As I walked behind the two men to the trenches, passing by the corpses of our soldiers and German soldiers who had not yet had time to clean up, I could not help but recall the thrilling battle scenes I had just witnessed.

It was already dark, and although we recaptured the position from the Germans, the fighting did not stop, and there was a constant sound of heavy gunfire on the north and south sides of the position, which was the German attack on the 147th and 181st divisions of the 192nd Division.

As soon as I walked into the command post, I smelled a strong smell of blood, and several sailors were cleaning up the place, carrying away the bodies of the German officers and soldiers who had been killed, and finding clean water to wash the blood off the tables and chairs.

The lieutenant lifted a clean stool in front of me and laid it down, and then politely beckoned me: "Please take a seat, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you must be tired, sit down and rest for a while." I think the fighters should be able to clean it up soon. ”

I did not sit down immediately, but politely said to the wounded captain: "Comrade Captain, you should sit in this position, after all, you are a wounded." ”

Unexpectedly, the captain waved his hand again and again and said, "No, no, I won't sit, you should sit!" ”

We humbled each other for a long time, and no one sat down at the end of the day. Fortunately, the sailors had already cleaned the command post, and the three of us sat down around the table.

The lieutenant took out a map from his briefcase, spread it on the table, looked at me with his eyes and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what should we do next?" ”

I glanced at the map and saw that it was the defense map of the 192nd Division, and hurriedly found our location on the map. He pointed his finger at the captain and said, "Comrade Captain." In addition to letting the warriors preempt the fortifications. It is also necessary to organize men to dig anti-tank trenches and lay minefields, so that when the enemy attacks again, we can be sure to stop them. ”

After listening to this, the captain nodded and said thoughtfully: "The fortifications have been arranged for manpower to be repaired." Only a few sections of the anti-tank trench were blown up, and it did not take much time to repair. The most troublesome were the minefields, which, after enemy shelling and bombardment, almost all of the infantry and anti-tank mines in the minefields exploded. We need to get the sappers to re-mine. ”

While we were talking, the communications soldier who was responsible for restoring communications had brought the telephone lines back in. When the captain saw this, he quickly stood up and said, "Lieutenant colonel, captain, I will call the brigade commander and ask him to send an engineer battalion to support us." ”

The lieutenant did not answer him immediately, but looked at me, and when he saw that I was nodding slightly, he said to the captain, "Okay, you can call the brigade commander now." Report to him what we are doing here, and have the engineer battalion assist us in laying mines. ”

Lieutenant Colonel Tarantsev's phone was quickly connected. He readily acceded to our request, and at last time he told the captain who was calling that he had received an order from the commander, General Kolpacchi, to rush back to the headquarters at once.

Hearing this order, the captain said with some regret: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I thought that we could continue to fight side by side, but I didn't expect the commander to personally give the order and let you return to the headquarters, what a pity!" At this point, he held out his hand to me, "However, the orders of the higher authorities are not allowed to be discussed, and can only be carried out unconditionally, so we can only say goodbye now, comrade lieutenant colonel, good luck!" ”

When I shook hands with him, I asked with some embarrassment: "Comrade Captain, may I ask, what should I call you?" "To be honest, I still don't know the names of the captain in front of me and the captain who is seated. I'm leaving soon, and if I don't ask, I guess I won't have much chance in the future, and this time I'll probably say goodbye to them forever. You must know that in the brutal Battle of Stalingrad, not to mention captains and lieutenants, even colonels and major generals, they are often precarious.

The lieutenant smiled and replied: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, my name is Oleg. Then he pointed to the captain next to him, "This is my deputy battalion commander Yefim." ”

After hearing their names, I smiled and said, "All good names." 'Oleg' means sacred, and 'Yefim' is kind-hearted. I raised my hand and looked at my watch, and said to the captain: "Captain Oleg, it's getting late, I should go back to the headquarters." ”

Yefim stood up and said, "I'll arrange for two warriors to escort you back." After that, without waiting for my opinion, he ran to the door and called two sailors in, and instructed them: "Listen, I will give you a task to escort Comrade Lieutenant Colonel back to the headquarters safely." Do you understand? ”

The two sailors snapped to the ground and replied loudly: "Please rest assured that the battalion commander and deputy battalion commander will complete the mission." ”

Escorted by two sailors, I safely returned to the headquarters of Kolpacchi last night.

Walking into the headquarters, I wanted to report to Kolpacchi right away, but when I saw that he was on the phone, I stood by the wall silently, patiently waiting for him to finish the call.

I only listened a few words before I heard that the call was from General Volhin of the 147th Division, who was complaining to the commander that the regiment sent to reinforce the 229th Division had been attacked by German tank units on the way back. Due to the lack of sufficient anti-tank weapons, after a short battle, the troops were routed by German tanks, and then surrounded and annihilated by a large number of German infantry. Due to the division's defensive line, because a regiment was transferred, the defensive strength appeared weak, and the first line of defense was also occupied by the Germans.

Hearing this bad news, Kolpacchi burst into a rage and yelled at the other side: "What, you lost your position to the Germans. Comrade General, I warn you, this is a crime. I command you to immediately organize your forces to retake the position for me. After saying that, he hung up the phone angrily.

He turned his head to see me standing on the side, looked me up and down, and asked with concern, "What, Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, are you wounded?" "I didn't expect him to say coldly like other senior commanders: You're back. And then there was no follow-up. It's about whether I'm hurt or not.

I was slightly stunned, and hurriedly stepped forward and reported: "Hello, Comrade Commander, Adjutant Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina reports to you that I have completed the task of assisting the 192nd Division in regaining its position, and I have come back to report to you and listen to your orders. After the report was completed in accordance with the regulations, I said in a low voice: "Comrade commander, thank you for your concern. I'm fine, I'm not wounded, I'm covered in the blood of other fighters. ”

Before he could speak, the phone on the desk rang, this time from the commander of the 181st Division, General Novikov.

As soon as the phone was called, Kolpakchi smiled and asked: "Dear comrade general, have you brought me any good news?" ”

The other party was silent for a while before replying: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I think I brought you bad news. Ten minutes earlier, the German infantry, under the cover of tanks, had seized the first line of defense in the defensive zone of our division, and now the enemy was pounced on the second, and our commanders and fighters were engaged in a fierce battle with them. ”

After hearing the bad news, Kolpacic pursed his lips vigorously, and his round face looked particularly resolute. After a long time, he said: "General Novikov, I order you, at all costs, you must hold the second line of positions. Wait until after dark, and then organize a counter-assault of the troops, and be sure to recapture the lost positions. ”

Putting down the phone, Kolpakchi walked back and forth in the house a few times with his hands behind his back, then picked up the phone again and contacted Gurov, who was staying at the headquarters of the army group: "Hello, Comrade Military Commissar. ”

Gurov said equally politely: "Hello, Comrade Commander of Army Group. ”

"I would like to ask, when will the reinforcements sent to the Koska line of defense arrive at the designated positions?"

"The regiments you sent were assembled in the afternoon, and soon after they set off, they were subjected to a heavy air attack by German planes, and in order to avoid unnecessary losses, I ordered them to stand by for the time being, and to wait until it was dark before they set out. It is estimated that at about four o'clock in the morning, reinforcements will be able to reach the designated position. ”

Then Kolpakchi called Captain Semikov, who remained in the 85th Guards Infantry Regiment. As soon as the phone called, he asked with concern: "Comrade Captain, how is the situation on your side?" ”

The captain's voice was a little hoarse: "Report to Comrade Commander, after a day of fighting in the 85th Infantry Regiment, there are less than fifty people left in the whole regiment. Their positions were now being taken over by two regiments sent by Colonel Avelin's 196th Division. ”

Korpacic was not at all interested in the casualty figures, and asked bluntly: "How did you get results?" ”

"In front of our positions, there were 37 destroyed tanks and armored vehicles, as well as the bodies of almost 800 German infantrymen."

"Can you still hold on?"

Hearing this, the lieutenant hesitated for a moment before replying: "Yes, Comrade Commander, as long as we have enough troops, I want to hold the position on the hill, there should be no problem." ”

"In that case, Comrade Captain, then continue to fight, if there is anything, contact me in time."

Unexpectedly, when the three divisions of the Koska River defense line suffered defeats, a unit left behind by Kolpacic on a whim actually achieved a lot of results, and it seems that he can be this commander, and he really has some real ability.

Korpakchi then called more than a dozen artillery regiments belonging to the group army, inquired about their artillery supplies, and gave them an order for tomorrow's battle.

Seeing him sit at the table and smoke after making a phone call, I thought it was time for today's work to come to an end. Unexpectedly, he put out the cigarette he had only smoked two or three puffs in the ashtray, picked up the microphone again, and said loudly: "I am Commander Kol Pakchi, give me the 160th Boat Bridge Battalion, and let their commander answer the phone." ”

Boat Bridge Battalion? When I heard this number, I was stunned, I didn't expect that there was also the Zhouqiao Battalion in the establishment of the group army. But what task will the commander give to them when they call their commander at this time? You won't let them take the pontoon, will you? (To be continued......)