Social Democrats, when I heard this word, I couldn't help laughing. No matter von Tolman, who first surrendered to me, or gramus, who is in front of me, these German officers, after being captured, may be afraid of being shot, usually declare themselves social democrats without exception.
Although I don't know exactly what the Social Democrats do, I feel that this party must be banned and banned in Germany at the moment. How can these German soldiers join such illegal organizations? So what they said was all lies, just to win the favor of Soviet commanders, so that they could escape the fate of being shot.
Seeing that verol and I were talking and looking at him from time to time, even if captain Grimes didn't know Russian, he could guess that we were talking about him. He quickly touched the heel of his boot, raised his hand to salute me, and said a word in German. Mikhail yev, standing behind me, translated for me in time: "Hello, commander. I'm captain gramus. I'm glad to be of service to you."
"Hello, Captain Grimes." I reached out to him and said politely, "I'm glad you can see the situation clearly and make the right choice in time."
When I said that, gramus looked surprised and repeated what he had just said: "commander, I'm willing to help you. If you have anything I need to do, just tell me. I promise I will finish it seriously."
"Don't stand here, sir. Let's go to the station." Said Oleg, who had not spoken for a long time, and then he took the lead in the passage out of the way of the crowd.
The main building is a waiting hall which can accommodate thousands of passengers. Beside the platform of the station, there are train tracks next to each other. You can see that it is for the convenience of train formation. On the other side of the platform, there are many freight warehouses. But these buildings. In the early fighting, it was almost destroyed by German shells or bombs.
Because it was day time, we could see clearly the places where the walls of the building had been pierced, the stairs exposed outside, and the rooms left by luck that had not been damaged.
I saw two sentinels standing at the door of a small room and concluded that the headquarters of Oleg and verol were there. Although Oleg was leading us to that place, I slowed down and asked nearby verol, "verol, is that your command post?"
"Yes, sir." With that, verol looked back and said in a low voice, "it was the station master's room. After the station was lost, Captain Grimes used it as his headquarters and bedroom. After we occupied the station again, we saw that it was the most complete building, so we made it our headquarters."
"What about the trucks? What about the trucks that brought you here?" Although I saw many damaged train carriages in the station, I couldn't help but ask, "where did you hide your cars?"
Verol pointed to the half destroyed waiting hall and said, "there's a square outside. We've parked our trucks in the square in front of the station."
"So many trucks are parked there, they won't be found by German reconnaissance planes, will they lead to bombing?" Listen to her say so, I can't help but ask a worried.
After listening to what I said, she burst into laughter and then explained to me, "Comrade teacher, your worries are superfluous. You know, we are now disguised as the German army, and the flag of the German army is flying above the station. Do you say that the German planes will bomb their own people? "
Listening to her talking about flags, I looked around. No, the flags in the station were all German flags. Even our headquarters had a German flag on the roof.
When we got to the gate of the headquarters, the sentry standing at the gate quickly raised his hand to salute us. Oleg pushed open the door, did not go in immediately, but made a gesture to me at the door, meaning to ask me to go in first.
The furnishings of the room are very simple. In the middle of the room, there is a table with a map. There are several chairs around the table. In the corner near the door, there is a small table with a telephone on it. The male operator sits next to it. When he sees a commander coming in, he stands up quickly. He even has no time to take off his headphones, so he raises his hand to salute us.
"Comrade telegraph operator, there is no business for you here for the time being. Go out first." Oleg saw that as soon as he entered the room, he gave the order directly to the operator, who was obviously under his command.
Without saying a word, the operator turned to leave after saluting and closed the door when he went out.
When there were only three of us left in the room, I went to the map table and sat down. Then I asked them to sit down as well. Then I asked, "commander Oleg, political commissar veroll, I want to ask you, before I come, who is in charge of the station?"
Unified command, two people listened to my words, looked at each other, and then shook their heads together. Veroll replied, "Comrade division commander, our two forces are not merged, but each is responsible for one area. Now my battalion is on the north side of the station, and commander Oleg's battalion is on the south side. "
After listening to veroll's words, I felt very lucky. Fortunately, I came here. Otherwise, the two troops in the same station would not form a unified command. Although there would not be a situation of dying in battle, it would be very easy for the German army to defeat each other if they fought separately.
I was looking at the ceiling, tapping my fingers on the table, thinking about how to combine the two forces. Seeing that I was thinking, Oleg and verol were afraid of interrupting my thoughts, so they sat beside me silently, watching me quietly, waiting for me to give new instructions.
After a while, after the merger had taken shape in my mind, I said, "major Oleg, commissar verol."
They quickly got up from their seats and promised loudly, "here we are!"
Seeing that both of them stood up, I was embarrassed to continue to sit, so I stood up and announced to them, "I now formally inform you that the two battalions will be merged to form the fifth regiment of the independent division. The head of the regiment will be Lieutenant Colonel Oleg, and the political commissar will be Comrade verol."
When they heard what I said, their faces were full of joy.
I went on to say, "it's up to you two to negotiate on how to deploy and adjust the following troops. I'll just ask."
As soon as my voice fell, Oleg immediately expressed his determination to me: "please rest assured, sir. Later, political commissar verol and I will adjust the defense in the station and prepare to stick to it for a long time."
When he finished, I added: "remember, our troops are limited and we are short of heavy weapons. If we want to compete with the German army, let alone have only two battalions, we can't even fill in the whole independent division, so we should learn to know more about our brains and fight skillfully."
"Sir, I don't know how to fight such a skillful battle?" Although verol gave me the impression that she was a very independent woman, she had to ask for instructions in front of my commander who was higher than her.
When she asked, she really asked me. Although I had many ideas, I had to explain them to her, but I didn't know where to start. After pondering for a moment, I said slowly: "in fact, as you are now disguised as Germans, hiding behind the German army, you can surprise the Germans from time to time."
"Sir, can you be more specific?" Oleg did not know when he took out his pen and notebook from his briefcase to record what I said.
Instead of answering Oleg's question, I turned the subject around and asked curiously, "what did you do with the German soldiers escorting the ammunition trains?"
Oleg was obviously used to my jumping thinking. He shrugged his shoulders and replied, "what else can I do? When the train came into the station, we said that all the German soldiers in the car were driven to the semi destroyed station waiting hall to ensure the safety of the train, and the soldiers solved them with bayonets, shovel and axe. As for the corpses, we all crammed into the train with half of the goods unloaded, and we also crammed in the German corpses that we had killed when we occupied the station. In this way, even if the German personnel sent someone to inspect the destroyed ammunition train, we could not find the fact that half of the ammunition on the train had been unloaded by us. "
I turned to look at veroll and asked suspiciously, "political commissar veroll, how about captain Grimes? Did he really surrender to our army?"
Verol nodded his head hard and said with certainty: "Sir, please rest assured. According to my observation of him, I can confirm that he is really sincere to us. After we occupied the station, the superior commander of the German army called many times. Except for the first time when we put a pistol on his forehead and asked him to reply to his superior according to our wishes, the rest of the time, he took the initiative to reply to his superior according to our orders. It can be said that although we have occupied the station for more than ten hours, we are still found by other German troops. Captain gramus has made great contribution to it. "
Since veroll said so, and it is the time to employ people, I can only employ people without doubt. I nodded and said to verol, "since he's sincere, I'd like to give him a temporary position so that he can play his part as much as possible. At the same time, I would like to remind you two that the successful attack on the station was due to the disruption of the organizational structure of the German troops and the confusion of communication between them. So that the camp attacked by commander Oleg couldn't give an alarm to the nearby friendly forces in time, so we picked up a cheap one and easily occupied the relaxed abganerovo station. "
After listening to me, verol quickly stood up and expressed his determination to me: "Sir, please rest assured that I will immediately adjust the defense deployment and strengthen the defense forces in important areas. Even if the German army wants to capture here, I will make them pay a heavy price. "
"The political commissar is right. As long as we stick here, we will surely let the Germans learn a lesson." Oleg also stood up and echoed, and then he tentatively asked, "do we want to adjust the deployment and allow us to leave?"
I nodded, waved to them, and said, "go ahead, adjust the defense deployment of the station as soon as possible, and prepare for all battles at the same time." When they were about to leave, I said at the back, "when you go out, call my operator Shula in by the way."
Soon after they went out, Shura came in with two soldiers carrying a telephone case. As soon as she came in, I quickly told her, "Shula, put up the radio. I want to contact the headquarters of the group army."
He said that he wanted to contact the headquarters of the group army. In fact, I wanted to ask when trakov would take up his post in the 62nd group army. I also wanted to make preparations for troop mobilization in advance.
Not to my surprise, trikov was in the headquarters. I didn't care to ask him whether he came to hand over the work or discuss the defense deployment with general shumilov, so I said to him frankly, "Hello, comrade commander, I am at the station of abganerovo. This morning, my night attack troops successfully occupied the station after destroying the enemy's garrison."
I didn't expect that after listening to this, trikov was surprised: "what, your division occupied the station of abganerovo? When did this happen? Why don't I know?"
As for his question, I had to explain: "the station of abganerovo was occupied in the early morning of this morning. After confirming the capture of the station, I reported it to commander shumilov and chief of staff Raskin."
After a moment's silence, trikov asked in a blunt voice, "well, what kind of order did commander shumilov give you when he learned of the result?"
I hastened to reply, "the commander ordered me to guard the station at all costs and never let the Germans occupy it again easily."
"Nonsense, it's nonsense!" "The sneak attacks on the German army are all about fighting and leaving. It's good for you to stay and camp behind the Germans," he said angrily. If the German army finds that the station is lost, their heavy troops will immediately press on the station. Can you hold the station with your troops in the future? "
After listening to what trakov said, I said in my heart, of course, I can't keep it. I was just going to fight a war and run away with a little bit of cheap money. Who knew that the superior would suddenly give me a task of holding the station. Isn't it obvious that my troops would die? But these complaints can only be expressed in the heart. On the surface, they have to be puffed up and said something beautiful: "please rest assured, as long as we have one more person, we will never give the station to the German."
"Come on, no matter how brave your soldiers are, they are only flesh and blood. Under the German artillery bombardment and aircraft bombardment, your troops will soon be wiped out by the powerful German firepower." Trekov said excitedly, "no, I have to talk to shumilov about this and ask him to take back this unrealistic order."
While waiting for trekov's call, I walked back and forth in the room with my hands behind my back, especially hesitating. For me, there are advantages and disadvantages in sticking to this station. If our occupation of the station is exposed, then the German army will rush around and wipe us out; If our camouflage is effective and not found by the German army, we can not only attack the surrounding German camp, but also destroy the German transportation by railway.
However, trekov's call did not come, but Zhukov's call came first. Hearing my voice, Zhukov could not wait to ask, "Rita, I heard that your troops have captured the station of abganerovo. Is that true?"
"It's true." After listening to Zhukov's question, I couldn't help clapping. When my heart was finished, Zhukov himself asked about it. It seems that I can't withdraw.
"I'm calling you," Zhukov said, "to inform you that, after my discussion with the commanders of the headquarters of the front army, no matter what the situation, we must never give up the station of abganerovo. Do you understand? In any case, it is absolutely not allowed to be abandoned without the written order of me or the headquarters of the front army. " With these words, he may be afraid that I can not understand his intention, and specially explained that "the abganerovo station is an important transportation hub, not only through the railway, but also by the state highway leading to Stalingrad. If you stick here, you will be holding the throat of the 4th group army of hottank. In order to ensure the safety of the rear, they will have to deploy part of their forces to protect the long traffic line, so as to reduce the pressure on the front defense of the 64th and 57th groups. Do you understand what I say? "
"Yes, comrade general, I fully understand what you mean." Although I said that, I scolded in my heart. It's over. I really left us here as cannon fodder. After thinking about it for a moment, I went on to say, "you know, it's impossible to hold the station firmly only by the two battalions I have now. In order to stay at the station longer, I urgently need reinforcements to strengthen them, and it's urgent. "
My words silenced Zhukov. After a long time, he said slowly, "Rita, I know that in the present situation, your troops need to be strengthened. But under the present circumstances, it is also very difficult for us. It is almost impossible for us to send reinforcements to you. "
After listening to Zhukov's words, my heart suddenly sank. Isn't it a typical case that horses have to run and don't eat grass. Two battalions of less than 800 people, if they really fight hard with the German army, it is estimated that they will all be wiped out in half a day. I hesitated for a moment, and hesitated to say, "Comrade General, there is no doubt that every soldier will resolutely carry out the orders of his superior and fight to the last moment of his life. At the same time, I also think it's my duty to report to you that if the army and the German army fight hard, our troops will be completely destroyed in less than half a day in the fierce artillery and bombing of the German army. So... "
"Rita, that's the order I discussed with the front command," Zhukov interrupted impatiently. "And I personally think it's right. Holt's troops are approaching Stalingrad step by step from the south. As long as they can hold back the German attack and gain precious time for our defense, I think it is worth the sacrifice. " Zhukov's words have already said this, and I can't oppose it any more, so I have to bear my head and promise: "yes, senior general, in order to protect the station of abganerovo and the assembly of counter attack forces, my troops and I will fight to the last moment of our lives. I assure you that as long as there is a soldier alive in the station, we will never let the Germans occupy our position. " After listening to my words of determination, Zhukov sighed helplessly and said cautiously, "well, you and your troops will stick to the station for five days. Today is August 30, that is, before September 4, to ensure that the German army will not recapture the abganerovo station. Rita, is there a problem? " After listening to this, I thought that if the camouflaged troops were not exposed, it would be no problem to stick to the station for five days, so I answered very simply: "senior general, I promise to complete the task you assigned." Zhukov continued: "if, I say if. In the event of the worst, I will allow you and the main commanders to break through in disguise and report to me at the headquarters of the front army in Stalingrad. " When I heard Zhukov say this, I suddenly felt warm in my heart. It seems that in Zhukov's mind, my subordinate still has a certain weight, otherwise he would not risk being punished by Stalin and give me such an order without permission. When Stalin issued Order No. 227, he specially emphasized that all commanders who privately allowed troops to withdraw, whether they were division commanders, army commanders, group commanders or even commanders with higher ranks, should be sent to the military court for trial. Thinking of this, I said to Zhukov: "report to general, because the commander of the German garrison station surrendered to our army, so far, the German army has not found that our army has captured the station. The officers and men in the station, now disguised as German troops, can play the role of deceiving the German army for a long time. I plan to take this station as a stronghold. After dark, I will attack everywhere to harass the German camp so that they can't sleep well. In this way, I can also interrupt the German deployment. " After hearing this, Zhukov said, "that's a good idea. Anyway, I'll give you the autonomy. It's your business to fight. Anyway, as long as I stick to it for five days, I'll make a great contribution to you. "