Korpakchi pushed Semykov to the side, turned around and propped his hands on the table, panting, and scolded angrily: "What the hell do you want to do this damn Chuikov? Didn't he know that as soon as his troops withdrew like this, the left flank of our army group would be completely exposed to the Germans? ”

Semikov was pushed by Korpakchi, and the whole person took a few steps back and slammed into the log wall. Hearing that loud bang, I couldn't help but shudder in my heart, and my heart said that this hit was not light. But Semikov only frowned, didn't even snort, and then straightened up and stood there against the wall.

Moskalenko was also so angry that he slapped the table and said indignantly: "Hell, this Chuikov is really hateful. I also asked him yesterday if he could hold his ground and protect our flanks. He also swore at the time that the troops in the area had been strengthened, if not impregnable, but at least the Germans could not advance a single step. But what is the reality? Our troops were carrying out a counter-assault on the enemy in front of them, and just as it was going well, Chuikov quietly ordered his troops to retreat, exposing our flanks to the Germans. In this way, all the gains we have achieved with great difficulty today may be wiped out. Then he shouted into the microphone: "Colonel Rogin, go forward, keep going!" Quickly rushing into the ranks of the Germans' tanks, the enemy planes had nothing to do with us. ”

Even Gurov, who has always been good-tempered, was not to be outdone, and said: "Chuikov is tantamount to pitting us by doing this." Today's victory is still a small matter, and I am worried that the troops will be surrounded by the Germans. "Speaking of which. He paused deliberately. Seeing that everyone's attention was focused on him. He continued: "We should immediately report this matter to the commander of the Front and the chief of the General Staff, and ask them to give an order to Chuikov for the 64th Army to immediately stop retreating, stay in its original positions to resist the German attack, and ensure the safety of the flanks of our army." ”

Korpakć pondered in a low voice for a while, then turned his head and asked Moskalenko: "Comrade Moskalenko, what is your opinion?" ”

Moskalenko said with a serious expression: "Comrade commander, I agree with the proposal of Comrade Military Commissar. The cowardly behavior of Chuikov, who ignores friendly troops and escapes from the battle, should be reported to his superiors. We should report not only to the commander of the Front, General Gordov, and to the Chief of the General Staff, Vasilevsky, but also to the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, General Zhukov, and to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief himself. We're going to take all those cowards who are greedy for life and afraid of death to court-martial. ”

When the three of them were denouncing Chuikov, I muttered in my heart, saying that Chuikov would not be so unbearable, you must know that the Battle of Stalingrad was his famous battle, and if he committed it at the beginning of the battle, the enemy would be too strong. Ignoring the low-level mistake of the friendly army retreating without permission, there should be nothing for him in the later stages of the battle. It is estimated that he would have been sent to a military court long ago and had no chance of becoming a future marshal at all. Seeing that Gurov picked up the phone and was about to call Gordorf and Vasilevsky, I hurriedly stepped forward and timidly called out: "Comrade Military Commissar." ”

Gurov held the microphone and asked with a frown: "Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, what do you want to say?" ”

I firmly believe that it is impossible for Chuikov to do something to escape, if Gurov and Kolpakchi are allowed to complain to their superiors at this time, coupled with Moskalenko's proof, even if Chuikov's relationship with his superiors is good, it is estimated that he will not be able to escape the fate of being removed from his post and investigated. If the war is calm, whether or not Chuikov is removed from his post will have little effect on us. But at this time, the friendly and neighboring troops on the left flank of our army fell into chaos, and the defense line was in danger of being breached, so it was necessary to have a commander like Chuikov to stabilize the morale of the army and ensure that the front line was not broken.

I looked at Gurov and said what was really in my heart: "Comrade Military Commissar, although I have not been in contact with General Chuikov for a long time, I don't think he is the kind of person who throws away friendly troops and leads the troops to retreat without authorization when he encounters danger. I think there may be some misunderstanding here, you see, should I call General Chuikov and find out what happened? ”

Hearing me say this, Gurov, who had wanted to call to complain, hesitated, and he moved his gaze to Kol Pakchi. Korpacic glanced at him, turned to Moskalenko, and asked, "Do you think we should call and ask Chuikov?" Kirill. Semenovich. ”

Moskalenko still had a microphone in his hand, but at the moment no sound came from inside, and it was not known whether it was a communication failure or the destruction of Colonel Rogin's tank, which he was talking to. Hearing Kolpakchi ask this, he said angrily: "Comrade commander, this is a matter between you and the 64th Army, how to deal with it, you can do it yourself, and you don't need to ask for my opinion." ”

Korpakchi hesitated for a moment, and finally made up his mind: "Okay, I'll call Chuikov first and ask him what's going on, and he won't even say hello to him, so he will order the troops to retreat without permission." He picked up the phone, shook the handle vigorously a few times, and said loudly: "Give me the forward observation post of the 64th Army and talk to Chuikov." ”

While Kolpakchi was on the phone, Moskalenko, who had lost contact with the 168th Tank Brigade, threw the microphone to the adjutant with a black face, and he himself returned to the observation hole and raised the binoculars, where he could clearly see the battle between the two tank units.

Chuikov's phone was connected, and a hoarse voice came from the microphone: "Hey, is it General Korpakchi?" What are you looking for me? ”

Korpakchi asked in a stern tone: "General Chuikov, I would like to ask you to explain well, without saying any greetings to us, you ordered the 64th Army to retreat on all fronts?" Do you know that with your withdrawal, you will expose the left flank of our army group to the Germans? ”

"General Korpakchi," Chuikov replied in a calm tone, "the enemy has concentrated its superior forces today, and under the cover of aircraft artillery, has pounced on Chilskaya in an attempt to seize both the Don and Chil crossings. I ordered the troops of the 66th Marine Brigade to spread out in place. Hold back the enemy. Under the tenacious battle of the sailors and fighters. Their attack was repulsed. That's when it happened. The troops of our army on the right bank of the Don and Chir rivers received an order to retreat, so the troops abandoned their positions and rushed to the crossing. As soon as I learned of this, I immediately dispatched the chief of artillery, General Browder, the chief of operations, Lieutenant Colonel Sidorin, the chief of engineering service of the group army, and the staff officers of the army headquarters, which had already been numerous, to the various crossings to stop the men and vehicles pouring into the ferries and to return them to their positions. ”

Putting down the phone, Kolpakchi breathed a sigh of relief and defended Chuikov: "Comrade Chuikov and I have been old comrades-in-arms for more than ten years. He was a brave and experienced commander, and I believe that he would not be allowed to give the order to withdraw the troops from their positions without authorization. Speaking of this, he paused for a moment, saw that Moskalenko was still observing the battlefield, and said to Gurov: "Comrade Military Commissar, this is under the command of you and General Moskalenko, and I will go to Chuikov immediately." ”

Gurov may have long been accustomed to Kolpakchi's style of command, and he did not stop it, but just nodded. "Comrade commander, the fighting there is fierce. You need to pay more attention to safety! How many people are you going to take with you? ”

Korpakchi bowed to me and Semikov and said, "The target is too large to be detected by enemy planes, so let Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, Captain Semykov and me go, and bring a few more guards." ”

A group of eight of us, divided into two jeeps, braved enemy air raids and arrived at Chuikov's observation post in Nizhnechirskaya an hour later.

In addition to Chuikov and a few communications soldiers in the observation post, there was not even a sentry at the door, and if the small German troops sneaked over at this time, they would definitely be able to block Chuikov in the observation post and capture him alive.

Chuikov was taken aback by our arrival, and after shaking hands with Korpakchi, he said in a hoarse voice: "Comrade Korpacchi, why are you here?" ”

Kolpakchi didn't bother to greet him, and asked straight to the point: "Comrade Chuikov, how is your situation here?" ”

Chuikov replied with a bitter face: "Very badly, I have just received information that because of the fierce bombardment of the ferry by enemy aircraft, General Browder, Lieutenant Colonel Sidorin, Colonel Brylov and other officers of the army headquarters that I sent to the ferry to command the troops have all died. The tanks of the enemy's vanguard were only four kilometers from the crossing, and once they broke through to the river, those troops who were crossing the river were in danger of being annihilated. ”

"Did you do anything about it?"

"I transferred two battalions of the 66th Marine Brigade and an artillery battalion along with it," he said, pulling Kolpakchi to the observation hole, pointing outside, and introduced, "They are deployed on the northwest defense line of the observation post." That's all the troops I can mobilize at the moment. ”

Kolpacchi raised his binoculars and looked at it, and asked with a worried face: "Comrade Chuikov, there is an open field, there are not even trenches, can the artillery battalion be deployed there to withstand the enemy's attack?" ”

Chuikov replied with a wry smile: "There is no way, the artillery battalion cannons are drawn by mules and horses, and after a long journey, the horses are very tired, and the artillery fighters have a lot of effort to deploy the artillery in place." ”

"Chuikov, how effective is this artillery battalion of the Navy? If they can't stop the enemy's attack and let the tanks rush to the river, your 64th Army's troops at the crossing will be completely finished. ”

At this time, a staff officer came over and reported to Chuikov: "Comrade commander, Lieutenant Datleyev of the artillery battalion called and said that the artillery battalion had been deployed and was ready to go into battle. The lieutenant also said that as long as there was still one person in the artillery battalion, the Germans would never be allowed to break through their lines. ”

At this time, a violent explosion sounded outside, and Chuikov said lightly: "This must be the beginning of the German attack." ”

I followed the two of them to the observation hole and held up my binoculars to look at the smoke. I saw about 20 German tanks, forming a formation one or two kilometers away, stopping in place and firing at our artillery positions.

Although the shells fell on the artillery positions and exploded, raising columns of smoke, our artillery remained silent and did not rush back fire. Seeing that our troops did not return fire, the German tanks increased their horsepower and rushed forward.

When the tanks of the locals were still four or five hundred meters from the artillery positions, the artillerymen, who had been silent, decisively began to fire. After the first round of fire, the two tanks with their tracks blown off swirled in place in thick smoke, and the rest continued to rush forward.

From time to time, the tanks that charged forward were hit by our shells, and after moving forward for some distance with smoke and flames, they stopped. But enemy tank shells fell on bare artillery positions, and flying shrapnel knocked down the artillery fighters in pieces. By the time the German tanks approached the position, only two or three guns were left that could still fire, and the rest were either damaged or all the gunners were killed.

When the enemy tanks rushed to our positions, the surviving artillery fighters rushed forward with anti-tank grenades and Molotov cocktails, and perished along with the enemy tanks.

The battle lasted almost an hour, and the artillery fighters of the Marine Brigade stubbornly held their positions, and the Germans dropped 12 destroyed tanks and retreated in disgrace.

When the enemy tanks disappeared from our sight, Chuikov called the artillery battalion commander in front of us. As soon as the phone was called, he smiled and said to the other party: "Well done, Lieutenant Datriyev, I saw with my own eyes that you stubbornly repelled the enemy's attack and ensured the safety of the troops who were crossing the river. ”

"For the service of the Soviet Fatherland!"

"Well done! Comrade lieutenant, you and the commanders and fighters in your battalion are doing well. I will give you merit and honour you. How about it, were the casualties of the troops large? ”

Lieutenant Datriev replied in a heavy tone: "Report to Comrade Commander, the casualties of the troops are heavy. My company suffered two-thirds of its casualties, and only three artillery pieces remained; The commander of the second company, Lieutenant Rozhkov, was wounded, and half of the commanders and fighters were killed; Three companies of Lieutenant Datriev died ......"

"Wait a minute, Comrade Lieutenant." Hearing this, Chuikov interrupted him and asked puzzledly: "Aren't you Lieutenant Datriyev?" What the hell is going on? You've confused me. ”

"Comrade commander, I am a brother with the commander of the third company, and my younger brother died in the battle just now."

Chuikov fell silent, and after a long time he said: "All understood, Comrade Lieutenant. Immediately organize manpower to repair the fortifications to cope with the possible attack of the German army tomorrow, and if you want to avenge your brother, you must destroy the Germans as much as possible, my words, do you understand? ”

"Yes!" Lieutenant Datleyev loudly agreed: "I will organize the construction of the fortifications at once, and if the Germans come again, I will definitely make them pay the price." (To be continued......)