At the end of the call with Zhukov, I was a little bit of a loser. Originally, I was just a personal connection, and I wanted to bring General Meretskov's second lieutenant training team over to enrich and improve my command system. I didn't expect that even the Supreme Commander himself was involved in this matter, which made me feel sincerely afraid, it is better to say that if I win the battle, if I lose the battle, I don't know if it will affect Zhukov, Meretskov and others.

While I was thinking wildly, I suddenly heard a familiar voice calling me: "Comrade Division Commander." ”

When I looked up, it turned out to be the acting commander of the 2nd regiment, Pugachev, and looking at him with an unhappy face, I couldn't help but ask in surprise: "What's the matter, Captain Pugachev." has become the acting head of the regiment, why are you still unhappy, tell me, is anyone who offended you? ”

Pugachev raised his head and said angrily: "Comrade division commander, Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov is doing things unfairly, you have to uphold justice for me." ”

Didn't Sedericho go with Velor to the cadets assigned to the regiments, why did he offend Pugachev again, thinking of this, I asked puzzledly: "Captain Pugachev, what the hell is going on?" I'm all confused by you. ”

"Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov called me, Kosga, and Gaidar to the position, and said that according to your instructions, a group of cadets who had just rushed out of the German encirclement should be assigned to us."

"Yes, that's exactly what I told Lieutenant Colonel Sedelikov." Hearing him say this, I nodded and gave him an affirmative answer, "I also asked Vellol, the political instructor of the Vinnitsa Infantry School, to go with him." ”

Said Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov. According to your command. Each regiment can be divided into 40 trainees. ”

"Yes." Once again, I affirmed Pugachev's statement, adding: "I asked him to give each regiment 40 cadets, and the rest to the guard battalion." ”

"The other three regiments were all assigned 40 cadets, why did Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov give me only 36 cadets," Pugachev said angrily, "should we be discriminated against by him because our 2nd regiment was disabled in battle?" ”

"Who is being discriminated against? Captain Pugachev. Shederikov's voice came from the door.

I followed the sound to the door, and saw that it was not only Sedelikov and Velol who had walked in from outside. There are also Kosgaard and Gaidar. Seeing so many people coming, I got up from my seat with a smile and jokingly said to Shederichov: "Lieutenant Colonel Shederikov, the acting commander of the 2nd Regiment, Captain Pugachev, is complaining to me that you deliberately discriminate against him. ”

"Discriminate against him?!" After hearing this, Sedelikov looked around blankly, shrugged his shoulders, and asked puzzledly: "Comrade division commander, where did you start with this?" ”

I didn't hide it either, so I repeated Pugachev's words. Finally, he said: "I ordered you to assign 40 cadets to each regiment. Why was the second regiment given only 36? ”

After hearing what I said, Shedelikov and Velol looked at each other, and then replied with a bitter face: "Report to the division commander, I also want to follow your orders, but ......"

"But what? Why not go on, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel? For Sedjerikov's slopbling, I felt a little dissatisfied in my heart: "Didn't I tell you to assign 40 cadets to each regiment clearly? ”

"Clear!" Shedelikov replied busily.

"Now that it's clear, why don't you carry out my orders?" When I say this, I already have a hint of anger.

"Comrade division commander, allow me to answer this question." After Verol learned that she had become a member of the independent division, she also changed her address to me from colonel to division commander, and seeing Shederikov's embarrassed appearance, she hurriedly came out to relieve the siege.

Seeing the beautiful officer I was pitiful for, I said in a calm tone, "Say it, Instructor Velore. ”

"Comrade division commander, this is the situation. You just said that a regiment has 40 cadets, which should be 160, but there are only 156 fighters who broke out of the encirclement with me, not to mention the guard battalion, and even four regiments are not enough. ”

After listening to her words, I was stunned. If you think about it carefully, no, the independent division has four regiments, and if each regiment is divided into 40 cadets, there will be at least 160 cadets, and I don't know how I calculated it at the time, but it was actually counted as 120 people, and I even thought about adding the remaining 36 people to the guard battalion.

I smiled embarrassedly at Sederikov and said to Pugachev: "Comrade Captain, it's all my fault, I miscounted the numbers. In this way, since Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov and Instructor Verol have already finished assigning the trainees and want to adjust them again, it is estimated that other regiment commanders will not agree. At this point, I paused deliberately, and my eyes swept over the other three regimental commanders.

Sederikov, Kosga, and Gaidar immediately understood, and hurriedly nodded vigorously and said: "Yes, yes, we have assigned these trainees to the company, and if we want to make further adjustments, it is estimated that the fighters will also have opinions." ”

Seeing the grievances on Pugachev's face, I had no choice but to draw a big pie for him first: "Captain Pugachev, the Second Regiment has been greatly attrition this time, and after the new recruits are replenished, I will assign a few more commanders and fighters of the second lieutenant training team to your regiment." ”

Seeing that I and the other three regiment commanders were already on the same front, Pugachev, who was unable to support himself, turned red and could only helplessly say: "Okay, I obey your orders." ”

This night was destined to be an eventful night, and after Pugachev's resentment had been calmed down, I was about to find a place to rest after sending a few people out, but I did not expect that the army group command assigned us a new task.

This time, it was Raskin, the chief of staff of the group army, who spoke to me this time, and when he heard my voice, he said anxiously: "Colonel Oshanina, I have an urgent task to be entrusted to you. ”

I gestured to the commanders, motioned for them not to leave, and then politely said into the microphone: "Please speak, Comrade Chief of Staff." I'm listening. ”

"Here's the case, Colonel Oshanina." "In the vicinity of the Basarji Concession Station in the Lesser Rosovka area, there is a communications relay station of the 62nd Army. Now it is under siege by German troops. The troops that held out there had been holding out for two days. General Korpakchi had just called Commander Shumilov. Let's send our best soldiers to rescue this trapped communications force. ”

As I listened to Ruskin, I searched the map for the area he was talking about, which was ten kilometers away from the present position of our division, and on the contrary closer to the defense zone of the 70th Guards Infantry Division, which would have been reached in less than an hour if Lyudnikov had sent his troops.

I am a little puzzled by the method of mobilization of the army group headquarters in the near and far-reaching way. So he put forward his opinion euphemistically: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the place you are talking about, it seems, is closer to Lyudnikov's Guards Division, the distance is no more than five kilometers. Why didn't they transfer their troops, but instead send our division, which was ten kilometers away, to reinforce it? ”

Raskin did not answer my question, but said in a businesslike tone: "Colonel Oshanina, this is an order from Commander Shumilov. You know, according to the regulations, orders from superiors are not allowed to be discussed, so implement them immediately. ”

Now that his words have come to that. I had no choice but to reluctantly agree: "Yes, I will give the order." ”

After you end the call. I first ordered Razumeeva to make a telephone call and ask Persjian and Morozov to come over to the latest military meeting, and at the same time summoned several commanders to the table and repeated the order that Raskin had just given to them.

Kosgaard leaned over and stared at the map on the table, and asked puzzledly: "Comrade division commander, I don't understand, since the Guards Division is so close to the besieged troops, why don't they send troops, but let us come to the rescue from such a distance?" ”

In response to his question, I could only say lightly: "The orders of the superiors are not allowed to be discussed. Let's study what size of troops should be sent to the rescue. ”

Hearing me say this, Kosgaard took the lead in asking: "Comrade division commander, in the two days of fighting, the casualties of the three regiments were relatively small, so leave this task to us to complete!" ”

"Lieutenant Colonel Kosga," Shedelikov was a little unhappy when he heard Kosgaard say this, and immediately retorted to him: "The casualties of your three regiments are small, and the casualties of my regiment are not large." Then he straightened up and pleaded with me: "Comrade division commander, please be sure to entrust this task to our regiment." I assure you that I will rescue the besieged friendly forces. ”

Before I could say anything, there was another shouting at the door, and I looked up from the map to see that it was Captain Pyrgis and Captain Morozov. I hurriedly beckoned to them to come over to the meeting.

After giving them a brief briefing, I specifically asked Pelsjian: "Captain Pelsjian, how much fuel is left for the tank?" ”

Persjian shook his head and said with some frustration: "Report to the division commander, we only have fuel in the tank tank, but not all of it. If they were to be forced, the tanks would have to be discarded or blown up on the spot because they ran out of fuel when the battle was over, so as not to cheapen the Germans. ”

I waved my hand and said decisively: "Captain Persjian, this time we only sent two tanks, pumped out all the fuel from the fuel tanks of the other tanks, and filled them up. Then I turned my head to look at Morozov: "Comrade Morozov, you have now changed your career to become the commander of a mortar company, bring five mortars, set off with me, and go to teach the Germans a hard lesson." ”

When Shedelikov heard me say this, he took the initiative to ask: "Comrade division commander, now that there are tanks and artillery, what about the infantry, which unit are you going to send?" ”

I pondered for a moment, and then said decisively: "Infantry troops, I have decided to transfer the 9th Company of Lieutenant Godunov of the 3rd Regiment, and he made a good impression on me during this retreat. In addition, a regiment drew a company, a company of Pugachev, plus a platoon of Basmanov. I thought that if so many troops went to the rescue, it would not affect the defense of our division, and it would be able to rescue the besieged friendly troops. ”

"Who are you going to command this force?" Gaidar asked. Since the 2nd and 4th regiments were currently in reserve, the two commanders, Pugachev and Gaidar, had an eager expression.

I looked at Villol, who was standing in the middle of several male commanders, and asked her with a smile, "Instructor Velore, would you like to go with me on this rescue mission?" ”

Everyone was taken aback when they heard that I was going to go out in person. Shedelikov was the first to persuade me: "Comrade division commander, you are the commander of the first division. You can't take any more risks. ”

"yes. Comrade division commander. When the whole division retreats. You've been on a dangerous guard mission before, and you can't take any more risks this time. Pugachev said nervously.

I waved my hand and said stubbornly, "Okay, you don't have to persuade anymore. Now that I have made up my mind, no matter how much you persuade me, I will still go. At this point, I raised my voice and announced loudly: "During the time I was away, the commander of the division. Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov is in charge, do you understand? ”

After listening to my order, several commanders looked at each other, and no one spoke.

Seeing the cold scene, I hurriedly looked at Velore and asked again: "Instructor Velol, you haven't answered my question yet, are you willing to go with me on this rescue mission?" ”

This time Velore nodded without hesitation and replied dryly: "Comrade division commander, I obey your orders. ”

After an hour of preparation. Our rescue detachment set off.

In front of them were two tanks that had just been refueled, followed by trucks full of fighters. Verol and I and Lazumeeva rode in the middle of the convoy.

Because it was already dark at this time, I did not look at the sky from the car window, fearing that a German plane would suddenly appear in the sky. A convoy like ours, which does not have any air defense, can crush us with just one dive bomber.

However, our luck seemed to be good, and we did not see the Germans for most of the distance, and the sound of gunfire was clearly audible in front of us.

I asked the driver to rush to the front of the entire convoy and let all the vehicles stop next to a small hill. When the car stopped, I couldn't wait to push the door, jumped out of the car and walked to the top of the slope with Velol.

Standing on the commanding heights at the top of the slope, I raised my binoculars and looked out at the smoke in front of me, and saw a large group of German soldiers charging towards a high ground under the cover of tanks. Under the heights, there are more than 20 tanks that have been burned black or burning, and the white cross on the body represents that these scrapped tanks are German tanks.

German tanks came to a stop at the foot of the hill and shelled the positions on the hillside with artillery fire. The German infantry, with guns in hand, bent over and rushing up the hill. Seeing that they were approaching our position, the originally silent position was revived at once, and all kinds of guns in the trenches opened fire at the same time, and in an instant the German infantry fell in all directions. The German soldiers were firing at each other for a while, but when they saw that they could not rush forward, they crawled back and forth.

At this time, Persjian and Morozov also came to the hillside, and after seeing the battle in the distance, they asked me for instructions: "Comrade division commander, what should we do?" ”

I lowered my binoculars and looked around, and saw Lieutenant Godunov and Captain Basmanov standing beside me. Seeing that the commanders were present, I began to give orders: "Captain Basmanov, you take the fighters of the guard battalion and hurry up to dig bunkers on this hillside. Once we have rescued the trapped troops, you will be tasked with interdiction. ”

"Yes!" Basmanov agreed, and went downhill to gather the fighters of the guard battalion.

Then I ordered Persjian: "Captain Persjian, when a new German offensive begins, you will lead the tanks to launch a surprise attack from their rear, and try to take out a few more German tanks." ”

"Lieutenant Godunov, when Captain Perstian's tanks begin to attack, you will take the opportunity to attack the flank of the German infantry with your troops. Captain Morozov, when our infantry is attacking, you have to concentrate artillery fire on the German infantry so that they cannot organize effective resistance and cover the breakthrough of friendly forces on the opposite heights. ”

After I gave all the orders in one go, I saw that except for Captain Basmanov, who had left, the rest of the people were still standing still, and I couldn't help frowning, and shouted at them: "Now that the tasks are clear, what are you still standing here for, why don't you go and carry it out quickly?" ”

A few people loudly agreed, and they all ran down the hill to carry out my orders.

A new round of the German offensive began ten minutes later. Seeing that the German tanks were once again parked at the foot of the hill, covering the infantry charging on the high ground with artillery fire, Persjian led two tanks to attack decisively. They opened fire as they went, and in the first round of shelling, each hit a tank, and the German tank suddenly burst into a large cloud of dark red flames, and then began to burn. And those German infantry who were climbing. was also beaten by the light and heavy fire on the hillside, and the ghost cried wolf. Leaving a large body behind. The wolf retreated downward.

Godunov's troops, too, rushed forward in trucks, following behind the tanks. When Perstian's tank fired a second shot, it destroyed a German tank again. The infantry fighters jumped out of their trucks and pounced on the Germans who had fled down the hillside with their weapons in hand.

And Morozov's artillery was not ambiguous, the gunners, having removed the mortars from the trucks, quickly set up the guns, aimed at the places where the enemy had gathered, and opened fire. Five mortar shells after making a beautiful arc in the air. One by one, they landed in the dense German columns and exploded, and the German soldiers who had been crowded together were blown up and ran in all directions in a mess.

Just as the Germans were being beaten by us, the friendly troops on the top of the hill jumped out of the trenches in time and rushed down the hill with their weapons in hand. Their attack became the last straw that broke the camel's back, and the German army, which had been struggling to support us, could no longer support it and turned around and ran back.

Godunov knew that our mission was to rescue this trapped friendly army. Instead of destroying the enemy in front of him, he did not order the troops to pursue. Instead, let the fighters cover the friendly commanders and fighters who had just broken out of the encirclement and get into the car and withdraw to our side.

Seeing that the infantry had already begun to retreat after rescuing the friendly troops, the Perstian tank detachment, which had destroyed five enemy tanks, did not like to fight, and after firing two more shots at the fleeing German tanks, it also quickly retreated.

A few minutes later, Godunov came to the hillside with several commanders in large-brimmed hats. I looked at these commanders with white and black faces, and asked with a pleasant face: "Comrade commanders, which unit are you from?" ”

A second lieutenant looked me up and down and asked vigilantly, "Comrade Colonel, may I ask first, which part are you?" ”

Basmanov, who was standing beside me, saw the unfriendly attitude of the second lieutenant, and hurriedly jumped out and asked angrily: "Comrade second lieutenant, how can you be so rude to our division commander?" ”

I raised my hand, stopped Basmanov from continuing, and replied kindly: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, I am Colonel Oshanina, the commander of the separate division of the 64th Army. I came to your rescue on orders from above, and I may I ask you which part you are from now? ”

Without waiting for the second lieutenant to answer, a political worker pushed him away and came to me, raised his hand and saluted, and replied respectfully: "Report to Comrade Colonel, I am Yevtifeev, the instructor of our 62nd Army, this second lieutenant," he said, pointing to the second lieutenant who had just spoken, and continued to introduce, "It is Second Lieutenant Strelkov of the communications company." ”

I nodded, raised my chin to the other two commanders who were standing next to me and didn't speak, and asked, "Who are these two commanders?" ”

As soon as my words fell, one of the political workers stepped forward, raised his hand and saluted, and reported: "Comrade Colonel, Kovalev, the deputy political instructor of the reconnaissance platoon, reports to you and awaits your orders. ”

I smiled at him, turned my head and asked the remaining sergeant, "And you, Comrade Tuas?" ”

The sergeant quickly straightened up and reported to me: "I am the chief of the communications company, Pukazov, and I am at your orders. ”

After getting acquainted with the commander of the communications company, I walked up to Yevtifeev and asked with concern: "Comrade political instructor, how many people are left in your company?" ”

Yevtifeev looked at the people around him, then looked down the hill, and then replied: "Report to Comrade Colonel, there are still 33 people left in my company. ”

"You've had a good past two days." Vylore, who had not spoken all this time, suddenly spoke and was full of praise for Yevtifeev, "Just look at the burning tanks at the foot of the mountain, and then look at the corpses of the fascist bandits on the hillside, you will know how brilliant your results are. ”

Hearing Velol's praise, Yevtifeev, after looking her up and down, straightened his waist and said proudly: "Yes, Comrade Instructor of the Female Politics. During the two days of fighting, we used anti-tank guns, Molotov cocktails and anti-tank grenades, destroying 22 German tanks and killing nearly 200 of them. ”

"If you add the results of the tank detachment, the Germans have 27 tanks reimbursed here." Godunov looked at the burning German tanks on the battlefield in the distance and couldn't help but say proudly.

I raised my hand and looked at my watch, it was already eight o'clock in the morning, and I thought to myself that today's task was quite smooth, and it was completed so easily. However, this is not a place to stay for a long time, and it must be transferred immediately, otherwise it will not be as easy as it is now to retreat when the German planes are dispatched. Thinking of this, he urged them: "All right, comrades, since the communication company has successfully broken through, then it is time for us to retreat." If we wait for the German planes to come out and the ground forces catch up, we will not be able to withdraw even if we want to. With that, I lifted my feet and walked down the hill.

"Comrade Colonel, please wait." Seeing that I was leaving, Yevtifeev suddenly rushed in front of me with an arrow step, blocked my way, and said loudly: "We can't withdraw yet." ”

"Why?" Because I was worried that the German planes would come back at any time, my tone was particularly stiff when I said this, "Our mission is to rescue you, and since you are out of danger, you should get out of here as soon as possible." Are you blocking my way because you are planning to stay and have a banquet with the Germans? ”

Yevtifeev waved his hands desperately and said anxiously: "It's not like this, it's not like this. Comrade Colonel, you misunderstood me. I say we can't withdraw because we still have troops that haven't been withdrawn. (To be continued......)

PS: Heartfelt thanks to book friends Luo-Xia, oil paper umbrella & secular, and children's Yang Tongshoe.