Chapter 558

I was glad that the enemy's attack was broken down again. Even the operator, razumeyeva, who was sitting next to me, patted herself on the chest and said with a lingering fear, "Comrade division commander, if you are always surprised like this, sooner or later you will get a heart attack."

I had a silent smile. When I was about to make fun of her, I suddenly thought that since our plane could blow up the Germans, the German plane could also blow up our tank team. What's more, the order I gave to perskin was to let the tank unit stop the German mechanized troops attacking the artillery position. If he saw the enemy being so embarrassed by our plane's bombing, he might take the tank unit to attack the German army as soon as he got hot headed. Although the 29th motorized infantry division of the German army has been destroyed by us and is still under the artillery attack of our army, it is still easy to destroy a small unit with only a dozen tanks with their strength. Thinking of this, I was suddenly shocked out of a cold sweat, can't help crying out: "Oh, bad!"

Hearing my cry, razumeyeva and Pugachev had very different reactions. Razumeyeva looked at me blankly, as if trying to find out why I suddenly lost my manners; And Pugachev nervously asked: "Sir, is something wrong?"

Instead of answering Pugachev's question, I nervously urged razumeyeva: "second lieutenant, call captain pelsjian immediately, and ask his tank unit to stop advancing immediately and quickly return to the starting point." Although razumeyeva didn't know why I gave such an order, she immediately adjusted the radio frequency, took the transmitter, and called pelsjian loudly.

Just then, the phone on the desk rang again. Pugachev picked it up and listened to it. He immediately handed over the microphone and said, "it's commander, it's lieutenant colonel kosja, the third commander."

When I heard that it was kosga's phone call, my heart thumped and said that it would not be the enemy in the west, would it? When I took the receiver, I asked nervously, "what's the matter with you, commander kosga?"

"Report to division commander, the enemy in the residential area has sent a reconnaissance team to the direction of our regiment's position. There is an armored car and three motorcycles. What should we do? Kill them or let them pass?"

I was thinking fast in my mind. If I fight, the third regiment will be exposed, and the German troops stranded near the residential area may come directly. But if we don't fight, our hidden troops are found by German scouts, and the final result is the same.

I was in a dilemma, and the anxious kosga couldn't help urging me: "Comrade teacher, what should we do? Please give me directions! "

"Let the soldiers pay attention to concealment, maybe they just come to explore the way, as long as they don't find out, try not to fire." At this point, I hesitated for a moment, for fear that kosga misinterpreted my meaning. Even if we see the enemy's scouts face to face with our soldiers, we are not allowed to open fire. That's troublesome, so I especially emphasized: "of course, if the enemy finds us, then you will not hesitate to open fire. Don't let a German escape."

When I put down the phone, I saw that razumeyeva was still calling. I couldn't help feeling a little upset and yelled at her: "Lieutenant, what's the matter with you? Haven't you contacted captain pelsjian for such a long time?"

Razumeyeva was yelled at by me, her eyes suddenly turned red, but she still respectfully replied: "I'm sorry, sir, I haven't contacted yet. I'll keep in touch." Then he opened his voice again.

I raised my telescope and looked out for a while. There were no officers and men of the fourth regiment on the battlefield. There were only the first line of defense, where many people were repairing the trenches collapsed by artillery. I turned the camera to the fake artillery position behind the second line of defense and found that it was full of craters. If the artillery company didn't move, it would be a complete annihilation if it was covered by the artillery fire.

I picked up the phone, dialed Gaidar and asked in a loud voice, "commander Gaidar, have you all withdrawn from the fortification?"

"Yes, sir." Gaidar replied: "I have two companies in the first line of defense, they are repairing the fortifications; There are three companies in the second line of defense and they are on standby. As long as the first line of defense is tight, they will immediately enter the position through the traffic trench and reinforce the troops in the front. "

"What about the rest of your regiment?" I calculated in my heart that there were only five companies, and there were more than a dozen companies where he had put them, so I had to ask.

"Comrade division," Gaidar hesitated for a moment when he heard my question, and then said cautiously, "I think that the fortifications at the front are too simple. Instead of putting so many troops in the trenches to be beaten, it's better to leave the reserves behind, hide them in a safe area, and send them up at the right time."

After listening to Gaidar's reply, I just said softly, without any objection. I just told him: "Comrade commander, let the commanders and fighters be ready for battle. The Germans were severely beaten by us. They will not be reconciled to such a big loss. They will certainly retaliate. Let the soldiers be alert and ready for battle."

After the end of the call with Gaidar, I found that razumeyeva had not yet contacted peresjian, and her tone became more and more severe: "what's the matter? Comrade lieutenant, why can't we get in touch with captain perskin? "

Razumeyeva was so anxious that she began to cry. Her voice changed nervously: "Sir, comrade, I don't know. It's reasonable to say that captain pelsken's car radio is on all the time and should have been contacted for a long time. But I don't know how to do it. I've been calling for a long time, but the other party hasn't heard a word. "

When I heard her say this, I could not help shivering, wondering if I was really right, and pels really took his tank team to the enemy's army?

Seeing my anxious appearance, Pugachev next to me carefully reminded me: "Comrade division, since captain pelsjian can't be contacted, we can contact lieutenant commander Oleg. Isn't his position not far from the tank unit?"

When I heard Pugachev's words, I patted my forehead in chagrin. I was confused. When I couldn't get in touch with the tank unit, why didn't I want to contact Oleg? We should know that the tank unit didn't retreat in time just to cover the artillery position.

It was very smooth to call Oleg. I got in touch immediately. I asked Oleg nervously through the transmitter, "commander Oleg, what's the situation there?"

"Report to division commander," Oleg said excitedly, "the German troops have retreated to the South after being heavily shelled by our army. I just want to ask you whether our regiment will immediately attack the enemy face to face and carry out counter assault?"

Instead of answering his question, I asked the tank unit directly, "I can't get in touch with captain perskin here. Can I see them from you?"

"Comrade division, you are looking for captain perskin." Oleg said with emotion: "he is really a brave tank hand. He led more than ten tanks and rushed to the defeated German. After repulsing those German troops who tried to occupy our artillery positions, he led the tank units to rush to the enemy's large forces."

When I heard Oleg say that, I secretly scolded Perls for being brave. Do you want to confront hundreds of German tanks with your dozen or so tanks? What's more, others have an anti tank regiment, which is not a piece of cake for you. Thinking of this, I anxiously ordered him: "Lieutenant Commander Oleg, you immediately send someone to contact captain perskin and ask him to lead the tank unit down immediately. With these tanks, they dare to attack the enemy's large forces. Isn't that for death? "

"I'll send the soldiers to find him by motorcycle at once. I hope it's too late." After Oleg finished, he added: "our fighters have returned after dropping all the bombs and machine gun bullets. Not long after their return, a German reconnaissance plane flew over our artillery position and circled a few times before leaving. "

When I heard that the enemy's reconnaissance plane was dispatched, I knew in my heart that although the German air force was concentrating on bombing Stalingrad these two days, I did not rule out the possibility that they would take out a few bombers to blow up our artillery position which was a threat to them after they got the intelligence of the reconnaissance plane. So I asked Oleg anxiously, "Comrade commander, how many shells are left in your cannon?"

"On average, there are about ten shells left in each gun. Comrade division, I just want to ask you what to do with these cannons after the shells are fired. Are they going back to our positions? "

"Commander Oleg, please send someone to tell captain Morozov to blow up all the guns as soon as the shells are finished. At the same time, your regiment immediately retreated to the fourth regiment's defensive area to prevent the enemy from launching a new round of attacks. "

"Comrade division, it's a pity to blow up such a good cannon like this. Do you think we should ask our soldiers to pull the guns back When I heard that he was still thinking about the howitzers of the two artillery battalions, I could not help but feel a little anxious. I almost yelled at him, but I still held back and said to him, "Comrade Oleg, these cannons without shells are useless even if you drag them all back. They are just a pile of scrap iron. My orders remain unchanged. As soon as the shells are out, they will be blasted immediately. Then your regiment will withdraw to the position of the fourth regiment and stand by. "

"But we don't have enough explosives. It's difficult to blow up all these guns." Oleg is still a little reluctant to give up these cannons, still bargaining with me.

"A gun doesn't need any explosives. It just needs to put a grenade in the barrel to blow it up." I have seen so many films and TV works in later generations, in which the method of explosive gun is to put grenades into the barrel, so I directly taught this method to Oleg.

"But, but..." the unwilling Oleg seemed to want to say something, but he suddenly screamed: "hell, what's going on? What's the matter?"

Hearing his tone, I knew that nine times out of ten something was wrong. I quickly asked, "commander Oleg, what's the matter? Answer me

Oleg was silent for a long time before he replied, "report to division commander, it's the tank unit of pereskine that's coming back. However, only five of the 14 tanks came back, and one of them was still smoking. It seems that he was injured by German anti tank artillery. Among these tanks, I didn't see captain perskin's tank

When I learned that only five of the 14 tanks returned from the attack, and none of them was pelsky's, I could not help but feel a cold sweat for him. In this case, once the tank is destroyed by the German, the possibility of the crew's survival is generally small. I was worried about the safety of Peregrine, and quickly told Oleg: "Comrade commander, you send someone to ask what happened and where is captain Peregrine? Except for the infantry on guard in the artillery position, the rest of your regiment immediately retreated to the position of the fourth regiment. Move fast, okay? Commander, I'm afraid the enemy will soon take advantage of their firepower to launch a counterattack against us. If your regiment is deployed in an open area without fortifications, it will be easily defeated or destroyed by the enemy. "

Hearing what I said so seriously, Oleg didn't dare to argue with me any more. He could only honestly promise, "I understand, sir. I will follow your instructions immediately."

Just as I was about to put down the transmitter, I suddenly thought of an important thing, and immediately gave him a death order: "also, those Gunners in the artillery position, they are the treasures of our division. You should protect them for me. If any of them is missing a hair, I will never forgive you."

The reason why I remind him of this is that in the night attack, the artillery will play the leading role. When their artillery makes the sleeping German dizzy, it is when I send the infantry to attack. The success of the night attack depends on whether these high-level artillery commanders and fighters can be preserved.

My orders were carried out to the letter by lieutenant commander Oleg, and in less than ten minutes, I saw with my telescope the infantry retreating with five tanks. As the underground tank depot has been exposed in the battle just now and can no longer be used, these tanks retreated to the defense area of the fourth regiment together with the infantry.

Gaidar may have been informed by the frontier that so many troops are retreating to his own defense area. He immediately called to ask, "Comrade division commander, now the large troops of the second regiment are retreating to our regiment's defense area. What's the matter?"

"Commander gedar," I did not conceal my thoughts about these men: "because after seizing German artillery positions, commander Oleg's troops used the captured artillery to carry out heavy shelling on the area where the German troops assembled. The Germans, who have been badly beaten by us, are not willing to take such a big loss. They will certainly retaliate. Just now, a reconnaissance plane has already reconnoitered the artillery position of the second regiment. I think the German counterattack will begin soon. The second regiment will not be able to stop the mechanized forces of the enemy in the open area without fortifications, so I ordered them to withdraw to your regiment's defense area for the time being, and then move after the whole regiment has assembled. "

"I see, sir." Gaidar's tone was very flat: "but I still suggest that the second regiment leave our defense area as soon as possible. I'm afraid that thousands of officers and men are crowded in a narrow area. Once they are bombed or shelled, every German bomb or shell can kill dozens of us. I suggest that they drive to the original garrison division or the headquarters of the group army, where they can wait in seclusion. "

"That's a good suggestion, commander Gaidar." I agree with Gaidar's proposal. After praising him, I agree with him, "in this case, when Oleg comes back, I will let him lead the troops to the area you mentioned."

Another half an hour later, I saw several trucks full of commanders and fighters speeding towards the fourth regiment position, followed by seven or eight motorcycles. Seeing this scene, I knew in my heart that Oleg had completed the task of bombing and returned safely. I quickly asked razumeyeva to contact Oleg, I want to ask the situation ahead.

When Oleg heard my voice, he immediately reported to me: "report to Mr. division commander, the second regiment has successfully completed its task and returned to our army base safely. Waiting for your next order. "

"Very well," I asked with concern after that, "are they all back safely, Morozov?"

"Please rest assured, they are all back, and everyone is intact."

"Have you heard from captain perskin?" After asking the artillery, I was concerned about the missing tank captain.

"Report to the division commander, the captain's tank was destroyed by German anti tank artillery in the battle. He was injured in the arm, but he was rescued by his soldiers. He's with us right now. "

"Send him to lieutenant colonel Gaidar to rest. As for your troops, immediately after the assembly, go to the original headquarters of the group army and wait in seclusion. I'll get in touch with you if there's any combat mission. "

As soon as I said that, there came the sound of guns. Holding the transmitter, I came to the observation port and looked out. I could vaguely see the direction of the smoke rising, which should be the location of our original artillery position. It seems that the Germans are carrying out retaliatory shelling on that position, and the enemy planes circling in the air can be seen constantly diving.

From the earphone came Oleg's voice in shock: "Comrade division, I'm glad to listen to your order. After we blow up our guns, we immediately withdraw our troops. Otherwise, with the enemy's current artillery and bombing intensity, all our troops left in the position will be destroyed."

Listen to him say so, I only said lightly: "let captain Morozov and captain yeguonovi come to me, I have a task to give them."