In the following days, the Soviet defense was significantly adjusted: first, the 42nd Army, which defended southern Leningrad, built a large number of fortifications in the Kirov factory area behind the Pulkovo Heights; Then the 23rd Army, which was stationed on the Karelian Isthmus to defend against the Finnish attack, also transferred a number of troops to the 42nd Army; The former commander of the army, General Ivanov, was removed from his post by Zhukov because of his unfavorable command, and Zhukov's right-hand man, Major General Fedyuninsky, took his place and brought the 21st Internal Affairs Division, where I was, into his direct command.

After Fedyuninsky took office, in order to ensure the stability of the Uritsk-Pulkovo defensive line, he invested a large number of troops to counterattack the Dudelgov Heights, which is located northwest of the Pulkovo Heights, in an effort to restore the lost positions as soon as possible and firmly block the Germans on the periphery of Leningrad. The troops of the 23rd Army, which had been replenished, engaged in a protracted tug-of-war with the Germans in order to occupy the Uritsk region.

Due to the active offensive of the Soviet troops, the deployment of the German troops was disrupted, and there was silence in front of the Pulkovo Heights. The engineering units defending the heights, taking advantage of this short period of calm, planted a large number of mines in front of the positions, pulled barbed wire, dug anti-tank trenches, and so on.

In addition to reinforcing the original anti-aircraft positions, the soldiers in our company cleverly arranged several new defensive gun positions in a favorable position on the top of the mountain. This position will not pose any threat to us except for the bombing of German planes, and the artillery fire on the ground. In this way, while ensuring air defense, it is also possible to condescendingly strike at the enemy attacking the high ground.

Wearing a large-brimmed hat and a new military uniform with a lieutenant's badge, I stood alone on the newly constructed gun emplacement, holding the telescope up in front of me. From here, not only our position, but also the enemy's position can be seen very clearly. A large area of land stretching all the way to the horizon was cut apart by cobweb-like trenches and communication trenches. The barbed wire fence pulled along a zigzag that was oddly curved. In front of the potholed and bruised positions bombarded by bombs and shells, there were many German tanks and armoured transports that had been damaged and burned black.

"Boom!" A whistling shell landed on the southern slope of the nameless heights, interrupting my view of Yaxing, and it seemed that the enemy's attack, which had been silent for several days, was about to begin again, so I immediately put down my binoculars, turned around and ran back. By the time the rumbling of artillery rang out, I had already run to the anti-aircraft position, where the soldiers of the company were already in full array.

"Second Lieutenant Savchenko! Sergeant Karenina: "I shouted out my deputy company commander and deputy platoon commander.

"Here." Ensign Savchenko and Sergeant Karenina heard my shouts and trotted all the way up to me, stopping and saluting me.

"Second Lieutenant Savchenko, you bring five anti-aircraft guns and one anti-aircraft machine gun to the newly established defensive position." I took the steel helmet from Karenina's hand, and gave instructions to the two of them as I put it on: "Karenina, the remaining one anti-aircraft gun and two anti-aircraft machine guns are left here under your command, and you must ensure the air defense of the high ground." ”

"Yes." The two of them agreed, and turned to each command the men to carry out my orders.

After the anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns entered the new positions, the second lieutenant and I stood in the bunker and observed the battle situation under the hillside with binoculars. The minefields in front of the highland lines were also heavily shelled, and the well-planted mines were detonated one after another, and the successive explosions of mines re-ignited the damaged tanks and armoured vehicles, and then immediately extinguished by the overwhelming earth that had been blown up.

The shells rained down on the ground, and although the nearest point of impact was about fifty meters away from me, I still felt as if a violent explosion was blowing around me, and the earth trembled violently, and my ears buzzed.

The shelling stopped abruptly after forty-five minutes, as abrupt as it had begun. First, two signal flares, one red and one white, flew on the side of the German position, and more than a dozen tanks lined up in a wedge formation and drove over the trenches, and then, the German soldiers in gray-green uniforms lying in the trenches immediately jumped up and followed the tanks to charge the high ground.

There was a violent explosion, and the leading German tank came to a halt abruptly, and then a burst of explosive flames burst out through the tank. Then there was a second explosion, and then a third - it was the other two tanks that followed immediately after the explosion of mines.

At this moment there was a dense burst of gunfire, first with the clatter of machine guns, and then with the whole battalion firing. The tankers who jumped out of the cockpit of the tank fled backwards one after another, and they did not run far, but they were all knocked down by Soviet fire without exception.

At first, only the sound of dense gunfire and machine-gun fire could be heard on the Soviet positions, but after a few minutes this sound was overwhelmed by the sound of shells exploding. After the artillery fire just now, there were very few mines that did not explode, and the tanks behind had successfully passed through the minefield, stopped their advance near the trench, and opened heavy fire with guns and machine guns.

The shells fell directly on the defensive positions, and the most threatening machine-gun fire points were destroyed one by one by German artillery fire. The soldiers in gray-green uniforms in the back, with their submachine guns in flat hands, gradually approached the trench with a short leap.

"It's our turn." I finished saying this to myself, turned around and ordered the second lieutenant next to me: "Attack the tank with anti-aircraft guns, hit the infantry with anti-aircraft machine guns, go and execute it." ”

The German attack was fast, and as soon as the infantry approached the trenches, the tanks that had been stopped began to move forward again. The fighters, who lacked anti-tank weapons, were helpless against such a behemoth, and some people actually jumped out of the trench and ran to the back, only to be knocked down before they had run far. Two tanks crossed the first line of trenches and quickly drove towards us. Some German soldiers stormed the trenches and engaged in fierce hand-to-hand combat with the fighters inside.

Just then, I heard the sound of artillery behind me, and a puff of dirt rushed up next to the two tanks that were approaching, and an explosion sounded. "It's anti-aircraft guns firing," the thought immediately crossed my mind.

It was much easier for these well-trained anti-aircraft artillerymen to hit a tank moving on the ground than it was to fight an aircraft moving at high speed in the air. There were a few more explosions, this time something exploded inside a tank. Smoke came out of the tank's observation hole, and the body shook violently and stopped.

The second tank continued to move forward, and several shells landed next to it and exploded, without affecting its movement speed in the slightest. There was only a dozen meters between the tank and the second bunker, and suddenly I saw a man jump out of the bunker and throw a Molotov cocktail at the tank. Perhaps the soldier was too nervous to hit the target, and the thrown Molotov cocktail fell to the ground and rolled, and before he could make any remedial moves, he was immediately knocked down by the machine gun on the tank. At that moment, another man jumped out of the trench, rushed over, grabbed a Molotov cocktail on the ground, and slammed it into the tank. Immediately bursts of flames erupted from the surface of the smashed tank, and it looked as if the flames were sticking to the armor plates, trapping the tank tightly and engulfing the entire tank. Several tankers covered in flames jumped out screaming and rolled wildly on the ground, their shouts actually drowning out the roar of the tank engines.

The man who threw Molotov cocktails at the tank had turned around and was running quickly towards the hidden trench. I saw him clearly through the binoculars, it was Captain Khlopov, a political instructor of the first rank. Seeing that he was still one or two steps away from rushing into the trench, suddenly his steps stopped, and he fell to the ground with convulsions.

"Khlopov", watching the captain die in front of my eyes, suddenly made my eyes red, I quickly rushed to the anti-aircraft machine gun, knocked the shooter down, sat down on the seat of the machine gun, and at the same time shouted at the second lieutenant in anger: "Continue to fire fiercely at the Germans, do not skimp on ammunition." Then he slammed the firing button.

The four-barreled anti-aircraft machine gun fired a dense fire on the German infantry in front of the position, and I wept and stepped on the gun button fiercely. The machine gun trembled, the bullets sprayed out of the muzzle frantically, and the cartridge casings jumped and fell to the ground.

Watching the German army fall under my gun, my mood actually began to calm down. Death, it turns out that it is so simple, on the battlefield where the war is raging, it only takes a moment to dedicate a lot of fresh lives to death, this is war!