Chapter 541

The accidental capture of the Italian battalion brought a perfect end to our division's unsatisfactory offensive and defensive battle in residential areas. When I talked to Raskin again, I heard that he wanted to report the great victory of our division to the commander of the group army and the head of the front army. I was so calm that I didn't have the nervousness and lack of confidence that I had a few hours ago.

The biggest gain of talking with colonel Ruskin was that, at my request, he agreed to put captain pelsky's tank unit and lieutenant Morozov's light cannon company under the independent division. However, the close guard mortar company belonging to the 70th close guard division, which he borrowed from Colonel lyudnikov, must be built immediately.

In this battle, the main task of the close guard mortar company is to fire smoke bombs at the area we want to attack, and use the smoke to cover the forward assault of the troops. Because they did not carry conventional mortar shells except smoke bombs, they did not take part in the war when they blocked the German reinforcements. Now that Raskin has asked them to return, let them return. Anyway, there are already cannons in the division, which can provide artillery cover for us in battle.

When I returned to the residential area, shejerikov, Oleg, Morozov and the company commander of the mortar company, who had been informed by the soldiers on duty, were waiting for me at the entrance of the residential area. As soon as I got out of the jeep by pushing the door open, shijerikov came up to me, shook hands with me and asked with concern, "Comrade division, you are back. What's the situation over there? "

After shaking hands with him, I called several other commanders in front of me and announced to them in a loud voice, "comrades commanders, I want to tell you a good news. We just captured a complete Italian infantry battalion."

"Is it true what captain gedar said?" he asked in disbelief, his eyes wide open? The commander of the Italian battalion is really waiting for you to surrender. "

I looked at him sympathetically, nodded, and then said, "yes, it seems that you have wronged captain Gaidar and captain perskin. What they said is true. The reason why the enemy did not surrender was because he was afraid that his face would be damaged, so he had to find a step down. That's why he offered to surrender after meeting captain Gaidar's superior. No, as soon as I arrived at the Italian battalion, I had only a few words with their commander-in-chief Alfonso, and he ordered his men to lay down their arms and surrender to our army. "

Oleg looked at the distance and asked curiously, "Sir, why are you the only one back? What about captain gedar's troops and tank units? "

"Captain Gaidar is counting the prisoners in the camp and is going to escort them directly to the garrison of the 70th guard division later. And captain perskin's tank unit, they are escorting the convoy of captured weapons and ammunition to this side. It is estimated that they will arrive in about half an hour It was captain pelsken who told me through his car radio that a large number of weapons and ammunition of Italian troops had been seized. So I ordered that these weapons and ammunition be loaded into the truck, escorted by the tank unit and an infantry company, and transported back to the residential area for storage.

With these words, I specially called the two artillery company commanders to them and said with a smile, "two artillery company commanders, as the division commander of the independent division, thank you very much for your help in the offensive battle." At this point, I raised my hand to salute them. When the two men hurriedly saluted me, I continued: "according to the order of the higher authorities, Lieutenant Morozov's light cannon company will be formally incorporated into the combat sequence of the independent division from today on."

"What about me? Comrade commander. " The mortar company commander asked with a worried face, "have my company and I been included in the battle sequence of the independent division?"

"That's not true." from the company commander's expression, I couldn't judge what he was feeling depressed for. I just told him truthfully: "the chief of staff of the group army said that you only lent it to my independent division for the time being. As soon as the battle is over, I'll let your company return immediately."

Listen to me, there was a smile on the mortar company commander's face. He said yes in a loud voice, saluted me and left.

I looked at the soldiers who were fortifying the settlement, turned to ask xijerikov, "Comrade captain, how do you deploy your troops?"

Shejerikov pointed to the soldiers who were busy outside and said to me, "report to the division commander, I'll let the soldiers of the two companies continue to dig the trench outside the residential area, and prepare to build several firepower points at the same time. In the residential area, "he turned and pointed to the residential area again. Following the direction of his finger, I saw many soldiers cleaning up the rubble and the bodies of soldiers or enemies. He continued," soldiers of three companies are cleaning up, and the rest of the troops, except some of them are on guard, rest in those intact buildings. After all, they are exhausted after a long battle and need enough time to recover. "

I waved my hand and said carelessly: "let the soldiers rest instead. After all, after staying up all night, they immediately put into the battle, and no one can stand it. I'm tired, too. Help me find a place to rest. "

Xiejerikov listened to me, quickly reached out and made a gesture of invitation, and said: "Sir, please come with me, the rest place is ready for you." I can't help but be a little surprised after hearing this. My heart says that the captain is really considerate. Even the place for me to rest is ready in such a short time.

Oleg and Morozov stayed where they were, while shejerikov led me to the place where I stayed. On the way, I couldn't help but sigh: "it seems that we didn't completely destroy the buildings in this residential area, but we did it right. At least we can give soldiers a good rest environment."

"Yes, because the fighting did not cause much damage to the residential areas, many rooms can be directly occupied, so the soldiers can avoid the hardship of sleeping in the open air," said shijerikov, with a strong nod of his head. And the place you want to go is the company headquarters of the German army. The environment is very good, which is very suitable for you to rest. " With these words, we came to a building. There were two soldiers standing guard outside. Before we entered the building, they raised their hands to salute us.

The German command post is a suite. On the outside is the commander's office. On the table in the middle is a German map. Inside is the place where the officers sleep. I looked at the neat bunk, nodded with satisfaction, and then told Sergei reekov, "Comrade captain, I'll rest here and call me when Captain perskin's convoy arrives."

Lying in the comfortable bed of a German officer, I soon fell asleep. After a little sleep, I suddenly dreamt that Gaidar appeared in front of me and excitedly reported to me: "Comrade division commander, we have escorted the prisoners to the base of the 70th division of Jinwei and handed them over to the supervisor of the Ministry of interior. By the way, has the convoy of weapons and ammunition arrived at the settlement? And what's our next task? "

As soon as I heard the weapons and ammunition, I suddenly woke up from my dream. I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was already past four o'clock in the afternoon. Heart said it's so late, why don't you come to wake me up? Hasn't the motorcade arrived at the residential area? Nothing will happen on the road. After all, it's not far from the German residence. Thinking of this, I got out of bed, put on my boots, went to the door and opened the door.

As soon as I opened the door and saw the people standing in the room outside, I was stunned. In addition to Xie jielikov, Oleg, Morozov, and even tank captain peiersjian were there. Seeing that everyone's eyes were looking at me, I was a little embarrassed. I coughed to stabilize my mood and said hello to everyone: "I didn't expect that everyone was here. I just slept too deep and didn't hear you come in." Then I turned my eyes to chejerikov and asked, "Comrade captain, I just told you that you would wake me up as soon as the motorcade arrived at the residential area. But from the current situation, it seems that you haven't done that

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I looked at them in a bit of surprise. A few hours ago, xiejerikov and peresjian almost started fighting. Unexpectedly, peresjian still takes the initiative to help xiejerikov. I only said one word for Perls' flattery: "nonsense!" Having said that, I was moved by their concern for me.

"The captured Italian equipment is just outside. Would you like to go out and have a look now?" Shejerikov asked me.

As for his proposal, I nodded without thinking. I have seen the equipment of the German army, Japanese army and US Army, but I have never seen the equipment of the Italian army. I just use today to open my eyes. I waved my hand and said aloud, "let's go and have a look."

The Italian equipment transported by the convoy is now on the street outside the building. Near the door are piles of rifles and submachine guns. A little further away are light machine guns and heavy machine guns. A little further away are all kinds of artillery.

Shejerikov went ahead and began to introduce me to the equipment of the Italian army. He picked up the rifle and said: "Sir, please see, this is the Italian garno m1891 rifle, with a caliber of 6.5mm and six rounds of ammunition clip. It's a very easy to use rifle."

Putting down his rifle, he picked up a shorter gun and said to me, "this is the garno m1891 carbine, which is developed on the basis of the m1891 rifle, with a short body. The most obvious feature of this carbine is its own folding bayonet. In the past, it was only equipped with cavalry, but in the past two years, it has also been equipped with infantry. "

After he put down his carbine, he picked up another submachine gun and gently stroked the body of the gun. He said with some emotion: "this is Beretta m38a submachine gun. It is a very successful submachine gun with double trigger control and single shot and continuous shot."

Shejerikov looks familiar with Italian guns. He can tell exactly what they are when he picks up any one. When he introduced the guns, I would pretend to nod my head and show that I was familiar with the guns.

He went to the machine gun, bent down to pick up a light machine gun, and said, "at this time, Breda M30 light machine gun, 6.5mm caliber, has a unique ammunition feeding method, which uses bullet plate for Ammunition Feeding and needs frequent lubrication, so it is not suitable for use in the battlefield."

After that, he sighed, put down the light machine gun, squatted down in front of a heavy machine gun, patted the body of the gun and said to me, "this is the most successful heavy machine gun in Italy. It's 8mm caliber, reliable and can be used in any harsh conditions. In addition, the Italian army has also used Fiat Ravelli m1935 and Fiat Ravelli m1914 machine guns, 6.5mm caliber. Because of the high failure rate, there is no large-scale train loading force. "

At last, we came to all kinds of artillery. Originally, I thought that xiejerikov would continue to introduce me. Unexpectedly, after he made a gesture of invitation to Morozov, he said with self mockery, "Comrade division commander, I'm an infantry. I'm only familiar with the guns used by all kinds of infantry. As for the next artillery, I can only trouble the artillery company commander, Lieutenant Morozov, to introduce you. "

Morozov walked up to the gun, bowed slightly to me, and said: "Sir, it's my great honor to introduce these captured guns to you. Next, I'll give you a brief explanation. " "This is the main support weapon of Italian infantry, 8114m35 mortar," he said

Then he got up and went to another mortar. After squatting down again, he put his hand on the gun and said, "this is a 45mm brixsa light mortar, which is characterized by its high firing speed and the use of rear feeding."

After that, he got up and came to me, straightened up and said, "report to Mr. commander, my words are over."

Looking at the large number of weapons in front of me, I feel headache. Although the number of weapons seized is large enough to arm most of the unarmed soldiers in the division, the caliber of the bullets used in these weapons is different from that we usually use. After the bullets are exhausted, there is no place to replenish them. At the thought of these, the joy of seeing these weapons and ammunition suddenly disappeared. What should I do with these weapons? It's a waste to destroy it directly; Give it to the superior, but what about those unarmed soldiers in the division? Let's leave the armed soldiers. What should we do if we run out of bullets? It is impossible for our military enterprises to build a special bullet production line for these hundreds of guns.

"Comrade division, what should we do with these weapons? Will it be sent to the soldiers or to the group army? " When I was in a mess, shijerikov came to the fire to refuel.

I looked at him and said discontentedly, "Comrade captain, I would like to leave these weapons to arm our soldiers, but have you ever thought that the calibre of the weapons used by the Italian army is different from that used in our daily life? If we run out of bullets, what should we do and where should we replenish our ammunition? You know, guns without bullets are worse than firesticks. " Hearing what I said, shijerikov closed his mouth and did not dare to express any more opinions.

After a short silence, Captain pelsken stepped out and said cautiously, "Sir, I have a suggestion. I don't know whether to say it or not."

"If you have something to say, don't hide it." Looking at the way he wanted to talk and stop, I couldn't get angry, so the tone of his voice was a little heavier.

Fortunately, perskin didn't care about my attitude, but he said his thoughts seriously: "Mr. division, you can report this matter to your superiors and listen to their opinions on the disposal of this batch of weapons and ammunition."

Although this idea is not very good, under the current situation, we can only try this method reluctantly. I took them back to the command post. Before entering the gate, I specially asked the sentry at the gate to call operator 4.

As soon as the No. 4 operator came in, I told him, "Comrade operator, contact Colonel Raskin, chief of staff of the group army immediately and say that I have something important to contact him."

Before I could speak, Colonel Ruskin said, "commander oshanina, I've seen the prisoners you've sent, and I've also reported the results of your division to the leaders of the group army and the front army. It was Comrade Khrushchev, the military commissar, who answered the phone. After listening to my report, he repeatedly said, "Lt. commander oshanina is really not simple. He not only recovered the residential areas occupied by the enemy, but also captured an almost complete Italian battalion."

When I heard that he mentioned Khrushchev, my heart could not help but thump. I waved to sjerikov and several of their commanders, including the telegraph operator, to leave. When I was alone in the room, I asked in a low voice, "chief of staff, have you heard from general trakov?"

Raskin was silent for a long time before he replied, "not for the time being. But don't worry. From the analysis of the current situation, maybe Comrade trakov was just temporarily detained, because I didn't get the news that he was sent to the military court. "

When I heard that there was nothing wrong with trakov, I was relieved. Then I asked, "by the way, chief of staff, have you interrogated the Italian prisoners? Where did they come from and why did they show up in that camp? "

"You've asked the right person about this. Even if you don't interrogate the Italian prisoners, I know what's going on." Raskin said triumphantly.

"Chief of staff, don't play the game and tell me the answer quickly, so as not to affect my next battle deployment."

When I spoke so seriously, Raskin would not hide anything from me any more, but told me all the information he knew: "this is the situation, commander oshanina. Although both Hungary and Romania are allies of Germany, the soldiers of the two countries hate each other and need to be separated from each other so as to avoid internal strife. Therefore, the Italian regiment is put in the middle of them. The task given to these troops by the German army is defense, but considering the limited combat effectiveness of the Italian army, the German army understands that if they want to complete this task, they need to deploy German troops in the camp to strengthen them. "

After listening to Raskin's words, it suddenly dawned on me that no wonder there were two German companies in the camp. If they were not completely annihilated by us during the attack on the settlement, we would not know how much we would have to pay to capture the Italian infantry battalion. Although Raskin couldn't see it, I still nodded my head vigorously, and then said the problem I was facing: "Comrade chief of staff, I have a headache now. I'd like to ask you to give me some advice."“ Let's hear it. As long as it's within my ability, I'll help you find a way. " Maybe it was because our division won today, so Ruskin was in a very good mood, so he agreed very readily. I hesitated for a moment, but still hesitated to tell the truth: "our division seized a batch of weapons and ammunition in the Italian army camp, originally intended to arm those unarmed soldiers, but because the caliber of these weapons is different from our army's standard weapons. I'm afraid I'll run out of ammunition and have no place to replenish it, so I can't make up my mind. " After listening to this, Raskin burst out laughing, which made me laugh. He said in secret that there was nothing funny about it. There was no way to replenish ammunition. I can't let the soldiers fight with the enemy with rifles and submachine guns without bullets, can I? Raskin laughed for a while, then stopped and said to me in a steady tone, "commander o'shanina, what should I say about you? You are so wise and confused that you don't know how to send weapons to the soldiers first, let them be familiar with the use of guns, and then change their clothes after the weapons distributed to you by the group army. " Raskin's words suddenly made me feel better. Yes, why didn't I think of such a simple truth? First, let the soldiers who have no contact with weapons use Italian equipment for a period of time. When they use familiar things, maybe the weapons and equipment supplied to our division will be in place, and then they will be replaced. At the end of the call, I called in several commanders and told Oleg straightforwardly, "Comrade captain, you should immediately organize people to reload the weapons and ammunition outside and transport them to our division. Let captain kosga be responsible for distributing to unarmed soldiers. " Without waiting for captain Oleg's reply, shijerikov had asked first: "but you just said that the calibre of these weapons is different from that of our army's weapons. Once the ammunition is used up, there is no place to supplement?" Looking at everyone staring at me, waiting for me to say the final answer. I pointed to xiejerikov on purpose and said in a tone of hating iron but not steel: "Comrade captain, you used to be smart and now you are confused. Don't you think that when the soldiers who get these weapons are familiar with the use of weapons, the weapons and ammunition distributed by the group army to our Division will be in place?" When I said this, people's faces were suddenly enlightened at the same time. After saluting me, Oleg turned and quickly ran out of the command post and went out to carry out my mission.