Godunov listened patiently to my deployment, while nodding his head incessantly, indicating that he would carry out my orders without compromise. Perhaps out of concern, as soon as I finished speaking, he said: "Comrade commander, there will soon be a battle here, I advise you to return to Kirovgrad immediately!" ”

Naturally, I understood his kindness, but at this time, I really did not want to return to Kirovgrad. First, there were Kirillov, Vitkov and Bandereev in command; Second, once a war breaks out, the city will definitely become a key target for the German army, and the enemy will not only shell the city, but even send planes to bomb indiscriminately. The situation was much better in the village of Zofia, where the Germans would not waste their bombs for the sake of such a small village. The most likely scenario is that the enemy will use small-scale artillery and tank guns to shell the village.

I didn't want him to know what he was trying to do, so I waved my hand and said deliberately impatiently, "Okay, Comrade Major." Please pay attention to who you are. It was the major general who commanded the major, not the other way around. By the way, is the telephone line between you and the artillery battalion laid out? ”

"Please rest assured, Comrade Commander," Godunov nodded, and said with certainty: "The division has sent us several signal soldiers, and not only have the telephone lines to the artillery battalion been laid, but my command post can even talk directly to the platoons." ”

"Good. Then hurry up and prepare for the battle. With that, I turned and walked towards the village.

On the way back to the village, Yushchenko said to me somewhat cautiously: "Comrade commander. I think Major Godunov has a point, the village of Zofia is really not safe, and we should ......"

"Comrade Captain." Before he could finish speaking, I directly interrupted his next words, and asked with a frown and dissatisfaction, "Do you also want to let Lin Zhen escape and return to the city?" ”

"No, it's not like that, Comrade Commander." Yushchenko saw that I was showing signs of anger and hurriedly waved his hand desperately. Unexpectedly, he said: "I'm not asking you to go back to the city, but I want to ask you not to set up the command post in the village." ”

"Why? Comrade Captain. Yushchenko's answer aroused my curiosity, so I deliberately stopped and asked.

"I think once the fight starts. In addition to the fortifications we had just left, villages would also be a key target for German artillery fire. Yushchenko said this, shrugged his shoulders, and said with some helplessness: "Comrade commander. You know that, too. The village is full of wooden houses, and if two or three of them catch fire, the whole village will soon be engulfed in flames and smoke. If we try to transfer the headquarters by then, we will probably have no small casualties. ”

I thought about Yushchenko's statement and thought about it for a while, so I nodded, and then instructed Yushchenko: "Comrade Captain. You have a very reasonable point, the headquarters must not be located in the village. But where to move? In order to ensure safety and see the situation on the battlefield in a timely manner? ”

"Comrade Commander, please take a look." Yushchenko pointed to a small dirt slope not far away and said, "I guess I can see the whole battlefield from there." ”

I looked at the terrain around me, this slope should be the highest in the vicinity, and it is still five or six hundred meters away from the village, even if the Germans shell the village, it will not be affected much. Thinking of this, he waved his hand forward and ordered loudly: "Let's go, Comrade Captain, let's go up and have a look." ”

After a short time, I reached the top of the dirt slope and raised my binoculars to look in the direction of the fortifications. It was found that not only the defense area of Godunov and the plain in front of it could be seen in full view, but even the town more than a dozen kilometers away could be faintly visible. Seeing this, I couldn't help but secretly rejoice in my heart, this place has a wide field of vision, and it is completely possible to build an observation post.

I put down my binoculars and said to Yushchenko, who was standing next to me: "Comrade Captain, immediately gather your subordinates, build an anti-slope bunker behind the dirt slope, and build an observation post on the top of the hillside. Be fast, the enemy doesn't have much time left for us. ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Yushchenko agreed loudly, and then ordered one of his subordinates to gather his men.

After a while, not only the commanders and fighters who remained in the village came, but even the two communication soldiers who remained in the headquarters followed them.

I looked at the operator and asked, "Comrade operator, how is it, is there a telegram?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." The operator hurriedly replied: "Just a few minutes ago, Comrade Chief of Staff personally sent a telegram. I was about to send it to you when the captain's man came to us and said that you were going to set up your headquarters on the hillside. ”

"Yes, Comrade Operator, you two will stay there when the anticline bunker is repaired later." After I received the telegram from his hand, I suddenly remembered something again, and hurriedly added: "By the way, if it is possible, you should hurry up and draw me a telephone line to the front line, after all, it is too easy to be eavesdropped by the enemy when talking on a walkie-talkie." ”

"Please rest assured, commander, we will go to this matter right away." The two Signal Men replied in unison.

The battle officially began at two o'clock in the afternoon.

Fourteen enemy tanks spread out in battle formation, divided into two rows of seven, and rushed violently towards Major Godunov's position. Behind the tanks, there were sporadic three-wheeled motorcycles, and infantry lined up in skirmishers.

I stood in the observation post at the top of the slope, holding a telescope in one hand and a phone in the other, and shouted into the microphone: "Hey, hey, Captain Kurishchenko, the German tanks are coming towards us, you must stop them." Major Godunov's infantry had no long-range anti-tank weapons, and once the enemy approached, the fighters had to rush up and blow up the tank with anti-tank grenades and Molotov cocktails. ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Captain Kurishenko hurriedly replied to me on the other end of the phone: "Twelve anti-tank guns of our battalion are ready to fire. However, the enemy's tanks are still far away, at least about two kilometers from us. Firing at such a distance, the shells could not penetrate the frontal armor of the enemy tank. We have to bring them closer and fight again. ”

"All right, Comrade Captain." Hearing Kurishenko say this, I had no choice but to reluctantly say: "As soon as the enemy's tanks enter the effective firing range." Just shoot immediately, understand? ”

"Understood!" Kurishenko replied loudly.

But before Kulishenko's artillery battalion could fire, the enemy tanks opened fire first. Their shells landed in our trenches and exploded left and right, setting off columns of snow that rushed into the sky. There was even a shell that hit one of our pillboxes directly, and in an instant, the bunker was enveloped in smoke.

When the smoke cleared, I realized that the bunker I had been hit had been blown out of a crater except for a place. The whole is still intact. Seeing this situation made my heart feel much more relieved. As long as the enemy's tank guns can't penetrate our pillboxes, then the next battle will be much easier.

When the enemy's tanks drove to a distance of only 500 meters from the positions of our troops. Kurishenko's artillery battalion opened fire decisively. Under heavy artillery fire, five of the seven tanks in front of them suddenly became piles of burning scrap metal. Seeing what happened to his companions, the tanks in the back row panicked. Some began to stagnate. Some began to reverse and retreat, causing confusion among the infantry immediately behind them.

After I saw the effect of the artillery battalion's shelling, while applauding, I also had a trace of regret that if the heavy artillery battalion had been there, the German tanks would not have been able to advance so closely, and all the tanks would have been destroyed by our powerful artillery fire in the process of advancing.

However, the Germans were well trained after all. After a brief moment of panic, they returned to normal. The tanks in the back bypassed the burning wreckage. Keep rushing forward. And the artillery positions, which had just been fired at once, became their primary target. My heart bleeds when I see the enemy's tank shells falling on artillery positions and exploding, and our artillery fighters constantly falling in the smoke and fire.

I observed the situation on the battlefield again, and found that the German troops in the town had already been dispatched, and the more than 300 infantry following the tanks should be all the forces that the Germans could use. I put down my binoculars, took the headset and microphone from the operator, and contacted Persten, who was on standby in the forest: "Hey, Major Persten?" I'm Oshanina, do you see? The enemy tanks have passed in front of your ambush position, and I order you to attack immediately, but the remaining German tanks are all gone. Don't hesitate, Major, attack! ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." I heard Perstian's excited voice through the headphones, and then I heard him shouting to his riders: "Comrades, the commander gives the order, and then the attack begins." I order, the assault begins! ”

After finishing the call with Pelstian, I picked up the phone again and shook it to Godunov. As soon as the phone rang, I couldn't wait to ask, "Hey, Major, how are you doing there?" ”

"Report to the corps commander," Godunov reported in a calm tone, "when the enemy's tanks shelled our positions, the fighters were hidden in the trenches or bomb shelters, and except for a dozen commanders and fighters who were wounded, not a single one of them died. By the way, the women from the village of Zhuofia were arranged in the bunkers closest to the battalion headquarters, and there were no casualties. ”

"Good, good job." After I had finished praising him, I continued: "Comrade Major, as soon as you see Perstian's tank battalion rushing out of the flank of the Germans, you will lead the troops in the trenches in a counter-charge. The action should be fast and fierce, and it is better not to let an enemy run away. ”

Although he knew that it would be difficult to accomplish this task, Godunov replied very cheerfully: "I understand, Comrade Army Commander, I will notify the two company commanders below and ask them to quickly organize the commanders and fighters." As soon as the enemy's offensive ranks are thrown into disarray, we carry out a counter-charge. ”

"Good luck, Major!" With that, I hung up.

As soon as I put the microphone on the telephone base, the operator stood up and handed me a telegram, and at the same time said, "It's an urgent telegram from the political commissar, it seems that there is something important." ”

When I heard that there was something important, I hurriedly brought the telegram in front of me and looked at it at a glance. Only after this look did I know that it was Kirillov who informed me about an incident that the captured German General Theodore was borne. Ike, during the transfer last night, was left in the carriage by the caretaker's negligence, resulting in the seriously wounded SS general being frozen to death. At the end of the message, he asked me what to do with Ike's body.

I glanced at the operator, who was still standing in front of me waiting for an order, and replied simply: "Tell the commissar to bury the body on the spot." Seeing that the operator was sitting back at the walkie-talkie, ready to start taking a telegram, I hurriedly stopped him again and simply ordered him: "There is no need to send a telegram, just tell the political commissar on the phone in plain language." ”

After explaining this, I turned my attention to the battlefield again. Yushchenko, who had been standing next to us without speaking, also said excitedly at this moment: "Comrade commander, look, our artillery battalion and tank battalion are doing a really good job. The artillery destroyed more than half of the German tanks, and the remaining few tanks were also destroyed by our tank battalion that suddenly rushed out of the forest. The enemy's infantry were frightened to see the tanks they were relying on destroyed, and you see, they were turning around and fleeing. Saying this, he snorted and added contemptuously, "The Germans don't look either, on this plain, can they outrun the tracks of our tanks?" ”

"Alright, Comrade Captain, don't get too carried away." While holding a telescope and watching our infantry commanders and fighters chase down the fleeing German infantry under the cover of tanks, Yushchenko said with a smile: "Don't look at our army's advantage on the battlefield, but it is really difficult to completely annihilate this enemy, our forces are too small." ”

The battle ended after half an hour. The burning wreckage on the battlefield was all German tanks destroyed by our troops, and Perstian's tank battalion was intact. And the corpses on the snow in the distance were also mostly Germans. Thinking that Captain Kulishenko's artillery position had just been shelled by German tanks, and it seemed that there were still quite a few casualties, I hurriedly dialed the phone of the artillery battalion.

When I heard Kurishenko's voice coming out of the headphones, I immediately asked with concern: "Hey, Comrade Captain, I just saw that enemy tanks once shelled your positions, what are the casualties of the troops?" ”

"Report to the commander," Kurishenko replied in a heavy tone, "of the twelve anti-tank guns in the battalion, three of which were destroyed during the battles that have just ended, and another one is seriously damaged and is being urgently repaired. The gunners lost 28 casualties and 41 wounded, and the combat effectiveness of the battalion was basically intact. (To be continued......)

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