The soldier I was talking to turned back to another soldier and said, "Go and inform Comrade Battalion Commander that there are quite a few Germans in the building, and ask him to bring people to support him immediately!" ”

The soldier nodded in agreement, turned around and was about to leave, I quickly grabbed him and whispered: "Comrade warrior, do you have a grenade on you?" If so, give me two. ”

The soldier took out two grenades from his waist and stuffed them into my hands, and whispered: "Commander, be careful. With that, he hurried downstairs.

The remaining soldier carefully observed the surroundings and said in a low voice, "Division commander, I'll go up there and have a look." With that, he bent on his waist with his gun in his hand and walked cautiously up the stairs. I crouched down the stairs and pointed my gun upstairs, intending to shoot without hesitation at the slightest movement.

The soldier had barely taken a few steps up when I heard a creaking and the door of the room closest to us opened, and a heavily armed German soldier rushed out of it and shot at the soldier on the stairs. The soldier, who had been shot several times, lay on the stairs without saying a word.

"Damn the Germans!" I roared and turned the muzzle of my gun, and pulled the trigger at the German soldier, and the huge impact of the bullet caused him to spin in place several times before falling headlong to the ground. I hung my finished submachine gun around my neck, pulled the strings of the two grenades that had just arrived, and threw them into the room with the door open.

After two violent explosions, I stood up and walked resolutely towards the room as I reloaded. Before I could reach the door, a German soldier burst out of the house with a rifle loaded with a bayonet. Seeing that the enemy was menacing, I hurriedly retreated. I didn't expect to be mixed with the corpse on the ground. The body involuntarily fell backwards. I just fell to the ground. The enemy stabbed down with his rifle, and I quickly rolled to the left, dodging his fatal blow, and pulled out the pistol at my waist. When he raised his bayonet again and stabbed at me, I held the gun in both hands and pulled the trigger at him without hesitation, and in one fell swoop I used all the bullets in the gun.

The German soldier was shot several times in the face, the rifle in his hand fell to a low sound with a pop, and his body shook a few times. He lunged at where I was. I threw my body to the side, trying to avoid his corpse, but I was blocked by the wall, but the German corpse fell heavily on top of me, and a foul-smelling blood touched my face, almost making me vomit with nausea.

I threw away the pistol, pushed the body away with all my might, and got up from the ground. After picking up the submachine gun he had just used, he quickly changed the magazine, and bent down cautiously to approach the room with the open door. I listened to it outside the door. There was no movement inside, and he rushed in quickly.

Take a look inside the house. This room was a makeshift place for the wounded, and five German soldiers, either with their heads or limbs or bodies covered in gauze, fell to the ground in all directions, presumably killed by the two grenades I had just had. The floor was littered with rubble, broken furniture, and bullet casings, all soaked in pools of blood pouring from the corpses.

I glanced at the corpse lying in the doorway and found the armband with the red cross on his arm, and it seemed that I had killed several wounded German soldiers by mistake.

I stood in the house with my submachine gun in my hand, thinking that I should retreat outside the building before the enemy noticed me. Or stay here and wait for Major Morozov to arrive with reinforcements. At this moment, there was a rush of footsteps at the top of the stairs, which frightened my heart to beat faster, and in the panic, I didn't think much about it, so I quickly dodged and hid behind the door, my back was tightly pressed against the wall, and I pointed the muzzle of the gun at the door.

Hearing footsteps approaching the door, my heart went to my throat, and my fingers on the trigger trembled slightly. As soon as someone walks into my field of vision at this moment, I think I will not hesitate to pull the trigger.

Just when I thought that the battle was inevitable, I suddenly heard someone outside the door ask in a low voice: "Hey, you said that the division commander and Valodya are here, but there are only the bodies of Valoda and another soldier here, where is the division commander?" ”

Then a voice said aggrievedly: "Major, just now when Valoda asked me to call you, the division commander was squatting on the stairs. ”

"And now?" The person who asked the question just now said in a vicious tone: "Where is the division commander?" ”

Before the fighter could speak, I had already heard Morozov talking outside the door, and the fighter who had just been sent to ask for help, hurriedly removed his finger from the trigger and whispered outside: "Morozov, is that you?" ”

As soon as I finished speaking, seven or eight people poured in from outside the door, searching around with guns, and since I was hiding behind the door, none of them could find me in the first place. Seeing Morozov's familiar back, I lowered my gun, coughed lightly, and then greeted him: "Major Morozov, I'm here." ”

I suddenly spoke, startling all the warriors in the room, and everyone collectively turned around and instinctively pointed their weapons at me. When it became clear that it was me, everyone lowered their guns one after another. Morozov's decision was even more exaggerated, he shoved the rifle in his hand into the hand of the soldier next to him, rushed over and grabbed my arm, and asked nervously: "Division commander, are you wounded?" ”

I understood that he saw that my face was covered in blood, which is why he thought I was injured. Hurriedly raised his hand and wiped it on his face with his sleeve, and said disapprehantly: "This is German blood, I am not injured." After saying that, I glanced at the soldiers in the room with my eyes, "Major, how many people did you bring?" ”

"Twenty-five people." Morozov turned his head to look at the fighters behind him, and then said: "There are 17 fighters in the corridor outside. Commander, what is our next task? ”

I pointed upwards and said to him, "There are Germans upstairs, and that Valodya wanted to rush up, but he was killed by the German hygienist who rushed out of this room." ”

After hearing this, Morozov looked at me with a frown and asked, "Do you know how many people there are?" ”

I shook my head and said with a bitter face, "I don't know, but in the exchange of fire just now, one of the soldiers was killed by me." ”

Morozov listened. Turning around and giving an order to the warrior behind him: "Three in a group." Rush upstairs! ”

With the giving of his order. Except for the warriors who carried weapons for him, the remaining six rushed out.

I walked to the door and saw a long corridor on the right side of the door, with a dozen fighters standing in a scattered formation against the wall, staring nervously at their comrades who were about to rush upstairs.

The six warriors were divided into two groups, one squatting at the top of the staircase, half-crouched with the muzzle of the gun pointed upward, vigilantly monitoring the movement above the staircase. Three fighters in the other group were armed with guns. The cat walked cautiously up the stairs.

As they reached the corner of the staircase, a smoke-emitting grenade fell from the top of the staircase. The fighters who walked at the front shouted: "Grenade, be careful!" With that, he bent down to pick up the grenade on the ground and threw it upstairs. Not long after the grenade left his hand, it exploded, and the flying shrapnel immediately cut the three fighters down.

The latter group saw the comrades in front of them falling, and without waiting for Morozov's order, they rushed forward with their guns in hand. A warrior who rushed to the front rushed to the turn of the stairs. With his back against the wall, he picked up his gun and swept it up. Then he rushed forward first.

Seeing several fighters rushing upstairs, Morozov waved his hand at the fighters standing in the corridor and shouted: "Rush up for me!" ”

Following his order, a dozen fighters quickly ran in front of us with guns in their hands and rushed up the stairs.

Listening to the sound of intensive shooting from upstairs, Morozov took off his water bottle and handed it to me, and at the same time said to me in a reproachful tone: "Comrade division commander, you are the commander of a division, how can you charge into battle like an ordinary soldier?" I'm glad I arrived just in time, otherwise you'd be in danger! ”

I took the kettle and opened the lid and poured some water on my hand to scrub the blood off my face. Looking at the several corpses lying at his feet, he couldn't help but feel a burst of fear, and on the spur of the moment, he rushed into the building with a German submachine gun, and if it wasn't for his fate, he was almost stabbed to death by the German health officer.

After washing his face, he heard the gunfire upstairs becoming sparse, so he shook his head at Morozov and said, "Let's go, Major Morozov, the battle upstairs should be almost over, let's go and see." ”

Hearing me say this, Morozov knew that he could not stop me from going upstairs, so he let the remaining warrior open the way for us in front. Until the warrior stood at the turn of the stairs and rushed down and shouted: "Comrade Major, the staircase is full of our people. Morozov said to me reassuringly: "Division commander, now that you are safe, you can go up." ”

We went down the stairs to the top of the stairs on the third floor, and saw two fighters crouching behind a pile of rubble, one of them was a sergeant, and when he saw us coming up, he hurriedly bent over and ran over and reported: "The division commander, the battalion commander, several Germans, after fighting us, hid in a room in the front corridor, and we rushed twice, but they were repulsed, and five or six soldiers were wounded. ”

Morozov leaned in and looked into the corridor and asked, "When you came up, were there many enemies upstairs?" ”

The sergeant pointed to the ground and said, "There are about ten enemies, and after we killed six of them, the rest ran to the front room." ”

"Why is it just the two of you, and the rest of the warriors?" Morozov probably asked his men in a stern tone because I was standing nearby.

"All in the front two rooms."

"Take them with you and keep rushing me. In the shortest possible time, all the remaining Germans must be eliminated! ”

The sergeant agreed, ran back to the rubble, patted the back of the soldier who was still lying there, motioned for him to come with him, and then rushed into the corridor, shouting loudly: "Comrades, follow me!" ”

Morozov and I hid behind the rubble, leaning in to watch the fighters launch a small attack. A dozen or so warriors, led by the sergeant, moved cautiously forward in a scattered formation. Halfway through, the door to a room in front of them on the right suddenly opened, and a German soldier jumped out, armed with a submachine gun, and fired at our soldiers.

The sergeant, who was at the front, shouted loudly the moment the Germans jumped out: "Lie down! Although his order was given in time, not all fighters reacted so quickly, and in the sound of the German submachine gun "da-da-da", two soldiers who were slow to react and did not have time to lie down were hit by bullets, and fell down with a scream. Bullets that missed their targets whizzed over our heads, causing us to fall on the rubble. so as not to be hit by stray bullets.

After the Germans ran out of bullets from their submachine guns. Retracted back into the room. And closed the door with his hand.

The sergeant, seeing that this round of attack had not worked, got up and ran back to us, and whispered to us: "Division commander, battalion commander, before you came up, we rushed to the door of that room, and when a soldier kicked the door, he was knocked down by the bullets fired from it. The enemy is now more and more cunning, and this time he didn't wait for us to get close. He rushed out and shot. What do we do next? ”

Morozov did not answer his question, but turned his head to look at me, waiting for me to come and give the order to the sergeant.

Before I gave the order, I had to find out what was going on here, so I asked the sergeant, "Are there any enemies in the rest of the rooms except this one?" ”

The sergeant shook his head and replied, "Probably not." At this, he seemed to suddenly remember something, turned his head and pointed to the corridor, and added, "There should be people in the innermost room, but they should not be Germans." It's our own people. Because when we attacked, the enemy attacked that room. Just repulsed. ”

After listening to the sergeant's briefing, I had a preliminary understanding of the current enemy situation and had a corresponding solution. I called the sergeant to my side, pointed to the room in the corridor and said to him: "Sgt., you can take people into the room next to the Germans, blow the wall with grenades, and then while the enemy is dazed by the explosion, rush in through the hole that has been blown up, and fire with a submachine gun to destroy the enemy inside." ”

After hearing my words, the sergeant loudly agreed: "Understood! He then stooped down and rushed into the hallway, pulled up the two fighters who were lying on the ground, and quickly broke down the door into the room next to the Germans.

"Does this work?" Morozov asked in his heart.

I nodded vigorously and said with certainty: "Don't worry, Comrade Morozov, the enemy never dreamed that our fighters would blow up the wall from next door, they could concentrate all their energy on the doorway, so my plan can be successful." ”

While he was talking, the sergeant ran out of the house with two soldiers, closed the door with his hand, and fell directly to the ground.

"Boom!" Almost as soon as they lay down, there was an earth-shattering explosion in the room, sending the door flying out, followed by a cloud of smoke and rubble from the room. The sergeant got up from the ground and, after shouting a loud voice, took the lead and rushed into the room, followed by four or five fighters who also got up and rushed into the room after him.

The explosion not only shook the floor, but also made my ears ring, so that I didn't even hear what the sergeant was shouting before he rushed into the room. It wasn't until a few minutes later, when the sergeant and his men came out of the German room, that my hearing returned to normal, and I understood that the Germans in the room had been wiped out by our soldiers.

Morozov and I walked briskly to the sergeant, raised our hands, patted him on the shoulder, and asked loudly: "Well done, Comrade Sergeant." What is your name? ”

The sergeant, whose face was blackened by the smoke of gunpowder, grinned and replied to me: "Report to the division commander, Sergeant Kozhevnikov, the leader of the first squad of the mortar company of the artillery battalion of the independent division, report to you and wait for your orders!" ”

I was about to say a few words of encouragement to the sergeant, when suddenly a resounding voice came from the room at the back of the corridor: "Hey, is it your own man?" ”

The sudden appearance startled everyone, and the sergeant quickly pushed me to the side, blocked my expression, and pointed his gun at the room where the sound came.

Morozov passed me, took a few steps closer to the door, and said loudly: "Hey, listen inside, I'm Major Morozov, commander of the artillery battalion of the separate division, which part of you are from?" ”

Hearing Morozov's answer, the door opened slightly, and then the voice just now came: "We are from the 42nd Guards Regiment, and our regimental commander is wounded and is lying in the room." ”

Hearing that it was from the 42nd Guards Regiment, I hurriedly pushed aside the sergeant who was blocking me, walked a few steps in the direction of the door, stood side by side with Morozov, and then raised my voice and said: "I am Colonel Oshanina, the commander of the independent division, is Colonel Yelin inside?" ”

Hearing that I identified myself, the door immediately opened, and a tall second lieutenant stood in the doorway, raising his hand and saluting me: "Hello, Comrade Colonel. ”

I walked into the room and took a look. I saw a machine gun lying across the ground. The Heavy lies face up to the ground on the ground. The face was covered with blood. Judging from the blood that has not yet coagulated, he has just died. The commander of the 42nd regiment, Colonel Ye Lin, was lying in a corner of the room covered in blood at the moment, and his body was surrounded by rubble and bomb craters, and it seemed that they had been here for a long time.

I hurriedly walked to Colonel Ye Lin's side and squatted down, held one of his hands, and asked with concern, "Comrade Colonel, what happened." How did you get stuck here? ”

Colonel Ye Lin, who was originally confined in both eyes, heard my voice, opened his eyes with great effort, and after squeezing out a smile on his face, he said weakly: "Colonel Oshanina, thank you for saving me. My regimental headquarters was located here, and since the enemy attacked from both the east and west sides of the Soviet Avenue at the same time, there were not many fighters left in my regiment, so I sent most of the regimental headquarters to the battlefield. I didn't expect it to be like this, and I didn't stop the enemy's attack. He also let a detachment of enemies rush to my regimental headquarters by mistake and trap us here. ”

Morozov, who came in with me, saw Ye Lin's injuries severely. Hurriedly called a few fighters in, asked them to take out their first-aid kits, and simply bandaged the colonel with their own hands.

After Morozov finished bandaging Colonel Yelin, he stood up and asked me for instructions: "Comrade division commander, what should we do next?" ”

I glanced at Yelin, who was lying in front of me, and then ordered Morozov: "Major, find a few fighters to send Comrade Colonel to Mamayev Gang, we have a health team there that can treat the colonel." As I spoke, I raised my hand and patted the second lieutenant under Ye Lin on the shoulder, and said in a friendly manner: "Comrade second lieutenant, you also go with my soldiers, remember, you must protect the safety of your regiment commander." ”

"Yes!" The major replied loudly, a grateful expression on his face.

"Stop, who are you?" Suddenly, the sergeant's voice was heard outside.

Morozov and I turned our heads to look out the door, trying to figure out who was here at this time. A familiar voice came: "I'm Captain Basmanov, commander of the guard battalion, don't you know me?" ”

"I'm sorry, Comrade Captain! I don't see it clearly, I beg your pardon! The sergeant politely explained to Basmanov, and then added: "The division commander and Major Morozov are talking to the commanders of friendly forces in the room in front of them. ”

There was a rush of running from far and near, and then Basmanov appeared in the doorway. Seeing that Morozov and I were here, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with relief: "Thank God, Comrade Division Commander, I can find you." Then he said to me in a reproachful tone, "I left a platoon behind to keep you safe, but you still threw them all into battle." Fortunately you are safe, otherwise I would have jumped into the Volga and would not have been able to wash away my sins. ”

"Alright, alright, don't say it." I understand that Basmanov said this deliberately to pretend to be sympathetic, but I still feel warm in my heart for his concern. "How's it going out there?"

"The enemy, having been struck by us, fled to the Place of the 9th of January, where the street from the east entrance to the square and the buildings on both sides were occupied by us, and the German troops inside were all cleared. The Germans, retreating in the direction of the square, were engaged in a fierce battle with the fighters of the 42nd Guards Regiment. However, judging from the current situation, the enemy will not hold out for long and will retreat. ”

When I heard that the first company of guards had cleared the remnants of the enemy on the road leading to Mamayev Hills, the boulder hanging in my heart fell to the ground. I pointed to Yelin, who was lying on the ground, and said to Basmanov: "Comrade Captain, this is Colonel Yelin, the commander of the 42nd Guards Regiment, he was wounded in the battle just now, you immediately transferred six fighters, put on a stretcher, carried Comrade Colonel to the Mamayev post, and sent him to the health team. ”

Unexpectedly, after listening to my order, Basmanov did not immediately arrange for people to carry it out, but stood in place and did not move for a long time. Seeing this, I kicked him in anger and said loudly: "Captain Basmanov, your ears are deaf, didn't you hear my orders?" ”

Seeing that I was angry, Basmanov had no choice but to say to me with a wry smile: "Comrade division commander, after the battle just now, there are only fifteen soldiers left in the first guard company, and if six people are drawn away at once, our strength will be weak. ”

"Even if you take all the people away, you must fulfill the orders I have given." In front of the commander of a friendly force, it would make me feel that it would be a very shameful thing to withdraw the order I had just given, so I could only continue to say "Don't you know that the commander's order is not allowed to be discussed?" Let's do it! ”

Despite my harsh tone, Basmanov was slow to issue orders to his men. At this moment, the second lieutenant standing beside Ye Lin spoke: "Colonel Oshanina, thank you for your kindness!" Your forces are weak, and you may have to fight the enemy next, so it is not advisable to disperse your forces, so I will be in charge of escorting the regimental commander, and you only need to send one more person to help me carry the stretcher and act as a guide. ”

Seeing that the second lieutenant of the friendly army had already said this, Basmanov was embarrassed to delay any longer, and immediately went out and ordered his men to pack stretchers.

After Basmanov left, I turned to Morozov and said, "Major, you should have extra men under you." Basmanov draws one person from the guard company, you draw three from the fighters in the corridor, and together with this second lieutenant escort Colonel Yelin to the Mamayev post. Morozov looked at Colonel Yelin lying on the ground, and then at the second lieutenant who was squatting on the side, and did not say anything, just nodded silently.

The stretcher was quickly tied, and four warriors entered the house and carried Colonel Ye Lin's limbs, put him on the stretcher, and then carried him out. When walking in the hallway, it is relatively easy to carry. When going down the stairs, you have to lift the stretcher high in front and lower it as low as possible in the back, but it is more and more difficult to carry the stretcher down the stairs because several steps have been blown up in the battle just now. As soon as they reached the second floor, the four fighters carrying the stretcher were obviously a little overwhelmed. Morozov still had the eyesight, and immediately called a few more fighters to come forward to help, and only then did he carry the stretcher to the first floor. However, when several soldiers walked out into the street, they were still exhausted and out of breath.

Seeing off Colonel Yelin, I raised my binoculars and looked out into the square. I saw that only one intact armored car remained in the square, and seven or eight German soldiers were hiding behind the car, firing at the defenders of the Pavlov building. In the vicinity of that destroyed armored car, at least nearly twenty German corpses lay down, and it seems that Pavlov they fought quite well, actually killing so many enemies.

Before I entered the building to take part in the battle, I had ordered Morozov to bombard the German troops in those squares with mortars, and it was clear from the current situation that he had not carried out my mission. I was about to turn around and tell Morozov to continue with my orders when the screech of shells came from the air.

Seven or eight shells landed on the perimeter of the armored car and exploded, blasting several German soldiers hiding behind the car into the air and falling heavily to the ground. The armored car, which was lucky not to be damaged, was frightened by the sudden shelling, and the driver immediately started the vehicle, turned around in place, turned around and fled in a hurry towards the middle of the square. While escaping, he also crushed two German soldiers who could not dodge under the wheels. (To be continued......)