Fight bayonets! As soon as I heard this word, my head was dumbfounded. Isn't it self-defeating to attack the heavily defended positions of the Germans with light infantry without artillery cover? Thinking that he would be carrying a bayonet tomorrow and following a group of old men to die, he couldn't help but feel confused.

"Major Oshanina, what are you thinking?" The stern voice of the division commander suddenly sounded in my ears, waking me up from my state of crankiness, I raised my head and looked at him blankly, and asked a little overwhelmed: "Comrade division commander, I don't know what instructions you have?" I am at your command. ”

Colonel Anchufeev did not speak, but snorted heavily. At this time, the voice of Lieutenant Colonel Evgeny came from behind him: "Major Oshanina, where are you still standing and what are you stunned, go to the table and look at the map." ”

I looked left and right, and the commanders who were standing next to me just now were all gathered around the wooden table to read the map at some point, and I was still standing stupidly in place without moving, no wonder the division commander didn't give me a good face. With a flush on my face, I hurried to the table and stood with the lieutenant colonel who had reminded me.

As you can see from the map, our 2nd Shock Army was completely surrounded by the Germans. To the west, it is the target that has been attacked for half a year - Liuban; To the north and south are forests and swamps; At present, the only way out is to attack eastward, trying to join up with the 52nd and 59th armies, which had been holding the line of communication.

Just as everyone was frowning at the map in front of them, a voice came from the door: "Comrade Report Division Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Harpy, commander of the 1127th Regiment, has been ordered to come and wait for your orders." ”

"But I'm looking forward to you." The division commander caught up with him, grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously, and asked with concern: "Lieutenant Colonel Harpy, how is it, is this journey going well?" Did you bring the whole group with you? ”

Lieutenant Colonel Harpy replied loudly: "Yes, Comrade Division Commander. The whole group came. ”

Seeing my immediate boss appear, I couldn't turn a blind eye, so I hurriedly walked over and saluted him: "Comrade Regiment Commander, hello! Major Oshanina reports to you that the 3rd Battalion arrived at the division headquarters on time and is ready to go into battle at your orders. ”

Harpy withdrew his hand and saluted back, but before he could speak, the colonel pulled him to the other side of the table to look at the map. Seeing their friendly scene, I was envious, jealous and hateful, the division commander had a good relationship with several regiment commanders, but he ignored me, the battalion commander recommended by his superiors. I guess if he hadn't obstructed the orders of his superiors, he would have driven me away.

Harpy looked at the picture for a while and asked Anchufeev: "Comrade division commander, did General Privalov's attack on Dolgovo go well yesterday?" I heard that the command of the army group also specially sent Savelyev's partisans to cooperate in the operation. ”

Anchufeev sighed, gritted his back molars and said: "The attacking forces have been completely annihilated. At the very beginning of the battle, General Plivalov was seriously wounded, and the troops were placed under his deputy command. Because of the huge disparity in the strength of the enemy and our own, after a stubborn battle, all the commanders and fighters of the attacking troops died, and even the captain of the partisan detachment, Savelyev, died honorably. "The task of our division is to attack along the narrow-gauge railway, to open the passage to Myasnebor, and to join up with the partisans led by Nosov operating there. In this offensive, Army Group will send partisans of Comrade Sotnikov to assist us. ”

Guerrillas, and guerrillas, it seems that there are more guerrillas here than in the regular army. I secretly thought to myself, these guerrillas are okay to fight ambushes, burn military vehicles and blow up warehouses, and if they really want to fight positional warfare, won't they let them die?

Then Anchufeev began to assign combat missions: the Yevgeny regiment, as the vanguard of the whole division, launched an attack at five o'clock in the morning. The 1128th Regiment, as the second echelon, quickly carried out a surprise attack when the vanguard tore open the direction of the enemy, tore the breakthrough wide, and surrounded and annihilated the German troops on the position. And the Harpy regiment I belonged to acted as a reserve and acted with the division headquarters.

After the order was given, the colonel looked around and asked, "Is the mission clear?" ”

I would have liked to put forward my own opinion, without the cover of artillery fire, to attack the German defensive positions, even if it breaks through, it will pay a heavy price, it is better to change the strong attack to a sneak attack, so that the maximum result can be achieved at a small cost.

Just as he was about to speak, several regiment commanders had already replied in unison: "Understood, I promise to complete the task." Seeing that the wood was ready, I had to obediently shut my mouth.

Then Anchufeev waved his hand and said: "Since the task is clear, let's quickly assemble the team and enter the starting position of the attack as soon as possible." ”

Everyone agreed in unison, saluted and left.

Summer in Russia, long days and short nights. At four o'clock in the morning, the sky was slightly brighter. In the forest of a kilometer from the sortie position, the men of the brigade were crowded together, looking nervously at each other, and there was no sound of talking and coughing in the queue, only the sound of bayonets and rifles colliding with each other slightly.

The commanders did not dare to call the ranks loudly in the queue, but simply whispered the orders one by one to the back. As the order was given, the infantry, which had been gathered together by the hedgehogs, slowly separated according to the order of attack, and the fighters of the Yevgeny regiment passed through the middle of our line one after another, and marched forward without hesitation.

The hour hand had just pointed to five o'clock when a red flare rose into the air and the attack began.

"Ulla!" The fighters of the Yevgeny regiment, shouting, rushed with rifles towards the German positions a few hundred meters away.

I straightened up and raised my binoculars to look at the enemy's position.

The forests on the outskirts of Leningrad, like those in Moscow, have a glade at intervals, the small ones no more than a thousand kilometers long and wide, and the large ones more than two or three kilometers long and wide. The Germans dug numerous foxholes where the narrow-gauge railway reached into the forest, and no solid firing points were seen, and there was no barbed wire in front of the position. In front of the right side of the tracks, there is a dirt slope at an altitude of 100 meters, and there are figures shaking on the slope, and it is estimated that there is a defensive position built by the Germans.

In the face of the imposing charging ranks of our troops, the Germans remained silent. As the attacking team slowly approached the edge of the forest, the Germans opened fire and gunfire rang out.

The team that was charging down crackled and fell, and there were people falling everywhere. I'm far from the battlefield, otherwise I'd have heard the screams and moans of the wounded.

The Germans were firing incessantly, and a dense stream of bullets poured out in the middle of the attacking ranks. Although the commanders and fighters in the front row of Yevgeny's regiment fell one by one, the soldiers who followed closely behind still did not stop, and still rushed forward without hesitation.

Seeing that the front team was about to rush into the forest, the Germans opened fire on the dirt slope.

As soon as the Germans opened fire, I immediately discovered that they had built machine gun positions on the hillside, and several machine guns were condescendingly firing at the attacking team. The blood mist was no longer splashed in clusters, but in the crowd one by one, as if gushing. The commanders and fighters of the Evgeny regiment wriggled their bodies and fell in front of the enemy's positions in rows.