Raskin returned to the headquarters of the army group that afternoon, leaving me in the settlements anxiously waiting for Khrushchev's thunderous fury. In fact, when talking to the military commissar of the front army, although he did not finish the rest of the sentence because of the air raid, I can guess that he will definitely say next: "From now on, you are dismissed!" ”

However, until dark, I did not receive any information from the front headquarters, and even the communication from the headquarters of the group army remained silent.

After summoning Shedelikov and the others for a battle summary meeting, I finally figured it out, what should come is always coming, even if I want to avoid it, I can't avoid it, anyway, things have happened, as for what kind of fate awaits me, it's not up to me, just let it be.

Early in the morning, I was awakened by a sharp knock on the door. When I looked at my watch, it was only five o'clock, and it wasn't quite dawn yet. I didn't know if it was Razumeyeva or the fourth operator last night, so I was very unhappy and asked aloud: "Who?" What's the matter? ”

People outside may have heard my displeasure, and the knocking on the door stopped abruptly. After a while, I heard Razumeyeva's timid voice outside the door; "It's me, Comrade Division Commander. The commander is on the line, he wants to talk to you. ”

When I heard that it was the commander who was going to talk to me, I couldn't help but shudder in my heart, did he want to contact me so early, did he intend to inform me of the decision of the front army command to punish me? After putting on my boots, I took a deep breath and walked to the door and opened it.

At the door stood Razumeyeva, and when he saw me going out, he hurriedly raised his hand to salute me. Repeat what I just said: "Comrade Division Commander. The commander is on the line. He also talks to you right away. ”

Seeing the headphones and microphone of the walkie-talkie on the table, I strode over, and Razumeeva took the lead and grabbed the headphones and microphone and handed them to me.

I put on my headphones, blew the microphone, and said in a loud voice, "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina." ”

Immediately I heard the voice of a familiar but unexpected: "I'm Chuikov, Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, and I have an important task to give you." "You can't think of talking to me. Not Commander Shumilov, but Deputy Commander Chuikov.

"Comrade Commander, is that you?" Suddenly hearing Chuikov's voice, I couldn't believe it, so I asked tentatively, "Where are you now?" "I said in my heart how could Khrushchev suddenly change his mind and release Chuikov so quickly?

"Where else could it be? At the headquarters of the army group, of course! Chuikov said loudly; Oshanina, I heard Colonel Raskin say that yesterday you saw that the intelligence of the enemy's plane's imminent air attack on Stalingrad had not received the attention it should have received from your superiors, and you changed your own opinion and overstepped your rank to report to General Zhukov. ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." I gave Chuikov an affirmative answer. In the end, he said in a regretful tone: "It's a pity that it's still a step too slow." What happened to Stalingrad, were the losses great? ”

Chuikov sighed and said, "Hey. How to say it, yesterday's frenzied bombing by the German army caused huge losses to Stalingrad. After the bombing, there was hardly a single intact building to be found in the city. Civilian casualties were even more severe, and the civilians killed by the bombing were everywhere, their mutilated limbs were scattered everywhere, and the young people who were responsible for cleaning up the scene were so frightened that they vomited on the spot. ”

I didn't want to continue this painful topic, so I asked interactively: "Comrade commander, you just said that you have a task to be assigned to our division, but you don't know what task?" Although our division has not been formed for a long time, it has already fought several battles, and the results are quite satisfactory. ”

"It is precisely because you have fought well that I am confident and bold to hand over this important task to your division." Chuikov seems to have forgotten that two days before his dismissal, he had not had the slightest confidence that our division would be able to capture the enemy-occupied settlements, but now he had the intention of using our division as the main force.

I hesitated for a moment, then asked cautiously; "General Chuikov, what mission are you going to send our division to?"

"Yesterday morning the enemy suddenly launched an offensive in Spaldanovka, where they concentrated their forces on the 154th heights held by two battalions of the 158th Marine Brigade. Due to the heavy enemy artillery fire, the battle was completely occupied by the enemy in the evening, and the remnants of the troops were forced to retreat into the tunnel. I have ordered Kolobutin, commander of the 29th Division, to organize his troops to carry out a counter-assault this morning and recover the positions lost yesterday. Speaking of this, Chuikov paused, aggravated his tone, and continued: "And the task of your division is to transfer a battalion to cooperate with Colonel Kolobtin's counterattack, and then cooperate with the troops remaining in the tunnel to recover the 158th height. ”

After listening to Chuikov's mission, I couldn't help but hesitate, as the commander of the independent division, I know better than anyone else that letting a group of soldiers with no military training and poor equipment attack the enemy's well-defended positions is undoubtedly sending them to death.

Hearing that I didn't reply for a long time, Chuikov was a little anxious and urged: "Oshanina, what's wrong with you, why don't you speak?" ”

I replied somewhat bluntly: "Comrade commander, as you know, my troops are poorly equipped and lack sufficient military training, and I am afraid that they will not be able to take part in such battles. ”

"Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina," Chuikov said coldly in a businesslike tone, "you have to make it clear that I am giving you orders, not consulting with you, so you must carry it out unconditionally." ”

Chuikov's attitude annoyed me a little, but I could not lose my temper at him, and could only answer obediently: "Understand, Comrade Commander, I promise to complete the task." At this point, I pondered for a moment, and then made a condition to him: "Comrade commander, I have a request, and I hope you will grant it. My troops are too poorly equipped, and if we use such troops to fight the enemy hard, we may not be able to achieve the expected goal even if we run out, so I hope you can replenish our division with some submachine guns and machine guns to increase the firepower of the attacking troops. ”

After listening to what I said, Chuikov smiled and said, "I thought you would put forward some conditions." So that's it! You can rest assured. I'll get in touch with Colonel Kolobutin. Let him add some to you. In half an hour, the convoy I sent should have arrived, and the troops in the battle would be on their way to the 29th Division. ”

After finishing the call with Chuikov, I walked to the door and shouted outside: "Someone! ”

Immediately after I shouted, a soldier ran over, raised his hand to salute me, and politely asked, "Comrade division commander." What are your instructions? ”

I glanced at him, recognized him as a soldier of the guard squad, and ordered him: "You immediately go and call the three majors, Shedelikov, Oleg, and Gaidar, and say that I have something to look for them." The soldier agreed, and was just about to turn away, when I suddenly remembered two more people, so I stopped the soldier and explained to him, "Lieutenant Morozov, the commander of the artillery company, and Captain Pugachev, the commander of the 8th Company of the 2nd Regiment, also called over. ”

Received a notification from the fighters. Several commanders came to the command post one after another, and they came in and saluted me. Without any extra nonsense, they just sat down at the table and waited for me to assign them tasks.

When Captain Pugachev walked into the command post, everyone was stunned, especially the second regiment commander Oleg turned his head and asked me curiously: "Comrade division commander, what are you calling Pugachev over?" ”

When Pugachev heard this sentence from his regiment commander, his whole person froze in place, with an embarrassed expression on his face. It's no wonder that before yesterday, he was still an unknown small company commander, and when I usually dealt with him, I didn't even ask his name. But seeing his appearance on the battlefield yesterday made me think of him greatly. After he returned to the settlement with the troops, I met him and asked him what his name was.

When I learned that his name was Pugachev, I jokingly said that more than a hundred years ago, there was a leader of the rebel army named Pugachev, and his troops have been active in the Volga Valley, you can't be a descendant of him, right? Captain Pugachev blushed at the time, and even said that he had the same name, and although he was also a Cossack, he was indeed not a descendant of a hero.

Seeing that he was in an embarrassing situation at this moment, I hurriedly relieved him and said: "Major Oleg, Captain Pugachev was specially called by me, and the matter discussed at today's meeting is still related to him. At this point, I turned to Pugachev and said, "Comrade Captain, sit down, we will have a meeting in a moment." ”

When I conveyed Chuikov's order, the commanders in the room fell silent. After a long while, Gaidar said faintly: "It seems that no matter what our record is, the independent division is an artillery unit, and wherever there is danger and what task is the most difficult, it will be left to us to complete." ”

"Major Gaidar, you're talking too much." Sederikov unceremoniously interrupted Gaidar's grumbling and said to himself: "Our unit, which consists of soldiers from the correctional camp and prisoners of the Gulag concentration camp, is originally used to charge into battle, or to be used in the most dangerous places, so why is there any need for such irrelevant complaints. Let me tell you the truth, if it weren't for the division commander who had been taking care of all of us, we would have been closely monitored by internal and external overseers when we were fighting, not to mention retreating, or if the speed of the charge was slower, we might have been bulleted. ”

"Major Sedelikov is right," Morozov also said, "I heard that in other units, the fighters of this origin in our division are organized into a commando team, and the rear is monitored by the superintendent team with machine guns, so that they can make a dare to charge the enemy to the death, and if they are killed in the front, they will be immediately replaced." Anyway, after the battle, there will be no survivors in the commando. ”

Morozov's words silenced everyone again, because everyone knew in their hearts that what he was saying was not alarmist, but bloody facts. After a while, the second regiment commander Oleg opened his mouth and asked: "Comrade division commander, you say, what should we do?" ”

I looked at them and said, "I plan to draw five companies from the settlements into a special battalion, and the battalion will be commanded by Captain Pugachev." ……”

Hearing my name come to me, Pugachev slammed up from his seat and replied loudly: "Yes!" I promise to complete the task. ”

I hurriedly raised my hand and pressed down, motioned for him to sit down, and then said: "In addition to the infantry, I also plan to have Lieutenant Morozov bring two cannons with the army, because my division's equipment is too poor, and without artillery support, our troops will pay heavy casualties on the way to attack." ”

As soon as my words fell, Gaidar stood up and took the initiative to fight: "Comrade division commander. Yesterday's battle. You were given command by Major Sederikov. Let me command this battle today, no matter what. ”

"No, Major Gaidar." Oleg immediately jumped out to object: "The day before yesterday it was your troops who captured the Italian infantry battalion, yesterday it was the troops under the command of Major Sederikov who annihilated the Hungarian battalion, and today it should be my turn to command the troops anyway!" ”

"Major Oleg, it is precisely because of your lack of experience in commanding operations that such a dangerous battle as today is still left to me, Major Gaidar, to command." Shedelikov also stood up against Oleg's self-nomination.

Hearing what Sederikov said, Gaidar hurriedly got up and echoed: "Major Sedericho is right. Major Oleg is inexperienced in combat, and it may be a little incompetent to command a battle of such intensity. Comrade division commander, let me and Major Sedjerikov take command! ”

"Why?" Oleg said unconvinced: "If you and Major Shedelikov were to command the battle every time, then I wouldn't have had the opportunity to develop combat experience." ”

Seeing that everyone was about to quarrel in the command post, I hurriedly raised my hands and pressed down, and at the same time said loudly: "Quiet, keep me quiet!" ”

After everyone had calmed down, I continued with the assignment: "I declare: today's battle, a special battalion of infantry. commanded by Captain Pugachev; artillery, which was responsible for providing fire cover, commanded by Lieutenant Morozov; I'm here as the commander-in-chief. And Major Oleg came to act as my deputy. Shederikov and Gaidar remained in the settlements to prevent a possible enemy offensive. ”

The commanders present here all knew that I had the same character, so after announcing the list of fighters, although Shederikov and Gaidar were a little unhappy, they could only hide it in their hearts and did not dare to argue with me in person.

Seeing Sedelikov's depressed look, I comforted him and said: "Comrade Major, don't be discouraged, judging from the current situation, this battle will not be fought in a few months, and there will be an opportunity for you to take your troops out to show your skills." This time, you should be aggrieved first, stay and guard the settlement, you know, this is now our foothold, once lost, we can only cross the defense line of the Guards Division and the 208th Division and return to our station. ”

Hearing what I said so clearly, Shedelikov also figured it out, and he stood up and expressed his determination to me: "Comrade division commander, you can rest assured. As long as Gaidar and I are here, the enemy will not try to take the settlements from us. ”

After an hour's drive with my troops in the truck provided by Chuikov, I entered the defense zone of the 29th Division and met the liaison officer who had come to meet us.

As soon as I got out of the car, I couldn't wait to ask the liaison officer: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, where is your division commander?" ”

"The division commander is on the 165 heights and is organizing the build-up of troops in preparation for a counteroffensive against the enemy." When the second lieutenant officer saw that I wanted to return to the jeep, he hurriedly stopped me and explained: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, this place is only two or three kilometers from the 165 heights, and there are mines laid by the enemy on the road ahead, and the vehicles cannot get through the guò, so we can only rush to the 165 heights on foot. ”

Hearing the liaison officer say this, I had no choice but to make a gesture to Major Oleg, who had just gotten out of the car behind, and motioned for him to let the troops get out of the car. He understood my gestures, and hurriedly shouted loudly to the back: "Listen to my command, get out of the car!" ”

The soldiers jumped out of the trucks one after another, listened to the orders given by their respective company commanders, and began to line up next to the trucks. I beckoned to Oleg again, and when he came, I specifically told him: "Comrade Major, leave a platoon of troops later to help Lieutenant Morozov's artillery carry the artillery." ”

After arranging this qiē, I turned to the liaison officer and said, "Let's go, Comrade Second Lieutenant, take me to your division commander." ”

The second lieutenant looked at the soldiers who were assembling and said hesitantly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, we are not waiting for your fighters?" ”

I waved my hand and said, "No, let's go to the division command post first, and they will catch up quickly." ”

When I walked into the headquarters of the 29th Division in the tunnel of the 165th Heights, and saw me appear, Kolobhutin immediately went around the wooden table to meet me, gave me a bear hug, and said excitedly: "Great, Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, as soon as your fresh army arrives, we will have a greater chance of recovering the 158th Heights." ”

"Colonel Kolobutin," I said straight to the point, rather than continuing to exchange pleasantries with him, "tell me about the current situation." ”

Kolobtin pulled me to the table, pointed to the map on it, and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, come and see, after the enemy occupied the 158th Heights defended by the 154th Marine Brigade, in addition to reinforcing the fortifications on the top of the hill, he also built a trench halfway up the hillside to the east of the heights, and connected the two lines of defense through a guò communication trench. Since the distance between Heights 158 and Heights 165 was only 1,500 meters, the pressure on us would increase exponentially if they used it as a starting point for their attack, so I reported to the Army Group Headquarters that I was preparing to launch a counter-assault today in an effort to recapture this heights from the enemy. ”

"How many troops is the enemy?" I asked coldly.

"According to reconnaissance, the enemy had one company of troops on the mountainside, and probably two companies on the top of the hill, along with two tanks and quite a few mortars. The enemy's fortifications can condescendingly inflict fire on our troops when our troops attack. ”

"And what did you do?" Hearing that the enemy's defenses were so tight, I had doubts in my heart that my troops would be able to rush to the 158 heights.

"I intend to carry out half-hour artillery bombardment of the enemy's fortified mountainside and hilltop positions before the attack." Speaking of this, he smiled a little embarrassedly before continuing: "You must know that we don't have much artillery reserves, and half an hour of shelling is already our limit." ”

"And how many troops do we have?" I continued to ask what I wanted to know.

"The Marine Brigade can send one battalion of troops, and our division can send two battalions, so that almost one regiment of infantry will participate in the counterattack. Of course, I also have a detachment of tanks, which will also have them charge with the infantry during the attack, providing the infantry with the necessary artillery cover. At this point, he paused for a moment and asked me, "Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, how many troops does your division have?" ”

"Five companies of infantry, plus a platoon of artillery," I said in his tone after I finished talking about the troops I had brought, "These are the elite soldiers of my division, and they are also the limit of what I can send troops." ”

After hearing my words, Kolobhutin laughed: "Yes, yes, five more companies of infantry, at least our chances of victory are higher." ”

At this time, a lieutenant colonel walked up to him and whispered to him for instructions: "Comrade division commander, the time for the offensive has come, can the shelling begin?" ”

Kolobtin raised his hand and looked at his watch, then nodded and said in an affirmative tone, "Let's start!" ”

The lieutenant colonel agreed, quickly ran to the side, picked up the microphone placed in the corner, and shouted: "Hey, artillery battalion?" The division commander ordered, and the shelling began! ”

It didn't take long for a muffled explosion to be heard outside. Kolobtin shook his head at me and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, let's go, let's go outside and have a look." ”

We followed the tunnel to the trenches on the mountainside, where Kolobtin directed me to an observation post from which to observe the effect of the shelling of the enemy's positions by our troops.

At this moment, the 158 heights, whether it is the mountainside or the hilltop position, are shrouded in the artillery fire of our army, looking at the rising flames and gunsmoke, I nodded secretly, and saw that the artillery combat effectiveness of the 29th Division was not bad, and the shells were quite accurate, at least most of the shells fell in the enemy's trenches.

I pulled back the line of sight in the telescope, and found that at the foot of the hill there was a circle of barbed wire, and our troops would certainly not have laid obstacles behind their positions, which seemed to have been laid by the Germans overnight, and I did not know if the Germans would have laid mines behind the barbed wire.

Pulling back my gaze, I saw that the open ground between the two highlands was full of craters. Regardless of whether the shells are bombed or the planes are bombed, anyway, when our tanks attack, they will be affected by this special terrain, and they will not be able to travel fast, and they do not know whether they will become the target of the enemy's anti-tank fighters. (To be continued......)