When Basmanov and Mihayev guided Colonel Yelin out of the headquarters, Kirillov's face, which was originally full of smiles, sank, and he threw the telegram he had been holding in his hand for a long time on the table, and said angrily: "What the hell is going on, why did Comrade Commander take it upon himself to assign all the troops in the north of the city to the command of the Guards Division without consulting us?" Comrade Rodimtsev, whom I know, is a commander with rich combat experience, but he has just arrived in Stalingrad and is not familiar with Yiqiē, so he assigned him to command so many troops, is it really appropriate to do so? ”

While Kirillov was grumbling, Akhromeyev took the telegram and read it over and over again with a straight face. Although I was very moved to see that both of them were fighting for me, there were still many communications soldiers in the command headquarters, and I was deeply afraid that if this matter spread out, it would leave a bad impression in the minds of my superiors and affect everyone's future, so I had no choice but to pretend to be high-profile and say: "Political commissar and chief of staff, the orders of the superiors are not allowed to be discussed, and since they are orders issued by the comrades of the commander himself, then we will carry them out." ”

"But the division commander ...... "Akhromeyev wanted to give me two shouts, but I stopped him in time, because I understood that no matter how much we complained, the orders of the superiors would not change. Moreover, it only made me accept the command of Rodimtsev, and did not remove me from the post of division commander, and I still have the final say in the independent division in the future.

After the two of them were silent, I hurriedly assigned the task to the two: "Comrade Political Commissar, you immediately contact Lieutenant Colonel Sedjerikov. Let a regiment take advantage of the night to repair the fortifications of the position in order to cope with the possible battle after dawn; Chief of Staff, you contact the 3rd Regiment and ask them to quickly move into the 2nd Regiment after they have withdrawn from their positions. ”

As soon as I finished speaking, Akhromeyev was stunned for a moment, and then said to me: "Comrade division commander, although the position of the Second Regiment has a lot of tunnels and caves for hiding soldiers, it is too crowded to put down thousands of people from the Third Regiment. I don't think it's better to transfer the third regiment back to the original settlement, right? ”

Kirillov after hearing our conversation. Eyebrows can't help but rise. But he didn't speak, just looked at me, waiting for me to answer.

I pointed to the 107.5 heights on the map and said to the two, "Commissar, Chief of Staff." What is the situation on this high ground. I'm sure you're just like me. They all know it. Can a regiment under Colonel Yelin, which is not fully equipped, hold back the German attacks in turn? ”

After listening to my words, the two of them looked at each other. They shook their heads in unison.

I continued: "Once High Ground 107.5 is lost, the enemy can swagger into the city from here to join up with their allies. The purpose of placing the troops withdrawn from the 3rd Regiment in the 2nd Regiment Defense Area was just in case. When I found that Colonel Yelin's troops could not resist, I would transfer the 3rd Regiment in time to assist them in holding the high ground. ”

While we were talking, a soldier from the guard battalion suddenly pushed the door outside and reported to us: "Report to the division commander, political commissar, and deputy commander of the front army are here, and now they are waiting outside the cave." ”

"General Golikov is here?" While my mind was still on the question of who the deputy commander of the Front was, Kirillov had already stood up and walked briskly towards the door. As soon as he had taken a few steps, he seemed to think of going out to meet the superior commander, who should be led by the military commander of the division, so he stopped, turned around and said to me with a smile: "Comrade Oshanina, Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army is now outside the cave, let's go out to meet him together." ”

After we welcomed Golikov into the headquarters, he walked to the table and sat down, took off his large-brimmed hat and threw it on the table, revealing his big bald head, and then said to us: "Comrade Kirillov, Comrade Oshanina, I am going to the east bank of the Volga soon, and before leaving, I will come and see you." ”

"To the East Coast, why?" Kirillov and Golikov are familiar with each other, so the questioning is more casual.

"That's right, Comrade Kirillov." General Golikov turned to Kirillov and said: "Originally, according to the orders of the Front, I stayed in the city to take charge of the connection between the Front and the 62nd, 64th, and 57th armies. But at noon today, I received a call from the Front Army, asking me to prepare weapons and equipment for the 13th Guards Division, which was about to cross the river. But as a result of enemy bombing, our ships transporting weapons, while crossing the river, were sunk by German aircraft. As a result, the guarantee of the supply of weapons to the Guards Division fell through. So I received an order from Commander Yeremenko and Military Commissar Nikita Khrushchev to return to the East Bank overnight and reorganize the delivery of weapons and equipment to the city. ”

"Comrade Deputy Commander," I asked politely, after he had finished speaking, "according to the order of the army group, two regiments of the 13th Guards Division, after dawn, will take part in the counter-assault carried out by our army against the German army. But now their troops are poorly equipped with weapons and ammunition, and there are more than 1,000 fighters without weapons. ”

"Colonel Oshanina, you don't have to worry about this matter." Golikov explained to me: "Comrade Chuikov has ordered General Lobov, who is in charge of logistics, to collect weapons in the logistics parts of the army group to arm the unarmed Guards fighters. By the way, if possible, your division should also supply the surplus weapons to the Guards Division. Do you understand? ”

"Yes, understood, Comrade Deputy Commander." I repeated it mechanically, and seeing that Golikov's eyes were still looking at me, waiting for my statement, I hurriedly reported to him: "Before you came, the commander of the 39th Regiment of the 13th Guards Division, Colonel Yelin, had just left, and he was ordered to take over the 107.5 heights. I have ordered the troops holding the heights to leave enough weapons for the 39th Regiment when they change their guards. ”

Hearing me say this, a smile appeared on Golikov's face, he nodded at me, and said with satisfaction: "Well done, Comrade Oshanina, you have a very big picture and think about the problem very comprehensively, which is worthy of praise." ”

Kirillov asked with some concern: "Comrade Deputy Commander, Colonel Yelin's 39th Regiment has only crossed over one battalion, can he hold the high ground with only this little strength?" Need we send some troops over to help him? ”

Golikov listened. On the contrary, a relaxed expression appeared on his face, and he stood up and patted Kirillov on the shoulder: "My old fellow, don't worry, although only one battalion of the 39th Regiment has entered the position at the moment, their remaining two battalions and artillery regiments, as well as the 42nd Infantry Brigade, will cross the river into Stalingrad tonight." ”

After saying that, he picked up the military cap on the table and put it on his head, stretched out his hand to Kirillov, and at the same time said: "Okay, Comrade Kirillov. So be it. I'm going to cross the river overnight to the other side, and we'll say goodbye." After shaking hands with Kirillov, he shook hands with me and Akhromeyev in turn, and finally said: "The Mamayev post will be handed over to you." Good luck! With that, he turned and left.

Wait for Golikov to leave. Akhromeyev excitedly said to me and Kirillov: "Division commander, commissar. Did you hear what Comrade Deputy Commander said? Also crossing the river tonight is the 42nd Infantry Brigade, which means that we will have one more division and one brigade for the troops participating in the counterattack during the day tomorrow. In this way, we will have a greater chance of defeating the enemy. ”

Seeing the smile on Kirillov's face, my heart was extremely heavy, I don't know anything else, but I remember the fate of the 13th Guards Division and the 42nd Infantry Brigade very clearly. Within a few days, the Guards Division was completely lost; The situation of the 42nd Brigade was even worse, and by the evening of the day it entered the battlefield, there were only 666 men left in the brigade, of which only 200 were infantry. It seems that we can only rely on our own strength to hold the Mamayev post.

Before I could speak, the phone on the table rang, Akhromeyev hurriedly stepped forward to pick up the microphone to answer the phone, I secretly complained in my heart, so many calls, it seems that I don't want to sleep tonight.

After seeing Akhromeyev put down the phone, without waiting for me to ask, he took the initiative to report to me: "Report to the division commander, political commissar, report to the checkpoint at the foot of the mountain, that two jeeps have come. After their investigation, it was learned that it was General Rodimtsev, the commander of the 13th Guards Division, and his political commissar Vavilov. ”

After listening to Akhromeyev's report, Kirillov looked at me with his eyes and asked: "Comrade Oshanina, General Rodimtsev must have come to our headquarters, now go out to meet him?" ”

I didn't answer him, but looked at Akhromeyev and ordered him directly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you take a few fighters and go down the hill to ask Comrade General to come up." ”

Hearing my order, Akhromeyev didn't say a word, just nodded, and then walked out of the headquarters quickly.

I didn't want Rodimtsev to enter the command headquarters and see that Kirillov and I were idle, so I pushed the telephone in front of Kirillov and said to him: "Comrade political commissar, you call Pugachev, the commander of the 2nd Regiment, and say that the 3rd Regiment will come over soon, and ask him to vacate a few caves to hide the troops, so that the commanders and fighters of the 3rd Regiment will also have a place to live." With that, I went straight to Razumeyeva's side and instructed her, "Lieutenant, pick me up Captain Perstian from the tank battalion." ”

After talking to the tank battalion on the phone, I heard Pelsjian's voice coming from the earphones, and I asked loudly: "Captain Pelsjian, what kind of results did your tank battalion achieve in the daytime battle?" ”

Hearing that I was talking to him on the phone, Pelsgen excitedly reported to me: "Comrade division commander, since the cross on our tanks has not yet been removed, the enemies who rushed into the city have taken us as their own, so that our detachment can pass through the German infantry ranks smoothly, go around behind the German tanks that are attacking the station, and beat them severely." A total of eight of their tanks and five armored vehicles were destroyed, and our tanks were not lost. On the way back to the station, in cooperation with the infantry unit of Lieutenant Colonel Oleg, which was attacking the city, he eliminated about two companies of the enemy. ”

After the end of the phone call with Pelstian, I couldn't help but ponder: at present, the German army is very strong, and it is obviously inappropriate to fight with them with the meager foundation of independent divisions. If we want to keep ourselves destroying the enemy, we must fight more skillful battles, and in clever battles with small casualties and large results, we disguise our troops as German troops to attack the enemy, so that we can not only achieve great results at a small cost, but also cause chaos within the German army.

Just as he was thinking about it, he suddenly faintly heard Akhromeyev's voice, and quickly turned his head to look around, and found that he didn't know when he had returned to the command headquarters, and beside him, there were two commanders wearing big brimmed hats, one tall and one short.

"Welcome, General Rodimtsev." I walked briskly towards them. Still far away, he stretched out his hand to the short commander among them. But when I saw clearly that the short commander's collar badge was the rank of a political worker, I promptly stretched out my hand to the tall commander next to him. I can't go wrong this time, because I saw the two gold stars that he received his badge.

When shaking hands with Rodimtsev, I was secretly relieved that I had discovered my mistake in time, otherwise it would have been a joke. In fact, I was also misled by later films, in "The Great Bloody Battle of Stalingrad", Rodimtsev is a short man with a round face, but the real Rodimtsev is a tall man with a thin face. There are also several medals on his left chest.

Wait until everyone is seated. Rodimtsev said straight to the point: "Colonel Oshanina, Commissar Kirillov, and this comrade captain, I think you all received a telegram from the command of the army group, right?" Seeing the three of us nodding together, he continued to speak. From now on. All troops north of the city. I'll give it all to command. You don't have any opinions, do you? ”

The three of us replied in unison: "No, we obey the orders of our superiors!" ”

"Well, since everyone has no opinion. I will give my first order after taking office. After dawn tomorrow, the independent division, with the strength of two regiments, launched an attack on the German 44th Division in front, and by noon it had to break through the German frontal line. Can you do it? ”

This time, neither of us spoke, but looked at each other and saw that each other's faces were sad. Seeing that Akhromeyev opened his mouth to speak, I hurriedly gave him a look to shut up, and then I stood up, looked at Rodimtsev with my eyes and said: "I'm sorry, Comrade General, as the commander of an independent division, I can't carry out this order of yours. ”

"What?!" Rodimtsev didn't expect me to choose to disobey, and anger suddenly appeared on his face. After looking at me for a moment, he slammed his fist on the table and said angrily, "Colonel Oshanina, do you want to disobey on the battlefield?" ”

I ignored him, but asked rhetorically: "Comrade General, let our troops attack the well-defended German positions without artillery cover and without aircraft support, that is, to send them to death!" As the commander of a division, I have no right to let my soldiers die in vain. "I say this with a sense of anger.

Rodimtsev was so angry with me that he pointed his finger at me, so angry that he didn't think about anything for a long time. Finally, he stomped his foot in anger, and unconsciously touched the holster on his waist with the hand he had withdrawn.

"Please wait a minute, Comrade Division." Seeing that the situation was not good, his political commissar Vavilov hurriedly grabbed his hand and persuaded him in a low voice: "Since the superiors appointed Colonel Oshanina as the commander of the independent division, she will not be a person who is greedy for life and afraid of death, since she said so, there must be her reasons." After that, Vavilov looked up at me and at the same time said to me, "Colonel Oshanina, what do you have in mind, you can make it clear to Comrade General." ”

Seeing that Commissar Vavilov gave me a step, I hurriedly followed his words and said: "You are quite right, Comrade Commissar. The reason why I was reluctant to send troops to attack was that not only was the independent division poorly equipped, but the soldiers were also poorly trained, and if the enemy shelled or attacked during the attack, the troops could easily be crushed. But if they were allowed to resist the German attack with strong fortifications, they would be able to act like a floodgate to keep the enemy at bay as they rushed towards the city. ”

As soon as I finished speaking, Kirillov also stood up and said kind things for me: "Yes, General Rodimtsev, in last month's battle, Colonel Oshanina commanded the newly formed independent division, fought stubbornly with the enemy, achieved a series of victories, and almost completely annihilated the German 29th Motorized Rifle Brigade and captured the brigade's commander, General Lezer. I'm sure she'll be able to achieve even more success in Mamayev Heights. ”

If Vavilov just gave me a step, then Kirillov's speech is a step for Rodimtsev to step down. Rodimtsev withdrew his hand on the holster, supported the table with both hands, leaned down to look at the place on the table, and asked in a flat tone: "Colonel Oshanina, what are your plans for the next step?" ”

I hurriedly pointed to the map with my hand and said to Rodimtsev: "Comrade General, my plan is simple. The 1st and 2nd regiments of the separate division held the Mamayev Heights to ensure the safety of the Volga docks and ensure that the city's transportation lines would not be cut off by the Germans. At the same time, the 3rd Regiment, which had just been withdrawn from the 107.5 heights, was deployed on the southern slope of our heights as a reserve, ready to support the 39th Guards Regiment under attack by the Germans. The 4th and 5th Regiments, stationed in residential areas near the edge of the city, were responsible for covering the rear of our division, and at the same time, if necessary, taking the initiative to destroy the German troops rushing into the city. ”

When Rodimtsev heard my report, the expression on his face softened a lot, "I'm sorry, Colonel Oshanina, I apologized to you for my bad attitude just now." But if you say in good conscience, your arrangement is indeed very reasonable. Since that's the case, I'm canceling the erroneous command that I just posted. As for the defense of Mamayev Heights, I'll leave it all to you. ”

"Please rest assured that as long as I, Oshanina, am alive, not a single person in the independent division will abandon Mamayev Hill and retreat to the city." (To be continued......)