Kirillov, who had always been exceptionally accommodating to me, saw that I was so stubborn, stood up and pointed at me for a long time, without thinking about what to say, and finally, stamping his foot heavily, turned away from the division headquarters.

When I came to the foot of the mountain, Pugachev and a company of troops were waiting in formation. When I saw that Pugachev had brought only such a small number of people, I was so angry that I walked up to his side and asked dissatisfiedly: "Comrade Major, why are there only so many people, have you not received an order from the chief of staff?" ”

Pugachev hurriedly nodded and replied: "I received it, the order is clear, except for leaving a full company to continue to hold the position, the rest of the troops will be organized into three companies, and you will go to the city to participate in the battle together." ”

"Since you've received the order, why did you only bring so many people?" I continued to question.

When Pugachev heard this, he shrugged his shoulders and replied: "What to say, Comrade Division Commander." The defensive front of the 2nd Regiment was too wide, and it would take time to assemble them all in such a short time. ”

After listening to Pugachev's explanation, I knew that I was too anxious, the defensive front of the Second Regiment was one kilometer long, and it would definitely not be enough to gather a company with so many numbers. But at this time, the headquarters of the army group was in danger, and I didn't have much time to stay and wait, so I thought about it for a while, and then ordered Pugachev: "Major Pugachev, now that the situation is urgent, I will take this company to relieve the siege for the headquarters first." You stay behind and continue to assemble your troops, and when you are done, you will immediately take your troops to the city to reinforce us. ”

After admonishing Pugachev, I walked to the front of the line and said to the fighters: "Brothers. The enemy is attacking our army group headquarters at the moment. Due to the fact that the Germans were multi-handed. The troops of the defense headquarters are a little overwhelmed, and now I will take you to reinforce them. Speaking of which, I saw that many of the soldiers in the queue had panicked expressions on their faces, and quickly added, "I also know that it would be nice if there were more people, but where are we going to find so many people?" We can't just stop rescuing the headquarters because of the manpower, because if we don't go, they may be wiped out by the enemy. In the event that the army group headquarters is terminated by the enemy. Without its chain of command, the 62nd Army would be thrown into disarray, and the Germans would be able to drive us all into the Volga. ”

"Comrade division commander," suddenly a soldier at the back of the line shouted, "give the order, we must not watch the enemy wipe out our headquarters." With his shouting, the team also rang out with a echoing voice: "Yes, comrade division commander, give the order, take us to teach these damned Germans a lesson!" ”

Seeing the eagerness of the commanders and fighters, I hurriedly struck while the iron was hot and waved at the team. Say it loudly, "Go!" "Following my command, the fighters of the 2nd Regiment collectively turned to the left. Then there were four columns, marching in the direction of the city with neat steps.

At this moment, Major Morozov, who had just been left by me on Soviet Street to take charge of the transfer of troops, returned with his mortar company and the remaining dozen fighters of the guard company. Seeing that I was leaving, Morozov hurriedly caught up and asked anxiously: "Comrade division commander, where are you going?" ”

Anyway, it's not a secret to go to the rescue headquarters in the city, and now when I hear him asking, I don't hide it from him, but tell the truth: "The enemy is attacking the headquarters of the army group, and I want to take people to them." ”

Morozov tilted his head sideways and looked at the troops in the distance, and then said uneasily: "Division commander, isn't it too risky to go to reinforce the headquarters with just these more than 100 infantry?" You know, they lack heavy weapons, even if the Germans only have one tank blocking the road, they can't get through guò. I think you'd better bring my mortars with you. ”

I did not object to his suggestion, but readily agreed: "Okay, send two mortar crews to act with me." ”

Seeing that I had agreed to his request, Morozov hurriedly and excitedly agreed, then turned around and shouted at his men: "Mortar Group No. 1 and No. 2 are here!" ”

With his shout, six fighters ran out of the ranks, in groups of three, one carrying a cannon barrel, one carrying a base, and one carrying a shell box. Seeing that only six soldiers came out of the ranks, Morozov turned his face black and said unhappily: "The division commander wants to take people to the city to fight the enemy, where are the two boxes of shells?" Four more ammunition men, one carrying a box of shells, followed the division commander. ”

Morozov's prestige in the artillery battalion was high, and the fighters immediately carried out the orders he gave without discount. Immediately, four more ammunition men carrying shells in the shell box came out and joined the two mortar crews just now. And a dozen or so soldiers of the guard company, without waiting for me to speak, also stood by my side by themselves.

Before leaving, I once again told Pugachev: "Comrade Major, hurry up and gather your troops, with your joining, our battle in the city will be relatively easy." ”

When I arrived with the guard company and mortar crew to the meeting point that I had agreed with Perstian, I saw a German tank parked on the side of the road in the distance, and several people were chatting next to the car. Just as I was in a cold sweat at the sudden appearance of the tank, a guard soldier next to me pointed ahead and said to me excitedly: "Division commander, look, standing next to the tank is Major Perstian, the commander of the tank battalion. "I looked closely, but no, the person standing next to the tank in front of me, chatting with others with a cigarette in his mouth, was my tank battalion commander Perstian.

I walked up to him, and before I could speak, the other two tankmen who were chatting with Pelsjian quickly stood up and saluted when they spotted me. Seeing this reaction of his subordinates, who had his back to me, Pelsjian, who had his back to me, knew that it was me who came, even if he didn't look back, hurriedly threw away the cigarette butts in his hand, turned around and saluted me, and reported: "Comrade division commander, Major Perstian, commander of the tank battalion, reports to you, and I am waiting for your next order." ”

"Comrade Major," I asked, curiously, looking to the left and right, and finding no other tanks, "I want to ask, why can't I see other tanks?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Division Commander." Pelstian explained to me very quickly: "Since the tanks were running low on ammunition and fuel, we only drew three tanks. The other two followed the infantry warriors in front of them into the city. And I deliberately stayed to wait for you. ”

"Time is of the essence. Let's go! ”

"Yes!" Persjian agreed. Then he turned and took the lead to climb onto the tank and get into the turret.

After the tank was activated, the fighters and I walked on the side of the road so as not to follow behind and suck in the exhaust fumes from the tank.

After entering the city, we joined up with the troops guarding the entrance to the street. I called the company commander who was leading the team over, and after telling him where the headquarters of the army group was, I gave him a straightforward order: "Comrade Captain, you bring two tanks and fifty men. Bypassed from the western side of the headquarters and hit him hard from the side of the Germans. Do you understand? ”

"Understood!" The captain replied loudly, beckoning two platoons of fighters to follow him and turn in the other direction at the crossing, and one of the two tanks that followed them was piloted by Pelsken.

I called the two remaining platoon commanders in the company to the front and said to them: "Comrade platoon commanders, let the tanks open the way in front later, and your troops will follow behind the tanks." When it's time to settle the enemy's position, let the tanks open fire, and then you charge. It is necessary to find a way to break through the enemy's encirclement of the headquarters. ”

As my order was given, the tank, which had not been extinguished by the roadside, had not been extinguished. It became our pioneer, and a platoon of troops followed closely two or three meters behind. I was in the rear of the infantry platoon with the guard company and the mortar group, and in our rear was another infantry platoon.

Although the streets were full of craters, fortunately we did not encounter enemy resistance and our advance was not slow at all. In less than ten minutes, we were only three or four hundred meters away from the headquarters.

When I saw the familiar intersection ahead, I immediately remembered that the last time I went to the headquarters, the motorcycle that had given me had parked there. Just go there, walk a few minutes further, and you'll be at the headquarters.

Watching the tank that opened the way for us slowly drove to the center of the crossroads, I couldn't help but shout at the fighters on the left and right: "Be careful, everyone, if you don't go far, you may encounter the enemy......"

"Boom!" Before I could finish my sentence, there was a loud bang in front of me, and then I saw a ball of fire rising from the left side of the turret of the tank that was opening the way, and then the upper half of the car was covered in smoke. Several fighters who were following closely behind the car seemed to have been hit by Hengfei, and with a muffled grunt, they fell straight on their backs.

"Battle alert! Lie down, lie down! "The infantry platoon commander, who was walking in the front, saw that our tanks had been shot, and the fighters were knocked down by shrapnel, and hurriedly shouted loudly. Almost as soon as he shouted, the surrounding commanders and fighters fell to the ground neatly. Seeing that the soldier in front of me was lying down, I didn't have time to react, and I was thrown to the ground by the guards around me.

We lay on the ground for a minute, or more, and neither heard the gunshots nor saw the Germans in our field of vision. The guards on my body also helped me stand up after getting up. The infantry platoon commander in front ran over to me and reported: "Division commander, it's really strange why the enemy only fired one shot and destroyed our tank, and there was no movement. ”

I pointed forward and ordered: "Comrade platoon commander, you can arrange for someone to go to the intersection to reconnoiter and see what is going on?" Also, the tankers are crawling out of the burning tank, so ask your men to help them! ”

The platoon commander said yes and ran back to follow my orders while carrying out reconnaissance and rescue work. The soldier in charge of reconnaissance leaned against the wall of the building next to the road, came to the bend, and when he went out to take a look, he immediately shrank back. Unexpectedly, he just retracted his head and stretched it out again, but after stretching it out this time, he didn't shrink back again, and even the whole person walked out of the hidden place by the wall and walked towards the middle of the crossroads.

Seeing this scene, the platoon commander became anxious and shouted at the reckless soldier: "Hey, you fool, come back, come back, don't stand in the middle of the road and let the Germans use you as a target!" ”

The soldier heard the platoon commander's shout, turned around and shouted at us: "My own people, my own people, not Germans." ”

Hearing the soldiers shouting like this, I couldn't help but be stunned, since it was my own people, why did they shoot my tank? I walked towards the middle of the intersection in disbelief, and the platoon commander saw that I was going to take an adventure and hurriedly stopped in front of me. Persuade me: "Commander." The situation ahead is unknown. You can't take any chances. Perhaps the soldier saw a German in our uniform. ”

Originally, I wanted to go and see what was going on, but when I heard the platoon commander say this, I suddenly had no bottom in my heart. If it was really our own people, as he said, it was our army unit pretended to be by the Germans, and if I broke out recklessly, wouldn't it just become a target for the Germans?

Just as I was hesitating, I suddenly heard a familiar voice: "Hey. I said, comrade fighters, what part of you are from? ”

The fighters standing at the crossroads did not have our permission and did not dare to casually say the number of their troops to strangers, but just stood in the middle of the road in a daze.

Seeing that the soldier did not speak, the other party repeated the question just now. This time, I heard it very well, and I really knew the owner of this voice, so I raised my hand and pushed away the platoon commander who was standing in front of me, and strode to the middle of the crossroads, standing side by side with the soldier. I looked around. I saw a heavy tank of our army parked forty or fifty meters in front of me, and seven or eight soldiers wearing steel helmets of our army. Hiding behind sandbag fortifications on the side of the road on both sides of the tank. I shouted to the front, "Hey, is it Lieutenant Colonel Weinlub in front?" I am Colonel Oshanina, commander of the Independent Division, and I heard that the headquarters is under siege by the enemy, and I have specially led my troops to relieve you of the siege. ”

"Ulla!" Suddenly there was a cheer from behind the sandbag: "Ulla! Awesome, our reinforcements are coming! With the shouting, Lieutenant Colonel Weinrubb, whom I knew, came out from behind the cheering sandbag fortifications with two soldiers.

I walked over to Wei Yinlubu, and when I was still about ten meters apart, I said in a dissatisfied tone: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, we are here to rescue you on purpose, why do you want to fire and destroy our tanks?" ”

"What," Weinrub said this, his footsteps involuntarily stopped, he pointed to the burning tank behind me, and asked in an incredulous tone, "Colonel Oshanina, do you mean that the German tank painted with a white cross belongs to your independent division?" ”

Hearing him mention the cross mark on the tank, I complained bitterly in my heart, patronizing the lead of the troops to relieve the siege of the headquarters, forgetting that the tanks used by the tank battalion were all captured from the German army, and there was no condition to remove the German mark on the tank, so we were determined to lose this dumb loss by mistake.

Seeing that Wei Yinlub had already walked in front of me, I had no choice but to nod with difficulty, and said with a wry smile: "Yes, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the tank destroyed by you was captured by us from the German army, and there is no condition to remove the swastika on the tank body for the time being, and it was destroyed by you as a German tank." Speaking of which, in order to avoid Wei Yinlubu's embarrassment, I hurriedly changed the topic: "By the way, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the headquarters of the group army is fine, how could it suddenly be besieged by the German army?" ”

When Weinrub heard me ask, he sighed and began to explain the reason for me: "Colonel Oshanina, that's the case. In order to break the enemy's attempt to occupy Stalingrad, the command of the army group organized troops to begin a counter-assault on the enemy at 6 o'clock this morning. In order to cooperate with the actions of our army, the 64th Army also switched to the offensive of the enemy in the area of Kuporosnoye.

To tell the truth, in the initial stage of the counterattack, we had a good record, but by 8 a.m. our formation was under heavy fire from several hundred enemy dive bombers. The detachment that carried out the counterattack had to lie down and hide.

At 10:30, the enemy turned to the offensive. Its attacking forces were the 100th Division of the New Light Infantry, the 389th Division of the Supplementary Infantry, and the 24th Tank Division, and its target was the town of Red October. Due to the disrupted deployment of the enemy by your night raids, the 113th Division, which was originally intended to attack the Mamayev Gang at the same time, is still in the camp and has not made any moves.

German planes indiscriminately bombed our entire battle formation from the forefront to the Volga. The support points set up by the Gorishny division in the city were leveled by enemy bombs and artillery fire. The command post of the army group command was also constantly under fire from enemy aviation. Some of the oil tanks located nearby were on fire. Enemy tanks attacking from the Gorodishhe area crossed the minefield without hesitation. The enemy infantry followed closely behind the tanks and squirmed forward like a tidal wave. Near noon, the telephone communication between my command post and the units became very unstable, and the radio station was broken......

The tank corps and the right flank of the Yermolgin division, which was responsible for the main assault, suffered huge losses. An hour earlier, with their remaining forces, they had taken up defensive positions at the Mechetka River Bridge, 2.5 kilometres west of the town of Barikad, southwest of the town of Barikad, on the western outskirts of the town of Red October, and on the line up to the Baunai Gorge. The Germans occupied Shakhtinsky Prospect and Zherdevsky Prospect. ”

"The situation is terrible, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Hearing that the situation was so bad, I couldn't help frowning: "Why don't they transfer the commander, if the headquarters is destroyed by the enemy, the entire army group will fall into a leaderless mess." (To be continued......)