Chapter 732

Although Karpov's troops had already descended eastward along the trench to the bottom of the river bank, it would take a long time for so many people to enter our defense area. In order to cover their retreat, the commanders and fighters of shereblenny battalion, who lacked heavy weapons, could only use their own flesh and blood to resist the fierce offensive launched by the German army.

Capt. shereblenner's fortifications were built by the German army in order to confront our army. All kinds of fortifications on the positions were facing the mamayev post due to the south, while their friendly positions were to the West. Naturally, no fortifications would be built. At this time, the German army attacked from the west to the East, and our troops felt more pressure on the position. Without solid fortifications, the officers and men had to lie down in the crater or use the bunkers made up of their comrades' bodies to shoot tenaciously at the enemy.

Kirilov and bantailiev and I went to the observation post of the second regiment on the hillside and saw the brutal fighting of the shereblenny camp. Kirilov, with his hands on his back, went back and forth in circles in the little observation post, and sighed from time to time; But Bantai leiev was standing in front of the lookout, holding his binoculars in both hands, looking at the area in front of the gunfire for a long time.

My mind was spinning fast, trying to figure out how to help camp shereblenny. The anti tank guns on the fourth regiment's position are OK to hit the enemy's tanks, but if they use armour piercing bullets to hit the infantry, they have no effect. Although we still have big killers such as "thunder crackers", it's a bit too late to transport them now. As for the tank battalion, there is no need to consider. The remaining seven tanks have no ammunition and no fuel, even if they want to crush the German infantry.

When I was at a loss, Oleg came with the artillery battalion commander, molozov. Seeing that they came uninvited, I asked strangely, "what are you doing here?"

Oleg quickly stepped forward and reported, "Comrade division commander, it's like this. Seeing that the enemy is launching a fierce attack on our troops, the commanders and fighters can't contain their anger and want to help them."

"Give them a hand?" I looked into Oleg's eyes and asked, "commander Oleg, how are you going to help them? From here to that position, there is three kilometers of open space in the middle. As soon as our troops appear in that area, the enemy's artillery will immediately smash down and wipe out all our troops exposed in the open field. "

Oleg, who was reproached by me, quickly shook his head and replied, "Sir, you misunderstood me. Our infantry are short of anti tank weapons and heavy weapons. Even if we send reinforcements to that position, our troops will be consumed little by little under the powerful firepower of the enemy. "

"And how do you think about it?" When I asked this, I glanced curiously at the nearby Morozov and said in my heart that I didn't call him. What did he come out to do at this time?

Oleg looked at Morozov and said to me with a smile, "well, comrade division, major Morozov suggested that we pull some heavy howitzers from the artillery battalion to our position and bombard the attacking German infantry."

I turned to look at Morozov and asked, "major, how many shells are left in the howitzer unit?"

Morozov quickly stepped forward, straightened up and reported to me, "report to division commander, two days ago, I went to talk with the military representative on the wharf. By the way, I got a batch of heavy howitzer shells from him. At present, each gun has about two base ammunition."

When he heard that, kirilov, who had been circling in the room, stopped, went over, grabbed him by the arm with both hands, and said excitedly, "Comrade major, this is very good. With the support of the howitzer, Captain shereblenny, they will be able to hold the position more firmly. "

"Comrade major," he heard that heavy artillery could provide artillery support for the garrison in front of him. Even Bantai leiev, who was standing at the observation gate, could not stand. He put down his telescope, strode over and asked aloud, "where is the howitzer unit? How long will it take them to fight? "

"Report to the deputy division commander that the howitzer unit, under the leadership of Lt. Pluto tyakonov, has deployed the cannons in place and can open fire on the enemy immediately at the command of the superior."

"Where are the cannons?" Although I had thought that the second regiment would also have bunkers like the fourth regiment, it was obvious that the tunnel exits I saw along the way could not let large guns in and out, so I couldn't help asking molozov, hoping he could give me a definite answer.

"We built several concealed gun positions between the hillside position and the peak position." With these words, Morozov turned to point up and looked in the direction of his finger. There were three one meter square holes on the hillside, and the black muzzle of the gun protruded from the inside“ Artillery can be there, condescending to open fire on the enemy. If they are bombarded or bombed by the enemy, they will pull the guns into deeper holes to hide them. "

"Well, comrade major, stop it." Kirilov said in a hurry: "you immediately order the artillery to open fire on the enemy's battle line, first their mortar positions, and then their infantry. If the enemy sends out tanks, you will also be responsible for destroying them. " Although he had given detailed instructions, he was still not at ease. He turned to Bantai leiev and said, "old man, I think you should go to the artillery position and guide them how to provide necessary artillery support for our infantry."

As the heavy guns in the hidden positions opened fire, destroying the enemy mortar positions, and then shelling the attacking German infantry, the pressure on the shereblenner battalion was greatly reduced. I can see from the telescope that there are formed units in succession, retreating from the most forward position along the trench to the Volga River. In the middle of the retreat, they built a new defense line relying on the existing fortifications, trenches and craters. After they were all deployed, the troops left in the front line withdrew from their positions one after another, and also to the river. Seeing that the camp of sherebrian began to retreat to the river in an orderly way, I felt a little more secure. I had planned to stay in the observation post and see the sherebryan camp safely withdraw from the fighting before leaving. Unexpectedly, akhromeyev called first and told me, "Comrade division commander, can you and the political commissar come back immediately? Captain Karpov is now at division headquarters Hearing the good news, I couldn't even put down the phone. I couldn't wait to say to kirilov, "political commissar, good news. Captain Karpov has arrived at our headquarters now. Let's go. Let's go back and see him now. " Then he put the phone on the base and pulled him away. When we got back to the headquarters, there were several soldiers in German uniforms with white towels on their left arms. Hearing the sound of us entering the door, several people turned around. Just as they looked back, they recognized Karpov standing in the middle of them and quickly extended their hands to meet them. He grabbed Karpov's hand, shook it hard and said, "great, that's great. Welcome, Captain Karpov. Welcome back to our camp with your troops. " As soon as Karpov's eyes were red, tears almost burst into his eyes. He closed his eyes hard and choked back his tears. Then he said to me chokingly, "I'm sorry, sir, I didn't pull all the troops out. Because we walked too suddenly and didn't have time to explain our whereabouts to all the soldiers, many officers and soldiers wavered and even fled when they were pursued by the German army. If you hadn't sent the troops to meet me in time, my battalion would have collapsed. " Safchenko, who was in charge of contacting Karpov, also came forward, saluted me at attention, and said with shame: "I'm sorry, sir, I didn't finish my task well. In addition to the officers and men who were scattered and injured, there were only more than 200 people left in the whole Dongfang battalion, and the number of people reduced by half. " Although I was a little disappointed when I heard that the number of people who finally arrived at our military base was only 200, I was soon relieved. In any case, the political significance of Karpov battalion is far greater than its military significance. Even if Karpov came alone in the end, it would be a fatal blow to the morale of the enemy, and it would shake up the officers and soldiers of Dongfang battalion who were already in the middle of nowhere. With a smile on my face, I said to them, "Captain Karpov and Comrade safchenko, although there are many casualties and casualties in the army anyway, it is a great thing that you can successfully bring so many troops to mamayev post under the pursuit of the enemy. I congratulate you! I will report this matter to the leaders of the group army as soon as possible so that they can give you the honor you deserve. " Just then, the head of the group army, razumeyeva suddenly called me: "Comrade division commander, call from the headquarters of the group army." After I put on my headphones, I just said "Hello!" to the transmitter Before he had time to say anything else, he was interrupted impatiently by trikov. His serious voice came from the earphone: "Comrade oshanina, did your division frequently use the telephone to communicate in Ming language today?"“ Yes, comrade commander It's a fact. It's an emergency. We had to talk to camp shereblenny and even camp Karpov over the radio again and again. Therefore, trekov asked, and I didn't deny it. He answered honestly, "we have talked over the radio many times today. Because it's urgent, we all use Ming language." Trekov snorted and said, "you wait. I'll be right there." Then I cut off the communication, leaving me holding the transmitter in a daze.