I thought it was a mission that would definitely die, but I didn't expect it to end like this. I looked at the German tanks that were burning or burned to wreckage under the hill, and I found that I could not calm down for a long time. You know, this is the tank unit of the world's largest army, and it was almost wiped out by a few of our rabble, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I couldn't believe that all this was true.

Lieutenant Peter and three of his men stood near me, admiring their masterpiece together. One of them, Corporal Aleynikov, was somewhat uncertain and said: "My God, comrade commander, did we really kill these German tanks?" Why do I feel so unreal? ”

Hearing what he said, I said to my heart that you don't think it's true, and I still think it's not real. Four infantrymen, with four anti-tank guns, took out a dozen German tanks in half a day. And it was bombarded by German tanks for several hours, except that his face was blackened by gunsmoke, not even a single hair was injured, and no one would believe that it was true, it was simply too fantastic.

We stood on the hill for a long time admiring our masterpiece, and Lieutenant Peter couldn't help but ask me: "Comrade Major, where are we going next?" Or stay here and continue to hold off the German tank forces tomorrow? ”

Listening to his tone, he still wanted to stay and continue to fight the German tanks, which scared me. The reason why the tank units of the German army will suffer such a big loss today is because there is no infantry cover from beginning to end, and when the German army appears tomorrow, it will not talk about coordinated operations, and we will not even be able to stuff the teeth between others. So I hurriedly waved my hand and said, "Lieutenant Peter, our mission has been completed." You don't have to stay here anymore. Let's go now. Go back to the headquarters of the army group and return to life. ”

Peter agreed. Then he gave an order to his subordinates: "All of them, guns on the shoulders, turn to the right of Lu, and walk in unison." His men followed his command, carrying long anti-tank guns on their left shoulders and empty backpacks in their right hands, and strode down the hill.

I walked at the back of the line, walking and walking. Suddenly, a strange phenomenon was discovered: when they went up the mountain, they carried the anti-tank gun on their right shoulder, and when they came down the mountain, they all switched to the left shoulder.

With this doubt in mind, I caught up with Lieutenant Peter in front. In order to avoid asking the question too abruptly, I chatted with him for a few words before asking tentatively: "Comrade Lieutenant." I see that before you go up the hill, the anti-tank gun is carried on your right shoulder. Why do you have to carry it on your left shoulder when you go down the mountain? ”

Peter smiled bitterly and replied: "Comrade Major, you don't know that the recoil of the anti-tank gun is too great. We played for a day today, and our right shoulder was almost swollen and I couldn't carry it anymore, so we had to switch to my left shoulder. ”

I naively thought it was a regulation that actually forgot about the huge recoil of the anti-tank gun, which would cause damage to the user. I laughed twice and was about to continue talking, when suddenly Belikov's vigilant voice came from the front: "Attention, it seems that someone is coming up the hill ahead." ”

"Spread out, hide!" When Peter heard the warning, he reflexively gave the order.

I hid behind the low bushes and watched through the cracks. In a short time, more than a dozen soldiers wearing steel helmets and carrying guns were slowly walking towards the hill along the forest path in a scattered formation.

Although these men were all wearing our uniforms, none of them immediately jumped out of the field to contact them, but continued to hide in their places, waiting for me and Lieutenant Peter's orders.

Seeing that these soldiers are getting closer and closer to us, the most recent soldiers are only about ten meters away from us. At this time, Lieutenant Peter suddenly pointed to the crowd below and said to me excitedly: "Major, do you see it? The leader of the team was the military commissar Gurov, and they must have come to us. Saying this, he stood up from his place of invisibility, and in order to prevent a misunderstanding, he did not immediately rush down, but stood in place and waved his hands desperately and shouted: "Comrade Military Commissar, I am Peter, we are here." ”

The search for the advancing troops stopped, and the guns were pointed at Peter, who was dancing with his hands. When I saw this, I could not help but worry for Lieutenant Peter, who was still hiding behind the bushes, and feared that one of the soldiers would pull the trigger in a moment of nervousness, causing a chain reaction and shooting him to death.

Fortunately, what I feared did not happen, and after a while, a political worker, surrounded by several soldiers with submachine guns, walked towards us. This time I saw clearly that it was none other than the military commissar Gurov who had just been shouted from the mouth of Lieutenant Peter. It seems that they did not treat us as cannon fodder, but still sent people to support us, and the leader of the team was still the military commissar who was a heavy weight in the group army.

I quickly got up from behind the bushes, patted Peter, who was still waving his hands, and said with a smile: "Enough, Comrade Lieutenant, stop waving, they all see us." With that, I stepped past Peter and trotted over Gurov.

I ran up to Gurov, resisted my excitement, and reported loudly: "Report to Comrade Military Commissar, Major Oshanina reports to you that we have successfully completed the task of blocking the German tank units, annihilating 17 German tanks, and our troops have suffered no casualties. At the moment the troops are on their way back to the headquarters of the army group, please instruct! ”

Gurov raised his hand and returned the salute and said, "Take a break, it's good that there are no casualties, I am afraid that you will not be able to withstand the attack of the Germans, so I specially brought a company to support you." Speaking of this, his body shook violently, and he asked in an unbelievable tone: "Comrade Major, what did you just say?" Is it true that you annihilated 17 German tanks? Have you confirmed the results? ”

In the face of his repeated questions, I replied with a slight smile: "Report to Comrade Military Commissar, the destroyed German tanks are currently burning on the open ground on the north side of the hill. At this point, I lowered my voice and said mysteriously, "But if you want to see it, you have to move quickly, or it will all burn out." ”

Gurov listens to me. Ha Lu Ha Da Lu laughed. A wave of the hand. He said, "Let's go, let's go with me to the hill and see the German tanks that were destroyed by our heroes." With that, he strode along the path to the top of the hill.

Since he walked so fast, I almost had to trot all the way to catch up with him. Behind me were Lieutenant Peter and three of his men, and behind me were the soldiers of the infantry company that Gurov had brought to reinforce us.

Come to the top of the slope. Gusev looked at the tanks that were still burning in the open field and counted them with interest. When he had finished counting and found that the number I had reported to him exactly matched, he excitedly said to me: "Comrade Major, you and your fighters have done a great service. When I return to the group army headquarters, I will report to my superiors and ask for credit for you. ”

"Xie Lu, Comrade Xie Military Commissar. Actually, I didn't do anything in this battle, these tanks were destroyed by Lieutenant Peter and his three fighters. "I say so. It's not modesty, it's the truth. From our hiding place to the German tanks, the distance between them was three or four hundred meters, and the submachine gun in my hand could not hit that far anyway.

"You should be rewarded for your meritorious command."

After Gurov finished speaking, I cautiously asked: "Comrade Military Commissar, our blocking mission has been completed, is it possible to withdraw to the headquarters of the group army?" ”

"Let's go, Comrade Major." Gurov said kindly: "Since the mission has been completed, let's go back together." ”

Twenty minutes later, Gurov and I sat side by side in the back of the jeep returning to the headquarters of the army group. After chatting with him for a few words, I asked him curiously: "Comrade Military Commissar, did today's counterattack against the Germans go well?" ”

Unexpectedly, he shook his head and said, "The counterattack formulated in the early hours of this morning was postponed?" ”

I was taken aback and asked, "What is this for?" ”

Gurov took off his big-brimmed hat, touched his big bald head with his hand, and said helplessly: "During the day, we learned from the Supreme Command that Lieutenant General Gordorf, the former commander of the 64th Army, was officially appointed commander of the Stalingrad Front. His first order after taking office was to postpone our counterattack by one day, saying that the newly formed 13th Tank Army would be sent to cooperate tomorrow. ”

After listening to his words, I said with some concern: "Doesn't the delay of the attack by one day give the Germans time to strengthen the fortifications?" In this way, we will pay a bigger price for tomorrow's counterattack. ”

After Gurov put his hat back on, he said in a flat tone: "For tomorrow's attack, we still need to get the cooperation of the 64th Army." But where are their troops? Many troops have just arrived at the railway station by rail transport from Tula and are currently on their way from the railway station to the position, when they will arrive is still unknown.

Originally, according to the original plan of the Front, the 64th Army was supposed to send the 66th Marine Brigade and the 137th Tank Brigade to move along the right bank of the Don River towards the town of Zymryanskaya. Their task was to attack the flanks and rear of the German army and destroy the German group that was crossing the Don River there. According to the order, this unit was supposed to assemble in the town of Suvorovsky on the evening of July 22. However, due to the fact that the bridges near Nizhnechiskaya could not withstand the weight of the tanks, neither the medium nor the heavy tanks of the 137th tank brigade could cross the Don, and at the moment only one motorized rifle battalion and 15 light tanks of the tank brigade reached the designated positions. ”

When I heard him talk about the 64th Army, I couldn't help but feel a stir in my heart, and I thought of General Chuikov, who shone in the Battle of Stalingrad, and I didn't know when I would be able to meet him. I was just about to follow Gurov's words and say a few words, but suddenly I found that what Gurov told me was a high-level secret of our army, wasn't he afraid that I would leak secrets? There is only one kind of person who will not leak secrets, and that is the dead, is Gurov going to kill me later? As soon as I thought of this, a cold sweat broke out on my forehead.

My strange appearance was seen by Gurov, but he did not expect that I was thinking nonsense, and thought that the complicated enemy situation made me panic, and he continued: "Comrade Major, what I have just told you is an important secret of our army. The reason why I want to let you know this openly and honestly is because you are the adjutant of Commander Kolpacchi, and only when you understand these things can you better assist the general in his work. ”

I put down the big stone in my heart, nodded, and expressed my determination to Gurov: "Comrade Military Commissar, please rest assured, I will definitely assist Comrade Commander in carrying out a good work." ”

While talking, our jeep stopped at the door of the headquarters. After getting out of the car, I followed Gurov and walked inside. As we passed the sentry at the gate, they stood upright and raised their hands to salute us.

As soon as I walked into the headquarters, I heard an exclamation from Gurov in front of me: "My God, is it you?" Vassili. Ivanovic, what's wrong with you? Hurt? ”

Listening to Gurov's reminder, I realized that in addition to the commander Kol Pakchi, there was also a general with a thin face and a serious expression sitting at the table. Now when I see a commander with a higher rank than me, my first reaction is to look at other people's ranks. This general, who had a thick bandage on his head, turned out to be a lieutenant general. I immediately muttered to myself, who is this? Could it be the commander of the Front, Lieutenant General Gordorf?

The wounded lieutenant general shook his head and said with a bitter face: "Alas, don't mention it, the plane I was on was shot down by German fighters. ”

Gurov was taken aback, stepped forward and asked with concern, "What the hell is going on?" Let's hear it. ”

The general said: "This morning, the units of our army group were ordered to move towards the town of Suvorovsky, and I decided to fly along the front line of the army group in order to view the defensive positions of our army from the air. Unexpectedly, as soon as he arrived in the sky southeast of Surovichino, he encountered a German D-88. The Y-2 plane I was on was not equipped with weapons, while the enemy aircraft was armed with artillery and machine guns.

German air bandits attacked me almost ten times. It looked like our planes were about to be shattered by enemy fire. Below is an open grassland, and when you land, you will turn into a fixed target, which will be immediately hit by enemy aircraft.

Our pilots, ascertaining their bearings according to the sun, hurried eastward, hoping to find a small village or a grove of trees in order to get rid of enemy planes for a while. But the steppe is empty...... I don't remember for sure that after the first attacks of enemy aircraft, our plane fell to the ground and broke in two.

Before the plane fell, the pilot skillfully maneuvered the plane, so the pilot and I were relatively safe after the crash. We were just thrown out of the cockpit. I had a slight injury to my forehead, a pain in my chest and spine, and a bruise on the pilot's knees.

And the German pilots, seeing that our planes were smoking, probably thought that we were finished. He circled the air, then flew westward, disappearing on the horizon.

Next, we were fortunate enough to meet Senior Captain Semykov, who was on a mission nearby, who led someone to save us and personally escorted us to your army group headquarters. ”

After hearing this, Gurov took off his hat and wiped his sweat, and said, "It's really dangerous." Then he turned to me and said, "Major Oshanina, let me introduce you, this is the deputy commander of the 64th Army, Vasily. Ivanovich. General Chuikov. (To be continued......)

PS: The author has something to say: Ladies and gentlemen, the four soldiers who appeared in yesterday's chapter destroyed more than a dozen German tanks, and there were no casualties on their own side; and the incident in today's chapter where Chuikov's plane was shot down by a German plane. These are all real historical events, not made up by myself.