Although Gaidar and the observation posts of the 2nd Regiment on the top of the hill reported that the troops were approaching the Mamayev Heights, and that they were wearing both our and German uniforms, Kirillov could not believe that what they heard was true. After all, it is inconceivable to rebel against an army in such a short period of time and rush through the enemy blockade with all the prisoners of war.

But half an hour later, the mystery was revealed, and Savchenko called us from the regimental command post of the 4th regiment. Although I knew that Savchenko had made a great contribution, when I heard his voice, I was still a little angry in my heart, and I asked in a reproachful tone: "Comrade Savchenko, why did you cut off contact with us after you went to see Captain Nikolai?" ”

Although I couldn't see Savchenko's face, I could guess that he was smiling bitterly when he heard my question, and I only heard him say: "Report to Comrade Division Commander, there is a problem with our communication equipment, so we can no longer contact the division headquarters." ”

"Since you've convinced Captain Nikolai to lead his troops to surrender, why don't you use their radio communications to contact us?" I was always a little uncomfortable not hearing Savchenko's convincing explanation, so I continued to ask: "The last time you and Captain Karpov led your troops to break through the siege, didn't you also use the communication equipment he had to communicate with us?" ”

"Comrade division commander, you don't know anything." Savchenko heard that I was reproaching him for this incident, and hurriedly explained to me: "Since the defeat of Captain Karpov and their rebellion, the Germans have confiscated all the radio communication equipment of the Oriental Battalion in order to prevent the Eastern Battalion from making contact with our army. Usual contact. It is carried out by means of a wired telephone or a messenger to deliver a letter. ”

Savchenko said so. It made it clear why they lost contact with us. Then I asked, "Tell me about it." How did you convince Captain Nikolai to surrender to our army? ”

Hearing my question, he smiled and said, "Actually, I didn't say anything at all, and after meeting with Captain Nikolai, he asked Captain Karpov about the whereabouts of Captain Karpov directly." I told him that Captain Karpov was now serving as deputy commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Regiment after he led his troops anyway, and that we had fulfilled all the three conditions he had put forward before the incident. Listen to me say that. Without saying a word, he immediately asked the adjutant to call several of his company commanders over to discuss the matter of leading the troops anyway.

Speaking of which, I have to say that Captain Nikolai was really efficient, and in less than half an hour, he assigned work to the three company commanders, the first company to deal with the officers and soldiers of the German inspection team, the second and third companies to release the commanders and fighters who were imprisoned in the prisoner of war camp, and the tank company to activate the only three tanks as the assault vanguard of the entire army to attack the forward positions stationed by the German army. At the time of the release of prisoners of war. In order to prevent misunderstanding, I specially sent a few soldiers to assist them.

I thought that there would be a fierce battle when I broke through. Unexpectedly, as soon as the tank company rushed up and fired a few shots, the soldiers behind rushed up with guns, and the enemy's defense suddenly collapsed. By the time I rushed into the position with my men, there were only a few dozen Italian soldiers inside, so it was no wonder that there was no fighting power. ”

Now that I know the general situation, I ask myself the question I am most concerned about: "How many troops entered the position of the fourth regiment?" ”

"Before we have time to count, there are at least 2,000 people, and there are three tanks, more than a dozen trucks, and a batch of captured military supplies, including weapons and ammunition."

When I heard that a batch of weapons and ammunition had been captured, I felt better and better, and hastened to instruct him: "You should first send the troops that have come over, whether they are Captain Nikolai's subordinates or comrades who have been rescued from the prisoner of war camp, to the defense area of the 3rd Regiment in the settlement, and I will inform Major Godunov to come and receive them." When you are done with this, you will accompany Captain Nikolai and several of his company commanders to my division headquarters. ”

"Understood!" Savchenko replied loudly.

After putting down the phone, I did not have time to tell Kirillov and the others the details of the situation, so I ordered Akhromeyev: "Chief of staff, immediately call the commander of the third regiment, Godunov, and say that Comrade Savchenko will immediately bring more than 2,000 people into his defense area, and let him personally take charge of arranging the accommodation of these people." ”

As soon as I turned around, I saw Kirillov and Pantai Reyev standing behind me, with an expression of impatience to understand the specific situation, and quickly raised his hand to stop what the two wanted to say, and preemptively said: "Comrade Political Commissar and Deputy Division Commander, Savchenko will come here with Captain Nikolai later, if you have anything to say, you can ask them directly in person." ”

"So what are you going to do now?" Kirillov looked at me in a hurry and couldn't help but ask curiously.

"I will immediately report this matter to Commander Chuikov," I said to Kirillov in a low voice, "Since Captain Nikolai's troops have been rescued by the way, more than 1,000 and nearly 2,000 captured commanders and fighters have been rescued by the way, and this matter is reported at this moment, and it is estimated that it will not be reproached by the superiors." ”

Raising his leg and about to walk towards the walkie-talkie, he accidentally caught a glimpse of Basmanov standing at the door, and hurriedly beckoned me to me, and told him: "Captain, you go and call Comrade Karpov here at once, maybe someone will want to see him later." ”

Without thinking, Basmanov casually asked, "Who wants to see him?" ”

Instead of answering his question, I glared at him, snorted heavily in my nose, and frightened Basmanov to turn around and run out of the command and go outside to find Karpov.

Due to the fierce fighting, the communication system of the army headquarters has not been fully restored to normal until now, and Razumeeva shouted at the top of her voice for a long time before finally contacting Krylov. Hearing my voice, Krylov was stunned for a moment, and then asked strangely: "Comrade Oshanina, you called the headquarters, is there anything wrong?" ”

When I heard him ask, I immediately understood that he had misunderstood that I was going to inquire about Yeremenko's whereabouts, and quickly explained: "Report to Comrade Chief of Staff, I have important things to report to Commander Chuikov, is he here?" ”

"He accompanied General Yeremenko to inspect outside." Probably because Krylov and Yeremenko came to Stalingrad together and had a good personal relationship with each other, he did not call Yeremenko by his first name, "But Comrade Military Commissar is also in the command, if you have anything, you can sue me or the Military Commissar, and when the commander returns, we will tell him." ”

"That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff." Since Chuikov was not there, it made no difference whether the matter was reported to Krylov or Gurov, so I reported to him in detail that I sent Savchenko to lead a small detachment to reconnoiter behind enemy lines, and under the wrong circumstances, plotted against another Eastern battalion, and rescued more than 1,000 commanders and fighters from the newly built prisoner of war camp of the German army, and the unit had now broken through the enemy's defense line and entered the defensive zone of our division.

After listening to this, Krylov did not immediately express his position, and after a moment of silence, he said angrily: "Comrade Oshanina, you wait a minute, Comrade Military Commissar wants to talk to you." ”

As soon as his words fell, Gurov's familiar voice came from the earphones: "Hey, Comrade Oshanina? I'm Gurov, and I've heard everything you just reported to Comrade Krylov. I congratulate you and your subordinates on your achievements! ”

Hearing that Gurov did not reproach us for his presumptuous assertions, I secretly breathed a sigh of relief, held my breath, and continued to listen to what Gurov said later: "It seems that you really took the right step in the original way of instigating Karpov's Eastern Battalion. With Karpov and Nikolai, I believe that in the coming days, more and more officers and men of the Eastern Battalion will wake up, break away from German rule, and return to the battle sequence of our army. I already know about this matter, and when Comrade Chuikov returns, I will definitely tell him about it. ”

After seeing that I had put down my headphones and microphones, Kirillov and Pantai Laiyev immediately gathered around me and anxiously asked: "What do Comrade Military Commissars say about this matter?" ”

"Comrade Military Commissar praised us for doing a good job." As I spoke, I looked towards the door, and saw that Karpov had been called in by Basmanov, and was standing upright in the doorway. I hurriedly beckoned to him and shouted, "Captain Karpov, don't stand stupidly at the door, come to me." ”

Karpov heard my call and walked up to me with a blank face. His mouth opened a few times, as if to ask something, but in the end he didn't ask. Seeing his embarrassment, I smiled silently and said to him straight to the point: "Comrade Captain, I have something to tell you. Just a few hours earlier, Comrade Savchenko had rebelled against an Eastern battalion and had rescued one or two thousand captured commanders and fighters. In a little while, the captain of the Eastern Battalion was going to arrive at the division headquarters. Since he listened to Savchenko talk about you, he did not hesitate to lead the troops anyway. I suppose he will ask to see you when he comes, so I asked Captain Basmanov to call you over. ”

"I don't know what the name of the commander of the Eastern Battalion is?" Karpov asked cautiously.

"Nikolai, Captain Nikolai, is a Ukrainian." After telling what I knew, I asked rhetorically: "Comrade Karpov, do you know him?" ”

Karpov frowned and thought for a moment, then shook his head vigorously and replied: "No, among the people I know, there is no one named Nikolai." (To be continued!)

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