Chapter 501

"Yes, comrade commander." "I will tell the officers and men that our battle is not only for the protection of our motherland, but also for the honor of our soldiers," klobkin said solemnly

Then, I heard him tell the people around me in the earphone: "you go to inform the commanders below that the opportunity to build meritorious service is in front of all of us. Whether we can build meritorious service depends on their respective performance." The man who was told by him agreed excitedly, and then I heard a rapid sound of footsteps gradually go away.

Seeing that Colonel klobkin understood what I meant, I politely said, "good luck to you!" Then he was cut off.

Seeing that I had finished my assignment to kolobkin, trakov and shumilov went back to the table and sat down one after another, chatting with the two military commissars, serdyuk and Abramov, who were sitting there and kept silent. To tell you the truth, the four leaders of the group army are doing very well today. Except when the air force was mobilized, the two principal and Deputy commanders called the headquarters of the front army and the air force, they almost kept silent for the rest of the time. They were completely relieved and boldly asked me to direct the battle.

I grabbed the belt around my waist with both hands and began to circle around the wooden table. The victory or defeat of this battle is no longer my main concern. What bothers me is that the German army not only has more tanks and artillery than us, but also their air force firmly holds the air supremacy on the battlefield. In today's battle, if our army is not the main attacker and has the advantage of military strength, it may be our army that is finally annihilated.

While turning around, a communications staff officer stood up after receiving a phone call and reported to me, "Comrade commander, according to the report of the frontier observation station, our fighters have arrived over the battlefield and launched a fierce air fight with the enemy. As the enemy's air raids have stopped, our participating forces have speeded up their attack. "

The good news gave everyone a sigh of relief. I asked again. After verifying the accuracy of the information, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I told the radio operator, "immediately get in touch with two division commanders lyudnikov and kuropatenko, and ask where their troops have arrived?"

With a loud promise, the operator picked up the transmitter and began to shout. Because the communication equipment carried by lyudnikov was destroyed in the air raid, only the 157 division of the two divisions had a telephone, so the operator called the communication code of the kuropatenko division.

I didn't expect that the operator was almost hoarse and didn't get a reply from the other party. My heart suddenly raised to my throat. My heart said that lyudnikov and kuropatenko would not be so unlucky. They had just been hit by an air raid, but now they can't get in touch. They won't be hit by anything again, will they?

Seeing that we couldn't get in touch with the 138th and 157 divisions, trikov and shumilov couldn't sit still, and they came to the telephone side by side. "Keep calling until you get in touch with them," trekov yelled at the operator The operator quickly nodded and sped up the call.

Shumilov stood beside trakov with his hands behind his back and said anxiously, "Comrade trakov, do you think these two divisions will encounter any accident?"

Trekov looked at the calling operator, then turned to me, raised his chin to me, and asked, "what do you think, comrade oshanina?"

Although I feel like 15 buckets of water at present, I still reply calmly, "two comrades, I can't get in touch with the 157 th division. Maybe it's because they are marching and the radio is not on."

"Commander oshanina," compared with trikov's calmness, shumilov was obviously a little uneasy. He asked in a hurry, "are you sure you can't contact the two divisions because they are marching and the radio is not on?"

I was a little too full of words just now. When shumilov asked, I could only reply with a stiff head: "yes, comrade commander, I can almost conclude that this is the case."

Shumilov shriveled his mouth and asked in disapproval: "is this really the case? Comrade commander. "

"Comrades commander," trikov said in a more affirmative tone, coming forward to help me out in time, "I think lieutenant commander o'shanina has a point. You think that the enemy's air raid was so fierce just now, lyudnikov and kuropatenko are safe and sound. Now that the German planes have left the battlefield and there is no long-range artillery to support their infantry, the reason why we can't get in touch with these two divisions is that the radio is not turned on during the March, so we can't get in touch for the time being. At present, all we can do is to wait, wait for kuropatenko and contact us when they start up... "

Trekov just said this, the voice of the operator suddenly became shrill with excitement: "yes, yes, I'm the group army command, I'm the group army command." Then the operator turned around and excitedly reported to me, "Comrade commander, we have contacted the 157 th division."

I grabbed the earphone and transmitter handed to me by the operator and said aloud, "Hello! Hello! Hello! I'm lieutenant commander oshanina. Are you Colonel kuropatenko or Colonel lyudnikov? "

Colonel lyudnikov's familiar voice came from the earphone. He said slowly, "report, comrade commander, the radio was not turned on just now because we were marching. At present, our two divisions have reached the designated position, and the vanguard troops have exchanged fire with the enemy. "

"How many troops of the two divisions are in place? Two regiments or three regiments? " I'm afraid that the trucks of their two divisions lost too much in the enemy's air raid just now, which will affect the time for most of the commanders and fighters to enter the battlefield.

"More than that, except for two or three battalions still on their way, the rest of the commanders and fighters have entered the battlefield and are waiting for you to give them orders, and they will rush down to the enemy like tigers."

"Didn't you say that many trucks were damaged by enemy planes in the air raid? How can you and Colonel kuropatenko put so many troops into the battlefield at one time? "

"Well, comrade commander. In the course of advancing to the battlefield, our troops met the 137th brigade of tanks coming from behind. After our negotiation with the tank brigade commander, some of the walking commanders and fighters took tanks and some took trucks transporting ammunition and fuel to advance rapidly. In this way, most of our troops arrived at the battlefield almost at the same time. "

"The tank brigade is coming up too?" I didn't expect that this tank brigade, which was not included in my plan at all, gave me a big surprise. I stabilized my mood for a moment and said to lyudnikov, "Comrade Colonel, don't hesitate. Immediately put you and Colonel kuropatenko's troops, as well as the tank brigade, into battle. The action must be fast and fierce, and the enemy must be completely eliminated in the shortest time."

Lyudnikov still replied calmly: "I see, comrade commander. I'm going to convey your order to both of them. "

"Wait, comrade colonel." When I heard his lazy voice, I felt a little uneasy. When I felt that he was going to interrupt communication, I called him again.

"Is there anything else I can tell you?" From the earphone, I could hear that lyudnikov's tone was perfunctory.

"Colonel lyudnikov, it depends on whether your attack is quick and decisive to wipe out this isolated and deep German army. Tell the soldiers that the opportunity to make contributions is in front of them. Whether they strive for their own honor depends on their own efforts. " Having said that, I deliberately stopped for a moment, turned my head and looked at trekov and shumilov standing next to me with a guilty heart, and then said mysteriously, "according to reliable information, after the victory of this battle, the supreme command may choose one of the troops to be awarded the honorary title of the guard division. Think about it, comrade colonel. It's a great honor. "

"Guard master!" Lyudnikov's breathing became thick and heavy. It seemed that he was greatly stimulated by the honorary title. Then I heard him and the people next to him whispering, because the voice was too small, I didn't catch what they were saying. After a long time, his breathing gradually returned to normal. He coughed gently and said in a firm tone, "please rest assured, commander. The 138th, 157 and 137th tank brigades will do their best and never let an enemy escape."

"Well done, comrade colonel." Seeing that my method worked, I could not help but feel relieved, but I tried to keep calm and said as if nothing had happened: "now that I understand, I'll take action immediately. I wish you good luck again

When I put down the earphone and the transmitter, trakov laughed and pointed at me with his finger and said, "oshanina, you are so brave. You dare to cheat them that the outstanding troops will be promoted to the guard division. You are not afraid to wait for the end of the battle. When they find out that they have been cheated, they will come to you to settle accounts."

"Two comrades, I think lieutenant commander o'shanina has done a good job." The military commissar sergeuk, who had been sitting at the table and didn't speak, stood up and said good things for me. "It's also a way to boost morale. As long as the news reaches the ears of the commanders and fighters, the combat effectiveness and morale of the troops will be greatly improved. "

Trikov folded his hands in front of his chest, bowed his head for a moment, then raised his head and said with certainty: "if lieutenant colonel oshanina's method can really improve the morale and combat effectiveness of the troops, we can really make a request to the higher authorities to promote the troops with outstanding achievements to the guard division." At this point, he raised his hand, looked at his watch, and continued: "I think the battle will be over soon. I want to go ahead and have a look."

"I'll go with you, Comrade General." Although this battle is under my command, I have been talking on paper all the time. What I have learned through Telegraph and telephone is not as true as what I have seen with my own eyes.

Trekov didn't object, but said to shumilov, "Comrade commander, I'll leave it to you. I'll go to renok with lieutenant commander o'shanina."

Shumilov looked at me and nodded in agreement: "OK, I agree. I'll leave it to you. You should be more careful when you go out and pay attention to safety. "

Trekov nodded and walked out with his legs up. After saluting shumilov and the two military commissioners, I picked up the submachine gun leaning against the table and rushed out.

As soon as he went out, he saw the little soldier sidtorin standing beside him, looking up and reporting something to him. Seeing me walking by, sidtorin gave me a smile and asked friendly, "Hello, comrade commander! Do you want to go to the front line with Comrade commander? "

"Yes." I answered him with a smile. Then he turned his head and asked trakov, "Comrade General, private sidtorin, are you going with us?"

Trekov nodded his head hard. Instead of answering me immediately, he asked sidtorin to find the jeep first. After sidtorin left, he said in a low voice, "Comrade oshanina, you should remember that I said last time that I would help lieutenant colonel sidtorin take care of his son, so I would take him with me wherever I went."

Trekov and I were not followed by many people. There were only two drivers, a messenger, sidtorin, a telegraph operator with a telephone on his back and a dozen security guards.

As we got closer and closer to the battlefield, the rumble of guns became clearer. As the jeep was moving forward, trakov patted the driver on the shoulder, pointed right ahead and said, "Comrade driver, stop by that hill."

We got out of the car and went up the hill. The battle is going on tensely. The field of vision here is very wide. Through the telescope, we can clearly see the battlefield filled with smoke and the officers and soldiers of the two armies fighting to death.

A few shells fell thinly on the open space in front of our hillside, because the explosion site was still a little far away from us, so trekov and I still calmly looked at the distant battlefield with binoculars. To his surprise, sidtorin was frightened. He jumped on him and pulled trekov's arm behind the hillside.

Trikov shook his hand, threw little sidtorin away, and roared discontentedly, "what are you doing? Don't you see that the place where the enemy's shells landed is far away from us?"

The enemy's shells fell on the open space one or two hundred meters ahead of us and exploded, but they did not pose any danger to us at all. With the explosion of the shell, sidtorin jumped in front of and stood behind trikov. Obviously, he was worried about the safety of trikov and was ready to protect him with his body at any time.

Trekov put down his telescope, pointed to the smoke craters in the distance, and explained to me, "o'shanina, you see, the enemy's shells are scattered, which proves that their regiment artillery suffered heavy casualties under our army's attack. Their aimless and random fighting is just a desperate struggle. "

Just then, on the battlefield filled with smoke, red signal bombs rose to the sky one after another. Originally worried about the safety of trikov, sidtorin, who had been dancing around us, excitedly pointed to the sky and yelled, "commander, commander, look, the sky is our signal bomb. Our final general attack has begun, and the enemy is almost finished. "

"I'll make you happy." With a straight face and a slightly reproachful tone, trikov said to sidtorin, "Comrade soldier, although our army has taken the initiative in the battlefield, don't you hear that the gunfire is still fierce? This proves that the enemy is not willing to fail and is fighting at a loss. He also fantasizes that there will be reinforcements to rescue them. "

"Comrade commander, do you think the enemy's reinforcements will come?" Asked sidtorin curiously.

Trikov touched sidtorin's helmet, raised his chin to me and said, "well, you can ask lieutenant commander o'shanina for advice. You know, today's battle is under her command. General shumilov and I are fighting for her. "

Seeing that sidtorin came up to me, without waiting for him to ask, I took the initiative to explain to him with a smile: "sidtorin, you don't have to worry. According to my analysis, the enemy's reinforcements will not come at least today."

"Why?" Although this question was asked by sidtorin, from the expression of trakov, he also wanted to hear the answer from my mouth.

"According to my judgment, the enemy's fourth tank group army has just been transferred back from the Caucasus. After a long period of uninterrupted March and fighting, they consume a lot of materials, so they have to stop and find a suitable place to replenish the badly needed ammunition and fuel. And the two regiments, which are deeply isolated, should not carry much ammunition, otherwise our troops would not fight so easily. "

"O'shanina, what do you think of what might happen next?"

Trikov's question was another temporary investigation. So before I answered, I thought about what I wanted to say in my mind, and then I said: "Comrade commander, this is what I thought: first, after the battle is over, in addition to leaving a few troops to clean the battlefield, the rest of the troops will quickly return to the original defense area and build fortifications, In order to fight against the enemy may launch a larger offensive. Second, we need to make a request to the higher authorities to strengthen the necessary air defense forces for our group army, so that we can make the enemy planes have scruples and dare not attack us as recklessly as they are now. I think of these two points now. I'll report the rest to you when I think of it. "

"Well said!" Trikov said aloud and patted me on the shoulder. "Oshanina, after this battle, I believe that commanders at all levels of the group army will have a higher sense of identity with you. I intend to propose to the higher authorities that you be formally appointed as deputy chief of staff of the group army."

Although the deputy chief of staff is not as famous as the former chief of staff and division commander of the eighth division of Jinwei in the 20th group army, at least you don't have to worry about being sent to various grass-roots units to take the post of temporary commander, brigade commander and division commander. Hearing the distant gunfire gradually thinning down, trakov breathed a sigh of relief and said, "the battle is coming to an end. Let's go, o'shanina. Let's go to the battlefield. " With that, he strode to the jeep at the foot of the hill.