Hearing Vachuk say this, I couldn't help but secretly cry in my heart, although the building had collapsed in half, but from where I was, I could see rows of black holes sticking out of the rubble outside the enemy's building. But now that the troops have rushed forward, even if they want to call them back, it will be too late.

The next development was exactly what I expected, and by the time our commanders and fighters rushed to a distance of only 100 meters from the German positions, the Germans from the upper floors and behind the rubble opened decisive fire. Under the intense firepower, our troops soon lost more than half, and at least 50 or 60 of the more than 100 troops were killed or wounded, and the remaining commanders and fighters were also pressed by the fire to the craters in the snow and did not dare to move.

In addition to machine-gun, submachine gun and rifle fire, mortar shells were constantly flying out of the building, striking at the area where our commanders and fighters were crawling. The shells exploded around the surviving fighters, and the snow-covered mud, weapon parts, and severed arms were constantly lifted into the air, and they kept falling on our fighters, covering them up little by little.

Seeing this, I couldn't help but curse in my heart: these damned Germans must have seized our new fortifications, and after careful study34, they would have used them against us, otherwise they would not have placed mortars in the building.

And Vachuk was so angry that he saw that his troops' attack had been frustrated again, and after taking a deep breath, he turned his head and ordered to the back: "Chief of Staff, call two more companies and let them continue to rush forward." Be sure to do it before dark. Take this building from me. ”

Unexpectedly, the chief of staff did not follow his order to make a call. Instead, he was persuaded with tears on the side: "Comrade division commander, you can't fight like this anymore." Without artillery support, we simply could not break through the enemy's defenses. This attack has only been going on for more than an hour, and our division has already lost two or three hundred people! If you continue to fight like this, it won't be long before the whole division will be wiped out. ”

After glancing at me, Vachuk angrily yelled at his divisional chief of staff: "No! We must take down the enemy's positions! Don't you understand the enemy of the building in front of you? It's a nail wedged into my division's defense, and we can't move forward without getting rid of them! I ordered to continue the charge, and even if the 284th Division was all killed, the position here must be taken! This is an order, go and carry it out! ”

The chief of staff was yelled at by him, his head suddenly lowered, and he had to reluctantly agree: "Yes, comrade division commander, I'll go call." ”

"Wait a minute. Comrade Chief of Staff, don't call just yet. "I put down my binoculars. After stopping the chief of staff of the division, who was about to make a phone call, he turned to Vachuk and said: "Comrade Colonel, the German firepower is too fierce, and there is an open field in front of the building, if there is no artillery cover, even if more troops are used to attack, it will be difficult to take the building occupied by the enemy, and it will increase unnecessary casualties." ”

Unexpectedly, Vachuk craned his neck and retorted: "Comrade commander, if we don't take this building, our division's defense area will not be able to connect with other friendly troops, and at the same time, it will not be able to continue to advance." Speaking of this, he glanced at the other commanders in the command headquarters and added unwillingly, "Our 284th Division has no people who are greedy for life and afraid of death. ”

For his stubbornness, I lectured him with a dark face: "Colonel Vachuk, Paulus's troops have fallen under siege of our troops, and the German troops who came to their rescue have also been repulsed by us. At present, it is very difficult for the enemy to supply ammunition, and even if we encircle but not attack, it will not be long before they will lose their combat effectiveness because they run out of ammunition and food, and then we will attack again and achieve twice the result with half the effort. ”

"However, Comrade Commander,...... "When Vachuk was about to say something, he was interrupted by the operator I had brought with him, who called me: "Report to the commander, it's the political commissar who called." ”

I glanced at the excited Vachuk and walked quickly to the walkie-talkie. When I heard Vasilyev's voice coming from the headphones, I said into the microphone: "Hey, Comrade Commissar, I'm Oshanina, is there anything wrong with you?" ”

"Where are you?" Vasilyev asked politely.

"I'm at the division headquarters of the 284th Division." I replied briefly.

"That's right, Comrade Oshanina." Vasilyev said excitedly: "I have just received a telephone call from General Chuikov, who has officially informed me that from now on, the Stalingrad Front will be transferred to the command of the Don Front, and the commander of the Front will be General Rokossovsky, Comrade Military Commissar will be Major General Terekin, and the chief of staff will be Comrade Malinin, who has just been promoted to lieutenant general. ”

When I heard that the military commissar of the front army was actually a major general, I couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and said in my heart that this post should not be held by a political work cadre, so how could a military chief be arranged? However, I didn't bother to think about it, but asked with concern: "Comrade Political Commissar, has the commander of the new front army any orders been delivered?" ”

"The first order given to us by Commander Rokossovsky was 'stop the offensive, consolidate the existing positions, and seize the time to make up for it'. Comrade Commander, I know that the 284th Division is attacking the Germans, but their artillery has been lost in the early battles, and if they attack the enemy without artillery support, I fear that they will suffer unnecessary casualties. So I advise you: order the offensive of the 284th Division to be suspended. ”

"Comrade Commissar, I agree with you." Hearing that Vasilyev's opinion coincided with mine, I was overjoyed and hurriedly agreed: "I will order Colonel Vachuk to stop the attack." ”

I put down my headphones and microphone and walked back to Vachuk's side, thinking that he had been my commander not long ago, and now he suddenly had to accept my command, which might not be psychologically acceptable for a while, so I was stubborn and wanted to continue this futile attack. Therefore, when I spoke to him, I did not adopt that condescending posture, but said to him with a pleasant face: "Comrade Colonel. I'll start with good news. Start today. The Don Front and the Stalingrad Front were merged, and the new Front command was held by General Rokossovsky. The first order he gave was to suspend the offensive, consolidate the existing positions, and seize the time to make up for it. ”

Vachuk was silent when he heard this, he lowered his head and thought about it, raised his head and asked me: "Comrade commander, say so." Our division has ceased to attack the enemy's positions in the near future? ”

"The military offensive can be suspended, but the political offensive cannot be stopped!" I was deeply afraid that he would take my words as wind and quietly attack the enemy as soon as I left, so I solemnly said to him: "Many German comrades of the anti-fascist alliance sent by the higher authorities can let them use loudspeakers to carry out uninterrupted anti-war propaganda against the German troops, and at the same time fire propaganda bombs every day in the areas controlled by the enemy, and tell them on leaflets: As long as they lay down their arms and surrender, they will be treated as a prisoner of war, and we will provide them with sufficient rations." and to treat the wounded. ”

"Does this work?" Vachuk asked, a little disbelieving: "The Germans listened to the propaganda anyway. Will it surrender to us? ”

I know in my heart that in real history, although the Soviet army fired a lot of propaganda bombs at the besieged German troops, because both sides had a bad record of abusing each other's prisoners of war, most of the German officers and soldiers who saw the propaganda leaflets did not eat this set at all. But at the moment, in order not to discourage Vachuk's enthusiasm, I can only say vaguely: "It should work." ”

As soon as I walked out of the door, I suddenly remembered something, so I stopped and kindly reminded Vachuk who came out: "Comrade Colonel, you are the commander of a division, not an ordinary commander, so your command should be located a little farther away from the forward position." Let's take it for example," I said, pointing to the building occupied by the Germans in the distance, and said earnestly: "Your headquarters is only about two hundred meters away from the enemy's position, and at such a close distance, not to mention that it will be covered by mortar and machine gun fire, even the snipers in the building can easily hunt down the commander who appears near the headquarters." Once the divisional command apparatus is destroyed, then the troops that have lost their command will fall into disarray, which will give the Germans an opportunity to take advantage of. ”

In response to my reminder, Vachuk nodded vigorously and said to me: "Comrade commander, please rest assured that I will definitely follow your orders, stop the military offensive against the German army, and start the political offensive instead. Also, in the future, the position of my headquarters will be a little farther away from the front line. ”

I knew in my heart that he was just saying this to reassure me, and that it wouldn't be long before he would relapse into his old ways, otherwise he wouldn't have died in battle a few months later. However, I showed enough kindness to his statement, and I reached out to him and said, "If this is the case, then I wish you good luck!" ”

When I returned to the corps headquarters, the chief of staff, Vitkov, had already returned, and he first reported to me the results of the 150th Division, and then informed me of another important piece of news: "Comrade Corps Commander, on the way back today, I met General Krylov, and I heard something from him. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, what is the matter?" Vitkov's words caught my attention, thinking that he was General Krylov's deputy in the past, and he must have known inside information that I didn't know, so I couldn't help but ask curiously: "Is the troops that have been replenished for us about to arrive?" ”

"Replenishment of troops?" Hearing me say this, Vitkov shook his head and said regretfully: "As far as I know, it will be a few days before the troops replenished to our 62nd Army will enter Stalingrad one after another. ”

When I heard that the 62nd Army, which was short of personnel, could not be replenished for the time being, I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, and I was not interested in the gossip that Vitkov was about to announce, but out of politeness, I still asked casually: "What kind of special news is that, Comrade Chief of Staff?" ”

"I heard that the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet issued an order that a new system of military ranks will be introduced in the near future." Vitkov looked left and right, and then lowered his voice and said mysteriously: "I heard that the troops of other battlefields and some units of the Southwestern Front and the Don Front have been replaced with new ranks. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, is what you said true?" Vasilyev, who was originally sitting next to him reading the battle report, also came over curiously and asked: "Tell us, what are the characteristics of the new rank this time?" ”

"Let's all go out first." Instead of immediately answering Vasilyev's question, Vitkov stood up straight and sent the staff officers who were in the command headquarters. By the time there were only three of us left in the command. He then went on to say: "The dress will be different from what we do now. The collar of the coat is no longer a diamond-shaped collar, but a long collar with a copper buckle, and a new epaulette is added to the shoulder, and the star or bar on it is also different from our original rank insignia...... ”

"So that's it!" I interrupted Vitkov's words with a smile, saying that you are just hearsay, and I have seen this new rank that is about to be replaced, so I put on a disapproving look and said: "I thought it was a great thing, but it turned out that it was just a change of rank." I was back a month ago. That's it. As far as I know, the ranks of political workers will be abolished, and there will be no more military-level political commissars, division-level political commissars, or regiment-level political commissars in the future, but all of them will be changed to corresponding military ranks. For example, our commissar Comrade Vasilyev, after the introduction of the new ranks, will be awarded the rank of major. ”

After hearing this, Vasilyev's face showed a look of sudden realization, and then he said to me: "I see, I just think it's quite strange today, why the military commissar of the Don Front is not a political worker. Rather, a major general. Comrade Commander said so, and I understood. It turned out that they had introduced new ranks in the army. After a pause, he couldn't help but ask, "Comrade Commander, do you know what the new epaulettes look like?" ”

Although in later life, I was an out-and-out pseudo-military fan, and I didn't know much about weapons and equipment, but I was very familiar with military ranks, and when I heard Vasilyev's question, I couldn't help but show off to him: "The expression of the rank of the new epaulette is like this: Marshal of the Soviet Union, is a big silver star;

Commanders, marshals, corrugated baseplates, decorated with troop service symbols and marshal star emblems;

Generals, corrugated bottom plates, embroidered star emblems, 4 generals, 3 generals, 2 lieutenant generals, and 1 major general, all arranged vertically;

Colonel, two longitudinal longitudinal bars, decorated with the star emblem of the school officer, 3 colonels are arranged in a triangle, 2 lieutenant colonels are arranged horizontally, and 1 major;

Lieutenant, a longitudinal embroidered longitudinal bar, decorated with the lieutenant's star emblem, 4 captains are two horizontal and two vertical, 3 captains are triangular, 2 lieutenants are horizontally arranged, and 1 second lieutenant;

Sergeant, embroidered horizontal bar, one vertical and one horizontal T-shaped sergeant, one wide horizontal bar for sergeant, three narrow horizontal bars for sergeant, and two narrow horizontal bars for corporal;

Soldiers, privates with a narrow horizontal bar, and private epaulettes are empty boards. ”

After I finished explaining, Vitkov said thoughtfully: "Such a large-scale replacement of new military ranks cannot be completed in a month or two. Since we are still at war with the Germans, we don't know when our army group will be able to change to a new rank? ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you don't have to worry about this kind of thing." I remember well in my heart that the Germans surrendered on February 2, so I confidently said: "Now that our army group has been placed under the command of the Don Front, the commander of the Front, Rokossovsky, is a commander who prefers to attack, and I believe that it will not be long before he gives the order for a final attack on the Germans." In the face of our powerful offensive, the German officers and men who ran out of ammunition and food and were demoralized could not resist it at all, and I believe that in a month at most, the German troops in the encirclement could be completely annihilated. ”

"Really? Comrade Army Commander. Vasilyev asked excitedly: "If that's the case, then it's great." ”

"Of course it's true, my Comrade Commissar." After I responded to Vasilyev with a smile, I solemnly proposed to the two men: "Political commissar and chief of staff, while the final offensive has not yet begun, several of us should go to the troops of several divisions under our jurisdiction, first, to get acquainted with the commanders and fighters, and second, to talk to them, so that every defender of Stalingrad can understand that we are the Red Army armed with Stalinist ideas, that our cause is just, and that what we are defending is a progressive society and a bright life for future generations." The enemy will perish! This is not a slogan, not a speech at a mass rally, but our eternal conviction, the driving force of our combat effectiveness and the source of our courageous combat. ”

"Comrade Oshanina, please rest assured!" Vasilyev said confidently: "Leave this matter to me, if you want to do political and ideological work, this is my strong point, I will definitely let every soldier understand that the enemy cannot escape the fate of destruction, and the final victory will definitely and can only belong to us." ”

Hearing that Vasilyev had undertaken the political and ideological work in a big way, I turned to Vitkov and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, although we are nominally an army, our troops and weapons and equipment are very limited, so we must take advantage of this short armistice and use the weapons, equipment and personnel transported from the east bank to quickly replenish our troops. ”

"Please rest assured, Commander." With a resolute expression, Vitkov assured me: "I will definitely complete the tasks you have assigned to me, replenish the troops in the shortest possible time, and let them form combat effectiveness in the shortest possible time." (To be continued......)