Hearing this order from Chuikov, Krylov, who had just finished making a phone call, came over and asked curiously: "Comrade commander, which regiment should we call and ask them to send troops to reinforcements?" ”

When Krylov said this, not only Chuikov was stunned, but even I was stunned. What the hell is going on, General Krylov is not a new recruit who has just joined the army, and he doesn't know that as long as he calls the headquarters of the 37th Guards Division, the commander of the division, Ruoludev, will naturally arrange for reinforcements to be sent. Moreover, this was a telegram from more than an hour ago, and it is unknown whether the 117th Guards Regiment will survive under the siege of the Germans.

After a moment of silence, it was Chuikov who asked the question to which I wanted to know: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what the hell is going on, why did we step past the division leadership and give orders directly to the regiment?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Krylov spread his hands and said with a wry smile: "After receiving this telegram, I immediately contacted General Joludev, but I have not been able to get in touch. I sent Lieutenant Colonel Weinlub to the headquarters of the division, only to learn that the enemy's dive bombers had bombed the division headquarters of the 37th Guards Division at 12:3o, and that the division commander, General Joludev, and members of his divisional headquarters were buried in the shelter. Weinlub immediately organized men to rescue the buried General Ruoludev and his men. ”

Hearing this earth-shattering news, Chuikov jumped up from his seat, grabbed Krylov's arm, and nervously asked: "How is it now, have you been rescued?" ”

Krylov shook his head and said regretfully: "Not yet. Seeing that Chuikov's face showed a look of despair. He quickly added. "But Lieutenant Colonel Weinlub has already taken measures. He arranged for a metal pipe to be found and inserted into the shelter to deliver air to it so that the people trapped underneath would not suffocate. ”

After Krylov finished speaking, Chuikov said thoughtfully: "Judging from the current battle situation, the situation of the 37th Guards Division is very bad, and I estimate that the remaining regiments will not be able to draw extra troops to reinforce the 117th Regiment." And the 112th Division, which cooperated with them, had a total strength of only 6oo people. After fighting for so long, it is estimated that there are not many people left. Chief of Staff," Hearing his shout, Krylov, who was unknown, hurriedly agreed. Chuikov looked at him, and then asked, "Do we have any reserves at our disposal?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." After Krylov said this, he suddenly turned his gaze to me, and then said with some embarrassment: "There is also a regiment under Comrade Oshanina, which is currently on a hidden stand near the tractor plant. I think if you don't have an opinion, I'm going to send them to the rescue of the 117th Guards Regiment. Where they hide. With our radio station, you can talk to them directly. ”

"Then what are you hesitating about. Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately turn on their radio and assign the task. Chuikov gave me a look and gave an order to Krylov.

After Krylov walked away, Chuikov whispered to me: "Comrade Oshanina, what is the current situation, you know as well as I do, if the 117th Guards Regiment cannot be preserved, not only will their regiment be abolished, but that important position will also be lost. So I beg you, after you get in touch with your subordinates later, you must explain this matter to them. ”

After contacting the previous regiment, Krylov turned his head and shouted to Chuikov: "Comrade commander, you have contacted the troops, do you want to personally explain the task to them?" Chuikov pointed his hand at me and said, "Let Oshanina tell me, these are her subordinates after all." ”

Hearing Chuikov say this, I hurried to the walkie-talkie, put on the headphones, took a deep breath, and said loudly into the microphone: "Hey, I'm Oshanina, who are you?" ”

Immediately, Sederikov's familiar voice came from the earphones: "Report to the division commander, I am the commander of the first regiment Sederikov, do you have any instructions?" ”

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," I said with a stern expression, "the situation is such that the regimental headquarters of the 117th Guards Regiment, which was holding on to the tractor factory area, is now under siege by the enemy, and their regimental commander has already died. I now order you, immediately draw out a battalion and, with a guide, rush to their rescue. Speaking of this, I suddenly thought that the Guards Division seems to have its own flag for each regiment, and if it is lost, even if the regiment is complete, it will not be able to escape the fate of being withdrawn, so I specially told Xederikov: "Even if the commanders and fighters in the regimental headquarters are sacrificed when you arrive, you must keep the flag of their regiment at any cost, understand?" ”

"Understood, Comrade Division Commander." Sederikov replied in a steady tone: "I will send the second battalion, which has the strongest combat effectiveness, to carry out this glorious and difficult task. ”

The 2nd Battalion, when I heard this number, hesitated for a moment, and then repudiated his decision: "No, this kind of mission must not be sent to the 2nd Battalion, you must know that Captain Karpov's men account for half of the number of the battalion, and I don't want them to lose anything." ”

After a moment of silence, Sedelikov said again: "Well, since that's the case, then I'll send a battalion." Their combat effectiveness is not weak, and I believe that there should be no problem in rescuing the 117th Guards Regiment. ”

"If that's the case, then I wish you all the best of luck!" After that, I didn't wait for him to say anything, so I took off my headphones and threw them to the radio operator along with the microphone.

"Comrade Oshanina, you are very thoughtful. Even if the commanders and fighters in the regimental headquarters were killed when the reinforcements arrived, the flag of the Guards had to be preserved. After complimenting me, Chuikov began to turn the topic to the second battalion, but he obviously misunderstood my original intention of not sending the second battalion to attack, and only according to his judgment, he said to himself: "After Karpov's unit was incorporated into the second battalion, although the combat effectiveness of the unit has been improved, these new commanders and fighters are still quite worried in terms of politics and ideology, and if something goes wrong with them on the battlefield, the situation will not be easy to control." ”

As soon as Chuikov said this, Major Gladshev ran in from the outside again. Gurov, who had never said a word, looked up and asked, "How is it?" Comrade Major. Have all the buried commanders and fighters been dug up? ”

Gladshev nodded, but still said with a bitter face: "The absolute majority of them were dug up, four were sacrificed, and eleven were wounded." There was also a captain whose leg was crushed by a falling log, and the comrades tried to remove it, but at that moment the debris fell from it and pressed heavily on the captain's leg. I saw that it was difficult for me to get out of danger. The captain begged his comrades to chop off or saw off his legs. However, who can bear to do it, so everyone is still trying to save him. ”

"Nonsense, it's nonsense." Gurov scolded angrily, and he didn't know if he was scolding the commanders and fighters involved in the rescue for being too stupid, or if he was scolding the buried captain for being too confused. He said to himself: "Who can bear to do such a thing to his comrades." After speaking, he turned his head to look at Chuikov and said resolutely: "Comrade commander, I will go and see for myself, and I must think of saving this captain intact." ”

Didn't wait for Chuikov to make a statement. Panicked, Gladshev persuaded Gurov: "Comrade Military Commissar, you can't go. Outside, enemy artillery continued to fire. The planes are also constantly bombing, which is too dangerous. ”

"Go, Comrade Military Commissar." Chuikov did not pay attention to Gladshev, but said to Gurov in a calm tone: "I believe that after you go, you will be able to rescue the captain." ”

After Gurov left with Gladshev, Chuikov seemed to remember something that he had neglected just now, and hurriedly asked Krylov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, General Rodimtsev of the 13th Guards Division called you, is there anything important?" ”

"General Rodimtsev reports: The Germans, with more than two dozen tanks and about two battalions of troops, charged from the square of '9 January' to the defense zone of the 13th Guards Division. After fierce battles, Rodimtsev and his men managed to repel the enemy attack. ”

For such bad news, Chuikov seemed to be numb, he just nodded slightly, and said to Krylov with a smile: "Comrade Chief of Staff, can you find a way to get us something to eat, Comrade Oshanina and I haven't eaten for most of the day." ”

"Ah, you haven't eaten yet?" Krylov hurriedly called a soldier and instructed him: "Comrade soldier, you immediately go to the cooking class to see if you can find something to eat." ”

After watching the warriors trotting away, Chuikov turned to me and said: "Comrade Oshanina, continue to read those telegrams." ”

I quickly picked up the stack of telegrams that had just been placed on the table and began to read them for Chuikov: "...... Gudiev's 3O8th Infantry Regiment reported: enemy tanks rushed towards our positions from the north, and the battle was extremely fierce. Our artillery fired directly at the enemy's tanks. The casualties suffered by our troops were mainly from the bombing and strafing of enemy aircraft, so we begged the group army to contact the air force to drive out the snitch for us. ”

After reading this telegram, the expression on Chuikov's face did not change in the slightest, as if he had not heard it at all. But I knew in my heart that it was not that he did not want the Air Force to support the troops we were fighting hard for, but that our Air Force could not be dispatched at all.

"Is there an artillery report?" When I was hesitating whether to continue reading, Chuikov suddenly asked lightly: "I don't want Khogarsky's report, I want to hear the report of the artillery commanders and fighters below." ”

"Wait a moment, Comrade Commander. I'll look for it. I hurriedly flipped through the newspaper in my hand, looking for something that Trikov was interested in. After turning through more than a dozen pages in a row, I finally came across a telegram related to artillery, and after briefly skimming through the contents, I immediately reported to him: "There is a copy from the artillery company of the 95th Infantry Division in Gorishny. ”

"Read it and hear it." Chuikov said briefly.

"Artillery Company of the 95th Infantry Division in Goryshny: This sunny morning began with the sound of a landslide, which we have never encountered in previous battles. Hundreds of planes hummed in the air, and the explosion of bombs and shells rang out everywhere. Clouds of smoke and dust covered the sky. It's breathless. We all know that Deko has returned to a powerful offensive. Telephone communication was soon interrupted. Risking their lives at any moment, the fighters walked up to the cannon and fired rows of shells. Due to the enemy's bombing and strafing, we had only 2 to 3 men left in each gun. Still, we didn't waver in the slightest. The deputy company commander, Yasiko, was buried in the earth, and many people were deaf. Bombing and strafing continue. There was a sea of fire and dust all around. There were casualties, equipment was being destroyed, but we kept shooting and shooting. ”

"Very tenacious, yes, the commanders and fighters are very tenacious." After listening to me read this telegram, Krylov said to Chuikov with deep feeling: "Comrade commander, if we have such commanders and fighters, the enemy will never be able to defeat us. ”

While the two were talking, the warrior who had gone to the cooking class to help us find food returned. He ran in breathlessly, came to us, raised his hand and saluted, put the aluminum lunch box he had been holding in his arms on the table, and turned back to his post.

Chuikov pulled the lunch box in front of him, and said to himself while lifting the lid: "This lunch box is quite hot, I don't know what it contains?" When he opened the lunch box and took a look inside, his eyes lit up and he exclaimed excitedly: "Great, it's actually dumplings." ”

Dumplings, when I heard this word, I couldn't help but be stunned again, isn't this the traditional food of the Celestial Empire, when did it spread here again? However, what I saw Chuikov handed to me was indeed dumplings, but the shape was far less beautiful than that of the Celestial Empire. Chuikov also greeted me warmly: "Oshanina, I'm hungry, hurry up and eat." ”

I saw that there were only a dozen dumplings in the lunch box, and I was embarrassed to grab them from Chuikov, so I carefully twisted one, put it to my mouth, and took a bite gently. With this bite, you immediately knew that it was mashed potato filling. Maybe I'm a little hungry, but it tastes pretty good.

Seeing that I was starting to eat, Chuikov also twisted one, and before putting it in his mouth, he asked me curiously: "What kind of stuffing is yours?" ”

"Mashed potatoes." I replied briefly.

After taking a bite of the dumpling in his hand, Chuikov laughed twice and said to me proudly: "My luck is better than yours, this one of mine is stuffed with mutton." With that, he swallowed two bites, and then picked up another one from his lunch box. (To be continued!)

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