Ehrenburg's words surprised me, to know that the first person to know about such a thing as restoring the rank should be Chuikov, but I just talked to him for a long time, and he didn't reveal anything about it. I was about to ask Ehrenburg what was going on, when Verdowin strode over and said to Ehrenburg: "Comrade Ehrenburg, it's getting late, let's go." ”

The sudden appearance of Verdowin surprised Ehrenburg as well, and he had to shrug his shoulders, smile apologetically at me, and politely say: "Comrade Oshanina, goodbye, I hope we will have the opportunity to meet again." ”

"Yes, Comrade Ehrenburg. I hope it won't be long before we see each other again. Break a leg! With that, I raised my hand and solemnly saluted Ehrenburg.

After sending Ehrenburg away, Chuikov, who was originally smiling, suddenly sank his face, shook his head at me, and asked me to follow him to the table, and then he asked me sharply: "Colonel Oshanina, I want you to explain to me what is going on with the ring railway leading to the docks behind Mamayev Hill?" Why are all the rails and sleepers missing? ”

Chuikov's words made me stupid, I stood there for a long time and didn't come back to my senses, and I kept asking myself: railway, what railway, how come I have never seen it? After a month at Mamayev Heights, I didn't really know that there was a railroad behind the heights.

"Why don't you speak?" Chuikov's voice woke me up from my contemplation, I quickly turned my head to look left and right, saw Kirillov and Akhromeyev both standing next to me, and hurriedly asked Kirillov: "Comrade commissar, do you know what is going on with the railway?" ”

Kirillov approached Chuikov's side. Tentatively asked, "Comrade Commander." What you call a railway. If I don't understand correctly, is it the Ring Road to the south of the highlands? ”

"Yes!" Chuikov agreed affirmatively.

I was about to ask Kirillov what was going on with the railway, and he had already begun to report to Chuikov: "That's right, Comrade Commander. As far as I know, long before the Independence Division entered the Mamayev Heights, most of the railroad behind the heights was dismantled by the 35th Guards Division, which was stationed here at that time. After the headquarters of the army group and the 35th Guards Division withdrew to the city, the engineer company of the independent division dismantled all the remaining rails and sleepers and used them to strengthen the fortifications on the high ground. ”

Kirillov said so. I only learned that there was a railway line from the city to the wharf behind the highlands, no wonder I saw the gravel laid railway embankment at the foot of the mountain, I thought it was because of the war that led to the suspension of the construction of the railway, but I did not expect that the railway had long been saved, but the rails and sleepers were removed. After figuring out the ins and outs, I cautiously asked Chuikov: "Comrade commander, I don't know what you plan to do with this railway?" ”

Chuikov said with a wry smile: "What to do, what else can you do?" Of course, I plan to use the railroad to transport supplies that have just come from across the river, and to use the armored train that we have hidden in case of danger. Deliver a thunderous blow to the frantically attacking Germans. But now, there are no rails and no sleepers. Our plans were all in vain. ”

I didn't dare to say anything, for fear that Chuikov would order me to organize men to restore the original railway line in the shortest possible time. If the rails and sleepers had really been dismantled by Mihayev's engineer company, they would have been used to reinforce the fortifications on the northern heights, and perhaps these materials would have been lost in the enemy's rounds of shelling and bombardment.

Chuikov talked for a long time, and seeing that I was still silent, he had to wave his hand and said helplessly: "Since the rails and sleepers are gone, I will not force you to organize people to restore the railway line." After he said this, he suddenly changed the subject, "By the way, I want to think about what happened to that sniper Vasily?" ”

"I wonder what else Comrade Commander knows?" Kirillov asked cautiously.

"I've heard that this sniper's marksmanship is so good that he fired ten shots at random, but only one bullet hole was left in the target. Do you think this is possible? With a contemptuous smile on his face, Chuikov said in a skeptical tone: "If anyone can do this, then he is a god and not a man!" ”

"It's true, Comrade Commander." Hearing Chuikov say this, I quickly defended Vasily: "At that time, I let Ensign Vasily be my interview gun, and many people in the 39th Guards Division, including General Guryev, witnessed this miracle with their own eyes. ”

Kirillov also lost no time in coming up to my aid: "Comrade commander, when Major Akhromeyev and I first heard this statement, we thought that the division commander was joking with us, but when we saw with our own eyes the marksmanship of Second Lieutenant Vasily, we realized that what the division commander said was true. You must know that Vasily was 500 meters away from the enemy's scouts at that time, but Comrade Ensign fired five shots in succession, and killed all the German soldiers. According to the commanders and fighters who examined the corpses of the enemy, the guns hit the head of the enemy. ”

After listening to Kirilov's defense of Vasily and me, Chuikov said thoughtfully: "It's amazing, if I didn't know both of you, I would have thought you were bragging." Then he asked curiously, "How is Ensign Vasily's sniper results today?" ”

Akhromeyev hurriedly stepped forward, straightened his waist and reported to Chuikov: "Comrade commander, Second Lieutenant Vasily eliminated three German devils today, one of whom is a German second lieutenant. ”

Chuikov nodded and said with satisfaction: "Killing three Germans is a good result." The army group currently had more than 400 snipers, and if each of them killed three Germans a day, it would be more than a thousand. In ten days, there was no more of a full-fledged division of the German army. ”

Hearing his words, I couldn't help but smile bitterly, and said in my heart Do you think the Germans are stupid, just honestly stand there and let you be a target? Not to mention ordinary snipers, even Vasily is outstanding, don't you only destroy three today?

After we talked and laughed a few words, Chuikov turned the conversation to the siege weapon "Flying Thunder Cannon", and he frowned and said: "Oshanina, the 'Flying Thunder Cannon' you invented. Although the power is not bad. It's a pity that the range is too close, and the accuracy is poor. If we can overcome these two shortcomings, we will be able to use them greatly in future counteroffensives. ”

Although the "Flying Thunder Cannon" was the first idea I proposed, it was all because there were ready-made things to learn from, and now I was helpless to improve them. When I had a headache, Akhromeyev hesitated to say how to improve: "Commanders, I have an idea to increase the range and accuracy of the flying thunder gun. ”

"Tell me about it!" Kirillov heard him say this. Immediately rushed him impatiently.

"At present, the shape of the explosive package used in the 'flying thunder cannon' is oblate, because the volume is too large, and during the flight, the flight distance will be limited due to the resistance of the air. My plan was to change the shape of the explosive pack to resemble the front tip and back circle of the shell, and at the same time reduce the caliber of the canister, so that maybe the explosive bag could fly a longer distance. ”

I thought about it, and the way Akhromeyev said did have a certain operability. He nodded and said affirmatively: "Comrade Chief of Staff." This one of yours is good, you can try it. Tomorrow I will put Morozov and Mihayev in charge of this matter. ”

At dawn the next day, before I could call Morozov and Mihayev over and hand over the work of transforming the "Flying Thunder Cannon" to them, there was a rumbling sound of cannon outside.

Kirillov raised his head, snorted softly and said disdainfully: "Damn the Germans, it's time again to shell our piers and ferries on the river." ”

I listened attentively for a moment, then shook my head and negated his judgment: "Comrade Political Commissar, judging by the sound of artillery coming from outside, the enemy should not be shelling the dock, but shelling the positions of the 4th Regiment. ”

As soon as I finished speaking, the telephone on my desk rang. I grabbed the microphone and put it to my ear, and before I could speak, the hurried voice of Xia Ping, the political commissar of the Fourth Regiment, came from inside: "Report to Comrade Division Commander, the enemy is shelling our position. ”

"Comrade Xia Ping, don't be in a hurry, let the soldiers all be hidden, and minimize unnecessary casualties." After I finished saying this, I suddenly remembered that Gaidar had called me in the past, and why did the political commissar of the regiment call me today, so I asked: "Where has Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar gone?" ”

As soon as dawn came, he went out with two guards. He said that the Germans had not moved in the direction of Mamayev in the past few days, and he was afraid that the soldiers would take it lightly, so he went to the trenches to have a look, and by the way, he talked to the commanders and fighters. ”

I was deeply afraid that Gaidar had just entered the forward position and encountered enemy shelling, so I nervously asked: "How long did Gaidar go?" ”

Xia Ping paused for a moment, and then replied very dryly: "I walked for five minutes." He apparently guessed the reason for my question, and specifically added, "The fortifications of our forward positions have been reinforced, and all the trenches have dug dugouts, so even if Comrade Lieutenant Colonel encounters shelling, he should be able to find a place to hide, and safety can be guaranteed." ”

"Pay attention to monitor the enemy, and as soon as their shelling stops, order our troops to immediately move into defensive positions." I hung up the phone and said to Kirillov and Akhromeyev: "I'll go to the observation post halfway up the mountain." With that, without waiting for the two of them to react, they strode towards the door.

I followed the trench to the observation post halfway up the mountain, and raised my binoculars to look at the high ground to the north. The German artillery fire, which had been silent for several days, opened fire again, and the power was not small, and the northern side of the high ground and the top of the hill were already covered in billowing smoke. The smoke of gunpowder that obscured the sky made the sun in the sky gray.

The German shelling lasted a quarter of an hour, and after plowed the positions of the four regiments on the northern slope and the top of the hill again from beginning to end, they finally stopped. Seeing that their artillery had stopped firing, the German infantry, which had stopped in the distance, launched an attack on the heights under the cover of seven or eight tanks.

Mamayev Hill has been under the onslaught of the German army and has held out for more than a month, but the Germans have never been able to take it. After watching the German army's fighting style for a while, I felt a lot more at ease, their offensive method was not innovative, and the infantry still launched a wave attack on our army's position in a skirmish formation. And their tanks stopped at the foot of the hill and used tank guns to destroy our firing points in the field of vision. The German machine gunners followed behind the ordinary infantrymen, lying in the craters and setting up machine guns to fire, suppressing our fire and covering the charge of their comrades.

In the trenches of the mountainside position, as the machine-gun fire points were constantly destroyed by enemy artillery fire, the commanders and fighters of the 4th Regiment could only defend themselves with rifles, submachine guns and grenades, and fire at the enemy. The feints of the enemy fell to the guns of the commanders and fighters in pieces, or were blown up on their backs by grenades, but from time to time our commanders and fighters were hit by enemy bullets and fell, or were blown up by tank shells.

I couldn't help frowning at this brutal battle, which was purely attrition, and the casualties of our troops in the trenches increased rapidly as the enemy got closer and closer to the trenches, as the enemy gained the upper hand in weapons.

I was thinking about pulling Morozov's mortar company up and bombarding the German infantry ranks with artillery fire to relieve the defensive pressure of the 4th Regiment, when the commander of the 2nd Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg, ran in and said to me with an anxious face: "Comrade division commander, it is too dangerous here, you better hurry back to the headquarters." ”

Instead of picking up his stubble, I pointed to the high ground where there was a fierce battle in the distance and said to him, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, don't you see a fierce battle on the high ground ahead?" Do you think I'll be able to sit in the command at a time like this? ”

As soon as Oleg heard me say this, he immediately shut his mouth obediently, not daring to mention anything more about letting me go back to the command. Seeing his embarrassed expression, in order to ease the atmosphere, I deliberately asked him: "Lieutenant Colonel Oleg, the enemy is storming the positions of the four regiments, is there anything we can do to help them?" ”

Oleg frowned and looked at the high ground in the heat of battle for a moment, and soon his brow relaxed. Seeing his expression, I guessed that he must have thought of a way, so I urged him repeatedly: "Lieutenant Colonel Oleg, have you thought of any good way, hurry up and sue me." ”

Oleg pointed to Gao in front of him and said: "Comrade division commander, please see, the mountainside position of the fourth regiment is only more than 300 meters away from us, if we find a few snipers to come and fight the enemy's commander." Once the Germans lost their command, their attack could be easily repulsed by the commanders and fighters of the 4th Regiment. ”

"Yes, yes, that's a good idea." For this construction of Oleg, I immediately expressed my approval. As I was praising him, I suddenly thought of something inappropriate, and said, "However, with only a few snipers, it may not be possible to confuse the enemy's command in a short period of time." ”

"It's simple, let the mortar battery set up artillery positions on the southern slope of the heights and bombard the enemy on the northern slope. However, in order to prevent accidental injury to our own people, I proposed that the commander of the artillery battalion, Major Morozov, personally lead the team to carry out this task. ”

While I was calling Morozov and informing him to personally lead the mortar company to support the 4th Regiment, Oleg had already found two snipers. As soon as the two snipers stood in front of me, I immediately recognized one of them, the soldier who had lent a gun to Vasily that day, so I looked at the rank on his badge and asked him with a smile: "Comrade sergeant, what is your name?" ”

The sergeant straightened his back and replied, "Report to the division commander, my name is Shaykin." ”

I nodded, then pointed to the high ground ahead and asked him again, "Sergeant Shaikin, do you see the attacking enemy?" I have given both of you the task of eliminating as many German commanders as possible and plunging their troops into disarray due to the loss of command. Can you hit the target at such a distance? ”

Shaikin hurriedly nodded and replied affirmatively: "Please rest assured, the division commander is only more than 300 meters away from the enemy here, and with our shooting level, there must be no problem." ”

"Then let's do it!" After giving him a brief order, I raised my binoculars and looked ahead.

With the sound of a "pop" gunshot, a German commander who had just crawled out of the crater and brandished a pistol to direct his subordinates to rush forward suddenly covered his right shoulder with his left hand and fell on his back into the crater that he had just climbed out.

"Hell!" I heard Shaikin beside me whispering a curse, followed by the sound of a bolt pulling. (To be continued......)

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