Bandurin heard Chuikov's order, hesitated for a moment, then resolutely picked up the phone hanging on the wall, relayed Chuikov's order, and ordered the other party to immediately concentrate the light and heavy machine guns of the entire battalion, and when the enemy troops reached the top of the mountain, they would open fire.

I looked at the empty position on the hillside a few hundred meters away, and thought to myself that even if I used light and heavy machine guns to strafe the enemies who had climbed the heights and beat them all over the ground, I would not be able to drive them off the ground if I did not send troops over. Speaking of sending troops over, when I looked at the open field between the two hillsides again, I couldn't help but smile bitterly, the enemy is not blind, and seeing our troops appear in the open field, without the need for artillery and tank artillery to bombard, it is really difficult to say how many of our reinforcements will be able to reach the opposite hillside safely.

While I was restless, Chuikov suddenly asked, "What do you think?" Oshanina. Listening to his tone, it seemed that he intended to test me.

I pointed to the opposite hillside and said helplessly: "Comrade commander, please see. Although the hillside is a little lower than this, and our light and heavy machine guns can inflict great damage on the enemy occupying the position, it seems impossible to drive them down from the position. ”

Chuikov raised his binoculars, looked at the opposite hillside again, and after putting down the binoculars, he pointed to the open ground between the two hillsides, and said in embarrassment: "I understand what you mean, you see that this open land is several hundred meters wide, and if you send troops to reinforce it, you will definitely be killed by German artillery fire." ”

I just nodded at Chuikov's analysis. Not a word was spoken. I know if we open fire. It is bound to invite the enemy's retaliation. It won't be long before enemy shells will fall on us.

"Comrade Commander," just as we were both at a loss, Bandurin called out to Chuikov and reminded him: "You see, the enemy is immediately climbing to the top of the hill. ”

"Comrade Oshanina, I can't care so much now, how much to eliminate." After speaking. He resolutely Bandurin said: "Comrade Bandurin, give orders to the troops. ”

Bandurin picked up the microphone that time, shook the phone, and said in a resolute tone: "Comrade Major, order the fighters to prepare for battle, and as soon as the enemy reaches the top of the hill, immediately open fire." ……”

At this moment, Chuikov, who had been staring at the enemy on the opposite hillside, suddenly shouted: "Wait a minute, Comrade Bandulin, don't shoot yet." There are also our men on the position. Then he lifted his binoculars and looked over there, and said in the affirmative. That's right, it's our people, at least a dozen more. ”

Hearing Chuikov say this, I quickly raised my binoculars and looked over, only to see that on the position where the top of the mountain was razed to the ground, there were floating earth moving in many places, and it seemed that there were buried people looking outside to climb.

The enemy, who was walking fast, was only a dozen steps away from the top of the hill at this moment, when a warrior covered in dirt jumped up from the ground and rushed into the middle of the enemy like lightning, and then there was an explosion of "boom". When the smoke cleared, I saw that the soldier was gone, and several German soldiers had fallen around a newly formed crater.

At this time, only a roar was heard from the position, and then the commanders and fighters who crawled out of the floating soil threw grenades in their hands. The grenade landed in the middle of the enemy and exploded, raising clouds of gunpowder smoke, which made the enemy cry wolf, turned around and ran down the hillside, and more than 20 commanders and fighters rushed down with their weapons in hand.

"Well done, these fighters are amazing!" Chuikov patted Bandurin, who was standing beside him, and said excitedly: "These warriors are all good, and when the battle is over, I will personally award them medals." ”

As soon as Chuikov's words fell, the enemy's tanks, which had stopped at the bottom of the hillside, opened fire on the positions of our troops on the top of the hill. Tank shell after tank shell fell on the pursuing queue and exploded. As I watched the flying shrapnel knock down our fighters one by one, my heart sank suddenly. Although I didn't say it, I knew in my heart that none of these commanders and fighters who attacked could not be withdrawn.

Sure enough, within a few minutes, almost all the twenty commanders and fighters who attacked fell under enemy fire. The German soldiers, who had just been driven down the mountain by the soldiers, turned their heads again and rushed towards the hill with great vigour.

"Comrade commander," Bandurin saw this, and again asked Chuikov: "Did I order the light and heavy machine guns to be ready and open fire as soon as the enemy reached the top of the mountain?" ”

Chuikov pondered for a moment, and then nodded in agreement, and at the same time said helplessly: "Okay, let the machine gunners be ready and ready to fight." ”

After a loud answer, Bandurin again gave the battle order to his battalion commander by phone.

Watching the enemy's infantry approach the hilltop position again, I sighed secretly, and said in my heart that as long as the light and heavy machine guns on our position fired, although they would destroy a lot of enemies, they would quickly attract the enemy's artillery fire to retaliate.

Just as I was discouraged and disappointed, twenty or thirty natives jumped out of the floating earth, some with rifles with bayonets, some with light machine guns with large discs, and some with grenades, and shouted and pounced on the enemy. The German soldiers, who had been frightened by our grenades just now, shouted and turned around and ran back. Before they could get far, our valiant warriors had already caught up with them, letting the tanks under the hillside turn their turrets in vain, but they did not dare to open fire easily, lest they injure their own men by mistake.

At this moment, the roar of airplanes was heard in the air. One of the fighters ran into the observation post from outside and excitedly shouted: "Report to Comrade Commander, plane, it's our plane!" ”

Soon, a flight formation of nine planes appeared in our field of vision. When they came to the top of the battlefield, they quickly adjusted their formation, one by one they dived and dropped bombs at the enemy tanks at the foot of the hill, and fired the German soldiers scattered all over the hillside with their on-board machine guns.

There was jubilation on our ground.

After listening to the cheers from outside, Chuikov took a long breath and said to Bandurin: "The enemy looks like they are retreating. You immediately order the troops to attack. Destroy as much as you can. ”

Bandurin immediately picked up the phone. Excitedly said to his subordinates: "Comrade Major, it's time. In addition to leaving one company to guard the position, the other two companies immediately attacked, combined with the troops on the hillside, and eliminated the attacking enemy. ”

The enemy was disrupted by the sudden air attack, and when the tanks under the hillside were blown to scrap metal, the remaining infantry lost the courage to continue the fight, and saw the commanders and fighters of two companies descending the hill and rushing towards them like tigers. was immediately frightened, and began to turn around and run away.

Seeing that the victory of our army was decided, Chuikov said to Bandurin: "Comrade Chief of the Political Department, you stay in the position, I will go to the front to have a look, personally go to comfort this company that has gone through a brutal battle, and lead them to withdraw from the position. ”

Bandurin also asked with concern: "Comrade Commander, do you need me to send you a guard squad?" ”

Chuikov waved his hand and said, "No, I'll come by myself." Bring a company of guards, and they'll just come with me. ”

When Chuikov descended the mountain. At first, he didn't walk fast, but I didn't expect his pace to get faster and faster, and I and the guard company behind me couldn't keep up. As we walked up the hillside, I saw that the blackened craters on the hillside were getting denser and denser, and when we approached the top of the hill, it was completely empty earth that had been plowed by artillery fire several times, and I could not see what the original fortifications looked like.

At the moment, there was silence on the top of the hillside. For our arrival, there was not even a person who came out to greet us.

Standing on a slightly higher mound, Chuikov anxiously shouted: "Is there anyone else?" ”

No response.

I hurriedly shouted, "Is there anyone else?" ”

Still no response.

Dozens of soldiers from the guard company also shouted: "Is there anyone else?" ”

As they shouted, a weak voice came from a nearby crater: "Here I am." ”

Chuikov rushed over with an arrow and jumped into the crater. I was afraid that he would be in any danger, so I hurriedly called two soldiers to follow.

I walked to the crater and looked inside, and saw that Chuikov was helping one of the fighters to sit up, and I quickly ordered two fighters to help. Two fighters jumped into the crater, carried the fighter on the left and right, and lifted him out of the crater. As soon as he came out of the crater, he saw me standing in front of him, he glanced down at my rank, quickly broke free from the soldier who was supporting him, and raised his hand to salute me.

I looked the soldier up and down, and saw that he was tall, his military uniform was in tatters, his face was black from the smoke of gunpowder, and his eyes were red. After I raised my hand and saluted, I patted him on the shoulder and praised him, following the example of those leaders: "Good job, comrade soldier." You and your comrades are doing well, and it is because of your stubborn fighting that the enemy has never been able to move forward. ”

"Comrade Oshanina, that's a good point!" Chuikov also crawled out of the crater, just in time to hear what I said, and lost no time in complimenting me. After walking, he walked up to the warrior again, looked up at him, and said, "Comrade warrior, you are all good!" ”

The warrior was startled when he saw another general appear in front of him, and wanted to raise his hand to salute, but was stopped by Chuikov. Chuikov asked with concern: "How many people are left in your company?" ”

The soldier looked left and right for a moment, and replied with some embarrassment: "Report to Comrade General, I originally had 150 people in the company, and now I estimate that I am the only one left." ”

Chuikov sighed, stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder, and said kindly: "Comrade soldier, your task has been successfully completed, go back to rest first." After saying that, he ordered the two fighters standing beside him, "You two, send him to Comrade Bandurin, let the hygienist check his body, and then let him rest well." ”

The two fighters said yes loudly and helped the survivor down the hill.

I stood on the hillside and looked down, from the top of the hill to the bottom of the hill, a field of corpses covered the entire hillside, both the corpses of the enemy and the remains of our soldiers. More than a dozen meters away from where I was standing, there were several craters with green smoke still emitting, and in the middle lay the mutilated remains of soldiers, and piles of German corpses were lying around the craters.

Chuikov walked up to me, looked at the scene on the hillside, and said with emotion: "This is our warrior. To defend our great Motherland. They will fight to the last moment of their lives! ……”

Just when Chuikov was about to continue to express his feelings. The herald Sidorin, panting, ran up the hill and came to Chuikov, saluted and reported: "Report to Comrade Commander, the command has called. ”

Chuikov looked at the commanders and fighters who were cleaning the battlefield at the foot of the mountain, and said without looking back: "Oshanina, read the telegram to me." ”

When I took the telegram from Sidorin's hand, I smiled kindly at him, and returned to Chuikov's side. Began to read the telegram for him: "Comrade Chuikov, the 229th Division and the 66th Marine Brigade have withdrawn to the designated position, and you and the troops after the interruption have completed the task of blocking them, and immediately rush to the assembly point to join the above-mentioned troops. Serdyuk, military commissar of the army group. ”

After listening to me read it, Chuikov took the telegram from my hand, looked at it a few more times, and then looked down the mountain with infinite affection, and said regretfully: "It's a pity that we don't even have time to bury the bodies of so many sacrificed soldiers." It's time to retreat. With that, he turned around and ordered Sidorin, who was standing at the back door, "Sidorin." You go down there and find the commanders of those two companies, tell them to stop cleaning up the battlefield and immediately lead the troops down. ”

Half an hour later, we began to retreat.

The trucks in which the soldiers of the guard company were travelling were freed up to transport the wounded of the 229th Division, and they slowly withdrew eastward on foot, following the convoy like ordinary infantry soldiers.

Chuikov called Bandurin into our car and prepared to go together. Unexpectedly, when the driver was about to drive, our car was stopped by several fighters. I saw a sergeant with a bandage on his head in a state of great emotion, and he was about to pounce in front of our car, and a soldier behind him was pulling his arm vigorously, and the other two soldiers stood side by side in front of him, and next to him stood a famous second lieutenant, as if trying to persuade him.

Seeing this scene, my heart couldn't help but tighten, and my heart said Could it be that there was a mutiny? Thinking about it, I couldn't help but clench the submachine gun in my hand, put my finger on the trigger, and prepared to shoot decisively when the soldier pounced on him and tried to do something wrong.

The movement ahead alarmed Chuikov and Bandurin, who were in the car. Chuikov frowned and said to me: "Oshanina, go and see, what is going on?" ”

"Yes!" I said yes, pushed open the door, and just as I was about to get out of the car, I heard Bandurin, who was sitting in the back seat, say: "Comrade commander, I'll go and have a look, after all, these are my subordinates." ”

With Bandurin, I also have a little more confidence in the proper handling of this matter. Armed with a submachine gun, I strode up to them and asked in a loud voice, "Can anyone tell me what's going on here?" ”

The second lieutenant who was originally standing next to him hurriedly shouted: "Lizheng!" The three soldiers who were holding back the sergeant quickly let go, turned upright, and saluted me with the second lieutenant. The sergeant sat on the ground and wept.

"What's going on?" After glancing at the sergeant on the ground with contempt, I turned my attention to the second lieutenant.

"Report to Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina," replied the second lieutenant politely, "it is so, the sergeant took part in today's blocking battle, and shortly after the battle began, he was sent off the position because of his wounds. When he saw that the commanders and fighters of their company had died and that they had not even had time to bury their bodies, and that the troops were about to be transferred, he cried, saying that his company commander and so many comrades-in-arms had died here, and he could not leave them behind. ”

"Comrade sergeant, you are a man, not a girl, don't sit on the ground and cry, stand up for me." Bandurin walked up to me and said sternly to the sergeant who was sitting on the ground crying.

The sergeant hurriedly stood up, saluted me and Bandurin, and said in a choked voice: "Report to Comrade Commander, the commanders and fighters of my company have died here, and they have not even had time to bury their bodies. I can't leave them and run away, I'm going to stay, even if it's death, I'm going to die with them. ”

Hearing the sergeant say this, I only felt a burst of sourness in my nose, tears could not help but burst out of my eyes, I walked up to the sergeant, put a hand on his shoulder, and said to him: "Comrade sergeant, the blood of your comrades-in-arms will not be shed in vain. Retreat is an order given to us by our superiors. Our temporary retreat is to replenish the rest and restore the combat effectiveness of the troops. I believe that it will not be long before we fight back, and then you will have a chance to avenge your comrades. ”

"Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina," the sergeant said loudly, wiping tears from his face, "I believe your words, I will obey the order and follow the troops to the rear." ”

Seeing that the sergeant was no longer drilling, I felt a sense of relief in my heart. But then I asked very curiously, "Comrade Sergeant, do you and the second lieutenant know me?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." The sergeant and the second lieutenant said in unison: "We know you because you once fought side by side with our valiant division commander, Colonel Sazhen!" ”

As I walked side by side with Bandurin to the jeep, he whispered to me: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you are really not simple, and in a few words you have convinced the agitated sergeant. Have you ever considered changing careers to a political worker? ”

Political workers?! Kidding aside, the people I hate the most are the political workers, and it would be easier to kill me if I were to be one of them. But I thought in my heart that I could, but I couldn't say it, so I said vaguely to Bandurin: "Comrade Chief of the Political Department, I still like to be a charging commander in a combat unit. ”

When we got into the car, Chuikov saw Bandurin's disappointed look and asked him curiously: "Comrade Bandulin, what's wrong?" Look at the look of your head down. ”

Bandurin replied with a wry smile: "Comrade Commander, I originally wanted to persuade Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina to change careers to become a political worker, but I did not expect to be rejected by her. ”

After hearing this, Chuikov smiled and said: "I still think that Oshanina is more suitable to be a commander in a combat unit than a political worker." ”

When our jeep passed by the commanders and fighters, they formed an unusually neat horizontal line, stood on the side of the road, raised their hands and saluted our jeep. (To be continued......)