The German long-range artillery used large caliber heavy guns, and there was no interval between the explosions. The shells that landed on the open ground continued to explode one by one, and the commanders and fighters of the two companies were engulfed by the fire and smoke in an instant. Although I can't see the specific situation inside, I know in my heart that the commanders and fighters of these two companies are finished.
It seems that the German army stormed the 107.5 highland and let go of the mamayev post. As expected, there was a big conspiracy. At least the open space in the middle of 107.5 is within the coverage of German heavy artillery fire. Maybe their artillery observers are hiding in the armored personnel carriers in the distance. As soon as they find our troops out, they immediately call for artillery coverage.
However, on the 107.5 highland, the enemy's firepower weakened because the tanks at the foot of the mountain were destroyed by our division's anti tank artillery fire one after another. The German infantry who rushed up were beaten down by our brave soldiers.
I saw through the telescope that a political worker took the lead in jumping out of the trench and chasing the fleeing enemy. After running a few steps, he threw several grenades into the enemy's line one after another. Then he took the submachine gun in his hand and fired for a while before continuing to rush forward. However, he didn't run far before he was hit by the machine gun on the German tank. As soon as he threw the weapon in his hand, his hands were raised high, and his whole body was leaning back. With inertia, he walked forward a few steps and then fell to the ground. Although he fell down, the soldiers beside him still rushed up bravely, until they got close to the enemy's tank and were hit by the machine gun above. They fell down in pieces, and the blood flowing out dyed the hot land red.
The German artillery also turned its fire from the open field to the anti tank artillery position of our division. I heard the roar of shells in the air and saw the shells exploding around the gun position continuously. I rushed to the phone in a hurry, heard Morozov's voice, and told him in a loud voice: "Comrade captain, I order you to immediately ask all the Gunners to withdraw for me. We don't want those anti tank guns."
But my order was obviously a little late, and a shell landed in the middle of the artillery position“ Boom In the light of the fire, the parts of the cannon and the remains of the gunner were blown up all over the sky.
Seeing that our artillery position was destroyed by the enemy's artillery fire, my heart jumped up violently, and I scolded in my heart: this damned German guy actually killed nearly 20 of my well-trained artillery in one go. But when the smoke dispersed, I still held a fluke in my heart and opened my eyes to search for the survivors.
After watching for a long time, except for a few relatively complete bodies beside the smoldering crater, there was no moving figure at all. Kirilov was so excited that his lips trembled violently: "our artillery, that's it, that's it?"
Although kirilov has just made his own decision to let two companies of the third regiment die in vain, in my mind, it is far less than the life and death of these twenty artillery soldiers, which worries me. I went to the table, picked up the phone, took a deep breath, waited for my mood to stabilize, and then told Morozov: "Comrade captain, send some people to check to see if there are any survivors in the artillery position."
At this time, the German army's attack on Highland 107.5 began again. Judging from their offensive posture, they would never withdraw without winning this highland. Due to the fact that the defenders consumed too much troops in the just counter charge, they were a little weak in the face of the fierce German attack and were forced to retreat to the position on the top of the hillside.
"Comrade o'shanina, if we continue to fight like this, all the people in the 39th regiment will die." Seeing that the friendly highlands were in danger, kirilov became more and more nervous. If all the troops he had just sent had not been destroyed, he would have sent all the three regiments to reinforce. He looked at my face and cautiously suggested, "do you think we should take another risk and draw a battalion from the third regiment to reinforce?"
I turned to look at him, turned my attention to the dormitory area behind, and said to myself that if I had let the third regiment stay there, I would not be so tangled as I am now. With a phone call, gordonov would know to send troops out of the dormitory area to reinforce the friendly troops on the high ground. As soon as our troops appear on the open ground, they will be covered by German artillery, but we can't just watch the friendly troops lose their positions and stand by.
Is hesitating, the dormitory area actually ran out of an army. When I saw this army of four or five hundred people, I thought I was dazzled. I quickly put down my telescope, rubbed my eyes, and continued to look. I found that there was really a detachment rushing to the high ground.
I quickly touched kirilov with my elbow and reminded him, "Comrade political commissar, come and see, how can another army come out of the dormitory?"
Kirilov looked at it and said strangely, "what the hell, how come there are troops coming out of the dormitory area? I remember last night Colonel Yelin said that his regiment had only three battalions with one guard company. But so far, there are five battalions in this newly emerged army. What's the matter? "
Before we know which part of the army suddenly emerged, the German army had rushed into the trench on the top of the hillside and started a white-edged battle with the defenders inside. When the two sides were fighting inextricably, the new forces came to the top of the hillside, joined the regiment, and defeated the German army in the shortest time.
Kirilov called akhromeyev, who was staying in the division headquarters, and said, "chief of staff, please check with the headquarters of the group army. Are there any other friendly forces other than the 39th regiment of the close guard who are holding on to the 107.5 highland?" At this point, kirilov stopped for a moment, and then I heard him say, "OK, chief of staff, call me when you know the specific situation."
As soon as kirilov put down the phone and was about to speak to me, the telephone on the desk rang suddenly. Hearing the ringing of the telephone, I still praise akhromeyev in my heart for his high efficiency in getting the information we want to know so quickly.
Kirilov picked up the receiver with a smile and said in a loud voice, "Comrade chief of staff, your efficiency is very high. You can find out everything in less than a minute." The other side didn't know what to say, and the expression on his face became serious. He said in a low voice, "OK, I know."
He put down the phone, went back to me, and reported to me: "Captain Morozov, the artillery battalion commander, called and said that after his subordinates searched the artillery positions, they found only one seriously wounded person who was knocked unconscious by the shells, and the other 20 or so Gunners were all killed."
When I got the exact news from kirilov that more than 20 Gunners had died, my heart was dripping with blood. In the present defensive battle, the role played by more than twenty Gunners is greater than that of an infantry battalion. If our Gunners had not decisively destroyed more than ten German tanks, the highland might have been lost by now.
When the phone on the desk rang again, I went to answer it. When I heard akhromeyev's voice coming from the receiver, I immediately asked, "chief of staff, have you found out which army is stationed in the family dormitory area of the state consumer cooperative association?"
"Report division commander, the 42nd infantry brigade under the command of Colonel batrakov, who crossed the river last night with two other battalions of the 39th regiment of the guards. After landing, he received an order from the headquarters and was transferred to the family dormitory area of the state consumer cooperative association to be stationed as the reserve of the 39th regiment of the guards. "
After hearing akhromeyev's explanation, I understood why there were troops coming out of the dormitory area. It turned out that there was an infantry brigade who had just crossed the river. I then asked, "I heard fierce gunfire coming from the city. What's the situation?"
Akhromeyev sighed at first, and then said, "Comrade division commander, the current situation in the city is very unfavorable to our army. According to the battle report provided by the headquarters, in the central direction of our group army, the 295th, 71st and 76th infantry divisions of the German army, under the cover of tanks, launched attacks on the central railway station and highland 107.5. On the left, the 24th and 14th German tank divisions and the 94th Infantry Division launched attacks on the outskirts of minning and kuporosnoye, and are engaged in fierce fighting with the 70th guard division of Colonel lyudnikov. The right wing is relatively quiet. Except for a small number of stragglers, no organized German troops have been found. "
"What's the situation of the 13th division of Jinwei?" I haven't heard any more about him since I saw him last night. I haven't even got his orders. He seems to evaporate suddenly. However, thinking that he was my new superior, I asked akhromeyev vaguely.
Akhromeyev had guessed that I would ask about rodimzev for a long time, so he did his homework early. When he heard my question, he did not hesitate to report to me: "the 42nd Regiment under the command of general rodimzev stormed into the central railway station occupied by the German army, but before they got a firm foothold, they were beaten out by the German counterattack forces. At present, the 42nd regiment has launched a new attack on the station.
Under the cover of our army's heavy tanks, the 34th regiment of Jinwei, together with the group army's combat team, launched an attack on the German army which was stationed in the expert building. Although they once entered the building, due to their lack of experience in street fighting, their attack did not work and they were forced to withdraw from the expert building. "
I went back to kirilov and repeated to him the information that akhromeyev had told me. After introducing the current situation of the enemy and ourselves inside and outside the city, I hesitated for a long time. Finally, I summoned up courage and said to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, I have an idea. I don't know if you would like to listen to it?"
"Go ahead, comrade oshanina. I'm listening."
"Remember what I told you about the breakout of the Volga?"
Kirilov, hearing what I said, shivered involuntarily and turned to look at the door. Seeing that several guards and soldiers were standing a few steps away from the door and could not hear our conversation, kirilov secretly breathed a sigh of relief, lowered his voice and said to me, "my God, comrade division, didn't I specially remind you, Why do you still have such a ridiculous idea in your mind? "
Pointing to the high ground where the battle was going on, I said to kirilov earnestly: "Comrade political commissar, we have been standing here all morning. We are our commanders and fighters, fighting against the enemy's planes, tanks and artillery with our flesh and blood. In just a few hours, more than a thousand living lives have been left on the opposite highland and integrated with the earth. "
Kirilov nodded and said with approval, "I see that the officers and men of the 39th guard regiment and the 42nd infantry brigade are fighting bravely." At this point, he frowned and asked, "does this have anything to do with what you want to say?"
"Yes, comrade political commissar, I'll tell you what happened next?" I pointed to the open field in front of the mamayev post and explained my idea to him: "if the German infantry, under the cover of tanks, pounce on our position, the Volga river suddenly bursts, the turbulent river flows in from the gap, and the future enemies are submerged in the torrential flood. In this way, we can not reduce a lot of casualties?" When I finished, kirilov asked tentatively, "do you ask me if the Volga River will flood Stalingrad because of this idea?"“ Well, comrade political commissar. " I answered positively, "my method of fighting is to replace soldiers with water. In this way, such a bitter battle on Highland 107.5 can be completely avoided." Kirilov obviously still couldn't accept this idea. He shook his head and said, "no, absolutely not. Comrade o'shanina, although your starting point is good, it's incredible. I think even if you report this plan to the headquarters of the group army, it won't be approved. " Kirilov's words are very reasonable. If I go directly to put forward my idea to trikov, he will not hesitate to reject it. So I have to persuade kirilov to help me beat the drum. This plan is still possible. So I said to him politely, "Comrade political commissar, in your opinion, according to today's playing style, how many troops do we need to defend the 107.5 highland?" Kirilov looked at the high ground in the fierce battle, sighed a long time, and said: "in this way, at least one regiment's strength is consumed every day to ensure that the position is still controlled by our army. But, "he said hesitantly, turning the subject around," even if your superior agrees with your plan, how are you going to blow up the dam of the Volga River? " The method of replacing soldiers with water has existed in my mind for a long time. At the moment, kirilov's tone is a little loose, so I hastened to say what I think: "I plan to find a weak place in front of mamayev post, 500 meters away, and blow it up with explosives." After hearing this, kirilov waved his hand and directly denied my plan: "Comrade oshanina, you think too simply. The thickness of this section of the river bank is up to 30 meters. If you want to open a gap wide enough, it is impossible without more than ten tons of explosives. Think about it. How big will the target be if you want to place more than ten tons of explosives? The Germans are not blind. They won't find out so much about us. Well, I advise you to give up the plan. " Kirilov's cold water calmed me down. Looking at the running Volga River, I can't help but sigh. Maybe kirilov is right. My plan is just like the Golan trench I once wanted to dig. It's just an unrealistic fantasy. The battle went on, and in the evening it came to an end. The German army left hundreds of corpses and nearly twenty destroyed tanks on the high ground and retreated to the distance. However, the front of the mamayev post was still calm. There was no artillery bombardment, no German offensive troops, and no idea what the German commander wanted to do. The two of us went back to the headquarters and called the heads of the regiments to raise their vigilance and prevent the German army from launching a sudden attack when we relaxed our vigilance. After dinner, kirilov suddenly became interested in my plan of replacing soldiers with water. He asked me in a low voice, "Comrade division, tell me more about your bold plan." After that, he waved to akhromeyev, who was waiting to receive the telegram at the side of the telephone, signaling him to come and listen together. Akhromeyev came over and asked curiously, "what are you discussing, teacher and commissar?" Without waiting for my reply, kirilov said, "Comrade chief of staff, the division commander has a bold plan to restrain the German fortifications in the north of the city. Please sit down and listen."“ Really? " After listening to what the political commissar said, akhromeyev quickly sat down, looked at me with his eyes, and couldn't wait to say, "Mr. division, please tell us about this bold plan. From what I know about you, if your plan is implemented, it will have an unexpected effect. " I just gave a faint smile to the high hat that akhromeyev gave me, and then I whispered to akhromeyev about the plan of replacing soldiers with water. After hearing this, akhromeyev frowned and thought for a moment, then asked in a low voice, "Comrade teacher, if we implement this plan, what are our advantages?" Although I see little hope of realizing this plan, since akhromeyev asked about it, I patiently explained to him: "from the military point of view, opening the dam of the Volga River has a certain effect: first, it forms an insurmountable natural danger, so as to prevent the German army from attacking the north of the City and ensure the safety of the wharf; Second, replacing soldiers with water directly eliminated the German troops who launched attacks on mamayevgang and 107.5 highlands. "