There was no expression on Kol Parkic's face, and from my point of view, it looked a little gloomy, and I could tell that he was very preoccupied. I quietly looked at the commander of the group army, and suddenly felt that he was not so easy to be a commander, and he was under a lot of pressure. If it were me, I was really at a loss what to do in the current situation.

Korpakchi sat at the table, looked down at the map and pondered for five minutes, then raised his head to look at Gurov and said decisively: "Comrade Military Commissar, I propose to immediately transfer the 112th Infantry Division of Colonel Sologub and let them quickly rush to the left flank of the army group to strengthen this 229th division of the 64th Army. Otherwise, if their positions are lost, our left flank will be exposed to the enemy, and then we will be in danger of being encircled at any time. ”

Hearing Kolpacic's arrangement, I nodded secretly, saying that I didn't expect this commander's overall view to be quite strong, and he also understood the truth of the cold lips and teeth, and in the face of the attack of friendly and neighboring troops by the Germans, he did not stand idly by, but took the initiative to send troops and provide necessary artillery support.

After listening to his words, Gurov said with a wry smile: "Comrade commander, I think what I am going to say next is out-and-out bad news for you. Colonel Sologub's 112th Infantry Division was transferred from our army to the battle sequence of the 62nd Army by Commander Goldov at five o'clock yesterday afternoon. ”

"What? Is this true? Kolpacic was taken aback and asked half-incredulously, "Comrade Military Commissar, the people in the front command can't be mistaken, right?" It is important to know that although the 112th Division once belonged to the battle sequence of the 64th Army. But on the 17th of this month, it was assigned to our group army. At times like these. Why did you assign this division to the 64th Army? ”

Gurov shrugged his shoulders. He said helplessly: "Comrade commander, you also know that this is an order. According to the regulations, orders from superiors are not allowed to be discussed and must be carried out unconditionally. ”

Kolpacic froze for a moment, then stood up, took off his large-brimmed hat from his head, and slammed it down on the table. Said angrily: "Nonsense, it's just nonsense." Today it is assigned to this group army, and tomorrow it will be assigned to that group army, and I don't know what he thinks in the mind of this commander, let the thousands of commanders and fighters of a division run around all day long, and before they can enter the battle, the soldiers are tired and exhausted. ……”

"Comrade Commander," Gurov stopped Kolpakchi's grumbling in time, looked left and right, and then whispered: "Someone else is now a red man in front of the Supreme Commander. The order he gave was clearly known to everyone to be wrong. It can only be executed head-on. Have you forgotten that two days ago, when Comrade Chuikov was in our command, he complained to General Zhukov about the transfer of the 112th Division, which was in reserve from the joint of our two armies? ”

Kolpacchi stopped talking, although he had a great opinion about Gordorf, the commander of the Front, but he also understood that this superior could not afford to offend, and was silent for a while before saying: "Comrade Military Commissar, what about the defense area of the 229th Division?" Although they are not units of our army, if we stand idly by and allow the enemy to crush or annihilate them, then the left flank of our army will be completely exposed to the enemy. ”

Gurov's brows furrowed when he heard Kolpakchi say this, he obviously realized that this matter was very troublesome, and if it was not handled properly, it really could put my army group in a situation where it would never recover.

After a while, Gurov said as calmly as possible: "Comrade commander, I see that you should call Comrade Chuikov and ask him how the situation is there." At the same time, I also ordered the cannon regiment to provide artillery support to the 229th Division to intercept the German attack. ”

Kolpakchi thought for a moment and nodded in agreement, so Gurov got up and went to call the artillery regiment, while Korpakich stayed at the table and dialed Chuikov's phone, and he asked with concern: "Comrade Chuikov?" I'm Kol Parkoch. How's the situation going on your side? ”

"It's not good, Comrade Kolpacic." "The enemy's attacking forces have wedged into our defensive positions, reached the 155 heights and captured the 79th state farm," said Chuikov with some anxiety. At the same time, the headquarters of the 155th Division, located near the 229th heights, was also attacked by German squads. The commander of the division, Colonel Sazhen, has led the personnel of the division headquarters to move quickly, and we have lost contact with the 783rd Infantry Regiment and the 2nd Battalion of the 804th Infantry Regiment. ”

"Comrade Chuikov," Kolpakchi said with difficulty, expressing his worries: "Do you think that the troops of the 229th Division will be able to hold the existing defensive line?" As an old friend and comrade-in-arms, I hope to hear your sincere words. ”

To his question, Chuikov was silent for a long time before he replied: "Old man, it's very difficult. With only four battalions of troops in the current 229th Division in the area where the battle is taking place, and with neither artillery cover nor air support, it is almost impossible to hold the position. However, under the stubborn resistance of the fighters, it was still effective in slowing down the enemy's advance. ”

Kolpakchi's face changed drastically: "If the 229th Division can't hold its position, the flank of our army will be completely exposed in front of the enemy." At this time, Gurov, who had finished the call, walked up to his side, nodded, and signaled that the order had been given to the cannon regiment, and Kolpakchi continued: "In order to ensure that the defense line does not collapse, I will provide you with the necessary artillery support." However, whether you can hold your ground depends on when you can put your reserves into battle. ”

Just as the defensive zone of the 64th Army was in full swing, Captain Semykov called Kolpakchi and reported loudly: "Comrade commander, the Germans concentrated 30 artillery pieces and 150 tanks and began to carry out heavy artillery shelling of our defensive positions. After an hour of shelling, their artillery fire began to extend and continued to suppress our positions in depth. At the same time, the infantry, under the cover of tanks, began to charge the positions on the hill. ”

"How's it going?" Kol Parkage asked anxiously.

"Due to the heavy artillery fire of the German army, and the fact that our troops did not receive any effective artillery support, they suffered heavy casualties at present, and had to abandon the two lines of defense at the foot of the mountain and on the mountainside, and retreat to the last line of defense on the hill."

When Gurov heard this, he couldn't help but interject and ask: "Comrade commander, how many people are left of them now?" Kolpacic hurriedly repeated the question through the microphone: "Comrade Captain, how many people are left there?" Can you hold your ground? ”

Semykov was silent for a moment and replied: "We now have two full-fledged battalions, and the total strength is about a thousand or so. Due to the narrow area in front of the rearmost line of defense, only two companies of troops can be deployed at a time, so both sides can only adopt the tactic of increasing troops one by one, and one company or even one platoon and one squad at a time. I don't think it's much of a problem to stay until dark. ”

Korpakchi covered the microphone, turned his head to look at Gurov next to him, and asked for his opinion: "Comrade Military Commissar, Captain Semykov and their troops are holding down an infantry division and a tank division of the German army. Do you think we should give them more troops and let them continue to fight? ”

Gurov shook his head and said, "Comrade commander, I think it is better to let them withdraw from their existing positions after dark." There we threw three regiments in succession, with a total strength of 8,000 people. But as you heard just now, Semykov said that there were still a thousand men left on the position, and I estimate that there were quite a few light and serious wounded, and in just a day or two, 7,000 people were killed or wounded, which is a huge proportion of casualties. Rather than sacrificing precious troops in such an inconsequential war of attrition, it would be better to withdraw them and strengthen more important defensive positions. ”

After listening to this, Korpakchi removed his hand from the microphone and decisively gave the order to Semykov: "Comrade Captain, you must now resolutely hold your positions and not allow the enemy to move forward. After dark, we will quietly withdraw from our positions and rush over to join us. ”

In the afternoon, Chuikov took the initiative to call and inform Korpacic of the battle: "...... After the German tanks broke through to our lines, they encountered the tank units that our troops rushed to reinforce them. After a fierce battle, our heavy tanks withstood the onslaught of the enemy, but the light tanks suffered heavy losses, and the rest retreated back along the valley.

The infantry was not in a good situation either, the commander of the 783rd regiment was killed in battle, the commissar was wounded, and the troops alternately covered the retreat to the east.

Colonel Sazhin threw into battle the two battalions of the 804th Regiment, which had just arrived, in an attempt to stop the enemy's attack. But their attack was blocked by German tanks. Half an hour earlier, they had come under fire from enemy infantry and tanks, and because they had not had time to dig trenches, they could not withstand the enemy's attacks on the open plains, and were forced to abandon the two heights 161 and 156 and retreat to the village of Savinsky, located on the right bank of the Chil River. I have given Colonel Sazhin an order for these two battalions to fortify the village to cover the flanks of the 62nd Army. ”

As I listened to their conversation, I couldn't help but nod secretly, saying in my heart that these senior commanders still have a strong view of the overall situation, and they are not only staring at their own one-third of an acre, but also always paying attention to the defensive zone of friendly and neighboring troops. When you see the other party in danger, you can still react in a timely manner and provide necessary support to the other party. (To be continued......)