Chapter 517

Trekov looked around, nodded and said, "when the enemy is attacking, don't put too many troops in the front position, so that the trenches won't be overcrowded and suffer unnecessary casualties under the enemy's artillery fire. Since this cave is so spacious, move in the necessary weapons, ammunition and grain as soon as possible, so that even if the enemy encircles you, you can continue to fight with the favorable terrain here. "

"Don't worry, comrade deputy commander, we will carry out the work of transporting materials as soon as it gets dark."

When they were talking, my heart kept murmuring. Has my arrival made history deviate? First, korpakchi, commander of the 62nd group army, was dismissed on August 3 in later history, and was replaced by lopagin; A month later, trakov replaced lopagin. But now, although kolpakchi's post of commander was replaced by lopagin, and trakov, as the representative of the front army, dismissed lopagin, he did not take the post of commander of the 62nd army, which was temporarily represented by kolpakchi who was just released.

Besides the mamayev post, I have never heard of any highland battle between the Soviet and German armies near Stalingrad. In view of the present situation, if enough weapons, ammunition and grain were stored in the cave, even if they were left alone behind the enemy, they would be able to hold on for quite a long time.

Just as I was daydreaming, trakov patted me on the shoulder and said, "o'shanina, we're going to take a look at the position. Why are you still standing here?" I looked up and saw that klobkin and his men were walking far away. They quickly gathered their mind and followed them out.

The passage to the position is very narrow, only one person is more than one meter wide. If they meet face to face, they have to lean sideways to pass. I heard trekov, who was walking in front of me, ask, "Comrade Colonel, are the other passageways leading to the positions so narrow?"

"Yes, comrade deputy commander." I heard klobkin simply reply, "because the rock here is too hard, we can't widen the original passage in a short time. But it's also good. Even if the enemy rushes in by chance, their forces will not be able to expand, and our soldiers will easily wipe them out. "

We left the cave and went into the trenches. I looked at the dozen or twenty staff officers who were crowded around trakov and klobkin. I could not help frowning. When the commanders were so crowded together, were all the observation posts on the enemy's positions blind? If they find out, and a few shells fly by, trakov and klobkin will be here.

Thinking of this, I pushed hard to the side of trikov and reminded him in a low voice: "Comrade General, don't you think there are too many people accompanying us to inspect?"

Trikov looked around and saw the staff and guards crowded around him. He immediately understood what I was saying. Then he told klobkin, "Comrade Colonel, you can take two people around with us, and the rest will go back to their respective combat posts."

Klobkin understood and quickly sent away all the redundant people around him, leaving only two staff officers. He led us along the trench. After a short walk, I saw a small hole more than half a person high on the wall of the traffic ditch. It looked like a gun shelter built by soldiers. I quickly pointed it out to trikov.

Trekov quickly called kolobkin, who was walking in front of him, and went into the hole to check himself. After a while, he crawled out of it and said happily, "Comrade Colonel, your work is well done. Although this blast hole can only hold two or three people, they are all dug obliquely and very deep. Even if the heavy shells do not hit directly, they can not destroy such fortifications. "

With a simple and honest smile, klobkin said modestly, "in fact, this work is not my invention, but the credit of lieutenant colonel o'shanina."

"My credit?" What he said confused me and made me at a loss. I was puzzled and asked, "Comrade Colonel, it seems that I didn't come to your division to instruct the soldiers how to dig fortifications?"

"Yes, comrade Colonel, what's the matter? I'm confused by you. " Trekov also asked curiously.

In the end, it was klobkin who solved the mystery: "many of the new soldiers in my division have been in the army under the command of lieutenant commander o'shanina. According to them, comrade commander o'shanina has many strict requirements for the construction of fortifications. It is precisely this strict requirement that the casualties of the troops under her command in all previous battles are far lower than those of the friendly forces. "

"So it is!" After listening to this, trakov suddenly realized that he had just visited the fortifications and then expressed his views: "Comrade Colonel, I think you may have noticed a problem, that is, how to offset the enemy's fire advantage under the condition that our equipment conditions have not been fully improved. Today, after reading your new fortifications, I feel that a solution has finally been found to this problem. Your fortifications, with caves as the main body, are connected with our army's surface positions through several channels to form a complete defense system. If the enemy doesn't attack, it will. Once they attack, we can let them have no return. "

When trikov finished, klobkin nodded and replied, "Comrade deputy commander, you are right. We must, in accordance with your instructions, turn the fortifications here into an impregnable underground fortress and a gate that the enemy can never cross. "

Just then, there was a shrill whistling in the sky“ No, it's the enemy's shelling Cried klobkin, throwing trakov to the ground, and I squatted in the trenches.

A shell exploded in front of the trench and was slapped on my helmet by the mud raised by the waves. Then there were shells exploding near the front and back of the trench, and the soil was thrown into the trench.

Klobkin got up from trakov and asked with concern, "Comrade deputy commander, are you ok?"

Trekov spat on the dirt and jokingly said, "I was not killed by the shell, but I was almost crushed by you."

"Let's go back to the tunnel." I yelled at both of them.

"Come with me!" he cried Bend over and run to the entrance of the tunnel.

We entered the cave along the passage, the rumble of guns was separated by the thick mountain, and became slightly inaudible. Our voice returned to the normal tone, and we didn't have to roar any more. For this sudden shelling, klobkin felt obliged to explain it to trikov, so he said: "it may be that the explosion with explosives was too loud when excavating the tunnel today, which shocked the enemy, so this sudden shelling happened."

Trekov didn't blame him at all. After looking up, he said with a happy face: "I didn't expect that the mountain above this cave was so backward, and the enemy's shells hit on it, and it didn't have any effect at all."

Klobkin echoed: "yes, comrade deputy commander. If the enemy wants to seize this position, unless the whole mountain is blown up, no matter how much steel they pour, it will not help. "

Trokov and I were escorted out of the tunnel by klobkin. Sidtorin, who had been waiting outside, immediately came up and asked, "Comrade General, shall we go back to the headquarters now?"

Seeing the herald talking to trakov, klobkin pulled me aside and asked quietly, "commander oshanina, what do you think the enemy will do to attack our tunnel?"

I took a look at trikov, who was still talking to sidtorin, and replied, "the entrance of the tunnel will be the focus of contention between the enemy and us after the surface position is lost. What the enemy can do is to fire at the entrance of the tunnel with recoilless guns, blast with explosives, and throw grenades into the tunnel. You only need to have the position to take countermeasures, the enemy's means of attack will not work

Klobkin nodded hard, wiped the sweat on his forehead and said gratefully, "thank you very much, comrade commander. Now that we know the means the enemy may employ, we have a way to dissolve them one by one. "

To reassure him, I added, "don't worry, Colonel klobkin. The army won't leave you alone. When the enemy attacks the tunnel, you can ask the headquarters for help, and then you can be provided with the necessary artillery or air force support. "

Seeing him take a long sigh of relief, I can't help but continue to say: "of course, you can't defend passively in the tunnel. You should use the night to organize small teams with platoon as the unit to attack the enemy's sentry posts and blow up the enemy's fortifications, so that the enemy can't eat well and sleep well. When they are exhausted, their attack on us will be greatly weakened."

After talking with sidtorin, trikov turned to find me talking with klobkin and said to me, "Hello, o'shanina, what are you talking about? Come on, we're going to start."

I wanted to talk to klobzin a little more. Seeing that trakov was urging me, I didn't dare to delay. After a few words, I quickly ran to trakov.

On the jeep we went back, trakov was in a better mood than ever before. He said with deep feeling: "o'shanina, it seems that the function of this tunnel can't be underestimated. Maybe they can really become the nightmare of the enemy. When I get back to the headquarters, I will report this experience to the headquarters of the front army, hoping to popularize it in the whole army. "

I also nodded and said thoughtfully, "yes, I don't know about other places. Anyway, we can seize the time to build tunnels and Fortifications on the mamayev post before the enemy reaches the city of Stalingrad."

I didn't expect that I was interrupted by trekov just half way through. He lowered his voice and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, I remind you that your remarks just now are very dangerous. If you are heard by the people of the interior department, you may be sent to the military court."

What did I say? What did I say? It seems that there is nothing against the ban. Even if the people in the interior department heard it, they could not send me to the military court for no reason.

Seeing that I was still looking at him innocently, trikov couldn't help asking, "o'shanina, don't you know what you said wrong?" Seeing that I shook my head repeatedly, he said bitterly, "you just mentioned building fortifications at mamayev post. You know, if anyone mentions building Fortifications on mamayev post, it means that the enemy may approach the city named after the Supreme Commander himself. Well, to put it better, it's a ridiculous idea. To put it worse, it's a manifestation of defeatism. Don't you see in your recent briefing that many soldiers, including some civilians, were executed by the Ministry of the interior for treason because they boasted about the speed of German advance in our territory and our army was forced to retreat? "

After listening to trekov's words, I was scared out in a cold sweat. Is there any reason? I just said a few words from a military point of view, and I fell into a false accusation. Fortunately, trekov heard it. If the people in the interior department heard it, wouldn't my theory of retreating when necessary, exchanging space for time, and complaining about ineffective commanders also be charged with treason? This is because I am trying to glorify the German people and discredit the leaders of the party, the state and the Red Army. Because of his words, my mood was greatly affected, so that when I returned to the headquarters of the group army, I was still in a state of depression and restlessness. When shumilov saw trakov coming back, he was a little excited and said, "Comrade trakov, you are back. I have good news for you“ Good news? " Trekov, who was pouring tea with the quilt, looked at shumilov with a happy face and asked tentatively, "did the front army send us a reserve team?" Shumilov nodded hard and replied, "yes, there are 20000 people."“ 20000 people? " Trekov was startled by the number. His hands trembled and he spilled a lot. I quickly took a rag to help him clean the tea on the table. Trekov put the cup on the table, shook the tea off his hand, went to grab shumilov's arm, and asked anxiously, "did the front command really add so many people to us?" Shumilov first nodded, then sighed and said, "although there are 20000 people, there are not many soldiers with real combat experience." Trikov took the tea I gave him and said, "I'm not afraid of all the recruits. If we disperse them into various units and fight two battles, we will become veterans with combat experience. " With a wry smile, shumilov handed a document to trikov and said, "look, my old man. When you're done, you'll understand everything. " Trekov took a sip of tea, put the cup on the table, and then took shumilov's paper. After looking over it, he frowned and said to himself, "of the 20000 people, except for 500 soldiers and grassroots commanders from the punishment camp, the rest are all prisoners through labor from Gulag concentration camp. Who came up with this idea? How can these people be crammed into the army? " Instead of handing it to me, shumilov put it in front of him, folded his hands and pressed it with his elbow. From his subtle action, I guess it must be an extremely important document. Except for him and trakov, I have no right to read it. Shumilov said to himself: "I was very excited when I heard that we would be added 20000 people. I didn't expect that the headquarters of the front army specially stressed that after these people arrived, they could not be added to our existing troops. Instead, they would set up an independent force to be specially used in the most dangerous areas. "“ Yes "And they can't be supplied with enough weapons. Do you want them to fight with the Germans armed to the teeth with their bare hands?" he said With that, he smashed his fist on the table and shook the teacup out“ Comrade trakov, don't get excited. " Seeing that he was so excited, shumilov quickly comforted him and said, "I think the meaning of the higher authorities is to use these 20000 people as cannon fodder and put them in the most dangerous area to consume German ammunition."“ Consume ammunition Trakov said in a sarcastic tone: "not to mention 20000 people, even two million people, German bullets can kill them all."“ Calm down, comrade trekov. Please keep calm! " Shumilov took a wary look at me and persuaded trikov: "since this is the order of the superior, we are not allowed to discuss it in private. We can only implement it unconditionally. Are you right? Comrade oshanina. " His last sentence, actually asked me directly. After a moment of confusion, I immediately pretended to be confused: "what do you say? Comrade commander. As you can see, I was wiping the tea on the table. I didn't hear what the two commanders said. " I said this because they were discussing military secrets. I heard their conversation untimely. At the moment, I was worried about whether shumilov would kill me on a whim. Trakov waved his hand down and said, "come on, comrade shumilov. It doesn't matter if oshanina knows about this matter. She is now the acting chief of staff of the group army and will still contact these soldiers. It's better to figure out how to arrange these soldiers in advance than to make a mess at that time. " At this point, he turned to me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, I seriously ask you, how do you think these soldiers should be resettled?" Seeing trikov speak for me, the expression on shumilov's face became relaxed. He agreed: "yes, commander o'shanina, talk about it. It doesn't matter if it's wrong."