Chapter 578

For some time now, the main force of our army has been forced to resist under the fierce attack of the German army and retreat to Stalingrad step by step. All the troops are a little weak to hold on to their positions, let alone take the initiative to attack. Perhaps our army's current performance on the battlefield will make the German army relax their vigilance and give us an opportunity to sneak attack.

I calculated that it would be no more than ten kilometers from our defense area to the nearest German garrison. At present, it is the end of August, and it will be dark at about eight o'clock. By that time, night attack troops can be sent out.

When I had a general plan in mind, I ordered busmanov to take the two women to the kitchen to have something to eat. After eating, the young zolova stayed behind and sent several tactical escorts to escort the elderly women and refugees out of our division's defense area.

As the German army has not launched any attack on our division's defensive zone in the past two days, several commanders are not in a hurry to leave. They are gathering together to study the advantages and disadvantages of veroll's ring fortifications and our common field fortifications.

Just as the discussion was in full swing, the sound of guns came from outside the house. Everyone quieted down when they heard the gunfire outside. After listening for a moment, shijerikov was surprised and said, "hell, the gunfire didn't come from the direction of our regiment. It's a bit like it came from the West."

What he said surprised us all, because at noon, there was the sound of guns coming from the northwest. It was the German army attacking the positions of the 70th and 157th infantry divisions. How could the German army now point the attack at our division? I quickly ordered razumeyeva, who was standing by: "second lieutenant, contact the front troops of the second regiment immediately and ask what's going on?"

Without waiting for the second regiment to get in touch, the observation post on the hillside called first, and the other party reported in a flustered tone: "report to the division commander, the German army is shelling the second regiment position."

"What's the matter?" As for the panicked soldier, I said discontentedly, "it's not the first time that our division has been bombarded by the enemy. What's the point of being panicked. Comrade soldier, what's your name? "

"Leonov, private Leonov."

After remembering the name silently in my heart, I asked, "what's the situation of the second regiment?"

Leonov was still flustered to report that: "the troops of the second regiment have been defeated in the shelling, and groups of soldiers are running towards us under the gunfire."

"What? The second regiment was defeated? " I can't believe what I've heard is true. It's not more than five minutes since I heard the gunfire. The troops of the second regiment collapsed in the German artillery fire.

I was so angry that I threw the phone away and said in a loud voice to the leaders in the room, "Damn it, the observation post reports that the troops of the second regiment have been destroyed by the German artillery fire. You immediately follow me to the observation post on the top of the mountain."

I went to the observation post on the hillside, raised my telescope and looked at the 2nd regiment position two kilometers away. The German forces were in great shape. Dense shells fell on the 2nd regiment position and exploded. The trench had been engulfed by the smoke of gunpowder. Looking at this battle, not to mention the new recruits who have just been added to the army, even the veterans who have been fighting for a long time are afraid to see this scene.

Private Leonov's report was true. The troops in the first trench ran recklessly to the rear positions under the enemy's fire. Looking around, the open ground behind the trench was full of corpses of our soldiers. Groups of scattered soldiers were running around like headless flies.

Seeing the collapse of the soldiers in the dark, like a tide of water coming to the second trench of the second regiment, I put down my telescope and yelled at Pugachev and verol: "you see, this is your second regiment. After several German shells, it collapsed. What do you two do to eat? How can you bring out such a useless army? "

Pugachev blushed and tried to explain: "Comrade division, these are the new recruits who have just been added to the regiment..."

"What are you doing here?" Without waiting for him to speak, I mercilessly interrupted him, and sternly ordered: "what are you still doing here? Don't stop your bunch of useless soldiers, let them all return to the trench, and don't let the Germans rush over."

Pugachev and verol both ran out of the observation post, blushing. Then they ran out of the trench and ran down the hill. Despite the fact that it was far away from the fleeing soldiers, Pugachev pulled out his pistol and raised it high above his head. As he ran, he shot into the sky. At the same time, he hissed: "stop, you all stop for me. Stop, you cowards, all go back to the trench... "He was followed by seven or eight soldiers, and he was running forward and shooting. Seeing his action, I scolded in my heart. Only a few days later, I became the commander of the group. When I went out, I even took the guard class with me.

Although the soldiers of the second regiment escaped from the trenches shrouded by gunfire, they were not bombarded by German artillery. A shell fell, and the soldiers near the explosion point fell down. Just two or three minutes after Pugachev left the trench, at least hundreds of soldiers fell into the pool of blood.

Seeing this scene, I was so angry that I smashed my fist on the log wall and took a cold breath. When I calmed down a little, I turned around and saw that xijerikov, kosja, Gaidar and others were still standing behind me. I frowned and asked several people, "what are you doing here if you don't go back to your troops?" As soon as the words came out, I knew that I had said something wrong. I asked them to come to the observation center just now. No one dared to leave without my permission. At the moment, seeing that I asked them to leave, several people saluted me with relief and turned to leave the observation post.

When there were only me and razumeyeva and Leonov left in the observation center, I ordered razumeyeva: "contact Colonel lyudnikov, commander of the 70th division of the guards immediately."

When I got through, I didn't care about the code number. I yelled at the transmitter, "Hello, Hello, Colonel lyudnikov! Can you hear me? This is colonel o'shanina. The German artillery is bombarding our division's right-wing position. From the direction of the shells, the German artillery position should not be far from your division's defense area. Please provide us with artillery support and destroy the German artillery positions! "

"Colonel oshanina, you are not the only one who has been shelled," lyudnikov's voice sounded in the earphone. "German artillery are shelling our division's positions, tanks and infantry are coming towards us. But don't worry, I'll do my best to support you. "

Putting down my earphone and transmitter, I went to the observation port and raised my telescope to look at the retreating troops. At the moment, Pugachev and verol, as well as some of their soldiers, were close to the retreating troops. The soldiers who were running away suddenly fell down more than a dozen in front of Pugachev, and those behind also slowed down and stopped in front of Pugachev.

As for the soldiers who suddenly fell down, I could see through the telescope that they were all shot down by the guards who followed Pugachev and verol. At this moment, I suddenly understood why Stalin asked the Ministry of the interior to set up so many supervisors after he issued order 227. It seems that in order to stop the army from fleeing on the battlefield, it is necessary to supervise the troops.

As the German artillery became sparse, the soldiers who had escaped, driven by Pugachev and his guards, turned around and ran past the bodies of their comrades and returned to the trench.

When Pugachev entered the first trench, he immediately called me and said in a loud voice, "report to division commander, I have brought the retreating troops back to the trench."

"Yes," I said coldly, looking at the smoky battlefield, "how are the casualties of the troops?"

After I asked, Pugachev didn't have a voice. I raised my voice and asked, "Pugachev, what's the matter with you? Are you deaf? Why don't you answer my question? "

"There were a lot of casualties," Pugachev replied in a voice I could barely hear. "I used to have eight companies in the first position, but now there are less than three companies left. There is only one company commander left, and the rest are sacrificed in the shelling."

"What's the name of the remaining company commander?"

"Horushov, Captain horushov. He had participated in the battle of Kharkov and had rich combat experience. "

"Form the remaining three companies into two regiments and one battalion, and let this captain horushov be the battalion commander. You and verol will return to the second trench for me." When I was about to interrupt communication, I suddenly thought of another thing and then asked, "where is the former commander of the second regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg?"

"Report to division commander, commander Oleg and his company are in the second trench."

"Well, I see. Remember, you have to tell captain horushov to hold his ground at all costs. I will provide them with the necessary assistance. "

I then called the artillery battalion commander, yegonovic: "it's me, Captain yegonovic. It's me, Colonel oshanina. I now order you to send artillery observers to the Highlands where our division is located, to provide artillery with firing data, and to block and fire the attacking German troops with artillery fire. "

After listening to this, yegonovich answered concisely, "yes, I'll let the observer come to you immediately."

After the German artillery stopped, the German ground attack began before Pugachev, verol and their guards could return to the second trench. Behind the armored unit of eight tanks were patches of infantry striding towards the first battalion of the second regiment.

The German army bullied us and did not have anti tank weapons. The tanks stopped 500 or 600 meters away from the trench and bombarded the position of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd regiment with tank guns to cover the infantry charging forward.

Watching the German troops approaching their positions, the soldiers of the first battalion fired back after a brief panic. For a moment, heavy and heavy machine guns, rifles, submachine guns, and pistols all joined the firing ranks, turning the front 70 or 80 meters of the position into a dead zone and bringing down the German soldiers.

The German soldiers who had been hit did not retreat immediately. Instead, they lay down on the ground and shot back in groups. There are also a few machine guns hiding in the crater, toward the position of our army constantly shooting.

Looking at the tanks that stopped in the distance and shelled a battalion of positions, and the infantry that were getting closer and closer to the positions, I couldn't help getting a little flustered. Judging from the performance of the second regiment just now, once the German soldiers rush into the trench, they may collapse again, and then they will be out of control.

I called again and asked in a hurry, "Comrade captain, where is your observer? Did you enter the designated observation position? "

"The observer has just entered the designated position and is providing us with firing data. All the cannons are in place and ready to fight. " Yegonovic said calmly.

"Comrade captain, order all the guns to fire at the German tanks first. Do you hear me?" I gave him an order decisively. In order to prevent him from delaying, I specially added: "whether the second regiment can hold the position depends on you. The fate of the whole division is in your hands."

As soon as I hung up the phone, I saw an explosion next to the German tank in the distance, and the air wave lifted the soil high. I didn't hit the target, but I knew it was a test fire from captain yegonovich's artillery battalion. Sure enough, after a while, seven or eight shells roared down in the German tank line and exploded. In addition to one tank was directly blasted off the turret, another one was overturned by the blast.

The remaining vehicles stopped shelling a battalion position and tried to turn around and escape. Unfortunately, it was too late, and another wave of shells flew past, covering them all in the fire and smoke. After destroying the German tanks, the artillery battalion of yegonovych turned its target to the German infantry.

Half an hour later, the battle was over, the destroyed tanks in front of the position were burning, and the German infantry obediently raised their hands to surrender to our soldiers who rushed out of the fortification.

Seeing that the German attack was defeated, I looked up at the sky. It was getting dark. It seemed that the German army would not launch a new attack. So I called Pugachev and asked him, "what part of the German army is it?"

Obviously, Pugachev had checked the documents of the German soldiers who had been killed or captured, and even interrogated the prisoners, so he reported very quickly: "report to the division commander, the German army is from the 40th tank brigade. We have captured 57 people, one of whom is Lieutenant Heinz Martin, the adjutant of major general stummer of the brigade commander. What should we do with these prisoners? "

Without thinking, I replied, "send a company of soldiers to take these prisoners to the headquarters of the group army."

After giving the order to Pugachev, I called the headquarters of the group army. Because trakov was not in, I directly reported to Raskin, chief of staff: "chief of staff, this is colonel oshanina. We have just repulsed the attack of the 40th German tank brigade and captured 57 German soldiers, including Lieutenant Heinz Martin, the adjutant of major general stummer, the brigade commander. I have ordered the soldiers to send the prisoners to the group headquarters. "

"Well done, comrade oshanina." Raskin praised me. Just as he was about to go on, he suddenly gave a strange sound, and then there was no sound in the earphone.

"What's the matter, chief of staff," I asked hastily, "is there anything wrong?"

"Hell, hell." Raskin said uncertainly: "the 40th tank brigade of the German army, which belongs to the battle sequence of the 6th group army of Paulus, should be in the defensive zone of the 62nd group army at this moment. How can it suddenly appear in your place?"

I thought this unit belonged to the hote group army, but it belonged to Paulus. As for why they suddenly appeared in our division's defense area, I really don't know. However, I said cautiously: "Comrade chief of staff, I have sent the prisoners of this brigade to the headquarters of the group army. If you have any questions, you can get answers after interrogating the prisoners."

At the end of the battle, I went back to my division headquarters, and also called the demoted lieutenant commander Oleg, who I intended to command the night attack troops.

Although I haven't seen him for only two days, Oleg's whole body looks haggard. He doesn't even shave his beard. His white face turns into a beard. He stood in front of me, silent, just looking down at his toes.

I coughed and tried to draw his attention, but he didn't respond at all. When I saw his performance, I felt dissatisfied, but it was not easy to say anything more. After all, when he was demoted from the head of the regiment to the commander of the company, he would feel a little emotional. I said to myself, "Comrade Oleg, I have an important task for you."

Hearing what I said, he raised his head and said with a serious face: "Sir, I'm waiting for your instructions!"

I nodded and said, "I'm going to send an army tonight to attack the German camp. As you know, there are not many excellent commanders in the division. Now they are all leaders of the regiment. They have heavy responsibilities and can't leave without permission. Therefore, after much consideration, I feel that this glorious and arduous task is entrusted to you. "

After hearing this, Oleg quickly straightened up and said in a loud voice, "please don't worry, sir. I promise you that I will complete the task you assigned."

I gestured to busmanov, who was standing by the door, to bring the guide zolova. The commander of the guard battalion was very clever. He immediately understood my intention and quickly turned to go out to find zolova.

Seeing basmanov leave, Oleg asked curiously, "Comrade division commander, I don't know how many people there are in this unit you gave me to command?"

"Each regiment draws a company of 400 people. In terms of firepower configuration, each company has four light machine guns, ten submachine guns, and necessary communication equipment, so as to contact me in time. "

"What is our main task?" Oleg then asked.

"Bypass the German heavily fortified camps and go to the loosely defended ones. Try not to attack by force, give priority to sneak attack and run after fighting. " Considering that the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, I simply told him how to fight and how to fight, which is up to him. As soon as Oleg and I finished talking, busmanov came in with zolova. I beckoned LOVA to come to me and introduced her to Oleg, saying, "Comrade Oleg, this is Comrade zolova. She used to be a staff member of the Stalingrad Survey Bureau. She knows a path to the German camp. Tonight, she will be your guide to attack the German camp After listening to my introduction, Oleg's face showed a smile. He stepped forward, took zolova's hand, and said with a smile: "Hello, girl! Please show us the way tonight. " Zolova also gave Oleg a polite smile and said half jokingly, "Comrade commander, you should protect my safety when you arrive."“ Oh, no problem, no problem. " Oleg giggled at zorova. I can't help but feel funny when I see two people flirting with each other. This is the first time that they have met, and they even have eyes on mung bean. The moon is in the sky and the stars are shining. The improvised night Raiders assembled on the hillside. Seeing my arrival, Oleg and the other three commanders standing in front of the line quickly came over, stood in front of me, raised their hands to salute, and said in a loud voice: "report to the division commander, comrade, the assembly of the night attack troops is completed, please give your instructions!" I didn't say anything heroic to the soldiers who were going to fight. Instead, I shook hands with the four commanders one by one, and then said decisively, "I won't say anything more. Comrades, I hope you can come back as soon as possible." With that, I stepped back and raised my hand to salute them. The four returned a salute in order, then turned and ran back to the front of their team, giving orders to the soldiers. Looking at the troops far away, basmanov, standing behind me, asked anxiously, "Comrade division commander, will they succeed?" I looked back at my battalion commander and answered without hesitation, "yes, comrade captain, I feel they will come back in triumph." Back at the headquarters, I ordered razumeyeva: "Lieutenant, call the four commanders and ask them to come to the headquarters immediately. I have important tasks to assign to them." Ten minutes later, four commanders came to my headquarters. As soon as xiejerikov entered the door, he asked with concern, "Comrade division commander, the night attack troops led by Lieutenant Colonel Oleg have set out?"“ Yes, let's go. " I answered vaguely. After everyone was seated, I announced to them, "I'm calling you here to tell the general that each regiment will draw another company to form a new night attack camp to attack the German camp." As soon as my words came out, all the people were shocked. After a moment's silence, Pugachev asked on behalf of everyone: "Sir, isn't the night attack camp of Lieutenant Colonel Oleg set out? How can we set up another night attack camp?"“ Yeah, yeah, what's going on? " Questions were raised one after another“ The new night attack camp will be under the command of political commissar verol. Her task is to attack those camps that have been attacked by the Oleg camp again. " Hearing what I said, all the people in the room were petrified.