Shumilov picked up the high-frequency phone on the table, dialed a number, and when a voice came out of the receiver, he immediately couldn't wait to say: "Is it the duty room of the headquarters of the front?" I am the commander of the 64th Army, General Shumilov, please immediately transfer to me Commander Gordorf, I have something important to look for him. ”

Unexpectedly, a cold voice came from the earpiece: "I'm sorry, General Shumilov, Commander Goldov went to the city to inspect the defense, and we can't contact him for the time being." ”

Shumilov was stunned for a moment, and then asked: "What about General Nikishev, chief of staff of the Front?" ”

The other party said impatiently: "I went with the commander to inspect." After speaking, without waiting for Shumilov to react, he hung up the phone without hesitation.

Seeing that the person who answered the phone was so arrogant, Chuikov, who was standing next to him, trembled with anger, he slapped the table fiercely, and scolded angrily: "What is it! When the commander of the group army called, they should all say that they would hang up, and were they not afraid that they would be sent to a military court for delaying the fighter plane? ”

Shumilov put down the phone, waved his hand at Chuikov and said: "Comrade Chuikov, don't worry about these people, wait for Commander Gordorf to come back, and then report the situation to him." Our immediate priority is to immediately contact the Air Force directly and ask them to send fighter planes to wrest air supremacy from the enemy. ”

After hearing this, Chuikov volunteered: "I'll make this call, I knew Major General Khryukin, the commander of the 8th Army of the Air Force, long before the war, and he should be able to help us with this." ”

After speaking, Chuikov also picked up the high-frequency phone on the table. Call the command of the 8th Army of the Air Force.

When it was clear that it was Khryugin himself who answered the phone. Chuikov greeted the other party with a smile: "Hello. General Khryugin, I'm Chuikov. ”

When Khryugin heard that it was Chuikov who had called him, he was stunned for a moment, and then asked politely: "Vasily. Hello Ivanovic. I don't know if you called me, is there anything wrong? ”

When Chuikov heard the other party's question so directly, he didn't go around in circles with him anymore, and asked straight to the point: "General Khryukin." Our army group was carrying out a counter-assault on the German army, and victory was in sight, but the enemy called for air support, and our attacking troops were bombed and strafed by enemy planes and suffered heavy casualties. I ask you to immediately dispatch your fighters to seize air supremacy on the battlefield and cover our army to complete the last battle. ”

Hearing Chuikov's request, Khryugin was embarrassed and said: "Vasily. Ivanovich, have you asked Commander Gordorf about this? ”

Chuikov sighed and replied: "I called the commander of the Front, but unfortunately he was not there. I went with the chief of staff, General Nikishev, to inspect the defense, but I could not be contacted for the time being. ”

"General Chuikov." Khryugin did not call Chuikov's real name and patronymic name again, but changed his name and said businessmanlikely: "Although you and I are friends, without the order of the commander of the front, my air force unit cannot be dispatched at will, otherwise I will be in danger of being sent to a military court." ”

"General Khryugin, I beg you again to ......"

While Chuikov and Khryugin were pestering, another operator came up to me and reported in a low voice: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the commander of the 157th Division, Colonel Kuropatenko, wants to talk to you. ”

I nodded, walked over to the walkie-talkie, put on my headphones and picked up the microphone, and said loudly: "Is it Colonel Kuropatenko?" I'm Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, please tell me something! ”

"Comrade Colonel Report," came the hoarse shout of Colonel Kuropadenko from the headset, accompanied by a deafening explosion, judging by the volume of the sound, it is estimated that the explosion point was not far from his position, "Our convoy was bombed by seven enemy planes, the troops suffered heavy casualties, request for air force support, request air force support!" ”

"Where is Colonel Kuropadenko, Colonel Lyudnikov?" The two division commanders usually get together a lot, but every time it was Lyudnikov who took the initiative to contact the command, and now it is quite strange that it has suddenly changed to Kuropatenko, so I have to ask for clarification.

"Colonel Lyudnikov's unit was also bombed, and I could not reach him because of the heavy bombardment by enemy aircraft, and I do not know whether the communications equipment was damaged or sacrificed. Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what should we do next? Without air support, our forces would have been crushed. ”

I didn't answer him right away, but turned my head to look at Chuikov, and saw that he and Khryukin were arguing with red faces, and it seemed that the air force still refused to move. I wanted to tell Kuropatenko the bad news right away, but when he opened his mouth, he swallowed back the words that came to his mouth, and if the commanders and fighters knew that when they were attacked by enemy planes, our own air force would stand by and watch, the little morale that had been built up with great difficulty would be lost, and in that case, the troops would be crushed.

Since I had been hesitating about whether to tell Kuropatenko the truth, I did not reply to the other party. When he saw that I had not spoken, he raised his voice and shouted, "Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, are you still there?" Feed! Feed! Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina! ”

I hurriedly agreed: "I'm still here, Comrade Colonel." ”

"What does Comrade Commander say, will there be an air force to reinforce us?"

Hearing Kuropatenko's question, I no longer hesitated, gritted my teeth and stomped my feet, and said categorically: "Comrade Colonel, don't worry, our air force will soon support you." Now I order you, first, to let the fighters who get off the car pay attention to concealment, to minimize unnecessary casualties; Second, you immediately organize the light and heavy machine gunners and anti-tank gunners of the division and concentrate fire on the air. ”

My order made Kuropadenko hesitate, and he asked tentatively: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, don't you concentrate all the light and heavy machine guns in the division, and don't you indicate the targets of the bombing to the enemy's planes?" It's easy to wipe them all out! ”

"I can't care about that much, Comrade Colonel." I said earnestly, "Instead of being passively bombed, it is better to take the initiative to fight back." So that we will have some livelihood. As long as you can shoot down one or two enemy planes. Even if all the light and heavy machine guns are lost. That's worth it, too. ”

"However, Comrade Lieutenant ......Colonel," Kuropatenko wanted to say something, but I was unceremoniously interrupted, "Alright, Comrade Colonel, this is my order, carry it out!" ”

When I walked back to Chuikov, he was still arguing with Khryugin. I deliberately shouted loudly: "Report to Comrade Commander." ”

"What's the matter?" Chuikov yelled at me angrily, and after yelling, he realized that he was the wrong person, so he quickly smiled apologetically at me, lowered his voice and asked again: "Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, is there something wrong?" ”

"Comrade Commander," I took another step closer to him, and said in a deliberately loud voice, "just now Colonel Kuropatenko reported that his and Colonel Lyudnikov's troops were attacked by enemy air strikes on their way to the Reynok area, and that the troops are currently suffering heavy casualties. At the same time, contact with Colonel Lyudnikov was also lost. "The purpose of my report is to make General Khryukin aware of our predicament in this way.

The news took Chuikov by surprise. His face turned pale, and he couldn't speak for a long time. Seeing Chuikov standing in a daze, Shumilov quickly stood up, walked to his side, put his arm around his shoulder, and asked with concern: "Comrade Chuikov, you are okay, right?" ”

Chuikov suddenly came back to his senses and squeezed out a smile at Shumilov: "Comrade commander, I'm fine. Then he looked into the microphone and said sincerely: "General Khryukin, you probably heard the situation of our group army just now. For the sake of an old friend, please help me! ”

When Chuikov said this, I immediately remembered a classic line from a red movie: "...... For the sake of the party-state, pull the brothers along! I just wanted to laugh, but suddenly it occurred to me that this was the line of the villain, which was not suitable for the glorious image of Chuikov, so I forcibly held back my smile.

Khryugin was finally moved by Chuikov, and he resolutely said: "Okay, dear Vasily. Ivanovich, for your sake, I will take a risk, as long as I can destroy the Germans, even if it goes to a military tribunal for this, I will admit it. I immediately dispatched planes to seize air supremacy on the battlefield. However, I don't have many planes, so I can only send you ten fighters at most to drive the enemy planes away from the top of the battlefield as much as possible. ”

"What?! Only ten planes? Comrade Khryugin, you are so stingy that you have to send me thirty fighters so that we can firmly grasp air supremacy above the battlefield. ”

"Comrade Chuikov," Khryugin called Chuikov again, and he began to complain bitterly, "Originally, my group army had more than 100 aircraft, but after a long battle, because only losses were not replenished, now I have less than 40 planes left in my hands. ”

"General Khryugin, please think of a way to send more planes." Chuikov continued to plead with Khryugin.

"I'll tell you the truth, General Chuikov." Khryugin was so entangled by Chuikov that he had to tell the truth, "After landing, mechanics and paramedics will greet our damaged planes, and the damaged parts will be simply repaired and put into use." And if the pilot is injured, he is immediately carried away and replaced by those flight cadets who are on standby. Yesterday I personally piloted the plane and my men to carry out an attack on the enemy's ground forces, and when I returned, I got off the plane, but the shooter sitting in the back did not respond, and when I opened the cabin, I found that he had been killed. ……”

Hearing Khryugin say that he was almost in danger, Chuikov realized that maybe ten fighters was the limit that Major General Khryugin could send to us, so he did not insist on his opinion, but said very politely: "General Khryukin, since this is the case, I will not force you to send more planes." Please send those ten planes to the battlefield as soon as possible to support our army in the battle, if you don't go, I am afraid that our troops will not be able to support it. ”

Chuikov put down the phone, breathed a sigh of relief, and said: "Thank God, Khryugin finally agreed to send the air force to support us, although there are fewer planes, only ten, but it is better than nothing!" ”

The operator came running over to me again and reported: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the commander of the 229th Division, Saren, wants to talk to you. ”

I rushed to the walkie-talkie, put on my headphones, picked up the microphone and shouted, "Hey, is it Colonel Sazhin?" I'm Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, please tell me something! ”

"Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, enemy planes bombed the offensive assembly of our division five minutes ago, causing more than two hundred casualties."

It was heard that the 229th Division also suffered casualties in the air strike. My heart lifted. Hurriedly asked, "Colonel Saren." What is the situation now? ”

"Not bad." Sazhin's answer surprised me.

So I was puzzled and asked, "Aren't you being bombed by the enemy?" How can it still be good? ”

Sazhin smiled and said: "When we were bombed by enemy planes just now, Second Lieutenant Kruglov organized more than a dozen anti-tank guns to fire at the air, and actually shot down one of the enemy's planes and wounded one, and the remaining enemy planes were frightened and turned around and flew away. ”

"Great, Comrade Colonel. This Kruglov did a good job, wait until this battle is over. You can consider giving him the necessary rewards, and even promote him to the rank, which will be very helpful in boosting the morale of our army. ”

"Understood, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Colonel Sazhin readily agreed, and then asked, "What is the next task of my division?" Or do you want to stay where you are? Let the commanders and fighters be bombed in one place, everyone has emotions. ”

I snorted and unceremoniously exposed him: "It's not that the soldiers have emotions, it's you, the division commander, who have emotions." The 214th Division was storming the enemy as a result of air strikes. The attack of the troops did not go well. Now I command you, immediately lead the troops into battle. Remember to get involved with the enemy as soon as possible, one is to hold them down and not let them escape too quickly, because our encirclement is not yet complete; Second, if you get involved with the enemy, the enemy's planes will not dare to easily drop bombs and strafe for fear of accidentally injuring their own people, and in this way, many unnecessary casualties can be avoided. ”

"All understood, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Colonel Sazhin said with great interest: "I will put my troops into battle in batches, and I will not let the enemy escape from under our noses." ”

While I was on the phone with Colonel Sazhin, both Chuikov and Shumilov walked up to me, looked at me with interest, and looked a little embarrassed. After I finished my call with Sazhin, Shumilov said to Chuikov: "Before the battle began, I was worried about whether Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina would be able to command this counter-assault. However, judging from the battle reports fed back by various units so far, she has done quite well, and has almost reached our original battle plan. ”

Chuikov also nodded, and then said: "Yes, if it weren't for the fact that the air supremacy on the battlefield was in the hands of the enemy, I estimate that our troops would have annihilated the enemy at this time and won this victory." ”

At this time, the reporter turned his head and called me: "Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, this is Colonel Lyudnikov." ”

Hearing Lyudnikov calling me, my heart suddenly felt much lighter, and I knew that if a division commander died in battle, then for me, this battle would be a crushing victory, even if it was the most victorious.

Hearing Lyudnikov's voice, I excitedly asked: "Hello, Comrade Colonel!" I lost contact with you just now, and I thought that something happened to you, which made me very worried. ”

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, when I was bombed by enemy planes, I escaped from the jeep in time, but the communications corps moved a little slower, and before I could get out of the car, I was blown to pieces by the bombs dropped by the enemy planes, and I lost the only communication equipment I had, so that I could not get in touch with you."

"You're not hurt, are you?" I asked with concern.

"It's just that my arm has been grazed by shrapnel, and the hygienist has bandaged it for me, so it's out of the way. I am here at the moment with Colonel Kuropatenko, who has just organized the light and heavy machine guns and anti-tank guns of the division to repel the enemy planes, and we are safe here for the time being. I would like to ask you now, what is the next task of our two divisions? ”

"Comrade Colonel, don't you know what the mission is? Of course, it was to continue to rush to the Reynolds area, and join the remnants of the German army there with friendly forces. ”

"But most of our trucks were blown up." Lyudnikov began to complain to me.

I ignored his words and gave the order directly: "Comrade Colonel, my order is: the car is not damaged, and it is still driven in the car; The rest, immediately throw away the bombed-out cars and advance on foot at the pace of a rapid march! ”

"Colonel Lyudnikov, I'm Chuikov, and I fully agree with the order given by Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina!" Chuikov was there to help me.

"I couldn't agree more!" Shumilov added from the side.

As soon as I had given the order to Lyudnikov, another telegraph operator timidly called me: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the commander of the 29th Division, Colonel Kolobtin, wants to talk to you. ”

Other units kept in touch with me from time to time, but this Colonel Kolobutin, except for talking to me during the ambush of the Germans, and then cutting off contact, I always thought that something had happened to him, but I did not expect him to suddenly appear at this time. I asked aloud into the microphone, "Colonel Kolobutin, do you have anything to report to me?" ”

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Kolobtin's voice seemed steady, "I have the honor to report to you that our division has reached its appointed position and has exchanged fire with the German rearguard. In a word, the enemy's retreat has been cut off by our division. ”

"It's amazing, it's amazing!" Shumilov, who was standing behind me, excitedly shouted: "Comrade Kolobutin, I congratulate you, because the timely and decisive actions of your division laid a solid foundation for the last victory of the entire battle, and when the battle is over, I will personally award you the Medal of Honor." ”

"Comrade Colonel," after Shumilov had finished speaking, I asked Kolobtin a question of my own concern: "Didn't your troops get under enemy air raids on their way in?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Kolobtin replied very dryly: "Because we were attacked by the enemy's air raid some time ago, I have some experience in air defense, and as soon as I saw the enemy plane appear, I immediately asked the commanders and fighters to get out of the car to avoid the enemy's air attack." In the end, apart from the fact that some cars were blown up, there were almost no casualties. ”

"Well done, Comrade Colonel." After I praised him, I continued: "Tell the commanders and fighters that the opportunity to make meritorious contributions is right in front of them, and whether or not they can grasp it depends on their own individuals." (To be continued......)