Chapter 495

After a distance, I heard trakov and bandulin chatting in the back like two old friends.

Trakov asked tentatively, "Comrade bandulin, I have been to the 229th division several times before, but I have never met you. Are you transferred to the new division?"

This question of trekov also aroused my curiosity. Some time ago, when I was in the 229th division, I found that there was only one commander at the division level, Colonel Saren, not to mention the director of the political department, not even the political commissar of the division. Later, he met pan Qinke, a political commissar at the battalion level from the Political Department of the front army, and there was a temporary political commissar in the division.

Bandurin was silent for a moment, and replied: "Comrade commander, I am an old comrade in arms of Saren division commander. As early as he was the commander, I was the director of his political department. When our division received the order from the supreme command, many troops had not yet gathered up. In order not to delay the fight, after studying by the division's Party committee, it was decided that the division commander, comrade Saren, would take five battalions to the designated positions first, while the division political commissar, comrade truning and I, would wait until the remaining four battalions were assembled, and then rush to the battlefield to join the division commander. "

Trikov nodded and said thoughtfully, "well, I understand this situation. When the 229th division entered the battlefield, the whole division had only five battalions, but it was weak to defend an area with a width of 15 kilometers. If all the nine battalions arrive at the same time and are equipped with enough anti tank forces, your division will be able to stand firmly in a favorable position, reliably protect the junction of the 62nd and 64th army, and stop the enemy from carrying out assault on the flanks and rear of the 62nd army. "

Bandurin replied with a wry smile: "our division was deployed in the direction of Kharkov at that time to prevent the enemy forces in the region from attacking Moscow northward, but no one expected that the enemy's real target of attack was Stalingrad. After the division started with five battalions, it took us two days to gather the remaining four battalions. When the troops are ready to set out, the military commander in charge of railway dispatching tells us that because there are many troops going to the Don River Valley, and because the enemy's planes are constantly bombing the railway lines, our division will have to wait at least a month if it wants to take a bus. The military situation is so hot that we don't have time to wait for a month, so we have to walk to the battlefield here. Although we were in a hurry, it took us nearly ten days to get to the battlefield. By this time, the division had left its original fighting position, crossed the Don River and retreated in the direction of Stalingrad. So we crossed the Don river again, listened along the road, found the division headquarters, and joined up with colonel sarren

"Comrade bandulin," I heard here, and I couldn't help asking, "I was in the 229th division a few days ago. At that time, a special commissioner came from the Political Department of the front army and was appointed as the acting political commissar by Colonel sarin. Where has he gone now?"

Bandurin looked at me and said, "commander o'shanina, you're talking about Comrade panchenko, political commissar of the battalion?" Seeing that I nodded in affirmation, he went on to say, "after Comrade turnin and I returned to the division, the political commissar was naturally turnin, and pan Qinke, the acting political commissar, became the deputy political commissar of the division."

After listening to the arrangement made by Colonel salen for panchenko, I felt a little more friendly towards him. At least he was not a bridge breaker. I immediately felt close to him psychologically.

"Comrade bandurin," trekov said again, "since you have known Colonel sarin for a long time, can you tell me your personal opinion of sarin?"

Bandurin nodded his head and said, "yes, comrade commander. Anyway, we have to build a car for a long time. Let me tell you the story between me and Colonel sarren.

In the second half of 1939, I graduated from the Military Academy of vorongze, and I was assigned to his regiment. At that time, Mr. Saren was just a commander in chief of a lieutenant colonel. To him, I was a political worker who had no working experience or combat experience, and could only talk. So when I reported, he only took a look at the letter of introduction, then turned to ask troupe political commissar truning sitting next to him: "Comrade political commissar, is there any vacant position in our regiment?"

Trunin was still friendly. After shaking hands with me, he replied that the Third Battalion had just finished replenishment, and there was a lack of political deputy battalion commander, so Comrade bandulin could take the post.

After listening to this, comrade Saren read me for a long time and reluctantly agreed to the political commissar's proposal. So in this way, I went to the third battalion as the political deputy battalion commander. Less than half a month after I arrived at the camp, my troops were transferred to Leningrad to take part in the battle against Finland.

Commander, you should know that the winter in Finland is very long and cold. It is windy and snowy. The temperature is below - 30 ~ 40 ℃ all the year round. When the war broke out, it was the shortest day in the whole year, and the long night greatly restricted the exertion of our army's aviation superiority. At the beginning of the war, there was a heavy snow. The snow in the war zone was as deep as one meter, which brought great inconvenience to our army's operations, but provided an opportunity for the Finn army, who was good at skiing, to show their skills. "

When he heard this, trakov raised his hand and interrupted his words. He said impatiently, "what's the terrain like in Finland? We all know in our hearts that I once commanded the army in the Sufen war. You'd better get to the point. "

"The mission of our regiment is to attack the Mannheim line of defense in the Karelia isthmus. As the enemy line of defense has a complete fortification system, it is composed of three defensive zones about 90 km deep. Relying on natural obstacles such as lakes and swamps, each defense zone has built a large number of permanent launching fortifications and civil fire points, and there are nearly a thousand underground bunkers, which are connected by trenches and traffic trenches. In the face of today's strong fortifications, which are easy to defend and difficult to attack, several attacks launched by our regiment before and after failed, on the contrary, there were many casualties. When the first and second battalions were frustrated again and forced to retreat, the Finnish army on the defense line took the opportunity to launch a counter assault, trying to break through our position at one stroke. At this time, I rushed up with the newly formed Third Battalion and started a close combat with the enemy. After a fierce fight, we completely annihilated the enemy.

While cleaning up the battlefield, sarin and drunin came to us and praised the achievements of our battalion. At this moment, I saw a smile on his face for the first time. After this battle, my work has changed from rescuing the wounded, transporting materials and cleaning the battlefield to political propaganda for the whole battalion, and I am qualified to participate in the formulation of combat plans. "

"Colonel sarin is a hero who has made many achievements in war, but he also has many shortcomings. I've heard more than one person say that he's hot tempered and difficult to get along with. " Trikov couldn't help but cut in again and expressed his opinion on sarin.

"Yes, comrade commander. After arriving at the regiment, I heard many people say that he was eccentric, but after I got close to him, I found that he still had many advantages. Although he was sometimes very rude, he often flew into a rage at his subordinates when he made a battle plan. But when things are over, he will make his bloody subordinates apologize.

In battle, he also has shortcomings. As long as in the war, when the situation ahead is not good, he will say to trunin, "Comrade political commissar, I'll leave it to you. I'll go to the front line to have a look." After that, he took a few guards and ran to the most fierce and dangerous place in the battlefield, even exchanged fire with the enemy face to face.

It is undeniable that his operational characteristics will naturally add infinite strength and courage to the front-line commanders and fighters, and enable them to stabilize the most dangerous positions, or make our army break through the most difficult positions. However, he forgot that he was a commander and should stay in the headquarters to coordinate the overall situation instead of fighting like ordinary soldiers. His shortcoming is not obvious when he is a platoon leader; When he commands a regiment or division, it will become more and more dangerous. We need to know that once he has any accident in the battle, the troops will have no leader and the command will be paralyzed, which may destroy the important mission entrusted to us by the superior. "

After hearing this, trikov nodded unexpectedly, and then said, "Comrade bandulin, you are quite right. You know, in the fighting some time ago, there was such a bitter lesson. When the enemy broke through the division's line of defense and approached his division headquarters, the commander of the 192nd division, Colonel zaharchenko, did not listen to his subordinates' advice and quickly withdrew. Instead, he wanted to stay and fight with the enemy. As a result, when he left the division headquarters, he was found by the approaching German tanks. His jeep was hit by shells, and he died on the spot. The 192nd division, which lost its command, was soon defeated by the enemy. If the 62nd army had not had strong fortifications along the Koska River, it would have been completely destroyed. "

When it comes to Zahar Qinke's sacrifice, bandulin also sighs. He says with emotion that when he returns to the division, he must persuade Colonel Saren to take risks in the front line.

The conversation between them gave me some inspiration. I'm considering that since the Mannerheim defense line was able to inflict heavy damage on the powerful Soviet army in the Sufen war, if we build such a defense line in Stalingrad City, we can not only inflict heavy damage on the enemy, but also preserve as much as possible the productive capacity of our army.

Just thinking about it, I heard bandulin at the back asking: "Comrade commander, I saw that your messenger looks very young. He should not be 18 years old."

This topic once again aroused my curiosity, because in my eyes, sidtorin is just a child who didn't grow up, but why did trakov use him as a messenger? You know, there are more experienced and flexible fighters than seedolin. I didn't expect that as soon as trakov spoke, I knew that his choice was right. If it was me, I would do the same.

He only heard trakov say leisurely: "Comrade bandulin, the name of Herald sidolin is levolid tymofeevich sidolin, 16 years old this year." At this point, he looked at what bandulin wanted to say. He raised his hand to stop him, and then went on, "his father's name is jimurphy sidolin, and he is the combat director of my 62nd army command. Before the war, I knew lieutenant commander sidolin when he was still a combat staff officer in the headquarters of the Belarusian military region. "

Timothy seedolin, chief of operations, I linked this name with my position, and I immediately understood who trakov was talking about. It turned out that it was the commander seedolin who died when he went to the Don river ferry with the artillery director Brad to stop the troops from collapsing.

"16-year-old levolid tymofeevich sidolin asked his father to take him to the front line after the war broke out," trakov said in a deep tone. His father, through his own relationship, made him a private soldier in the guard company of the headquarters of the group army. Because I have seen their father and son together many times, and they look very similar to each other, so I remember him. He's brave, he's good at shooting, and he's done a great job every time.

At noon on July 26, commander sidtorin died at the ferry crossing. That night, little sidtorin came to the command post to see me. As soon as he saw my face, he immediately reported, "Comrade commander, the remains of commander sidtorin have been transported and are now parked outside the command post."

I knew that lewood was the son of lieutenant colonel seedolin. When I saw him appear in front of me, I had mixed feelings. I didn't know what to say to him. Konstantin kirikovich Abramov, a member of the Military Commission and political commissar of the division, who was sitting next to me, turned his head and said coldly to him, "Comrade private, hand over the remains of lieutenant colonel sidolin to the commander of the security company of the headquarters and ask them to dig the grave and prepare other things for the band and the funeral."

Because Abramov didn't know lewood before, let alone the father son relationship between him and lieutenant colonel sidtorin, he couldn't understand the young man's mood at the moment, so his speaking attitude was very stiff. I saw little sidorin pursing his lips tightly, tears swirling in his eyes, but he tried to control his emotions. Instead of making himself cry, he saluted Abramov and turned away. It was not until lewoled left that I was relieved from my grief and told Abramov sternly: "Comrade military commissar, your attitude towards Comrade private is not correct."‘ Why do you say that, comrade trekov? " Abramov, confused by what I said, asked in a puzzled way‘ Because the private soldier just now is the son of lieutenant colonel sidtorin! " After hearing what I said, Abramov looked at me with wide eyes. In an unbelievable tone, he asked tentatively, "really?" When he heard my affirmative answer, he gave a cry of surprise and ran after lewood. When commander sidolin came back from the burial, Abramov offered to let little sidolin serve as his guard, but I refused. I said I would take good care of his son for the sacrificed commander. The next day, I went to my observation post by car. When I passed the cemetery where commander Theodore Lin was buried, I saw little Theodore Lin lying on the ground, crying very sad. I quickly asked the driver to stop, opened the car door and yelled at him without thinking: "Red Army soldier sidtorin, get on the bus immediately and follow me! Take your submachine gun and more bullets! " Hearing my cry, little sidtorin jumped up from the ground, dusted off the dirt, straightened his uniform, and ran quickly to carry out the order. Soon he came back with his submachine gun and got on my jeep. We chatted on the way, and I learned that his mother had been evacuated to Siberia. I asked him carefully, "sidtorin, do you miss your mother?" Seeing his shy nod, I asked, "do you want me to let you leave the army and go to the rear to find your mother?" I didn't expect that when he heard me say that, his eyes burst into tears. I knew at that time that I had made a mistake and touched the young man's pain. After wiping a handful of tears, he firmly said to me: "Comrade commander, I will not go. Even if you drive me away from here, I will not leave the front line. I want to avenge my father and other soldiers who died. " Since then, little sidtorin has been my messenger, and he has never left me again. He is more mature than his peers. Even in battle, he is brave and happy. Only in the dead of night, he would still quietly shed tears for his father... "When listening to the story of little sidtorin told by trikov, I felt my nose began to sour again. I quickly turned my head to look out of the window, pretended to be careless, and raised my hand to wipe away a drop of tears from my cheek. As soon as I wiped away my tears, I heard a clear sob coming from the side. Turning around, I saw the driver holding the steering wheel in one hand and wiping his face with the other hand. Trekov's voice rang from behind: "you should all remember that as long as the war is not over, our relatives and friends may leave us at any time for various reasons. So we must defeat the bandits and drive them out of our country. Only in this way can our relatives and friends enjoy their peaceful life. " There were people fleeing on the roadside. This was the first time I saw the evacuees after I crossed. I saw them supporting the old and carrying the young, they were trudging along the potholes of the road. There are no young men in it. They are all elderly people, women and children. Some of them are carrying packages, some are carrying suitcases and some are holding children. They are walking along with difficulty. Especially those elderly people, with the help of others, walk and stop. They can hardly walk far, so they have to stop to have a rest. If there is no faint rumble of guns, it is estimated that they really do not want to move forward.      When I saw the tragedy of the refugees, I couldn't bear it. I turned back and asked trekov, "Comrade commander, do you need to help them? Even if it's just a ride for a few people. " Did not expect that trekov directly shook his head and denied: "no, commander oshanina, we still have important tasks to carry out, we can't delay our journey because of them." At this point, he looked outside, sighed and said, "for them, I can only express sympathy. We can't help it."