Chapter 670

When I put down the phone, I saw akhromeyev talking to Yituan on the telephone, while kirilov was looking through the telegrams in his hand. He was not in a hurry to ask me why I gave an inexplicable order to the fourth regiment.

Akhromeyev was obviously not as calm as kirilov. After finishing his call with lieutenant commander xiejerikov of the first regiment, he quickly returned to the table and asked me, "Sir, may I ask why you suddenly gave such an order to commander Gaidar?"

Kirilov, who was reading the telegram, raised his head, looked at ahlomeyev, gave a slight smile, and then said in a light way: "I said, comrade chief of staff, you haven't been dealing with the division commander for one or two days. Don't you know that some fantastic ideas often come out of her mind? If I'm not wrong, what do you think of the German tanks she gave me this order

After listening to kirilov's words, akhromeyev was more eager to know the answer. He repeatedly asked, "is that so, sir?"

Instead of answering his question, I lowered my head and asked kirilov: "Comrade political commissar, when I was in the 64th group army, I once met a battlefield repair station sent by Stalingrad, which was dedicated to repairing our army's damaged weapons and equipment, and also brought back some German tanks or armored vehicles. Do you know that there is such a battlefield repair station near us? "

When kirilov heard my question, he frowned and thought about it. Then he shook his head and said, "when I was working in the Political Department of the group army, I heard that the headquarters of the front army had sent several battlefield repair stations. However, as the campaign progressed, some of these repair stations were destroyed by the enemy on the battlefield, and those who survived have retreated to the East Bank of the Volga River with the headquarters of the front army. " At this point, his eyebrows jerked up. "Do you want them to repair these German tanks? It's impossible. It's absolutely impossible. "

"Comrade political commissar, why should we say that it is impossible?" His words confused me. After a moment's stupefaction, I asked.

"Sir, I understand what the commissar means." Without waiting for kirilov to speak, akhromeyev explained to me first: "those tanks in the open field were destroyed in the battle. I have personally checked that due to the fierce combustion and explosion, all the parts inside the tanks melted and sintered into pieces, which could not be repaired except dragged out and returned to the furnace. "

Kirilov and other akhromeyev spoke and then added: "the chief of staff is right. When you went to the headquarters two days ago, I had a talk with captain trushen, the commander of the militia battalion from the Red October factory. I wanted them to pick out some repairable tanks from the wreckage of those tanks and let the technicians in their factory try to repair them. Even if it can't be used to charge, it's OK to stay where you are. But after captain trushen sent his soldiers to check, he came back and reported that all the tanks had been reimbursed, and there was no possibility of repair, so I had to give up this plan. "

The reason why I have just given such an order to Gaidar is that I really want to repair some tanks and stay at the foot of the mountain as a fixed fort. After hearing kirilov and akhromeyev's words, I know that this plan is in vain. But there are so many tank wrecks at the foot of the mountain, even if they can't be repaired as fixed fort, they should also be used as waste. Thinking of this, I pretended to be surprised and said, "political commissar and chief of staff, I want to repair the tank and use it as a fixed fort. Who did you two listen to? It's just bullshit. "

Both of them were stunned by what I said. After a while kirilov hesitated and said, "Comrade oshanina, didn't you just ask me about the battlefield repair station? Don't you want them to repair the tanks at the foot of the mountain? "

Seeing that I had the initiative in silence, I couldn't help but feel proud. But I still tried to smile, pretending to be serious, and said, "I asked the battlefield repair station, but I just want them to return these tankers to the furnace, and the steel can produce more new tanks for our army."

After listening, they looked at each other, and then their faces showed the same expression.

I coughed softly, and then said, "there are dozens of German tanks at the foot of the mountain. Although they can't be repaired, and they can't be towed to the factory to return to the furnace in a short time, we still have to find a way to make use of the waste."

"How to use it?" In order to avoid embarrassment, this time akhromeyev was asking questions, while kirilov kept silent, but his eyes were fixed on me, waiting for my final answer.

"I'm going to let lieutenant colonel gedar send soldiers into the tanks and use the machine guns on the turrets to perforate, turning the remains of these tanks into fire points. In addition, we should not only arrange manpower in the tank, but also set fire points at the bottom of the tank. We should push forward our defensive positions as far as possible and try to keep the enemy's offensive forces away from the mamayev post. "

"It's a good idea, I agree!" After listening to my ideas, kirilov first expressed his support.

Akhromeyev, not to be outdone, went on to express his point of view: "the idea of the division commander is good. In the face of the enemy's massive attack, we can form intensive cross fire at the firepower points on the turret and at the bottom of the tank, giving the enemy heavy damage. As for the enemy, if they don't have anti tank weapons, it's really not easy for them to destroy our firepower points. "

Seeing that akhromeyev had understood my intention and that he was still standing in the same place and wanted to say something, he urged him: "now that you have understood, what are you still doing? Call Gaidar and tell him my plan. Remember, the number of people at the foot of the mountain should not exceed one company. If the formation is too dense, the casualties will be very heavy under the attack of the enemy's artillery. "

Akhromeyev agreed, picked up the phone on the table, dialed the fourth regiment, and conveyed my order to Gaidar.

After he finished the call, I was free to ask him, "chief of staff, when you just talked to the first regiment on the phone, did lieutenant commander Sergey kirikov say how they were preparing?"

After hearing my question, akhromeyev immediately became interested, sat down at the table and reported to us, "Lieutenant Commander xiejerikov said that he has selected 30 elite soldiers from the remaining commanders and fighters of the regiment. The commander is political commissar oberstein of the regiment, and the other five commanders are from the second lieutenant training team, just like me."

When kirilov heard this, he frowned again, interrupted akhromeyev's words, and said with some dissatisfaction: "chief of staff, what does this shijerikov think? Why does he send such a political worker as oberstein to command the army to carry out such a dangerous task?" When he said this, he stood up abruptly, with a trace of anger in his voice. "Can't we find any other candidates in the regiment? Do we have to let a political commissar engaged in political and ideological work take up the post similar to the leader of the death squads?"

I didn't say anything. I just turned my eyes to akhromeyev. I believe that he will give an answer to kirilov's satisfaction. After a moment's silence, akhromeyev said solemnly: "originally, commander xiejerikov arranged someone else for the night attack tonight, but the political commissar of oberstein had to take the command post. Comrade xiejerikov couldn't compete with him, so he had to agree." When he said this, he also involuntarily accentuated his tone, "political commissar, although I haven't been with Comrade oberstein for a long time, I think he is an excellent commander who knows the art of command. I believe that under his command, we can achieve a lot in our mission tonight."

After akhromeyev's words, kirilov was still silent. I lost no time to say, "well, since it's comrade oberstein's request, we should give him a stage to show his military talents." When I said this, I stopped intentionally. Seeing that they didn't cut in, I went on to say, "judging from the performance of a regiment on the northern highland some time ago, I think the political commissar of the regiment is not simple. He doesn't only know how to talk, but he can really fight. You didn't see the enemy break through our position so many times, but soon they were hit by the counterattack of a regiment and rolled down the high ground. Although shejerikov is the top military officer of the regiment, he has always been the political commissar of oberstein who commands the battle in the front. "

I raised my hands, pressed them down, and motioned them to sit down. After they were all seated, I turned and asked akhromeyev, "chief of staff, has chejerikov reported the marching route of the night attack detachment?"

"Yes," said akhromeyev, pushing the map to kirilov and me, pointing to the Volga river beside the highland with a pencil, and moving slowly, he said, "according to the plan of political commissar oberstein, after dark, the team will board two small wooden boats on the river and go down the river, two or three kilometers away from the enemy camp, Abandon the ship and land again. In this way, it will not be found by the enemy's latent scouts, but also can speed up the March and save the soldiers' physical strength. "

Kirilov obviously agreed with the plan put forward by the first regiment, and waved his hand: "well, since the first regiment has made a careful deployment, we should carry out it according to their plan."

In the evening, Gaidar, who was on the high ground in front of him, called and reported to me: "Sir, after the German corpse collection team had collected all the corpses, they had left our position and returned to their camp."

"Have I sent my troops to the foot of the mountain for deployment?"

Gaidar hesitated for a moment, hesitated to say: "report to the division, now it's starting to rain outside. If the soldiers are allowed to go at this time, they will have to work in the rain."

I didn't take up his fault. Instead, I asked, "commander gedar, do you want your soldiers to be covered with mud, or do you want them to be blown to pieces under the enemy's fire?"

Hearing what I said, Gaidar understood that there was no room for bargaining in the order I gave him. He quickly said, "I understand. I'll send the soldiers into the position immediately."

Seeing me put down the phone, kirilov looked up and asked, "is it raining outside?" Seeing that I nodded my head in affirmation, he could not help worrying about the officers and men of the regiment who were about to leave. "If it rains so heavily, I don't know whether the actions of political commissar oberstein and their troops will be affected."

"There will certainly be some influence," akhromeyev said disapprovingly when he heard kirilov's worry. "But if it rains heavily, it will affect the vision of the enemy's sentinels and hidden outposts, and it will be conducive to the actions of political commissar oberstein."

After kirilov heard this, he sighed: "Alas! I hope so! "

I just sat down and wanted to say something when the phone on the desk rang. I thought it was one of my subordinates, so I picked up the phone and said lazily, "Hello, this is colonel o'shanina. Where are you?"“ I'm trekov From the receiver came trakov's stern voice. I quickly jumped up from my seat, straightened up and said respectfully to the microphone, "Hello, comrade commander, what's your instruction?"“ I have already reported the plan you mentioned to me to the commander of the front army, general yelomienko, and the military commissar, comrade Khrushchev. " When I heard that the plan had been reported to the commander at a higher level, my heart beat fast. I asked with a little guilty heart: "Comrade commander, I don't know what the response of the front army headquarters after hearing the plan?" After asking this, I have already given the answer in my heart. Yeliao Menko must have scolded me, said that I was mischievous, and even threatened to send me to the military court. But trekov's answer was far beyond my expectation: "after studying, comrade yelomienko and Khrushchev informed me that they were unable to decide this matter, and they had to ask the Supreme Command..." when I heard the word "supreme command", I would have been scared to sit on the ground if it wasn't for the hand that didn't hold the microphone holding the table. Rao is so. I still feel my legs are soft and my scalp is numb. I quickly took two deep breaths and summoned up the courage to ask trekov, "commander, what kind of decision do you think the supreme command will make after knowing this?" After gathering up the courage to finish these two sentences, I couldn't help but look at kirilov and akhromeyev sitting next to me. Kirilov was surprised to hear that the supreme command was mentioned from my mouth. His eyes seemed to say that the plan had been reported to the supreme command. Akhromeyev's eyes were closed and the corners of his mouth were shaking violently. It seemed that the words I said scared him“ Comrade Khrushchev, a military commissar, said that after listening to the plan, comrade Stalin said nothing and hung up directly. At that time, he thought that when the Supreme Commander himself heard the news, he hung up because he was angry, so he did not dare to call back. I didn't expect that half an hour later, the Supreme Commander himself took the initiative to call and said that he had to consider the plan. " Although trikov answered my question only a few seconds later. But for me, these seconds are as long as hours. So nervous that trekov put down the phone for a long time, I haven't found out. It wasn't until kirilov took the phone from me that I heard a busy tone coming from the receiver. I sat at the table for a long time before I got over it. Then they repeated what trekov had just said on the phone. Finally, they said with emotion, "I didn't expect that even the Supreme Commander himself knew about my plan of" replacing soldiers with water. ". What's more, he didn't get angry when he learned about the plan. You know, once the Volga River breaks its banks, the city named after him may become a vast ocean“ Sir, do you think it is possible for the supreme command to approve this plan? " Asked akhromeyev. I shook my head slowly and replied without confidence: "I don't know, because so far, not to mention me, even commander trekov, even general yelimenko of the front army headquarters, don't know what kind of decision the Supreme Commander himself will make." Kirilov lit a cigarette, took a hard puff and said, "I estimate that before deciding whether to implement the plan, comrade Stalin will find a group of experts to verify it repeatedly and make sure that the levee breaking operation will not cause any harm to the city. Only after that can he make up his mind." A regiment of night Raiders set out at about seven o'clock, taking advantage of the heavy rain. In order to facilitate contact, I specially asked them to carry a walkie talkie so as to keep abreast of their progress. After the night attack team set out, I could no longer sit in the headquarters, walking back and forth in the room. Under my influence, kirilov and akhromeyev are also anxious. One is constantly writing and drawing on paper, the other is performing his duties as chief of staff, calling each regiment to count the results of the day. At eight o'clock, I stopped and said to kirilov, "come on, comrade political commissar, let's go to the observation post on the top of the hillside. If you're lucky, you may be able to see the news of the night attack team. " Then I turned to akhromeyev and said, "chief of staff, the division headquarters will be handed over to you. If there is anything, you can handle it according to the situation." I went out of the cave and saw the rain outside. I didn't know when it had stopped. The two of us, with some soldiers from the guard camp, walked along the trench to the top of the hill. Because of the rain, there was a lot of water in the trench, and my boots kept ringing when I stepped on them. When I heard that I was walking and making such a big noise, I could not help but worry about the night attack team. I was worried that their footsteps were too loud when they were in action, and they would be found by the enemy, leading to the failure of the operation.