Chapter 627

After talking about the work of the Political Department of the group army for a while, trikov and kirilov politely said, "Comrade kirilov, please give the earphone to Colonel oshanina. I have something else to tell her."

I didn't expect that after talking with kirilov for half a day, trikov still had something to do with me. After I took the earphone and transmitter from kirilov's hand, I asked respectfully, "Hello, comrade commander, this is o'shanina. What's your instruction?"

"Colonel oshanina," trekov said to me in a serious tone, "because of the tight military strength of Stalingrad, I have ordered the tank troops holding high 107.5 to withdraw to the city. I think it is a waste to use the tank troops as ordinary infantry. If they run out of tanks and when the newly added tanks arrive, no suitable personnel will be found to drive them, then the tanks will become a pile of scrap iron. Therefore, after research, it is decided to withdraw them into the city. The 125th infantry regiment took over their defense. This regiment lost a lot in the early fighting. The new recruits were all militia from tractor factories. At present, the combat effectiveness of the troops is weak, so you should not only focus on the mamayev post, but also pay more attention to the defense areas of your neighbors. Once the situation there is critical, you should send troops to support them in time. "

"I see, comrade commander." I didn't dare to neglect trikov's orders, so I quickly agreed. In order to reassure him, I specially added: "the third regiment and the fourth regiment have participated in the battle to recover the 107.5 highland, and they are familiar with the terrain there, so I plan to transfer the third regiment to the residential area behind the 107.5 highland, so that they can send out reinforcements in time when the highland situation is unfavorable."

"Very well, your arrangement is very thoughtful." After praising me, trakov went on to say, "today you have played a very good defensive war, but you can't just defend. You should make use of every opportunity to counter attack. Our present tactics are attack, and we should use counter attack to disrupt the enemy's preparations for attack. "

Hearing that he mentioned that he could not only defend but also fight back constantly, I was stunned for a moment. Then I asked curiously, "Comrade commander, the base camp has sent us a reserve team?"

"Reserves, what reserves?" Trekov seemed to be confused by me, and then he said: "we can only use the existing forces of the group army to fight back."

"Is there a fully loaded division in the group army now?" I asked tentatively.

"No, there is no full division." Trakov's answer was very simple. He did not hide the current situation of the group army from me at all. "There are only 140 soldiers left in the 399th infantry division of Colonel Travnikov."

When I heard trakov's words, I couldn't help but take a breath of cold air. This army from the Far East used to have tens of thousands of people. As a result, it has been lost in the battlefield for just over a month, and the division commander has become the company commander. I took a deep breath, and then asked cautiously, "will they withdraw to the East Bank of the Volga River in the near future?"

I didn't expect that trakov gave me a negative answer: "we need troops now. Even if we have more people, we can add more strength to protect the city."

After listening to me, trikov sighed and said helplessly, "no, none of them. At present, in the organizational system of the group army, you have the largest number of independent divisions. "

When I heard him say that, I could not help but feel a thump. I said that he would not transfer troops from me to strengthen the disabled infantry divisions in the city, would he? Thinking about this, my heart became more and more uneasy, and I said with some guilty heart: "Comrade commander, although our division has a large number of troops, you know that most of the soldiers have not received special military training, and their combat effectiveness is estimated to be inferior to that of ordinary militia camps. Moreover, from the current situation, mamayev post will become the focus of German attack. I think... "

"Come on, Colonel o'shanina, don't complain in front of me. Don't worry. No matter how difficult the situation in the city is, I won't transfer a soldier from mamayev post. "

When I heard him say that, the stone hanging in my heart finally fell to the ground, as long as I didn't transfer my troops. Although the current strength of the independent division seems to be quite large, and there are still as many as 7000 people, according to the current intensity of fighting, it can support for about a month at most.

Trakov then said earnestly: "yesterday, comrade Stalin called me in person and said: to lose Stalingrad is to give all the advantages to the enemy. Holding it is like being trapped in the hands of the enemy, threatening its traffic lines. There is no doubt that the occupation of Stalingrad in this campaign is an important part of the strategic plan of the German general command. We don't know all their detailed plans yet, but I think it's more risky than their plan to occupy Moscow last year. Stale and stale tactics are well known by the public. We use armored forces to break through the front, then use motorized infantry to encircle our troops, and finally encircle our troops. But after more than a year of fighting, the enemy's tactics have become less and less threatening to us. "

Although trakov was quoting Stalin's original words, I was laughing bitterly in my heart, saying that the enemy's tactics were less and less threatening to us, but at the end of June, after the disastrous defeat in Kharkov, 250000 people were captured by the German army. But I can only hide these words in my heart, not in my face.

"Comrade commander, if the three group armies under the command of general Zhukov can successfully break through the encirclement, then our forces guarding the city will be greatly strengthened." In spite of that, in my memory, the 62nd group army did not get any assistance from the 57th and 64th groups army in the south of the city, except for the occasional reinforcements from the East Bank of the Volga River, in the battle of holding fast to Stalingrad. Therefore, I have no confidence in saying this.

"Colonel o'shanina, you are so optimistic." Originally, I thought that the remnants of these three army groups could become a straw to save Stalingrad. As a result, trakov's words shattered my dream. He said faintly: "although general Zhukov nominally commands three army groups, only seven divisions are actually engaged in combat. In order to prevent their counterattack, the German army used 12 elite divisions. These divisions are all German divisions, without the troops of the servant state, and also include two armored divisions and five motorized infantry. "

I sighed again and said with regret: "Comrade commander, it seems that we can only rely on our own strength to hold on to Stalingrad."

"Colonel oshanina," trikov said, recognizing that I was a little discouraged, and hastily encouraging me, "although the situation is dangerous, it is not desperate. Tell the soldiers: everyone must be a brick to defend the city. Only by building up our confidence can we finally defeat the German attack on the city. "

Trekov's words made my mood return to normal after a brief loss. Thinking of this campaign, which became the turning point of the anti Communist war, I said with full confidence: "Comrade commander, I assure you, the commanders and fighters of my independent division."

My statement not only shocked trakov, but even kirilov, who was standing beside him, became excited. He couldn't help repeating what I said: "Sir, comrade, you are so good. The commanders and fighters of our independent division will become living concrete, firmly pouring the bricks and tiles of this city inspired by Stalin's spirit together, and turning the mamayev post into a gate that the enemy can't cross. "

After talking to trakov, kirilov and I went back to division headquarters. The first thing I did after I entered the gate was to tell the commander of the guard battalion, basmanov, who came in with me, "Comrade captain, you go to the headquarters and bring three people, Grimes, Beckman and gretka. I have something important to tell them."

After basmanov left, kirilov looked at his back and said with some displeasure, "Sir, what do you call these three Germans for at this time?"

"Yes, sir." Akhromeyev also spoke for kirilov: "in this extraordinary period, we can't take risks. I suggest that we send all these Germans to the prison camp. Otherwise, the consequences will be unimaginable once they change sides."

I didn't answer them immediately. Instead, I asked them to sit down and asked, "political commissar, chief of staff, have you heard of the red chorus?"

"Is it another name for Alexandrov's" red flag Troupe " Asked akhromeyev tentatively.

When I saw kirilov shaking his head and saying that he had never heard of it, I said to them, "you can't imagine that this' red Choir 'has nothing to do with music. It's an anti Communist Organization spontaneously organized by Germany. The members of the organization are officers and soldiers, workers and artists. They use their identities to obtain a lot of valuable information and forward it to our intelligence agencies through radio. In the information they provided, they pointed out many new battle sites and accurately reported the next strategic deployment of the German army, which made an inestimable contribution to our better fight against the German Communist Party. "

After these words, I stared nervously at the expressions on both faces, because what I said should still belong to top secret at this moment, not to mention kirilov, even commander yelimenko and military commissar Khrushchev of the front army headquarters did not know. I'm afraid kirilov from the Central Committee will get to the bottom of the matter. I don't know how to answer that at that time.

Fortunately, kirilov didn't speak after listening to me and kept thinking. On the contrary, akhromeyev asked curiously, "Comrade teacher, where does your news come from?"

To his question, I answered vaguely: "please forgive me for not being able to tell you the source of this information, because it involves confidentiality. And what I just said, please keep it secret. Once it's leaked, the consequences will be unimaginable. "

After listening to what I said, kirilov did not entangle, but changed the topic: "Comrade division, you called the three German officers, how do you plan to arrange for them?"

I'm relieved to hear kirilov say that. At least he's not so psychologically resistant to gramus now. I quickly replied: "from the current situation, mamayev post will soon become the focus of German attack. For the sake of safety, I don't think the two companies of gramus should be on the high ground. I plan to help them move to the residential area and make them join the fifth regiment of Oleg. "

"Is that all right?" Kirilov asked, hesitating.

"There's nothing inappropriate, my political commissar." I said with confidence, "gramus, they're familiar with Lieutenant Oleg and commissar verol. Besides, I'm waiting for gramus to help me train a group of snipers when they get there. "

"Sniper?" After hearing this word, akhromeyev asked curiously, "we are fighting positional warfare now. What do we want snipers to do?"

"Yes, sir." Kirilov also asked, "where are you going to use the trained snipers?"

When they finished their questions, I said to them with a smile: "political commissar and chief of staff, you should take a long view, although the current battle is only outside the city. However, in my estimation, the German army will soon attack the city

"What do you mean, sir?" Before I finished, akhromeyev asked in surprise, "do you think Stalingrad will fall?"

"Chief of staff akhromeyev," I said, adding to his confusion with dissatisfaction, "I said that the German army would rush into Stalingrad, not that the city would fall. With our present strength, we can't stop the powerful Germans. I estimate that in half a month at most, they will attack the city and occupy a large part of the city. In this case, tanks, cannons and even airplanes are of little use. It is machine guns, submachine guns, rifles, grenades and even close combat that determine the outcome. Once the street battle starts, the snipers we trained will be useful. " Speaking of this, I can't help feeling a little excited and began to tell them the scenes I saw in later films and TV works: "think about it, the Germans are searching on the streets full of bricks and stones, suddenly bullets come from all directions and knock down the soldiers walking on the streets. Without waiting for the rest of the Germans to recover, our snipers have quickly moved to new hiding places, lurking there like hunters, patiently waiting for new prey to appear... "

"Comrade teacher, this is really wonderful." Akhromeyev was surprised by what I said. When he saw that even kirilov was smiling and nodding, he said, "if the situation is really like what the division commander said, then the training of snipers needs to be started immediately. Not to mention half a month, I think we can train a group of qualified snipers in a week

"Comrade o'shanina, I agree with you." Kirilov, for the first time, agreed with me on the issue of gramus, "when Captain gramus comes, send them to the settlement immediately." At this point, he stopped for a moment, frowned and thought about it, and then said, "and their uniforms should be changed into our army's, so as to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding with friendly forces."

As for kirilov's proposal, I had no objection. After nodding, I said, "it's OK. I'll ask gramus to change their clothes and then go to the residential area. As for the German uniforms they took off, don't destroy them. Leave them all. Maybe we can use them when we attack the German camp one day. "

As we were talking, busmanov had brought Grimes, Beckman and gretka to the headquarters. As soon as they entered the door, kirilov stood up for the first time and took the initiative to ask the three to sit down. In the face of a sudden 180 degree turn in his attitude, gramus and the three of them are really not used to it. But I whispered to busmanov, who was still standing upright in front of me: "Comrade captain, you should go out and arrange for the men to find our uniforms for gramus and Beckman, and change their German uniforms."

Although basmanov's face showed a look of surprise, but he did not ask anything, but agreed, turned and left the headquarters.

When I went back to the table and sat down, I saw that the three of them were still in a state of confusion. I immediately laughed and said to them, "two captains, I'm calling you here. I have a new task to give you."

When I heard that I had an assignment, Beckman and greteka stood up, while gramus was a little slower than them because he had to wait for greteka to translate.

Seeing that all three of them stood up, I continued, "Captain Grimes, Captain Beckman, I think you have seen the battle on the Highlands today. Although today's fighting has been brutal, I want to tell you that this is only the beginning. For the sake of your safety, I plan to temporarily transfer the second and third company of the security guards under your command to the residential area and put them in the fifth regiment of commander Oleg and commissar verol. Do you have any ideas? " I didn't want to say the last sentence, but in order to show respect for them, I specially asked.

As soon as my voice fell, Grimes began to creak. Gretka's translator said, "Sir, I'm going to stay as your company commander. I'll be wherever you are."

After listening to gretka's translation, I first expressed my gratitude to Grimes, and then said, "Captain Grimes, I have a more important task to give you when I transfer you and your subordinates to the settlement."

"I'm at your service." Without waiting for gretka to translate this sentence, Grimes said it in stiff Russian.

"Last time I was at the station, I discussed with you about snipers. Do you remember?" After listening to the translation, gramus nodded without hesitation“ Now I'm sending you to the residential area to train a group of qualified snipers in the shortest time. Are you confident of completing the task? "

"No problem." Grimes continued to show off his poor Russian and answered me with all his heart.

Seeing that he had no objection, I gave a direct order to him and Beckman: "well, Captain Grimes and captain Beckman, I now formally order you to be under the command of the fifth regiment of Lieutenant Colonel Oleg from now on. In addition to gramus to train a group of qualified snipers for us in the shortest time; Of course, Captain Beckman, you can't be idle. Most of the soldiers in our division have not been trained, so you are responsible for training them. "

"Please rest assured that we will complete the task." They straightened up and answered in Russian with one voice.

I saw kirilov and akhromeyev smiling and nodding beside me, so I told them, "because this is an extraordinary time, in order to prevent misunderstanding among friendly forces, when you take your troops to leave the Highlands later, you should change your original uniform into our uniform."

"I understand!" Both of them answered with one voice.

After they all left, I picked up the phone on the desk and rang through five regiments. After hearing verol's familiar voice from the receiver, I immediately said to her, "political commissar verol, I'm captain o'shanina. I have something to inform you."

Villol said politely, "Sir, I'm at your command."

"I have just sent the second and third companies of the guard camp to the residential areas. From today on, they will be officially under your command. These two company commanders, you and lieutenant commander Oleg, are Capt. gramus and Capt. Beckman. When they arrive at your regiment, their tasks are: first, to strengthen the technical and tactical level of all the commanders and fighters; second, to train a number of qualified snipers. As long as it is within a reasonable range, you can do everything possible to support them. "

"I see, sir. I'll report this to commander Oleg and send someone out to meet them

After listening to this, I nodded with satisfaction, chatted with her for a few minutes, and then hung up.

When I put down the phone and saw akhromeyev sitting in front of me, I told him what trikov had told me. After hearing this, he sat in his seat and frowned for a while, then said: "Sir, I think we should send out observation posts to the direction of 107.5 highland, and carry walkie talkies, so that we can know the latest situation of highland in time."

"What's your opinion, comrade political commissar?" Although I think akhromeyev's consideration is good, I turned to ask kirilov politely.

"I have no objection." Kirilov made a brief statement of his attitude.

"Well, comrade chief of staff, since that is the case, you should arrange the observation post as soon as possible. As for what communication equipment you need, you'll find lieutenant razumeyeva later. " Seeing that kirilov and akhromeyev had the same attitude, which saved me a lot of trouble, I went on to say, "in addition, take out two of the five German heavy guns captured, and point the muzzle at Highland 107.5. If the German army occupied the highland before our reinforcements arrived, they would be severely bombarded with cannons." A few days ago, when the three regiments and four regiments attacked the highlands from the south, my heart was bleeding. I don't want to make the same mistake again, so I have to take precautions now.

"Who will command these two heavy guns?" Akhromeyev, the chief of staff, is very careful.

"Let the newly promoted second artillery company lieutenant tyakonov take command. In addition, several skilled Gunners were transferred from the third company, but his team was strengthened."

A few hours later, it turned out how right we were to plan ahead. In the evening, the German army suddenly concentrated its forces and launched a fierce attack on the 107.5 highland on the west side of the mamayev post.

Although their tactics are still the same, first with guns, then with tanks to cover the infantry charge. If they use this tactic to fight against mamayev post, I can affirm that they will be beaten to death in front of the highland as they did in the morning, and they will be defeated after losing their troops.

But at the moment, the 125th infantry regiment was seriously weakened. After the German artillery stopped, the German infantry, under the cover of tanks, quickly rushed to our position along the north slope.

According to our observation post, as most of the fortifications on the hillside were flattened by gunfire, some of the remaining friendly commanders and fighters hid behind the stones, some squatted in the newly formed craters, or in the only one or two remaining trenches, shooting at the German infantry.

I went out of the headquarters, picked up my telescope and looked at the friendly highland on the west side. I saw that the fierce shooting continued on the highland, with the explosion of tank shells and grenades in the middle. The high ground was full of fire and explosion.

At this moment, Pugachev, who was called by me, came running breathlessly and asked in a loud voice, "what instructions do you have, sir?" I pointed to the western highland where the battle was raging and said in a loud voice, "Comrade Pugachev, do you see the battle on the highland over there? The Germans are attacking the friendly forces. Your task is to immediately lead a battalion to reinforce highland 107.5. "“ Comrade captain, "kirilov, who didn't know when he came to me, specially added:" the task is clear. You should help the 125th infantry regiment on the highlands to hold the position and block the Germans so that they can't move forward. Do you understand? "“ I see There was a look of embarrassment on Pugachev's face, but he soon returned to normal and answered us loudly, "I promise to finish the task." When Pugachev left, kirilov looked through his telescope at the highland where the battle was going on in the distance, and asked curiously, "Comrade division, didn't you promise the commander to put the third regiment behind the highland so as to reinforce the highland at any time? Why is the second regiment sent out now? " As for his question, I explained to him, "my political commissar, the third regiment is too far away from the highland. When they arrive, it is estimated that the highland has been lost. If the second regiment starts from here, it will arrive in about ten minutes. At that time, the attacking enemy is a little tired. Maybe they will drive the German down with a counter charge. "“ What if the Highlands were lost before they arrived? " Kirilov asked, looking at the distant highlands.