Chapter 662

The phone call was from general rojmzev, commander of the 13th division of the guards. When I heard akhromeyev talking about his name, I was stunned for a while. Then I remembered that according to the order of the group army command, all the troops in the north of Stalingrad, including the independent division, were under the command of this general.

I quickly took the phone from akhromeyev's hand, put it in my ear and said respectfully to my new superior, "Hello, Comrade General."

"Hello, comrade oshanina." After a simple polite remark, rodimzev asked frankly, "I'm calling you because I got a report from the observation post that there was a huge explosion coming from the direction of the high ground of mamayev post, and I also saw the fire rushing into the sky. What's the matter? Is it the enemy attacking your position at night? "

"No, Comrade General." I quickly explained to him, "it's not the enemy who is attacking, but we are organizing our troops to fight back and prepare to take back all the positions lost during the day."

"What's the matter with the fire and the loud explosion? Did the enemy use heavy artillery on you?"

I can't help hesitating when I heard about rodimzev. After all, no one knows about the thunderguns except the commanders and fighters of our division and the leaders of the group army headquarters. I don't know if it's a leak if I tell rodymzev. After much hesitation, I decided to hide the real situation and replied vaguely: "report to the general, it's our soldiers who are using explosives to blast the enemy's fortifications. At present, the first, third and second regiments of the independent division are counterattacking against the German troops who occupied our military positions. "

Maybe it's because the interval speed of the thunder guns is relatively long, so my lie actually put rodim Zeff off. After he asked a few more questions, I suddenly thought of the phone call from Krylov before dark, saying that the enemy had captured the 107.5 highland and rushed into the Soviet street again, so I couldn't help but ask curiously, "Comrade General, what's the situation of the 42nd regiment of the guards?"

Rodimzev heard my question, sighed heavily, and then said with regret, "Alas, the Soviet street and dormitory area have been completely occupied by the German army, and the remnants of the 42nd regiment have all retreated into the city. Originally, the division headquarters planned to launch a counterattack at 1:00 a.m., so I'm calling you. I hope you can send troops to attack the enemy back and forth together with our counterattack forces. We should not only drive the enemy out of the Soviet street, but also try to recover the 107.5 highland. I didn't expect that you put all three regiments into battle. It seems that in the counterattack tonight, I can only extract the 39th regiment from the fighting area and help the 42nd regiment recover its position. "

When I heard what rodymzev said, I was relieved to think that if the troops were not arranged to fight back in advance, I would have to pull out the third regiment to cooperate with the 42nd regiment. I'm not at all at ease in handing over the third regiment to the commander of the 42nd regiment. You should know that when the three regiments were guarding the 107.5 highland alone, although the casualties were not small, they were able to hold the position. If other troops were replaced, they would not be able to hold their positions even if they were expended quickly. Therefore, I am not willing to let others command my three regiments with stronger combat effectiveness.

As soon as I put down the phone, I didn't know when to run to the telegraph. The fat akhromeyev suddenly blushed and reported to me, "the report division commander, the political commissar, and the commander of the first regiment, Sergeant shijerikov, have reported that they have recovered all the surface positions in the northern Highlands."

"Pa!" After hearing akhromeyev's victory report, kirilov slapped his first hand on the table with a happy look on his face. Looking at me, his eyes were filled with joy. He said excitedly, "Comrade division commander, it's so good that the lost position has been taken back, so that we can give an account to the headquarters of the group army."

I raised my hand and looked at my watch without expression. It was only eight minutes before the thunder guns stopped firing and the infantry began to attack. It's a little too fast to annihilate the enemy in eight minutes. You know, akhromeyev and I have just analyzed that the battle can't end in an hour.

Thinking of this, I coldly told akhromeyev: "chief of staff, contact lieutenant colonel shejerikov again and confirm to him whether the German army has been completely annihilated by our army?"

Akhromeyev didn't follow my orders to contact the first regiment, but explained to me, "Comrade division, you are right. Sergeant shejerikov reported that when the thunder guns stopped firing and the officers and men of the first and third regiments rushed out of the passage, they found that all the German soldiers in the position were dead. "

"All dead?" Kirilov asked in disbelief, "is there no one alive?"

Akhromeyev nodded and said with certainty, "no, Lieutenant Colonel shijerikov said. The commanders and fighters have carefully checked the position. All the German troops on the position are dead. Maybe our thunder guns are too powerful. Most of the dead German soldiers have no scars, like they were killed by the blast wave. "

Although akhromeyev's words are solid, I dare not take them lightly. I am deeply afraid that if there is any information error, I will report it to the headquarters of the group army in a hurry. If there is any problem at that time, I can't get rid of it.

I went up to razumeyeva and asked her, "can I get in touch with major Morozov of the artillery battalion?"

Razumeyeva nodded and said, "yes, sir. Major Morozov should be carrying a walkie talkie. I'll contact him right now. Please wait a moment

Originally, I wanted to stay by the side of razumeyeva. When she got through to Morozov, I could talk to each other immediately to learn about the situation on the battlefield. Unexpectedly, the phone on the table rang again without waiting to get in touch with the artillery battalion. Kirilov, who was closest to the phone, picked up the phone and said, "I'm kirilov."

Seeing another phone call coming in, I couldn't sit still any longer. I hurried to kirilov, stood beside him and listened to him talking to the people on the phone.

Pugachev's voice came from Luyin's receiver: "Comrade political commissar, Captain horushov, a battalion commander who participated in the counterattack, made a report. They have joined forces with the troops of the first and third regiments and have successfully recovered the surface positions of the northern highlands. "

"Great, that's great!" Kirilov was excited when he heard that the war report was confirmed. He said excitedly to the microphone: "Comrade major, I congratulate you. Due to the tenacious fighting of your troops, you completely annihilated the enemy on the high ground, recaptured the position, and let the mamayev post return to our army. I knew that you and the officers and men of the second Regiment under your command were... "

When I saw kirilov talking to Pugachev with a smile on his face, I really couldn't help interrupting him and specially reminded him: "Comrade political commissar, you just ordered to shoot three commanders of the second regiment in the afternoon, now you boast again." I was just going to take the phone from him and ask Pugachev what happened to the fight tonight and why it ended so soon.

As soon as I raised my hand, before I could speak, razumeyeva in the distance began to call me: "Sir, I'm connected with major Morozov of the artillery battalion. The major is waiting for you on the line

When I heard Morozov's voice in the earphone, I asked directly, "Comrade major, is the battle over?"

"Yes, sir." Morozov replied cleanly, and then explained to me further: "but the mortar company did not take part in the battle, and the infantry did not encounter any resistance from the enemy when they charged to the high ground. So they rushed up to the top of the hill and joined up with the third regiment that came out of the tunnel. "

"Why I have seen the power of the thunderguns with my own eyes, but every time when the troops rush up the hillside after using them, many surviving German soldiers will still climb out of the collapsed fortifications or the empty soil to fight with our soldiers. How come today's counterattack, without any resistance, the infantry successfully recovered their positions. It's incredible.

"Yes, sir. After occupying the Highlands, the German army rushed to repair some fortifications facing the south slope in an attempt to suppress fire while our army was charging. However, they didn't expect that our thunder guns were so powerful. After five successive waves of firing, the fortifications of the enemy were bombed, and all the enemies inside were reimbursed. So it's not surprising that their defense lines collapsed. "

"I see. Since our position has been recovered, you should bring the mortar back as soon as possible. You are the only heavy firepower in the division, but you must not lose anything. "

At the end of the phone call with Pugachev, I told akhromeyev: "chief of staff, call the headquarters of the group army immediately and report the victory to them, saying that our division has completely annihilated the German troops occupying the northern highlands and successfully recovered the position."

Akhromeyev, who first learned that the position had been recaptured, did not immediately carry out my order, but stood in a daze. He hesitated and said, "Comrade division, I think it's a bit too mysterious. Our troops have recovered the Highlands in eight minutes, but they haven't lost anything. Do you think the commander at the higher level will believe such a report? "

Kirilov and I hesitated at akhromeyev's reminder. After a while, kirilov said to me cautiously, "Comrade oshanina, why don't we wait a little longer and report to the headquarters after we receive more accurate war reports?"

Under the circumstances of repeated defeats of various troops, it is incredible that a counterattack organized by us successfully recovered the lost positions in just eight minutes without any casualties. To tell you the truth, I'm still skeptical about the results reported by the three of them. If we can't help but report such results to the headquarters of the group army, others will not take such reports as a fantasy?!

After thinking about it, I turned to razumeyeva, who was beside the telephone, and said, "Comrade lieutenant, immediately contact Lieutenant sergeant shejerikov and major Godunov, and ask them to report the results of the battle and the losses of the troops."

After giving orders to razumeyeva, I turned my face again, looked at kirilov and akhromeyev and said, "the chief of staff is right. We must be careful about reporting the results to the headquarters of the group army. We will report the detailed results to the headquarters after verification. "

Listen to me, neither of them expressed any objection, but nodded silently.

But thanks to cherekov, they didn't make the three of us wait long, so he telegraphed us the results. Akhromeyev, holding a telegraph, loudly reported to us: "in the battle tonight, our first regiment, second regiment and third regiment destroyed two German companies, killed 429 enemies, and seized two heavy machine guns, 75 submachine guns, 11 pistols and more than 200 rifles. The whole battle lasted eight minutes, and there were no casualties in my troops. "

After hearing this, kirilov said: "Comrade division commander, since the results of the war have been counted out, report it to the headquarters of the group army immediately. It is estimated that chief of staff krailov has been waiting for a long time."

"I don't mind. Chief of staff, you should report the results of this evening to the headquarters immediately. "

After receiving the order, akhromeyev came to razumeyeva with the telegram and handed it to her. At the same time, he said, "Comrade lieutenant, send this war report to the headquarters of the group army immediately."

I saw that razumeyeva had sent the telegram neatly. Originally, she could have a good sleep tonight. She was planning to let kirilov and akhromeyev also hurry to have a rest. Unexpectedly, the telephone on the desk rang untimely.

During this period of time, I have a sense of fear about this telephone ring. Every time I hear the ring, my heart beats faster, and I guess whether it will be some bad news. Kirilov and akhromeyev were also staring at the ringing phone, but no one reached for it.

Trembling, I reached out, grabbed the microphone, stuck it to my ear and asked nervously, "Hello, who is it?"

"Don't shout so loud, Colonel o'shanina. I can hear you." From the receiver came the voice of Krylov.

I was relieved to hear krailov's voice. I just reported the result to him. I think he couldn't restrain his joy and called to congratulate me. I asked in a slow tone, "it's the chief of staff. Hello. Have you received the telegram I sent you? "

But krailov snorted and said, "of course I did. If I didn't, I wouldn't call you."

"..." I was speechless when he said that. If I lost my position, I would be scolded and even threatened to shoot me. Now the position has been taken back, but his tone is still in a bad mood.

"Let me ask you," the whole battle lasted eight minutes, and there were no casualties in my troops. " Is this the original sentence in your telegram? "

Krailov's question made my father-in-law even more confused. He could only honestly reply, "yes, it's true. It's absolutely the original words in the telegram. Chief of staff, do you have any instructions? "

"You wiped out two German companies with more than 400 people, but you didn't get any casualties, and you solved the battle in eight minutes. Do you think the enemy are all idiots? When they see our soldiers rush up, they stand there foolishly and let us hit them as targets, and there is no one to fight back? Colonel o'shanina, I remind you, don't make such false information in order to evade your responsibility. Aren't you really afraid of being sent to the military court? "

"Chief of staff, please listen to my explanation." I have just realized my worries. The results I reported to the headquarters of the group army were really taken as false information by the chief of staff. I gave kirilov a wry smile, and then explained to krailov, "in the counterattack tonight, I sent the 1st battalion and 2nd Battalion of 2nd regiment to hide in the South and east slopes of the highland respectively. At the same time, I ordered the 1st regiment to prepare for the attack. When 2nd regiment attacked the highland, I also attacked from the tunnel in time to cooperate with the counterattack troops to take back the position. In order to reduce the casualties of the troops, I specially ordered the second regiment to launch five waves of thunderguns on the Highlands before launching a charge. I didn't expect that our troops didn't encounter any resistance after they began to charge. After the second regiment and the third regiment of the first regiment joined forces, we found that all the German officers and men who occupied our positions had been destroyed by our thunder guns. This is the whole battle. "

Although I explained to krailov, he still asked in a skeptical tone, "are you telling the truth?"

"Yes, chief of staff. I can assure you that there is absolutely no water in this achievement. " I saw kirilov standing next to me gesticulating at me as if to ask me to give him the phone, so I said to krailov, "Comrade kirilov, the political commissar of the division, is right beside me. Do you need to check with him?" Then I decided to take the microphone away from my ear and give it to kirilov,

To my surprise, Krylov heard kirilov and said in a quick voice, "all right, all right, Colonel o'shanina. Don't ask Comrade Krylov to testify. I believe all the war reports you have reported are true. Is that enough? I'll show your war report to the commander and the comrades of the military commissar immediately to make them happy. "

After putting down the phone, I breathed a sigh of relief and then said to kirilov, "Comrade political commissar, it's really hard to make the chief of staff of the group army believe that the results we reported are true."

Akhromeyev interrupted at this time: "what about the division commander, political commissar and the troops of the second regiment? To stay in the North highland or to withdraw from their original station. " Listening to his question, I quickly said, "Comrade chief of staff, you should come down to the second regiment immediately and ask them to withdraw from the original defense area first. At the same time, contact the first and third regiments to make them rush to repair the fortifications in order to cope with the new round of German offensive after dawn. "