As I shouted, Vachuk's figure appeared in the doorway. But the strange thing is that he didn't come over right away, but stood still, paying no attention to me and Vitkov who were waiting in the room.

Seeing his actions, a trace of dissatisfaction floated in my heart, and I said in my heart that although you are older than me and older than me, I am your superior after all, and my military rank is still higher than yours, you can't be so rude to me. When I was about to have a seizure, I was surprised to notice that Vachuk was not standing still, but moving forward, and I don't know if it was a problem with his leg or something, he was slowly moving towards us in centimeters.

I was taken aback, hurriedly took a few steps forward, walked to his side, held his left arm, and asked with concern: "Colonel Vachuk, what happened, what's wrong with your leg?" ”

Colonel Wachuk, who was dark and thin, turned his head and grinned, showing his white, neat teeth, and explained to me: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, but my leg was frostbitten in the snow during the battle against the Finnish White Army two years ago. As long as the weather is cold, the pain is so bad that you can barely walk around without support. ”

When Vitkov heard what Vachuk said, he hurriedly walked over again, grabbed Vachuk's arm on the other side, and helped him to the table with me and sat down. When Vitkov went to pour his tea, I said to Vachuk reproachfully: "Colonel, you have a bad leg, and you should have sù@told me about it when you received my phone call just now, instead of thinking about it." ”

After listening to my criticism, Vachuk smiled and said: "Comrade commander, I think you let me come to the army headquarters so late. There must be some important task to be entrusted to our division. So I put down the phone and rushed over. ”

"Colonel Vachuk." Vitkov came over and put a cup of hot tea in front of Vachuk, and after sitting down next to him, he said with concern: "Since your legs and feet are inconvenient, you should train a few qualified deputies in the division, and with their assistance, you will be more relaxed." ”

Hearing Vitkov say this, Vachuk nodded again and again and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right. The commander of my regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Mideleev, was a good commander. Sometimes when I leave the headquarters to inspect the front, he is the one who takes over the command from me. ”

"Oh, Lieutenant Colonel Miderev." After repeating the name, I asked, "Where is he?" ”

"Right outside the door." Vachuk replied briefly.

"Chief of Staff," I immediately instructed Vitkov when he said that his lieutenant colonel Miderev was at the door, "hurry up and bring the lieutenant colonel in." ”

Vitkov nodded, walked to the door and shouted outside: "Miderev, is Lieutenant Colonel Miderev outside?" After hearing a man's reply from outside, he continued to politely say, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Don't stand outside, please come in. Come inside the headquarters. ”

As soon as Vitkov's words fell, a tall commander in a gray cylindrical fur hat and a military overcoat hurried in from outside the door. When he came in, he raised his hand and saluted us, and said loudly: "Comrade Army Commander, Comrade Chief of Staff!" Lieutenant Colonel Mideleev, commander of the 284th Infantry Division, followed your orders......"

"Don't be so polite, Lieutenant Colonel!" I didn't wait for him to finish, then interrupted his words and said politely: "Sit down next to your division commander, I have a task to hand over to you next." ”

Hearing that I had a task to be handed over to them, Miderev did not care to be polite to me, so he immediately sat down honestly next to Vachuk, straightened his back, and waited for me to assign them a task.

I pushed the map in front of me a little in front of the two men, then picked up the red and blue pencils on the table, pointed to one of the streets resting between our headquarters and the Paulus headquarters, and said: "Colonel Vachuk, Lieutenant Colonel Miterev, I have given your division the task of capturing and fortifying this street in two days. ”

After I finished speaking, I carefully observed the reactions of the two of them. While Vachuk was still staring at the map and studying it, Miderev, who was much younger than him, raised his head and said to me: "Comrade commander, with all due respect, two days will not be enough in any case to capture such a street. ”

"Oh, two days is not enough?" Hearing Miderev say this, it immediately aroused my interest, and I asked him curiously: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, why do you say this, tell me your reasons." ”

Pointing to the map, Miterev explained to me: "Comrade Commander, several buildings at the entrance of this street have been reinforced by the Germans, and barbed wire and minefields have been laid outside the buildings. Seeing the displeasure on my face, he hurriedly explained further, "Although the enemy has encountered difficulties in replenishment recently, the German troops holding on to this street are tenacious, and in the face of our attack, they will definitely fight to the last bullet." ”

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Vitkov and Miderev couldn't help but interject when Miderev finished talking about the problems that our army would face during the offensive, "If there is no time limit, how are you going to fight?" ”

Miterev seemed to have been prepared for the attack for a long time, and when he heard Vitkov's question, he immediately answered unequivocally: "Before the attack, I plan to use the mortar company of the division to cover several buildings at the intersection of the street, and at the same time blow up a passage in the enemy's barbed wire and minefields, so that after the artillery fire is ready, our infantry can quickly break through the street and start a battle with the enemy for floor by floor." ”

I have no interest in the usual tactics of the Soviet army mentioned by Miteleev, and if we continue to fight as he said, it is estimated that before we can occupy two blocks, the commanders and fighters of the 64th Army will have already captured Paulus and a group of generals under him, as in real history. As a result of my arrival, many of the things that have quietly changed history, such as Colonel Vachuk in front of me, who is now leading his troops against the Germans in the battle for Mamayev Heights, and in a few days later in the operation of the division. It was him and General Rodimtsev's troops. Join forces with the troops of the Batov Army and the Chistyakov Army, which were attacking from the west. And now, his troops were incorporated into the 79th Infantry Corps, which should not have existed at all, and was still stationed only a few blocks from the Paulus headquarters.

After patiently waiting for Miterev to finish his plan of attack, I looked up at Vitkov and asked him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you think differently?" ”

"I agree in principle with the Lieutenant Colonel." After agreeing with Miderev's plan, Vitkov said with some embarrassment: "But with this style of play, we will advance very slowly." You must know that the higher authorities gave our army the task of capturing the Paulus headquarters. If it's too slow, the higher authorities may transfer the task to a friendly team. ”

After Vitkov finished his thoughts, I said unexpectedly: "Since this style of play is too slow, let's change the way of play, and at the same time shorten the time of the attack to one day." Seeing the stunned looks of the three of them, I said my thoughts to myself, "Colonel Vachuk, I will assign you a battalion of the 266th Artillery Regiment. Before attacking, you have the anti-fascist allies shouting and persuading the German troops in the streets to surrender. Give them plenty of time to think. When the time comes, no one has surrendered yet. Heavy artillery was used to collapse the buildings at the entrance of the street, and the infantry then rushed into the street and fought the enemy floor by floor. ”

"Comrade Commander, there is something I want to report to you." Miderev stood up and said to me respectfully. After nodding his head in agreement, he said: "A few days ago, we saw that the comrades of the anti-fascist alliance of friendly troops persuaded the German troops in two streets to lay down their arms and surrender to us, so we wanted to continue to use this method to persuade the enemy in front of us to surrender. Unexpectedly, after a long negotiation, the Hitler fascists actually asked our fighters for a stopwatch. Our people took pity on these hungry ghosts and gave them some. The enemy took our bread and returned to their fortifications. As we waited for our scouts to reconnoiter at night, they did not hesitate to shoot. ”

"It's simple, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." There is usually only one way to deal with such ignorant Germans: "Let the artillerymen push a few cannons over and shoot directly at the building they are on, and to hell with them." ”

Vitkov thought about the problem differently than I did, and after I had finished speaking, he looked at Miterev and asked: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, if I am not mistaken, these enemies should be all outlaws, right?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Miterev politely replied: "When we handed them bread, I saw that almost every one of them wore several medals awarded to them by Hitler on their chests. ”

"Colonel Vachuk," I began to teach the hero's division commander the tricks of street fighting: "The independent division I commanded was very experienced in this kind of street fighting. After you rush into the street, the troops should immediately disperse, and the platoons should enter the buildings on both sides of the street to search for the remnants of the enemy, instead of crowding together and rushing forward stupidly, which will have no effect at all except becoming a target for the enemy. And when fighting in the house, the most suitable weapon is the sapper shovel on the soldiers. When you see an enemy, there is only one thing you can do, and that is to grab the sapper shovel and slash at the enemy. As long as you hit the opponent's vital point, hit a little under the head, so that you can cut his arteries and kill him instantly; Even if he misses his vital point for the first time, it can temporarily make him lose his resistance and cannot do any damage to our fighters. ”

After listening to this, Vachuk nodded again and again, then turned his head to Mideleev next to him and said, "Lieutenant Colonel, did you hear what the commander said?" Write down these tactical points and convey them to commanders at all levels when they return. ”

When Vachuk was about to leave, I shouted outside, "Sergeant Songjik, come in." When the sergeant appeared in front of us, I pointed my finger at Vachuk and instructed him: "Comrade sergeant, you help the lieutenant colonel to send Colonel Vachuk back." ”

Early the next morning, I received a call from Chuikov. He said happily: "Oshanina, you know what? The troops of the Batov Army and the Chistyakov Guards Army, which were attacking from the west, had approached the western outskirts of Stalingrad. According to Commander Rokossovsky's intentions, he was going to have our army group send a few units to a grand rendezvous ceremony with friendly forces. ”

"Great, Comrade Commander. It's great. "Hear the news. I'm also very happy. Because there are not many elite troops left in the group army at present, if you want to send troops to participate in the division, you will definitely draw troops from the 79th Infantry Corps, so I asked triumphantly: "Do you plan to draw one or two troops from our army to participate?" ”

"Oshanina, you guessed a lot. I am going to send a division from your army to participate in this meeting. "When I heard Chuikov say this, I couldn't help but be overjoyed, the most elite of the entire 79th Army was none other than the 150th Division of Bandereev. That is, the Red Banner Independent Division, where I was the former division commander. At this moment, Chuikov's next words made my smile freeze on my face, "I plan to send Colonel Vachuk's 284th Infantry Division to participate in this meeting. ”

The 284th Division, not the 150th Division of Pandereev, was involved in the meeting, and when I heard the news, I almost threw the phone and flipped the table in front of me. At this moment, in my heart, 10,000 grass and mud horses galloped by, and I secretly scolded: Why, don't I serve as the commander of the independent division. Should independent divisions be discriminated against, and not allowed to witness this moment of historical significance?

I held back my grievances. Trying to keep his voice steady, he asked Chuikov as if nothing had happened: "Comrade commander, why did you arrange Colonel Vachuk's troops?" ”

"This time, I originally wanted to transfer the 150th Division of Pantai Leyev," when I heard him say this, although I knew that he could not see my expression, I still nodded desperately, and I couldn't wait to ask in my heart: Since you have already considered the independent division, why did you finally make the decision to transfer the 284th division? Chuikov didn't notice my strangeness at all, and still said slowly: "But considering that this division is the most combat-effective unit of your army at present, if you want to capture Paulus's headquarters as much as possible, it is really impossible to leave them, so I retreated to the second best and chose Colonel Vachuk's 284th Division." ”

Oh, I see, Chuikov didn't discriminate against my independent divisions, but wanted to use them in more important areas. After figuring out what Chuikov really thought, my mind immediately balanced. I only heard Chuikov ask again: "Oshanina, do you have any disagreement with my arrangement?" ”

When I heard Chuikov ask, I hurriedly replied with a smile on my face: "No, Comrade Commander, I have no different opinions, and I resolutely obey your orders." At this point, I suddenly thought of Vachuk's leg injury and the fact that he had difficulty walking, and quickly added, "However, Colonel Vachuk's physical condition is a little not very good. ”

"Not in good shape?" Chuikov asked rhetorically, a little surprised: "He was wounded in battle?" ”

"No, Comrade Commander." I hurriedly gave a brief report to Chuikov about what Vachuk said yesterday.

"Well, I see." After hearing this, Chuikov did not react much, but said to me: "Comrade Oshanina, I have long known about the situation with Colonel Vachuk. Although I have not known him for a long time, I have discovered three valuable qualities in this division commander: firm command, courage in combat, and strong party spirit. He was a man who was both strict and upright, and he was formidable and respectable. According to the political workers of the headquarters below, although he was injured in both legs and barely moved when he walked, he never sat in the bunker. In order not to give him special care from his superiors, he did everything possible to hide his injuries from us, every day he was on crutches, either to the front line or to the observation post, and when he returned, he often had to hold the adjutant's shoulder, but this was only the case at night when no one saw him. Do everything possible to cover up your injuries.

He was a straight man, and he was frank and truthful to any of his superiors and subordinates, and although it sometimes hurt his self-esteem, he remained the same. And the reports he sent were always well-founded, and even without verification, we were able to confirm that they were completely true. It is precisely because of his advantages that I give priority to him when choosing a commander to participate in the division. ”

When I put down the phone, Vitkov curiously asked me: "Comrade commander of the army, the commander called, is there anything important?" ”

"The commander said that he would join forces with friendly forces in a few days, and that he would draw a unit from our army." I picked up the teapot on the table and took a sip before continuing: "He has chosen Vachuk's 284th Division, and you can call the colonel later and ask him to gather his troops as much as possible and march to the designated place." ”

Hearing that Vachuk's troops were about to be transferred, Vitkov was taken aback, and he nervously asked: "But what should the 284th Division do with the task of attacking the enemy's streets as soon as it leaves?" ”

"What else can I do? A new unit was sent to take over the defense of the 284th Division. "Considering that the defense area of the division was not far from the 150th division of Bandereev, I said lightly: "You call Colonel Bandereev and ask him to transfer Shederikov's regiment to take over the defense area of the Vachuk division." When it comes to street fighting, the whole army really can't find a more experienced unit than them. (To be continued......) R1292