Vitkov's words made two idioms pop up in my head: shutting the door and beating the dog and catching a turtle in the urn. If our whole army enters Zaporosh, then Manstein's plan will be half successful, and it will only be a matter of time before his troops come up from all sides to surround us and annihilate us. After much deliberation, I finally told the truth to my chief of staff: "Yes, Comrade Vitkov, this situation is definitely going to happen. ”

"Comrade Commander, even if our army is surrounded by German troops," said Vitkov, "can't we, as we did at Stalingrad, when the enemy is resolutely out of the city?" You must know that the troops of our army in Ukraine are several times more than the Germans, and as long as we hold out in the city for about a week, our main forces will be able to rush over and carry out counter-encirclement against them. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you have thought the problem too simply." I mercilessly refuted Vitkov's unrealistic idea: "Zaporosh is just an ordinary city, it cannot be compared with Stalingrad at all, the city named after the Supreme Commander himself has a special meaning in itself, not to mention the wide Volga River that ensures that the defenders of Stalingrad will not be threatened from behind, it is the great sense of honor to defend the city ordered in the name of the commander, and it gives all the commanders and fighters participating in the battle the determination to fight to the end. That's why we were able to hold out in the fierce offensive of the Germans and finally encircle and annihilate the enemy! "Although I said so much in one breath, there was one most crucial sentence that I did not say, the wide Volga River made it difficult to retreat, so the defenders of the city had to choose to fight on their backs. Those who remained in Zaporosh had to face German attacks from all sides. With the forces and equipment we have. It's impossible to hold on.

"I see, Comrade Commander." After listening to me, Vitkov did not hold his mind, and continued: "I will do my best to convey your orders to the troops below. ”

After I finished the call, Kirillov, who had been standing in front of the window looking out at the frozen river, suddenly said: "Comrade Oshanina, I have a bold idea that can reduce the pressure on the defense of the city in the west and north directions. ”

"Oh, Comrade Commissar. What are your ideas? Hearing Kirillov say that there was a good way to do it, it immediately aroused my interest, and I hurriedly urged him: "Let's talk about it." ”

Kirillov pointed out the window and said: "If we bombard the river with artillery, will we be able to blow up the ice, so that the German infantry will not be able to rush from the ice, and we will reduce the defensive forces in these two directions accordingly and deploy them to important positions." ”

Kirillov's mention really made me smile bitterly, and I had to explain to him: "Comrade commissar. Your idea is good, but unfortunately we can't do it now. I saw him look puzzled. I further explained to him, "With such a thick layer of ice, the power of the mortar is too small, and if you bombard it, it will be an ice hole at most." The heavy artillery of the Lieutenant Colonel Caverin Artillery Regiment can blow up patches of ice, but unfortunately their current artillery shells are limited and need to be saved for use in the defense of the city, so they can't be wasted on such a small matter. ”

After hearing my words, Kirillov sighed helplessly, and then said: "Comrade Oshanina, if the situation you said really arises, then even if we deploy a division by the river, we may not be able to stop the German attack. ”

"Comrade commissar, it's time for us to go back to Major Godunov's command post." The terrain in the city has been almost checked, there is no point in staying, it is time to return to Godunov's command post in the center of the city, "We have been outside for so long, Comrade Major, they should be worried." ”

"Well, let's go back to the command post first and wait for Vitkov and the other comrades in the army command." After Kirillov finished speaking, he gestured to Yushchenko next to him, asking him to send someone to help the operator put away the walkie-talkie, and then shook his head at me and said: "Let's go, Comrade Oshanina." ”

An hour later, I stood with Vitkov and Bandereev, who had just arrived, in front of the map hanging on the wall in the army headquarters. After pointing to the map and reporting to me on the disposition of the divisions, Vitkov asked: "Comrade commander, at the moment Zaporosh has only the 22nd Guards Division of General Bandereev, how do you plan to deploy the defense of the city?" ”

Just as I was about to start the deployment mission, I suddenly thought of Lieutenant Colonel Koska's third regiment, which was still tasked with defending the long line of communication to the east of us, and hurriedly said to Pugachev, who was standing aside: "Major, you immediately send a telegram to Lieutenant Colonel Koska, asking him to immediately assemble his troops and rush to the Kuban area overnight to take over the defense of the region from the hands of Colonel Andreuschenko. ”

"Comrade Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Koska's 3rd Regiment is currently guarding the long lines of communication of our army," Vitkov listened to my sudden and inexplicable order, and hurriedly and carefully reminded me: "If they are withdrawn, the safety of our army's lines of communication cannot be guaranteed." ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff," I said, pouting dissatisfied, "if our army is surrounded by the Germans in Zaporosh, do you think that the weapons, ammunition and supplies in the rear will be able to pass through the layers of German encirclement and enter the city?" Since there is no guarantee, instead of leaving a combat-ready force idle in the rear, we should transfer them over and strengthen the city's defenses. ”

"I see, Comrade Commander." After listening to my explanation, Vitkov immediately instructed Pugachev: "Major, immediately go and send a telegram to Lieutenant Colonel Koska, and ask him to immediately assemble the troops on the long lines of communication, and rush to the Kuban overnight to take over the defense of the 171st Division, while most of the towns are still in the hands of our troops." ”

When Pugachev went to take a telegram, I pointed to the map and said to Pandereev: "Comrade division commander, the north and west sides of the city are rivers, and although the Germans blew up two pontoon bridges with heavy weapons and equipment, their infantry can rush to the city from any point through the frozen river, so the defense along the river must be strengthened." ”

"General Bandereev, Zaporosh is not a city suitable for defense. How are you going to defend yourself? "After I finished speaking. The next questioner was Vitkov.

Bantai Leev frowned and looked at the map for a while. Then he replied: "I plan to dig a circular trench outside the buildings next to the river and connect them with the buildings behind them." In this way, when the Germans attacked, we could use the condescending buildings and trenches to form a powerful crossfire and destroy the enemy who dared to rush into the city. ”

"The east and south sides of the city are plain terrain, and the Germans will definitely use armored forces to carry out a surprise attack." I'll wait until they're done. He continued: "If my estimate is correct, the main forces of the German offensive will be the 'Skeleton Division' and the 'Imperial Division'. Don't look at the 'Skeleton Division' has not been fighting well recently, but it is because their division commander has fallen into our hands, so they will have a feeling of being constrained in their fights. And this attack on the city, the situation will be different, as an elite unit of the German army, they will definitely not watch another 'Imperial Division', known as an elite army, rush into the city before them. ”

"So, the next battle we're going to have is going to be a tough one?" Kirillov asked a little nervously: "I remember the regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov at that time. There are more than 3,000 people, and it takes less than a day to work in the factory area. It was almost completely annihilated. With this amount of strength, I don't know how many days our army can hold out under the onslaught of the German army? ”

I took my eyes off the map, looked at Pandereev and said: "Comrade division commander, do not deploy all your forces on the hard front line, but properly retain reserves, because what we are going to fight next is a brutal war of attrition. ”

I don't want to say too much, otherwise I will interfere with the command of Bandereev, in which case I might as well be the commander of the 22nd Guards Division at the same time. What I have to consider now is how to use the three divisions of the 79th Infantry Corps to fight them for a longer period of time without being wiped out by the Germans. Speaking of this, I waved my hand at Pandereev and ordered him: "General Pandereev, you should go back to the division first, and hurry up to build the fortifications of the city." If you don't finish it by the time the Germans surround us, you'll have to continue to rest in the midst of German bombardment and bombardment. ”

Pandereev raised his hand and saluted me, then turned to leave.

In the next few hours, I was constantly coming back to find out where Andreushchenko's 171st Division, Gurdiev's 308th Division, and Lieutenant Colonel Koska's 3rd Regiment had arrived and whether they had completed the defensive deployment I had assigned.

It wasn't until dark that I received a call from Bandereev from his division command. I knew that he was reporting to me on the construction of the fortifications, so I asked straight to the point: "Comrade Division Commander, how are the fortifications in the city being built?" ”

"Report to Comrade Commander," Bandereev respectfully reported, "thanks to the great role played by the engineer unit of Captain Mihayev throughout the construction process, we have now erected effective fortifications or barricades in most of the neighborhoods. ”

"You have done a good job," I said, after complimenting him, and then reminding him specifically, "since the Germans will certainly storm your defensive positions with armored troops, you must build fortifications in such a way as to restrict the movement of the enemy's armored forces as soon as they enter the city." ”

When I had finished, Pantai Leev continued: "The east and south sides of the city are commercial and office areas, so we have built a large number of strong fire support points with these fortified buildings, and we have deployed the new third regiment of Major Godunov in these areas, and it will be difficult for the German armored forces to rush into the city. I deployed Lieutenant Colonel Shederikov's regiment to the west of the city, and Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar's fourth regiment to the north of the city, and two of them were nervously building fortifications along the river. ”

In such a short period of time, it is already very good that Pantai Leev can do this. So I nodded, and said with satisfaction: "Division Commander Bantaireev, in this battle, I will not interfere with your command, except for reporting the battle report in time, or contacting me when you need the assistance of friendly forces, the rest of the time you will not save me, and the whole city defense will be as you think." After I finished speaking, I felt a little uneasy, so I added two more sentences to remind him: "I remind you that this battle is related to the life and death of our newly built infantry army, so don't blindly fight with the German army, as long as you can destroy the enemy, it is also necessary to retreat appropriately." ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander!" Pantai Laiev replied loudly on the other end of the phone.

…………

The next morning, before my units were fully deployed, the German counteroffensive on Zaporosh began. They carried out heavy artillery fire on the riverside positions in the west and north of the city.

When I heard the rumbling of cannons, I did not immediately contact Pandereev, because I had promised him that I would not interfere with his command. After about ten minutes of the cannon sound outside,

Gurtiev called and reported to me that in front of them appeared German SS units, which, according to observations from the front, should have been the "German divisions" of the German army, which were currently fighting.

After hearing that the Germans were coming from the east, and after finishing the call with Gurdiev, I called Colonel Andreuschenko of the 171st Division to find out what was going on south of the city. Hearing Andreushchenko's voice coming out of the earpiece, I immediately couldn't wait to ask: "Hey, Colonel Andreushchenko?" I'm Oshanina, what's going on there? ”

Andreushchenko said loudly into the microphone: "Comrade Commander, a German armored unit has come out of nowhere and is attacking our defensive positions from the southwest of the airfield. ”

"Is it the 11th Armored Division and the 336th Infantry Division that are following you?" Since the fighting between these two units and the 171st Division never stopped, the first thing that came to my mind when I heard of the Germans was there.

"No, Comrade Commander." Andreushchenko replied with some panic: "Not the 11th Panzer Division and the 336th Infantry Division, but an SS unit with so much fire that it suppressed our commanders and fighters in positions so much that they could not raise their heads. Comrade commander, we now lack anti-tank weapons, and if the enemy's tanks rush up, we will not be able to stop them at all. ”

"In the hands of Major Akhromeyev, are there still tanks?" Although Andreuschenko was complaining, I thought of Akhromeyev who was with him, so I asked specifically: "If there is any, let Major Akhromeyev lead his troops around the flank of the German army, and teach them a hard lesson, so that they cannot attack us unscrupulously." (To be continued......)

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