Pointing to the Volga River in the distance, Kirillov said to me: "We, the northern inhabitants of Russia, like spring at the end of April and sometimes May. At that time, there were rooks flying in the sky and ice floes floating in the river. Everyone was waiting for warmth and flowers, ready to work in the fields. Before 1942, as far as I know, all rivers, in late autumn or early winter, were quietly covered with a coat of ice, as if to sleep under its cover. Often, at night the river flows gently, and in the morning, when you look again, the river has become a smooth ice bed.

Autumn on the Volga is a completely different sight. It takes weeks, months to freeze slowly. The temperature dropped to minus 10 degrees, the Volga was still not frozen, and the river was steaming hot. The temperature dropped to minus 12 degrees Celsius, and small pieces of ice drifted on the river. At minus 15 degrees Celsius, small pieces of ice followed, and finally large pieces of ice began to appear. Then there was a continuous stream of large blocks of ice that kept moving. At this time, armored boats and individual bold people, with pennies in their hands, jumped from one ice block to another, crossing the Volga. But only warriors among the native Volga people would dare to do this. Even sailors from the Far East did not dare to ask. ”

My mind was thinking about the big counteroffensive that was going to start in more than ten days, and when I heard Kirillov say this, I couldn't help but ask curiously: "Comrade Political Commissar, if the river is frozen, will our reinforcements and supplies be able to be transported in a steady stream soon?" ”

Hearing me say this, Kirillov smiled bitterly and continued: "Comrade Oshanina, you are thinking too simply. Although the Volga is frozen. Ships are no longer navigable. But to get through guò ice to put our army in desperate need of soldiers. and supplies were brought over, but it was still impossible to do it. Because the ice is so thin, not to mention the truck, even the sleigh can't pass. ”

"In this case, won't the supply of the east bank to the city be interrupted by the freezing of the Volga River?" Kyrilov's words were fraughty, and if it was really as he said, as long as the Volga froze. Then the supply of the entire army group will be completely interrupted, and then will Chuikov be able to withstand the onslaught of the German army?

While we were thinking about it, Basmanov came out of the command and told me and Kirillov that the chief of staff had something urgent to look for us.

As soon as I walked into the command, I couldn't wait to ask Akhromeyev: "What's the matter, Comrade Chief of Staff, you are in a hurry to call me and the commissar back, is something wrong?" ”

Akhromeyev, who was sitting at the table, hurriedly stood up and replied: "Report to the division commander, I just received a weekly battle report from the headquarters of the group army, and I think this thing will be useful for your next command, so I asked Major Basmanov to invite you in." ”

I walked back to my seat and sat down. Then he raised his chin at Akhromeyev and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, read the battle report you just received." ”

Akhromeyev nodded. Picking up a stack of battle reports on the table, he began to read: "On October 25, the enemy launched a full-scale resumption of the offensive on the front of the army group with heavy forces, and the assault of an infantry division with tanks on the town of Spartanovka caused a serious situation on the front of the northern cluster.

The German infantry, supported by aviation and tanks, forced the 149th Infantry Brigade to retreat and successfully occupied the area of the five pits south of the Gumlak-Vladimirovka railway and the center of the town of Spartanovka. When the shape shì was extremely dangerous, the ships of the Volga District Flotilla rushed to the aid of the 149th Brigade of the Northern Cluster Bolvinov, and they inflicted heavy losses on the attacking enemy forces with the cannons of the battleships.

On the same day of 25 October, the right flank of the 64th Army switched to the offensive in the area of Kuporosnona.

The enemy's two attacks, on 26 and 27 October, were unsuccessful. Bolvinov's 149th brigade, with the support of the warships of the fleet of the Volga district, drove the aggressor out of the town of Spartanovka.

On October 27, the chief of staff of the 149th Brigade, Major Kochmarev, was unfortunately directly hit by German artillery shells while directing operations in forward positions, and died a glorious death.

On that day, the troops of Lyudnikov and Gurtiev in the center of the army group fought a hard battle for the 'barricade' factory. Judging from the intensity of the battle, it seems that the newly replenished new forces of the German army are not good at close combat. Despite the fact that in the factory floor we had only a few fighters, however, the enemy, who had a five-fold advantage in manpower, did not take advantage of our small forces at all.

On October 27, the left flank of the Lyudnikov division and a regiment of the Gurtiev division were routed by the enemy. Enemy auto-gunners occupied Myzinskaya and Tuvinskaya streets and began to strafe the area near our last crossing. At this time, the troops of Smehotvorov and Guryev repelled several attacks by the German 79th Infantry Division, which directed the main assault at the 'Red October' factory.

Fascist automatic gunners infiltrated the sparsely numbered battle formations of the aforementioned units. They approached the headquarters of the 39th Division and threw grenades into the shelter where Guriev was. When Commander Chuikov learned of this, he hurriedly sent a company of guards from the headquarters of the army group to rescue Guryev. The Guards Company and Guryev's troops attacked together, repulsed the enemy automatic gunners from the vicinity of the division headquarters, and took advantage of the victory to follow the pursuit until they broke through to the 'Red October' plant. The guard companies sent by the army group, at the end of the battle, did not return to the command, but remained there, replenishing the Guryev division in order to strengthen them. ”

"I see." When Kirillov heard this, he said thoughtfully: "No wonder Commander Chuikov has the cheekiness to ask us for a platoon of soldiers today, it turns out that he really went to serve as a guard at the headquarters." At this point, he looked up at Akhromeyev, who had stopped, and said, "Go ahead, Comrade Chief of Staff." ”

“…… The enemy continued to carry out assaults on the ferry and the "Red October" plant. At about 15 o'clock, our troops repelled the enemy's attack, but the fascist bandits managed to occupy Maschennaya Street before dark.

On the section between the "barricade" and "Red October" factories, the enemy was only about 400 meters from the Volga. Enemy automatic gun fire and artillery fire strafed the gully leading west to the Volga. Now you have to crawl to move forward along the riverbank. It's very inconvenient for us. Soon, our sappers erected two layers of wooden fences across the gully. Fill the middle with stones. Used to intercept bullets. ……”

After listening to Akhromeyev read a thick stack of battle reports. Kirillov was the first to speak: "Although the German offensive was fierce some time ago and had the upper hand for a while, they still failed to drive our troops into the Volga in the end. Now that the enemy's strength has been exhausted, I don't think they will launch any more large-scale attacks. ”

"Comrade Political Commissar, you are too optimistic." As soon as Kirillov finished speaking, the deputy division commander Bandereev said: "Although the Germans did their best not to occupy the entire city, and their troops were greatly weakened in the battle. But if we base ourselves on this. If you relax your vigilance by wishful thinking that the enemy has no strength to attack, you will suffer a great loss. ”

"It's not as grim as you say, old man." Kirillov retorted unconvinced: "After the hard fighting of October, our commanders understood that in the short term the Hitler bandits could no longer prepare for such a large-scale offensive operation. The piles of corpses and destroyed equipment that the enemy had not had time to collect confirmed that it was not an easy task for the attackers to move forward over these "obstacles" left by themselves. ”

For the argument between the two. I did not express an opinion, but I agree with Bandereev's analysis in my heart. Although the Germans suffered heavy losses in the October offensive, they must also see that our casualties were even heavier, and if the Germans attacked again with the same intensity, whether the 62nd Army could withstand the German attack was a big question.

Seeing that the argument between Kirillov and Bandereev was getting more and more intense, I was about to give my opinion to stop the argument between the two men, when the telephone on the desk rang at an inopportune time, just in time to interrupt the argument.

Akhromeyev picked up the phone and listened to it for a while, then handed it to me, and at the same time said: "Comrade division commander, it was Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar who called, and he said that there was an important intelligence report. ”

I took the phone and said loudly into the microphone: "Hey, Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar?" I'm Oshanina, do you have anything important to report to me? ”

"Yes, Comrade Division Commander." Gaidar hurriedly said on the phone: "Just now, the observation post on the top of the mountain reported that there was an abnormal movement in the enemy's forward position, and I hurriedly went to the observation post on the top of the mountain with Political Commissar Xia Ping to check. Having discovered that the enemy was in their forward position, an artillery position was set up, with about two artillery battalions, apparently intended to fire at close range on our high ground. ”

Before I could speak, Bandereev next to me reminded me: "Comrade division commander, ask the lieutenant colonel if you can make a sortie and try to destroy the German artillery positions." ”

Gaidar apparently heard the voice of Bandereev, and was deeply afraid that I would give him such an order, so he hurriedly reminded me: "Comrade division commander, next to the enemy's artillery positions, there are also tank units. Our troops are already short of heavy and anti-tank weapons, and if we rashly attack the enemy's positions, it will be like sending them to death. ”

"Pay close attention to the enemy's movements," because Gaidar's report was too concise, I could not guess the enemy's attempt to suddenly place artillery positions in the forward positions, so I could only tell him: "If there is any situation, report to me at any time." ”

Putting down the phone, I frowned and thought about it, why did the enemy's attack on us suddenly become so active again after so many days of stopping the enemy's attack, could it be that they were replenished from somewhere? In order to find out about this, I dialed the headquarters of the army group, and after hearing Krylov's voice, I immediately asked: "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff, I would like to ask if there is any movement of the enemy in the city?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Oshanina, according to the reports of the divisions, the German troops in front of them are in a tense movement, and it seems that a major offensive is brewing." "It seems that the enemy is not willing to accept their defeat and wants to attack again to save their reputation." ”

"Is Comrade Commander here?" I waited for Krylov to finish speaking, and then asked tentatively: "I have something important to report to him." ”

Soon the familiar voice of Chuikov came from the earpiece: "I'm Chuikov, Comrade Oshanina, do you have anything to report to me?" ”

"Comrade Commander," I heard that it was Chuikov's voice, and I hurriedly organized the vocabulary in my head. Then he began to report to him: "The fourth regiment commander reported to me just now. The enemy was behind that forward position on the north side of the heights. An artillery position was arranged, perhaps to prevent the rush of our troops, and they also sent tanks, which covered the artillery position. ”

"The enemy's intentions are obvious, Comrade Oshanina." As soon as Chuikov heard me explain the general situation, he immediately expressed his opinion: "The enemy has not given up the attempt to seize the Mamayev Gang, and I estimate that they will launch a fierce attack on the Mamayev Gang today, and you must be prepared in advance." ”

"Okay. Comrade commander, I will prepare the troops for battle. After saying this, I repeated to Chuikov what I had just heard Kirillov say.

After hearing this, Chuikov was silent for a long time, and then he said: "Comrade Oshanina, you are very right. Our group army is currently facing a serious situation of fighting on two fronts: on the one hand, it is fighting the enemy; The other side is fighting against natural disasters on the Volga.

Having estimated the possible complex situation, the military council of the army group submitted in advance to the logistics command a well-thought-out plan to ensure the needs of the operations department in the city. Program requirements: first, to bring in additional personnel and a large amount of ammunition (because there is no of these. The army group will suffer); second, the delivery of food and medicine; Third. Winter clothing urgently needed by the troops was brought in. In addition, as early as a few days ago, we had deliberately reduced food so that our commanders and fighters could adapt to the bitter cold, but after sensing that the enemy was preparing for a surprise attack, we could no longer be in a situation where we were short of men and ammunition. In this form, the absence of ammunition is tantamount to waiting to be killed.

A lot of ammunition is needed, and indeed the more the better. The soldiers are also well aware of this, and they are trying their best to collect and stock up on some bullets, grenades, mines, and artillery shells. Everyone knew in their hearts that even if they would rather starve and freeze themselves, they would never be without ammunition.

I entrusted the supervision of the inventory, distribution and stockpiling of ammunition to Spasov, Sokolov and Zinoviev. They stayed in the city and personally reported to me every day about the arrival of supplies. The distribution plan (to whom and how much, how much to spare) was decided by the military council of the army group.

However, your division is not under the distribution plan, and as far as I know, the materials you captured in the north this time are enough to support your operations for half a month to a month, so it is better to leave the supplies to the troops who need them most. ”

Chuikov's words made me breathe a sigh of relief, it turned out that he only included my division in the list of non-distribution of supplies, and did not intend for us to transfer some supplies to support friendly forces, so my heart was much more steady.

I was about to find a reason to hang up the phone, when Chuikov suddenly said: "Comrade Oshanina, in a few days it will be the great 'October Revolutionary Day', and in order to celebrate this solemn holiday, the army group is preparing to launch a large-scale counterattack against the enemy in front of it the day before, that is, on November 6. You are no exception there, you have to cooperate with the overall action of the group army and launch an attack on the enemy in front of you, you have no problem, right? ”

Chuikov asked me, can I say no? So I could only grit my teeth and promise: "Please rest assured, commander, that the independent division will definitely not hold back the entire group army, and we will launch an attack on the enemy in front of us after the counterattack begins." ”

When I put down the phone, Akhromeyev, who had heard part of our conversation, hurriedly asked with concern: "Comrade division commander, what's wrong?" Where and on what scale is the commander going to strike back at the enemy? ”

Before I could speak, Kirillov was already dissatisfied: "Counterattack, counterattack again." Don't look at the current situation, we have limited troops, and we can barely use them for defense, and if we use them for offense, we are a bit stretched. ”

"Comrade political commissar, such things cannot be said casually." I was afraid that Kirillov would be excited and say something that should not be said, so I quickly stopped him and expressed my opinion to several people: "Although we have limited forces today and cannot carry out any major counterattacks, we can still do it with a small counterattack." This counterattack was specially organized by Commander Chuikov to celebrate the great 'October Revolution Day'. ”

As soon as my words came out, everyone stopped talking, because this counterattack was associated with the celebration of a great festival, and if anyone objected, it would seriously affect their future, so silence was their best option in this situation.

Bantai Leev first diverted the topic: "Comrade division commander, I have a hunch. Seeing that everyone's attention was focused on him, he continued, "The enemy has set up an artillery position so far from our position. Its purpose is not only to shell our heights, but the main goal is to bombard our ferries on the Volga in an attempt to cut off our logistical supplies. ”

"Comrade Deputy Division Commander, do you have any good ideas?" After waiting for Bantai Leyev to finish, Akhromeyev looked down at the map for a while, then raised his head and asked: "Or, what kind of methods should we use to destroy the enemy's artillery positions and ensure the safety of the heights and the Volga transport line?" ”

"Since the enemy has already placed an artillery position, then we can also place an artillery position on the southern slope of the north and high and low." It seems that Bandereev has long considered various possibilities, so after hearing Akhromeyev's question, he immediately replied confidently, "During this trip to the north, we captured a lot of the enemy's artillery, although in the battle some time ago, we lost three, but the remaining artillery is more than enough to destroy the enemy's artillery positions." ”

After listening to Pandereev's words, Kirillov pondered for a moment, then turned to me and said: "Comrade division commander, I think the deputy division commander has a good idea, you can arrange an artillery position behind the fourth regiment and destroy the enemy's artillery position with artillery fire. After saying that, seeing that I had not expressed my position for a long time, he said cautiously: "Why don't we call Major Morozov over now and ask him what his opinion is?" ”

I didn't say anything about Kirillov's suggestion, just nodded in acquiescence. Seeing that I agreed, Akhromeyev immediately picked up the phone on the table and contacted Morozov, ordering him to immediately rush to the division headquarters and say that important combat missions would be assigned to him.

Morozov came quickly, and within two minutes of Akhromeyev's call, he appeared at my command. Perhaps hearing that there was an important combat mission to be arranged, Morozov's face was flushed with excitement, and as soon as he entered the door, he couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade division commander, the commander of the artillery battalion, Major Morozov, came to report to you, I don't know if you have any important tasks to give us?" ”

Kirillov and I looked at each other and smiled, and then asked Morozov teasingly: "Comrade Major, what's the matter, you can't hold your breath?" ”

"Of course, Comrade Commissar." Morozov replied a little shyly: "Seeing that other commanders and fighters are being awarded medals and promotions, it can make the commanders and fighters of our battalion anxious. Everyone came to my command post every day and begged me to ask the division headquarters for battle, but they couldn't persuade me......"

Before Morozov could finish speaking, Kirillov interrupted him with a smile: "Comrade Major, the one who can't hold your breath may be you." Isn't it a long time since you have been in a war, and you feel uncomfortable when you see others awarding you medals and promotions? ”

"That's right," Morozov smiled embarrassedly when he saw through his tricks, and continued: "Although our battalion is not fully organized, we still have a few newly captured heavy guns, which can provide the necessary fire cover for our troops in battle......"

Before Morozov could finish his sentence, the telephone on the table rang again. Akhromeyev grabbed the phone in his hand, listened to it for a while, put it down, looked up and said to me: "Comrade division commander, Lieutenant Colonel Gaidar reports that the enemy has begun shelling their positions. ”

"Got it." After I had said this in a calm tone, I turned around and instructed Morozov: "Comrade Major, I order you to build a heavy artillery position on the southern slope of the high ground where the Fourth Regiment is located, and suppress the enemy's artillery positions by fire, which of course can destroy them, which is the best, and I will give you credit at that time." ”

Hearing that I was going to give them credit, Morozov was as excited as if he had been beaten with blood, and he snapped and replied loudly: "Please rest assured, division commander, I will build this heavy artillery position within two hours." Before dark, I guarantee that this artillery position of the enemy will no longer exist. (To be continued......)