The bombardment of heavy artillery weakened the German firepower in the building a lot. As our troops stormed the building, the muzzle flames in the windows disappeared one after another, proving that the battle had been changed to the building. Another group of infantry lost no time in charging the building where the battle was raging.

At this moment, there was another violent explosion, and fire and smoke rose from the wall on the left side of the bottom of the building. When the smoke cleared, I saw a large gap in the wall being blown up. And the commanders and fighters who had just rushed to the front of the building poured into the building from this gap.

"This Major Morozov has a pretty good brain." I muttered to myself: "If we used the same way we attacked the city of Gorodishe, not to mention that the front is just an ordinary building, even the reinforced concrete fortifications will be destroyed under the bombardment of heavy howitzers." ”

With the addition of the new force, the Germans in the building gradually became unable to resist, and I saw that many soldiers jumped from the windows on the second floor, but this time they did not copy our soldiers in the building from behind, but turned around and ran into the distance. Soon, however, one of our fighters leaned out of the window and shot at the fleeing German soldiers with their weapons in hand. Except for a few who escaped quickly on their legs, the rest fell under the guns of our soldiers.

The troops of the 4th Regiment had just seized the building in the center of the airdrop field, and before I could give any orders, a second lieutenant officer came running in and reported to me: "Comrade division commander, there is a phone number for you in the regimental command ≦ ↓. In order to arouse my attention, he also deliberately emphasized that "it was the commander of the army group himself who called." ”

When I heard that it was Chuikov's call, I thought to myself what he was looking for me to do at this time. Is there any difficult task to be entrusted to me? But I don't dare to delay. Hurriedly followed behind the second lieutenant and rushed to the regimental command post of the 4th regiment.

In addition to Gaidar at the command post. In addition, his political commissar Xia Ping and the commander of the 1st Artillery Battalion of the division, Major Morozov, were there, and when they saw me enter the door, the three of them quickly got up from their seats and raised their hands to salute me. I nodded to a few people, then walked to the table, picked up the phone resting on it, and said politely into the microphone: "Hey, is it Comrade Commander?" Hello. I'm Oshanina, what are your instructions? ”

"Comrade Oshanina," came Chuikov's hoarse voice through the receiver: "I had just returned from the headquarters of the Front, and I heard Comrade Vasiliev say that you had called and specially reported to me the reasons for the defeat of friendly forces. At this point, he paused, then asked tentatively, "Is what you said true?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." To Chuikov's question, I replied in the affirmative: "These truths are based on the confessions of the captives. ”

"Do you think the captives aren't lying?" Chuikov: After listening to my reply. Still skeptical.

"I think what the captives said is true." To make my words more convincing, I deliberately added: "There is no need for a captive to lie about such a thing. Because if we interrogate a few more captives, the lies they weave will be exposed. And judging from the details they described, it is completely the consistent offensive style of our army. When I said this, I suddenly remembered that Chuikov had left the headquarters yesterday and went to the front army for a meeting, and he had just returned until this moment, which proved that the meeting was very important, so I asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, you went to a meeting for a day, and I don't know what the head of the front army said?" ”

If it was before, I would never ask these questions casually, but now that I still have the title of deputy commander of the army group, it is natural to ask Chuikov about these things. When Chuikov heard my question, without any hesitation, he said what I wanted to know: "The 4th Panzer Army of Hort outside the encirclement advanced very quickly, and yesterday it was still 50 versts away from Paulus's troops during the day, but under their fierce attacks, our defensive line was repeatedly breached, and now the two German forces were only 10 versts apart, and both sides could see each other with high-powered telescopes. ”

Chuikov's words startled me, and I said that because of my appearance, the German army was never able to capture the Mamayev Gang during the entire campaign, and the Soviet army also lost thousands of commanders and fighters. It stands to reason that in this case, the situation of the Soviet army is much better than in history, but why was it so beaten by the German army? Could it be that my appearance, the known history of the guide zhì has deviated in this place, and the Battle of Stalingrad will end in the defeat of the Soviet army?

Thinking of this, I was shocked into a cold sweat. After a while, I mustered up the courage to continue asking: "Comrade commander, I wonder what measures the Front is preparing to take to prevent the German army's convergence?" ”

"General Yeremenko decided to ask the 57th Army to stop the attack on the city," Chuikov did not hide from me in the slightest, but informed me of the decision of the meeting, "turning around and cooperating with the friendly forces of the Southwestern Front to block the German troops rushing from outside the encirclement. The task of attacking the city was to be completed independently by the 64th Army. Speaking of this, he sighed, and then said with some helplessness: "The commander of the army, General Shumilov, asked me to ask you if there is any way to break through the German positions in the shortest possible time and further compress the enemy into the city. In this way, the distance between the two German armies will be widened again. ”

I was particularly angry at the 57th and 64th armies a few days ago, and if I had not been a former subordinate of General Shumilov, I would not have been willing to give him advice. After thinking for a moment, I truthfully said to Chuikov what I thought: "Comrade commander, I think it is better to let General Shumilov launch an attack on the enemy's positions, it is the kind of uninterrupted attack, and it is no longer possible to retreat after losing a certain number of troops, as before, but to increase the offensive forces one after another. At the same time, the shelling of German positions should be carried out without interruption, even if they accidentally injure their own people. In this kind of battle of will and fighting spirit, I think the enemy will not be able to hold on. ”

After listening to my similar bad idea, Chuikov was actually stunned, and after a while. He hesitated and said, "Comrade Oshanina." If General Shumilov's troops really go the way you say they are. The casualties of the troops will be astronomical. ”

"Comrade Commander, for the sake of our final victory, there is not so much to worry about." Seeing that my own mention was vetoed, I couldn't help but be anxious: "If the 64th Army follows their original style of fighting, it will not be able to inflict any substantial damage on the German troops holding their positions except for constantly paying heavy sacrifices." Rather than losing our army's precious soldiers in one futile attack after another, it is better to concentrate the main forces and give it a go. It might even have an unexpected effect. ”

Chuikov was obviously not convinced by me, and he still hesitated and said: "This matter is too involved, and for the sake of safety, I will consider it first, and then decide whether to sue General Sù Shumilov." ”

After finishing the call with Chuikov, I put down the phone and asked Gaidar: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the building in the middle of the drop field has been taken, what are you going to do?" ”

"Comrade division commander, I plan to station a company in the building, commanded by the commander of the first company, Captain Ke Licheng. Equipped with machine guns, block the entire drop field. Once the enemy is spotted in this area, fire suppression is carried out to destroy them all. Speaking of this, he paused for a moment, and then asked with some hesitation: "Comrade division commander, the goal of this building is too obvious, if our army is stationed, will it not be shelled and bombed by the Germans?"

I smiled at his concern, and then said disapprehantly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you are thinking too much. The Germans have been trapped in the encirclement by us for so long, not to mention that their shells are almost depleted, and even the fuel for the tanks is estimated to be very small. Otherwise, in the recent offensive, they have used tanks and artillery to support infantry attacks less and less? As for the bombing, you don't have to worry about it, don't you see that the air supremacy of the entire Stalingrad region is in the hands of our air forces? ”

Before Gaidar and I could finish speaking, Pantai Laiev walked in from outside and took the initiative to say to me: "Comrade division commander, the airdrop field outside has been controlled by our army. Next, I wanted to look at the area of a regiment, and if I could also capture an airdrop field, then I could greatly reduce the amount of supplies available to the enemy. ”

"Comrade Deputy Division Commander, I agree with you, hurry up." I had asked Bandereev to be in charge of the 1st and 4th regiments fighting the Germans for airdrop supplies, but now that the mission of the 4th Regiment here is halfway completed, it is no longer meaningful for him to stay here, so I readily agreed to his request, and finally said with concern: "Pay attention to safety on the road!" ”

I stayed in the command post until ten o'clock, and a lieutenant walked in from outside, and he was just about to speak, but he was surprised to find so many people sitting in the command post, so he closed his mouth in time and stood there in a daze. Gaidar stood up and said to the lieutenant: "Comrade lieutenant, if there is anything, report it to the division commander." ”

Hearing Gaidar say this, the lieutenant raised his hand and saluted me, and at the same time respectfully reported: "Comrade division commander, the enemy's air force has begun to airdrop. ”

Thinking that it had been several hours since our troops occupied the airdrop site, I was deeply afraid that the Germans had changed the airdrop area, so I asked tentatively: "Comrade lieutenant, are the enemy's transport planes still dropping at the airdrop site that we have just occupied?" ”

The lieutenant nodded vigorously and replied affirmatively: "That's right, comrade division commander, the enemy is still carrying out airdrops in the old place. ”

I thought for a moment, then turned to Gaidar and said, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, immediately order Second Lieutenant Vasily to organize all the snipers assigned to your regiment and concentrate their fire on the parachutes in the sky, and we must not let these airdrops drift to the enemy's defense area downwind." ”

"I'll arrange it." With that, Gaidar reached out and picked up the phone on the table.

"Ensign Vasily? I'm Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar. As soon as the phone call rang, Gaidar gave Vasily a straightforward order: "The division commander order, immediately organize all the snipers under your command to shoot at the parachutes in the air, and let as many supplies as possible fall in our control area." Do you understand? …… Understood, very good, I hope you will not live up to the trust that Comrade Division Commander has placed in you. With that, he hung up.

After putting down the phone, he reported to me: "Comrade division commander, Second Lieutenant Vasily will immediately lead the snipers into attack." ”

I nodded, and then instructed Gaidar: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, after all the airdropped supplies have landed, in addition to sending troops to carry the supplies, you must also be vigilant against the counterattack of the German army, and you must not let the enemy snatch the supplies from under our noses." ”

Before Gaidar could express his determination to me, Morozov next to him had already preemptively said: "Comrade division commander, please rest assured, our artillery will cooperate with the fighters of the 4th Regiment to resolutely hold the airdrop site and never let the Germans take away the supplies." ”

Hearing Morozov's statement, I remembered that he had just bombarded the building with heavy artillery, raised my hand and knocked heavily on his steel helmet, and scolded with a smile: "Major Morozov, I was just about to criticize you." Against an ordinary building, you actually bombarded it with heavy artillery at such a close distance, and you were not afraid of blowing up the entire building and burying our commanders and fighters in it. ”

Morozov took off his steel helmet, scratched the back of his head and replied with an embarrassed smile: "Comrade division commander, I am also in a hurry, seeing that the resistance in that building is too fierce, I am afraid that our troops will pay too much price, so I ordered the heavy howitzer to fire." But rest assured, in the next defense, as long as the Germans do not send tanks, I will only use the rocket artillery captured from the Germans to provide artillery support for our troops. ”

With the dispatch of the sniper detachment led by Second Lieutenant Vasily, most of the materials that were slowly falling over the airdrop field fell into the airdrop field after the parachute was penetrated, and only a handful of materials drifted to the German positions.

When the Germans saw that so many supplies had fallen into the area controlled by our army, they immediately organized a large number of troops to come over and loot them. As soon as they entered the drop field, they were first subjected to machine-gun fire from our infantry who were holding on to the building, and then by a burst of shelling by the Morozov artillery battalion, and finally lost seventy or eighty corpses and retreated in disgrace.

In the end, the results of the battle were counted, and the 200 bags of supplies airdropped by the German transport planes, except for 13 bags that fell into the positions of the German army, the rest were captured by the commanders and fighters of the fourth regiment. And Bandereev also called at noon, saying that after seizing the enemy's airdrop site, the regiment had also captured a large number of airdropped supplies from the Germans. (To be continued......)