Chapter 685

While we were waiting for guriyev's deputy, regiment level political commissar cherneshov, to arrive, razumeyeva stood up from her telephone, strode up to me, handed me a telegram, and said, "report to division commander, the telegram just sent by group army headquarters."

I received the telegram. Without looking at it, I handed it to akhromeyev and told him, "Comrade chief of staff, please read the contents of the telegram to everyone."

Akhromeyev took the telegram, looked at it, nodded, and then said to us, "division commander, political commissar, it's order 171 just issued by the group army command. The order pointed out the areas that the troops must stick to, and also wrote:

"Commanders of all units should carry out engineering operations with the fastest speed in order to strengthen their positions; It is necessary to build anti tank and anti infantry obstacles in the front and depth, and transform some buildings to make them suitable for street fighting; We should use all the equipment around us to build obstacles and obstacles, and even demolish some houses and tram tracks; Local governments should organize residents to work together.

The main work should be done by our own troops. Work day and night. It should be explained to all the soldiers that the group army is now fighting on the last frontier. We have no way back. The duty of every soldier and commander is to stick to his own bunker and position, and not to retreat! In any case, destroy the enemy! "

Guriyev, who listened to the order with us, asked thoughtfully, "Comrade kirilov, as far as I know, the 107.5 highland on the west side of the mamayev post has become a place repeatedly contested by the enemy and us. Both sides have invested heavily in this area. I want to ask why our army, which is transferred to the army, is sometimes defeated by the enemy if it can't hold on for a day? "

Kirilov thought for a moment, then said earnestly, "Comrade Guriev, it is mainly because our army has never built a solid position on the top of the high slope and on the hillside of the north slope. Under the enemy's heavy artillery fire and the indiscriminate bombardment of aircraft, the commanders and fighters who stick to their positions often suffer heavy casualties. By the time the German troops launch an impact on the Highlands, our troops have lost most of their combat capabilities. "

"So it is. Now I understand." After hearing this, guriyev said confidently, "now that we know the reason why the friendly forces can't hold the position, we will concentrate on building Fortifications on the high ground after our division seizes the position. In this way, the strong fortifications can provide a certain degree of shelter for our commanders and fighters, and reduce the casualties of effective forces in enemy artillery and aircraft support. "

On hearing guriyev talking about building fortifications, akhromeyev couldn't help interrupting and saying, "Comrade General, our division's engineering company is very experienced in building fortifications. Do you think we need to send them to help you?"

Guriyev looked at kirilov and me respectively with a smile on his face. Then he said with ease, "if your teacher and political commissar do not object, I have no opinion."

"I agreed to temporarily transfer the engineering company of the division to the 39th division to help them build fortifications on the high ground." Kirilov first stood up and expressed his support. Then he turned to look at me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, what do you think?"

Instead of answering his question, I said to kirilov, "Comrade chief of staff, call Lieutenant Mikhail yev, commander of the engineering company, and major Morozov, commander of the artillery battalion, and ask them to come to the division headquarters immediately to accept the operational order."

For my command, akhromeyev immediately understood, and immediately called the two commanders who had called me. Guliyev, who was confused, secretly asked kirilov, "Comrade kirilov, do you agree with or refuse your proposal just now?"

Kirilov laughed and said, "Guriev, don't you recognize it? When Comrade division commander asked the chief of staff to call the artillery battalion commander and the engineer company commander, she had already expressed her own attitude. "

After listening to kirilov's explanation, guriyev suddenly realized: "Oh, so it is. I see. I see. " Then he reached out to me to express his gratitude.

During the counterattack of the 39th division of the guards against the 107.5 highland, the commanders and fighters sent by Morozov played the leading role. They carried thunder cannons and blew up the position on the top of the hillside. The German soldiers stuck in the position either took a "native plane" or were killed by the huge explosion wave. The whole counterattack lasted only half an hour, Highland 107.5, once occupied by the German army, was returned to the 39th division of the guards.

Early the next morning, the German army, unwilling to be driven away from the Highlands, launched an attack. First, they used heavy artillery to bombard the 107.5 highland.

Kirilov and I, as well as mihayev, who had returned from the Highlands, were in the bunker at the top of the hillside, observing the friendly positions with binoculars. The bombardment of German tanks and long-range heavy artillery almost turned the whole highland over, and our position was covered with smoke.

Seeing the enemy's heavy shelling, not only did I worry about it, but kirilov, who was full of confidence in his old comrade guriyev, also muttered: "can the soldiers of the close guard division withstand the enemy's heavy shelling?"

Seeing us both worried, Mikhail yev, who was standing beside us, quickly explained to us: "don't worry, sir, political commissar. I don't think the enemy can attack highland 107.5."

After hearing what he said, kirilov and I both put down our binoculars, looked at him and asked curiously, "Comrade lieutenant, why do you have so much confidence in general Guriev?"

Mikhail yev's face showed a relaxed smile, and then said: "according to my observation, general guriyev's troops have a good set of fortifications. The trenches they dug are not only deep enough, but also half moon shaped. The purpose of such repairs is to prevent the explosion of enemy shells and kill a large number of our commanders and fighters. According to the regulations of engineers, the number of soldiers killed by a medium caliber artillery shell of the enemy can not exceed 10 in a class, which means that the length of each trench is generally not more than 20 meters. The killing radius of the air wave produced by such a shell explosion can only be limited within the scope of the trench at this end.

Of course, there are also shelters and gun holes in their trenches. Soldiers can go in to hide when they are ready for the enemy's attack, so as to reduce the casualties of our living forces in the enemy's artillery plane bombing. When the enemy infantry begin to charge, they will come out to prepare for defensive shooting. "

Kirilov, with a relaxed expression on his face after listening to Mikhail's explanation, suddenly asked me, "Comrade oshanina, do you know why vodka is so popular?"

When I heard kirilov say that, I could not help frowning slightly. My heart said that there was a hot fight outside. You still have the heart to ask me if I know why vodka is popular. But kirilov is his partner after all, and I can't turn a face with him for such a trifle, so I can only say vaguely: "I don't know!"

Kirilov didn't care about my attitude. Instead, he said to himself, "it's said that vodka was first made from rye, wheat and spring water by monks in the Kremlin monastery in the late 15th century. Originally, it was used to make disinfectant, but I don't know which monk drank the first mouthful of disinfectant. In the next 500 years, Vodka has become the first "drink" of Russians

It's the first time I've heard of kirilov's allusion. Just when I wanted to ask the truth of the legend, he has already given me the answer I want to know: "this story was told by general Guriev. The monk who drank disinfectant was one of his ancestors, so this story should be true. What's more, you may not know that guriyev used to be a heavy machine gun shooter. When he was fighting, he would run to the trench and seize a heavy machine gun and have a good fight there as long as he drank wine. " When he said that, he stopped for a moment, sighed and said with some worry: "I hope general guriyev will not forget his identity. He is no longer an ordinary heavy machine gun shooter, but a division commander commanding thousands of soldiers. If anything happens to him, the command system of the 39th division of the guards will be in chaos."

Just then, as the German tanks and infantry approached the foot of the hill, the heavy shelling weakened. I saw through the telescope that the two positions on the north slope of the highland had been blown to pieces. The long battlefield was full of flames, and the smoke, mud and stone rose to the sky to block the sun. At the foot of the hill, the German infantry, driven by their commander, quickened their pace and rushed up the hill.

When the enemy was less than 100 meters away from the hillside position, countless dense bullets were suddenly ejected from the broken position, and the German soldiers who rushed in the front faltered, then fell down in pieces. The soldiers in the back quickly fell down on the spot and hid in the crater, fighting back at the position.

After shooting for a while, the troops in the position found that it was difficult to cause any casualties to the German troops hiding in the crater, so they stopped shooting. Then countless grenades flew out of the trench and fell into the crater in front of the position. They blew up the German soldiers hiding in the crater, and after supporting for a short time, they turned around and ran down the mountain.

When the enemy retreated to the foot of the mountain, the tanks stopped below started shelling, covering the infantry to retreat to the rear of the tank line and gather as a whole in order to launch a new attack.

Half an hour later, the German infantry attacked the position of the guard division again. Seeing the German soldiers swarming on the hillside, I couldn't help but say with emotion: "Comrade political commissar, I feel that without air supremacy and sufficient artillery support at present, our army's attack on fortified positions and positional warfare will only backfire and become a war of attrition. Only when guerrilla warfare is carried out in cities that are entangled with the enemy can we develop our strengths and avoid our weaknesses and give full play to our army's advantages. "

Kirilov agreed with me very much. He put down his telescope, nodded and agreed with me positively: "it seems that at the right time, we should suggest to the headquarters that we should try our best to reduce this kind of battlefield warfare that we are blindly fighting for consumption."

The second German attack was soon repulsed by the close guard division's intensive fire. However, they did not retreat far this time. They hid in the crater area about 100 meters away from the position. Because they were far away from our army, our army did not use grenades to teach them a lesson. We could only watch the tanks at the foot of the mountain, firing guns all the time, and accurately destroying the exposed fire points on the hillside.

When the firepower point of the hillside position was almost destroyed, the German officers and men who were repulsed twice by intensive firepower jumped up one after another in the orders of the commanders at all levels and charged again at the defensive position that had been bombed beyond recognition. Up to now, the battle has taken two hours, and both sides have paid a huge price. Although the strength and weaponry of the 39th division were far inferior to those of the German army, with the help of the favorable terrain and the trench dug in advance, they were able to withstand the enemy's attack under the cover of artillery, and kept the enemy's offensive troops 100 meters away from the front of the position. Seeing the fierce fighting between the enemy and us, kirilov was a little impatient. He was so angry that he scolded him. He could not help asking me, "Comrade oshanina, do you want to risk pulling out our heavy howitzers and supporting our friendly forces with artillery fire?" Looking at the high ground where the battle was going on, I slowly shook my head and denied kirilov's proposal: "no, comrade political commissar, absolutely not. It's not that I can't help but that the cruel battle has just begun. If we consume our heavy weapons prematurely, what should we do in the next battle? " Seeing his silent expression, I quickly comforted him and said, "political commissar, don't worry, you don't see that the soldiers of the close guard division are fighting very well. For two hours, the enemy didn't break through their positions on the hillside." When I said that, kirilov's eyes lit up and said excitedly, "Comrade oshanina, you are right. You are absolutely right! I know guriyev. He is not a simple man. I believe that with the fighting capacity of his troops, it is not a problem to keep this high ground. What's more, the main force of the guard division is still deployed in the Soviet street behind the Highlands, and it has not been put into combat at all. " As kirilov spoke with excitement, the telephone on the table rang. Mihayev picked up the phone and said a few words. Then he handed it to me. At the same time, he said respectfully, "Comrade division chief, it's the chief of staff."“ Hello, chief of staff? " After I received the phone, I asked in a loud voice to the microphone, "what's the matter with you calling at this time?"“ That's right, comrade teacher. " Akhromeyev replied in a loud voice: "we have just received a telegram from the headquarters of the group army."“ What does the telegram from the headquarters of the group army say? " Akhromeyev said respectfully on the phone: "the telegram is for the 39th guard division, not for us. Since the headquarters had been unable to contact the 39th division, they sent a telegram to our division, ordering us to immediately transfer the telegram to general guriyev, division commander of the division. "“ What did the telegram say? " Although it was a telegram that we were asked to forward, I was still very interested in the contents of the telegram, so I couldn't recognize it and asked one more question“ The headquarters said that the enemy troops had broken through our army's defense from the gully and were rushing towards the city. He ordered the 39th division of the guards to immediately dispatch elite troops to intercept and destroy the enemy. "“ Gully, what gully? " I asked inexplicably“ Gully, I know Kirilov came up to me and explained, "between the" Red October "factory and the" barricade "factory, there is a gully extending westward from the Volga River. The gully is filled with furnace ash for many years. Because of the dangerous terrain, we don't have many troops deployed here. If the enemy rushes through here, he will soon be able to join his forces in the city and achieve the goal of dividing, encircling and even destroying our army. " Before kirilov finished speaking, I said anxiously to akhromeyev through the microphone, "Comrade chief of staff, since it's an urgent order, you should send someone immediately to send the telegram to general Guriev. In order to speed up, you let the soldier who sent the order ride a motorcycle. Speed must be fast, otherwise it will be too late. " I was worried that there might be new orders from the headquarters of the group army, so I hurried back to the headquarters with kirilov and mihayev. I didn't expect that my judgment was really right. The group army headquarters then sent us a series of telegrams, all of which were sent to the 39th division of the guards.