"Report to Comrade Commander." Gaidar and Political Commissar Xia Ping glanced at each other, and then said to me with some pride: "On the ice in front of our riverside position, there are at least 300 corpses of fascist invaders, and at least 100 people have escaped with injuries. And we suffered less than two hundred casualties, and almost all of them were inflicted in German shelling. ”

I was very surprised by the results of the Fourth Regiment. In my imagination, although the fourth regiment was in a defensive position, under the artillery fire of the German army, at least more than one battalion of troops would be lost, and I did not expect that the casualties would be so small. After beckoning the two of them to sit down, I asked a little surprised: "Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar, why are the casualties of your regiment so small, you must know that the German artillery fire is not weak?" ”

Gaidar replied with a smile: "Comrade commander, when the enemy's shelling began, our commanders and fighters temporarily hid in buildings near the river and hid in the basements of the buildings. Wait for the end of the enemy's shelling, and then return to their respective positions. ”

"That's how a regiment fights, but their casualties are far greater than yours. As the concealed building was hit by German artillery fire, squads of commanders and fighters were buried under the collapsed building. To his answer, I was not satisfied: "The question I want to understand is: why do their commanders and fighters suffer heavy casualties when they hide in the basements of buildings by the river, while you suffer very few casualties?" ”

Hearing my question, Political Commissar Xia Ping stood up and said to me: "Comrade Army Commander, allow me to report to you. Seeing that I nodded in agreement, he continued, "You don't know anything. The house near the river is a stone building. Almost all of them were built with large strips of stone. So the damage caused by the shelling was much smaller than that of the brick and concrete buildings in a clump of buildings. Alas, it's a pity, when this battle is over, maybe Zaporosh, like Stalingrad, will never find a century-old building again. ”

After listening to Xia Ping's words, I was about to ask why after the battle, there would never be a century-old building in the city. I heard the sound of an explosion coming from outside in the cold. I immediately understood the meaning of Xia Ping's words, and by the end of the battle, it was estimated that all the buildings in the city had either been blown up by the German artillery bombardment or had been reduced to ruins in the air raids, and those buildings with a long history could not escape the fate of being wiped out.

As it got dark, the gunfire outside gradually stopped. I first called Sederikov and asked him about the situation in the regimental defense area. Sederikov said with relief in the microphone: "Comrade commander, the German charge has once again been repelled by us, and the enemy who rushed into the city has been basically wiped out by us......"

Hearing his report, the stone hanging in my heart finally fell to the ground. The mood also became lighter. Before putting down the phone, to be on the safe side. I also specifically told him: "Send troops to stand guard near the pontoon bridge at night to prevent the Germans from rushing across the bridge again at night." ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Shederikov quickly replied: "I immediately arranged for the troops to serve as a guard at night. ”

I put down the phone, listened to the sound of no more gunfire outside, and said to the two people in front of me, "I want to go to the position by the river to see, which of you will accompany me on a trip?" ”

Gaidar and Xia Ping's faces immediately showed embarrassment, the two looked at each other again, and briefly made eye contact for a moment, and then Xia Ping said with a smile: "Comrade commander, in my opinion, you don't want to go." If you want to know about the situation at the front, I will call the commander of the front line and ask him to report to you in detail. ”

I shook my head and said resolutely, "No, I'm going to see the position by the river myself." ”

"Comrade Commander, look." Xia Ping pointed out the window and said, "It's not early, and when we get to the river, we can't see clearly." ”

I understood that Xia Ping was worried about my safety because he was worried about my safety, so I didn't blame him, but said with a smile: "Political Commissar Xia Ping, just now you didn't let me go to the river because it was being attacked by the enemy. Now that the enemy's attacks have stopped, and you say that it is going to be dark, don't you want me to check the positions of your regiment! ”

Hearing me say this, Xia Ping knew that his delaying tactics were ineffective, so he had to smile bitterly and said: "Okay, comrade commander, since you insist on going to the river to have a look, then I will accompany you!" As for Comrade Regiment Commander, let him continue to stay and command the troops. ”

We walked along the traffic trenches of the streets, and the further we went, the more craters there were in the streets. Several sections of the traffic trench were so blocked by collapsed masonry from the side of the road that we had to climb out of the trench and pass through the middle of the buildings that were still smoking.

But as we approached the position by the river, the strange smell of blood and gunsmoke mixed in the air silently told us that there had been a fierce battle here not long ago.

"Comrade commander," a soldier who came out of nowhere stood in front of us, straightened up and reported to me, "The deputy platoon commander, Sergeant Azifu, reports to you that our platoon is cleaning up the battlefield. With that, he stood motionless in front of me, waiting for my orders.

"Please take a moment, Comrade Sergeant!" I politely asked, "Do you platoon have a lot of work?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." "We have just collected the bodies of our comrades and put them in the corner of the house, and we will bury them when we have finished cleaning up the bodies of the Germans." ”

"Did your platoon suffer heavy casualties in the battle?" Seeing the corpses of the soldiers neatly placed under the corner of the room in the distance, I couldn't help but feel a sense of sadness, and I tried my best to control my feelings, and asked Sergeant Aqifu in a calm tone as much as possible: "Where is the platoon commander?" ”

"Our platoon lost 19 people, 11 people were wounded and evacuated, and the platoon commander died in the battle." After answering my question, Aqifu went on to ask: "Are we allowed to continue, Comrade Commander?" ”

"Of course," I replied in a bit of a panic, "and keep going!" ”

We came to the position by the river and walked along the trench that had been blown up with holes, Xia Ping was afraid that I would not be able to understand the situation on the position, and explained to me as he walked: "Comrade commander, the position we are currently in is on a dirt slope by the river, in front of which is a gentle embankment, and beyond that is the frozen Dnieper. Across the river were the German positions, but they didn't seem to worry about us rushing through, not even simple fortifications, and the tents where the troops camped and stored supplies were set up not far from the river. Speaking of this, Xia Ping let out a long sigh, and before I could ask him why he sighed, he had already taken the initiative to say, "It's a pity that we don't have long-range artillery, otherwise we can shell the enemy's assembly area and let them taste the power of our artillery." ”

After hearing his words, I could only reply with a wry smile: "Although your division has two artillery battalions, under the current circumstances, it must be deployed in the east and south directions of the city to deal with possible armored assaults by the Germans. ”

"Comrade Commander," Xia Ping looked left and right, and saw that except for Yushchenko, who was following me, the rest of the soldiers were keeping a distance from us, so he lowered his voice and quietly asked me: "Do you really think that the Germans will attack Zaporos from the east and south at the same time?" ”

"Yes, Commissar Xia Ping." To his suspicions, I replied without hesitation: "You don't have to look at the two attacks launched by the Germans to look weak, but there is a great conspiracy hidden in them. Manstein took the initiative to withdraw from Zaporos in order to lure more of our troops into the city, so that he could fight a beautiful siege and annihilation. Although only our unit had entered the city, the Germans had achieved considerable success in other directions, and even succeeded in cutting off the 6th Army's communication and supply lines. In this way, it did not matter how many troops were surrounded in this city, and the German army had to eat us as much as possible. ”

"Is the situation really so dangerous, Comrade Commander?" Xia Ping was frightened by my words, and he asked a little out of shape: "Could it be that what awaits us in the end is the fate of being surrounded and annihilated by the German army?" ”

In order not to cause him to panic, I deliberately said lightly: "Don't worry, Commissar Xia Ping, things have not yet reached the most dangerous moment, and we still have a chance to turn defeat into victory." ”

Hearing me say so easily, Xia Ping's face showed a smile again, and after he raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, he said happily: "Comrade commander, I am relieved to hear you say this." ”

After inspecting the positions of the Fourth Regiment, I returned to my corps headquarters. Seeing me return, both Kirillov and Vitkov had a relieved smile on their faces.

After I drank the tea brought by Vitkov, Kirillov handed me a thick stack of papers, and at the same time said: "Comrade Oshanina, look at this, it will be of great help to us in the next battle." ”

I took the stack of papers, and instead of looking at it immediately, I asked Kirillov curiously: "Comrade commissar, what did you give me?" ”

"What else could it be," a look of dissatisfaction appeared on Kirillov's face, "weren't you looking for the battle report of General Petrovsky, the commander of the 63rd Infantry Corps that year?" These are all the battle reports that the general reported when he fought in the Dnieper region. For your convenience, I've sorted it out. ”

"Thank you, Comrade Commissar." When I heard that the stack of paper in my hand actually recorded Petrivsky's combat experience back then, I immediately became excited, and the current situation was so similar to that of him at that time, as long as I read these materials, I believe that I can make a detailed breakthrough plan as much as possible. (To be continued......)

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