After listening to my plan of "replacing the army with water," Akhromeyev suddenly came to his senses, and after staring at the map for a long time, he excitedly slammed his fist on the table and said to me excitedly: "Comrade division commander, this plan of yours is really wonderful. As he spoke, he pointed to the steppe in front of the Mamayev Gang with his hand and analyzed it to me, "You see, if the Volga River bursts, the flood will turn dozens of square kilometers or even more of the area in front of the Mamayev Gang into a flooded country. As a result, the 44th, 76th, 71st, and 295th German Divisions to the north and northwest of the city would not be able to attack from the north of the city because of the floods, so that we could free up our forces to strengthen our defenses in other directions. ”

After a while, he raised his head and looked at me tentatively and asked, "Comrade Division Commander, do you need to immediately report this plan to the group army headquarters?" ”

I replied with a calm face: "No need, Comrade Chief of Staff. The three of us just need to know about this plan, and we don't need to report it to the group army headquarters. ”

After hearing this, Akhromeyev was taken aback, and he asked in amazement: "Why, comrade division commander?" We would not have been able to implement such a plan if we did not report it to the command. ”

Kirillov waited for him to finish, coughed next to him, and then explained to him: "Chief of staff, this is the situation. I agree with the plan proposed by the division commander in principle, but ......"

Seeing Kirillov's words, he slurred. Akhromeyev was a little anxious: "But what? Comrade Political Commissar, if there is anything you can say in one breath, don't keep selling off. Makes me anxious. ”

"Comrade Political Commissar, let me explain this matter to the Chief of Staff." I was afraid that Kirillov would have any scruples when he spoke, so I simply explained to Akhromeyev in person: "The reason why this plan could not be implemented is that the embankment of the Volga is too strong to blow up the gap without a dozen tons of explosives." In the current situation, do you think we can bury so many explosives on the river embankment without us knowing? ”

After Akhromeyev listened. frowned and thought for a while, and finally sighed helplessly, and said regretfully, "Yes." The German troops were stationed a few kilometers away, and they must have some scouts or something near our heights, so there was something going on in front of our position. It is possible for the enemy to know in time. ”

After rejecting the plan of "replacing the army with water". I suddenly remembered that the Germans had only deployed four divisions to the north of the city, but they had beaten our army to the ground, so I casually asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, how many troops does a German division have?" ”

Akhromeyev replied casually: "The full German infantry division is 17,200 people, which is more than our two divisions. ”

All along, I only knew that there were tens of thousands of people in the German infantry division, but I didn't expect so many people, and I couldn't help but exclaim: "Ah. There are so many people. ”

"Yes, Comrade Division Commander." Akhromeyev finished. He took out a notebook from his briefcase, flipped to one of the pages and pushed it in front of me, and said politely: "Look at it, this is the table of the German infantry divisions." ”

I took the notebook and looked at it, only to see that it read:

"The German infantry division has a division headquarters, a reconnaissance battalion, a communications battalion, 3 infantry regiments (3 battalions per regiment), an artillery regiment, an anti-tank battalion, an engineer battalion, and a divisional baggage brigade.

Divisional headquarters: 158 people, 2 light machine guns, 17 motorcycles, 31 wheeled vehicles.

Reconnaissance battalion: 625 people, 25 light machine guns, 8 heavy machine guns, 3 75-mm anti-tank guns, 3 20-mm anti-aircraft guns, 3 50-mm mortars, 4 81-mm mortars, 2 75-mm leIG18 light infantry guns, 3 armored vehicles, 45 motorcycles, 30 wheeled vehicles, 3 horse-drawn carriages, 213 horses.

Communications battalion: 474 people, 17 light machine guns, 32 motorcycles, 103 wheeled vehicles, 7 carriages, 52 horses.

Artillery regiment: 2,500 people, 32 light machine guns, 36 105-mm howitzers, 4 105-mm guns, 8 150-mm howitzers, 40 motorcycles, 105 wheeled vehicles, 229 carriages, 2,274 horses.

Anti-tank battalion: 550 people, 18 light machine guns, 36 75-mm anti-tank guns, 45 motorcycles, 114 wheeled vehicles.

Engineer battalion: 843 people, 34 light machine guns, 9 anti-tank guns, 20 flamethrowers, 44 motorcycles, 87 wheeled vehicles, 19 carriages, 52 horses.

Divisional baggage team: 2,300 people, 30 light machine guns, 8 20-mm anti-aircraft guns, 88 motorcycles, 253 wheeled vehicles, 245 carriages, 735 horses.

3 infantry regiments: 3,250 men each, 123 light machine guns, 36 heavy machine guns, 27 anti-tank guns, 12 75-mm anti-tank guns, 27 50-mm mortars, 18 81-mm mortars, 6 75-mm leIG18 light infantry guns, 2 150-mm SIG33 heavy infantry guns, 47 motorcycles, 73 wheeled vehicles, 210 carriages, 683 horses. ”

After reading the formation of the German infantry division, I returned the notebook to Akhromeyev and asked: "So, how many people are there in a company of the German army?" ”

Hearing my question, not only Akhromeyev, but also Kirillov, who was sitting next to me, looked at me strangely, as if he was surprised that I did not understand the formation of the German army. Akhromeyev stood up and reported to me: "One German battalion has four companies of 215 men each. After our interrogation of the prisoners, due to the long fighting, most of the companies had only seventy or eighty men, and some even only twenty or thirty men. ”

I waved my hand at Akhromeyev and said disapprehantly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do not use the number of prisoners as a reference for us to draw up our battle plan. You know, if it's an ordinary soldier, what they know. It's just the case of the platoon or company he is in; Even if the prisoner was a lieutenant officer, all he knew was about the situation of the battalion company he was in. If we follow the confessions of the prisoners, we assume that the Germans were greatly weakened in battle. If we draw up a battle plan based on this, we may suffer a big loss in battle. ”

When they heard what I said, they both fell into deep thought. After a long time, Kirillov said thoughtfully: "No wonder the counterattacks carried out by our army in these few times ended in failure. It seems that the staff officers who drew up the battle plan made too much reference to the confessions of the prisoners, thinking that the enemy was in front of our army. All of them have been greatly weakened, so losses are inevitable. ”

After saying these few words, he suddenly changed the topic. Speaking of the abnormal expression of the German troops in front of our division today: "Comrade Oshanina, today the German army launched wave after wave of attacks on the 107.5 heights, and there is a great posture that we will never retreat until we take the heights, but in the positions of our division. But it was calm. Not even a single soldier of the enemy was seen. Tell me, what the hell is going on? ”

"The enemy should have done this deliberately, sending troops to storm the 107.5 heights, and turning a blind eye to our positions, perhaps in order to paralyze us, to make us think that the positions would not be attacked, and then confidently and boldly draw troops from the Mamayev Hill to reinforce the high ground of the friendly forces. In this way, they could destroy with artillery fire our troops who had left the fortifications. ”

After these few words were spoken. I realized that I had lost my words, and hurriedly looked at Kirillov. I was afraid that he would have some ideas, after all, the two companies that were lost in the artillery fire during the day were sent out by him on his own initiative. I didn't expect my worries to be unnecessary, and Kirillov's face was full of shame.

In order to prevent Kirillov's embarrassment, I quickly turned my head to Akhromeyev and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, accompany me to the tunnels of the 2nd Regiment later, and talk to the fighters." Speaking of this, I deliberately smiled and said to Kirillov, "Comrade commissar, I will trouble you to stay at the command tonight." ”

Kirillov hurriedly stated: "No problem, the affairs of the command will be left to me, you and the chief of staff can go with peace of mind." ”

After dark, Akhromeyev and I, with a few guards, walked along the outside trenches to the positions of the 2nd Regiment. After leaving the command for some distance, Akhromeyev looked back at the guards who were following us from a distance, and then lowered his voice and asked me: "Comrade division commander, did something happen to the political commissar today?" I looked at him as if his expression was a little unnatural. ”

I snorted softly, and then said with a wry smile: "Today, when the Germans stormed the position of the 39th Regiment, Comrade Political Commissar transferred two companies of the 3rd Regiment, intending to go through the open ground and detour back to the enemy's flank to hit hard. As a result, as soon as our commanders and fighters entered the open field, the enemy's long-range artillery fire was overwhelming. In a few minutes, in just a few minutes, our two companies were all finished. ”

As the two of us were walking, Akhromeyev suddenly stopped, pointed to the front with his hand, and said: "Division commander, this is a tunnel of the 2nd Regiment, can you go in and have a look?" ”

Seeing me nodding, he hurriedly stepped forward and lifted the curtain at the mouth of the pit. The thick blackout curtain on the door was suddenly opened, and with a blinding light, a soldier with a gun burst out, shouting at the same time, "Who is it?" Password! ”

Seeing Akhromeyev with a hand lifted the curtain and a rifle on his chest, standing there with a complicated expression, I forced a smile and walked up to his side and said to the soldier with the gun: "Comrade soldier, I am the division commander, Colonel Oshanina, and this is the chief of staff, Captain Akhromeyev. ”

The soldier hurriedly put away his gun, raised his hand and saluted the two of us: "I'm sorry, division commander and chief of staff, I thought the enemy had touched it." ”

After Akhromeyev and I walked into the tunnel, we casually lowered the curtain and said angrily: "Comrade soldiers, if the enemy really touches this place, you will wait to be served." ”

Having raised my hand to stop the grumbling Akhromeyev, I asked the fighter: "Comrade warrior, where is your regimental commander?" ”

The warrior was stunned for a moment, then replied; "Report to the division commander, the regiment commander is not in this tunnel."

"And who's here?" I asked.

"The commander of the 1st battalion, Captain Khrushov, and the political instructor, Comrade Savchenko, are there. But none of them were there. ”

"Where did they go?" Akhromeyev asked.

"The checkpoint is gone, and you know that we have a large area of defense here. There are ...... troops everywhere"

I saw that this warrior belonged to the kind of man who could speak better, and I was afraid that he would not finish speaking, so I stopped him in time. And instructed him: "All right, comrade warrior, take us to your battalion command post, where I will wait for them." ”

The warrior answered, and then called a soldier who was sitting not far away to come and help him stand guard, and then led us to the depths of the tunnel.

On the walls on both sides of the tunnel, there are recessed grooves every four or five meters. There's a gas lamp on it, so it's no wonder there's so much light.

We followed the warriors, passing through the trenches between the warriors who were sitting or lying. I came to a small room in the innermost part. The soldier stepped forward, lifted the curtain at the door, and politely said to us: "Division commander, chief of staff, this is the battalion command post." Let's go get some rest. When the battalion commander returns, I will inform him immediately. ”

"Thank you, comrade warrior." After politely thanking the fighters, I walked into the command post with Akhromeyev, walked to the earthen table and sat down, patiently waiting for Khrushov's return.

We had not been sitting for long when the curtain of the door was lifted, and a soldier without a hat entered from outside. He carried a teapot in each of his hands. After placing the teapot on the table in front of us, he said: "Division commander, chief of staff." Please drink tea. ”

I looked up at the warrior in front of me and smiled slightly, and said, "Thank you, comrade warrior." ”

I thought this warrior would turn away, but he stood there in a daze as if the soles of his feet had taken root, looking me up and down with good eyes.

Seeing the warrior's near-rude behavior, I felt a little displeased, and was about to say a few words to him. But he opened his mouth first, and he stammered and asked, "Excuse me, comrade division, comrade division commander, you, are you Lida?" ”

I couldn't help but look at him in amazement when I heard him call me by my nickname, as no one seemed to have called me that since I came to Stalingrad, except for Zhukov. I slowly stood up and asked tentatively, "Who are you??? ”

Seeing that I didn't reproach him, the soldier hurriedly said in an excited tone: "Comrade division commander, don't you know me?" I'm Sergey. Osipovich. ”

I looked at the soldier in front of me, and saw that he was about forty years old, with a big head, what should have been the size of a big fat man, but he was scrawny, and his military uniform was as empty as hanging on a shelf. My mind searched hard for the name, but unfortunately, in the back of my memory, there was really no acquaintance with this name. So I shook my head and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, comrade soldier, I really can't remember who you are." ”

Seeing that I didn't recognize who he was, the warrior didn't give up on his face, but he still didn't give up and reminded me: "Think again, we met many years ago. ”

A few years ago, when I heard him say this, I couldn't help but smile bitterly, and said in my heart that I hadn't been to this world a few years ago, how could I know you. Thinking of this, I raised my hand to coax this warrior out.

Seeing that I still didn't think about it, the warrior couldn't help but sigh and continued: "I can't imagine that you really forgot about me, you must know that we met at the marriage registry office a few years ago. If I remember correctly, it happened to be me on duty that day, and an officer ran in and said that his name was Oshanin and that he wanted to marry a girl he loved. ……”

As soon as Sergei's words came to this, I immediately remembered him, and guessed who he was, to be precise. He was the one who handled the marriage level for Oshanin and Lida, because Lida was not old enough at the time, he also persuaded Oshanin to go to the city defense commander to come forward, and the two kept the marriage formalities smoothly.

Figuring out Sergei's identity, I hurriedly stretched out my raised hand to him, and at the same time said in a friendly manner: "It turned out to be you, Comrade Sergei, please forgive me for not recognizing you in time." ”

Sergei took my hand with both hands, shook it vigorously, and said: "Comrade division commander, if it weren't for the fact that your wedding with Captain Oshanin was personally presided over by the commander of the city defense, I would not have had such a deep influence on you. Time flies, years have passed in a flash, and I didn't expect you to be a colonel now. By the way, how is Captain Oshanin now? ”

Hearing Sergei ask about Oshanin, I immediately said with an embarrassed face: "He was seriously wounded in the defense of Moscow and was taken to the hospital in the rear. Since then, we've lost touch completely. Seeing the scrawny former marriage registry staff in front of me, I curiously retorted: "By the way, Comrade Sergey, how did you do this?" If I'm not mistaken, you used to be a big fat man. ”

Sergei let go of my hand, and a painful expression appeared on his face, "Alas, it's hard to say." ”

"Please take a seat, after all, we are all old acquaintances." I beckoned him to sit down and comforted him, saying, "Anyway, we don't have anything to do now, so tell us about your experience." ”

Sergei sat down, took the teapot I handed over, thanked him, and began to tell his personal story: "The second week after the outbreak of the war, I also joined the army. However, during the July battle, my unit was surrounded by the Germans, and we became prisoners of war. Later, I and more than 20,000 captured comrades-in-arms were sent by the Germans to the Soviet prisoner of war camp in Vitebsk, Belarus. ”

"What happened in the POW camp that made you the way you are?" (To be continued......)

PS: Sincerely thank the book friend for the monthly pass support of the dead piggy children's shoes!