After praising Pugachev, Kirillov looked at me and solemnly said to me: "Comrade division commander, I propose to put the remaining anti-tank artillery company into battle, so that we can do our best to destroy the German tanks parked at the foot of the mountain." ”

"No, the rest of the anti-tank company can't move." I couldn't help but reject Kirillov's suggestion. As soon as he said this, he noticed that the expression on his face was not harmonious, and he seemed to be dissatisfied with my rejection of his opinion so quickly. In order to prevent him from misunderstanding me, I hurriedly explained to him: "Comrade Political Commissar, the two anti-tank companies that the group army has assigned to us should already be their limit, and I estimate that we will not get similar additions until the end of the campaign." If the anti-tank artillery battery had been exhausted on the first day of the defense of the heights, then the rest of the days would have to rely on our valiant fighters to rush forward with cluster grenades at any cost. Today, I think you have also seen the situation of a platoon of fighters lurking in the front line in advance, even if the enemy suddenly attacked without warning, only a handful of tanks were blown up. In the ensuing battle, the enemy will inevitably strengthen our defenses in order to prevent us from repeating our old tricks, and in that case, even if we pay heavy sacrifices, we will not be able to blow up a few enemy tanks. ”

My words made Kirillov ponder. After a long time, he said with difficulty: "Comrade Oshanina, maybe you are right. But we can't just watch the German tanks shell our positions with impunity. Even if the defenders on the position had strong fortifications, under such heavy enemy fire, casualties would definitely be inevitable. ”

Watch as the Germans shells rain down on our positions as if they didn't cost anything. I'm anxious too. But it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice. Without enough heavy firepower, it would be a fool's dream to suppress the enemy's artillery fire. In response to Kirillov's complaints, I can only say with regret: "If we had an air force, then we would have been able to inflict heavy losses on this enemy force." ”

Hearing me say this, Kirillov's eyes suddenly lit up, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly, and then he said confidently: "Comrade Oshanina. Maybe I'll be able to figure out how to get my superiors to help us with the Air Force. ”

I looked at him in disbelief, and secretly said in my heart: No, as far as I know, even Chuikov may not be able to command the air force, not to mention that he is only the director of the political department of a group army.

Kirillov didn't notice the strangeness on my face, went straight to the telephone, picked up the microphone, dialed it, and ordered in a steady tone: "Is it Lieutenant Razumeyeva?" I am Commissar Kirillov. I order you to immediately send a telegraph operator with a walkie-talkie to the observation post. Move fast, you know? ”

During the time of waiting for the operator to come. I saw that the German howitzers and tank guns were still shelling the former artillery positions non-stop, ignoring the high ground that we had troops guarding for the time being. And the infantrymen, who left the phalanx of trucks, were crouching a hundred meters behind the tanks, as if waiting for the moment to attack.

It was Captain Morozov and the fighters of his mortar company who did not go up to the heights along the circling trenches, but climbed directly up the steep terrain on the southern slope. Finally, they stopped their advance about 200 meters from the top of the hillside and spread out on the spot, placing more than a dozen mortars on the hillside.

I'm wondering how Morozov can hit the enemy on the other side of the ground when they set up their artillery positions on the back of the heights? Then he saw two gunners coming out of the ranks, carrying something on their shoulders and struggling to climb up. When they reached the top of the mountain, they propped up what they were carrying on the ground and quickly assembled it, and it was only then that I could see that it was an artillery man's observation glass.

Turning his gaze to the foot of the hill again, he saw the soldiers of the 3rd Company of the 2nd Regiment who were responsible for carrying the cannonballs, in groups of two, carrying boxes and running towards the cannon. Although from time to time shells flew over and exploded near them, the soldiers did not lie on the spot, did not even bend their waists, and kept their original speed and ran towards the cannons.

The gunners next to the cannon saw a large group of people running towards them with boxes, and immediately understood what was going on, and immediately two gunners came over and helped the two fastest fighters to take hands, and the four men ran towards the cannon with the shell boxes. When they reached the cannon, the wooden box was placed on the ground, and the gunners guarding the cannon used a short crowbar to pry open the wooden box, and took out a cannonball from it, which was quickly filled into the chamber. As soon as the bore door was closed, one of the gunners next to him jerked the rope in his hand, and our cannon roared, and the shells whistled out of the chamber.

I quickly looked at the German tank with my binoculars, and I saw a fire on the body of the tank, and then a burst of flames shot into the sky through the open hatch, and then the tank was enveloped in a black fog of smoke.

The gunner, who was lying in front and observing, saw that the cannon had hit the target accurately, and gave a thumbs up to the rear. The rest of the gunners and the fighters of the third company knew that the cannon had hit the target, and they all cheered involuntarily. Then the soldiers of the three companies collectively turned backwards and ran quickly to the place where they had just been hidden, as if they wanted to carry more shells.

The surviving artillery of the 2nd Artillery Battalion achieved results, and the mortar company on the southern slope of the heights was not to be outdone, and under the guidance of the observers, opened fire decisively.

More than a dozen mortar shells swept over the high ground and whizzed down into the ranks of infantry behind the tanks. Due to the scattered landing points, only a dozen German soldiers were blown up. When I saw this scene, I could only smile bitterly, the skills of the soldiers of this mortar company were indeed a little worse, if their shells could be concentrated, they could at least blow up twice as many enemies.

Before I could evaluate the mortar company for Kirillov, the operator with the walkie-talkie arrived, not Lieutenant Razumeeva, but Corporal Nadya, who had been reporting from the division with her. When Kirillov saw that the operator was coming, and after helping her set up the walkie-talkie on the table, he ordered her bluntly: "Comrade corporal, please contact the headquarters of the front immediately, this is the call code of the headquarters radio." With that, he handed a piece of paper to Nadya.

When Nadya called the front headquarters radio, Kirillov stood next to her with his hands on the table, and I watched the qiē with curiosity. Secretly guessed after contacting the command of the Front. What kind of result will there be?

The radio station of the headquarters is to be turned on. Kirillov took Nadya's headphones and microphone and said loudly: "Hey, hey, is it Comrade Military Commissar?" What, you're not? Who am I, you ask?! I am Kirillov, the head of the political department of the 62nd Army, and I have important matters to find Comrade Khrushchev, the military commissar of the Front. ”

When I heard Khrushchev's name, I was secretly taken aback, but I didn't expect Kirillov, the small director of the political department. It is actually possible to make one-way contact directly with the military commissar of the front army.

After some twists and turns, Kirillov finally found Khrushchev, and he did not greet him, but said straight to the point: "Hello, Comrade Khrushchev. But now is not the time to catch up, I am in touch with you because I have something important to ask for your help. ”

Not knowing what Khrushchev was talking about, Kirillov stopped, put the headphones to his ear vigorously, and nodded his head frequently. finally waited for the other party to speak for a while. Only then did he say earnestly: "Comrade Military Commissar, the Germans use one tank battalion, two artillery battalions and an infantry regiment. An attack was launched on our Mamayev Heights. Due to the heavy artillery fire of the Germans, our fighters fought hard. As an old friend, I beg you to have the 8th Army of the Air Force send its planes to carry out air strikes on the German troops attacking our heights, whose trucks were set up in a large phalanx two kilometres from our position, and could not have been a more obvious target. What, there are no planes left? Lost in these two days of fighting? I beg you, old man, even if it's just two planes. ……”

Kirillov was still babbling to Khrushchev, but I had no interest in listening, and from the analysis of the two of them, air support could not be counted on. I returned to the observation port and continued to observe the situation on the battlefield.

In just a few minutes, at least three more tanks at the foot of the hill were killed by that anti-tank gun. Seeing such gratifying results, I almost impulsively asked the 3rd Artillery Company to go into battle to expand the existing results. However, after thinking about it, although the third company was transferred up, more than a dozen guns could be used to shoot, but at the same time, the target was large and the honor was exposed, and the German howitzer battalion in the distance could easily annihilate them.

The tanks at the foot of the mountain, after suffering a series of blows, those tank crews were frightened by such elusive artillery, and they started their tanks one after another, trying to turn around and return to the starting position. But will our artillery be able to spare them? As soon as the shelling of the tanks stopped, another one was hit.

And the mortar company on the hillside, another salvo was fired. This time the fight was clearly better than the first, and when the smoke cleared, I saw at least thirty soldiers lying motionless on the ground. The tanks were retreating, and the infantry would not be stupid enough to stand still waiting for the shells, so they turned around and ran towards the phalanx of cars.

At this moment, Kirillov came up to me with a worried face and said ashamedly: "I'm sorry, Comrade Oshanina, I wanted to take advantage of my personal relationship with Comrade Military Commissar of the Front, so that he could order the 8th Army of the Air Force to send planes to attack this German army in front of our position. Unexpectedly, he said that the planes of the 8th Army had all been lost in the previous two days of fighting, and the newly replenished planes and pilots had not yet arrived, so they could not provide us with the necessary air assistance for the time being. ”

Although I was a little disappointed that I didn't have the support of the Air Force, I quickly thought about it. There are at least two months left from the current campaign defense stage to the counteroffensive stage. Even if Guò Kirillov received air assistance this time, will he be able to receive the same assistance every time he fights in the future? Rather than suffering from gains and losses here, it is better to use the existing strength and fight every battle in a down-to-earth manner. Thinking of this, I confidently said to Kirillov: "Comrade commissar, don't worry, although we do not receive the assistance of the air force, we still have the strength to repel the German attack. At this point, I shouted outside, "Someone! ”

At my shout, the warriors standing guard outside immediately appeared silently at the door, waiting for my orders.

"Comrade soldier, you immediately run to inform the gunners of the cannon in the hollow and ask them to turn the target of their shooting to the phalanx of trucks in the distance."

"Yes!" The warrior replied loudly, turned around and was about to leave.

"Please wait." Suddenly a familiar voice sounded beside me, and I didn't look back to know that it was Pugachev's voice. For so long, he stood silently in the observation post and did not speak, so much so that he was ignored by Kirillov and me. Seeing that both Kirilov's attention and I had shifted to him, he hurriedly added: "Comrade division commander, it's too much time to go to the recess from here to deliver orders, so I'd better use the phone to inform the soldiers of the 3rd Company to pass the message." ”

When I heard him say this, I remembered that the soldiers of the third company were indeed the closest to the cannon at the moment, so I nodded approvingly, expressed my agreement, and took the initiative to state: "Since this is the case, Comrade Pugachev, you can give orders to your troops." With that, I waved at the guard battalion who was still standing at the door, signaling him to leave.

Pugachev picked up the microphone and ordered his subordinates clearly: "Third company commander, immediately send soldiers to the cannon just now, and let them adjust the target of their shooting from the tank at the foot of the mountain to the truck phalanx in the distance." ”

The shells of the mortar battery chased the butt of the German infantry and exploded, but when it was still fifty or sixty meters from the howitzer position, the explosion point could no longer move forward. When I saw this, I knew in my heart that because of the angle and range, our mortars could not even reach the enemy's howitzer positions, let alone the truck phalanx, which was farther away, so I could only pin all my hopes on the cannon in the hollow.

By the time the heralds sent by the third company conveyed my orders to the artillerymen, only seven or eight of the German tanks could retreat to the vicinity of the howitzer position, and the rest fell victim to our anti-tank guns. At this time, they raised the muzzle of the gun and changed the target of the next strike to the phalanx of trucks in the distance.

The truck phalanx is two kilometers away from the high ground, and if there are no long-range strike weapons, we can only watch the Germans in the distance staring dryly, but now with a 76-mm anti-tank gun, the situation is completely different, the denser their formation, the more accurate our artillery will hit.

The first shell was fired and was ready to hit a truck behind the howitzer position. The debris of the bombed car flew everywhere, causing the nearby artillerymen to cry and howl, and they did not care to continue shelling our positions, so they dropped the artillery and began to run around.

Since our cannons have plenty of ammunition, the gunners don't have to worry about running out of shells, and as soon as they are reloaded, they open fire. Although there was only one gun, it made the momentum of an artillery battery. This, coupled with the incessant firing of the mortar battery on the hillside, made the enemy even more dizzy, and it was not known how many artillery were firing at them on our high ground.

The German commander, seeing that our artillery had begun to shell his truck phalanx, did not dare to remain in the carriage to command, but with the support of several subordinates, he slipped out of the car and disappeared without a trace.

Then the phalanx of German trucks began to disperse, and some soldiers with quick movements climbed into the bed of the trucks and withdrew behind with the U-turn. More were frightened by the scene of the truck being hit continuously, and they didn't even care about the car, so they turned around and ran backwards.

The phalanx of one or two hundred trucks is not something that can be transferred. All the trucks scrambled backwards, and as a result, some of the trucks crashed into each other in a panic, blocking the back of the other trucks, leading to chaos in the chaos. And the artillery of the howitzer position, leaving behind the artillery, ran back after the infantry.

Twenty minutes later, the panicked Germans finally escaped from our sight. And the wreckage of tanks and cars that are still burning is still a silent reminder of how tragic the fighting here once was. (To be continued......)