A few minutes later, I could clearly see the long German columns through the binoculars. The first thing that caught my eye was a German armored vehicle, followed by a long line of tanks in a single formation, followed by numerous trucks, some with artillery towed behind them. The long queue of German tanks and trucks on the highway could not be seen at all, and it seemed that there were at least one or two hundred tanks and trucks.

The armored vehicle that led the way to the middle of the previous night, then stopped, and then the tanks that followed also stopped. Seeing this scene, my heart beat faster unconsciously, and my heart said why did the Germans stop, could it be that they found Shederikov?

But I have this concern, and even Bantai Laiev has found out about this problem. He said to me worriedly: "Comrade division commander, how can the Germans stop advancing? Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov's troops were hiding nearby, they would not have been discovered by the Germans, right? ”

I was in a state of confusion at the moment, not knowing how to answer Bandereev's question. Seeing that I didn't speak, he repeated the question just now, and my mood calmed down a little, and I pretended to be calm and said: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, don't worry, if the enemy had discovered Shedelikov and them, they would have opened fire long ago." Let's wait and see what exactly the Germans want to do? ”

Soon, I saw one by one the German tanks drift off the road and into the overgrown steppe, lined up facing our high ground, with their black holes pointed neatly at us. The car-drawn cannon, which was also unloaded from the back of the car by the German artillery, was pushed to the back of the tank, pointing the muzzle at our heights.

I realized that the Germans had just stopped advancing. It was not they who discovered the lurking Shedelikov Ministry. Rather, they are ready to shell us first. Send the infantry to attack again. I couldn't help but breathe a long sigh of relief when I thought that Shedelikov and they had not been discovered by the Germans, and if they had attacked from the enemy's flank by surprise, they would have been able to inflict heavy losses on the enemy.

Seeing Pantai Lyev next to him with a stern expression, I hurriedly pretended to be calm, pretended to be relaxed and said to him: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, our luck is good, the enemy did not find Shedelikov and they ......" just said this. There was an earth-shattering noise outside, and the sound of my words was suddenly drowned out by a rumbling explosion.

I knew that the Germans had begun a test firing, and hurriedly took advantage of the gap between the explosions to shout at a soldier who was standing guard at the door: "Comrade soldier, you immediately go and tell Captain Sù Selebryane, let the troops immediately hide, the enemy is about to start shelling." ”

Shortly after the soldiers left, rows of tank shells and howitzer shells fell on our positions in the distance. Quite a few shells landed near the observation post and exploded, shaking us violently under our feet. The air in the observation center was filled with the smell of gunsmoke. Choked me and coughed.

Pantai Laiev heard my cough and turned his head to look at me. Taking advantage of the gap in the explosion, he shouted at me: "Comrade division commander, the Germans have begun to shell us fiercely, I estimate that after the shelling is over, the defenders on the high ground will suffer extremely heavy casualties, let Shedelikov and them attack?" ”

"No," I immediately rejected his suggestion after listening to Bandereev's words, and shouted at the top of my voice while coughing: "It's not yet time, now that the battle has just begun, if you rush to attack, Sedelikov's armored forces will not be able to hit the Germans." It was necessary to wait until the German tanks were charging on the heights before they were ordered to attack. ”

In response to my stubbornness, Bandereev nodded helplessly, agreeing with my statement.

"Division commander, deputy division commander, where are you?" From the door came the panicked shouts of Sherebryanny. I quickly turned around and glared at the captain who had just entered, trying to see if he was frightened by the German shelling.

He rushed over and reached out to grab me and Pandereev's hands, and pushed hard outside, while shouting: "No, it's too dangerous here, you all come back to the battalion command post with me." ”

"Comrade Captain," shouted Bandereev, shaking his hand free of the other's hand, and shouted dissatisfiedly, "we will stay here and observe more clearly the changes in the situation on the battlefield." ”

"No, resolutely not." Serebryanne grabbed Bandelyev's hand again and dragged him out with me. At this moment, I understood that the panic that Sherebryanny had just made was not because he was afraid of the German shelling, but because he was worried about our safety, and I could not help but feel a little moved in my heart.

I was about to follow Serebryanny back to the command post, when suddenly a terrible sound sounded very close, and then it seemed that someone pushed me heavily from behind, and the huge inertia made me fall forward, pressing Serebryanny who was coming out to the ground, and then, I felt a heavy body, and it hit me hard, and my tears flowed out of pain.

The soldiers who were waiting in the trenches outside the observation post saw that several of us had fallen to the ground, and hurriedly stepped forward to help us. I stood up with the help of two fighters, turned my head to look at the observation post, and saw that a large hole had been blown open in the wall next to the lookout where I and Bandereev had just been, and I was immediately shocked into a cold sweat.

Surrounded by a group of fighters, we bent over and ran briskly towards the command post. Not far away, another shell exploded in front of the trench. With the shells, the two fighters who were running in front fell down without saying a word, and the fighters who followed closely behind leaned down to help them, but heard the roar of Sherebryanny from behind: "Leave them alone, send the division commander to the command post first." ”

With his shout, the soldier, who was originally going to treat his comrades, straightened up again, carried his weapon and continued to run forward. As I passed by the two fallen fighters, I found them all lying motionless on the ground, not knowing whether they had been sacrificed or stunned by the blast of the bomb. Before I could figure out why, I was carried forward by the warriors on the left and right.

Walking into the command post, I saw at a glance the radio operator sitting by the wall and the walkie-talkie in front of him, so I turned my head and asked Sherebryane, who was following behind, curiously: "Comrade Captain." Why is the operator here? "I'm not blaming Serebryanny for letting the operator from the communications room to the command post without permission. I'm just worried that the communication signal here is not good.

I didn't expect that Sherebryanny misunderstood what I meant. He hurriedly explained: "Comrade division commander, since the bunker in the communication room is as strong as here, I asked the medical staff to send all the wounded there. Due to the large number of wounded, only Comrade Operator came to the command post. ”

I glanced at the nervous Serebryane, and asked in a steady tone: "How is the signal here, it won't affect our communication with other troops, right?" ”

When Sherebryanny heard my question, he immediately understood that he had misunderstood what I meant, and hurriedly reported: "Please rest assured, commander. Communication between here and the outside world will not be affected in any way. ”

The warrior helped me to the table and sat down, and then consciously stood on either side. I looked up at Serebryanny and instructed him: "Comrade Captain, you should immediately arrange for men to go and see the two fighters, they may have been wounded, and if they are not treated in time, the situation will be very dangerous." ”

Serebryanny nodded and instructed the two fighters standing beside me: "You two, go and send the wounded fighters to the temporary medical room. ”

Looking at the departing backs of the two warriors, I smiled at Shelebryane. "Thank you, Comrade Captain," said gratefully. Since it wasn't you who showed up in time. The deputy division commander and I don't know what's going to happen at the moment. ”

As soon as my words fell, Pantyeyev limped over, took Serebryanny's hand, shook it vigorously, and said gratefully: "Captain Sherebryanny, not only the division commander has to thank you, but I also want to thank you. If you hadn't risked your life and ran into the observation post in time to save us, I guess the division commander and I would have gone to see Marx. ”

In the face of my thanks to Bandereev, Serebryanny did not know what to say, and laughed a little embarrassedly.

At this moment, the telegraph operator called out to me in front of the walkie-talkie with a headset and a microphone: "Comrade division commander, Lieutenant Colonel Sedelikov wants to talk to you." ”

Although I didn't give Shedelikov a special radio station, they could use the car radio in the tank to contact us, and when I heard that he was going to talk to me, I knew that he saw that the Germans were shelling our heights, and he couldn't hold back and wanted to lead his troops to attack.

As soon as I put on my headphones, I heard Sederikov's voice: "Hey, hey, is it the division commander?" I'm Sederikov. ”

"It's me," I asked in a steady tone, "is there anything wrong with you?" ”

"Comrade division commander, that's it." Sederikov hurriedly said: "I see that the tanks of the enemy's artillery are shelling our heights, I would like to ask you, is it possible to strike?" ”

"Attack, why attack?" My rhetorical question left Sederikov speechless, and when he stopped talking, I explained: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, be a little patient. The enemy's shelling of us has just begun, and their infantry is not yet in position. If you attack at this time, the German tanks can calmly turn their guns and destroy you. Even if you're lucky enough to wipe out most of the German tanks, but what about their infantry? There are quite a few anti-tank fighters in there, do you think that with only a few tanks and armored vehicles, you can defeat an infantry regiment reinforced by tank artillery? ”

After I finished speaking, Sederikov cautiously asked: "Comrade division commander, then when should we attack?" ”

"Wait a little longer, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." I have just observed that the enemy has several times more tanks than us, and in order to gain the upper hand in a battle with them, it is necessary to fire from the back of the German tanks, so that they can be taken by surprise. In order to prevent Shedelikov from losing his breath, I made a point of emphasizing to him: "When the German tanks cover the infantry to advance the assault, you will strike decisively, destroy or seize the enemy's artillery, and then beat them hard from behind the enemy's tanks." When I said this, I suddenly thought that there was an infantry unit in ambush on the dirt slope, and I couldn't help but worry, "By the way, the army that is ambushed on the dirt slope will not make the mistake of attacking without permission, right?" ”

"No, no, comrade division commander, please rest assured." Shederikov obviously understood the meaning of my words, and last night he thought that the company commander had led his troops to attack without authorization, and the company suffered heavy casualties, not to mention that it almost turned the Germans into a victory. He said to me solemnly: "I gave a death order to the troops who were lying in ambush on the dirt slope, saying that they did not see my tanks attacking, and that even if the Germans' leather boots stepped on their noses, they must be given to lie there motionless, and not to expose the target." ”

After listening to Sederikov's assurance, the last trace of worry in my heart also disappeared, I nodded, and said with satisfaction: "Okay, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, then the deputy division commander and I will wait on the high ground for the news of your victory." ”

As soon as they put down the headphones and microphones, Pantai Laiyev and Serebryanny surrounded them. Bandereev asked with concern: "Comrade division commander, what did Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov say?" ”

I replied to them with a smile on my face: "Shederikov, seeing the Germans shelling our heights, was a little out of breath and asked me when I was going to strike. I told him that when the enemy's tanks covered the infantry and advanced on our heights, he would decisively rush to the German artillery positions and try to seize the enemy's artillery, and beat the Germans from behind with artillery and tank guns, so that they would know what would happen if they went against our Red Banner Independent Division. ”

The frenzied artillery bombardment of our heights by the Germans lasted about twenty minutes or so. Not long after the shelling ended, a grizzled observation post came running in from the outside and shouted at us: "Report, enemy tanks, covering a battalion of infantry, are rushing towards our high ground." ”

After listening to the report of the observation post, I shook my head at Selebryanny and said: "Let's go, Comrade Captain, let's go outside and see what is going on." Then he turned to Pantai Leev, who was sitting at the table, and said, "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, you are wounded, stay at the command post." If there's a telegram from the commissar, you can take it here. ”

Bantailyev heard from my words that I cared about him, so he didn't express any objections, just smiled and nodded, and followed my words: "Well, since Comrade Division Commander said so, I will stay in charge of keeping in touch with the political commissar." You should be careful of the dangers outside. ”

"Let's go, Comrade Captain." After I said this, I took the lead and walked towards the outside of the command post. (To be continued......)

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