The tank stopped opposite the trench, and Katukov got out of the tank, jumped over the trench and ran over. When they approached, I only heard him say excitedly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, this plan of yours is really perfect, it only took ten minutes to annihilate this German tank detachment." ”

I smiled wryly at him, didn't speak, just looked around. Seeing several stretchers lifted out of the trenches, the soldiers lying on the stretchers remained motionless, and it seemed that they were either sacrificed or seriously wounded. Seeing this, my heart couldn't help but become heavy, and I thought that if the infantry in the trenches just now did not shoot at the German tanks without authorization, but only shot the tank crews who escaped, then they would hardly have suffered casualties.

Turning his head, he saw Chistyakov, Katukov, and Yevremenko all standing next to him, so he said with a serious expression: "Come with me to the regimental headquarters, and we will have a battle summary meeting." With that, I buried my head and walked forward first, and the three of them followed closely behind me.

After walking a few steps, I suddenly thought that I would hold a battle summary meeting, and at least call the deputy commander of the 1073 regiment, who had participated in the battle, and the commander of the 1073 battalion. So I stopped, turned to Chistyakov, and said, "Comrade Colonel, could you please bring your deputy regimental commander, that is, the commander of the first battalion, what lieutenant colonel is?" ”

"Lieutenant Colonel Cherniugov!" Chistyakov hurriedly told me the name of his deputy regimental commander.

"Yes, that's Lieutenant Colonel Chernyugov! Call him and go to the regimental headquarters for a battle summary meeting. With that, I walked towards the headquarters without looking back.

Chistyakov, although he did not understand the reason for my displeasure, called a fighter and asked him to inform the deputy regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Cherniugov, to come to the regimental headquarters for a meeting.

After entering the headquarters, I still had a gloomy face and asked Chistyakov: "Comrade regiment commander, let's talk about it." How many casualties did a battalion suffer in the battle just now? ”

The colonel was stunned by this abrupt question, and it took him a long time before he muttered a reply: "Comrade division commander, I have been with you just now, and I have not had time to find out the specific casualties. But rest assured, when Cherniugov arrives, you'll know the exact number right away. ”

I turned my head to Katukov again and asked with an expressionless face: "Comrade General, what are the casualties of the tank brigade?" ”

"The casualties are not significant," Katukov replied in a relaxed tone: "Two tanks were destroyed by the tanks responsible for luring the enemy, and the tank crews lost 6 people and 4 wounded. 16 German tanks were destroyed, 1 was captured, 12 were taken prisoner, 56 were killed. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, a commander wearing a steel helmet hurriedly walked in, stood in front of me, saluted, and reported loudly: "Report to the division commander, Comrade division commander, Lieutenant Colonel Chernyugov, deputy commander of the 1073rd Regiment and commander of the 1st Battalion, reports to you and asks you to instruct you on the next combat mission." ”

I didn't return the salute, but said in a light tone: "Report the casualty figures of your battalion first!" ”

"19 people were killed and 27 wounded. The shells blew up three light machine guns and two heavy machine guns. ”

I slammed my hand on the table and asked loudly, "Why do you want to fire casually?" Know that your mission is only to assist the artillerymen and tank crews in destroying the enemy who escaped from the tanks, not to use the light weapons of the infantry to fight the enemy's tanks! These dozens of fighters are not worth dying, do you understand? ……”

Lieutenant Colonel Chernyugov blushed in the face of my questioning and hurriedly explained to me: "When we saw that our comrades, who had escaped from the tank, were killed by enemy machine guns, a few fighters could not control their emotions and took the lead in shooting, which led to a chain reaction that led to all the fighters on high alert to open fire together. ……”

"Enough, the explanation is a cover-up, and the cover-up is a reason." I couldn't help but interrupt his later words: "Do you think that the bullets in the chamber of the soldier's gun are armor-piercing bullets that can penetrate the armor of German tanks?" Do you know how many unnecessary casualties will be caused by Lu Dao's unauthorized fire this time? As a commander, you must first know how to cherish the lives of your soldiers......"

"Lida, Lida, don't worry, let's get rid of your anger first!" Seeing that Cherniugov was scolded by me, Katukov came over to play a round and persuaded: "This is war, and sacrifice is inevitable." ……”

Before he could finish speaking, the phone on the table rang, and I grabbed the microphone casually and asked angrily, "Hey, who is it?" ”

"I'm Rokossovsky, Leda, you're not a little angry!"

Hearing that it was the commander's voice, I quickly straightened up, stabilized my emotions, and respectfully asked, "Comrade commander, hello!" Do you have any instructions? ”

"What's the situation on your side, and when are you going to start attacking?" Listening to the voice, Rokossovsky seemed to be in the same bad mood as me, so the words of the question were full of gunpowder.

"Report to Comrade Commander, we have just annihilated the German tank detachment wedged into the defensive line, and I am presiding over a battle summary meeting."

"What?" Rokossovsky was a little surprised and said: "Your actions are really swift, just an hour after leaving the division headquarters, you actually wiped out all the enemy's tank detachments?" Are the casualties of the troops large? ”

Hearing the commander ask, I replied in a heavy tone: "The casualties are very large, completely beyond my expectations. ”

"Report me the casualties and the results of the battle."

I passed aside the figures I had just learned in my mind, and then reported them to Rokossovsky one by one: "The infantry of the 1073rd regiment lost 19 killed and 27 wounded, lost 2 heavy machine guns and 3 light machine guns; The 280th Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment lost 1 artillery piece, 3 killed and 9 wounded; The 1st Guards Tank Brigade lost 2 tanks, 6 killed and 4 wounded. The results were modest, only 16 German tanks were destroyed, 1 was captured, 56 enemy soldiers were killed and 12 were taken prisoner. ”

"Hahaha!" After listening to the data I reported, Rokossovsky laughed and said excitedly: "I said Leda, when did you become so modest?" To annihilate a German tank detachment in such a short period of time, with such small casualties, you are amazing! ”

Hearing that he was so happy, I asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, isn't such a casualty a big one?" ”

"It's not big, it's not big, and such casualties can even be a small casualty that is negligible." Speaking of this, there was suddenly no sound in the earpiece, I thought the line was broken, and after shouting a few times, I just wanted to order the signal corps to check the line, but Rokossovsky's voice came from the earpiece again, and his tone became stern again: "Lida, another German unit wedged into the defense line must also be eliminated as soon as possible." The situation in Cumbre del Sol is not good at the moment, our army and the Germans are in a stalemate, and I may be able to transfer the Guards Tank Brigade back in the near future, so your attack will be fast and fierce, understand? ”

"Understood!"

"Good luck!" With that, he hung up.

I put the microphone on the telephone, looked at Chistyakov and asked: "Comrade Colonel, where is the other German unit wedged into the line?" ”

He looked down at the map in front of him, tapped it with his hand, and said, "Here it is!" And looked up and explained to me and Katukov: "This is the junction of my regiment and the three battalions of the 1075th regiment, and after the enemy broke through here, he stopped the attack. According to our analysis, they may be under-armed and are waiting for reinforcements from behind. ”

"What kind of troops are they?" Katukov preemptively asked the question I wanted to ask.

"Almost all of them were infantry, about a company and a half of troops, more than three hundred people. They carried not many heavy weapons, in addition to four or five armored vehicles, a small number of mortars and heavy machine guns. ”

After Chistyakov's briefing, I said to Katukov: "Comrade General, I and Commander Chistyakov will go to the defense area of the 1075th Regiment first, and you and your tank brigade will rush over later, we will try to destroy this group of enemies before dark, and we will not have much time left." Then he turned to Chistyakov and said: "Let's go, Comrade Colonel!" Let's go to the defense area of the 1075th regiment together and let them prepare for the attack first. ”