"Already a platoon commander?" Sergeant Adir's words made me stunned, and I secretly said in my heart that the actions of the regiment commander Shedelikov were quite quick. I also planned to wait until today's battle is over before promoting Adil to platoon commander, but I didn't expect you to get this done in advance. I raised my eyebrows and asked tentatively: "Comrade Sergeant, is it Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov who appointed you?" ”

Adil shook his head and said with a confused expression: "It's not the regiment commander, he has so many things to worry about, how can he have time to ask me about such a trivial matter as being the platoon commander." Seeing the puzzled expression on my face, he quickly explained: "Our platoon commander died in the battle just now, so the company commander temporarily appointed me as the acting platoon commander." When he said this, he turned his head to look at a building behind him that had been blown down, and said in a gloomy tone: "The bodies of the platoon commander and the sacrificed comrades-in-arms are parked in that building." ”

"What are the casualties of your platoon?" Since he talked about the platoon commander's sacrifice, I followed his words and asked, "How many people are left now?" ”

"Report to Comrade Commander," Adil reported to me in accordance with the regulations, "of all 56 people, after fierce fighting, 11 were killed, 25 were wounded, and all the seriously wounded have been evacuated, and there are 37 people still fighting on the position." ”

I had just finished listening to Adil's report and was about to speak, when I suddenly saw in the distance several men walking along the trench towards us, led by a lieutenant and followed by two fighters with submachine guns. My guess is that the supreme commander of this position may have received a report from his own subordinates, so he came to see it himself.

Adil looked at me and didn't speak. His gaze turned to the side. also hurriedly looked over there. After seeing who was coming, he reported to me: "Comrade Commander, it's our company Lieutenant Antonich. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, the lieutenant came up to me. Afraid that the salute would expose the target, he straightened up and reported to me: "Comrade commander, Lieutenant Antonech, commander of the 6th company of the Sherebryan battalion, reports to you that our company is holding its position on the Dnieper, please instruct!" ”

I smiled at the lieutenant. Then he asked kindly: "Comrade Lieutenant, how many people are there in your company, and after the morning's battle, how many people are left now, can you hold the position?" ”

Hearing my question, Lieutenant Antonech straightened his waist and reported to me: "Comrade Commander, there are 224 people in the whole company, 41 of them were killed in the battle, and 65 were wounded. In addition to the seriously wounded who were evacuated, there were 150 people on the position. At present, we are defending the area from the south to the pontoon. The defensive front is one kilometer. Speaking of this, he couldn't help but raise his voice, "Our battalion is named after the battalion commander, Major Sherebryane, and every commander and fighter in our battalion cherishes this hard-won honor. As long as one soldier is still alive in our company, the Germans will not want to rush past our positions. ”

"Very well, Comrade Lieutenant, you said it very well. You're good! After complimenting Antonich, I turned to look at the soldiers who were standing in a row in the trenches and said in a loud voice: "Comrades, you are all good. "In the midst of my compliments, each fighter raised their jaws high, as if proud of the praise I had given them.

Leaving the forward position, I took Yushchenko to a regimental command post a few blocks away. Seeing my arrival, Shedelikov was taken aback, and then asked in a panic: "Comrade commander, why did you come to me?" It's too dangerous here, so why don't you go back to the military headquarters? ”

I waved my hand, walked straight to the table and sat down, looked up and asked him, "Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov, tell me about your situation here." ”

Sederikov frowned and said: "Comrade commander, although the Germans, under the cover of mortars and machine guns, launched several charges at the positions of the defenders on our river. However, judging from the intensity of their offensive, it seems that the intention to seize our army's riverside position is not resolute, and their offensive is more like a feint to contain our troops. ”

"Feint?" Sedelikov's statement surprised me, and I asked in surprise: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, why do you say that the enemy's attack is only a feint?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Sedjerikov pushed a map in front of me, pointed it upwards and explained to me: "After the Germans shelled the riverside positions of our regiment and the 4th regiment, they launched several waves of attacks. If they seize the time to repair the pontoon bridge while the attention of our troops is attracted by the infantry rushing from the ice, then their tanks will soon be able to rush over the bridge. However, the Germans did not use this simple and limited offensive method, but used the infantry method of exhaustion. With Manstein's level of command, would he have made such a low-level mistake? I think he must be hatching a big conspiracy by doing this. ”

Sederikov's words also confused me, if Manstein took the initiative to withdraw from Zaporosh in order to lure us into the urn, then he blew up the pontoon bridge in the first place was a wrong decision. Because even if the pontoon bridge is still there, can we rush across the bridge with our strength? And now, without waiting for the "Skeleton Division" and the "Imperial Division" to reach the city of Zaporosh, he hastily ordered his troops to attack from across the Dnieper, and even resorted to the most stupid infantry attack, isn't he afraid that the elite troops under his command will be exhausted in the attack?

Before I could come up with a reason, the phone on the desk rang. Shedelikov picked it up and listened to it, then handed it to me, and at the same time whispered: "Comrade army commander, your phone call is from the chief of staff. ”

I took the microphone from his hand and whispered to my ear, "Hey, Chief of Staff?" I'm Oshanina, what do you have to report to me? ”

"Comrade Commander, this is the case." Vitkov didn't go around in circles either, and said straight to the point: "Major Akhromeyev called and said that a part of the German 336th Infantry Division had launched an attack on our defenders from the east of the Kuban. ”

Hearing that even the Kuban had exchanged fire with the Germans, I nervously asked: "Chief of Staff, how is the situation in the Kuban now?" Did the enemy's attack repulse? ”

"Yes. Comrade Army Commander. Vitkov said in an affirmative tone: "The position of the German attack." It was precisely the company under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Kosgaard, and in the face of the enemy's ferocious attack, our commanders and fighters fought tenaciously. Lieutenant Colonel Kosgaard even personally acted as a heavy machine gunner, killing dozens of enemies and directing troops to launch a counter-charge against the enemy, killing nearly two hundred German soldiers and blowing up three armored vehicles and a dozen trucks. ”

"I see, Comrade Chief of Staff." I heard that the enemy offensive in the Kuban direction was repulsed. Feeling a little more steady, he instructed Vitkov: "Pay close attention to the movements of the German troops in the Kuban direction, and as soon as there is anything new, call me and report it immediately." Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Vitkov replied briefly.

After putting down the phone, and after a few more brief explanations with Sederikov, I hurried to the division headquarters in Pandereev, ready to learn more about the defense of the 22nd Guards Division.

I walked into the headquarters and saw a busy scene inside. The chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Ilya, was talking loudly by the wall, while Bandereev and Commissar Oberstein were facing away from me. Looking at a map hanging on the wall, it seems that something is being studied.

I walked behind them. He coughed heavily, and when the two of them turned around, they continued to ask: "General Bandereev, Commissar Oberstan, what are you looking at?" ”

"Hello, Comrade Commander." Bandereev straightened up and saluted me, then reported: "We are studying the fortifications of the city. You must know that although Zaporosh is not large, as soon as the thousands of people of our division are scattered everywhere, the strength of each defensive section is very weak. If the Germans stormed the city, we would not be able to repel them, let alone destroy them, with the forces we have. ”

In response to Bandereev's complaints, I shrugged my shoulders and said helplessly: "Comrade General, although I also want to strengthen your 22nd Guards Division, but no, I have limited troops in my hands now, and the Germans have launched attacks on us from several directions at the same time, and a large number of troops are needed in each defensive zone, so the two regiments that were originally intended to be replenished to you can only be given one now." ”

After listening to my words, Bandereev and Oberstein looked at each other, and replied: "Comrade commander, don't talk about a regiment, even if only one battalion is added to us, then we can deal with the Germans for a little longer." ”

"It's not enough to just deal with the Germans." As I said this, I sat down on the bench at the table and continued, "We must find a way to destroy their living force as much as possible. Otherwise, we're going to have a very hard fight when we break through in a few days. ”

"Breakout?!" This word startled Bandelyev and Oberstan, and after they looked at each other again, Oberstein opened his mouth and asked: "Comrade commander, our army now has more than 10,000 or 20,000 people, and the weapons and equipment are not bad, and they are fully capable of holding this city, why should we consider breaking through?" ”

I glanced at Pandereev, and saw that he was looking at me intently, as if he was also waiting for my answer, so I coughed lightly, cleared my throat and said to the two of them: "Do you think that with our current strength, even if we cannot destroy the Germans, we can pin them down the city of Zaporosh, and when the main forces of our two fronts arrive and surround them, it will be another victory in the style of 'Battle of Stalingrad'?" ”

Seeing that both of them nodded in unison, I knew that they, like Kharidonov, were too optimistic about the current situation, so I specially reminded them: "Don't forget that during the defense of Stalingrad, there was a wide Volga River behind us, so that the Germans could not steal us from behind, and at the same time, they could continuously bring soldiers, weapons, ammunition and all kinds of supplies into the city. But what do we have now? The Germans pounced on them from all sides, and the only place where our army maintained contact with the outside world was the Kuban, which was about to be attacked by the Germans at this moment. Once this passage to the outside world is blocked, we will be isolated. With the weapons, ammunition and supplies we have, can we sustain the fighting for a few days? When we run out of ammunition and food, it is estimated that what we will do is the end of the total annihilation. "Since the mention of being a prisoner in front of Kirillov provoked him to turn his face, I carefully avoided the word "captive" in front of the two of them, and replaced it with the other word "total annihilation".

After listening to my analysis, the faces of the two of them also became ugly. After a while, Bandereev took the lead in asking: "Comrade commander, our army has several times more troops in Ukraine than the German army, is it really helpless against the Germans?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander," Oberstein echoed, "our commanders and fighters are a few for the Germans, and it will be us who will win in the end." At this point, his voice suddenly lowered, "Are you thinking too pessimistically?" ”

"Commissar Oberstein," although Oberstan's words sounded harsh, I still exercised restraint and tried to let them understand what the current situation was, "The 'skeleton division' and the 'Imperial division' around us are two units with strong combat effectiveness in the German army, and the same troops, there are several more in Ukraine at the moment. With their combat effectiveness, a division can easily defeat one of our corps, and the 'Imperial Division' defeated the 4th Guards Infantry Army a few days ago is a lesson for us. In this case, it is unrealistic to fantasize about how to destroy them, what we have to think about is how to hold ourselves in the face of the powerful offensive of the German army, and at the right time to look for the enemy's weak links and decisively break out of the encirclement. Do you understand? ”

I don't know if they really listened to me, but they replied in unison, "Understood." ”

I changed the subject and asked Oberstein: "Comrade commissar, have you sent someone to search the neighborhood to see if there are any supplies left by the German army?" ”

As soon as my words fell, Oberstein shook his head like a rattle: "Comrade Commander, since our troops entered the city, I have sent a number of search units to check the original warehouses of the German army for missing munitions or supplies that we urgently need. Speaking of this, he shrugged his shoulders and said regretfully, "It's a pity that the Germans moved the warehouses very cleanly and left nothing for us." ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." As soon as Oberstein finished speaking, Bandeliev also continued: "The inhabitants of Zaporosh, perhaps evacuated to the rear before the Germans captured the city. Without the inhabitants, even if we wanted to find some food, it would be impossible. ”

As we talked, there was another rumbling of cannon outside. Bandereev turned to Lieutenant Colonel Ilya, who had been on the phone, and asked: "Chief of Staff, where are the Germans shelling again?" ”

Ilya hurriedly straightened up, covered the microphone with his hand, and reported to us: "Report to the corps commander, comrade division commander, according to the report of the observation post, the Germans have again begun to shell the riverside positions of the 1st and 4th regiments, presumably preparing for a new offensive. (To be continued......)

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