Before we could enter the headquarters, Gurov had already come out of it with a smile, and from a long distance, he took the initiative to stretch out his hand to me and said enthusiastically: "Comrade Oshanina, I can look forward to you." Seeing that you have not arrived for a long time, Comrade Commander is deeply afraid that you will encounter some accident on the road, and he intends to send someone to meet you again. ”

When I shook hands with Gurov, I replied with a smile: "Thank you, comrade commander and military commissar, for your concern for me, we have a guide like Major Gladshev, the commander of the guard battalion, and there will be no danger on the road." ”

After listening to my words, Gurov nodded with satisfaction at Gladshev, who was walking behind us, and said: "Although Major Gladshev has not been the commander of the guard battalion for a long time, the command still recognizes his ability very much. When he said this, his face suddenly changed, and he asked the major behind us in a stern tone: "What's the matter, why did you drink?" ”

Although I didn't notice the slightest drunkenness on Gladshev's surface along the way, Gurov also noticed at a glance that the other party had drunk. Hearing the question of the military commissar, Gladshev shrugged his shoulders and replied in a casual tone: "Report to the comrade military commissar, on our way here, the comrades of the independent division found a bottle of wine in a room where no one was there, and said that drinking some would keep out the cold, so I drank some. ”

Chuikov turned his head to look at his subordinate again, his brow furrowed slightly, but he quickly pointed his finger at Gladshev and said, "Major, I hope the same thing doesn't happen again." ”

Hearing Chuikov's criticism, Gladshev couldn't help but blush, and quickly nodded and agreed: "Yes." Comrade Commander. I won't drink casually in the future. ”

Chuikov and Gurov did not take me to the new command. Instead, they followed the newly dug traffic trench to the bottom of the embankment. Here, I saw many caves carved out of the cliffs by the river, and from time to time I could see commanders in and out of various costumes. Gurov specially introduced to me: "In order to ensure the safety of the headquarters, we have placed our subordinate departments in caves dug out of the river embankment, so as to reduce the losses of the members of the headquarters under German artillery fire or bombardment. ”

I saw wisps of green smoke coming out of a small cave in front of me, so I curiously pointed ahead and asked, "Commander, military commissar, is that the location of the cooking class in that cave?" "That's why I asked. It's because I'm so hungry that I have to find something to cushion my stomach.

Gurov looked in the direction of my finger, then smiled and said, "Comrade Oshanina, although it is not a problem where the cooking class is located, we can still find something to eat and drink. Speaking of this, he turned his head to ask for Chuikov's opinion, "Comrade commander, are you going with you?" Chuikov didn't speak, just smiled and nodded, and took the lead and walked towards the cave.

I followed the two of them. When I walked into the cave, I saw this Tula samovar placed in the cave. The chimney was made of thick cardboard, and it was from here that the wisps of green smoke I had just seen came out. There was a man sitting in the room, and when he saw us coming in, he quickly stood up and raised his hand to salute Chuikov and Gurov. When I looked at it, it turned out to be the commander of the artillery of the army group, Khogarsky, and quickly raised his hand to salute him.

After sitting down next to the half-man-high metal kettle with two walls and a fire in the middle, he looked up and told me: "General Khogarsky is a native of Tula, and he has a habit of drinking strong tea, so he has never been separated from his 'countryman', the samovar of Tula. At this point, he turned his head and affectionately called Khogarsky by name, and asked, "Why, Mitrofanech, do you have time to drink tea before the 'concert' of the German devils begins?" ”

"Just in time, Comrade Commander." Hogarsky confidently said: "If it really doesn't work, I'll take it to the observation center and drink it." ”

Although I had never been to Tula, I was no stranger to the city, because during the defense of Moscow, the army and civilians of the city stubbornly resisted the onslaught of Guderian's troops. After 45 days of unsuccessful offensives, the Germans had to lift the siege of such cities. I know that the city that gave birth to the great Tolstoy has three specialties: one is the Russian-style samovar in front of you, so Tula has the reputation of 'the samovar capital', the second is a very sweet little oil cake that can be made into various shapes, and it is said that it will not spoil for several months, and the third is the weaponry, which is said to have been an important arsenal since the tsarist era, and the best artillery school in the Soviet Union is located there.

I stared at the bubbling tea, and wondered to myself that when we sat down for tea, I wondered if Khogarsky would entertain us to Tula's famous little oil cakes.

But before Khogarsky could entertain us for tea, a loud explosion was heard outside. Chuikov and the others stopped talking and laughing, raised their heads with stern expressions, and listened carefully to the movement outside.

Artillery shells and mortar shells whizzed over our heads, landed in the Volga River and exploded, setting off columns of water ten or twenty meters high. Then there was an explosion nearby, and the ground shook violently. Before we could react, a shell exploded on the top of the cave, and the blast sent us down the steep slope of the riverbank, knocking the samovar to the ground.

After getting up from the ground, Hogarsky suddenly pointed to the sky with his finger. I hurriedly looked up into the sky and saw countless enemy planes hovering over the Volga River, and from time to time they swooped down to drop bombs and strafe our ground targets. Because of the explosion of artillery shells and the roar of enemy engines, although Chuikov and Khokalsky were shouting with their throats open, neither of them could hear what the other was saying. Eventually, the two looked at each other and began to communicate quickly with gestures. Hogarsky nodded, rushed into the cave, grabbed the bag and binoculars, and ran off into the distance.

I knew that Khogarsky was going back to his command post at the moment, and was about to ask Chuikov what we should do, when Gurov patted me on the shoulder and pointed to Chuikov, who was walking away quickly. He gestured to me. Let me keep up. I nodded. He bent down and quickly chased after him.

At this moment, smoke and dust were flying everywhere, and the rising gunpowder smoke obscured the sky and the sun, blocking the light of the sun in the sky. On the way to the headquarters, it was not safe, not a shell or bomb fell on the ground, and we had to lie on the ground again and again to dodge.

When the three of us returned to the headquarters and closed the door, there was much less movement outside. At least speech is no longer affected. When I entered the door, I saw Krylov sitting on a stool, holding the microphone in his hand, and giving orders loudly to something. There was also a colonel standing beside him, Colonel Yulin, the director of communications of the group army, with whom I had a few acquaintances.

Chuikov walked quickly to Yulin's side and asked loudly, "How is the current communication situation?" ”

Yulin hurriedly stood up and reported to Chuikov: "Comrade commander, due to the enemy's shelling, almost all the telephone lines we have just repaired have been blown up, and I have ordered the signal corps to check the lines. At the moment we have the radio on. You can use clear code to talk to the troops. ”

"Comrade Colonel, this is not enough." Chuikov shouted at Colonel Yulin: "It is also necessary to use the reserve communications hub on the east bank of the Volga." Let it work, too, and repeat the reports and keep us informed. ”

When Yulin understood what Chuikov meant, he nodded, turned and walked out.

At this time, Krylov, who had finished making the call, asked bluntly: "Comrade Oshanina, how many troops have you brought to the city this time?" ”

"I brought a lump with me." I replied briefly.

"It's only one regiment, too little." After hearing this, Krylov said with some dissatisfaction: "Isn't there an order for you to send as many troops as possible?" ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff," although I was reluctant to clash with my immediate superiors, when I heard Krylov's words, there was a reproach for me for preserving strength regardless of the overall situation, and I hurriedly retorted: "The first regiment is only a regiment in name, but under the full expansion of the regiment commander Shedelikov during this time, the regiment has reached 3,000 people, accounting for half of the total number of the division. Since Mamayev Hill was also the focus of the campaign, I had to leave half of my forces on the defensive, lest the Germans take advantage of it. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, don't talk about it." Seeing that Krylov seemed to refute me, Chuikov came out in time to relieve me of the siege, "Comrade Oshanina has thought it through, a regiment of 3,000 people is no less than three divisions holding the factory area. Where are you going to deploy this regiment? ”

Krylov did not speak, but after one glance at me, he began to brief Chuikov and them on the situation: "Comrade commander, according to the prior arrangement, Major Gladshev, after receiving Oshanina's troops, will take them to the tractor factory and hand them over to the unified command of the 37th Guards Division. ”

When I heard that my troops were going to be commanded by others, I couldn't help but feel lost in my heart, this is the regiment with the strongest combat effectiveness in the independent division, and if it is handed over to those commanders with old-fashioned tactics to command, won't it be reduced to the fate of cannon fodder? The last time, the commander of the 2nd regiment, Pugachev, and the commander of the tank battalion, Perstian, were sent by Chuikov to seize the school occupied by the enemy, and as a result, they are still lying in the field hospital.

Chuikov glanced back at me, saw that I was stunned, and couldn't help but ask curiously: "Oshanina, what are you thinking?" ”

I heard him ask me and quickly replied, "No, I'm not thinking about anything." Comrade commander, you called me, is there any new instruction? ”

Chuikov beckoned to me and motioned for me to stand beside him, and I hurried two steps forward to the table. With his head down, Chuikov pushed the map in front of me, picked up the red and blue pencils on the table, and explained to me: "The enemy has now occupied the territory in the north of the city and in the center of the city, including the Yelman district, the Dzerzhinsky district, the 'Red October' district, the "barricade" district, and the tractor factory area. We are now concentrating our forces on the decisive battle with the enemy in these areas in order to destroy as many of them as possible in order to reduce the pressure on them in the ensuing battle. ”

After listening to Chuikov's words, I pouted disapprovingly, and said in my heart that you arranged the troops like this, didn't you use your lives to fight with the Germans? The current elite in the city has been fought out like this, and in the next battle, it is estimated that this battle will be even more difficult to fight.

Gurov was very good at observing words and feelings, and seeing the expression on my face, he guessed that I might have some different thoughts, so he looked at me and said encouragingly: "Comrade Oshanina, I see that you have a different opinion on this plan proposed by the commander to concentrate forces and conduct a local decisive battle with the enemy. ”

After Chuikov had briefed me on the situation, he was looking at the map with his head buried in his head, and when he heard Gurov say this, he looked up at me with some surprise and said in surprise: "Is that so, Oshanina?" ”

Originally, I didn't want to discuss my views at such a time, but since Chuikov had already asked, it would be inappropriate to avoid talking about it or avoid the important and trivial, so I could only reply stubbornly: "Commander, military commissar, chief of staff, let me tell you about your understanding of the concept of concentrating forces. In my opinion, whether or not it is a concentration of superior forces is mainly reflected in the allocation of front-line troops. In the battle, it is necessary to keep reserves and arrange blocking forces, if there are too many troops on these fronts, and too few troops on the front line and the Germans fighting, this is not a concentration of superior forces. If the main force is placed on the front line, and only a small number of troops are placed elsewhere, it seems that it is not true, the more troops on the front line, the shorter the time of the battle, and maybe the enemy's reinforcements have not yet arrived, and the battle will be over. We must also be good at seizing a favorable fighter to destroy the enemy, what is a favorable fighter? That is, when the Germans were small in strength and heavy in equipment, lacked air supremacy, and were not ready. If the Germans are outnumbered and better equipped than us, they will not fight; The Germans held air supremacy and did not fight; The Germans were prepared and did not fight; In short, do not fight unprepared battles, do not fight uncertain battles. ”

After listening to my explanation, the faces of the three of them showed dazed expressions in different ways, and finally Krylov asked impatiently: "Comrade Oshanina, you have been talking for a long time, which means that we cannot go head-to-head with the enemy, and this battle cannot be fought, at least not in the current way. Am I understanding correctly? ”

"Yes." Seeing that someone finally understood what I meant by the euphemism, I breathed a sigh of relief, and continued: "But if we don't fight, the enemy may drive straight in and seize our army's position in the factory area." But if we concentrate our heavy forces on our existing positions and suffer from enemy shells and bombardment, we will probably pay a heavy sacrifice before the enemy's infantry can attack. (To be continued......)