, their forces had been constantly depleted in the recent harassment of our positions. If I am not mistaken, the enemy has at least 200 casualties, which is equivalent to the reduction of one company, and the strength of one company is left, and it is simply not enough to disperse and defend such a wide position. ”

"But I'm afraid they'll pay heavy casualties when they cross enemy minefields." Xia Ping still said worriedly.

"You can rest assured of this," I said lightly, "last night Mihayev, with his company of engineers, cleared all the mines that the enemy had laid under the embankment and moved them to the enemy's road to the rear. Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar should have been well aware of this, because he saw with his own eyes that the German trucks that wanted to enter the position were blown over by mines, and the Germans paid more than two dozen casualties as a result. ”

"That's right, Comrade Commissar." Gaidar justified it for me.

I continued: "Not only are there no mines on the embankment, but there are not many mines left in the minefields near the river in front of the position. The only point of civil fire there was destroyed by our mortars. The defenses in that direction must not be tight tonight. Captain Corry Cheng and his men could have gone undetected by the enemy. Sneak into the trenches. ”

As soon as I said this, the two of them stopped talking, and both seemed to agree with my arrangement. However, to reassure them, I added: "Don't worry, if I don't let them go it alone, maybe I'll send troops to attack from the front." ”

Hearing this, Gaidar and Xia Ping's eyes lit up, and both of them asked me at the same time: "Comrade division commander." Listen to what you mean, you want to take this forward position of the enemy. ”

I stared at the map on my desk for a moment, and said noncommittally: "This German position is a nail wedged into our division's defense area, and because of its existence, it greatly compresses our space for movement, so it must be removed from our front when necessary." ”

"After destroying the enemy in the position, do we need to send troops in?" Gaidar asked tentatively: "If we simply destroy the defenders, wait for us to withdraw." The enemy will re-enter the station. ”

Gaidar asked this question was exactly what gave me a headache. Let's not pull out this nail of the German army. The scope of our activities will be greatly limited. But if you just destroy the enemy in the position and don't send troops in, the enemy will soon come back. Send troops into the station, it is an open land that can not be defended, and it will not stop the enemy's onslaught at all, but will waste our troops.

I had no choice but to sneer and avoid answering, but waved my hand at the two of them and said, "What to do next is something that the division leader considers, so you don't have to worry about it." To be on the safe side, after Captain Curry's troops are dispatched, you will send another unit to take charge of them, and make sure that their operation is successful. With that, I turned around and walked out of the headquarters.

On the way back to the division headquarters with Basmanov, I gently slapped the submachine gun on my shoulder with my hand, annoyed that I had just fired a shuttle of bullets and failed to hit the target. At this time, I especially miss the AK47 I lost during the breakthrough in Liuban, and I don't know what happened to the engineers who crossed over. Why is it that nearly a year has passed, and a melee weapon like the A47 has not yet been installed in the troops?

Approaching the headquarters, I took off my coat and turned to Lazumayeva, who was looking at me in a voice: "Lieutenant, immediately contact the army group headquarters by radio telephone and tell them that we have succeeded in eliminating the German artillery observation point on the banks of the Volga. ”

After hearing this, Razumeyeva excitedly agreed, and immediately began to contact the headquarters by walkie-talkie.

And Kirillov also seemed very happy when they heard what I said, and Kirillov asked vigorously: "Comrade Oshanina, did you really knock out the enemy's artillery observation points?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commissar." I looked at Kirillov and said with a smile: "After knocking out the civil bunker that is suspected to be an artillery observation point, the Germans also shelled the flotilla traveling on the river, and I carefully observed that the shells landed at a distance from the ships. Based on this circumstance, I have reason to believe that the enemy's artillery observation points have already been successfully knocked out by us. ”

"That's wonderful," a rare smile appeared on the faces of several people when they heard my exact reply.

As soon as I sat down at the table, Akhromeyev asked me: "Comrade division commander, although we have knocked out the German artillery observation point today, the enemy will not rest on his laurels. I think it won't be long before they send someone to set up a new artillery observation point, and then they will try to destroy them, but it won't be so easy. ”

"Comrade division commander, I think the chief of staff is right." The deputy division commander, Bantaireev, also echoed Akhromeyev's opinion in a timely manner, and expressed his opinion: "I think that the Germans are building fortifications so far from the front of our army in order to cover their artillery observation points. So we should act decisively and send troops to occupy the enemy's positions so that they can no longer establish new observation points in this area. ”

"Comrade Deputy Division Commander, your construction is very reasonable, but have you ever thought about what we will do after we occupy the enemy's position?" Although Bandereev had just echoed his views, Akhromeyev unceremoniously pointed out the problem he had overlooked: "You must know that it is an open field that cannot be defended, and if we want to hold back the infantry attacking under the cover of tanks under the shelling and bombardment of the enemy, our division will have to pay heavy sacrifices." Not to mention four regiments and one regiment, even if all our divisions are filled in, it will not be enough. ”

Akhromeyev said so. There was a sudden silence in the room. Everyone may be weighing the pros and cons. So no one spoke. After a while, Kirillov looked at me and asked, "Comrade division commander, what do you think about this matter?" ”

Unexpectedly, this matter came back to me in a circle, I quickly waved my hand, avoided the serious, and said lightly: "This matter will be delayed for a moment, and we will discuss how to take Karpov's troops out of the German siege." ”

"But, Comrade Oshanina." Kirillov listened to me bring it up. With some hesitation, he said: "Wasn't Captain Karpov's troops sandwiched between two German units?" It is not an easy task to pick them up smoothly. ”

Akhromeyev blinked and asked puzzledly: "Yes, comrade division commander." They are in the middle of the enemy, and if they make the slightest move, they will be spotted. Maybe by then, their troops have not withdrawn, and our receiving troops have suffered heavy casualties, and the gains will outweigh the losses. ”

When he said this, a bold plan came to my mind, and I looked around at the three of them. He smiled and said, "Commanders, I now have a more thorough plan. Speak up and discuss it together. Before we get into that, though, I'm going to make a phone call. With that, I picked up the phone on the table, dialed the headquarters of the 4th Regiment, and instructed Gaidar, who answered the phone: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I inform you of one thing, and ask Captain Ko Licheng to postpone the operation. With that, I looked up at my watch, "Let's postpone it until four in the morning." ”

"Why postpone until four in the morning?" Gaidar asked, puzzled.

"Gaidar, you idiot," I couldn't help but laugh and scold, explaining: "Four points is the time when people are the most sleepy and the least vigilant, and if you attack at that time, you will definitely achieve greater results." After saying that, I didn't wait for him to talk nonsense, so I hung up the phone directly.

As soon as I put down the phone, Akhromeyev seemed to understand something, and asked in surprise: "Comrade division commander, do you plan to make a move against the enemy's forward positions in the early hours of the morning and open a passage to the defense area of our division for Karpov and them?" ”

I nodded with satisfaction at the comprehension of this chief of staff, "Yes, that's what I thought about. Now we will discuss who to send to inform Captain Karpov that he should lead his troops through the road we have opened up and enter the defense zone of our army. ”

"Let Comrade Savchenko go." Kirillov immediately replied: "Not only has he met Karpov twice, but this comrade is quite reliable in politics, and I am relieved to have him to carry out this task." ”

I did not immediately express my opinion on the candidate recommended by Kirillov, but turned my head and asked the other two: "Deputy division commander and chief of staff, what is the opinion of the two of you?" ”

"I agree!" Akhromeyev was the first to speak.

"I don't have an opinion either!" Bandereev then made a statement.

Seeing that everyone's opinions had reached a consensus, I nodded: "Well, since there is no objection." Then he instructed Akhromeyev, "Comrade Chief of Staff, you should call Comrade Savchenko and ask him to immediately come to the division headquarters to receive an important task." ”

I patiently waited for Akhromeyev to finish his phone call to Savchenko, and then told several people about his plan: "Comrade commander, I thought so, and sent Comrade Savchenko to contact Captain Karpov and ask him to lead the troops to leave the camp at about four o'clock in the morning and quietly move eastward. At this time, the Koricheng Company of the 4th Regiment will sneak into the German positions from the direction of the river embankment, and try to destroy the enemy in the trenches with cold weapons without alarming the enemy. In addition, I intend to transfer a battalion of the regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Djerikov to quietly approach the enemy's positions from the front. In the event that Koricheng's company was discovered by the enemy and there was an exchange of fire, the battalion should have launched a decisive frontal attack, striving to seize the enemy's position in the shortest possible time, and firmly hold it, covering Karpov's troops from Guò. ”

After listening to my plan, all three of them bowed their heads and groaned, and finally Kirillov, who spoke first: "Comrade Oshanina, I think there is a problem, I must remind you. ”

"Please, Comrade Commissar." I politely said, "I don't know what to pay attention to?" ”

"Mines, mines." Kirillov pointed to the map with his finger, deliberately repeated the word twice, and accentuated his tone: "Don't forget jì, around the enemy's camp, Mihayev's engineer company can have planted a lot of mines. If we don't get rid of these mines beforehand, we might be able to blow up our own people. ”

"Well, Comrade Commissar, you are very thoughtful. In this way, during the operation, we will send a squad of sappers to act with them, so that the occurrence of accidental bombing can be avoided. Speaking of this, I suddenly remembered something again, looked up and asked Kirillov: "Comrade commissar, do we need to report to the command in advance?" ”

"I don't need to." It is an iron rule that the troops, before taking a big action, report to their superiors, and even for people like me, who do not like to be restrained, many times they have to obey it, so I asked Kirillov. Unexpectedly, he directly denied my suggestion, and explained: "Due to the damage to the telephone line of the headquarters, we can only communicate with our superiors wirelessly at present. You also know that wireless communications are susceptible to enemy eavesdropping. When Karpov's troops managed to enter the defense zone of our division, it was not too late for us to report. ”

"Okay, that's it."

Towards the end of our military meeting, Savchenko came to the command. He walked up to us and stood upright, raised his hand and saluted, and then asked me politely: "Comrade division commander, I don't know if there are any important tasks entrusted to me to complete?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Savchenko." I politely said: "We are preparing to launch an attack on the forward positions of the German army in the early hours of tomorrow morning." Judging by the current situation, there is no problem in seizing this small position. I have called you today to send you to Karpov's camp, so that he can move eastward with his troops in the early hours of the morning, pass through Guò, a position occupied by our troops, and quietly enter the Mamayev Heights. Is there a problem? "When I said the last sentence, I deliberately raised my voice.

"No problem, I promise to complete the task." Savchenko answered me in a loud voice.

"Remember, we launched an attack on enemy positions at four o'clock in the morning." Kirillov walked up to him, patted him on the shoulder, and admonished: "That is, you must let Captain Karpov lead the troops out of the camp and eastward before four o'clock, so that you can successfully enter the Mamayev post before the Germans discover our movements." ”

The matter of contacting Karpov has been entrusted to the trustworthy Savchenko, and as soon as it gets dark, he will be able to rush to Karpov's camp as soon as possible and inform him of our plans. Then I called Shederikov again. When he heard that it was me who called him, he couldn't help but be slightly stunned, and then asked respectfully: "Comrade Division Commander, do you have any important instructions for calling me?" ”

I didn't bother to greet him, so I asked straight to the point: "Which battalion of your regiment has the strongest combat effectiveness?" ”

"Second Battalion," Sederikov replied without hesitation, "the commander of the Second Battalion is Captain Sherebryanny sent by you, and since the soldiers of the company that came with him all have rich combat experience, their combat effectiveness is the strongest. ”

"Very well, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel. In the evening, send them to the high ground to the north, and I have important combat missions to them. ”

"Comrade division commander," Shederikov heard me say this, and there was a crying voice in his voice: "Can I change to another battalion for you?" You must know that their combat effectiveness is not weak, only a little worse than the second battalion. ”

"No, this battle is very important, not to mention a little bit, not even a little bit." I could tell from his voice that he was worried that I would consume his most elite troops, so he wanted Li Daitaozhuang to replace the second battalion with other battalions. "Anyway, before dark, I'm going to see your second battalion appear in the defense area of the fourth regiment." After speaking, without waiting for him to cry again, he hung up the phone first. (To be continued......)