When I returned to the headquarters, I first found the crater in the house, I don't know when the tunnel had been filled in, and even the two steps that had been damaged by the explosion had been repaired.

A few of us sat down around the table, and the commissar began to introduce me to several regimental leaders. Due to the long-term fierce fighting, not only the soldiers were seriously reduced, but even the regimental commanders were almost all replaced. Of the three regimental commanders here, apart from General Leviakin, the other two I don't know at all.

The commissar first pointed to the tall officer sitting on my right and introduced: "This is the commander of the 1075 regiment, Colonel Chistyakov. ”

The officer stood up, saluted me, and then said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade Division Commander! ”

I also stood up, and instead of returning the salute, I reached out and shook him, and said politely: "Hello, nice to meet you!" ”

The lieutenant colonel, who had just exchanged glances with Lieutenant Ramis, stood up, saluted me, and said loudly: "Report to Comrade Division Commander, I am the commander of the 1073rd regiment, Serebryavko. ”

I shook hands with the two regimental commanders one by one, and then beckoned everyone to sit down and began to discuss the next combat mission.

The commissar said: "...... The task given to us by the higher authorities was to hold Volosramsk at all costs. Judging from the current situation, it is very difficult to accomplish this task. The German army is pressing on us from the north, west, and south at the same time, and because our army does not have air supremacy and sufficient technical equipment, in the face of the three-dimensional offensive composed of German aircraft, tanks, and artillery, our soldiers can only use their own flesh and blood to resist, and the price paid is heavy. ……”

"Yes," Colonel Chistyakov continued, "our regiment defended the western side of the city, and although it was replenished several times, now there are only more than two thousand men left,......

"Yes, yes," Serebryavko echoed: "Before each attack, the Germans bombarded with aircraft and artillery, and then sent tanks to cover the infantry charge. Due to the lack of artillery and anti-tank weapons, our fighters had to strappen explosives to their bodies and rush over and die with the enemy tanks. ……”

I listened to the words of a few people, and my eyes were fixed on the map of the city of Volosramsk on the table, and from the identification of friend or foe on it, nearly half of the city was already occupied by the Germans. And judging from the current situation, there are still signs of defeat and retreat of the Soviet army, how should I deal with it?

I looked up and asked Leviakin: "Comrade General, in which direction is your regiment?" ”

"Here." Without hesitation, his finger clicked on the map. I followed his finger and saw that it was north of the city, which was the area where the Germans were attacking, so it seemed that the casualties of the 1077th Regiment should not be small. I was about to look away and express my opinion to everyone, but I accidentally caught a glimpse of a place next to his finger with "Station" written on it, as soon as I saw this place name, I immediately thought of the sacrificed Ferstov, Pavlov, Agumint, Aggie They couldn't help twitching, turned to look at Leviakin, and asked in a low voice: "Is the station still in our hands?" ”

Leviagin shook his head and said regretfully: "No, the station is currently occupied by the Germans. When the station was first lost, we used to organize troops to carry out a counter-charge. But because the enemy's fire was too strong, several of our attacks failed. ”

Colonel Chistyakov asked the commissar: "Comrade commissar, when will the reserves assigned to my division by the higher authorities arrive?" ”

Yegorov sighed and said: "The Germans are launching a fierce attack on us, and the defense area of the army group is too large, and it is impossible to send us reserves without replenishment." We can only rely on our own ability to fight stubbornly with the Germans here. ”

"There are no reserves in the group army, so there should be one in the front army, right?" The colonel asked the commissar tentatively.

"Nope." I have the best say in the situation of the reserves of the Front, so it is up to me to answer the colonel's question: "According to the orders of the base camp, all the reserves of the Front were thrown into the counterattack a few days ago, and now they are being firmly pinned down by the German troops in the area near Volosramsk, and if we want to hold the city, we can only rely on the strength we have. ”

After listening to my answer, several regiment commanders present were taken aback, and Lieutenant Colonel Serebryavko first asked: "Comrade division commander, are you sure that we can hold the city with our existing forces?" ”

I pondered for a moment, and then said, "I'm not completely sure, but we can try and maybe we can repel the German attack." "Having said that, I don't know what kind of weapons and equipment the Germans have, and how they will deploy their troops. The only thing that is known is that the Germans are launching a frantic attack on our positions. Honestly, how should this battle be fought? I don't have any bottom in my heart.

"What do you think? Let's take a look at whether this option works. "The person who cared most about the war situation was always General Leviakin, who was born in the military.

I tapped my finger lightly on the map and said carefully: "Judging from the current situation, our army's technical equipment is far inferior to that of the German army. No matter how tenacious our fighters are, if they are not replenished by reserves, once the troops are exhausted, the city will not be able to hold it. So I think we should abandon the existing positional warfare and switch to street fighting with the Germans. ”

"Street fighting?!" Hearing my words, the political commissar's eyebrows raised to Lu, and he asked curiously, "What is the way to play?" ”

I know in my heart that there is no skill to speak of in such a hard-fought positional warfare, and what is fought is weaponry and troops. Knowing that this is an inevitable war of attrition, it is not worth the loss to continue to fight a war of attrition with the enemy without any supplement. Compared with the German army, we were originally at a disadvantage in terms of technology and equipment, and if we fell behind in numbers, this battle would definitely be lost.

I glanced at the three regimental commanders present and asked, "Are you communicating with the front-line troops now?" ”

"Of course," Lieutenant Colonel Serebryavko preemptively took over the topic and replied in a confident tone, "our regiment's communications are unimpeded, and I can directly give combat orders to any of the company-level units below." ”

"So is our group." Colonel Chistyakov echoed.

In response to my inquiring gaze, Leviakin nodded vigorously, indicating that this was also the case with his regiment.

The communication between the headquarters and the company below was smooth, and my plan was half successful. So I stood up and began to give orders: "I order: the 1073rd and 1075th regiments shall immediately withdraw from the city, except for the 1077th regiment to remain in the city. ……”

"Huh?!" Hearing my deployment, everyone was stunned.

I ignored their reaction to their reaction, and continued to give orders regardless of them: "When the troops retreat, be careful to leave the necessary troops for cover to avoid excessive casualties. After withdrawing from the city, the 1073rd Regiment built a new defensive line on the east side of the city, relying on the original fortress fortifications. As for the 1075th regiment, it should immediately rush to the position where the division headquarters is located to assemble and serve as a reserve for the division to rest in time. ……”

"Shut up, Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina!" The political commissar suddenly slapped the table and stood up, called my name in a stern tone, his face flushed, and asked me loudly: "I don't know who stuffed such a ridiculous idea into your brain, do you know that Lu Dao, this is a crime?!" Let's give the city to the fascist bandits, this will not do! Even if we have only the last soldier left, he will be like a nail, firmly nailed to the position, and will never take a step back. I will report to the command of the army group and let Commander Rokossovsky remove you from the post of division commander! As he spoke, he grabbed the phone on the table and began to shake the handle.

"Wait a minute, Comrade Commissar." I grabbed his hand holding the microphone and said to him in a sincere tone, "Please don't worry, listen to what I have to say." ”

"Say it quickly." He threw the microphone onto the table and sat back in his place in a huff.

"Comrade Political Commissar, I asked the two regiments to withdraw from the city, but it was only an adjustment of the operational deployment, not to give the city to the Germans." I patiently explained my intentions to the commissar: "Sometimes the fist is withdrawn in order to make a better shot. ”

"Humph!" The commissar just snorted with his nose and did not speak.

So I continued, but the main focus was only on Leviakin, because the later scenes relied on his troops to sing the leading role: "Stay in the city of the 1077th regiment, disperse the troops in companies and platoons, and fight guerrilla warfare with the enemy in the city." After dispersion, the troops should rely on the streets and buildings to maneuver with the enemy, and not fight any unnecessary war of attrition. Give the enemy whatever he wants, and when they take it lightly, we will come out from behind them and beat them hard. ……”

"Comrade Division Commander!" This time it was General Leviagin who interrupted me, and he asked: "How long do you think we can deal with the fascist bandits in the city with our current strength?" ”

"This?" When he asked, he really stopped me. I pushed the military hat on my head with my hand, and then replied cautiously, "Do your best, and drag it out as long as you can." The more we drag the Germans here, the less pressure will be on the Moscow direction. ”

"Is it certain that our fighters and the enemy are fighting guerrilla warfare in the city?" The commissar couldn't help but ask, but his tone had softened a lot.

"There shouldn't be any problem." I replied confidently: "The Germans have an advantage on the battlefield by virtue of their absolute superiority in aircraft and artillery." As soon as our troops become entangled with them in street fighting, then their aircraft artillery is useless. Without the support of these technical equipment, the German army will be greatly reduced in combat effectiveness. ...... "The reason why I am so confident is because I clearly remember that in the later battles in Chechnya, the Russian army suffered a great loss in the battle against the capital Grozny because it was not suitable for the urban guerrilla warfare of the Chechen armed forces, and even the commander of the Airborne Forces who commanded the operation was killed in the war.

"The task is clear, let's do it immediately." The commissar stood up again and helped me give the battle order to the three regiment commanders.

"Yes!" The three regimental commanders rose up in response.

Lieutenant Colonel Serebryavko of the 1073rd Regiment walked to the door, turned around and came back, stood in front of me and the political commissar, and said in a spitting voice: "Division commander, political commissar, I have a request, I don't know whether to say it or not?" ”

"Tell me, what's the matter?" The commissar asked in a serious tone.

"Since the 1075th Regiment is going to be stationed near the division headquarters, can the company I came to reinforce the division headquarters let them return to the building? After all, our regiment suffered heavy casualties in the battle, and there was a serious shortage of troops. ”

"No way!" Without waiting for the political commissar to speak, I preemptively said: "The safety of the division headquarters is the top priority, if the command system is knocked out by the enemy, how can this battle be fought?" Needless to say, that company of yours will stay as a guard company at the division headquarters. If nothing else, you can hurry back to the regiment and carry out the order I just made. ”

"Yes!" The lieutenant colonel saluted us both helplessly and turned to leave.