When I returned to the division and told Kirillov what I had heard at the meeting, several of them were stunned. After a long time, Akhromeyev said tentatively: "Comrade division commander, there will be no mistake in the battle report of the friendly army, right?" You must know that the battle has been fought so far, and the German army cannot find a full number of troops, and now they have only about 200 people in one battalion and more than 400 in two battalions, how can they cripple three divisions and one brigade of friendly forces? ”

"Yes, Comrade Division Commander." Unexpectedly, Bandereev did not contradict Akhromeyev, but agreed with him: "Our three divisions and one brigade are at least close to 20,000 men, even if they are not fully manned, how can they be defeated by the German army of about 400 people?" Wouldn't this be a rumor created by saboteurs? ”

I shook my head at Bandereev's speculation and said in an affirmative tone: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, this battle report has been repeatedly verified by Commander Chuikov. At the meeting, the commander gave our division the task of finding out why the Germans were able to defeat friendly forces, and asked him to give an answer within three days. ”

"Three days," Kirillov asked in surprise, "but we have more than 30 kilometers of Voroshilov where the battle is taking place, and there are so many German troops stationed in the middle, how can we get through the blockade of the enemy army?" ”

"Political commissar, if you think about the blockade of the enemy army, I don't think it's a big problem." Akhromeyev said thoughtfully: "Aren't there many German and ∑∵ officers and soldiers in our division? The matter of crossing the defense line can be left to them. But I don't think it would be of much use to send them, because they can't just ask the Germans about it. ”

When Kirillov heard Akhromeyev say this, it was like a drowning man grasping at a life-saving straw. Hurriedly instructed him: "Comrade Chief of Staff." You call Captain Grams. Let him come to the division headquarters, and we will talk to him about it and hear what he has to say. ”

Captain Grams, who received a call from Akhromeyev, soon arrived at the command headquarters with his adjutant, Ensign Gretka, who had just been discharged from the hospital. After the two of us saluted, I told them exactly what they were all about, and after that, I remembered that Grams's Russian was not very good, so I looked at Gretka and asked, "How is it?" Comrade Second Lieutenant, can it be done? ”

My words stunned Second Lieutenant Greitka, and after a few twitches at the corners of his mouth, he forced a smile and said to me: "Comrade division commander, I think we may not be able to complete your task?" With that, he turned to Grams, who nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Why?" After I waited for Gretka to finish translating for Grams, I asked with a stern expression, "Don't you want to go on this reconnaissance mission?" ”

"Comrade division commander, you misunderstood!" Seeing that I have signs of anger. Grahms hurriedly began to defend himself in his broken Russian: "We...... We can't ...... Tong Guò...... "Because his Russian skills are too poor, he didn't express his meaning for a long time. I gestured to Gretka and motioned for him to explain it to me.

I turned to look at Gretka and gestured to him, motioning for him to tell him what was going on. After turning his head to look at his superior, Gretka turned his head and plucked up the courage to say to me: "Comrade division commander, this is the situation. Since the German troops were so tightly deployed in the area we were about to cross, I don't think we would be able to get through the makeshift checkpoints in Guò. ”

"Comrade Ensign, tell me, why can't you get through those checkpoints?" Gretka's words aroused Kirillov's curiosity, so he asked with interest: "It stands to reason that the military ID cards you are using are all real, and they should not arouse the suspicion of the German army, right?" ”

Turning to Kirillov, Greitka explained: "Comrade commissar, do you know that if we want to go from the Dzerzhinsky district to the Voroshilov district, in addition to the military card, we must have a pass, otherwise we will be arrested as a deserter and shot on the spot. ”

Bandereev listened to it for a while, and then had a new idea: "I think the German soldiers who are confronting us should have the passes you need, if we go and attack their positions, take a few prisoners back, and let you use their passes, will this be okay?" ”

Unexpectedly, Greitka immediately shook his head and vetoed his proposal: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, this is impossible. In order to put an end to the appearance of deserters, the officers and men at the forefront, let alone passes, have even had their military ID cards confiscated by the officers, so as to prevent a large number of deserters from appearing in the event of a defeat in the troops. Without papers, those soldiers who left the army would not be able to walk long before the SS was recaptured. ”

Listening to what Gretka said, I knew in my heart that we were all thinking too simply, and every time we sent Grams's subordinates out to carry out a mission behind enemy lines, many of the reasons why we were able to succeed were also related to the scattered deployment of German troops. But now several divisions of German troops are crowded together in the factory area and the Voroshilov area, and it is simply impossible for us to sneak through them quietly.

Akhromeyev also offered to have scouts disguise themselves as ordinary citizens and pass through the German lines. As soon as his construction was exported, I immediately rejected it: "No, this plan will not work. All the inhabitants of the German-occupied zone, under their close watch, could not accomplish such a task, but put our scouts in danger. ”

We discussed it for a long time, but we couldn't figure out a single reason, so I had to play Fagrams and they left. Looking at their departing backs, Pantai Laiev said indignantly: "Comrade division commander, I used to think that it would be of great help to us to keep these defective Germans in the ranks, but I didn't expect him to be able to help at all. ”

"Old man, you can't say that." After listening to what Pandereev had said, Kirillov immediately retorted: "When Grammers and Beckman surrendered, their men totaled 150 men, but after several months of fighting, half of the officers and men died in the bombing and artillery bombardment of the German army, and at the same time, more than a dozen officers and men died honorably while carrying out reconnaissance missions behind enemy lines. At the moment two companies of German officers and men combined. There were less than 70 people. ”

This is because there is no practical way to get through the enemy-occupied area. So I'll put that aside for now. As soon as the three-day deadline arrived, he took the initiative to go to the headquarters of the group army to admit his mistake to Chuikov.

Over the next two days, I ordered two divisional artillery battalions to launch a small attack on the German-occupied area in conjunction with the 1st and 4th regiments, and by the evening of the 18th, we had cleared all German troops in the Dzerzhinsky district and advanced the defensive line to the vicinity of the "Red October" factory for the camp.

Seeing that our division had steadily advanced the defensive line to the vicinity of its own defense area, the Germans were a little panicked, and they changed the situation of being passively beaten in the previous two days. Instead, they launched a counterattack against us.

When I heard the reports of Shederikov and Gaidar on the phone, I also took the initiative to ask Bandeliev and Akhromeyev: "Deputy division commander and chief of staff, tell me what exactly do the Germans want to do when they launch an uncharacteristically counteroffensive against us in the past two days?" ”

Akhromeyev thought for a moment and was the first to state his analysis: "Perhaps our offensive in the past two days has been too fierce, and the enemy has had to transfer reserves from the rest of the area to strengthen their defensive line. ”

"Chief of Staff, I don't agree with you." Bandereev and Akhromeyev sang the opposite tune again: "The German troops surrounded by us are being attacked by our troops from all directions, how can they send troops to reinforce the enemy near the 'Red October' factory?" ”

"Comrade Deputy Division Commander." Not to be outdone, Akhromeyev said: "According to the battle reports sent back from the front, we can see that this enemy is different from the previous enemy. The enemy who confronted our division was feared by us. In the face of our attack, they could only adopt the method of retreating step by step and shrinking the defensive line, and these enemies actually counterattacked our troops when we launched an attack. Isn't that strange to you? ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff," I saw that the two were about to argue about this again, and quickly interrupted them, and then asked Akhromeyev: "During the battle, did you capture any prisoners?" ”

Akhromeyev picked up the battle report on the table and looked at it, then reported to me: "The first regiment took 15 prisoners, and the fourth regiment took several prisoners. ”

"Let them send the prisoners to the division headquarters." After listening to this, Kirillov decisively gave an order to Akhromeyev.

The captives were quickly brought over by the fighters of the first and fourth regiments. Since there was not much space in the city at the headquarters, it was impossible to bring in all the German prisoners, so I only ordered the officers to be brought in for interrogation, and at the same time to call Second Lieutenant Gretka over to be our interpreter.

When the two German prisoners stood in front of us, I asked with a straight face: "Mr. officer, tell me your name, your rank, the position you hold and the unit to which you belong." With that, he motioned for Gretka to translate for me.

After listening to the translation, the two German officers did not hesitate to say their names, ranks, and units to which they belonged. When Bandeleyev heard the number of the troops, he was visibly stunned for a moment, then leaned his head over and said to me in a low voice: "Comrade division commander, according to our intelligence, this unit of the German army should be deployed in the Voroshilov district. Do you know why they are in our defense zone? ”

After shaking my head, I turned to Gretka and said: "Comrade second lieutenant, ask them, when did the troops enter the Dzerzhinsky district?" ”

After listening to the two German prisoners, Gretka respectfully reported to me: "Report to the division commander, they said that because the German troops here were under too much pressure, the higher forces temporarily transferred their company from the Voroshilov district. ”

Hearing them repeatedly mention the Voroshilov district, a flash of inspiration suddenly flashed in my mind, since they were from the Voroshilov district, where we wanted to reconnoiter but could not go, maybe they could know a little bit about how our army's attack was thwarted the day before yesterday. Thinking of this, I didn't care about any interrogation skills, and couldn't wait to ask: "Mr. officer, since you are all from the Voroshilov district, there is something I would like to ask you about. ”

"Madam General, please speak!" After listening to Gretka's translation, the German officer bowed forward slightly and asked respectfully: "As long as I know, I will report to you honestly." ”

Seeing that the German officers agreed so readily, I did not beat around the bush and asked them bluntly: "The day before yesterday, in the Voroshilov district, our troops once launched an attack there, and the battle lasted a whole day. Unfortunately, after paying a huge number of casualties, our offensive failed. I want to ask, do you know what's going on? ”

After listening to my question, the two officers looked at each other, and then the officer on the right asked tremblingly, "Madam General, if we tell the truth, can you promise not to shoot us?" ”

When I heard the German officers reply, I was secretly happy in my heart, knowing that I might be able to understand the cause and effect of the whole battle from their mouths, so I pretended to think about it for a while, and then said to me with a pretended embarrassment: "Mr. two officers, if you can tell the truth, I can assure you that I will not shoot you; But if you don't tell the truth, I can't guarantee your life. ”

The two officers, coaxed and intimidated by me, quickly confessed what they knew. It turned out that on the morning of the 16th, the artillery of the 57th and 64th armies carried out a fierce shelling of the Voroshilov district, where the Germans were entrenched. The dense barrage seemed to destroy all the lives in the encirclement, and the entire Voroshilov district shook like an earthquake, and all the German troops went into bunkers or basements to huddle to escape the catastrophe, knowing in their hearts that after the artillery preparations of our army were over, they were about to be greeted by a flood of tanks and infantry.

After the shelling ended, the surviving German soldiers who crawled out of the bunker actually found a 37mm anti-tank gun that was dropped by an unknown unit, and its performance was quite good, but the scope had been damaged, probably left by the friendly troops stationed here to be repaired, but they forgot about it due to a hasty retreat, and they were even more fortunate that they also found several boxes of shells. In the face of the coordinated attack of our infantry and tanks, the Germans immediately pushed the 37-mm anti-tank gun into the position and concealed it, and the muzzle of the gun was aimed at the direction of the enemy's attack.

First of all, a column of T-34 tanks came into range, but the German gunners did not open fire lightly, but waited patiently until the enemy tanks entered a distance of 40 meters before firing four rounds in a row. The first shell destroyed the lead tank first, and the second also disabled the middle tank, but the other two failed to cause any damage to the third tank. However, it was apparently intimidated by the accurate fire of the German gunners, and quickly turned around and fled without firing a shot.

The Germans were well aware of our offensive tactics and knew that our attacks followed a strict schedule and principle, that is, a second attack would never be launched in the same place within a few hours after one attack had been frustrated. The German artillerymen were thus able to calmly move the only anti-tank gun from the place where the battle had already taken place and move it to the area where they expected our troops to attack.

Towards noon, the German units were replenished with an anti-tank gun, so that they did not have to move the only anti-tank gun around.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, our infantry in yellow-brown uniforms reappeared in the telescope of the German observation post, and they approached the German positions from a distance like ants. Due to the limited ammunition of the German army, all officers and men were ordered to wait for the enemy to come within range of all weapons before firing.

When the infantry was only more than 100 meters away from the German position, the queue gave way to the sides to open a passage to allow a tank unit to pass through the guò channel, which became a horizontal formation in front of the infantry, and forced the German position with the coordination of infantry and tanks.

The German snipers who were the first to open fire, they constantly hunted the commanders of our troops in the queue. Seeing the commanders around him fall one by one, the ranks of the infantry group charging began to waver.

Seeing the confusion in the ranks of our troops, the German machine guns opened decisive fire. In the face of the dense German firepower, our infantry immediately stopped the attack when they saw this, and turned around and ran back, at first it was a retreat, and then it turned directly into a rout. The German anti-tank guns took the opportunity to "name" those tanks that were not covered by infantry, and the anti-tank teams also bravely rushed forward and blasted with explosives, destroying at least two-thirds of our tanks. (To be continued......)