As soon as my words fell, Buniachenko's loud voice sounded in the call channel: "All commanders listen to my orders: all disperse, shoot freely, and choose the opportunity to break through!" ”

The predicament faced by the 389th Tank Division, the commissar also heard it, and he said anxiously: "Lida, Colonel Buniachenko, they are dangerous, we should help them." ”

I secretly complained in my heart that if General Katukov's Guards Tank Brigade was here, I could send him reinforcements to rescue Buniachenko and them. But now I can only command a few thousand infantry, and let the infantry fight tanks in the open field, isn't that driving sheep into the tiger's mouth?

But when his troops are in danger, they can't die without help. I held the microphone and thought about it for a few minutes, then bowed my head to the signal soldier and said, "Give me the anti-tank artillery battalion of the 389th Tank Division." "Now the matter is that the only thing left is to be a dead horse as a horse doctor, and now the closest to the battlefield is Major Malafeyev's anti-tank artillery battalion, to see if he can provide a little assistance, and if he can save one by one. Besides, Major Malafeev was originally a subordinate of Bunyachenko, so it was impossible for him to die to his superiors.

I quickly got into conversation with Malafeev, and without any nonsense, I gave him an order directly: "Comrade Major, Colonel Bunyachenko's tank unit has been ambushed by the Germans, and there is a possibility that the whole army will be destroyed. Now I order you, in my capacity as the division commander, to immediately send a capable force to the rescue. ”

Malafeev listened to my order, did not speak but remained silent, and when I heard that the other party did not speak for a long time, I was very unhappy, so I increased my tone and said: "What? Comrade Major, are you going to die or not save you? ”

"That's not the case, Comrade Division! You misunderstood," he explained to me: "Our anti-tank guns are not self-propelled guns, they are all towed by animal power. If we have to rush to reinforcements from such a long distance, if we encounter German tanks head-on, we will be wiped out by the enemy before we can deploy. ”

Hearing him say this, I had no choice but to order him to closely monitor the front, and once I found a tank that our army had broken through, I would immediately provide fire cover to stop the enemy tanks pursuing behind and ensure the safe escape of our tanks.

Originally, it was enough to disturb me that the tank division was surrounded and faced with the annihilation of the whole army, but I didn't expect Rokossovsky to call me again, saying that the two infantry battalions and an artillery regiment that Zhukov had promised to belong to me had now arrived at the headquarters of the army group. Since the army group intended to organize a counter-assault in the area of Hegliazi, these units were now placed under the command of General Kazakov and Deputy Chief of Staff Orel. Later, he also told me that there should be no reinforcements for the time being, but the city of Cumbre del Sol must be held at all costs, otherwise what awaits me is a trial by a military court.

After talking to Rokossovsky on the phone, I felt a sudden tightness in my heart, as if I had been stabbed severely, first stabbing all over my body, and then cold and weak all over my body. My hands trembled uncontrollably, and the microphone I was holding slipped out of my hand, and I collapsed to the ground.

"What's wrong with you?" The political commissar asked with concern, and at the same time, Chistyakov and Serebryakov, who had just come in, helped me to the table and sat down. I sat in my chair and smiled bitterly, looked at the political commissar and said weakly: "Comrade political commissar, just now the commander informed me that the two infantry battalions and one artillery regiment originally assigned to my division have been assigned to General Kazakov and Orel Deputy Chief of Staff and transferred to the Hegliazy area to participate in the counter-assault of the group army. ”

"What?" Hearing the news, the political commissar was also confused: "Without reinforcements, can this Sun Mountain City be defended?" ”

I smiled bitterly and said, "If you can't keep it, you have to defend it, but I have made a military order, even if I fight to the last person, I will never give up Sun Hill City." After saying that, I grabbed the phone on the table, shook the handle vigorously a few times, and when I heard the operator's voice, I immediately said: "I am Division Commander Oshanina, and I will pick up Major Kureshov immediately." ”

When the phone was answered, I first identified myself, and then issued a series of combat orders: "Major Kuleshov, there is one of our anti-tank gun positions in the forest on your left, and you should immediately send a company of troops to take up the task of guarding and ensuring the safety of the anti-tank battalion at all costs." And after these two days of shelling, there must be a lot of craters in front of your position, right?! Send a group of fighters with weapons such as Molotov cocktails and anti-tank mines to lurk in these craters and wait for enemy tanks to approach and destroy them. ”

"Understood, I'll do it right away." Then he complained to me again: "Comrade division commander, after the round of shelling just now, the casualties of our battalion have been resolved by one-third, and if we send so many troops to leave now, there will not be many troops left for defense." ”

"I know, the reinforcements for you will be here soon."

I immediately asked the operator to call the commander of the 1075th Regiment, Major Schedurin, and told him bluntly: "Comrade Commander, there are not many troops left in the 2nd Battalion. Now I order you, in addition to the necessary alert troops, your regiment will transfer all the troops that can be drawn out to the second battalion, and you must firmly hold the defensive line."

Everything that should be set up was arranged, and the communication channel was transferred back to Bunyachenko. I only heard the sound of fierce explosions and various shouts in the headphones, and from these sounds, I knew that from time to time enemy tanks were hit, but at the same time, our tanks were constantly destroyed. Since the armor and firepower of our tanks were superior to those of the Germans, after the initial confusion, although they were still in the encirclement of the enemy, they were inextricably fought.

Bunyachenko's voice suddenly came again: "The tanks that broke out of the encirclement immediately seized the favorable terrain, covered the withdrawal of the remaining tanks with firepower, and then the troops alternately covered the retreat." "Hearing that he was methodically directing the battle, I felt that the situation was not as pessimistic as I had imagined, and the big stone hanging in my heart was lowered again.

The political commissar probably saw the relaxed expression on my face, and hurriedly asked with concern, "Lida, how is the situation?" ”

"Comrade Colonel's tank troops, at present, have already broken out partially, and are seizing advantageous terrain to cover the remaining tank breakthroughs."

"That's good," the political commissar also breathed a sigh of relief, "our troops are currently short of anti-tank weapons, and if there are no tanks, we will really be helpless in the face of the enemy's fierce attack by tanks." ”

The channel switched to the anti-tank gun positions in Malafeev, and I asked the major: "How is the situation?" ”

"Report to Comrade Division Commander," he replied loudly, "from me, I have seen several tanks of our army breaking out of the enemy's encirclement, seizing favorable terrain and holding back fire on the enemy. ”

Malafeev's words reassured all of us, and the originally suppressed mood relaxed. Although the enemy set a trap for us to drill, judging by the performance of the tank divisions, it is entirely possible to turn defeat into victory, and even lure these ambushed tanks into range of the anti-tank guns and wipe them out with artillery fire.

However, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment, and just when we had no doubts about the safe breakthrough of the tank division, the anomaly abruptly occurred. Suddenly there was a dense explosion in the headphones, and I frowned and asked loudly: "Comrade Major, what is the matter with this cannon sound?" ”

But apart from the successive explosions on the opposite side, Malafeev's voice was not heard. I was a little anxious, and raised my voice and shouted, "Hey! Feed! Major Malafeev, what happened, where is the artillery firing ?? My shout drew the commissars, who had already sat down at the table for tea, and they gathered around, like me, nervously awaiting Major Malafeyev's reply.

After a while, Malafeev's somewhat flustered voice came from the earphones again: "Comrade division commander, the enemy has begun shelling, except for a few tanks, the rest of the tanks have been cut off by the enemy's artillery blocking fire." ……”

"Has the tank of the division commander of Bunyachenko retreated?" I didn't wait for him to finish speaking, so I couldn't wait to ask, because at this moment the word "Russian Liberation Army" suddenly popped up in my mind, although I can't remember the specific leader of this unit, but Buniachenko should be one of them, so his whereabouts at the moment have become my main concern.

Malafeev was silent for a moment before he replied in a low tone: "No, only nine tanks were withdrawn, among which there was no tank of the division commander of Bunyachenko. ”

Hearing the news that Bunyachenko's whereabouts were unknown, the atmosphere in the command headquarters suddenly became oppressive and dull, no one spoke, only the heavy and rapid breathing of several people could be faintly heard.

After being silent for a long time, I secretly sighed in my heart, raised my head to look at the commanders in front of me with extremely complicated expressions, and said lightly: "When it is too dark, immediately send scouts to the battlefield to search for the whereabouts of Colonel Bunyachenko. ”