I observed for a long time and found that the area behind the barbed wire fence was the greatest threat to our attacking troops. Thinking of this, I couldn't help but put down my binoculars and touched Kolobtin, who was next to me, with the next door. He removed the telescope from his eyes, turned his head to look at me, and asked with a puzzled look on his face; "Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, do you have something to do?"

I pointed ahead and said, "Comrade Colonel, do you see the barbed wire fence at the foot of the mountain?" ”

When he heard me say this, he picked up the telescope and looked at the position, and then asked me: "I see, this barbed wire fence was laid by the Germans overnight, is there anything wrong with you?" ”

In front of him, I had nothing to hide, so I bluntly voiced my fears: "I think that behind the barbed wire, maybe there is a minefield laid by the Germans. ”

Unexpectedly, after he heard it, he just smiled and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, I also thought of the question you said." But don't worry, as long as our tanks drive past and crush them, we can open a way for the assault infantry. ”

"Our tanks?" I asked with a blank face: "Where are our tanks, why haven't I seen any of them?" "You know, the tank that Kolobtin said about was not seen on the way here, nor in front of the position. It is impossible for tanks to drive into the tunnels, and when there is a war later, our tanks will fall from the sky or emerge from the ground?

Kolobtin smiled and didn't answer, he just raised his hand and looked at his watch, called the lieutenant colonel next to him who called the artillery battalion, and ordered: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the time is almost up, and the attacking troops can be prepared." Signal them. ”

The lieutenant colonel smiled and agreed. Dodge out of the observation post. Then I heard a long and short whistle outside. With the whistle. I heard neat footsteps outside, and when I looked out the window, I saw groups of commanders and fighters crawling out of the trenches and heading down the hillside.

Seeing that the infantry had begun to assemble and the tanks had not yet been seen, I couldn't help but be a little anxious, and asked vigorously: "Comrade Colonel, where are our tanks?" ”

Kolobtin looked at me with a smile. He just pointed to the foot of the mountain with his hand and said: "Dear Comrade Oshanina, please be calm for a moment, you look at the foot of the mountain." Hearing him say this, I could only be patient and lean down to look down the hill. There was a distance of more than 100 meters from the observation post to the foot of the mountain, and the commanders and fighters who were walking fast seemed to be approaching the foot of the mountain, but I still did not see any trace of our tanks.

Just as I was about to ask Kolobtin, the roar of a tank motor came from down the hillside, and then a piece of dirt suddenly burst into the dust. A T-34 tank of our army rushed out with a bang. Immediately afterwards, five or six more tanks arched out at the foot of the hillside.

Look at these tanks that are slowly moving forward in dust. I couldn't help but be stunned. It took me a long time before I came back to my senses and excitedly said to Kolobtin, "It's amazing! Comrade Colonel, no wonder I couldn't find your tanks, they were all hidden underground, not to mention that the enemy couldn't think of it, even I didn't think of it. ”

Kolobtin breathed a long sigh of relief and said with emotion: "Since the defense line of our division is often bombed by enemy planes, the tank regiment under the command of the division has suffered heavy losses in air raids. Thanks to your proposal to overhaul the tunnels, we were given an inspiration that since tanks are easy targets for enemy air forces outside, then we will find a way to hide them. In this way, I asked the fighters of the engineering regiment to dig several underground tank depots at the foot of the mountain and hide all the only tanks we had. In this way, not only can we evade the enemy's air attack, but when the enemy attacks, our tank detachment can also make a sudden attack and take the enemy by surprise. ”

Although I know that he is telling the truth, and that they were able to come up with the idea of an underground tank depot, I am indeed indispensable, but in this kind of matter, I am not a decision-maker after all, so I have no qualifications to be proud of my merits, so I can only say euphemistically: "Comrade Colonel, if you want to thank anyone, go and thank General Chuikov." You know, I just put forward my own ideas, and it was General Chuikov who made the final decision. Speaking of this, I didn't wait for him to speak, and promptly diverted the topic: "Comrade Colonel, how can I see that there are all the Army below, and I don't see the commanders and fighters of the Marine Corps?" ”

Kolobtin glanced down and replied, "I have just instructed the chief of staff of the division to let the marines and your troops serve as reserves, and the first wave of the attack will be completed independently by the two infantry battalions of my division. ”

I did not refute what he said, for I knew that in such a counterattack, the later the troops entered into battle, the fewer casualties they would suffer, and the greater the results they would achieve.

As soon as the artillery battalion finished shelling the enemy's positions, a red flare flew into the sky.

Seeing the signal flare in the sky that represented the beginning of the attack, the tanks and infantry gathered at the foot of the hill marched towards the enemy's position.

I raised my binoculars again and looked at the German positions on the high ground opposite. As the smoke cleared, there were many German steel helmets swaying back and forth in the originally empty trenches.

Due to the large number of craters in the open ground between the two heights, which affected the advance speed of the tank, quite a few infantry gradually walked in front of the tank.

"Report!" Oleg's voice came from the door, and I put down my binoculars and shouted: "Come in!" ”

Oleg entered the door, raised his hand and saluted me and Kolobtin, and then reported to me: "Report to Comrade Division Commander, the special battalion has been assembled and is ready to enter the battle at any time, please instruct!" ”

"Comrade Major," I glanced at Kolobatin, who also put down the binoculars next to me, and said to Oleg, "your troops, as the second echelon, remain in the position for the time being. ”

"Comrade Major, what kind of gun are you? I don't think I've ever seen it before. The chief of staff of the division, who did not know when he would return, stood next to Oleg and looked curiously at the gun he was carrying on his shoulder.

I just glanced at it, and I immediately recognized that Oleg was carrying an M39 submachine gun captured from a Hungarian camp. I reached out to Oleg, who immediately took the submachine gun down with understanding. He held it in both hands and handed it to me.

After I took the gun. To Kolobhutin and the chief of staff of his division: "Colonel, chief of staff. You see, this is the M39 submachine gun that we captured in Hungary yesterday. This gun looks like an ordinary rifle from the outside. However, if you pull out the magazine stuck under the handguard and pull it out of the groove, you can see a little bit of what a submachine gun looks like. With that, I pulled out the magazine from the groove and asked the two of them to look closely.

Kolobtin took the submachine gun from my hand and looked at it over and over again for a long time. They were reluctant to hand it over to the chief of staff who was waiting anxiously on the sidelines. Seeing that Kolobtin couldn't put it down, I also deliberately repeated to him what Major Shedelikov told yesterday, "...... The M39 uses a double-row, double-entry magazine with a capacity of 40 rounds. The magazine mount design is unique and folds the magazine mount forward when carried or not in use, allowing the magazine to get stuck in the groove under the handguard. When the magazine snaps into the gauntlet, the magazine mouth is exposed, and the elastic dust cap covers the magazine mouth to prevent dust from entering the magazine and causing a feed failure. After the introduction, I turned to Oleg and asked: "Comrade Major." How many of these submachine guns were armed in the special battalion. ”

Although Oleg did not understand the meaning of my question, he replied honestly: "Each company is equipped with ten." There were 50 in the battalion. ”

"Then draw two in a row, and make up ten to give to our friendly comrades-in-arms as a souvenir of our joint battle." The reason why I so readily ordered Oleg to deliver weapons to Kolobhutin was because the ammunition of these submachine guns was limited, and when the bullets ran out, these submachine guns became inferior to burning sticks.

Hearing that I was so generous to give them ten Hungarian submachine guns, Kolobtin handed the gun to the chief of staff next to him, scratched the back of his head and said with some embarrassment: "Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, this is the trophy of your division, how can I be embarrassed to take advantage of people!" After saying that, he laughed.

"What's embarrassing, we're all allies. Besides," I said pretending to be generous, "we will soon have to fight side by side to regain the heights occupied by the Germans." ”

Hearing me talk about the reconquest of the heights, Kolobtin, as if remembering the matter of providing us with weapons, hurriedly instructed the chief of staff: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you immediately take this major of friendly troops to the arsenal and replenish them with twenty light machine guns and fifty submachine guns. Go ahead! ”

"Great!" The chief of staff of the division agreed, handed the submachine gun back to Kolobtin, and then made a gesture of invitation to Oleg: "Let's go, Comrade Major, give me a trip to the arsenal." ”

After waiting for the chief of staff of the division and Oleg to leave, Kolobtin held the submachine gun in his arms and said with feeling: "Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, I heard that your division has been fighting continuously for the past few days, and the results should be good, right?" ”

The results of the independent division in the past few days are not a secret to the division-level commanders in the group army, so I nodded and said: "In the past two days, I have attacked the camps in Italy and Hungary, and captured a lot of weapons and ammunition...... As soon as I said this, the rumbling of artillery suddenly sounded outside.

Kolobutin's face suddenly turned blue the moment he heard the sound of the cannon, and he put his submachine gun in the corner of the wall, grabbed the binoculars and looked out. I also walked quickly to his side and raised my binoculars to observe the situation on the battlefield.

Our attacking troops advanced about seven or eight hundred meters, and although they were still within the effective range of German guns, they were bombarded by German mortars from their positions on the mountainside. The offensive queue of our army, although from my point of view, was densely packed together, I also knew that there was at least two or three meters between each fighter. Even so, for every shell that exploded in the queue, at least three to five commanders and fighters were knocked down.

In order to get rid of the fate of being bombed, the commanders and fighters who were walking in the front suddenly accelerated and ran. As soon as the front accelerated, the commanders and fighters behind also involuntarily accelerated the speed of advance, so the entire army advanced from striding forward at the beginning to rushing forward with guns in hand.

The enemy's shells continued to fall into the ranks of our troops' attack, falling in the middle of the infantry, and with a ball of fire, the commanders and fighters near the explosion point were blown into the air; The shells that exploded next to the tank did not pose any threat to the tank, but the shrapnel that flew sideways still cut down the commanders and fighters near the tank.

When the fastest commanders and fighters entered the 200-meter area, light and heavy machine guns, rifles, and submachine guns on the German positions opened fire fiercely at the same time, and the dense bullets formed an impenetrable iron wall. As soon as our commanders and fighters crashed into it. Just how to fall down convulsively like an electric shock. It didn't take a while. Thirty or forty meters away from the enemy's barbed wire, the corpses of our soldiers were lying on the ground.

Seeing that the enemy's fire was too fierce and that it was an impossible task to rush forward, the troops with a rainbow of momentum ran back like a tidal tide at low tide. And the tanks that were on cover stopped in place and fired a few shots at the German positions halfway up the hill, and after overturning two or three mortar fire points, they also retreated behind the infantry to our side.

Seeing his troops retreat like a tidal wave. Kolobtin slammed his fist against the wall and scolded indignantly: "These fools, why don't you keep rushing forward, why do you want to retreat?" With that, he turned and ran out of the observation post. I didn't know where he was going, so I quickly chased him out.

I saw him jump out of the trench and run down the hill, and hurriedly chased after him and shouted: "Comrade Colonel, the front is dangerous, don't run forward." But he ran down the hill in spite of it. I had no choice but to smile wryly and follow him down the hill.

We stopped the retreating troops. Kolobtin drew his pistol and fired two shots into the sky before the chaotic troops stopped.

Kolobtin walked into the ranks, grabbed a second lieutenant by the collar, and asked in a loud voice: "Who told you to stop the attack and retreat without permission?" ”

"The enemy's fire was so fierce that we couldn't rush at all." The lieutenant said in his own defense.

"Yes, Comrade Colonel, the enemy's fire is too fierce, and if we continue the attack, we will all die." The surrounding warriors also chimed in.

Kolobtin's face was full of anger and asked, "What about your battalion commander and political instructor?" ”

"All sacrificed?"

"What about the company commander, there are always one or two company commanders left, right?" Kolobtin asked unwillingly.

The second lieutenant who was grabbed by him looked left and right, and then said cautiously: "Comrade division commander, it seems that I am the only commander in the retreating unit. ”

Hearing the second lieutenant's words, I couldn't help but chuckle in my heart, and said how long has this attack been going on, why are the commanders of the troops almost dead? There is no commander in the army, how can this next battle be fought?

Kolobtin let go of the second lieutenant in his hand and shouted loudly at the hundreds of commanders and fighters in front of him: "Comrades and brothers, although our first attack failed, do not be discouraged, I will immediately appoint a new commander to lead you to continue the attack. The enemy on the opposite high ground is not as numerous as we are, and if we launch another attack, we will be able to wipe them out once and for all. Now, start lining up. ”

Seeing that these attacks were frustrated and the morale of the commanders and fighters who had become demoralized lined up expressionlessly, I quietly pulled Kolobhutin aside and whispered to him: "Comrade Colonel, the first attack was frustrated, and it had a great impact on the morale of the troops. Well, you let these commanders and fighters return to their positions and recuperate, and let the Marines and my special battalion organize a second offensive. What do you see? ”

Kolobtin's head turned to look at the dejected commanders and fighters, sighed helplessly and said, "Okay, just do as you say, change to other troops to continue the attack, let them rest first." ”

Ten minutes later, the defeated soldiers from the original hillside returned to their positions on the mountainside, and in their place were marines in black naval uniforms and soldiers of the special battalion in new uniforms.

I called the commander of the special battalion, Pugachev, to him and specifically told him: "Comrade Captain, if you can lead your troops to successfully seize the heights on the opposite side, then you will have the opportunity to become a hero of the Russian nation, like the ancient man with your name." ”

Pugachev's eyes lit up with my words, and he replied excitedly: "Comrade division commander, please rest assured that as long as there is one person left in the special battalion, there will never be half a step back." Even if it is a sacrifice, we must head in the direction of the high ground, and we will die honorably on the way to the charge......"

His lines sounded familiar, and I didn't wait for him to finish before I interrupted him: "Comrade Captain, I just hope that when the battle is over, you can bring back as many fighters of the special battalion as possible." sacrificed, you are heroes; But alive, you are still heroes. Do you understand? ”

Pugachev nodded as if he didn't understand, and agreed loudly: "Understood!" ”

The second wave of the offensive began.

Behind the tanks, on the left were the Marines in black uniforms, and on the right were the special battalions in khaki uniforms.

Still halfway through, the mortars on the enemy positions opened fire again. Although the mortar fire points on the halfway up the hill were destroyed by several of our tanks, now the newly added mortar positions on the top of the hill have also joined the firing, and even two German tanks have stopped at the top of the hill and fired at our tanks.

The tank of our army, which was driving at the front, became the priority target of the German tanks. The first round of fire from both tanks did not hit the target, the shells exploded in front and behind our tanks, and the flying shrapnel cut down several unlucky commanders and fighters. Without waiting for our tanks to make evasive moves, the second round of shells flew again, one fell in front of the tank and exploded, setting off a column of mud and rising into the sky, while the other shell hit the body of the tank impartially.

Seeing through the binoculars that our tanks had been hit, I couldn't help but cry out in pain: "Oops! ”

When the smoke cleared, I was surprised to find that the tank had only been wounded, and it dragged the burning body onwards, raising its muzzle and firing another shot at the German positions halfway up the hill. The cannon hit well and exploded next to the trench, blowing a gap in the trench and causing several German steel helmets to disappear from the area.

After firing this shot, the tank drove forward more than ten meters, and was hit again by the German tank, which was hit by the tank with a crooked turret, and a moment later it was martyred, and many of the surrounding commanders and fighters were blown down. I stared intently at the burning tank, hoping to see a tanker emerge from it, even if it was covered in flames. After the explosion, the tank began to burn, and no one escaped from it at all, and it seems that the tankers were all killed when the explosion occurred.

After the Germans destroyed one of our tanks, they became as excited as if they had been beaten with blood. The tanks continued to fire at the few remaining tanks of our army, while their artillery also increased the rate of mortar fire, and the shells that fell in the ranks of our troops to attack exploded more and more, denser and denser, and the shape became severe.

At this moment, the two clearly divided forces underwent unexpected changes, and the marines in black uniforms still held the weapons in their hands and rushed forward without hesitation; My special battalion, on the other hand, disorganized the formation, and in squads, skillfully using ready-made craters as cover, ran forward, jumped, rolled, and approached the German positions little by little.

Kolobtin, seeing the completely different expressions of the two troops, asked me curiously: "Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, this unit of yours seems to be quite skilled in tactical movements, how long have they been training?" ”

"Less than a week." After I said this, I turned around and went to Major Oleg. Oleg had been standing behind me, and when he saw me suddenly turn around, he knew that I must have something to look for him, and immediately took the initiative to ask: "Comrade division commander, do you have any instructions?" ”

"Where is Lieutenant Morozov's artillery?" I asked lightly.

"Comrade division commander, because the trenches were too narrow for our cannons to pull in, Comrade Morozov made a temporary decision to move the artillery to the top of the hill. With infantry pulling their artillery, I believe it won't take long for them to reach their position at the top of the hill. ”

"Comrade Oshanina, what are you going to do with artillery?" Kolobtin, hearing me asking my men about artillery, couldn't help but ask curiously.

I pointed to the two tanks on the top of the hill in front of me that were constantly firing, and said through gritted teeth: "Comrade Colonel, look at how arrogant those two tanks on the other side are, I will let my artillery kill them all and cover the infantry to rush up the mountain." ”

Kolobtin frowned and looked at the other side, and asked tentatively, "Are you sure?" ”

"No problem," I replied confidently, "I have confidence in the artillery company commander, Lieutenant Morozov, that he will be able to take out all the enemy tanks." (To be continued......)