About a quarter of an hour later, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg called the division command and reported that the German attack had been repulsed and the situation on the 107.5 heights had eased due to the timely arrival of the fresh forces of the three regiments on the battlefield.

Although Oleg repeatedly assured me on the phone that with the support of the three regiments, he was sure that he would hold his position resolutely. But at the critical moment when there were still a few hours left before the counteroffensive, I did not dare to take it lightly, and after ending the call with him, I took the initiative to call the commander of the third regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Kosgaard. On the phone, I asked sternly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, your third battalion is currently on the 107.5 heights, fighting the Germans, when will the remaining troops rush over?" ”

"Report to the division commander," Kosgaard hurriedly replied, "the first battalion has just set off in a truck, and the second battalion is assembling and will be ready to move in five minutes." ”

"Well done, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Seeing that Kosgaard was so swift, I praised him with satisfaction, and then told him: "Remember, you must keep the communication open so that you can contact him at any time." ”

After I finished my phone call, Akhromeyev, who had just returned from the walkie-talkie, reported to me: "Comrade division commander, the enemy who attacked the positions of the 4th Regiment has withdrawn in disgrace after leaving behind seventy or eighty corpses and about the same number of wounded. ”

After listening to the situation of the fourth regiment, I asked Akhromeyev: "How is the situation of the first regiment?" ”

"According to Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov, the commanders and fighters of the regiment were so enthusiastic about fighting that they could rush towards the enemy with their heads held high and they could only give the order to attack."

"What happened to the artillery battalions and tank battalions?" Kirillov waited for Akhromeyev to finish speaking, and immediately asked him about two other separate combat units.

"Major Perstian reported that the tank had sufficient fuel and ammunition. Ready to go into battle. As for the artillery battalion. Akhromeyev said this. He glanced at me unconsciously, and then said hesitantly: "They are also ready to enter the battle at any time, and they are now waiting for the division commander to give the order to enter the position." ”

"Chief of Staff, call Major Morozov and tell him not to be in a hurry, the counteroffensive of our division began at twelve o'clock. They should stay in the Concealment Department until I give them the order......" My words were interrupted by a strange sound coming from outside, as if something was flying over our headquarters.

This voice was heard by everyone in the command headquarters, and Commissar Shcherbina walked up to me and asked nervously: "Comrade Deputy Commander, this voice is so strange, is it some new weapon used by the enemy to attack the Mamayev Gang?" ”

I didn't answer him, but raised my legs and ran out, if the Germans really used any new weapons. I'll have to think about it in advance. When they ran out of the headquarters, they found that the fog outside was gradually dissipating. And the strange sound I heard just now was coming from overhead. I hurriedly looked up, and saw objects with long flame tails dragging them at high speed, flying over the Mamayev Hills, heading west. At this moment, I suddenly understood that it was our army's rocket artillery that fired, and the sound I heard was the sound of rockets flying in the air.

Shcherbina, who may have never seen a flying rocket before, looked at the rocket in surprise and drew arcs in the air, and asked in surprise: "Comrade Deputy Commander, what is flying in the sky?" ”

His question immediately caused several of us to laugh, and Kirillov asked him with interest: "Comrade Shcherbina, have you never seen such a weapon before?" ”

"I haven't seen it." Shelbina shook his head and humbly asked, "What kind of weapon is this?" ”

"Rocket artillery, rocket artillery of our army!" Kirillov proudly said: "It seems that the counteroffensive of our Stalingrad Front has begun, and this must be the preparation of artillery fire before the offensive. ”

"This is rocket artillery?!" Sherbina said self-deprecatingly, "You must know that this kind of strictly secret mobile device has rarely been seen by the infantry up close." ”

When I heard Shcherbina say this, I couldn't help frowning and thinking about it, it seems that this is really the case, I have been in the army for a year, and I have never seen what the Soviet rocket artillery looks like at close range.

We were standing outside the headquarters and happily watching the rockets flying in the sky, when suddenly Major Basmanov ran out of the headquarters, ran in front of me, stopped, and reported loudly: "Comrade division commander, the commander of the army group has called and said that there is something important to inform you. ”

As soon as I put the earpiece close to my ear, I heard Chuikov's excited voice coming from inside: "Comrade Oshanina, you see, our artillery has opened fire, this is the preparation of artillery fire before the attack, enough for the Germans to drink a pot."

After the artillery preparation is over, the assault of the troops of the Front will be carried out in the area of Lake Sarpa, 6 or 70 kilometers away from the headquarters of our army group. The forces transferred to the offensive were our Army, the 64th and 57th armies of friendly neighbors, and the 51st Army carried out a surprise attack on the left flank. The task of developing the offensive was carried out by the 13th Tank Army under the command of Colonel Tanahishin and the 4th Mechanized Army under the command of Major General Volsky Tank Corps. Also in battle was the 4th Cavalry Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General Shapkin, which consisted almost entirely of cavalry from the Central Asian republics from Cossacks, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. ……”

I understood Chuikov's feeling of raising his eyebrows at the moment, so after patiently waiting for him to finish speaking, I asked carefully: "Comrade commander, our group army has been reduced in the early battle, and if it is not replenished, it may be difficult to launch a decent counteroffensive. ”

"No, I'm worried about this." Chuikov was hit by what I said, and his tone suddenly became a little lost, "Due to the freezing of the Volga River, we not only did not get replenishment of soldiers and tanks, but also ammunition, and we could only use the existing stocks in this counterattack. Although we could not launch a massive counteroffensive like the other army groups, we could use small forces to drag Paulus's troops into the city. Speaking of this, he suddenly asked me: "Comrade Oshanina, I heard that your troops have been replenished with a lot of new recruits recently, so do you have any plans for today's counteroffensive?" ”

"Comrade Commander, that's what I think." When I heard Chuikov's question, I hurriedly and honestly reported to him: "I plan to wait until noon when the fog clears and our air force can be dispatched to launch a counteroffensive against the enemy in front of me." Having repelled the enemy attacking the Mamayev Heights and the 107.5 heights, the troops followed the routed enemy and rushed to the city of Gorodishe, trying to retake the city from the Germans. ”

After listening to my plan, Chuikov was silent for a moment, and then said in a decisive tone: "Comrade Oshanina, please tell the commanders and fighters of the Red Banner Independent Division that if any battalion is the first to storm the city of Gorodishe, I will name this battalion after the commander of the battalion, and at the same time award the medal to all the commanders and fighters of the battalion. ”

Chuikov's words startled me, naming a battalion after a man is the highest honor. You know, even if you get ten Red Banner medals in battle, you are far from being able to compare with such an honor. No matter how many medals a person obtains, what can remember him is nothing more than his superiors and comrades-in-arms who are familiar with him; And the battalion named after an individual, even if it has been tens or hundreds of years, or even longer, as long as someone mentions this battalion, then the name of this heroic battalion commander will be mentioned again by future generations.

I took a deep breath, waited for my feelings to stabilize a little, and then said solemnly to Chuikov: "Comrade commander, I will convey your words to the commanders and fighters. Please rest assured that in this great counteroffensive operation, the Independent Division will definitely be able to achieve even more brilliant results. ”

At the end of the call with Chuikov, I could not calm down for a long time, and for the sake of this supreme honor, I even moved the idea of personally leading the troops to storm the city of Gorodyche. But soon, I tried to get this tempting idea out of my mind, because I was the division commander and the deputy commander of the group army, and my post was in the headquarters, and I could not lead the troops to charge into battle like an ordinary battalion commander.

When Kirillov and the others returned from outside, they noticed something strange about me, and Kirillov hurriedly walked over and asked with concern: "Comrade Oshanina, what happened, what did Commander Chuikov say on the phone?" ”

In a voice that was a little out of tune with excitement, I repeated Chuikov's words to several people. Unexpectedly, the reaction of several people was worse than mine, they were stunned at first, and then they actually cheered. When the cheers were over, Akhromeyev actually took the initiative to ask me to fight: "Comrade division commander, when this great moment comes, I can't stay idle in the division headquarters, so I ask to go to the front-line combat units, even if I command only one battalion or one company." ”

"No, resolutely not." Before I could speak, Kirillov had already stopped Akhromeyev's immature thoughts: "Major Akhromeyev, don't forget Jì, you are the chief of staff of the independent division, and your command position is to assist the division commander in directing the battle in the division headquarters, not to run into the troops and charge into battle. After saying this, he directly instructed Akhromeyev, "Chief of staff, immediately call the commanders of the regiments and convey to them the words of Commander Chuikov." ”

Seeing that Akhromeyev picked up the microphone and was about to make a call, I hurriedly added: "Chief of Staff, by the way, how is the enemy in front of the positions of the 2nd and 4th regiments?" (To be continued......)