The bombs dropped by the German planes as they dived fell among the commanders and fighters who were carrying or carrying the ammunition boxes, and I first heard two loud "booms", followed by earth-shattering explosions one after another, and the detonation of the shells immediately blew up our fighters.

In the open ground filled with gunsmoke, shrapnel from bombs and shells from the air and shrapnel from detonated shells were flying in all directions, so that even the soldiers who were pulling the cannons in front had to find a nearby crater to hide.

"Hell, these damn German devils, in order to keep us from getting their artillery, they even didn't hesitate to send planes to blow them up." Kirillov, who was standing next to me, scolded indignantly when he saw this scene.

The smoke of gunfire on the open ground, the flying shrapnel and clods of dirt, crackling everywhere, and the enemy planes that were constantly diving down from the sky to drop bombs and strafe all showed that Kirillov's judgment was correct. The Germans knew that their heavy artillery, once in the hands of our troops, would inflict heavy casualties on them when they attacked, so they decisively relieved themselves and sent planes to bomb them.

Although there were only two enemy planes, the fighters without anti-aircraft weapons did not take them, and the result was a one-sided massacre. It was only after dropping the bombs they were carrying and the bullets from the machine guns on board that the two enemy planes circled in the air again and turned around and flew north.

Although the enemy planes left, the explosions in the open ground continued, and it was the movement of the dead shells. I took this opportunity to call Shederikov and ordered him to immediately send a health officer to help the wounded on the battlefield.

Until the sound of the explosion gradually faded away, and the smoke was blown away by the river breeze. I saw the scene in the open field. There were corpses everywhere. Lying near large and small craters that are still smoking. The unwounded fighters got up from the ground. Go everywhere and look for survivors. The artillery, which had almost been moved to our positions, was blown up and dumped in pieces and mutilated on the open ground. The shell boxes that had been blown to pieces were burning in the east and west.

Seeing this tragic scene, I thought to myself: If Kirillov had told the soldiers to run to give the order, I had first informed Sederikov, who was on the high ground, by telephone, that would have caused much fewer casualties. The guard faithfully carried out Kirillov's order, while the German planes attacked the troops in the open field. He rushed into the smoke without hesitation, and I never saw him again.

Not long after, about seventy or eighty commanders and fighters left the fortifications on the mountainside and hurried to the open field to treat their comrades. I saw through the binoculars that at the head of the line was Commissar Oberstein, followed by seven or eight hygienists with red cross emblems on their arms, including two female hygienists.

As soon as they reached the open field, the hygienists dispersed to help their comrades who were still lying on the ground and groaning in pain. And the rest of the fighters. He helped the surviving fighters and helped some lightly wounded back to their positions first.

Oberstein was seen directing the fighters to search for the wounded. I was relieved, so I picked up the phone again and called Sederikov. Hearing his voice, I said without hesitation: "Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov, now that Commissar Oberstein is directing the soldiers to clean up the battlefield and collect the wounded, don't be idle, send two more companies into the position and hurry up to repair the fortifications destroyed by German artillery fire." Remember, in the future this will become a rule for independent divisions: in battle, it is necessary to build fortifications while fighting! If you have even a minute, you have to build the fortifications! Do you understand? ”

Sederikov resoundingly agreed: "Please rest assured, division commander, I will immediately send someone to repair the fortifications destroyed by German artillery fire." ”

Kirillov, who was standing next to him, listened to me tell Sederikov this, and couldn't help but ask with some concern: "Comrade Oshanina, is it appropriate for you to promote this rule in the whole division?" You know, even in between battles, the warriors have to constantly repair the fortifications, so that they don't get enough rest, or it won't be long before the warriors become exhausted. ”

In response to Kirillov's objections, I said with a straight face: "Comrade commissar, you have just seen how fierce the artillery preparations of the German army were before the attack. If our troops do not have strong fortifications, they will be completely lost under artillery fire. Speaking of this, I suddenly remembered another matter, quickly changed the topic, and asked nervously, "By the way, Comrade Political Commissar, I patronized the matter of repairing the fortifications, and almost forgot about another important matter." ”

"What's the matter?" Kirillov asked curiously.

"Ammunition. After this period of fighting, the division has consumed a lot of ammunition and urgently needs to be replenished. "If we run out of ammunition," I said worriedly, "our fighters will have to wait for the enemy to rush into position and engage them in a brutal face-to-face fight." ”

Hearing me say this, Kirillov pondered for a while and replied: "The troops are running out of ammunition, I can solve it with the command of the army group." However, there is another problem involved here: after my observation, the weapons in our division are very miscellaneous, not only the standard weapons of our army, but also the weapons of captured Germany, Italy, Romania, Hungary and other countries, and the ammunition of these weapons cannot be replenished by the group army, and we can only rely on ourselves to find a way. ”

I looked at the commanders and fighters on the battlefield in the distance, and suddenly thought of a solution, so I called Sederikov again and gave him an order cleanly: "Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov, I remember that most of the weapons in your regiment are German-style equipment, right?" ”

"Yes, comrade division commander," Shederikov replied, "you remember quite right, about half of the fighters were on captured German equipment. After today's battle, their ammunition is almost depleted, you see, can you think of a little more for us. ”

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I am the commander of an independent division, not the director of an arsenal, and I can't replenish you with ammunition for German-style weapons." Hearing that he still wanted to complain, I hurriedly interrupted his words and gave him an idea: "In today's battle, your regiment killed at least two companies of German soldiers, and you immediately organize people to collect weapons and ammunition from these German corpses to replenish the troops." And if that's not enough. Then you send someone to see where they parked their truck. Maybe there's some ammo crates left. ”

"Understood. I'm going to set it up. "Sedelikov promised to hang up the phone as soon as he said it, but I stopped him in time. I hesitated for a moment, but finally gritted my teeth and asked, "In today's battle, how are your casualties?" ”

After a moment of silence, Shedelikov replied in a deep voice: "Report to the division commander, I still don't know the casualties of those commanders and fighters who went to pull the artillery. In today's battle, our regiment suffered a total of 500 casualties, of which 300 were killed. More than 100 people were still seriously injured and basically lost their combat effectiveness. ”

Although I knew that a regiment would suffer casualties under heavy German fire, I still felt my heart bleed when I heard Shedelikov report the exact figures to me. The 1st Regiment, as the main force of the Independent Division, had already suffered more than half of the casualties after it arrived at the Mamayev Heights, and if this situation continued, the Independent Division could be abolished in a week at most.

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel. I'm still saying that every minute of your time is going to be used. Rush to repair the fortifications on the high ground. With strong fortifications, our commanders and fighters were able to survive the heavy artillery fire and bombardment of the Germans. ”

Putting down the phone, I remembered again the commander of the 2nd regiment, Pugachev, who I had not seen since I sent him out to pull the artillery, and I did not know where he was when our troops were bombed by the Germans. Thinking of this, I said to Nadya, who was in charge of communications: "Comrade Nadya, immediately contact the commander of the second regiment, Pugachev, and ask where he is?" ”

Pugachev quickly got in touch, and he was at the foot of the southern slope of our heights with a group of commanders and fighters of the 2nd Regiment, hiding the few cannons that had been pulled back by truck.

When I heard him talk about artillery, I immediately thought of the artillery battalion commander, Captain Morozov, because most of the artillery was blown up in the German air raids, and he, the battalion commander, wanted to be the regiment commander, so he had to wait for the opportunity to talk about it later. Before I was about to end the communication, I casually asked: "Comrade Pugachev, I would like to ask you, did you see the commander of the artillery battalion, Captain Morozov?" ”

"Are you talking about Captain Morozov? He's on my side. ”

I had already removed the headphones from my ears and was about to throw the microphone to Nadya as well, when I suddenly heard him say that Morozov was beside him, and I immediately rejoiced in my heart and hurriedly ordered him: "Comrade Pugachev, hurry up and hand over the headphones and microphone to Morozov, I want to talk to him." ”

Morozov's voice soon came from the earphones: "Hello, comrade division commander, I am Captain Morozov, do you have any instructions?" ”

"I want to ask, how many cannons did you pull back just now?"

"There are five doors in total, and they are all pulled back by truck." Morozov replied succinctly: "The trucks are full of shells, enough for us to use for a while." ”

I was relieved to hear that the artillery battalion had captured five heavy guns, and although the rest of the artillery had been blown up and the soldiers who pulled the guns had suffered heavy casualties, it was worth it. As long as we have these five heavy guns, our chances of victory in the next defensive battle will be higher, and at least we will have a sharp weapon against the German tanks.

When Kirillov learned that we had added five new heavy guns, he was also excited, and said again and again: "Great, this is really good. In this way, no matter how many tank troops the Germans send, we don't have to worry about it. After happily circling around the observation post, he said to me: "Comrade Oshanina, I don't think it's appropriate to place heavy artillery at Mamayev Heights, because they may become the target of German air strikes. We moved these guns to the settlements, so that when the heights were attacked by the Germans, the artillery observers could signal the artillery in the rear from the heights and direct them to launch artillery strikes on the invading enemy. ”

Kirillov's opinion coincided with mine, so I nodded vigorously and said seriously: "Comrade commissar, your opinion is good, I agree. ”

While Kirillov and I were talking, the operator Nadya suddenly called me nervously: "Comrade division commander, comrade commander of the army group wants to talk to you." ”

I glanced at Kirillov in surprise, and at the same time whispered in surprise: "Comrade commissar, what's going on?" Why did Commander Chuikov suddenly want to talk to me? ”

Kirillov shook his head blankly, indicating that he didn't know what was going on.

I picked up the microphone and said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade Commander, I am Oshanina, do you have any new instructions?" ”

"Colonel Oshanina, well done. I know that you have inflicted heavy losses on the German tank battalion, eliminated two artillery battalions, and knocked out an infantry regiment in the battle that has just ended, which is amazing. I will report the results of your division to the front headquarters and ask for credit for you and your subordinates. Chuikov praised me loudly, suddenly changed the subject, and said curiously: "Oshanina, just now after the intelligence department of the army group interrogated the two German prisoners you sent, I unexpectedly learned a strange thing. ”

"Strange things?" I didn't know what Chuikov wanted to say, so I couldn't help but get a little nervous, and quickly asked: "Comrade commander, I don't know what strange things are?" ”

"The captives confessed that their tank battalion was at the foot of the Mamayev hill and had taken the initiative, and that the volley of tank guns, combined with the shelling of the heavy artillery battalion in the distance, turned the entire heights into a sea of fire. They were supposed to send their infantry to seize our high ground as soon as the shelling stopped, but at this moment, something unexpected happened: their tanks were shot one after another and burst into flames.

The captured lieutenant said: The observers of the artillery at that time judged the artillery position of our troops on the high ground from the direction from which the shells were flying, so they turned the muzzle of the guns and covered this area with heavy artillery fire. Although they saw parts of the cannon and human stumps flying into the air on the high ground covered by artillery fire, not even a fly would survive in that situation. But in reality, the shells continued to fly, destroying their tanks one after another. It was really because of the shells fired by the mysterious cannon that they were dizzy, and the superior commander was forced to give the order to retreat. ”

Kirillov, who heard my conversation with Chuikov, smiled at me, then stretched out his hand to me and said in a friendly manner: "Comrade Oshanina, give me the headphones and microphone, and I will explain this supernatural incident to Comrade Commander." Hearing him say this, I didn't speak, just smiled and handed over the things in my hand.

Kirillov put on headphones and said loudly into the microphone: "Hey, hey, is it Chuikov?" I'm Kirillov. About the mysterious cannon, I thought I could explain to you what it was. Then he took Proto. If Tyakonov cleverly concealed their artillery in a hollow and aimed at the German tanks and fired continuously, he finally went out of his way to emphasize: "It was this cannon that destroyed 17 German tanks in the battle." Comrade Chuikov, the instructor of the last anti-tank company, was awarded the title of 'Hero of the Soviet Union' for destroying almost a number of tanks and defending the docks, so how are you going to reward this gunner of ours? ”

Chuikov was silent for a while, and then asked solemnly: "What rank is this gunner Tiyakonov?" ”

Hearing Chuikov's question, Kirillov turned his head to look at me, as if asking for my opinion. I thought about it for a moment and whispered to him: "Otherwise, let's promote this gunner to the rank of sergeant." "Although I also wanted to directly promote this gunner who had made great contributions, I thought that if I was promoted by the group army, it would arouse Tiyakonov's sense of honor even more, so I put forward this proposal on my own initiative.

Kirillov had now reached a tacit understanding with me in some respects, he nodded with a smile and replied to Chuikov: "Comrade Commander, Comrade Oshanina and I will promote him from the current sergeant to the rank of sergeant. ”

"Promote him to second lieutenant," said Chuikov in an unquestioning tone, "as for what kind of reward he will receive for such a great achievement, this will be discussed later." Now to promote his rank first, it is equivalent to the interest paid to him first. (To be continued......)

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