Chapter 416

Hearing the order from kolpakchi, shamikov, who had already picked up the receiver, was stunned and reminded him in a low voice: "Comrade commander, the 147th and 181st divisions are our reserves. Do you want them to fight so early?"

"You don't see when it's going to be and what reserves you're going to have," colpakchi said, waving impatiently. If the German forces break through the region of kacharinskaya, they will quickly advance to the edge of the Koska River and form a situation of encircling the right wing of the 62nd army. "

Hearing what korpakchi said so seriously, shamikov didn't insist on his opinion either. He shook the handle of the telephone a few times and said to the microphone, "I'm group army headquarters. Connect me with major general walshin, commander of the 147th division." After a while, the phone rang, and shamikov raised his voice and said, "general walshine? I'm captain shamikov, the operational staff officer of the group army. The commander ordered that your division immediately... "

As soon as shmikov said this, korpakchi, who had been pacing back and forth in the room, suddenly came to the table and hung up. Not only did the client, shamikov, look at korpakchi blankly, but even I, who had been doing nothing beside me, stared at the commander strangely. I don't know why he suddenly interrupted shamikov to give orders to his subordinate troops.

Colpacci's hand on the phone did not move. He frowned and said solemnly, "the battle has just begun. The reserves can't move!"

"However, comrade commander, if we do not support the 33rd division of the guards, they will not be able to hold the present position," murmured shamikov, holding the microphone

Instead of answering his question, kolpakchi took the microphone from his hand, shook the handle a few times, connected it and said, "operator, connect me with colonel harchenko of the 182nd infantry division."

When he got through, he asked sternly, "Comrade Colonel, I want to know when your 192nd Division will be able to break through the front German defensive position?"

Harchenko answered in a flustered way: "Comrade commander, I have done my best. Because of the strong fortifications in the German defense area, my three infantry regiments launched seven successive charges without success. "

Korpakchi interrupted harchenko's complaint and ordered in an unquestionable tone: "since the first seven times have failed, then you immediately organize the eighth attack. Comrade Colonel, I don't care what you do. Within an hour, I must see your troops in my sight, or you will lose your rank as a colonel. "

Although kolpakchi once showed panic just now, as a commander with rich combat experience, he returned to normal in a short time and began to give orders to his troops again. After the call with harchenko, he got through to the commander of the 33rd division, Colonel farnasiyev.

As soon as he got on the phone, he asked frankly, "Colonel farnasiev, what's the situation with your division?"

Fanasiyev quickly reported: "Comrade report commander, according to the report of the 85th regiment holding the western position, the German infantry are approaching the position they are holding under the cover of tanks. Due to the fierce air raids and artillery fire of the enemy, they are unable to organize effective resistance. At present, the eastern position of the 84th regiment has not been attacked by the German army. The officers and men are repairing the fortifications and preparing to fight well with the German here. "

When I heard Colonel farnasiyev say that the East and the West positions were two positions, I was slightly stunned at first. Then I remembered that our counter offensive was from east to west. The first line of defense we conquered was now the east position, and the second position we conquered was naturally the West position.

After hearing this, korpakchi only told farnasiyev, "Colonel, you should call the head of the 85th regiment and ask them to hold on. I will support them soon." Then he hung up.

After this call, he dialed another one and said, "Comrade military commissar, the newly occupied position of the 33rd division of the close guard is being attacked by German air raids and heavy shelling. At the same time, the enemy infantry are approaching them under the cover of tanks. They are now in need of assistance. Please order the artillery regiment to fire immediately and stop the German army in front of the western position! Yes, don't hesitate, fire at once

Just as kolpakchi was on the phone, the staff officer who was watching at the window suddenly exclaimed in surprise: "the Germans are about to enter our position."

I went to the window two steps, raised my telescope and looked at the battlefield. I saw that the German infantry, under the cover of tanks, had advanced to less than 100 meters away from the position. For fear of accidental injury, the German artillery had stopped shooting, and the air force circled our position for a while before flying away one after another.

At the moment, the ground of our army is full of smoke and fire, but no one can be seen. Seeing this scene, my heart can't help sinking. What's the matter? Are the officers and men of the 85th regiment still shooting? Did they all die?

At this moment, our artillery opened fire, and groups of shells whistled through the air, and accurately fell into the German attack line in front of our army. For a moment, the open area full of German infantry and tanks was blown into a sea of fire, shrapnel and mud splashed.

Colpakchi also went to the window, picked up the telescope to enjoy the masterpiece of our artillery. After looking at it for a while, he moved his telescope away from his eyes and turned to shamikov and said, "Comrade captain, call the military commissar and let the artillery fire extend. We must completely destroy the attacking enemy." Shamikov agreed excitedly and turned to make a phone call. Because of the unexpected attack of our artillery, the German army's first attack failed. As soon as the German army retreated, the surviving officers and men in the western position got out of the ruins and rushed to repair the fortifications. As the German troops retreated, kolpakchi's face beamed. But without waiting for him to laugh, shamikov reported a piece of bad news to him: "Comrade commander, I just received the news that the German army launched a fierce offensive against the 184th and 192nd divisions of our group army." "What's the status of the war now?" colpacci asked unhappily Shamikov shook his head and answered bitterly, "Comrade commander, the situation is very bad. According to the latest war report, the German motorized 3rd and 60th divisions were the main forces of this attack. Ten minutes ago, they just destroyed the division headquarters of our infantry 184th and 192nd divisions in the upper buzinovka area. As the whereabouts of the two division commanders and the personnel in the division headquarters are unknown, the command systems of the two forces are in chaos. Except for a few troops who insist on fighting in place, most of the remaining troops are retreating to the golubinski and nabatovsky area. " It's a bit difficult to hear the word "retreat" mentioned by shamikov. I think the situation is much more serious than what he said. The troops did not retreat in an orderly manner, but in a rout. Just then, the phone on the desk rang. Shamikov picked up the phone, listened to it, immediately handed it to korpakchi and said, "Comrade commander, it's general trakov." Trekov's call. Why did he call at this time? In order to find out what was going on, I took advantage of kolpakchi's passing to pick up the microphone and quietly moved two steps towards him so that I could hear the conversation between him and trakov“ Hello, Vladimir Yakovlev Trikov unexpectedly called kolpakchi's father name and real name on the phone, and my heart could not help but feel tight when I heard that. My heart said, what's the matter? Otherwise, trakov would never have used such a formal term for korpakchi. Kolpakchi was stunned to hear that trakov called him, and then politely asked, "Hello, Vasili Ivanovich! You are calling at this time. What can I do for you“ Comrade commander of the group army, "trekov said coldly," I want to report you some unfortunate news. In the German telegram we just intercepted, they said that they had made great achievements in the battle in the upper buzinovka area, defeated the 184th and 192nd divisions of our army, and killed the commander of the 192nd division, Colonel harchenko. "“ What? " When kolpakchi heard the news, he almost jumped up, his breath became short, and he said repeatedly, "it's impossible. You know, I talked to Colonel harchenko on the phone an hour ago. The news you got must be a rumor deliberately spread by the German army, whose purpose is to shake the morale of our army."“ General korpakchi, "trikov interrupted before he finished, saying sternly," the right wing of our group army is now taking over the rout of the 184th and 192nd divisions, and has caught fire with the German vanguard. I suggest that you immediately give up the positions you occupied in today's anti assault battle and let the troops withdraw after dark. Move quickly, or you will find that the army has been surrounded by the German army after daybreak tomorrow. At that time, what you are facing is not how to consolidate the occupied positions, but how to organize the troops to break through. " Colpakchi put down the phone and slumped on the stool, staring at the map in front of him. Shamikov and I stood by his side, quietly waiting for his final decision. After a long time, kolpacki looked up as if he had made up his mind and said weakly to shamikov, "Comrade captain, you're going to call Colonel farnasiyev and ask him to give orders to the troops. In any case, you should hold on until the evening. After dark, the troops quietly withdrew and returned to the offensive starting position in the morning. " Shamikov agreed and turned to make a phone call.