The reason why Chuikov said this is because he understands in his heart that if he treats such officers and soldiers as Karpov and Nikolai well, it will not only have military significance, but also political significance. As soon as more of the commanders of the Eastern Battalion learned of the preferential treatment that their former comrades had received in our camp, they would be shaken, if not immediately to our side, and at least their loyalty to the Germans would be greatly diminished. In the large-scale battles in the future, the Germans will not only dare not use the Eastern Battalion as confidently and boldly as before, but will even have to specially transfer troops to monitor them, which will weaken their strength in disguise.

Although I had been prepared for the casualties of the Karpov battalion, I felt a knife in my heart when I saw that there were only four soldiers following the second lieutenant out of the ranks of the Lyudnikov division. You know, at that time, I reinforced the Lyudnikov division with a reinforced battalion of 800 commanders, but now there are only four people left.

Looking at the four commanders and fighters who were walking towards us, Chuikov instinctively frowned, and then asked me: "Comrade Oshanina, which of these four people is Captain Karpov?" ”

I looked at the commanders and fighters who were approaching us, and saw that all four of them were unstubbled and haggard, and their tattered uniforms were covered with mud. I looked at it for a long time, but I didn't recognize who Karpov was, so I had to shake my head and answer Chuikov in shame: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I can't make out who Captain Karpov is right now." ”

"What about you, Colonel Lyudnikov." Seeing that I couldn't answer here, Chuikov turned to Lyudnikov, who was standing in front of us, and asked: "Can you recognize who Captain Karpov is?" ”

Lyudnikov looked back for a long time, and finally shook his head and said: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander." I don't recognize which one is Captain Karpov either. ”

Although neither Lyudnikov nor I recognized who Karpov was, the mystery was soon revealed. The four of them, led by the ensign, came to us in a neat row. After the second lieutenant had finished reporting to Lyudnikov, the commander and fighter standing on the far right stepped forward and raised his hand to salute the few of us. Then he said loudly: "Comrade commander, Captain Karpov is here on order, please instruct!" ”

Seeing Karpov standing in front of him, Chuikov smiled on his face, stepped forward and shook his hand, and said in an approving tone: "Hello." Captain Karpov. ”

Seeing Chuikov holding his hand, Karpov looked a little nervous, and he said in an excited tone: "Hello, Comrade Commander, it's a pleasure to see you here!" ”

Chuikov shook hands with him. While looking sideways, he said, "Comrade Captain, I have come here today with your division commander Oshanina, in addition to relieving the siege of the 70th Guards Division, but also to welcome you to the reunion of the division. ”

Hearing this unexpected news, Karpov, who was shaking hands with Chuikov, was stunned. After a while, he asked me tentatively: "Comrade Division Commander, is this true?" ”

"Of course it's true." I replied to Karpov with a smile: "Comrade Captain, you are welcome back to the Red Banner Division!" ”

Then Chuikov and I had a few more conversations. He followed Lyudnikov back to his division headquarters. At the same time as I arranged for men to clean up the battlefield, I sent people to summon Kirillov, Akhromeyev and the regimental battalion commanders in the city, and I wanted to convene an impromptu military meeting. Discuss the direction of the division's next offensive.

Our meeting was held in a newly recaptured building, and in order to ensure safety and prevent enemy attacks during the meeting, Pandereev even transferred Perstian's tank battalion and placed the few tanks outside the building.

After the meeting began, Pantai Leev first briefed the commanders present on the morning's fighting. After the briefing. He turned his head and asked Kirillov and me, who were sitting at the table: "Division commander, political commissar, who of you will speak next?" ”

Kirillov set his eyes on me. In an inquiring tone, he asked, "Comrade Oshanina, you should tell the commanders." Arrange the deployment of the next combat mission to them at will. ”

Hearing what the political commissar said, I didn't shirk it, nodded and stood up, and said to the many commanders in front of me: "Comrades, in this morning's battle, the coordination between the artillery and the infantry was good, and with more than 60 casualties, we regained the middle ground that had been entrenched by the Germans for a month, and at the same time eliminated and captured more than 200 German officers and soldiers. Next, the task of our division was to destroy the German units that remained in the north and in the city. ”

Gaidar, the commander of the fourth regiment, who was sitting below, suddenly asked: "Comrade division commander, can our attack be supported by friendly forces?" ”

To Gaidar's question, I replied with a wry smile: "As a result of these months of brutal fighting, the troops in the city have been severely weakened. They will not be able to help us until we are replenished with new troops and weapons. That is to say, in the next half a month, or even longer, our division will be fighting alone. ”

"Division commander, don't see that the enemy has more troops than us, but their combat effectiveness is already vulnerable." The voice of Lieutenant Colonel Kosgaard rang out from the crowd, "As long as we launch a few more attacks like this, the enemy will not be able to stop it." ”

Kosgaard's words immediately caused a light laugh around him, and it seemed that the vast majority of battalion commanders had similar opinions to him. However, I frowned in the midst of laughter, and found that this morning's attack was too smooth, and it was not a good thing, and many commanders had already developed a situation of underestimating the enemy, so that they would suffer a great loss in the next battle.

After everyone had laughed, I coughed heavily, cleared my throat, and continued: "Comrade commanders, I would like to draw your attention to one thing, the reason why we were able to proceed so smoothly in the battle to seize the middle ground in the morning was not only the good coordination of infantry and artillery between the commanders and fighters of the regiment and the divisional artillery battalion, but more importantly, the enemy was frightened by our aircraft and artillery after the start of our great counteroffensive. Seeing that their friendly forces were attacked, their heavy weapons and technical equipment were hidden for fear of being bombed. The necessary fire support was not provided to the friendly forces, so we were able to capture the enemy's positions so smoothly. If you think that the enemy's troops have lost their combat effectiveness in this way, then in the following battles, they will suffer unexpected losses. ”

My words silenced the elated commanders, who had apparently been carried away by the small victory of the morning. We think that the enemy is the end of the crossbow, and if we launch another onslaught, the enemy will be completely destroyed by us. When everyone was silent, I didn't speak. I have the impression that after the start of the great counteroffensive, except for the first few days. There is almost a month left, and there is no record of the 62nd Army in the historical records, which has to worry me. If you fight well in the city, then you will definitely write a big book in the history books; But now there is no mention of it, it is not that the counteroffensive commanded by Chuikov not only did not let the German army suffer due losses. And he was beaten all over the ground by the Germans looking for teeth? In this uncertain situation, I have to be vigilant enough.

Seeing that no one spoke for a long time, I looked down at the map on the table, and then said: "At present, the German army has about five divisions in the Yelman district, Dzerzhinsky district, 'Red October', 'barricade' area, and tractor factory area, and two of them are armored divisions.

According to the judgment of the army group command, the enemy, who was dragged by us in the city, was facing the fate of running out of ammunition and food. So it's the best time for us to attack them at this time.

In the next battle, I intend to send a regiment of troops every day. Under the cover of two divisional artillery battalions, an attack was launched on the area occupied by the enemy. After seizing the Yelman district, the German army launched an offensive against the Dzerzhinsky district. I don't ask you to push as many blocks as you want each day, but I ask you to strengthen the defense of the area every time you capture a building and retake a street. The Germans must not be allowed to take these areas back from our hands again. ”

"Comrade division commander," Akhromeyev waited for me to finish. Immediately asked: "The order of sorties of the regiments, and the area to be attacked." How should it be distributed? ”

Without hesitation, he replied: "I will hand over the task of seizing the Yelman district to the 3rd and 4th regiments, and the offensive will begin at two o'clock this afternoon, and the task of the offensive will be completed by the 3rd regiment." ”

Gaidar, the commander of the fourth regiment, stood up from the place where he was sitting and respectfully asked: "Comrade division commander, may I ask a question?" Seeing that I nodded in approval, he continued, "I wonder how much time our two regiments have to complete the task of occupying the Yerman district?" ”

"A week." I stretched out a finger and solemnly said to Gaidar and Kosgaard, who then stood up: "When you two regiments attack, you should pay attention to the coordination with the artillery and minimize the casualties of the troops, can you do it?" ”

Gaidar and Kosgaard looked at each other after hearing what I said, and then replied in unison: "Yes!" ”

When the two of them sat down, I ordered Sederikov and Oleg again and announced to them: "Two comrades lieutenant colonels, I will hand over the task of seizing the Dzerzhinsky district to your two regiments." As soon as the 3rd and 4th regiments have managed to recapture the Yerman district, you two regiments will immediately attack! ”

"Yes!" The two of them agreed neatly, and they both sat down.

I was about to ask Kirillov to do the work of agitation for everyone, but as soon as I turned around, I heard someone calling me from behind me: "Comrade division commander, please wait." I looked back and saw that it was the tank battalion commander who was speaking, Major Perstian, so I smiled and asked him: "Comrade Major, do you have anything to do?" ”

"Comrade division commander," Major Perstian asked with an aggrieved expression, "I would like to ask, what is the task of our tank battalion?" ”

"Tank battalion?!" I was stunned for a moment, and then I thought that when I had just assigned the task, I had really forgotten about the tank battalion. However, with the existing technical equipment of the tank battalion, it really won't be of much use in the next street battles, so I said to Persian straight to the point: "Comrade Major, due to the limited technical equipment of the tank battalion, it will be difficult to provide necessary fire support for our infantry in the next battle, so I will not arrange your combat mission for the time being." ”

"Comrade division commander, even if the number of tanks in the tank battalion is limited, we still have hundreds of tankmen, and we can use them as infantry." Seeing that I was not assigned a task to the tank battalion, Pelce was anxious, and they said to me in a pleading tone: "Please believe us, we will definitely achieve better results than the infantry." ”

"Yes, Comrade Division Commander, please believe us." Seeing that Major Perstian was begging me to assign a task, his deputy battalion commander, Major Prikhodko, and battalion commissar Vajim could not do it anymore, so they stood up one after another and helped the battalion commander to ask me for a task.

When I saw that they were eager to fight and could not bear to dampen their enthusiasm, I walked up to a few people and said to them in a serious voice: "Comrade commanders, it's not that I don't want to assign tasks to you, but the two districts that are about to be captured in the next two areas are fighting floor by floor. The elevation angle of the tank was not enough to destroy the enemy hiding on the roof. If our tanks casually enter the streets that are not completely cleared of the enemy, they will become targets for the enemy's anti-tank fighters. We have a limited number of tanks and cannot afford such losses. Once all the tanks are lost, there will be no tanks left at the time of our assault on the factory area. Do you understand? ”

After listening to my words, the three of them replied neatly, "Understood! He stopped pestering me and sat down again.

In the following period, the 3rd and 4th regiments first launched an attack on the Yellman district, where the Germans were entrenched. Since the tactics used by our troops were very different from those used by other units of the group army, the enemy who held on to this area was very unaccustomed to our style of play, and after holding out for only five days, he had to withdraw from this area in disgrace.

After the capture of the Yelman district, the 1st and 2nd regiments immediately launched an offensive against the Dzerzhinsky district. The first two days went smoothly, and from the third day, December 3, the German troops, who were familiar with our tactics, not only blocked the attacks of the first and second regiments, but also launched counterattacks from time to time in the areas we occupied.

As a result of the enemy's counterattack, what was originally a one-sided offensive turned into a tug-of-war. Some streets in the Dzerzhinsky district were occupied by our troops during the day, and at night they were re-lost under the frantic counterattack of the Germans. During the day, they were afraid of the bombardment of our aviation and did not dare to use heavy weapons, and when they counterattacked at night, they provided fire support to the infantry with mortars, not only driving our infantry out of the occupied buildings, but also eliminating several artillery pieces of the artillery battalion of Captain Kurishchenko.

Seeing that the enemy's resistance was so stubborn, I immediately threw the regiment that had been on standby into battle, trying to restore the superiority of our troops in the Dzerzhinsky district. With the addition of the four regiments, a new force, the scales of victory began to tilt towards us again.

On the evening of the 12th, the fighting began, and only a few houses remained on the last street in Dzerzhinsky District. Shederikov, who commanded the operation at the front, assured me that if the troops launched another charge, they would be able to wipe out all the enemy in the Dzerzhinsky district.

But before Shedelikov's good news came, I heard the rumbling of artillery outside. Gaidar, the commander of the 4th regiment, who was fighting in the area, immediately reported to me: "Comrade division commander, when our regiment was launching the final charge against the enemy, the Germans suddenly concentrated intensive artillery fire and bombarded our attacking troops, and the troops who had suffered heavy casualties had withdrawn to their starting positions. ”

Before I could verify what had happened and why the Germans were so bold as to risk being attacked by our air raids and using intensive artillery fire, Chuikov called. He ordered me on the phone: "Comrade Oshanina, the offensive on the Dzerzhinsky district is suspended, and your troops are on standby, waiting for further orders!" ”

"What, stop attacking?" Chuikov's words confused me, and I couldn't wait to ask on the phone: "Comrade commander, why is this?" ”

"Because enemy reinforcements have arrived and are attacking the rear of friendly troops. Friendly forces had to turn around and go to each other. (To be continued)