Chapter 715

After the call with trakov, zaharov nodded at me, just took his notebook and walked out of the communication room without saying a word.

As soon as he left, tokaleva, sitting in front of the telephone, asked in a low voice, "Comrade commander, is the situation in the city very bad?"

I know what trakov said just now. She has heard a lot. She still knows something about the situation in the city. The reason why she asked me was to confirm it again.

I nodded and said regretfully, "yes, according to the situation reflected by commander trakov, the situation in the city is very bad. I think that's why he is determined to send all the women soldiers in the army."

"What should we do then?" Tokaleva asked anxiously, "if that's the case, comrade commander, they will be in danger if they don't withdraw. Is there anything we can do to help them? " Although she was worried about trakov's situation, she tried to keep her voice down so as not to cause unnecessary panic among the women soldiers around her.

Hearing her worry, I quickly comforted her and said, "don't worry, lieutenant. Although the situation in the city is very bad now, I believe Comrade commander they will survive in the end. I believe that before long, when the situation in the city becomes more stable, he will call you all back. "

Tokaleva looked around quietly. Seeing that other female signalmen were busy, she came close to me and said in a low voice, "but just now I heard the commander say that the enemy's shell had fallen on the gate of the headquarters and exploded. There were casualties almost at any time..."

Before her words were finished, a communication soldier stood up not far away, raised the microphone in his hand to me, and said to me in an uncertain tone: "Comrade commander, the phone seems to be for you."

"Seems to be looking for me?" After repeating the words of the female soldier, I asked, "Comrade soldier, why are you not sure if you want to call me?"

The female soldier, who came to the east coast with us, blushed, apologized to me and explained, "I'm sorry, comrade commander. The caller said he was looking for general o'shanina, but I see that your rank on your badge is only Colonel, so I can't be sure. "

I looked down, but I was still wearing my former military coat, and the general suit was still in razumeyeva's place. I smile apologetically at the soldier, take the microphone in her hand, close to her ear and politely ask, "Hello, I'm o'shanina. Who's calling, please?"

From the receiver came the voice of general zaharov, who had just left: "Comrade oshanina, I'm here with the commander. Please come immediately. The commander and the military commissar have something to look for you."

After I handed the phone back to the female soldier, I went to tokaleva's side, patted her on the back with my hand, and comforted her in a low voice: "Comrade lieutenant, don't worry, believe me, the commander will be OK." With that, I stood up straight, straightened my uniform, and strode out of the communication room.

There are many people in yelimenko's room. Besides him, Khrushchev and zaharov, there is also Golikov, the deputy commander who has just returned. I went into the room, stood at attention, saluted the four, and politely asked, "Comrade commander, what can I do for you?"

Yelomienko looked up at me and did not answer my question. Instead, he asked strangely, "Comrade oshanina, why didn't you wear your new uniform?"

Hearing his question, I quickly replied with a smile, "Comrade commander, I want to put it on after I get back to mamayev post."

After listening to my reply, yelimenko looked at several people present for a while, and then everyone laughed. Khrushchev first said, "it seems that our female general is very anxious. Now we can't wait to return to mamayev post." When he finished, yeliaomenko said to me in a kind voice, "don't worry, comrade oshanina. Judging from the current situation, you will stay here for several days at least. When you go back later, put on your new uniform. In this way, it will be very helpful for your next work. "

Although I didn't understand the purpose of Yeliao Menko's words, I immediately replied loudly, "yes, comrade commander. When I get back, I'll put on my new uniform. "

General Golikov also stood up from his seat, extended his hand to me and said in a friendly way, "Comrade oshanina, please allow me to congratulate you on your re winning the rank of general."

I quickly reached out and held his hand, shaking it vigorously, and said gratefully: "thank you, thank you, comrade deputy commander of the front army."

After the greetings, we will go back to business. Yelomienko restrained his smile, picked up the notepad on the table, looked at it twice, threw it back on the table again, and said solemnly, "according to trekov's report, the situation in the city is very bad." Then he looked up at me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, you have been in the city for a long time. Can you tell us what you think of the Germans?"

After I sorted out my thoughts, I began to express my opinion: "as the enemy troops rushed into the city one after another, the places they occupied were crisscrossed with our defense area. For fear of accidental injury, they had to reduce the use of aircraft and artillery. In the street battle of Stalingrad, the enemy not only relied on the planes and artillery, but also the tanks that could cover the attack of infantry. It was because of this sudden change in tactics that the German army was very uncomfortable at the beginning. They still used the field attack method mechanically, but we beat them in a mess.

But in any case, the German technical and tactical level is far higher than ours. After a series of failures, they fully learned from the past experience and lessons, and continued to use the infantry charging method covered by tanks and armored vehicles. They used the buildings in the city to continue their mobile and flexible operations. With platoons, shifts and even combat teams as units, they could only walk back and forth through the buildings and streets, freely choose the weak defense areas of our army, and surprise them, which caused great trouble to the defense of the garrison in the city.

With the passage of time, the Germans, who are constantly learning in the battle, are becoming more and more proficient in their playing methods. In addition to continuing to send small troops to harass the city, their large troops poured into the city from all directions, and under the cover of tanks and armored vehicles, they gradually seized the buildings in the city and gradually compressed our defense line. This way of fighting has greatly reduced our army's mobile combat capability, and we have to concentrate a large number of troops to fight hard to hard positional warfare with them. "

Yeliao Menko's face turned black. He bit his back teeth and asked, "the enemy's fighting style really gives our commanders a headache. What do you think we should do to deal with it?"

"At present, the most intense fighting is in the factory area to the north of the city. Although most of the buildings here collapsed in the enemy's shelling and bombing, the remains of the buildings standing still are very solid. At present, the group army is ordering its subordinate units to use the complex terrain and available buildings to build new fortifications. "

"Can the newly launched fortifications have a good defensive effect?" Asked Khrushchev curiously.

I quickly nodded and said with certainty, "yes, comrade military commissar, this new fortification can become a strong fortress when it is completed."

"What kind of new fortifications do you want to talk about?" My words aroused Golikov's curiosity, and even he couldn't help interrupting.

I hastened to introduce the new fortification designed by Mikhail yev to the four of them. Because I was afraid I could not explain it clearly, I borrowed a pen and paper from zaharov and drew a simple sketch on the paper.

After I finished, yelomienko went to see the sketch in my hand. After a while, he handed it to Khrushchev. Khrushchev also looked at it for a while and handed it to Golikov. When the sketch was circulated in the hands of the four of them and put back on the table. Yeliomenko put his hands on the table, stood up and asked them, "comrades commander, what do you think of the fortification map provided by Comrade oshanina?"

"It's wonderful!" First of all, zaharov said, "I think the man who designed this fortification is a genius. As long as such a fortification is built in a building at a crossroads, only a few dozen sandbags need to be prepared, and then a platoon of troops can be placed to block the enemy's attack several times. "

"Yes," Khrushchev agreed, "I also think that building such fortifications in the city can bring great trouble to the enemy."

"What's your opinion, general Golikov?" Seeing that his deputy commander didn't express his opinions, Yeliao Menke specially named him and asked him to express his opinions.

Golikov hesitated for a moment and said carefully, "the advantages of this new type of fortification have been mentioned. I will not repeat them here. What I want to say is that there are not many artillery left in the city. If a large number of such fortifications are built, where can we find so many artillery and Gunners? Even if there is only one anti tank gun and one mortar in each fortification, it will take 200 guns of various types and supporting shells to repair 100. It is difficult for us to provide enough supplies for these fortifications in our current state of transportation. "

Golikov's words pour cold water on all of us. It seems that the fortifications I mentioned are still very difficult to be popularized in Stalingrad city under the current situation.

After carefully observing the expressions of all the people on the scene, yeliaomenko finally expressed his opinion: "I think this kind of fortification should be popularized on a large scale in the city. If there is no anti tank gun, it should be replaced by anti tank rifle. After all, relying on such fortifications, while reducing the casualties of our troops, we can also kill a large number of enemies. " When he said that, he stopped to see if he had any new suggestions. After waiting for a moment, seeing no one to speak, he continued: "the situation in Stalingrad is very bad at present. I think we should prepare for the worst in advance. What should we do if Stalingrad is lost? "

"What else can I do?" Some impatient zaharov said: "of course, it's to organize troops to fight back and take the city back from the enemy."

"Get it back!" Golikov said in a scornful tone: "Comrade chief of staff, if the city is completely occupied by the enemy as the commander said, what kind of forces are we using now to achieve the counter attack of recapturing the city as you said?"

Zhaharov was silenced by Golikov's words. Instead of speaking, he bowed his head and pondered.

Seeing that zaharov was speechless by himself, Golikov did not continue to attack. Instead, he stood up and asked yelimenko, "Comrade commander, I think under the current circumstances, the headquarters of the front army must send people to the city to study with Comrade trakov how to guard the city. I ask you to give me the task to carry out! "

I was deeply moved by Golikov's words. You know, the headquarters of trakov is in danger. It's almost like death to go to him now. However, Golikov knows that there are tigers in the mountains, and he wants to rush to the city at risk to fight with trakov.

Yelimenko also hesitated because of Golikov's request. He tried to persuade the other party to change his mind: "Comrade deputy commander, the situation there is very dangerous. You'd better cancel the trip for the time being."

Golikov shook his head slowly and said firmly, "Comrade commander, it is because of the bad situation in the city that I have to go to trakov. As long as I go to trekov's headquarters, his commanders and fighters will see that even the deputy commander of the front army has come to us, then the city will be able to hold. In this way, they can strengthen their determination to keep the city

Golikov's words have already said this. Yelimenko knew that it was meaningless to oppose. He stood up again, grasped Golikov's hand, shook it a few times, and said with emotion: "Comrade Golikov, pay attention to safety, and come back safely."

"I will." Golikov said briefly. Then he shook hands with Khrushchev, zaharov and me.

When I held the hand of general Golikov, I nervously didn't know what to say. I could only learn from yelimenko and said, "Comrade deputy commander, please pay attention to your safety and come back here safely."

When Golikov left, yelimenko began to give me an order: "Comrade oshanina, I give you a task. There will be a new division here tomorrow. You are responsible for organizing them to dig trenches and build fortifications near the wharf. " After the assignment, he also took the initiative to explain: "the current situation is very bad. We should prepare for the worst. Even if the enemy occupied Stalingrad, they must resolutely block them in Xi'an on the Volga River, and they must not be allowed to move forward. Wait for the new reinforcements to arrive, and then cooperate with them to fight back and take the city back from the enemy. "

As I left yelimenko's room and walked towards the telecommunication room, I thought to myself: since the situation in Stalingrad has suddenly worsened to this situation today, what about the situation in mamayev post? And what about Karpov, who was rebelled by us? Thinking of this, I can't help but quicken my pace and walk towards the telecommunication room to find out the situation of the independent division as soon as possible.

Entering the telecommunication room, I went straight behind tokaleva, put my hand on her shoulder, and asked with a kind face, "Comrade lieutenant, I want to get in touch with the independent division as soon as possible. Can you help me?"

"No problem." Tokaleva agreed very readily, and then she said to me with a smile, "Comrade commander, I know the calling code of the independent division. Please wait a moment, and I'll connect you right away."

The effort is not big, tokaleva will earphone and transmitter to me, at the same time politely said: "commander comrade, connected."

I gave her a smile, took the headset, put it on, and yelled at the transmitter, "Hello, Hello!"

A strange male voice came from the earphone: "Hello, this is the headquarters of the independent division. Where are you?"

When I heard that it was not razumeyeva's voice, I was stunned for a moment. Then I remembered that the man who answered the phone was the male signalman who temporarily took over her job. I quickly indicated my identity: "I'm oshanina. Please call political commissar kirilov or chief of staff akhromeyev for me."

"Yes, sir." The other side politely said, "please wait a moment. I'll ask the commissar to speak to you right away."

Soon kirilov's voice came out of the earphone: "thank God, comrade o'shanina, you finally called. On this day when you're away, it's a mess everywhere. "

Kirilov's words made me flustered. I quickly asked, "what's the matter? What's the matter?"

"Since early this morning, the enemy has sent out a large number of warplanes to bombard the city. The mamayev post was not only bombed by the enemy, but also the positions in the northern highlands were ploughed aside by the enemy's intensive artillery fire. Nearly one third of the troops of the fourth regiment suffered casualties. "

"Hell, how could that be?" I asked angrily, "what do Gaidar and Shapin do for food? How can they kill so many people?"

"The enemy is very cunning. Their planes swept away from the highlands and rushed to bomb the city. The shells they fired also fell directly on the city and exploded. Commander Gaidar thought that the enemy would selectively ignore the mamayev post as usual, so he organized the soldiers to build fortifications as soon as possible. I didn't expect that when I was busy, there was a burst of artillery fire from the enemy, and immediately hundreds of fortification officers and soldiers fell in the fire. "

After listening to kirilov's explanation, my mood calmed down. Seeing the enemy's bombing and shelling, it was not mamayev post, let alone Gaidar. Even I would take it lightly. As a result, I was caught off guard by the enemy and sacrificed hundreds of officers and men in vain. I tried to control the mood of the word and asked, "is there anything else?"

Kirilov, perhaps afraid that the operator next to him would hear him, lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "there's another important thing. Someone's coming from there."

"There's someone over there!" I repeated what he said, and I felt a little excited, because what he said was captain Karpov's East camp“ Did anyone say anything? "

"Yes." Kirilov's answer was quite straightforward, and then he hesitated a little: "but I'm in a bit of trouble at the moment."

"Trouble, what trouble?" Kirilov didn't know how to deal with it today. He always said that half of his words should be reserved, which almost made me anxious to death. I impatiently urged, "come on, what's the matter?"

"The plan you carried out yesterday morning was indeed effective. In the evening, the German troops were transferred back to two companies from the front and exchanged with their troops. When they enter the new defense area, because it is late and they have nothing to do, they will get in touch with us first. They are afraid that if they act without authorization, they will misunderstand our troops or be found by the Germans. So they were stationed first, ready to establish contact with us today, and then decide on the action of the troops. " At this point, kirilov couldn't help sighing, "I didn't expect that at dawn, I found that the left and right wings, I don't know when, were deployed with German troops. As a result, they had to be cautious and stay in the camp. After dark, he sent a trusted subordinate to bring us a message, asking us to guide them out of trouble. "

"Is the messenger gone?" I asked quickly.

Kirilov replied, "not yet." Then he asked me, "do you need to talk to him?"

"No I resolutely refused, but I said to kirilov very tactfully: "Comrade political commissar, please tell the messenger to go back and tell the person who sent him to stay calm and wait patiently for a while. We will inform him in advance when to move and which direction to move, and arrange the reception team. "

"I see. I'll tell the messenger what you mean." After kirilov finished this sentence, he suddenly asked, "Comrade oshanina, how did the leaders of the front army arrange your work after you arrived at the east bank? Will you stay in the front army to arrange work, or will you return to the independent division soon? "

"Comrade political commissar, the higher authorities have not given me an accurate answer on how to arrange my next work." As the current situation is complicated and confusing, whether Stalingrad can keep it or not is a question. Whether I can return to mamayev post has also become an unknown. Therefore, I can't give kirilov an accurate answer. I can only vaguely say: "at present, the head of the front army has arranged a temporary job for me. After this job is completed, I will decide whether I will go or stay."

"So it is." Kirilov's voice was obviously filled with undeniable disappointment. "Comrade chief of staff and I hope that you can return to the post of independent division if you have the chance."

"One day, comrade political commissar. Don't forget, I went to negotiate with the other party in person about that. If they don't see me before the action, they may change their mind temporarily. "

"In that case, I can rest assured." Although I was vague, kirilov said with relief, "I look forward to your early return to the headquarters. Good luck

"Good luck!" After that, I broke off contact.

Putting down the earphone and transmitter, I turned to look around and saw that the girls were still busy in their respective posts. It seems that the situation today is terrible, even the communication lines are not free. I looked down at tokaleva in front of me and told her, "when the work is not so busy later, you can arrange the girls to take turns to rest. There will be a lot of work in the future. If you don't know how to rest, you will be exhausted. "

For my care, tokaleva said gratefully, "I see. Thank you, commander."

When I went back to the shelter where I lived, the left behind razumeyeva met me and asked with concern, "what's the situation in the city, sir?"

I looked at the empty high and low bed and asked curiously, "where are the girls?"

Razumeyeva took a look at the empty beds and replied, "today, several commanders came to the headquarters of the front army. They said that there is a shortage of personnel in all units and that they are in urgent need of experienced personnel. So they took away all the girls who lived here."

Seeing that there was no outsider in the shelter department, I didn't have so much scruples. I took razumeyeva to the table in the middle of the room and sat down. I told her about the situation in the city.

Razumeyeva was also surprised. Like tokaleva, she was also very worried about the safety of trakov. She asked me, "Comrade division commander, since the enemy has found the location of the group army headquarters and is still bombarding them with artillery fire, are they in danger?"

Listening to her question, I answered with some uncertainty, "I don't think so." With these words, I found that I was wrong. What I mean should not, but certainly not. In the history I know, trakov was famous for the battle of Stalingrad. This battle, which won a great victory, became an important cornerstone for his promotion to marshal. So I immediately changed my tone and said in a positive tone: "Lieutenant razumeyeva, don't worry. Commander trakov will be OK. In addition, general Golikov, deputy commander of the front army, also rushed to the city overnight. If the headquarters of the group army is really in a very dangerous situation, he will arrange for the headquarters to be transferred in person. "

After listening to me, razumeyeva patted her chest and said happily, "as long as the commander doesn't have an accident, it's really good." I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was late. Yawned, stretched, and said to razumeyeva, "Comrade lieutenant, if you have nothing to do, you should have a rest early. There's more important work to do tomorrow. I don't want my deputy to be listless because of lack of sleep at work. "