The time of two days is fleeting, and the day of decisive battle is approaching unconsciously.
In order to plan the first battle after the establishment of the independent division, I not only went to the front to carry out reconnaissance in person, but also studied the intelligence we had with several commanders under my command repeatedly and worked out a combat plan.
In the afternoon, when we are going to attack the residential areas tomorrow, I specially called all the four commanders together and held another pre war meeting to check the preparations for the battle.
The leaders who came to the meeting, like me, were in a state of special excitement. As soon as he saw me, Captain Oleg, who was in charge of the first attack, couldn't wait to ask, "Comrade division, I'm looking forward to this day. Can you tell me when we will start? "
"Yes, sir, we have been looking forward to this day." Said Captain kosga, who was walking behind him.
I raised my hand and pressed it for a few times. I said to them, "sit down first. Let's have a meeting first. We've been waiting for so many days. Can't we even wait for these hours? " Four people listen to what I say so relaxed, can't help but smile heartily.
After they all sat down, I stood up with my hand on the edge of the table and solemnly said, "comrades, in more than ten hours, our division will launch an attack on the residential areas. This is the first battle after the establishment of our independent division, so we should treat it with caution. To call you in this afternoon is to check on the preparations for the battle. "
As soon as his voice dropped, the impatient Oleg stood up and said, "report to Mr. commander, the 20 commandos are ready. As long as you give an order, you can fight immediately. Captain Oleg, commander of the second regiment, is at your command at any time. "
Looking at the eager captain Oleg, I laughed silently: "Comrade captain, well done. Whether we can break into the residential area tomorrow depends on the commandos you lead."
Seeing that Captain Oleg showed his face first, xiejerikov also stood up and said, "Comrade division, our support team is ready to follow the commandos at any time to consolidate the positions occupied by our army."
"Comrade oshanina, your division's taxis are very angry!" While talking to several commanders, the familiar voice of chief of staff Raskin came from the door.
Seeing Ruskin enter the door, I hastened to greet him. After raising my hand to salute him, I was preparing to report the preparation for the battle to him. Unexpectedly, he waved his hand and said with a kind smile: "Comrade oshanina, needless to say, I understand the situation. Let's go ahead as usual."
After Raskin sat down, I took the initiative to introduce the army's attack plan to him. At the end of the day, I took the initiative to put forward to him one of the sufferings the army was facing: "Comrade chief of staff, our division is too far away from the attack site. If the soldiers go on foot, they will be exhausted by the time they get to the hiding place. I don't know if I have enough physical strength to take part in the attack until dawn
After listening to me, Raskin pointed to me and said, "I knew you were going to ask me, so I took the initiative to deliver it to you. What else do you want? As long as it's within my ability, I'll do it for you. "
As a matter of fact, I've been waiting for Raskin to say that. Now that he has spoken, I'm not polite, so I pointed to him and said, "Comrade chief of staff, I really want a lot of things. First of all, we need to have a convoy to transport our division's 2000 commanders and fighters to the garrison of the guard division; Secondly, we need a batch of smoke bombs to be fired from mortars to residential areas before the attack, so that the generated smoke can interfere with the enemy's vision and cover our commandos to approach the target; Third, I hope to see the tanks and artillery you promised last time when you arrive at the garrison of the guard division; Finally, "when I talked about the fourth point, I felt that I had asked too much from Raskin. I began to hesitate whether to ask for another one.
Raskin said with a very understanding smile, "if you have any more requests, please come forward. I remind you that if you ask me again after today, I can't promise you so readily. "
Since his words are all for this reason, I don't have to worry about it any more. I said directly: "Comrade chief of staff, I don't know if we can provide us with some walkie talkies that can be carried by individual soldiers, so that I can contact the commander at the front in time in the command division."
Raskin laughed and said, "I thought you were too embarrassed to mention this to me. Don't worry, I've already prepared for you. " At this point, he stood up and yelled at the door: "Hey, I said, don't stand at the door, come in." With his shouts, five soldiers came in from the door and quickly lined up with us.
Raskin pointed to these soldiers and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, they are all the communication soldiers in the headquarters of the group army. At the same time, our superior has allocated us a number of walkie talkies. I will lend them to your division for use in this battle. How are you, satisfied? "
I looked at the orderly signalmen and the walkie talkie on their back. I got excited and quickly reached out to hold Raskin's right hand. I was a little out of breath, and even stammered: "thank you, chief of staff. It's very kind of you. You've considered us very carefully."
Raskin patted me on the back of my hand with his left hand and said, "you're welcome. That's what I should do. Because I promised general trakov that I would take good care of you. "
Hearing him mention trekov, I couldn't help asking, "how's general trekov now?"
Raskin shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know about that. Anyway, people are still in Stalingrad. They haven't been sent away or taken to military court." Obviously, he didn't talk too much about these sensitive topics. At this point, he immediately turned away from the topic: "how are you going to distribute these walkie talkies?"
I nodded, pointed to the signalman and said to several commanders, "the signalman is numbered from left to right from No.1 to No.5. One was assigned to captain Oleg's commando team; Aircraft two is equipped with a support unit for captain chejerikov; Flight three is following captain gedar. The remaining four and five will stay with me. "
Speaking of this, I lowered my head and asked Ruskin in a low voice: "Comrade chief of staff, I don't know when the convoy carrying our division's commanders and fighters will arrive?"
"Comrade oshanina, go and gather your troops first." Raskin said calmly, "as for the convoy of soldiers, they have come with me and are now parked outside the forest. Because all the troops needed trucks, I tried my best to collect only 50 trucks. "
"Fifty?" This number is far beyond my expectation. Although we can't transport all the troops at one time, we can transport them to the garrison of the guard division in batches“ Fifty, a lot of them. Thank you, chief of staff. "
Raskin said with some worry: "if it's 2000 people, maybe the truck can't sit down."
I waved my hand and explained to him, "Comrade chief of staff, we can let half the soldiers ride and half walk. Wait for the truck to transport the officers and men to their destination, and then go back to pick up the officers and men who are still walking. "
"Well, do as you say." Raskin raised his hand, looked at his watch and said to me, "it's five o'clock. Is it time to gather your troops and get ready to go?"
I nodded and began to give orders to the four commanders: "Captain chejerikov, Lieutenant Oleg, Captain gedar, you three go and gather the troops. Remember to let the soldiers take enough dry food for a day. Go After they left, I told the operator on duty, razumeyeva, "sergeant, take these five soldiers out to test whether the walkie talkie is in good communication. Captain kosga, go out and help sergeant razumeyeva
When Raskin and I were the only ones left in the headquarters, I asked cautiously, "Comrade chief of staff, are you not afraid of the enemy's air attack when you bring such a large convoy to me in broad daylight?"
Raskin said with disapproval, "it's OK. I don't know what happened these two days. I haven't seen any enemy planes in the sky. That's why I dare to come to you in broad daylight with a motorcade. "
"There are no enemy planes in the sky?" I've been training in the forest these days, but I don't know what's going on outside. However, in the middle of the war, the enemy plane didn't come out for a few days. It's obvious that some big plot is brewing. But these are just my guesses. I can only think about them in my heart, but I can't say them.
After a while, Captain kosga and razumeyeva came back and reported to me, "report to Mr. division, communication is smooth."
Then Oleg also ran in and reported, "Comrade division commander, the commandos have assembled."
I picked up the submachine gun leaning against the table, turned to Ruskin and said, "chief of staff, let's go. Let the commandos get on the bus first and follow us to the garrison of the guard division. "
Raskin said hesitantly, "what about the other troops?"
I waved my hand and said, "don't worry about them. The commandos are small, so they gather quickly. The other troops are too many to complete the assembly without an hour. Instead of waiting for them here, we'd better go to the garrison of the guard division and wait for them. " After that, I told captain kosga, who was standing upright, "Comrade captain, after the troops of xiejerikov and gedar are assembled, you should arrange for them to take part in the car and part in the walk and rush to the guard division as soon as possible."
In this way, Raskin and I took a jeep in front of the road, followed by a team of 15 trucks, marching towards the guard division.
After a few days in danger, I pointed to the unexploded bombs on the roadside and said to Ruskin with great interest, "chief of staff, you see, those bombs on the roadside were dropped by German planes. At that time, I saw that the convoy carrying materials was blocked by these guys, so I had an idea. I asked the soldiers to find something to jam the wind wings at the tail of the bombs, and then dragged the bombs to the side of the road with ropes. "
Raskin turned to look out of the window at the bombs, frowned slightly, and said in a low voice, "try to get rid of these bombs as soon as possible. It's always a threat to put them on the side of the road. Maybe they will explode at any time."
Our motorcade came to the garrison of the guard division. I asked Oleg to command the troops to get off, and then we went to the headquarters of the guard division with Raskin.
As we walked into the headquarters, lyudnikov left the table to meet us. Shaking hands with Ruskin, he said solemnly, "Comrade chief of staff, what you want us to prepare is ready." Raskin nodded, and as I shook hands with lyudnikov, he reached out and shook hands with Titov.
After everyone said hello to each other, Raskin said to me, "Comrade oshanina, before I set out, I asked Colonel lyudnikov to prepare 200 smoke bombs for you. Now he has prepared the smoke bombs you need, and plans to transfer a company from the guard mortar camp to help you release the smoke. "
Hearing this, I understand why Raskin suddenly said that when he left that day that I would contact the guards, and there would be unexpected gains. It was this thing that he meant. I quickly extended my hand to lyudnikov again to thank him.
When the night fell, our division's combat troops all arrived. At the same time, our tank units and two artillery companies were in place. I divided the troops into three echelons: the first echelon was the commando under the command of Captain Oleg, who was responsible for opening the way for the whole army; The second echelon is the support unit of captain shejerikov and the artillery company; The third echelon is the soldiers of the other five companies led by Gaidar and me. As for the tank unit, I have repeatedly told the tank commander that once he hears the direction of the residential area ring, the tank unit will immediately go out and rush to the residential area to provide firepower support for our attacking troops.
Perhaps there was no war in this area recently, so the enemy also relaxed their surveillance of this few kilometers area and turned their attention to other directions. In this way, it brings convenience to our division. More than two thousand people marched for an hour, and without the enemy's notice, they successfully entered the several square kilometers of forest next to the residential area.
In the time of waiting for the dawn, I entered a state of excitement, sitting uneasy, standing uncomfortable, constantly walking back and forth in place, looking forward to the early dawn.
As the clock points to five, the sky is getting brighter. The commanders who took part in the war surrounded me one after another, waiting for my order to attack.
I looked at the commanders in front of me. They were Capt. chejerikov, Capt. Oleg, Capt. gedar, Capt. of the mortar company and the artillery company. I raised my hand again and looked at my watch. First, I told the mortar company commander, "comrade company commander, order your artillery to prepare. In five minutes, fire smoke bombs at the residential areas occupied by the enemy."
After the mortar company commander left, I turned and asked Oleg, "Comrade captain, are the commandos ready?"
Oleg nodded hard and answered in a low voice, "report to Mr. division, the commandos are ready to attack the enemy's occupied settlements."
I nodded with satisfaction and said to him, "well, comrade captain, assemble your troops. As soon as the mortar company starts to fire smoke, you lead the troops towards the settlement. As soon as we get close to the residential areas, we should immediately launch a charge against the buildings occupied by the enemy with lightning speed, and strive to occupy several footholds for our army in the shortest time. "
Oleg excitedly agreed to "understand" and then turned away.
"Comrade division commander, what is the task of our support unit?" Shejerikov saw that two people had taken over the task and left, but I had not called his name, so I was a little worried.
"Don't worry, comrade captain." Although I was a little impatient, I still wanted to keep calm on the surface. I said to shejerikov calmly, "your support unit is to consolidate the building occupied by Captain Oleg's commandos. You can start five minutes after his troops leave."
Shijerikov saluted me with a blank face and turned away.
I looked at Gaidar and the commander of the artillery company, who were still around, and told Gaidar: "Comrade captain, when our troops begin to attack, you ask your men to help the commander push their guns forward as far as possible. Their guns are small caliber. Five or six people can push them away. "
Just here, the No.4 radio operator with walkie talkie came to me and reported to me, "Comrade division commander, Colonel Ruskin, chief of staff of the group army, wants to speak to you."
As soon as I put on the earphone, I heard Raskin's anxious voice: "Comrade o'shanina, it's daybreak. Why don't the troops attack?"
I breathed into the transmitter, just to explain to Ruskin, there was the sound of mortar shells coming out of the chamber not far away, and I immediately excitedly said to the transmitter, "chief of staff, do you hear me? Our attack began, and the close guard mortars were firing smoke at the residential areas to cover our assault troops approaching the residential areas. "
Raskin became excited when he heard the gunfire. He said in a loud voice, "great, comrade oshanina. I'll wait for your good news. Good luck Finish saying, then terminated and my conversation.
The smoke bomb fell in the residential area and exploded. The gray smoke rose slowly. The residential area that was clearly visible was covered by the smoke. Seeing the shelling begin, the commandos under Oleg's command, divided into small teams, bent over with weapons, trotted toward the settlement. Looking at their weapons, I can not help feeling ashamed. The soldiers equipped with submachine guns are only 1/3, and the rest of them are shovel and axe, carrying a backpack, all of which are hand grenades.
The speed of 400 meters is not far. With the speed of commando soldiers, the residential area was approached in less than two minutes. I saw through the telescope that Captain Oleg, in the middle of the line, suddenly straightened up, raised his pistol high above his head, seemed to shout something, and then took the lead in rushing into the smoke. Under his leadership, the figure of 300 commandos also disappeared in the smoke. When he saw that the commandos had disappeared into the smoke, he couldn't help it. He also waved a pistol and rushed to the residential area. Behind him, a lot of officers and men swarmed in. When shejerikov's troops approached the settlement, the enemy in the settlement did not respond at all. Whether we had observed the foxhole or the firepower point on the top of the building, there was no movement at all. At that moment, I even thought that all the enemies in the settlement had retreated. Seeing this scene, Gaidar was especially puzzled. He came up to me and asked in a low voice, "what's the matter, sir? Did the enemy feel that they didn't mean to hold fast here, and they quietly withdrew without our army's notice? " When I saw that the smoke was like a huge monster, engulfing most of the troops of shejerikov, my heart was a little flustered. Did the enemy really withdraw. After a short period of confusion, I recovered my composure and gave orders calmly: "the guard mortar company will stop shooting. Captain gedar, come out with me and help the artillery company push the guns near the settlement. " Speaking of this, I couldn't help saying: "I'm going to have a look at these damned Krauts. Why haven't they moved so far? Do they go to heaven or go to earth?" Gaidar commanded his men to help the soldiers of the artillery company push small guns and move quickly towards the settlement. I followed with my submachine gun gnashing my teeth, thinking how I would report to my superiors if there were no enemies in the settlement. After a long time of preparation and borrowing troops and equipment from friendly forces, I didn't expect that I jumped into the air. At this time, the number four operator came to me again and silently handed me the earphone and the transmitter. I stopped, put on my earphone and heard Raskin ask nervously, "Comrade oshanina, what's the situation? Is the enemy's resistance fierce? Is our team close to the settlement? "“ Comrade chief of staff, "I answered helplessly," not only captain Oleg's commando team has rushed into the residential area, but also captain xiejerikov's support team. "“ That's great. " Before I finished, Raskin exclaimed excitedly: "it seems that we can take down the settlement this morning. Comrade oshanina, I would like to congratulate you in advance. "“ Comrade chief of staff, "I said with a bitter face," the situation is not what you think. My troops, from launching an attack to rushing into the settlement, have not heard a word from the German troops inside. Maybe they have all retreated. "“ Retreat?! How could this be possible? Our scouts reconnoitered near the residential area yesterday and saw German troops coming in and out. Since they haven't moved, you can worry. Maybe there are some traps waiting for you. "