Chapter 516

Before trekov put down the phone, I saw the telegraph staff go into the headquarters again and greet him.

I thought what he sent was a follow-up report on the discovery of the cave in the coloburging report, so I asked with a smile, "Comrade staff, have you brought us any good news?"

The staff officer replied solemnly, "I'm sorry, comrade commander. I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you. Because this telegram was sent by general kolpakchi of the 62nd army. The German army is attacking the junction of our two army groups. The 98th infantry division of major general barinov, who held fast to the area, had retreated after fierce fighting because the enemy forces were too strong. "

Hearing this news, not only me, but also trakov and shumilov turned pale. I didn't expect that the situation was so serious. If our junction with the 62nd army was broken, the German army would be able to detour from the north. It would not only cut off our retreat to Stalingrad, but also make us lose the opportunity to replenish our troops and supplies. In that case, it's a question whether we can retreat completely, let alone stick to the existing defense line.

When I heard the name of the commander of the 98th division, I was stunned for a moment. I said in my heart that the original commander was not major general grazikov. How could he be replaced by major general balinov? Was he dismissed because of his defeat? It's not supposed to be. Last time I followed trakov to the Dun River to command the counterattack war, the division's performance was very eye-catching. How could it be that the division commander was replaced in a twinkling of an eye?

Trekov saw me talking to myself, and his face sank. He cried out discontentedly, "commander o'shanina, why are you always absent-minded and thinking?"

When I was called out by trakov, I immediately regained my mind and explained, "report to general, I'm thinking about how the 98th division commander has changed? You know, during the last fight against the Don river, general grazikov, the division commander, and Xie Liaojin, his deputy division commander, performed very well

"I knew they were doing well, and when I reported the post-war summary, I truthfully introduced their heroic performance to the then commander of the front army, general gordov. Since there was no division commander in the 35th division, the commander of the front army transferred grazikov to the division commander. At present, this division is responsible for the defense to the north of Stalingrad, and its headquarters are stationed at mamayev post. "

When I heard the title of the 35th division, I couldn't help picking my eyebrows up. If I didn't get sent to the front, I would be the commander of the 35th division. Now I'm very disappointed to hear that my position has been replaced by someone else. But on second thought, general grazikov is a commander who has experienced many battles, and it may be more suitable for him to command this army than me.

"Comrade trekov, what shall we do?" Shumilov ignored my gaffe and directly asked trakov how to deal with the current unfavorable situation.

Trikov scanned the map and gave me a direct order: "commander oshanina, record the order: Colonel kuropatenko's 157th infantry division, 66th marine brigade, under the cover of the 137th tank brigade, immediately counter attack the German side that wedged into the junction of the 62nd army and me. It is imperative that this enemy be severely damaged and, if conditions permit, resolutely annihilated. In addition, after the restoration of our army's original positions, the tank brigade and the marine brigade returned to their original positions, while the 157 th division left repair fortifications to prepare for long-term resistance to the enemy's attack in the area. "

Trakov spoke very fast. My recording speed could not keep up with his speaking speed at all. I could only choose important content and write a few strokes. Anyway, I just knew what to write. After recording his order, I asked: "Comrade General, since the 157 th division, the 66 th brigade and the 137 th tank brigade have been transferred, will the harassment of German positions continue?"

After listening to my question and thinking about it for a while, trakov simply replied, "let Col. lyudnikov continue to send troops to harass the German positions and try to contain the enemy force, so that they will not send troops to reinforce the enemy who is wedged into the breach. In that case, our battle will be difficult."

I quickly went to the communication room next door, found the communication staff officer, repeated the order given by trakov to him, and asked him to send telegrams to the 70th guard division, the 157th infantry division, the 66th marine brigade and the 137th tank brigade immediately, so that they could act according to the order.

The troops in the orlovka area have been in a state of combat readiness. It took less than half an hour for one division and two brigades to complete the assembly and open to the battlefield.

By the time the battle started, trakov had already contacted the acting commander of the 62nd army, korpakchi, through a telephone that had just been moved into the headquarters. "Vladimir Yakovlev, I have sent troops to attack the flank of the German army wedged into the junction. Please order the 98th division to launch a counterattack immediately and cooperate with our group army," he said in a loud voice

Unexpectedly, kolpakchi sighed and regretfully replied, "I'm sorry, Vasili Ivanovich. I've lost contact with the 98th division headquarters. I can't give them combat orders for the time being."

After hearing this, trikov was shocked and asked, "how could this happen? Was the 98th division defeated by the Germans? "

"According to the forward observation, before the attack, the enemy carried out heavy shelling on the headquarters of the 98th division. It was at that time that we lost contact with major general barinov." "Perhaps the division headquarters was destroyed by the enemy's artillery fire, and the troops without command could not stop the enemy's attack," said korpakchi with a heavy tone

When schumilov pointed at the map with a red and blue pencil, he was so angry that he slapped the pencil heavily on the table and said angrily, "nonsense, it's nonsense. Before the beginning of the war, a division headquarters was taken away, and thousands of officers and soldiers were defeated by the enemy without command. How could that be? "

Trikov took a look at the Furious shumilov and said with a bitter face to the transmitter, "general korpakchi, you'd better try to keep in touch with the 98th division. Without them to contain the enemy, it would be very difficult for us to achieve great results in the raids launched from our flanks. "

After handing over the earphone and the transmitter to the telegraph operator, trikov said to shumilov with a displeased face: "I have dealt with the commanders and fighters of the 98th division. They are all very tenacious in the battle. How can we change a division commander so that the army won't fight?"

Shumilov waved his hand and said, "never mind the 98th division, ask Colonel kuropatenko when they can attack the enemy's flanks to cover the retreating 98th division and consolidate their position."

I immediately told the radio operator to call Colonel kuropatenko of the 157 th division, intending to ask where their troops had arrived. Did not expect, but repeatedly unable to contact. Seeing that the troops could not be contacted, not only shumilov but also trakov was worried. He did not angry to order the operator: "continue to contact, keep calling."

More than ten minutes later, the operator handed the earphone and transmitter to trikov and excitedly reported: "Comrade commander, we have contacted Colonel kuropatenko."

When trakov heard kuropatenko's voice in his headphones, he immediately asked in a discontented tone, "Comrade Colonel, why don't you keep in touch with the headquarters of the group army?"

From the earphone came the voice of Colonel kuropatenko, who was suppressed by the fierce gunfire: "Comrade commander, we have been fighting all the time. Because we can't find a suitable place to set up a radio station, we didn't get in touch with the headquarters in time."

"Report on your progress in the fight," he said simply, ignoring the conversation

"Report to commander, after the tank brigade launched its attack, it quickly cut the German troops wedged into our defense line into two sections. At present, we are dividing our forces into two routes and launching an attack against the enemies on both sides of the East and the west at the same time. As the enemy's fire was very heavy, our troops suffered a lot of casualties in the attack. "

"Quickly occupy the position and consolidate it."

"I see. I'll do it immediately."

Half an hour later, kuropatenko reported once again that a newly occupied position had been taken back by the enemy because of the fierce artillery fire and the intensified counter offensive. Only five people came back from a company holding the position, three of whom were injured.

"Comrade Colonel, immediately organize troops and continue to attack the enemy under the cover of tank troops. We must take back the position, take it back!" Trekov yelled at the microphone as loud as he could.

According to the information from kuropatenko, we know that the positions are being contested one by one. Just when I was worried about the stalemate in the battle, an unexpected turn of events occurred in the war situation. Kuropachienko excitedly reported: "Comrade commander, it seems that the troops of the 62nd group army launched a counterattack, and the enemy in the East began to flee."

"Great, comrade Colonel!" Trikov's mood was also a little excited. "We should meet with the friendly forces as soon as possible, eat up all the enemies, and then turn around and wipe out the enemies in the West."

Trakov then contacted korpakchi by high-frequency telephone: "Comrade General, my subordinates have just reported to me that your troops are fighting back against the enemy. The enemy between our two troops can't support it."

"Vasili Ivanovic, I got a report half an hour ago that general balinov, the commander of the 98th division, was seriously injured in the battle just now, and the troops were temporarily under the command of the deputy division commander, Colonel seryokin. As their troops were defeated in the battle, Col. seryokin is now gathering up his troops and is unable to cooperate with you for the time being. So I sent Col. yermorkin's 112th division to the battlefield. "

I heard it nearby. Well, both the 98th and 112th divisions belonged to the battle sequence of the 64th group army before they were assigned to the 62nd group army. Although the former division commander of the 112th division was killed, it was Colonel yermorkin who had rich combat experience who took over the post of division commander, so the army still maintained its original combat effectiveness. The 98th Division also had a new division commander, and its combat effectiveness was greatly reduced. It seems that there are really a lot of soldiers and a lot of soldiers.

With the participation of the 112th division, the balance of victory quickly fell to our army. One hour later, kuropachenko reported to us that the battle had been successfully ended, that the two German battalions wedged into our line of defense had been completely annihilated, and that the position being recaptured by the 157 division was now fortified.

Now that he's won, trakov's on the phone with kolpakchi.

Kolpakchi asked curiously, "Comrade trakov, I want to ask why when the enemy attacks your preset positions, sometimes even if the casualties are heavy, it is difficult to capture your positions?"

"It's also very simple to say that when the enemy started shelling, except for a few observation posts, the rest of the officers and men were hidden in the fortifications," trikov said lightly. As soon as the enemy's artillery stopped and the infantry began to attack, they would jump out to stop the enemy. "

"Comrade trakov, I know this play was first thought up by lieutenant colonel oshanina," korpakchi said. But the question is, we all play this way. Why have our fortifications been destroyed by artillery fire, but your fortifications have not been destroyed? "

"Perhaps there is a difference in the construction of fortifications." Perhaps at this time, trikov thought of the tunnel works I had repeatedly recommended, and replied vaguely, "in fact, we also used some methods. For example, in terms of military strength, the former is light and the latter is heavy, and in terms of weapon configuration, the former is heavy and the latter is light. It is also necessary to retreat and fight back decisively to recover some lost positions... "

When trekov got off the phone, he called me up to him and said, "o'shanina, get ready. Let's go to Colonel klobkin's and see how his tunnel is going."

When shumilov heard what trakov said, he nodded and said, "I'm here to take charge of the whole situation. You can go to the front line with confidence. If this tunnel is really as effective as commander o'shanina said, we can promote it in the whole army. Having a solid fortification can not only kill the enemy in large quantities and slow down their attack speed, but also reduce unnecessary casualties of our army. "

This time, apart from trekov and me, there was only a messenger, sidtorin, and a driver. Without prior notice, our jeep arrived near highland 165 in spardanovka before it was discovered by the patrol of the 29th division.

A sergeant stood in the middle of the dirt road, waving his hands to stop us. There were seven or eight soldiers with all kinds of weapons on the side of the road. The driver slowed down and looked at trakov, waiting for his final instructions. Trakov looked at the soldiers outside and said nothing. He just nodded to the driver. The driver immediately pulled over to the side of the road.

The sergeant trotted over, slightly bent over to look into the car, then went to the driver's window and politely asked, "which part are you from?"

Without waiting for the driver to speak, sidtorin, who was sitting in the co driver's seat, said aloud, "I said, sergeant, don't you see general trakov sitting in the car?"

The sergeant stooped to look back again, stood up straight, stepped back and raised his hand to salute: "Hello, deputy commander."

Trekov pushed the door open, leaned out and asked the sergeant, "Comrade sergeant, where is your division commander, Colonel klobkin?"

The sergeant quickly turned to the hill behind and said in a loud voice, "report, deputy commander, the division commander is checking the construction of the tunnel works on Highland 165."

"Get in the car and take us there!" With these words, trakov drew back and closed the door.

Although trakov asked the sergeant to get on the bus, he couldn't really get on the bus. He grabbed the door, stepped on the pedal and stood outside the driver's door to show our driver the way.

We got out of the car more than 100 meters away from the cave. Before we reached the cave entrance, klobjing, who had been reported by the subordinates, came out of the cave. Still far away, he warmly said hello to trikov: "Hello, comrade deputy commander, how do you think you are coming to our division's defense?"

"I've come to you to see how the tunnel works are going," trekov replied, understatement

Hearing that trakov was coming to inspect the fortifications, klobkin said excitedly, "it's almost finished. Comrade deputy commander, please follow me. I'll show you the way."

We followed him into a cave more than one person high and five or six meters wide. Walking along the wide passage for more than 100 meters, the vision suddenly becomes clear. It's just a wide underground square. Even if a group of people stand here, it won't be too crowded. With the help of a few steam lamps hanging on the wall of the cave, I can see that in a corner on the right, there are hundreds of big round wooden barrels, which should contain the gunpowder reported by klobkin on the phone. In the corner on the left is a pile of white cloth bags, which may be moldy flour.

"Deputy commander, what you see is only the first floor. There is also a warehouse of the same size and seven or eight passageways extending in all directions below. After a day's hard work, the engineers have connected two of them to our positions. "

Trakov looked at all this with great interest and asked klobkin excitedly, "Comrade Colonel, do you know why there is an underground Arsenal here?"

"It's all figured out." Klobkin said. He took an old looking big book from the officer next to him. He patted the dust on it. After turning a few pages, he handed the opened book to trikov and continued: "Comrade deputy commander, you see, there is a record on it: in order to merge Chechnya into the territory of the Russian Empire, the Tsar took a picture of Chechnya, And the Persian and Ottoman empires who tried to get their hands on it. This armory was built secretly by an army of Czarist Russia. If we don't dig the tunnel, it's estimated that the armory will still sleep on this hill in silence. "

Trikov took over the book, turned it over, and asked, "Comrade Colonel, if you can stick to it in this cave, how long can you stick to it?" Klobkin quickly straightened up and confidently replied, "as long as there are two regiments of troops and sufficient supplies, I can stay here for at least three months."