Against the Karpov battalion, although we had considered all kinds of possible scenarios in advance, we did not expect that in the end there would be an unexpected mistake, and the whole operation almost fell short.

At four o'clock in the morning, in order to find out the movement of Koricheng's troops, I made a special call to Gaidar. As soon as the phone was connected, I got straight to the point and asked, "Hey, Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar, where is Captain Kiricheng's troops?" ”

Gaidar confidently replied: "Report to the division commander, they have managed to enter the enemy's positions, they are progressing smoothly and are advancing in depth. ”

Gaidar's report stunned me: "What, Captain Corichen, they carried walkie-talkies?" "It is necessary to know that the enemy's front line and the position of the fourth regiment are separated by three kilometers, and if you want to report the results of the battle in time, you can only use this wireless communication equipment. But in the dead of night, isn't it alarming the enemy to use this kind of thing to shout in a hurry?

"Nope." Gaidar understood what I was worried about, and hurriedly explained to me: "Political Commissar Xia Ping was worried that we would not be able to understand the situation of Keli Chenglian in time, so before they set off, he was specially given a flashlight. Let him enter the attack position and signal in the direction of our regiment. When you successfully enter the enemy's position, the flashlight flashes twice, one long and one short, repeated once a minute; If the progress is smooth, flash three times, one long and two short, and repeat every minute. Now, Comrade Xia Ping is lying in the trenches, observing the situation in the distance with a telescope, and after receiving the signal, he immediately called me to inform me, so that when you ask, I can report to you in a timely manner on the situation of the battle. ”

"Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov. Your commissar is well thought out. "For Xia Ping, such an arrangement. I am very satisfied. After a heartfelt compliment, he put down the phone.

I raised my hand and looked at my watch, and then asked Akhromeyev: "Chief of Staff, where has the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Regiment arrived?" ”

Akhromeyev walked up to Razumeyeva and bowed his head to her, presumably trying to contact the observation post of the 2nd Regiment on the top of the hill to find out where the night raid troops were moving.

After a while, Akhromeyev walked back to me. "Report to the division commander, according to the report from the observation post, one company of the 2nd Battalion has moved to a kilometer in front of the enemy's position, while the other two companies are still hidden in the rubble of tanks and armored vehicles at the foot of the mountain, and the commanders and fighters are waiting for further orders," he reported to me. ”

After listening to Akhromeyev's report, Bandereev said with a stern expression: "I hope that the sneak attack of the 4th regiment will be successful, so that we can seize the enemy's position with minimal casualties." ”

Before we could finish our sentence, the phone on the desk suddenly rang out at an inopportune time. When I heard the phone ringing, my heart beat faster, and I was worried that something bad would come. Seeing that we were all staring at the phone, there was no response. Akhromeyev stepped forward and picked up the phone. Say loudly: "Hey, I'm the chief of staff, where are you?" After listening to a few words, he covered the microphone and reported to me, "It was Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar who called, and he said that in the trenches in the distance, there was a sudden dense sound of gunfire and explosions, and it seemed that Ke Licheng's troops had been discovered by the enemy. He asked what to do next? ”

"Tell Lieutenant Colonel Sù to immediately send two companies of troops down the river embankment and down the river to reinforce Ke Licheng's company." After saying that, I turned around and ordered Razumeyeva in the back: "Comrade lieutenant, immediately get in touch with Captain Serebryanny of the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Regiment, I want to speak to him." ”

When Razumeyeva reported to me that she had been in contact with Captain Sherebryanny, I quickly walked to her side, put on my headphones, and rushed to the microphone and said, "Hey, is it Captain Sherebryanny?" Our troops who are sneaking up on the enemy's positions have already been discovered by the enemy. I now order you to get all your warriors into action and immediately attack the enemy's positions. When I said this, I thought of the mines that Kirillov had mentioned, and quickly gave another instruct: "Remember, let the sappers first clear the mines in the way ahead, and do not blow up their own people." ”

The battle to seize the position went smoothly, and the enemy, who had already been dazed by the sneak attack of Ke Licheng's company, suddenly rushed up from the front with a new force, and the enemy was even more defeated. Their resistance ended shortly after the 2nd Battalion stormed the trenches, leaving them with a cold corpse, except for a few who voluntarily surrendered.

When the report of the victory, the walkie-talkie of Selebryane, reached the headquarters, we were all excited. Successfully seizing the enemy's positions meant that the Karpov battalion, anyway, could pass through this gap and enter our defense zone by the way.

I also made a point of saying to Sherebryanny on the phone: "Comrade Captain, now I will also hand over Captain Korichen's company to your command. Remember, the task I have given you is to cover a unit in German uniform, and to pass through your defense zone and into Mamayev Heights. ”

After hearing this, Sherebryan was stunned for a moment, and then asked cautiously: "Comrade division commander, how can I be sure that it is a real German or a friendly soldier wearing a German uniform?" ”

Not to mention, we are so happy that we actually forgot about the matter of the Karpov battalion anyway, not many people know about it, not to mention a small battalion commander in Serebryan, and even Gaidar of the 4th Regiment they don't know. At such a time, it may be counterproductive to hide it from the commander who is on the front line, so I generously told him the matter.

Although Sherebryanny had been prepared, he was stunned by this shocking secret. He was silent for a long time before he said hesitantly: "Comrade division commander, do I need to send someone to get in touch with this unit now?" ”

"That's for sure, Comrade Captain." Thinking that it was Savchenko who was responsible for guiding the Karpov battalion into the army, and that he had been in the same regiment as Sherebryanny before, and that the two might know each other, he instructed him: "That unit is led by Comrade Savchenko, you find a few fighters who know him, go quietly to the west, establish contact with them, and guide them through your defense area." ”

"I see," Serebryone replied loudly, "I will immediately send men to meet them." ”

Not long after giving the order to Sherebryane, Razumeyeva in front of the intercom suddenly called me. Nervously said: "Comrade division commander. I'm getting a strange call. ”

Listen to her. My heart couldn't help but chuckle, and my heart said where did the strange call come from, could it be that there was something wrong with Savchenko and them? I walked up to her with trepidation, put on my headphones and pointed at the microphone, and said in a bit of a panic, "Hey, hey, where are you?" ”

After a noisy electric sound, a familiar voice finally came: "Comrade Division Commander." It's me, Savchenko. ”

When I unexpectedly heard Savchenko's voice, I was overjoyed: "Comrade Savchenko, where are you and whose communication equipment did you use to contact me?" ”

Savchenko seemed in a hurry, so he spoke very quickly: "Division commander, I, together with Captain Karpov, am leading the troops towards the Volga River. Because of the urgency of the situation, I had to take the risk of using the communications equipment in the captain's camp to contact you. ”

"What the hell is going on?" I asked hurriedly.

"Shortly after our troops left the camp, they were spotted by a German patrol. Now there were large groups of German troops. It is pressing towards us from both north and west. We tried hard to get rid of them, but without success. They were in hot pursuit, and had already engaged our broken troops. ”

I was taken aback by this surprise and quickly asked, "Does the enemy have heavy weapons?" ”

"Except for a few mortars and a few machine guns, no heavy weapons have been found yet." Savchenko nervously asked me: "Comrade division commander, what should we do next?" ”

"Captain Sù Karpov, let their troops alternate cover, and retreat eastward to the Volga, where the German positions have not long been captured by our troops, and you may pass through Guò and enter our defense zone along the way. The commander who is holding out there is Captain Sherebryane, as you may know, and I have ordered him to send someone to contact you. ”

"Comrade division commander," Savchenko made a request to me after listening to my words, "can you send someone to pick us up?" You must know that the officers and men of the Eastern Battalion knew that the troops were going to be pulled away, and their morale was not high, and I was worried that if the rearguard troops could not withstand the German attack, the troops might mutini on the battlefield. ”

Savchenko said it so harshly that I quickly asked, "Where are you now?" ”

"It's about two kilometers away from that fortification......" As soon as he said this, a violent explosion suddenly came from the earphones, it seemed that the German mortars had hit his vicinity, thinking of this, my mood became more and more nervous, and I asked in a loud voice: "Comrade Savchenko, how are you doing over there?" ”

"I'm fine, Comrade Division." Savchenko's voice came back from the headphones, and he reported: "Just now a shell exploded not far away, wounding two soldiers. However, the vanguard of the German army, having routed the rearguard unit left behind by Captain Karpov, is pushing towards us. The captain had sent his platoon of guards up to try to plug the gap and cover the rest of the troops as they continued eastward. Please tell your friendly commanders and fighters that although we are wearing German uniforms, we have a white towel tied to our left arm to distinguish us. ”

If their anyway operation fails, not only will they be wiped out by the Germans, but even the future of all the commanders around me will come to an abrupt end. If the above is investigated, there are also Chuikov, Gurov, Krylov, and even Zhukov and others who are implicated, which can be said to affect the whole body, so I must now come up with a practical way to rescue Karpov and them.

When I think of this, my heart is heavy. After a moment of silence, I decisively said to Savchenko: "Comrade Savchenko, please tell Captain Karpov that after leaving enough covering troops, continue to retreat east with the remaining troops, and I will immediately send someone to meet you." ”

Savchenko heard me say this, hesitated for a moment, and then agreed in a heavy tone: "Yes! ”

After the end of the call with Savchenko, I ordered Razumeeva to contact the commander of the second battalion, Serebryane, and instructed him straight to the point: "Comrade Captain, I order you to immediately send two companies of troops to the west of your position to meet a unit retreating from the west, which, although wearing German uniforms, has a white towel tied to their left arm. Let our fighters pay attention to identification and do not misunderstand. ”

"Yes, Comrade Division Commander." Serebryanny replied very dryly: "I will immediately take two companies to meet the situation, and let Captain Koricheng of the 4th Regiment lead two companies to hold the position, and we must rescue the friendly troops." ”

Although he said this, I was still not at ease, and specially advised: "Comrade Captain, this mission is very special, we don't know how many troops the enemy has dispatched and what kind of weapons and equipment they have, so you must stop them at any cost." Once you have joined them, set up a defensive position on the spot, and as long as this force has not completely withdrawn from your lines, you cannot withdraw from the battle. Do you understand? ”

"Understood." In order to reassure me, Serebryanny also made a special expression of determination to me: "Please rest assured, division commander, no matter what the cost is, we will firmly block the enemy." As long as there is one person left in the position, the position will never be handed over to the enemy. ”

From what we later learned from Savchenko and Karpov, although the Karpov battalion was at that time less than two kilometers away from our new position, there were no German troops in between. However, due to the sight of the fierce pursuers behind and the shells that had exploded in the queue from time to time, many officers with weak willpower wavered, and actually led their subordinates to flee in the direction of the German army, and laid down their weapons early and surrendered to the German army.

Just when the morale of the Karpov battalion was even more weakened by the appearance of deserters, and the entire unit was on the verge of collapse, the receiving troops led by Serebryanny arrived in time, which relieved Karpov, who had already pointed his pistol at his head. However, even so, the number of dead and wounded in the battalion has been reduced and the number of fleeing has reached one-third.

Karpov said that when he saw the reinforcements appear, he was convinced of Savchenko's words, and he immediately lifted his spirits and led his troops to quickly withdraw to the eastern position.

And Serebryanny's troops did not have time to build fortifications, so they took refuge in ready-made craters and engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy who caught up. It was only after the troops of the Eastern Battalion had passed through Guò that Sherebryanne gave the order to alternately cover the retreat to the fortified positions behind.

However, the enemy's pursuers came quickly, and the German 113th Division also sent troops from the camp, under the cover of tanks, pressed from the north, and the remnants of Sherebryanny faced the enemy.

As soon as I heard this, I called Gaidar and hurriedly ordered him: "Hey, lieutenant colonel, do you see the enemy tanks?" I order you to immediately push the anti-tank guns in the tunnels into the trenches, provide artillery cover for Captain Sherebryanny's troops, and knock out all the tanks that come in from the north. ”

At my command, the anti-tank guns hidden in the tunnels of the four regiments were pushed into the trenches and opened fire on the German tanks that were showing off their might in the distance. Because the two German tanks did not find artillery fire on our positions in the process of forming shì, they quickly rushed towards the position of the second battalion without infantry cover, and were quickly beaten into a pile of scrap metal.

The infantry, who was far behind the tank, saw that their tank had been destroyed, and still rushed forward without knowing whether they were alive or dead. As a result, he first stepped on a mine, was blown up, and then was knocked down by a large number of bullets fired by Ke Licheng's troops on the position, and finally had to retreat in a panic.

The enemy from the north was repulsed, while the German offensive from the west continued. Under the cover of mortars, they suppressed the fire of this Serebryanny and approached the trenches step by step.

Kirillov, who heard the news, was anxious, grabbed my arm and asked nervously: "Comrade division commander, if the enemy is allowed to rush into the trenches, the second battalion will be completely finished, is there anything we can do to help them?" (To be continued......)

PS: Heartfelt thanks to book friends zhaojingchao, thindy, dead pigs, ocean guards, cats coming back from Africa, and curt-footed children's shoes for their valuable monthly tickets! Thank you for the book friend old godfather, a knife to shoot Lanlong children's shoes for the reward!