After receiving my encouragement, Kirillov continued: "It is well known that many of our soldiers have studied in Germany or had dealt with the Germans before the outbreak of the war, and in their minds they regard Germany as a country of culture, and even admire the latter's unique and innovative engineering skills, and do not realize that our two countries are ideological rivals. Under these circumstances, it would be unrealistic for our political workers to arouse hatred of the Germans in their hearts by adopting ordinary political ideological work. ”

Hearing Kirillov say this, the attention of everyone in the command was attracted to him, and everyone stared at him intently, waiting for him to give his final answer.

"Our political workers should collect more information that reflects the brutality of the German army and the heinous crimes committed in our homeland, and use their perverse deeds to tell the commanders and fighters how the enemy burned, killed, and plundered our land, so that the commanders and fighters of the independent division can recognize the true nature of the Germans, and thus ignite the anger buried in the hearts of all people."

"Comrade Commissar, can you be a little more detailed?" Vylore, the political commissar of the Fifth Regiment, who had always rarely spoken in public, broke the silence in the room for the first time and opened his mouth to ask Kirillov questions.

As Vylore spoke, I swept my gaze over each of the commanders present, and saw that their attention was on Kirillov, and I was secretly relieved.

Kirillov nodded, and continued: "Comrade Vylol, please be calm, I will talk about this later. Shortly after I entered the army from the locality, I heard from a colonel that his troops had recaptured a small city from the Germans. See the residents who didn't have time to evacuate. All were poisoned by the Germans. See young women and children hanging from tree trunks in the park. The impact of this scene on them was too great. In the ensuing battle, the commanders and fighters who had been ignited with the flame of hatred were extremely tenacious, even in the face of enemies who were several times larger than themselves. At this point, he paused, took a sip of water from the teapot on the table, and said passionately: "The colonel also said that he was impressed by a stronghold abandoned by the Germans, where they found the body of a captured soldier. The nails and skin of the corpse's right hand were stripped or torn off, the eyes were gouged out, and the leg bones of both legs were completely shattered. ”

When I heard this, my heart felt as if it had been grabbed by some monster, and I felt a sharp pain, and his words reminded me of the mangled body of Zoya, which had been destroyed by the Germans. At this moment, I gritted my teeth and thought if I had to choose again. I will still not hesitate to order the 332nd Regiment to kill all the Germans, not one by one.

"Brute. It's a bunch of brutes! When everyone remained silent in anger, Villore angrily scolded: "These German devils are not human, we are going to kill them all." ”

Seeing that his words had achieved the desired purpose, Kirillov lost no time in adding: "Commissar Vylol, you are right, we must not show mercy to these enemies. All of our political workers are to incessantly accuse each of our fighters of this perverse behaviour of the German invaders, stirring up in their hearts an instinctive hatred, and making each of them desperately eager to kill as many German soldiers as possible. The vengeance fanaticism can obscure the fear of death among the commanders and fighters, so that even if there is no Ministry of Internal Affairs overseer to add machine guns to our rear, there will be no life-threatening deserters. At this, he turned his head to look at me and said in an appreciative tone, "At this point, our division commander has done quite well!" ”

"I did a good job?!" I pointed to my nose and asked with a blank expression: "Comrade commissar, I don't understand what you are talking about. ”

Kirillov smiled, did not answer me immediately, but glanced at the commander in the room, and saw that all the people were just like me, confused, and then said unhurriedly: "Last month, the 64th Army carried out a large-scale counterattack against the advancing German troops, and the commander of this battle was none other than our division commander, Colonel Oshanina. As everyone looked at me with curious eyes, he continued, "During the night build-up of the troops, scouts found hundreds of corpses of civilians killed by the Germans. When Colonel Oshanina heard the news, she immediately sent someone to call Colonel Lyudnikov of the 138th Division and Colonel Kuropadenko of the 157th Division, who were nearby, and asked them to send a group of soldiers to the scene to watch the crimes committed by the Germans.

To tell the truth, Lyudnikov later told me privately that he was worried that Comrade Oshanina's actions would affect the morale of the troops. However, in the battle of the second day, the commanders and fighters, who were filled with hatred for the German invaders, showed their superior combat effectiveness, and they not only completely annihilated a division of the Romanian army in front of them in one fell swoop, but also won the glorious title of the 70th Guards Division. ”

Because of Kirillov's exalted propaganda against me, every commander who stared at me had an expression of awe on his face. I stood up, intending to say a few words to the commanders. Before I could speak, there was an unexpected rumbling sound of cannon outside the cave.

As the cannon sounded, shouts came from outside: "Battle alarm, battle alarm, enter the position!" Battle Alert, Combat Alert ......"

"What's going on?" With puzzled faces, Kirillov and I looked at each other, frowned, and asked, "What's going on with the cannon fire outside?" ”

Just as I didn't know how to answer, the commander of the guard battalion, Basmanov, rushed in with a shout: "Comrade division commander, combat alert, combat alert!" "After seeing me and Kirillov, he hurriedly stood upright, and he didn't even have time to salute the military salute, so he reported in a panic: "Report to the division commander, political commissar, battle alarm, the Germans have begun to shell a regiment of positions." ”

"Go out and have a look." Hearing Basmanov's report, I pushed the map in front of me and ran out of the headquarters at a brisk pace. Kirillov, Akhromeyev and several commanders followed.

Outside the command stood a large group of fighters. Some of them are from the guard battalion. Some of them were soldiers of the guard squad brought by these regiment commanders and political commissars who came to the meeting. In order to prevent the target from being too large. Attracting German artillery fire, I told them to stay where they were, and only took Kirillov, Akhromeyev and a few regiment commanders to check the situation of the battle.

A group of us stood not far from the headquarters, looking through binoculars at a group of positions that were being shelled by the Germans. Dense shells fell on the position and exploded, and the flames and smoke were like a column of giants holding hands walking in a neat step, step by step from the foot of the hill to the top of the hillside.

I stared blankly at the hill, which was covered in heavy artillery fire, and I almost went crazy. How many artillery regiments did the Germans use to create such a spectacular artillery bombardment effect? Feeling the trembling ground under my feet, I couldn't help but worry for the commanders and fighters of the regiment on the high ground, after such a fierce shelling, I don't know how many people who held their positions on the mountainside and on the top of the mountain will survive, even if they hide in the anti-artillery holes on the position, they will be killed alive if they are not killed by shells.

The explosion was blowing like a typhoon, and I felt a little unstable. I turned slightly to the side and shouted behind me, "Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov." Come to me. ”

Hearing my call, Sederikov rushed in front of me and shouted with the same loudness: "Comrade division commander. What are your instructions? ”

I raised my hand and pressed my ears a few times, which were shaken by the loud explosion, with the palm of my hand, and shouted at them hoarsely: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you immediately go back to the high ground with Commissar Oberstein." After the artillery bombardment is over, the Germans will definitely attack our positions, and you have to find a way to stop them, and you must not let them attack. Do you understand? ”

"Understood." Having said yes, Schederikov waved at the commissar of Oberstan, who was standing behind, and with their guard squad, ran along the hillside to the position of a regiment.

"Comrade division commander, there won't be any danger if they rush back at this time, right?" Looking at their departing backs, Commissar Kirillov asked with a worried expression.

"No, Comrade Commissar." I pointed with my hand to the high ground in front of me and said, "Although the enemy's artillery fire covers the entire northern slope, there are very few shells falling on the southern slope." The command post of Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov is located on the southern slope, and there should be no danger. While he was talking, a German shell whizzed over the top of the high ground and landed impartially near Shederikov and them.

As the shells exploded, everyone who saw this scene couldn't help but let out an "ah" in unison, and then stared nervously at the vicinity of the explosion site to see if Shederikov and they were safe.

After the smoke cleared, Shederikov, Oberstein and their guards got up one after another, and it turned out that they were all lying down long before the shells landed.

Seeing that Shedelikov and the others were safe and sound, I was also relieved, waved at everyone, and said loudly: "It's not safe here, let's go back to the headquarters." ”

As soon as I walked into the headquarters, the explosion suddenly became much quieter, and I didn't have to shout at everyone anymore. I swept my gaze over several commanders, and then said to them with a straight face: "Comrade commanders, judging from the density of the German artillery bombardment, the Germans will never give up until they take our high ground. Go back to your respective ranks and get ready for battle. ”

"Yes!" Several regiment commanders and political commissars agreed, turned around and were about to go out.

"Captain Morozov, you stay." Seeing that the newly promoted artillery battalion commander was also going out with everyone, I hurriedly stopped him, because I still had something to tell him.

Morozov hurriedly stopped, turned to look at me, and asked a little nervously: "Comrade division commander, do you still have orders?" ”

"When you get back, hurry up and draw a map of Mamayev Hill, and mark the map with detailed shooting elements. In triplicate, when the drawing is completed, I will keep one copy here, you keep one copy, and the remaining copy will be handed over to the artillery commander of the group army. ”

"Why give it to the artillery commander of the army group?" Morozov, perhaps confused by my words, asked me rhetorically without thinking.

I saw that several regimental commanders and commissars, who were supposed to leave the command headquarters a long time ago, slowed down at some point and were moving outward little by little, apparently trying to be like Morozov. Make clear the purpose of the diagram.

"Comrade Captain. We need to prepare for the worst. If our commanders and fighters can't stop the enemy. When they are driven away from here, the artillery can use this accurate map to carry out accurate artillery strikes against the enemy on the high ground. Speaking of this, I saw that the regimental commanders and political commissars were still moving slowly, and I couldn't help but get angry, and yelled at them, "Are you all arthritis attacks?" I've been walking for so long, and I haven't even walked out of my headquarters. ”

The regimental commanders and political commissars who wanted to hear the gossip were angry when they saw me. Hurriedly dispersed, and walked out of the headquarters quickly.

After listening to my explanation, Morozov raised his hand and saluted me, and said with a stern expression: "Please rest assured, Comrade Division Commander, I will do my best to complete the map." Then he turned and strode away.

When there were only me, Kirillov, and Akhromeyev left in the room, Akhromeyev said with emotion: "Division commander, political commissar, I think we have met a tricky opponent. ”

I looked at Akhromeyev curiously, and just wanted to ask him why he said this, but Kirillov had already preemptively asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, why do you say that?" ”

Akhromeyev, although now the chief of staff of the division. But he still showed due respect to Kirillov, the commissar, and he first made a gesture to ask the commissar to sit down. He said to us: "Last night, after we eliminated the small German troops that attacked our positions, we judged that the Germans would attack our positions, so before dawn, our troops at the front entered a state of combat readiness. The German commander was cunning, and he probably guessed that we were ready to attack, and that if we attacked at dawn, we would pay a huge price. So for the whole morning, they stood still, patiently waiting for our troops to let their guard down before giving us another thunderous blow. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff is right in his analysis." After listening to Akhromeyev's analysis, Kirillov turned his head and said to me: "Comrade division commander, your judgment is right. The German surprise attack last night was a prelude to today's offensive. But what we didn't expect was that this German commander was so cunning and calm that he could wait until we let down our guard before attacking. In this way, they can reduce unnecessary casualties in the battle to seize the high ground. ……”

As Kirillov spoke, I was thinking to myself: the sudden and heavy artillery bombardment of our division's defense area by the Germans, and it was a large-scale shelling, can only show one point, that is, the counterattack of the three armies under Zhukov's command ended in failure, so that the Germans could draw troops and heavy weapons and launch an offensive on our heights.

Thinking of this, I didn't care about Kirillov, who was still talking, but shouted loudly outside: "Captain Basmanov, Captain Basmanov." ”

Hearing my call, Basmanov trotted in, looked at me with puzzled eyes, and asked politely: "Comrade division commander, what instructions do you have?" ”

I succinctly instructed: "Go and inform Lieutenant Razumeyeva and ask her to bring a few fighters and bring a walkie-talkie and a few telephones to me." ”

A few minutes later, the walkie-talkie was in our headquarters, and there were several telephones on the table where the map was placed. While the communications corps was still connected to the telephone line, I couldn't wait to ask Razumeeva: "Comrade lieutenant, can you contact the headquarters of the army group?" ”

After hearing this, Razumeyeva nodded and replied: "Yes, Comrade Division Commander." ”

Hearing that I was going to talk to the army group headquarters, Kirillov asked curiously and in a low voice: "Comrade Oshanina, what are you doing at this time contacting the army group headquarters?" ”

I also replied to him in a low voice: "Comrade commissar, I think that there is only one possibility that the Germans will suddenly launch such a fierce artillery bombardment on our heights, that is, the troops under the command of General Zhukov have been defeated by the Germans. ”

"Wouldn't it?!" Kirillov said incredulously: "You must know that Comrade General commands three group armies, more than 100,000 people, how can you say that you have been defeated if you defeat it?" ”

"Lieutenant Lazumayeva, immediately contact the command of the army group and say that I want to contact Commander Chuikov or Chief of Staff Krylov." After giving the order to the lieutenant of the communications corps, I leaned down again, approached Kirillov's side, and whispered: "Comrade commissar, nothing is impossible. If it were not for the defeat of our counterattack forces, how could the Germans have concentrated such powerful artillery and shelled our positions. ”

Kirillov is still trying to digest what I said. Razumeeva has already contacted the command of the army group. Good luck today. It was Chuikov himself who spoke to me.

Hearing my voice, Chuikov asked in a stern tone: "Oshanina, how is your situation there?" I heard the sound of artillery coming from the direction of Mamayev Height, and it seems that the scale of the enemy's attack will not be small, so you must be prepared for a tough battle. ”

"Report to Comrade Commander, our division has long been ready to strike a head-on blow to the invading enemy." Although I knew that what was going to happen was a vicious battle, in front of the superior commander. I still have to be confident.

"Very well, Colonel Oshanina, my heart is at ease when I hear you say this. Anything else? If not, I'll hang up. ”

"Wait a minute, Comrade Commander." I was afraid that he would hang up the phone immediately, so I hurriedly quickened my voice and asked, "I want to ask you what happened to the three army groups that carried out a counterattack in the northwest of the city?" Did they repel the enemy in front of them? "Although I knew that Zhukov's counterattack had failed, I still had a bit of luck until I was confirmed by the superior commander.

Chuikov was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "Colonel Oshanina." It's not good. The three armies under the command of General Zhukov are currently under the encirclement of the German army, and they are currently conducting a breakthrough operation in the direction of the city. Worse. A German unit broke through the defensive zone of our army group from the southwest, rushed into the city, and was attacking in the direction of the central railway station. Now the military commissar Comrade Gurov has gone to the front and is commanding the 35th Guards Division and the 70th Guards Division to counterattack the German troops in the city. ”

Hearing that Zhukov's troops were surrounded, my heart sank sharply, and my breathing became short. If this unit involved in the counterattack were completely annihilated by the Germans, it would be a serious blow to the morale of the defenders in the city. After a long while, I bit my lip and asked with difficulty: "Comrade commander, do you think that General Zhukov's troops will return to the city?" ”

"It's hard to say." Because Chuikov had a good personal relationship with me, he didn't intend to hide this kind of thing from me, and said straight to the point: "Now I can only rely on you, if your division fights well and holds back a large number of German troops, then those encircled troops have the possibility of breaking out of the encirclement." ”

"Listen to the commander, rest assured, as long as there is still a soldier in the independent division, we will definitely not let the Germans pass from the Mamayev post. We will use our flesh and blood to forge a floodgate that the Germans cannot cross. ”

After I put down the headphones and microphones, Kirillov and Akhromeyev both came over and asked with concern: "Comrade division commander, what did Comrade Commander say?" ”

I took a deep breath, tried to squeeze a smile on my face, and said to the two: "Political commissar, chief of staff, the situation is very serious, after the three army groups under the command of General Zhukov failed to counterattack, they were surrounded by the German army. At present, the enemy is continuing the offensive towards Stalingrad with superior forces, but the enemy's goal of encircling and destroying our army has not been achieved, and our troops are retreating along the offensive line. ”

I was afraid that the breakthrough would affect their feelings, so I euphemistically said that I would retreat along the route of Jingnaluo, but I didn't expect it to attract a grumble from Kirillov: "What offensive line are they following? They are on the run, they have handed over our land and our people, do the commanders still consider this to be a high fighting art? ”

I didn't answer Kirillov's complaints, after all, his identity was different from mine, and I couldn't say what he could say. I hurriedly diverted the topic and asked Razumayeva, who was in command of his busy subordinates: "Comrade lieutenant, can you contact Comrade Sedelikov?" ”

Razumeeva hurriedly stood up straight and replied to me: "Report to the division commander, the telephone line has not yet been laid, and it is estimated that it will take five to ten minutes to get through." ”

"Comrade lieutenant, move quickly." Although Razumeyeva was one of my subordinates whom I admired very much, I said to her in an unusually stern tone at this moment: "If you can't get in touch with Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov within five minutes, you won't have to do any more than this communication company commander." ”

For the first time, Kirillov saw me so harsh on Razumeeva and kindly reminded me: "Comrade Oshanina, isn't there still a walkie-talkie in the first regiment?" Even if we don't have a phone line, we can still contact them. ”

"Report to Comrade Political Commissar," Razumeyeva quickly explained to him, hearing Kirillov saying good things for herself, "an outdoor antenna for a mass of walkie-talkies. In yesterday's bombing. Blown off by a bomb. Can't contact us at the moment. ”

When Kirillov heard Razumeyeva say this, he could only sigh helplessly, sat down obediently, and patiently waited with me for the communications soldiers to lay out the telephone lines.

My threats to Razumeyeva still had a certain effect, and the signal corps managed to complete the laying of telephone lines and connect the regimental command post of a regiment within the allotted time.

As soon as I heard Sederikov's voice coming from the headphones, I asked bluntly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Tell me about it, what's going on over there? ”

"Comrade Division Commander." On the other end of the phone, Shederikov yelled hoarsely: "The situation is terrible. When I returned to the headquarters, I could not communicate with the front line, so I sent heralds into the position along the trenches, and found that one of our companies in the hillside position had been completely killed under enemy fire. The company at the top of the hill also suffered more than half of the casualties, and the survivors only managed to save their lives after the shelling began, decisively jumping out of the trenches and rolling down the southern slope. ”

"What. A company on the mountainside position was all killed, and the company on the top of the mountain also suffered more than half of the casualties? "Hear the bad news. I couldn't help but yell at Shederikov: "What's the matter, are they all dead? When the Germans began shelling, did they not know to hide in the anti-artillery holes or go around the trenches to the back of the hillside to hide? ”

When I was furious at Sederikov, Akhromeyev whispered to Kirillov next to him: "Commissar, there is no sign of the Germans yet, just a burst of shelling, and one of our companies is gone." ”

Kirillov also said angrily: "How did this regiment work, aren't their fortifications very well repaired, why do they suffer so many casualties under German artillery fire?" ”

I overheard the conversation between the two and then asked Sederikov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I want an explanation, why the fighters of these two companies were not prepared at all before the start of the German shelling?" What the hell is going on? ”

Sedjerikov muttered: "Comrade division commander, it's like this. After the German troops who launched a night attack on our position last night were successfully annihilated by the commanders and fighters, the commanders and fighters on the positions did not sleep all night because they were afraid that the enemy would come to sneak attack. This morning, we have been waiting in the position again, preparing to meet the invading enemy, but after waiting for several hours, we did not see the shadow of the German army, and everyone gradually relaxed their vigilance. The soldiers, who had been tired all night, fell asleep in the trenches. Who would have thought that the German shelling would come so suddenly, and these fighters did not even have time to react, so they all died. At the end, Sederikov's voice became choked.

I sighed, and was about to comfort him, when suddenly I felt quiet outside. He grasped the topic, looked out of the house and said to himself: "Strange, why can't you hear the sound of artillery, could it be that the German shelling has stopped?" ”

What I said was heard not only by Kirillov and Akhromeyev, but also by Sederikov, who said loudly: "Comrade division commander, you are right, the German shelling has stopped. As soon as he finished saying this, I vaguely heard someone next to me reporting to him: "Comrade Regiment Commander, the Forward Observation Post reports that the German ground forces have been dispatched. ……”

After listening to the report of his subordinates, Shedelikov gave a few more instructions to the other side in a low voice before reporting to me: "Comrade division commander, although the artillery bombardment of the German troops has stopped, their tanks, covering the infantry, are rushing towards our high ground. ”

Since the shelling had stopped, I no longer had to shout at the microphone as I had just done, but resumed my usual tone and asked him, "What measures have you taken?" ”

"I sent two new companies from the cave, and let them quickly enter the mountainside and hilltop positions, and prepare to destroy the German infantry." After the panic just now, Sedelikov also regained his composure and answered me confidently. (To be continued......)

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