Chapter 769

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Back at the division headquarters, I asked akhromeyev two questions: "Comrade chief of staff, have Capt. kerimov and messenger sidorin returned to the headquarters of the group army? What are the troops of the first battalion of the second regiment doing at present? "

"Report, sir," ahlomeyev seemed to have expected that I would ask, so he did not hesitate to report and say, "yes, Captain krimov and the heralds have returned to the headquarters of the group army with our report. As for captain horushov's troops, they are building new Fortifications on Highland 107.5 after cleaning the battlefield. "

I nodded and added, "the German army will soon know about our capture of highland 107.5. As the highland has been occupied by the enemy for a period of time, the wreckage of tanks, armored vehicles and trucks destroyed in front of the position has been completely clear, and the north side of the highland has resumed the situation that it is easy to attack but difficult to defend, the first battalion must build a perfect defense system in the shortest time to fight against the fierce offensive that the enemy may launch. "

"The division commander is right," added Bantai leiev, deputy division commander. "The enemy is absolutely not willing to lose the 107.5 highland and will definitely send heavy troops to fight for it. It can be predicted that in the coming days, this highland will become the focus of contention between the enemy and us. "

Kirilov came over, handed bantaileiev a cigarette, and sighed: "no way, we are short of heavy weapons now, otherwise the enemy will not be afraid of more. If you want to keep this high ground, there will be no solid and perfect fortifications, or one day captain horushov's battalion will be exhausted. "

I stare at the map on the wall, thinking about the battle to come. In the absence of air supremacy, tanks, artillery and other heavy weapons, it is estimated that the whole second regiment will have to be involved in a war of attrition with the German army at Highland 107.5. But in this way, we will not be able to send enough troops to carry out the task of attacking northward and converging with the Don front army as ordered by the headquarters of the group army.

Bantai leiev came up to me and asked in a low voice, "Comrade teacher, what are you thinking about?"

I pointed to the map and said: "deputy division commander, you see, the superior ordered us to attack the enemy in the north on the 21st, and strive to join the Don River Army in the south. However, if we want to ensure the safety of the flanks of the attacking forces, we must firmly hold the 107.5 high ground in our hands. If we want to keep this highland, we must at least keep a regiment of troops. At present, our division has only four regiments, and we need to leave enough troops to guard the mamayev post. In this way, our troops for frontal attack are somewhat insufficient. "

Bantai leiev looked at the map and said with disapproval, "but the enemy in the north of mamayev post has not been transferred to the north to defend the Don front army? Even if we only send out two regiments, we can easily cross a wide area of tens of kilometers and push forward to the rear of the German army. "

As for bantaileiev's optimistic attitude, I can't laugh or cry. I just wanted to say a few words. Akhromeyev has already helped me out: "Comrade deputy division commander, the situation is not as simple as you believe. Although the scouts reported that the German troops in the camp had basically withdrawn, they only said that the areas they had surveyed were like this, and what the areas they had not detected were like, which nobody knew. In many defensive areas, the battalions of several servant countries or the eastern battalions may be conservative, or the heavy German troops may be on guard. Therefore, the number of troops we take part in the attack must not be small, otherwise we will not be able to complete the plan of joining up with the friendly forces. "

Bantailiev frowned after hearing ahlomeyev's words. After a long time, he said slowly, "Comrade division, it seems that we should send people to carry out reconnaissance to understand the enemy's deployment in this area, so as to formulate a counter attack plan."

"Chief of staff, it's up to you to arrange this." Kirilov, who came to us at some time, heard what we were talking about, so he gave instructions to akhromeyev in time“ We should make clear the enemy's deployment in this area as soon as possible. "

"Wait a minute, chief of staff." When I saw akhromeyev pick up the phone and want to call the troops below, I called him again, "send the soldiers under captain gramus and captain Beckman. They are German originally, and all the documents they keep are true. Even if they are interrogated by the German patrol, they won't reveal their secrets."

"The division commander is right," Bantai leiev echoed, "tell the commanders in charge that in order to prevent misunderstanding and accidental injury, they should continue to wear our uniform before leaving our defensive area."

"I understand." With a brief promise, akhromeyev started dialing.

"Comrade oshanina," a familiar voice suddenly came from the door. Several of us turned to look over, only to see yelaimenko and his deputy, lieutenant general Popov, coming in in in a hurry.

"Comrade commander," it really surprised me to see yelimenko appear at this moment. I thought he had gone back to the East Bank of the Volga River, but he was still in the city. I quickly took everyone up, raised my hand to salute, and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, why are you still in the city? We all thought that we had gone back to the headquarters of the front army on the other side of the river."

Yeliaomenko waved his hand and walked quickly to the table. He picked up a teapot on the table and began to drink water. Taking advantage of the commander's opportunity to drink water, I quietly asked Popov, "Comrade deputy commander, you've been to the headquarters of the group army. What's the situation there?"

Popov gave a wry smile and replied, "what else? It's terrible. When we went there, we saw a desolate scene. The shelter where trakov's headquarters was was like a big crater. Logs were exposed from the soil, and all the objects around were covered with a thick layer of cinder and dust... "Maybe I was nervous when I heard all this, so I quickly added:" but trakov and his political commissar The chief of staff is not safe. "

"O'shanina, come here." After drinking enough tea, Yeliao Menko sat at the table, stretched himself comfortably, and waved me over, "I have something to ask you."

I went up to Yeliao Menko and asked respectfully, "Comrade commander, do you have any instructions?"

Yelomienko looked at me, and then solemnly asked, "when I was at trekov headquarters, I heard that your division was going to attack a position occupied by the enemy. What's the situation now?"

Listening to his question, I immediately understood that Klimov and sidorin, who were carrying the report, had not returned to the headquarters of the group army at the moment, otherwise yelimenko would not have known that we had recovered 107.5 highlands. Since he asked, I quickly and honestly replied, "Comrade commander, this is the situation. After reconnaissance, we found that there was only one company of the German garrison on the 107.5 highland to the west of the mamayev post, so we took advantage of the enemy's defensive emptiness and resolutely mobilized three battalions to fight back to the highland. After a fierce battle, we have successfully recaptured our position from the enemy. "

My report brightened yelomienko's eyes, but after a moment's hesitation, he still asked in a suspicious tone: "Comrade oshanina, you said that the 107.5 highland has been taken back by you?"

"You are absolutely right." I answered positively: "after seizing the Highlands, I have ordered a battalion of the second regiment to enter the position and let them rush to repair the fortifications, so as to build a perfect defense system in the shortest time to fight against the possible counterattack launched by the Germans."

"You did it right, you did it right." After praising me for a few words, yelomienko suddenly changed the topic and asked, "have you received the order of trekov to fight back against the Germans in the north on the 21st and join the comrades of the Don front army in the south?"

"Yes, comrade commander." When I heard yelomienko mention this, I told him the problems I faced: "because we want to keep our troops at mamayevgang and 107.5 highland, the number of troops that can take part in the counterattack will be very limited. In addition, we do not have heavy weapons such as tanks and artillery. If we encounter the tenacious resistance of the enemy, our troops will have the ability to attack, Will not be able to break through the enemy's defense in the shortest time. "

"O'shanina, do you know?" Yelimenko suddenly raised his hand to interrupt me and said to himself, "when I was chatting with trakov and gurov in the group army headquarters, they also asked me to replenish their troops and ammunition. They also said that there was no need to replenish the whole division, just some units. More important ammunition is needed, because the combat forces in the city are especially short of ammunition. Although I am the headquarters of the front army and can meet all the conditions proposed by trakov, it takes time to transport troops and ammunition. Do you understand? " He said the back, because excited and grabbed his stick heavily ground a few times.

Seeing that he was excited, I quickly turned off the topic and asked cautiously, "Comrade commander, according to the order issued by the group army, general rokosovsky's Don front army will launch an attack on the German army in the early morning of the 21st. Do you know how they are preparing?"

Yelimenko shook his head and said slowly: "according to the intelligence, rokosovsky is gathering his artillery and tank troops. As the front army of the Don River adopted a defensive posture in the early stage, their artillery and tank forces were scattered and their positions were relatively backward. I am very optimistic about their deployment. On the surface, they don't support the first line of defense, but they are very flexible. If the German army adopts the method of breakthrough in the middle, our army can let the enemy in and lengthen their front. If the German army attacks in an all-round way, as long as the two armies form contact, then our army can carry out counterattack operations. "

I heard yelomienko say this and habitually took over the topic: "if the German army adopts the usual Blitzkrieg combat, are our forces too scattered?" As soon as the words came out, I remembered that the commander of the front army was sitting in front of me, and I was surprised to comment on the deployment of another commander of the front army in front of him.

However, yelaimenko said without any care: "in the current situation, as a defensive side, it is not appropriate to concentrate too much forces. Because if we concentrate our forces at will, we will easily suffer a devastating blow from the German army when we lose our air supremacy. What you said is also reasonable. This kind of plan requires extremely high mobility of the troops. If the enemy is put in and local campaigns cannot be organized in time, the battlefield situation is more likely to deteriorate. "

Seeing that yelomienko didn't blame me, I secretly wiped the sweat on my forehead and then asked, "Comrade commander, is our air force cooperating with the attack of the Don front army?"

"Mr. oshanina, air support is out of the question." The one who answered my question was lieutenant general Popov, who said solemnly: "as planned, the 16th air force group army, under the command of general rutenko, would provide air cover for the ground troops and bomb the enemy fortifications when the Don front army launched an attack. Unfortunately, God seems to be deliberately trying to make it difficult for us. Just when we need the strong support of pilots, cholera, a mouse borne disease, is prevalent in the air force. It is so widespread that special measures have to be taken to protect the personnel from infection and protect the aircraft from damage. Because wherever mice go, they always gnaw at rubber insulation

After listening to Popov's words, I suddenly felt that it was dark in front of me. I felt weak all over. I didn't even have the strength to speak. I could judge the great destructive power this vicious event would bring to the campaign by my direct feeling. Despite the bravery of the commanders and fighters and the support of tanks and artillery, the Don front army, which had lost its air supremacy, could not meet the battle goal of joining the 62nd army under the attack of intensive German air fire and ground artillery.

Perhaps seeing me out of my wits, yelomienko asked with concern, "Comrade oshanina, what's the matter with you? Is there something wrong with you?"

I tried to squeeze a smile on my face, straightened up and assured him: "Comrade commander, no matter how cruel the next battle is, I stand for you on behalf of the independent division. We will certainly complete the orders given to us by our superiors and join the Don river front army going south."

On hearing my determination, yeliaomenko nodded with satisfaction, then asked with a smile, "do you have any difficulties?"

"There must be difficulties." I said carefully, "we are short of troops. We can try to arm some citizens or take in the scattered soldiers. However, the weapons we lack at present cannot be solved. You know, the whole division is short of ammunition, and a considerable number of commanders and fighters have no weapons at all. Therefore, I beg you to give us some weapons and ammunition as soon as possible, so that we can better complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors. "

After I finished these words, Yeliao myenko stared at me without expression, which made me feel embarrassed. He was afraid that he would be angry again for no reason just now. Unexpectedly, after a while, he laughed twice, pointed to me and said, "Comrade o'shanina, you've been crying in front of me for a long time. You just want me to give you some ammunition. No problem, I can't supplement you, but ammunition can give priority to your division. At 12 o'clock this evening, a batch of weapons and ammunition should be delivered. Send someone to the commander in charge of logistics at the wharf and ask him for a batch of ammunition. " With that, he held his cane and looked around.

I didn't know what he was looking for, so I asked, "Comrade commander, what are you looking for?"

Without waiting for yelimenko to answer me, general Popov next to me had taken out a pen and paper from his briefcase and handed it to him. Yeliaomenko took the pen and paper in the general's hand, glanced at me with disdain, and began to write orders. After writing, he tore off the page and put it into my hand. He said, "well, you can send someone to the terminal to find the logistics director tonight, and give him this order. You should be able to get the weapons and ammunition you want." After that, he stood up, holding the edge of the table, pausing on the ground with his cane in his left hand. Then he reached out to me and said, "Comrade o'shanina, it's not early. I should go back, too. Good luck

After yelimenko and Popov left, I unfolded the warrant in my hand, which read: "with this warrant, some of the weapons and ammunition that will arrive at the Volga River Wharf will be allocated to the independent division. General Andre Ivanovich yelimenko, commander of Stalingrad's front army. 18 October 1941. "

After I read the warrant, I handed it to kirilov with a smile, and said to him at the same time, "Comrade political commissar, we will not worry about using weapons and ammunition any more." With that, I turned and asked akhromeyev in the back, "chief of staff, have the reconnaissance troops been arranged?"

Akhromeyev quickly replied, "it's already arranged. I'm going to prepare five reconnaissance teams with ten people in each team. They are all equipped with communication equipment. They can feed back the information they have detected at any time."

"Are these people reliable?" I was thinking about military affairs, but kirilov was thinking about political affairs. "Don't let these former German soldiers defecte by taking advantage of the opportunity of reconnaissance. In that case, the Germans can learn our details from these traitors and have to guard against them."

"Please rest assured." It seems that akhromeyev has already considered these matters, so he confidently replied: "half of the scouts in each team are our own people, and each team has a political worker. What you said will not happen."（ The novel burning Moscow will have more fresh content on the official wechat platform. At the same time, there will be a 100% lucky draw for you! Now open WeChat, click the "+" number on the top right, add friends, search the official account "qdread" and pay attention to it.