After sending a few regimental commanders away, I moved a chair to the wall and sat there to doze off and recuperate.

By the time I opened my eyes, it was already bright outside.

Seeing that I was awake, Basmanov hurriedly came over and reported: "Comrade division commander, the cemetery has been dug and the remains of the martyrs can be buried at any time." ”

I looked to the left and right, but I didn't see any sign of Bandereev, so I asked Basmanov: "Captain, where has Comrade Deputy Division Commander gone?" ”

"The deputy division commander and several regimental battalion commanders went to the temporary cemetery." After answering my question, Basmanov carefully asked: "Comrade division commander, are you going over now?" ”

I raised my hand and looked at my watch, it was already eight o'clock in the morning, so I nodded and said, "It's not early, let's go." We must bury our martyrs as much as possible before the Germans arrive. ”

Hearing me talk about enemy planes, Basmanov instinctively looked up and found that he was still in the house, and couldn't help laughing at himself: "Division commander, we really can't do it without air supremacy, you see, whenever I hear you mention enemy planes, I can't help but look up to see if there are enemy planes hovering in the sky again." ”

I walked up to the telegraph operator sitting by the door, bowed my head and asked him, "Comrade telegrapher, is there a telegram from the commissar?" ”

The operator hurriedly handed me a telegram that was placed in front of him, and explained with sincere fear: "Comrade division commander, this is a telegram I received five minutes ago, and I see that you are still resting, so I did not disturb you. ”

I took the telegram and immediately got it in front of me, trying to see what bad news Kirillov had sent me. I saw that the telegram read: "Five reconnaissance detachments sent by our division behind enemy lines. Only four detachments returned. The whereabouts of the other are unknown. I am afraid that I have been annihilated by the enemy. ”

After reading the telegram, I thought to myself that the annihilated reconnaissance detachment that Kirillov was talking about should be the one to which Corporal Wenger belonged, and that after they joined us up, they kept silent on the radio so as not to reveal the location of the large force, and Kirillov mistakenly thought that it was inevitable that they would be destroyed by the enemy. Although the radio station we carry is still in a state of only receiving and not sending. But the battle for the capture of the city has made the enemy aware of our forces deep behind them, and there is no point in remaining silent by radio, but rather making it impossible for us to make contact with our allies.

Thinking of this, I put the telegram back on the table and asked the operator: "If you contact the commissar now, will the enemy listen to it?" ”

The operator thought for a moment and replied: "As soon as we talk to the rear, our radio will be discovered by the enemy, but if the talk is not long." The enemy is unable to lock our position. ”

"If we are in contact with the division headquarters now, what can we do not be afraid of the enemy's eavesdropping?"

"Comrade division commander. It's simple. As soon as the operator talked about his profession, he immediately became more talkative: "We can use code words when talking, for example, 29 for tanks, 12 for infantry, and ...... for armored vehicles."

I was afraid that he would not finish speaking, so I hurriedly raised my hand to stop him and instructed him: "Comrade telegrapher, you immediately talk to the division headquarters and tell the political commissar that the missing reconnaissance detachment is currently with us." After saying that, I shook my head at Basmanov, who was standing next to me, and said, "Let's go, Comrade Captain, deputy division commander, they should wait in a hurry." ”

When we came to the outside of the city, we saw that there were many people standing densely under the hillside in the distance, and hurriedly quickened our pace and walked there. When I came to Pantai Reev's side, I nodded at him, and then asked: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, how is the situation, are you ready?" ”

Pandereev pointed forward and said, "It's all ready, only after you come to see it, you can bury the body of the martyr." ”

I looked in the direction of his finger and saw a long trench dug on the hillside, and rows of martyrs' bodies were lying outside the trench. The moment I saw the remains of many martyrs, I felt in a trance that none of them had been sacrificed, but were just lying there resting, and as long as I gave an order, they could get back up again and attack the Germans one by one.

I took Bandereev, Sederikov, Kosga, and others up the slope to inspect the long trench dug by the German prisoners in the night. The long trench is wide and shallow compared to the trenches we use in battle. Although we did not have coffins to hold the martyrs lying on the ground, the living soldiers had carefully cleaned the bodies of their comrades, wiped the blood from the faces of the martyrs, and crossed their hands on their chests.

"Comrade Deputy Division Commander, how many martyrs are there?" I couldn't help but turn around and ask Bandereev.

"Two hundred and thirty-seven martyrs in all." Bandereev replied briefly.

"What about the corpses of the Germans?" Looking at the two long trenches in front of me, I muttered in my heart, Bandeleyev didn't want to bury the corpses of the martyrs of our army and the enemy in the same long trench, so I specially asked: "What about the corpses of the enemy?" ”

Pointing to the northeast, Bandereev said disdainfully: "I let the captives dig two big pits over there, and threw all the bodies of the Germans into them and buried them." They don't deserve to be buried with our warriors. ”

Seeing that everything was ready, I ordered the soldiers to put the bodies of the martyrs in the long trench and prepare for the burial ceremony.

With my order, the fighters of the two companies, which had long been assembled at the foot of the mountain, dispersed in squads, lifted the remains of their comrades, and began to bury them.

When Bandereev saw the soldiers putting the corpses in the long trench, he suddenly pulled me aside, looked left and right, and then asked me mysteriously: "Comrade division commander, is it appropriate for Captain Nikolai and his battalion to bury the corpses of his men and the remains of our fighters anyway?" ”

"Nothing inappropriate, Comrade Deputy Division Commander." I glanced at Captain Nikolai, who was not far away, and said solemnly: "No matter what they have done before, as long as they join us, they will be part of our ranks, the officers and soldiers of the first battalion who died, just like the soldiers of other battalions. They all sacrificed their precious lives to defend the motherland. Can't we just let them be buried in the ground? ”

Hear me say that. Bandereev stopped talking, turned his head to look at Captain Nikolai nearby, shrugged his shoulders, and stood aside to continue watching the fighters busy.

After all the bodies of the martyrs were placed in the long trench, all the fighters involved in the work were able to line up in three rows on the hillside, and the fighters with sapper shovels stood in the first row, and they stood there quietly, waiting for my next order. I took with me all the battalion and company commanders who were already present, Bandereev, Sederikov, and Kosga. Slowly came to the long trench.

I stooped down and grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground, took one last look at the martyr lying in the trench, and threw it down with a wave of my hand. Pantai Leyev, who was standing aside, immediately gave a loud order: "Let the martyrs be buried in the ground and fill in the earth." Following his order, the soldiers with sapper shovels stepped forward quickly and shoveled the earth outside the trench into the trench with their shovels.

Looking at the busy soldiers, I turned to Basmanov and said, "Captain, remember to mark here later." When the war is over, we will erect a monument to these martyrs so that our children and grandchildren will always remember them. ”

When the burial work is finished. After the fighters returned to their original ranks, Bandereev ordered all the fighters. Raise the gun in your hand and fire the gun in mourning!

After the ceremony, I faced the hillside where the two hundred and thirty-seven martyrs were buried, and I spoke: "...... You have the enemy in front of you and the motherland behind you, and it is precisely because of your fall that the land of the motherland was not trampled by the fascist invaders, and you protected the land behind us with your lives. Rest in peace, comrades, your task is accomplished. The military song will be loud because of you, and the battle flag will be bright because of you, please accept our highest salute. All the heroes who gave their precious lives for the motherland are immortal! After saying that, I raised my hand and gave a solemn military salute to the martyr's cemetery.

After I finished speaking, there was silence behind me, and then a tsunami-like cry rang out: "Ula! Ulla!! Ulla!!! ”

I turned my head to look, and many of the commanders behind me raised their arms and shouted while raising their hands to wipe away the tears that had inadvertently left behind from the corners of their eyes. Captain Nikolai was also moved to tears when he saw that I had given such a high evaluation to his subordinates. Even the eyes of the always steady Bantai Leev, Sederikov, and Kosgaard turned red.

After all the burial ceremonies, I and all the battalion and regimental commanders returned to the temporary headquarters to discuss the next course of action for our unit.

Because we have captured the enemy's maps and information, we do not look at each other as if we had just arrived at this place, but clearly know that in the northwest direction of Kongjianyicheng, there is a high ground of the enemy, which is just blocking the way of our troops to the north. If you want to move forward, you have to pull out this "nail".

As soon as I put forward my operational plan, Captain Nikolai stood up first and said with a big grin: "Comrade division commander, how effective our battalion is, you also saw it in the battle in the early hours of this morning. I hope that you will leave the task of the main attack to our battalion, and we promise to live up to your expectations. ”

As soon as his words fell, Serebryane, who was next to him, couldn't hear it, and quickly stood up and retorted: "Captain Nikolai, you can't say that." In the early hours of the morning, I admit that your men fought very tenaciously and bravely, but my men are not bad either? Your troops are currently attritional, and our battalion has suffered very little losses in the battle, so I think it would be more appropriate for our battalion to complete this main offensive task. ”

Seeing that the commanders of the 1st and 2nd battalions were arguing over the task of the main attack, the commander of the 3rd battalion, Major Terenkov, leaned forward, as if he was about to stand up and grab the task with his two colleagues. Before he could stand up, someone else stood up first. When Terenkov saw this man, he sat back in his place.

The new man who stood up was Lieutenant Colonel Kosgaard, the commander of the third regiment, who said with some excitement: "In the early morning battle, the performance of our third regiment was not satisfactory, so I hope that the division commander can hand over this arduous and glorious task to our regiment, so that we will have the opportunity to come to the shame." Having said this, he also swept his eyes over Nikolai and Serebryane, as if to warn them not to fight with him.

"Lieutenant Colonel Kosga," seeing Kosgaard coming to grab the task, Sedelikov couldn't sit still, he also stood up, and said regardless of it: "Our regiment now has three battalions, and you only have one battalion that has reduced one-third of the personnel. ”

"You ......" Seeing Shedelikov stand up, Kosga, not to be outdone, argued loudly with the other party about who would be the main attacker.

Seeing that the two were arguing, Bantai Laiev actually laughed dumbly, and then leaned close to my ear and whispered: "Comrade division commander, I have been in the army for more than 20 years, and I have never seen anyone argue with a red face over a main task. It seems that the independent division is different from other troops, it is really different. ”

When I heard him say this, I couldn't help but feel happy in my heart, and secretly said that the idea of obedience was deeply ingrained in the minds of the commanders of other troops, and they only knew how to wait for orders from their superiors in a dull manner, and they had no sense of taking the initiative to ask for battle. And Shedelikov: They have been under my command for a long time, and their ideological concepts have also changed imperceptibly, which is probably the difference between independent divisions and other troops.

I stood up and slapped the table twice with my hand, stopping the argument between Shederikov and Kosga. After both of them sat down, I said slowly: "The matter of which unit will be the main attacker, let it go for a moment." Let's talk about how to play the next battle. ”

When Pantai Laiev waited for me to finish, he quickly stood up, picked up a piece of information that was placed in front of him, and read it to everyone: "In our northwest direction, there is a hillside with an altitude of more than 100 meters, which stretches out one leg to the east and west, forming a mountain with three peaks. According to the reports of the scouts, there were few fortifications on the southern slope facing our side, since the enemy's defense was focused on the north. However, our battle to capture the city of Kongyi has clearly alarmed the enemy on the hillside, and they are hurrying to repair the fortifications on the southern slope. ”

After Pandereev had finished reading the information, Kosgaard first asked: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, I don't know what the characteristics of these three hills are?" ”

Pandereev stared at him and replied: "The western hill is the closest to us, and it is easy to climb; The eastern side of the hill is steeper. We first had to choose a breakthrough on these two hills, and then rush down the hill to the middle high ground, which would reduce the losses of the troops. ”

After listening to Bantai Leyev's introduction, Kosgaard immediately said confidently: "What's so difficult about this, let's concentrate our forces and storm the mountains to the west, and after we have gained a firm foothold, we can advance to the high ground in the middle." ”

"No, Lieutenant Colonel Kosgaard." As soon as he finished speaking, Sederikov immediately retorted: "If you fight like this, the enemy can completely draw troops from the middle high ground to reinforce the western hills, and at the same time use artillery to intercept our attacking troops with artillery fire, in which case we will pay a heavy price." ”

Kosga, obviously dissatisfied with Shederikov's such an understatement in denying his opinion, immediately asked rhetorically: "Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov, if your regiment is allowed to attack, how are you going to fight?" ”

"It's very simple," said Sederikov with great confidence, "I will send a battalion to make a feint attack on the eastern hills, but the main direction of attack is still in the west." If we fight in this way, the enemy will not be able to figure out which side of our main attack direction is, and the troops they have placed on the high ground in the middle will not dare to use them at will. ”

After listening to Sederikov's plan, Bandereev nodded with satisfaction, and then said with a smile: "I think the plan proposed by Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov is operational. According to the reports of the scouts, the enemy's defenders on the high ground had only two companies, and in the face of simultaneous attacks on both sides of us, they would not dare to act rashly, and our success in seizing the high ground in a short time was greatly increased. Then he turned to look at me and asked for my opinion: "Comrade division commander, let's adopt Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov's combat plan, right?" ”

I thought about it, and finally slowly shook my head and said: "Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov's plan, I don't agree!" (To be continued......)