Bandeleyv looked at me, then at Kirillov, and finally at Akhromeyev's back as he walked towards the intercom, and nodded thoughtfully, as if he understood why Kirillov had asked Akhromeyev to answer the call.

Originally, it was understandable to take some actions according to the changes in the situation on the battlefield, and even if I rebelled against an enemy force without permission, it was understandable, after all, I weakened the enemy and strengthened myself by doing so. But because of the myriad of regulations, my hands and feet were so constrained that I had to remain a bystander in this matter. In this way, if someone is held accountable afterwards, Akhromeyev can be held responsible, saying that he made the decision without permission, and as long as the matter does not have much to do with me, I can intercede for him at a critical moment and save him. If I had been held accountable for doing this myself, I would not have escaped the fate of being court-martial unless a commander of the rank of Yeremenko personally came to protect me.

Although all three of us sat at the table and did not move, none of us spoke, and we all listened to the conversation between Akhromeyev and Savchenko with our ears sideways: "Hey, is it Comrade Savchenko? I'm the Chief of Staff, Major Akhromeyev, do you have anything to report to the division commander? The division commander is busy and doesn't have time to answer your calls, and you said the same to me. ”

After listening intently for a while, Akhromeyev politely said into the microphone: "Comrade Savchenko, I already know the situation, and this matter will be handled at your discretion." Remember what the division commander often says: be a commander. Know how to adapt to changes in the battlefield situation. ”

Wait for Akhromeyev to come to our side. Kirillov couldn't wait to ask: "Chief of staff, how is the situation, what does Comrade Savchenko say?" ”

After Akhromeyev sat down, he reported to the three of us: "Savchenko said that he had just taken the risk of letting go of the sergeant among the prisoners and told him to go back and contact the battalion commander of the Vostok battalion, Captain Nikolai......"

Without waiting for Akhromeyev to finish speaking, Bandeleyev frowned and said: "How did this Comrade Savchenko do it, why did he release the prisoner so lightly, what if he brought in a large army of the enemy." In that case, Comrade Savchenko, they will be in danger. ”

Akhromeyev always had a smile on his face as he spoke, and only after the other side finished speaking, did he add: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, the situation is not as bad as you think." Comrade Savchenko reported that when the sergeant was released, he moved to a safe place with the rest of the fighters, except for one soldier who was left to guard the spot. Until I saw that the sergeant had only returned with two or three people, and that the camp had not changed much. He resurfaced to connect with the other party. ”

"What about after the joint?" Kirillov asked with concern.

"Savchenko reported that it was an adjutant of Captain Nikolai who came. Invite him to the camp to talk about cooperation. Akhromeyev briefly reported: "He called to report the incident, and at the same time he said that he would try to rescue the thousands of soldiers in the prisoner of war camp if he could rebel against this force, so I agreed to his request and only asked him to be improvised." ”

After listening to Akhromeyev's report, I also had a general understanding of the whole thing, and when everyone was quiet, I began to speak: "Comrade commanders, since Comrade Savchenko has gone to meet with that Captain Nikolai, there are only two endings. First, the conditions could not be negotiated, and Savchenko returned the same way with the comrades of the reconnaissance detachment; Second, the conditions have been negotiated, which involves how we will receive this unit and those comrades-in-arms who are being held in prisoner-of-war camps. ”

"Isn't that easy?" Bandeleyev said lightly: "Didn't the scouts just now report that on that forward position north of the 4th Regiment, there was only one platoon of troops, and it was not Germans, but Italians, who were extremely weak in combat. I felt that it would be enough to send a company to attack and destroy this group of enemies and open a passage. ”

"The deputy division commander has a point," Kirillov promptly supported the opinion of Bandeleyev.

Unlike the commanders of other troops, I don't just give orders, but habitually ask for everyone's opinions, so that everyone can have a chance to express their opinions, so that when I finally make a decision, they will carry out all the orders I give to the letter. Because of this, when both Bandeleyev and Kirillov expressed their opinions, I did not say my opinion, but looked at Akhromeyev opposite and asked: "What about you, Comrade Chief of Staff?" ”

Akhromeyev replied very dryly: "My opinion is the same as that of the government, the deputy division commander. ”

Seeing that everyone's opinions were unanimous, I moved on to a new question: "According to Savchenko's report, there are more than 1,700 prisoners of war in the prisoner of war camp, plus the Eastern Battalion guarding them, which is more than 2,000 people. ”

"If Captain Nikolai does not think that we should not dismantle his troops, then I will divide the battalion into several regiments as a company. As for the comrades who were rescued, those who were wounded were treated, and those who were not injured were scattered to the various units. When Kirillov said this, he hesitated for a moment, and then said hesitantly: "If one regiment can be rebuilt in the near future, then I think it should be replenished first, after all, the other regiments can be replenished by other means." ”

Hearing Kirillov mention a group, my heart couldn't help but sink, the location of Karpov's second battalion is not the most fierce battle, but in just one day, there are only a dozen of more than 200 soldiers under Karpov, and I believe that the casualties of troops in other areas will be even heavier. Maybe by tomorrow night, my group will be able to cancel the formation.

Not only me, but even Akhromeyev and Bandeleyev heard Kirillov mention it, and the expressions on their faces became particularly ugly. It seems that they are also worried about an unknown fate. Kirillov also seems to have found himself saying the wrong thing. Hurriedly closed his mouth and stopped talking.

In the end, I broke the silence in the headquarters, and I pretended to be relaxed and said, "Comrades, what's wrong with you? You must know that in this war, countless commanders and fighters sacrifice their precious lives every day to defend our motherland. As long as we can defeat the fascist invaders, it will be worth it, even if we pay a great price. I'm sure Shederikov and his men will understand this. ”

After saying that. I stood up, turned my head and shouted at Razumeyeva: "Lieutenant, report to me as soon as there is information from Comrade Savchenko." ”

Razumayeva, whom I named by name, quickly got up from her seat, raised her hand and saluted us, and then replied loudly: "Yes!" ”

After waiting for me to sit down again, Kirillov asked tentatively: "Comrade Oshanina, does this matter need to be reported immediately to the command of the army group?" ”

I thought about it, and then shook my head and denied his suggestion: "There is no need to report this matter to the authorities for the time being, first, the current communication of the group army headquarters has been damaged, and if you use wireless communication." Prone to leaks; Second, it is still unknown whether this thing can be done. So we can't get our hopes up too much. ”

"The division commander is right," said Bandeleyev after thinking for a while, "do we plan how to rescue our comrades in the prisoner of war camp if Comrade Savchenko's rebellion fails?" You know, they were now only a few kilometers away from us, and we were separated only by an Eastern battalion, a small number of German soldiers, and a platoon of Italian troops in the forward positions. ”

As soon as Bandeleev's mention was spoken, Akhromeyev was immediately intrigued, and he stood up, pushed the map on the table in front of us, leaned down, pointed to the Mamayev post and the prisoner-of-war camp in the distance, and began to express his opinion: "Division commander, political commissar, deputy division commander, let me talk about my opinion. In order to rescue our comrades-in-arms from danger, I mentioned that after dawn, a part of the 4th Regiment launched an attack on the enemy's forward positions, and after seizing and consolidating the positions, I sent a part of the troops to rush to the position where the prisoner of war camp was located in trucks, forcing the Dongfang Battalion, which was guarding the prisoner of war camp, to turn around. ”

"Wouldn't this plan be too risky?" Kirillov said uneasily: "If we attack the enemy's position, they call in aircraft or long-range artillery fire to help the battle, then our attacking troops will not suffer heavy casualties?" I built yì to wait for it to get dark, and then let the four regiments draw a company and take a wooden boat down the river to join the small detachment led by Savchenko. When the two units were reunited in the prisoner of war camp, it might be possible to strengthen Captain Nikolai's resolve anyway. After the reversal of this force, except for a few who stayed behind to assist in the rescue of their comrades in the prisoner of war camp, the rest of the men immediately turned around and rushed up from behind the Italian army, and after seizing this forward position, they covered the main force to move towards Mamayev Hills. ”

"The plans of the commissar and the chief of staff each have their own characteristics." After listening to the plan of the two, Bandeleyev also expressed his opinion unhurriedly: "But have you ever thought that the plan you put forward is based on the fact that Captain Nikolai's troops will surrender to us. If, by the time our troops had arrived, Nikolai had not surrendered, and had secretly informed the Germans of our movements, the troops we had sent would be in danger of total annihilation. Therefore, I think we should be cautious in this matter, at least after Comrade Savchenko's new report arrives, and then we will discuss how to implement the plan for rebellion and rescue. ”

Hearing that the three of them had three different points of view, I couldn't help but smile wryly. After pondering for a long time, I felt that what Bandeleyev said was the most reasonable, and that the plans we had drawn up were all wishful thinking that Captain Nikolai would definitely surrender to us, and that we were thinking too much about how to open a passage for them if we received troops. It didn't even occur to us what we would do if Captain Nikolai suddenly repented and opened fire on us after our troops arrived. Thinking of this, I couldn't help but smile bitterly, it seems that I still take things for granted, and before the whole thing has been skimmed, I almost made a hasty final decision.

Seeing that several people were looking at me, waiting for me to make a final decision, I had to cough lightly, clear my throat, and announce to them: "I think everyone's plan is very good, and I also think that the deputy commander has reminded me correctly. We haven't figured out what Captain Nikolai really thinks. Just hurriedly make plans. This is inappropriate, so I decided to wait for the latest report of Comrade Savchenko to come and then make a plan. After saying that, I raised my hand and looked at my watch, and found that it had been an hour since Sarhovchenko's last contact, so I turned around and asked Razumeeva: "Lieutenant, is there any information from Comrade Savchenko?" ”

Seeing that Razumeyeva shook her head in the negative, I hurriedly instructed her: "Call Comrade Savchenko immediately." Let him keep them updated on the latest developments on their side. ”

I thought that in less than two minutes, we would be able to know the information that Savchenko had returned. Korazumeyeva called for a long time, and there was no movement on the radio station on Savchenko's side. Seeing that I couldn't get in touch for a long time, I couldn't help but get anxious, walked up to Razumeyeva's side, and asked her loudly: "Lieutenant, what the hell is going on?" Why has it been so long that Savchenko has not been contacted? ”

Seeing that I was angry, Razumeyeva replied with a crying voice: "Comrade division commander, I have been calling. But there was no movement on the other side. ”

I suddenly felt a gentle tap on my shoulder and turned my head to look. It turned out to be Kirillov. He smiled and said to me: "Comrade Oshanina, you are a commander, no matter what happens, you must keep a normal heart. Seeing that I nodded in approval, he lowered his head again and asked Lazumeeva amiably: "Comrade lieutenant, what is going on, why can't you get in touch?" ”

When Razumeyeva heard Kirillov's voice, she quickly raised her head and replied: "Report to the commissar, just when I was talking to Commander Savchenko, I noticed that there was something unusual about the sound coming from the headphones. Now they are unable to reach them, probably because of a problem with their communication equipment. ”

"Huh?! Something wrong with your communication equipment? "Razumeyeva's words made us dumbfounded, and several of us looked at each other, and we all saw helplessness in each other's eyes, if Savchenko's communication equipment was really out of order, as Razumeyeva said, our contact with them would be completely cut off, at least until they returned, and we would not get any useful information.

Seeing that Razumeyeva continued to call in vain, but there was no response from the other party, I knew in my heart that maybe she was right. But I still reluctantly threw down the sentence: "Keep calling until you can get in touch." With that, I returned to the table dejectedly.

Seeing my depressed face, Bandeleyev comforted me and said: "Comrade division commander, don't worry, even if the communication equipment carried by Comrade Savchenko fails, he will definitely try to contact us by all means." Don't forget, last time, after the communication equipment carried by our troops failed, he also took the risk of using the German-made radio distributed by Captain Karpov to contact us. ”

I still have a little bit of gains and losses in my heart, but when I heard Bantai Leev say this, my eyes suddenly lit up, yes, the last time I picked up Karpov and them, Savchenko used the German radio to contact us, and this time I went to plot against Nikolai, and he could also draw a gourd according to the scoop. Thinking of this, my mood improved, and I couldn't help but say lightly: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, you are right, although I can't get in touch with Comrade Savchenko for the time being. But once he has information back, then nine times out of ten it is good news. ”

The wishes are good, but the reality is cruel. After more than an hour, there was no news from Savchenko for half a day, and before I stopped, Razumeyeva kept calling. In the end, Kirillov was blinded and ordered Razumeeva, whose voice was already hoarse, to stop calling.

Seeing that it was already dawn outside, but we still didn't get the slightest bit of information about Savchenko and them, I couldn't help but get irritated again. Just then, the phone on the desk rang out at an inopportune time. Due to the destruction of the communication lines of the army group headquarters, the only people who can make calls at this moment are the regiments under my command. I grabbed the microphone and asked angrily, "Hey, I'm the division commander Oshanina, where are you?" ”

Perhaps my tone was too harsh, but the other party hesitated for a moment before replying respectfully: "Report to the division commander, I am Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar, the commander of the fourth regiment, and I have important information to report to you. ”

"What information, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel?" I asked coldly, "Did the enemy attack your position?" It's not the first time that the enemy has attacked you, but it's still the old way to resolutely repel them. After saying that, I wanted to hang up the phone, but I heard Gaidar's hurried voice: "Division commander, please don't hang up the phone yet, I really have an important situation to report to you." ”

I asked in a sarcastic tone: "Tell me, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I would very much like to know what is the important situation that can make you panic?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Division Commander." Perhaps afraid that I would hang up the phone, Gaidar spoke so fast that I couldn't understand many words clearly: "...... Forward positions were attacked...... What are we going to do? ”

"What do you say, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel?" I could tell that he really had important information to report, so I slowed down and said to him, "Slow down, I can't hear clearly." Is it possible that your positions are under attack by the enemy? "When I asked this, I wondered in my heart, according to reconnaissance, there were no large German troops in the vicinity of Mamayev Hill, so where did the enemy who attacked their heights come from?

"Not what you think, Comrade Division." Gaidar slowed down, and I could finally hear what he was saying, "According to the report of the observation post, the German position north of our regimental defense area is under attack, and three German tanks have rushed into their position from behind, followed by a black oppressive field of infantry. ”

"What? What did you say? "Gaidar's report confuses me, is it possible that the enemy and the enemy are fighting, but it should not be, it's daytime, can't the enemy identify his own people?" Did the enemy himself have a misunderstanding and start a fight? ”

Gaidar hesitated and said, "It doesn't look like it. Although the three tanks that stormed the position had the German white cross markings, the infantry that could follow behind them, in addition to those wearing German uniforms, also wore our uniforms. The enemy's fire on the positions was weak and it seemed that it would soon be unable to resist. ……”

Although Gaidar's words were not finished, I already understood what was going on, and quickly gave Gaidar an order: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you immediately order the commanders and fighters to enter the position, and when you see that group of people breaking through the enemy's defense line and rushing over, do not shoot, they are all our own people." ”

"Your own people?!" Gaidar asked in confusion: "But I haven't heard that we have a large army operating in the rear of the enemy?" ”

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, as soon as this unit enters your defense zone, ask Comrade Savchenko, who is leading the team, to call me, and I will personally explain to him the next matters. Your task is to settle these commanders and fighters who have passed through enemy-occupied areas and prepare something to eat for them. ”

Putting down the phone, I excitedly said to the three people gathered around the table: "Comrade commander, I have good news for you, the forward positions of the German army are being attacked by a unit of unknown origin, and in my judgment, it is nine times out of ten that Comrade Savchenko has rebelled against Nikolai and their troops, released the commanders and fighters in the prisoner of war camp, decisively attacked the enemy positions stuck between them and us, and tried to return to our defense area as soon as possible. ”

All three of them had expressions of disbelief on their faces, because a few hours ago we had sat around the table, worried about Savchenko's unknown fate. Only a few hours later, things took a turn for the worse, and the German positions closest to our division's line were attacked by unknown troops, and I really couldn't imagine that such a force could emerge from nowhere, except for Savchenko.

Akhromeyev stood up, picked up the phone I had just put down, and said uneasily: "I ask the observation post at the top of the hill and ask them to take a closer look if the troops who are attacking the Italian army camp are our fighters. (To be continued......)