I stood in the observation post and held up my binoculars to look into the distance. The high ground in front was nearly a third shorter than the high ground I was on, so that I could clearly see the artillery positions on the top of the hill, and the open field in front of the high ground. At this moment, there are several burning fires in the open ground, and it can be vaguely seen that they are tanks or armored vehicles destroyed by our troops.

A truck loaded with ammunition drove to the foot of the hill on the high ground and stopped. As soon as the car stopped, the door of the driver's platform opened, and one person from the left and right stepped down, walked quickly to the side of the car, and moved the ammunition box down. I looked at the two men through my binoculars and saw that one of them was the captain of the convoy, Lieutenant Morozov.

Seeing that Morozov was personally carrying the ammunition, I smiled and nodded slightly, and moved the telescope to the artillery position on the top of the hill again. Judging by the position of the gun emplacement, the company should have had nine guns, and at the moment there were only five anti-tank guns left on the position.

The ammunition cart parked at the foot of the hill, apparently also seen by the people in the artillery position, and saw one of the officer-like men waving his hand, so a dozen men ran down the hill quickly, lifted the ammunition boxes that Morozov had placed on the ground, and trotted back to the hill, distributing boxes of shells to the various gun emplacements.

At this moment, the telephone in the observation post rang, and after listening to it for a while, Basmanov said, "I know." Then he put the phone down.

I continued to look at the artillery positions on the opposite hillside with my binoculars, and at the same time asked without looking back, "Major, what's wrong?" ”

Basmanov hurriedly came to my side and reported to me: "Comrade commander, report from the observation post at the top of the mountain. The enemy's offensive began again. ”

I heard him say that. I quickly adjusted the angle of the telescope. Look further afield. I saw that on the open plain, German tanks appeared one after another like small beetles. Behind the tank, you can see infantry lined up in stragglers, walking unhurriedly with their weapons in hand.

I looked at it for a while, put down my binoculars and said to Basmanov: "No more than one battalion, can you block it?" Although I asked in an understated tone, I still didn't know whether they could stop the German attack or not.

Hear my question. Basmanov replied in the affirmative: "Don't worry, Comrade Commander. Despite the small number of people on the high ground ahead, but with well-developed fortifications, I am sure that they will be able to withstand the enemy's attack. At this point, he lowered his voice, as if to say to me, more like talking to himself, "Even if they can't stop it, aren't there still us?" Even if we have only one person left, we will never let the enemy pass through our positions. ”

The German tanks were still far away, and the artillery batteries on the high ground opened fire. With clouds of white smoke rising from the gun emplacement. The shells whizzed out of their chambers and flew towards the tanks in the distance. Due to the distance is too far. The first batch of shells all fell in the open field, and except for one that exploded next to the tank, the rest of the shells fell very far from the target.

Seeing the artillery on the heights firing, the moving tanks paused briefly and returned fire. Moments later, more than a dozen black plumes of smoke rose from the high ground, and even a few shells flew over the top of the hillside and landed between the two high ground and exploded.

Before the smoke cleared, the artillery emplacements on the top of the hill opened fire again. Although it still did not hit any of the German tanks this time, the landing point was obviously much more accurate than the first round, and almost all of them fell about ten meters away from the tank and exploded.

As soon as the shelling of our troops stopped, the German tanks stopped firing back, and the high ground ahead was suddenly enveloped in clouds of gunsmoke. When the smoke cleared, I saw that one of the cannons had been overturned by artillery fire, and several wounded were struggling in pain beside the overturned artillery. The artillery commander, in addition to having a medical officer come and treat the wounded, continued to direct the remaining artillery to fire at the German tanks.

Seeing this, I hurriedly called Basmanov over and asked anxiously: "Major, is there a hygienist in that infantry company where you are stationed on the high ground in front?" ”

"Yes!" Basmanov did not understand the purpose of my question at first, and after glancing ahead, he immediately said: "Comrade commander, I understand everything. I called the company commander at the front and asked him to send a hygienist to help the wounded artilleryman. ”

Not long after Basmanov's phone call, I saw a hygienist with a medical kit on his back, braving enemy fire, running to the destroyed gun emplacements to help the wounded.

The artillery position at the top of the hill was shrouded in smoke, but our artillery brothers were still fighting stubbornly, and soon unlucky tanks, hit by our artillery fire, stopped in place and burned.

Although our artillery kept firing, the Germans still rushed to the foot of the hill because of the large number of German tanks, and the infantry, who had been following behind, also launched an attack on our positions under the cover of tanks. In an instant, the hillside was filled with German soldiers wearing steel helmets, crawling towards the smoke-filled position.

Seeing this, Basmanov said to me with a frown: "Comrade commander, the enemy has at least twice as many troops in this charge as in the last one. It's a pity that there are no heavy weapons on the position, except for a few light machine guns. Otherwise, with such a dense formation of the German army, as long as they bombarded with mortars and swept away with heavy machine guns, they would have suffered heavy casualties. ”

For Basmanov's regret, I can only smile bitterly. If it weren't for the limited number of weapons, I would have liked to have enough mortars, heavy machine guns, and an assault rifle for each of the new formations. But in order to support the counterattack of the 67th Guards Division, the only few new tanks in the regiment, I also let Shedelikov take them. At this moment, in the face of the fierce attack of the German army, we can only rely on the tenacious will to fight of the commanders and fighters of the third battalion.

As soon as the German infantry approached halfway up the mountain, a grenade flew out of the position, landed in a dense queue and exploded. Just as they were dazed by the bombing, the troops on the position decisively launched a counter-charge, and the enemy rolled back with a crawl.

If it had not been for the fact that our troops were intercepted by German tank fire in the process of charging, the results would have been much greater. However, the company commander at the front was also clever, and as soon as he saw that his troops were under enemy shelling, he immediately ordered all his men to withdraw to their positions and hide them, avoiding more unnecessary casualties.

I was just relieved to see another German infantry charge being repulsed, when I suddenly heard Basmanov shout: "Not good! Before I could figure out what was going on, I saw him rush to the door of the observation post and shout at one of the fighters outside: "Hurry up, go and send an air raid siren, the enemy bombers are dispatched." ”

When I heard the air raid siren, I couldn't help but shudder, and I hurriedly looked into the air, only to see that a German flight formation had really appeared in the distance, and four planes in a group, at least seven or eight groups, were flying towards us.

Soon, the enemy planes flew closer and began to dive down one after another to the high ground in front, dropping the bombs they were carrying one by one. Every time a bomb was dropped, a large cloud of fire and smoke rose from the high ground. It didn't take much effort, and the whole highland was engulfed in flames and smoke, like an erupting volcano.

At this time, the enemy, who had been knocked down to the high ground, took advantage of the situation and rushed back to the hillside. Seeing this, my heart sank sharply, and although I didn't say anything, I realized in my heart that the high ground might not be able to be saved. Although there were two companies of troops in my position at present, I could not send them to reinforce them, because the hundreds of meters from here to the middle of the opposite high ground were open and unobstructed, and before they could run over, they were either wiped out by German tank fire or blown up by German aircraft.

"Comrade commander," I heard Basmanov next to me gritting his teeth, "the enemy has increased its forces again." You see, in the distance there were at least fifty or sixty more tanks, and more than a regiment of infantry. ”

Through the cracks in the smoke of gunfire, I could clearly see the German tank units rumbling in the distance and the dense infantry formation behind me, and my heart became more and more heavy. I understood in my heart that with the arrival of German reinforcements, the fall of the heights ahead was only a matter of time.

Thinking of this, I put down my binoculars, turned my head to Basmanov, who was standing next to me, and said, "Comrade Major, let the commanders and fighters on the position be ready for battle. When the warriors on the high ground in front of us are exhausted, it will be our turn next. ”

As soon as I finished speaking, Basmanov grabbed my hand and dragged it outside the observation post, and at the same time said: "Comrade commander, while the enemy has not yet attacked, you can go first!" ”

I broke free of his hand and said to him angrily: "Comrade Major, as your commander, can I leave first in such a critical situation?" Isn't that just an escape? ”

"Comrade commander," Basmanov, the former commander of the guard battalion, said to me with a straight face: "You are the commander of the army group, and your responsibility is to direct the troops to fight the Germans, not to give your life here in vain." At this point, he turned his head and yelled at the three guards who were standing at the door, "What are you all doing there, why don't you take the commander away quickly." ”

The guards who came with me listened to Basmanov's words, and they came up and grabbed me by the arm, dragged me out, and at the same time persuaded me: "Comrade commander, the major is right, you have no right to take risks here, so you should leave here with us!" ”

They tried to pull me away, but I wouldn't go. While the argument was ending, the telephone in the room suddenly rang, and Basmanov picked up the microphone and listened for a moment, then turned to me and said excitedly: "Comrade commander, the commander of the 33rd Tank Army, Colonel Bere, has arrived and is waiting for you at the command post." (To be continued.) )

PS: Thank you for the support of the book friend Hanyue Sorrowful Thousand Tent Lamps and monthly passes!!