Our reinforcements?!

I was taken aback to hear this from Second Lieutenant Miducci, how did Colonel Anchufeev's troops follow so quickly? I turned around curiously and looked behind me, but I saw that the forest behind me was quiet, and I couldn't even see a single figure. At the same time, it occurred to me that even if the commander of the Anchufeev division came, it would be useless, they did not have heavy weapons, how could they provide us with fire cover?

Thinking of this, I turned around, looked at Miducci, who was standing in front of me with an excited face, and asked in a stern tone: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, where are the reinforcements you are talking about?" How I didn't see it. ”

"Comrade Major, reinforcements?" Second Lieutenant Miducci asked rhetorically, "Not behind us, they appeared behind the enemy's back." As he said this, a sunny smile appeared on his face.

After listening to him, I still didn't understand: how could our troops appear in the rear of the German lines, could it be the work of General Vlasov, who sent other troops around the enemy's rear, and then launched a surprise attack to take the enemy by surprise?

Although I was still confused, I saw the shells falling on the enemy positions one after another, and shrapnel whizzing in all directions, cutting down the Germans who were running in all directions, and occasionally human mutilations, fragments of weapons, and dirt were blown into the air by the waves of explosions.

Seeing that a great offensive opportunity is in front of me, if I don't know how to grasp it, then I can find a piece of cheese and just hit it. I walked quickly to the front of the group, pointed ahead, and said loudly to them: "Comrades, as long as we capture the enemy positions in front, we will be able to open a passage for the troops of the group army to break out of the encirclement. With that, I raised my assault rifle in my hand, swung it forward, and shouted, "Brothers, go ahead and destroy them!" ”

Ugad in the queue also cooperated with me, shouting a series of passwords: "Listen to my command, all spread out in formation, and move forward!" Brethren, go forward! Following his command, the troops took up an offensive formation and charged with bayonets in hand.

The target of the attack led by Ugard was the hillside on the right, and they maintained a relatively neat formation to push forward. The Germans, who were lucky enough not to be killed by the shells, hid in the fortifications and opened heavy fire on the attacking troops, the bullets making one gap after another in the middle of the ranks, but they could not stop their advance. Seeing that they were still moving at a constant speed in the rain of bullets, they crossed the flat ground and began to climb uphill, and the troops led by Captain Kozara also got up from the ground and launched the most rear-end attack on the German positions in front of them.

The infantry charge was chosen at the right time, and the Germans, held down by the heavy artillery fire of our reinforcements, were simply unable to inflict serious casualties on our troops. As many of the firing points were destroyed one by one, the troops led by Kozara and Ugad quickly rushed up the two hillsides.

I wanted to rush with me, but I was stopped by Sergeant Gerasimenko and the fighters of the guard squad, and they said that it was for my safety. Since I could not go to the front and charge, I could only stand behind the wall of men of the guard squad and shout at the front, regardless of whether they could hear it or not: "Captain Kozara, Lieutenant Ugad, pick all the Germans to death with bayonets, and leave not a single one behind." ”

The battle on the hillsides was being fought inextricably, with several tanks speeding along the railroad tracks from east to west. The sandbag fortifications that the Germans had built in the middle of the railway were already half blown apart by artillery fire, and the tank that hit the head slammed into it, breaking the side that was already intact. Several empty-handed German soldiers fled from the fortifications and ran along the railroad tracks towards us, but before they could get far, they were all knocked out by the machine guns on the tanks.

As the tank approached, it was already certain that it was our own T34 tank, and I gently pushed away the guard and Sergeant Gerasimenko who were blocking me, and said as I walked forward: "It's our tank, sergeant, let's go over and have a look." ”

Several tanks drove up to a distance of more than ten meters from me and came to a halt in unison. The hatch of one of the tanks opened, and out of it came a serviceman in a black tank uniform. He looked over to us, quickly jumped out of the tank, and without hesitation trotted towards us.

A knowing smile appeared on my face at the sight of the tankmen approaching as they got closer, and I slung my rifle over my shoulder and met it. The other party came to me and stood up and saluted, and before he could speak, I had already opened my mouth first: "Hello! Comrade Captain Witolganov, we are old acquaintances, and we did not expect to meet here again. He held out his hand to him.

As soon as the captain grabbed my hand, he shook it vigorously and said, "Comrade Major, I didn't expect that you were actually the vanguard of the 2nd Assault Army breaking through. Saying this, he let go of my hand, took a step back, stood up again and saluted, and reported to me in accordance with the regulations: "Comrade Major, Captain Witolganov, commander of the 29th Tank Brigade of the Volkhov Front, reports to you that we have been ordered to come and relieve the troops of the 2nd Shock Army. Now that we have triumphantly joined forces, we are at your command. ”

When I heard him say this, I realized that this tank unit that suddenly appeared was not sent by Vlasov, but came from east to west to relieve us from the siege under the command of the commander of the Front, General Meretskov. After understanding the whole thing, I stepped forward and grabbed his hand, and asked with excitement: "Comrade Captain!" Victory...... Can I understand the teacher...... Understand that we have broken the siege? ”

Captain Witolganov replied with a smile on his face: "My comrade major, since the division has been met, of course, it has broken through the encirclement of the Germans. Why are you so brainless! ”

I let go of his hand, took the hands of Sergeant Gerasimenko and another guard standing behind me, and shouted happily: "Sergeant Gerasimenko, and you, comrade soldier. Did you all hear that? We broke through the encirclement and joined forces with the troops sent by the commander of the front. ”

"I hear you, Comrade Major." Sergeant Gerasimenko and the guards all replied cheerfully, their faces beaming with joy.

"Sergeant Gerasimenko," since the siege has been broken, the news must be immediately communicated to Colonel Anchufeev, who is still behind, so I gave an order to the sergeant: "You immediately take two fighters, go to the division headquarters, and tell Colonel Anchufeev the news of the rendezvous with the 29th Tank Brigade." ”

"Yes, Comrade Major, I promise to complete the task." The sergeant said yes loudly, and then called the two fighters to go.

The battle on the slopes of the hills on both sides, with the help of the infantry who came after the tanks, also ended. Lieutenant Kozara and Lieutenant Ugad left their troops on the hillside to serve as guards, and then both came running to report to me on the results of the battle.

I was standing in front of the tank with Captain Witorganov and chatting, and the two of them came up to me, stood up and saluted and reported: "Report to Comrade Major, Captain Kozara (Lieutenant Ugad) reports to you that the Germans on the hillside have been completely wiped out. The troops are currently on guard at their positions on the hillside, and we have come to listen to your orders. ”

"Well done, comrade commanders." I went up and patted them on the shoulder, applauded them, and added, "Let the troops remain on the hillside as a guard to ensure the smooth passage of the breakout." ”

"Comrade Major," continued Lieutenant Ugad, "just now when I was joining a friendly army on the hillside, a young commander heard your name and offered to say that he had fought alongside you, and wanted to come and see you. ”

"Who will be the commander who has fought alongside me?" In the past nearly a year, I have fought in many places, and I have fought side by side with thousands of commanders, and I really can't remember who it was. I looked down and thought for a long time without getting the gist of it, then looked up at Ugad and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant, where is the commander of that friendly army?" ”

"Here I am, Comrade Major." With the voice, a young commander walked out from the side of the tank and asked with a smile: "I once fought side by side with you, I wonder if you remember me?" ”

"Lieutenant Akhromeyev," I didn't expect to meet two acquaintances at once today, and both of them had fought in this vicinity, so I took two quick steps, went up and grabbed his arms, slapped them vigorously, and said excitedly: "It turned out to be you, but I didn't expect you to bring troops to relieve the siege for us." ”

The lieutenant smiled and said: "Comrade Major, I was ordered by General Meretskov to take the second lieutenant training team to relieve the siege of the 2nd Shock Army. I didn't expect to meet you just after breaking the encirclement of the Germans. ”