The night attack of the Germans aroused my vigilance, and before I left, I repeatedly told Sedelikov to prepare for battle against the frenzied German attack after dawn.

Hearing that Shederikov and Oberstein promised to strengthen their defenses and ensure that there would be no mistakes, I nodded, and was about to leave, but after taking two steps, I stopped again, turned to Shederikov and said: "I said a regimental commander, there is a position of an anti-aircraft machine gun company on your southern slope, and they suffered heavy casualties in the daytime fight with enemy aircraft, and now there are only two anti-aircraft machine guns left. Tomorrow you send someone to carry the machine gun into the trenches. When the Germans attacked, they fired their infantry with anti-aircraft machine guns. ”

"Anti-aircraft machine guns shoot infantry with flat fire?!" Sederikov was confused by my abrupt formulation, and he asked with some disbelief: "Comrade division commander, is this appropriate?" You know, in the tutorials of the military school, this kind of play has not been taught. ”

"Although the military school has not taught it in the past, as long as we play it here, it will become a compulsory course in the military school in the future." After saying that, I turned around and left, muttering quietly as I walked, "What a dead brain." ”

From dawn, Kirillov and Akhromeyev stood outside the headquarters, quietly waiting for the upcoming air raid or shelling. Unexpectedly, we stood outside for an hour or two, and there was still no movement at the front line. Seeing that the Germans had not moved for a long time, I was a little out of breath, and ran to the communication room to ask Razumeyeva and Shederikov to contact and ask if there were any signs of German movement in front of me.

After talking to the signal corps of the 1st regiment, Razumayeva stood up and replied respectfully: "Report to Comrade Division Commander, I just asked. They say the front is calm. No shadow of the Germans was found. ”

Hear what Razumeyeva said. Kirillov walked up to me and said thoughtfully: "Comrade Oshanina, are you too nervous. Although the Germans carried out a sneak attack on our positions last night, does it mean that they will attack our positions today? ”

"Comrade Political Commissar, you should know that the location of the Mamayev Gang is very important, you can overlook the entire city of Stalingrad and the Volga River, and once you control it, you can control a big rhetorical question. Including the Volga transport line, which is the lifeblood of Stalingrad, we should not take it lightly. ”

Although what I said was a bit like a lesson to him, Kirillov nodded indifferently and said approvingly: "Comrade Oshanina, you are right, it is not a bad thing to be vigilant. At this point, he paused, frowned and thought for a moment, and continued. If you wait until ten o'clock, the Germans have not yet attacked. I have convened several regiment commanders and political commissars to come to the division headquarters for a meeting to study how to strengthen the political and ideological work of the independent division. ”

I raised my hand and looked at my watch, it was already half past eight, and if the Germans did not attack in another hour and a half, it would prove that they would not be coming today, and it would be necessary to gather several regimental commanders and commissars for a meeting. Thinking of this, I nodded in agreement: "Okay, Comrade Political Commissar, just do as you say." Before turning back to the headquarters, I gave Razumeeva a special order, "Lieutenant, if the Germans do not attack at ten o'clock, you should inform the regimental leaders of the five regiments to come to my division headquarters for a meeting." ”

Time passed minute by minute while waiting, it was still quiet outside, and the Germans showed no signs of wanting to attack. At this time, I couldn't help but ask Kirillov strangely: "Comrade commissar, tell me what is going on last night when the Germans sent a small force to attack us, but during the day there was no movement at all?" ”

Kirillov's fingers tapped lightly on the table, and he was also frowning and meditating, and when he heard me ask, he slowly shook his head and said: "Comrade Oshanina, what are the intentions of the German army, I really can't guess. Then he turned his head and asked Akhromeyev, who was sitting next to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you think?" ”

Although Akhromeyev was the chief of staff of the division, he obviously had not yet adapted to his identity, and when he heard Kirillov's question, he immediately stood up like a low-level commander, and replied straightly: "Report to the division commander and political commissar, I think that last night's sneak attack by the German army was just a temptation. Seeing that none of the troops who came to sneak attack could go back, perhaps they guessed that our army's position was well defended, so they did not send troops to attack today. ”

"You mean that the Germans will not attack our heights today?" After listening to this, Kirillov asked in an uncertain tone.

"Yes, Comrade Commissar, I think so."

"Tell me your reasons!"

"I think the reason why the Germans have not launched an attack on Mamayev Hill for a long time is because their main forces were firmly pinned down by the three army groups led by General Zhukov. Perhaps they found it impossible to seize our position with their present forces, so they continued to take a defensive position against us to-day, intending to wait for the main forces to withdraw from the area where they were fighting, before attacking our heights. ”

After listening to Akhromeyev's words, Kirillov did not express his opinion, but turned his eyes to me and threw the question at me again: "What about you, comrade division commander. What do you think? ”

"I agree with the Chief of Staff." Akhromeyev's thoughts coincided with mine, so I did not hesitate to support him, adding: "I also think that the Germans are gathering strength, and when they attack us, it will be a thunderbolt." ”

"No matter how many troops they muster, they will be bled in front of our commanders and fighters of the Red Army, armed with the great Stalinist ideas, until they are all buried under Stalingrad by us." Kirillov said confidently.

Kirillov's words made me laugh, but I didn't expect that what I said casually back then would now become a cliché used by political workers when analyzing the form.

Seeing that I was smiling but not smiling, Kirillov couldn't help but ask in surprise: "Comrade division commander, what are you laughing at?" Am I saying something wrong? ”

I waved my hand. Explained to him: "Comrade commissar. What you say makes a lot of sense. I laugh because the phrase 'the Red Army, armed with Stalinist ideas', was uttered during the defense of Moscow. Now I am very pleased to find that many political workers will quote this sentence when doing political and ideological work. ”

After I finished speaking, Kirillov's face showed a surprised expression, and he took the initiative to stretch out his hand to me and said in a friendly manner: "Comrade division commander, I really didn't expect it. It turns out that you were the first to say this. I just heard others say this, it was the chief of staff of a group army of the Western Front who first said it, is that the chief of staff you? ”

I politely shook Kirillov's hand and replied: "Yes, Comrade Commissar, at the time of the defense of Moscow, I was the chief of staff of the 20th Army and the commander of the 8th Guards Division. ”

"It's been a pleasure to work with you." Kirillov said with some surprise that he wanted to say something more after saying this. Fortunately, the regimental commanders and political commissars of the Serdelikov came, and finally freed me from the embarrassing situation.

After beckoning the commanders of each regiment to sit down. I found that sitting next to Gaidar, the commander of the 4th Regiment, was Godunov of the 3rd Regiment, and some time ago I saw that he still had the rank of lieutenant on his collar badge, but today it has become the rank of captain.

I walked up to him and asked curiously: "Comrade Godunov, long time no see." I didn't expect you to be promoted to captain. ”

Godunov turned his head to look at Gaidar beside him, then stood up and said a little embarrassed: "Report to the division commander, I was promoted to captain by Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar after recovering the 107.5 heights, and at the same time he was appointed as the commander of the first battalion of the third regiment. ”

Gaidar has the rank of lieutenant colonel, and he has every right to promote his subordinates to the rank of colonel and below, and from what I know about Godunov, it is very appropriate to promote him to the rank of captain. So after nodding, I asked again, "Are you here for the meeting today on behalf of the Third Regiment?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Division Commander." Without waiting for Godunov to speak, Gaidar next to him also stood up and helped: "According to what I know about Captain Godunov, he is a commander with a very fighting spirit, and I will temporarily appoint him as the acting commander of the Third Regiment." With that, he stared at me nervously, waiting for my statement.

I shrugged my shoulders and said indifferently: "You also know that Captain Pugachev was the acting commander of the 2nd Regiment, and his appearance during this period proved that he was completely suitable for the position. Since the acting commander of the 3rd Regiment was recommended by you to Captain Godunov to act as his deputy, I think it should also be the best choice. ”

Speaking of this, my eyes swept over several commanders in the room one by one, in addition to Gaidar and Godunov, the commander of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov, and the political commissar Oberstein came; Captain Pugachev, acting commander of the 2nd regiment, came; The commander of the fifth regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg, and the commissar Vylor also came.

"Comrade division commander, everyone is here, let's have a meeting!" Akhromeyev whispered to me.

I waved my hand and shouted out loud, "Captain Basmanov, come in." ”

With my shout, the battalion commander of the guard trotted all the way into the headquarters, and after quickly raising his hand to salute, he asked me for instructions: "Comrade division commander, do you have any instructions?" ”

"Go and call the commander of the artillery battalion, Captain Morozov."

"Yes." Basmanov agreed, turned around and ran out of the command.

"Comrade division commander, aren't the commanders of all regiments here, why do you still call the commander of the artillery battalion?" Akhromeyev asked puzzled.

"Each regiment has been replenished with political workers and company commanders, but Morozov's artillery battalion has not sent a single political worker, so I asked him to come to the meeting."

After only a few minutes, Morozov, led by Basmanov, walked into the command headquarters. When he came in and saw me, he raised his hand and saluted and said: "Report to the division commander, Comrade Division, Captain Morozov, commander of the artillery battalion of the Independent Division, has been ordered to come and wait for your orders. ”

"Sit down, Comrade Captain." After he sat down, I wanted the commanders present to announce: "I have gathered you today to tell you that the focus of your work in the near future is not only to direct the troops to dig fortifications and strengthen the training of the troops, but also to earnestly carry out the ideological work of good governance. ”

As soon as I spoke, several of my former subordinates looked at me in amazement, but out of respect for me, they did not express any objections, but waited quietly for my next words.

To tell the truth, I am more familiar with fighting a war than how to carry out political and ideological work, so I was going to hand over the right to speak to Kirillov, so I said: "Next, I would like to invite Comrade Political Commissar to give you a speech. After making a gesture to Kirillov, I sat down.

Kirillov stood up and said to everyone: "Comrade commander, I think everyone knows the order No. 227 issued by the Supreme High Command, and in order to prevent desertions on the battlefield, the Ministry of Internal Affairs even formed a team of overseers equipped with machine guns. But I know that, in addition to the warlords, the ubiquitous political work can play a key role in ensuring the morale of the troops. To do this, it is necessary to assign political workers to each company to continue to educate the fighters day and night to dispel their fears in battle. Let the warriors no longer be driven by fear, but let them understand that they must overcome pain with their political consciousness.

We political workers agitated the fighters because they were convinced that they were more politically and morally visible than the Germans. And only those who believe that they are dedicating themselves to a higher goal can achieve ultimate victory.

As we all know, most of the soldiers in our division are prisoners from the Gulag concentration camp, and for them, there should be less mention of words related to topics such as 'patriotism' and 'lofty ideals'. What drove them to survive on the battlefield and fight desperately against the dominant German army should be more of a most primitive emotion - hatred. ”

Originally, when I listened to Kirillov's speech, I looked absent-minded, but when I heard his last sentence, my interest was aroused, and I quickly sat upright, looked up at him, and waited for him to say the rest of the words.

Unexpectedly, after Kirillov finished saying this, he actually stopped, turned his eyes to me, and asked cautiously: "Comrade division commander, will I continue to speak?" ”

It seems that I don't like the reputation of political workers is really big enough, and even my own political commissar has scruples when he talks about this, so I hurriedly encourage him and say: "Please speak, comrade political commissar, please go on, I am listening carefully here." (To be continued......)