I heard that the Germans really repaired the pontoon bridges on the Dnieper, although only one of them was repaired, but it was enough to make me anxious, if the Germans, under the cover of tanks, rushed across the Dnieper and gained a foothold in the city, then I just mentioned that crossing the river and breaking through would be stillborn.

I hurriedly grabbed the assault rifle I was leaning on the table, stood up sharply, and said to Kirillov and Vitkov: "Commissar, chief of staff, I want to go to the front and have a look, and I will leave it to you here." ”

Kirillov got up from his seat, walked around the table, stopped me with open hands, and tried to persuade me: "Comrade Oshanina, it's too dangerous outside, you can't go!" ”

Seeing Kirillov's actions, Vitkov also immediately came to his senses, he hurriedly stood by Kirillov's side, and also helped to persuade: "Yes, Comrade Commander, now the situation on the side of the 22nd Guards Division is very dangerous, and we don't even know whether the enemy will break through the positions of our troops by the river and rush to the city. As the commander of an army, you don't have the right to risk your life. ”

"Commissar, Chief of Staff." I knew in my heart that if I didn't convince the two people, I wouldn't be able to get out of this headquarters today, so I didn't break through, but stood on the spot with an assault rifle and said to them earnestly: "In our next plan, whether the riverside position can be controlled in our hands is the key to the success or failure of the operation. Sitting in command and waiting for news, I can't do that. I thank you for your interest in me, but rest assured that I will not go directly to the riverside positions, but will end up at the command post of the first regiment to find out how the battle is going. ”

Hear me say that. Kirillov slowly lowered his hands. No longer hindering my departure. But he was still not at ease, stepped forward and grabbed my free right hand, and said uneasily: "Comrade Oshanina, you must pay attention to safety, the future fate of our 79th Infantry Army is pinned on you alone." ”

I slung the rifle over my shoulder, patted the back of his hand with my left hand, and said gratefully, "Thank you." Comrade Political Commissar, thank you for your concern. Don't worry, I will definitely come back intact, and I will take our 79th Infantry Corps all the way to Berlin, how could I sacrifice my life so lightly. With that, I gently pulled my right hand out of his palm, took a step back, and raised my hand to give him a solemn military salute.

He and Vitkov also hurriedly raised their hands to salute me and said in a low voice: "Comrade Oshanina, you should be more careful on the road. Don't be pushy. Once you encounter an enemy who rushes into the city, you must move as far as you can. After all, we still have a lot of troops in the city, and they can destroy the intrusive enemy in the shortest possible time. ”

As soon as Kirillov's words were finished, Vitkov shouted loudly outside: "Captain Yushchenko, Captain Yushchenko, you come in." ”

With his shout, Yushchenko, heavily armed, hurried in from outside. Running in front of Vitkov, he stood up and asked loudly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what instructions do you have?" ”

Vitkov raised his hand and pointed at me and ordered: "Comrade Captain, the commander of the army should immediately rush to the regimental defense area of the 22nd Guards Division, and I order you to bring more soldiers to protect the safety of the commander." You want your life and honor to promise me that you will ensure the safety of the commander, even at the cost of your life. ”

Yushchenko glanced at me, and then replied in a loud voice: "Please rest assured, Chief of Staff, that I received the order before I came to Stalingrad with the special guard company: to ensure the safety of Comrade Commander at any cost. As long as we still have one person left, we will never let the Germans hurt a single hair of the comrade commander. ”

We came out of the command, Yushchenko told me to wait for a while, and then he shouted a few times at the opposite house. As soon as his shout ended, a platoon of soldiers rushed out of the building and quickly formed a four-way column in the street. Seeing that all the fighters were like me, wearing SH-42 cuirass body armor and carrying assault rifles, I knew in my heart that these fighters were the elite soldiers brought by Yushchenko.

Seeing that the troops were assembled, Yushchenko shouted at the ranks: "Sergeant Lazarev! ”

One of the sergeants, standing on the far right of the first batch, trotted up in front of him, staring at Yushchenko, waiting for him to give him an order.

"Sergeant," Yushchenko also did not ramble with Lazarev, and ordered him bluntly: "You take a squad to sit in the lead and lead the way in front." Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Battalion Commander." Lazarev nodded and replied loudly. Then he turned to the group and shouted, "Class I, follow me!" With that, he took him away and ran towards the west of the city, followed by a group of soldiers who had received his order.

Seeing that the avant-garde squad ran fifty or sixty meters away, Captain Yushchenko waved his hand at the troops and said loudly: "All listen to my command and go!" ”

Although we all trotted all the way when we set off, because the cuirass on our bodies was too heavy, we didn't run far, and everyone invariably changed from trotting to fast walking. The streets and roads are full of barricades and barricades made of sandbags and wood, and except for the openings left for pedestrians and vehicles, the rest of the area is tightly blocked with fortifications. Since the inhabitants of the city have long been evacuated, those who are busy reinforcing the fortifications are the commanders and fighters of the 22nd Guards Division.

As I walked, I said to Yushchenko beside me: "Comrade Captain, you are too cautious, and you have sent a squad of troops to the front guard. Not to mention that the position of a regiment by the river has not been lost, and even if it is lost, there are our commanders and fighters all around, and it is impossible for the Germans to touch it here. ”

Yushchenko glanced at me and said with an indifferent expression: "Comrade commander, my responsibility is to protect your safety. Therefore, we must be cautious in terms of safety, and we must not make any mistakes. ”

I knew in my heart that Yushchenko's duty was to try to keep me safe by all means, so I stopped talking, but silently walked forward with the troops. But I still felt that Yushchenko was a little nervous, even if the German army broke through a position by the river, it was not so easy to break through the layers of defenses in the city and rush into the city.

We are getting closer and closer to the defense zone of a regiment. Just walk to the intersection seventy or eighty meters ahead and turn right. You will be able to see the command post of a regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Sedjerikov. Listen to the clearer and clearer sound of gunfire ahead. I hurriedly urged Yushchenko: "Comrade Captain, let's speed up a little, the regimental command post of the first regiment is about to arrive." ”

As soon as my words fell, before Yushchenko could speak, a dense burst of gunfire was heard in front of me. I watched as the squad that was walking in front was knocked down by bullets fired from buildings on both sides of the road. Almost at the same time, Yushchenko threw me to the ground, and at the same time he shouted loudly: "Combat alert." Conceal it all! Battle alert, all hidden! ”

When everyone was lying down or hiding behind the sandbags, I heard Yushchenko shouting loudly: "Cover the fire of the third and fourth shifts, and the second shift!" Then the crisp shot of the assault rifle rang out in all directions.

Where I lay down, right next to a makeshift semicircular sandbag fortification. I gently patted Yushchenko with my backhand, signaling him to leave me alone and concentrate on directing the battle.

After Yushchenko's body was removed, I crawled to the gap in the sandbag and cautiously peeked out. I saw a group of soldiers who were originally knocked to the ground by the Germans. At this moment, many people are squatting or lying on their stomachs, and they are firing back at the buildings on both sides of the road. And the soldiers of the second squad who went up to reinforce it. The soldiers divided into two ways, and quickly approached the position of the fierce battle against the base of the wall.

The number of German troops in the building did not seem to be large, and under the combined strikes of the first and second squads, as well as the suppression of the fire of the third and fourth squads, their fire gradually became sparse. I saw Sergeant Lazarev, who had fallen to the ground, staggering to his feet with his hands on his chest, apparently having just been shot in the chest. He stood there for a moment, took a few steps forward with his weapon in hand, and seemed to rush into the building through the hallway door.

At this moment, a German officer holding a pistol and wearing a large-brimmed hat rushed out of the building. He slammed Lazarev in the chest with his shoulder, causing the sergeant to stagger back several steps, and as if he was not satisfied with the result, he raised his pistol and fired several more shots at the sergeant.

I thought that such a close shot would kill Sergeant Lazarev on the spot, but I was about to raise my assault rifle to kill this damn German, but I saw Lazarev holding a gun and pulling the trigger at the German officer in front of him. A series of bullets shot out of the muzzle of the gun and hit the German officer's body firmly, only to see the blood mist filled, the officer leaned back, and without even saying a word, he fell firmly on his back to the ground.

When the German officer was shot and killed, the shooting in the building stopped completely, and three German soldiers, holding rifles aloft, walked out of the building trembling and surrendered to our soldiers.

I don't know if there are any Germans left in the building, so I'm still lying on the ground. In the end, Yushchenko squatted down and reported to me: "Comrade commander, you can get up, all the German soldiers who ambushed have been wiped out." ”

I got up from the ground and, escorted by Yushchenko and a dozen fighters, came to the area where the battle had just begun. After glancing at the corpse of the German officer, whose chest was beaten to a bloody pulp, I turned my head and asked Lazarev, who was standing in front of us, with concern: "Comrade Sergeant, are you seriously injured?" ”

Unexpectedly, Lazarev shook his head and replied in a loud voice: "Please rest assured, commander, I have only suffered a slight injury, which will not affect my participation in the next battle." ”

I looked down at his breastplate, and saw seven or eight dents on it that had been hit by bullets, but they were only dents, not penetrated, and it seemed that his wounds were not fatal. After nodding, I asked again, "What about the casualties of the first class?" ”

"Report to the army commander," Lazarev reported to me, glancing at his subordinates behind him, "one was killed and seven were wounded, but the injuries would not affect the battle that was about to be participated." ”

After listening to Lazarev's report, I stared at his chest again and said to myself: "What the hell, I obviously saw the German officer shoot several shots at your breastplate, and at such a close distance, it didn't penetrate it." ”

"Comrade Commander, please let me explain to you what is going on." Yushchenko's voice rang in his ears, and he probably took the initiative to explain to me when he saw that I had been staring at the cuirass to study a reason: "After a period of actual combat, I found that the MP9 submachine gun equipped with 40 mm bullets, which is often used by the German army in close combat, can penetrate our ordinary steel helmet at an effective range of 200 meters, but it is not capable of penetrating this rigid body armor when fired at a distance of 100 meters. It's just that I didn't expect that it could effectively defend against the penetrating effect of Luger's 9mm pistol bullets at such a close distance. ”

After listening to Yushchenko's explanation, I nodded with satisfaction, with this cuirass body armor, my chances of surviving the battlefield in the future have greatly increased. I raised my hand and looked at my watch, and the battle had lasted less than five minutes. I turned to Yushchenko and asked: "Comrade Captain, did you interrogate the Germans and how they managed to sneak into the vicinity of the command post of a regiment?" ”

Yushchenko shook his head and replied: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander. We didn't have any German-speaking fighters here, so I sent a few fighters and escorted the prisoners back to the army headquarters. ”

I couldn't help but be a little disappointed because I couldn't figure out how the Germans had infiltrated in the first place. But the first task at the moment was to go to the regimental command post of the 1st regiment and find Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov to find out about the situation at the front. So I shook my head and said to Yushchenko: "Let's go, Comrade Captain, we must immediately rush to the regimental command post of the 1st regiment." ”

On the way to the command post of the regiment, I could not help muttering in my heart again: the place of the battle was so close to the command post of the regiment, but the troops in charge of the guard did not notice it at all. If the Germans had just gone to attack Sederikov's command post instead of ambushing us, wouldn't they be in danger of being killed by the Germans?

"Stop, who are you?" We had just walked through the intersection when an angry shout suddenly came from the front: "Stop, if you don't stand again, I'll shoot!" ”

I followed the prestige and saw a sandbag-stacked machine gun fortification on the side of the road ahead, two machine gun shooters were ready to shoot, and we were questioned by a corporal, who was standing next to the machine gun with a rifle in his hand, aiming in our direction.

I raised my hand and told Yushchenko and the soldiers of the guard platoon to stand still, so as not to irritate the nervous fighters. I slowly took two steps forward, then stopped, put my hands behind my back, and asked the corporal who was raising his gun and aimed at me: "Comrade Corporal, don't you know me?" ”

Hearing this, the corporal glanced at me carefully, then lowered the muzzle of his gun and beckoned the machine gunner next to him to close the safety to prevent misfire. It was only after this was done that the corporal came up to me, raised his hand to salute me, and reported: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, please forgive me for not recognizing you just now." We had just heard a dense burst of gunfire ahead, but because there were too few people to go over and check, we had to step up our guard. ”

"I'm going to find your regimental commander, is he at the command post?" I asked briefly.

"Yes, Comrade Commander." The corporal hurriedly replied: "The regimental commander was in the command post all day today to direct the battle and never left. ”

"Sergeant Lazarev, you stay with the first squad and help the corporal guard this intersection." After saying this, I shouted to Yushchenko again: "Captain, you take the rest of the people and go with me to the regimental command post." ”

"Yes!" Yushchenko agreed, and then began to give orders: "The first class and Sergeant Lazarev stay, and the second, third, and fourth classes will come with me!" ”

Perhaps because of the lack of strength of one regiment, we did not encounter any other guard forces from the distance of more than a hundred meters from that fortification to the command post. When they came to the door of the regimental command post, they saw two sentries standing guard. Seeing this, Yushchenko frowned and said: "Comrade army commander, the defense of the regimental command post is too weak, and if the Germans come to the strength of even one platoon, they will be wiped out." (To be continued......)