Chapter 771

The battle began at the moment when the German infantry stepped on the mines buried at the foot of the highlands. As soon as the mine rang, the soldiers hiding at the foot of the mountain would not hesitate to open fire and beat the German soldiers who were too busy to blow up by the mine. In order to cover their infantry to withdraw from the minefield, the German tanks ignored the fire and tried to suppress our firepower. However, the firelight of the gun's ejection chamber exposed their position and became the target of our artillery battalion.

After listening to akhromeyev's report on the war, I asked curiously, "Comrade chief of staff, where did the mines buried at the foot of the Highlands come from? If I remember correctly, we've run out of mines since last week. "

Akhromeyev laughed but did not answer my question. Bantai leiev, who was next to him, responded quickly. He tentatively asked, "chief of staff, these mines are not moved from the front position occupied by the fourth regiment, are they?"

Akhromeyev nodded and replied with a smile: "the deputy division commander is right. Major Yaming told captain mihayev privately that these mines are buried behind the positions of the four regiments and one company, which are easy to explode their own people. It's better to make use of them and let them play a role. So Comrade Mikhail yev took more than 40 soldiers to go over and took out all the mines and buried them under the 107.5 highland. "

Because of the highland defense war outside, our army is calculating but not intentional. Relying on the favorable terrain on the Highlands, it should be no problem to beat back the German troops coming from afar. So after listening to the report, I told akhromeyev: "Comrade chief of staff, after the battle is over, you should pay attention to the work of replenishing soldiers and strengthening training, We should strive to make the troops form combat effectiveness in the shortest time, otherwise we will all wait to go to the military court. "

"Why do we have to go to court martial?" Kirilov's familiar voice suddenly came from the door. I turned around and saw that he and the guard battalion commander basmanov were coming in from the door. Maybe they happened to hear the second half of my speech, so I asked.

"I'm talking to the chief of staff about urging the regiments to step up recruitment and training." As I spoke, I walked towards kirilov and asked, "Comrade political commissar, have you got all the weapons and ammunition back?"

Kirilov nodded with a smile and said triumphantly, "I've got it back. After seeing the order from the commander of the front army, the commander of the logistics department was very enthusiastic to me and immediately arranged for people to carry weapons and ammunition for us. Because there were too many supplies for us, one company I brought couldn't finish moving. In the end, we asked the third regiment to transfer two companies to help us, and then we finished moving things. " Then he took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to me. "Look, this is the inventory."

I took over the list and opened it. It read: "1300 rifles, 300 submachine guns, 150 pistols, 20 light machine guns, 4 heavy machine guns, 20000 hand grenades, 200000 bullets of various kinds, 700 anti tank artillery shells..." when I saw half of it, I was overjoyed and excited, and said to kirilov: "political commissar, the superior is really generous, So many weapons and ammunition have been supplied to us. In this way, we can first arm a regiment, and then recruit a large number of new soldiers, so as to form a strong combat effectiveness in a short period of time. "

Kirilov answered casually and asked with concern, "how is the battle going on on the 107.5 highland? When I came back, I could hear the sound of guns coming from there. The fighting must be fierce, right

"The German sent infantry to attack the highland, stepped on the land mines at the foot of the mountain, and then our troops hiding around shot decisively." After a brief account of the situation on the Highlands, I finally made a concluding speech: "the enemy came from a long distance and immediately put into battle before they had time to rest. In addition, our army relied on the ready-made fortifications to wait for work. We believe that we can beat them back soon."

As soon as my voice dropped, the phone on the desk rang, because akhromeyev was standing next to me, looking at the list I handed him, and the work of answering the phone was done by deputy teacher Bantai leiev. After listening for a moment, he covered the microphone and excitedly said to us, "the division commander, political commissar and deputy commander of the second regiment, major Yaming, reported that the enemy who attacked the Highlands had retreated in dismay. Two destroyed tanks, one armored vehicle, five trucks and more than 100 German bodies were left at the foot of the mountain. "

As soon as he finished, I could not wait to ask, "did major Yaming find out whether the enemy was withdrawing temporarily or leaving completely?"

"Major Yaming," Bantai leiev quickly moved his hand covering the microphone and conveyed my words to the other party. After hearing the exact answer, he put down the phone and reported to me: "Comrade division, I have asked clearly. After the enemy retreated, major Yaming sent a scout to carry out the reconnaissance. When he found that the enemy retreated for a certain distance, he regrouped and headed north."

Hearing that the German army had retreated, we all breathed a sigh of relief. Then we began to discuss how to arm the regiment as soon as possible and how to recruit more soldiers to strengthen our strength.

The attack of the Don front army officially began in the morning of the 21st.

Half an hour after the beginning of the attack, the headquarters of the group army sent us a telegram, saying that because of the change of the enemy's situation, the attack of the Don front army was not smooth, so our division stood still for the time being, waiting for further orders from the superior.

After receiving this order, akhromeyev frowned and said to himself, "since the headquarters of the group army has ordered us to hold still for the time being, what should we do next?"

"There are many things that can be done, my chief of staff." "For example, we should urge the 1st Battalion of the 2nd regiment to continue to reinforce the fortifications of the 107.5 highland, and then urge each regiment to use this precious time to strengthen the training of new recruits," I said Akhromeyev, flushed with what I said, went to the phone without saying a word.

Kirilov stood by the wall, looked at the map for half a day, then turned to me and asked, "Comrade oshanina, although the current situation in mamayevgang and 107.5 highland is calm, we can't take it lightly. If the main force is going north, which regiment do you plan to leave for defense?"

As I've been busy recruiting troops these days, I can't even discuss which regiment to send to fight in the north. Now kirilov asked me. I pondered for a moment, and then replied, "in this operation, one soldier and one soldier from the second regiment, three battalions from the first regiment, the third regiment and the fourth regiment, were not deployed to form a group to fight in the north. I led the group to join the friendly forces."

We have argued several times about who will lead the troops to the north. Bantailiev and akhromeyev both wanted to go. As a result, kirilov reported the matter to the headquarters of the group army. After struggling with trekov and gurov, I finally agreed to lead the troops to the north.

"What about the enemy in gorodyser?" Kirilov said anxiously: "the enemy has tanks and artillery. With our existing weapons, it is almost impossible to break through their defensive positions."

I also know in my heart that attacking the German troops with solid fortifications and tanks and cannons with our existing strength and weapons and equipment is purely shooting at the stone with eggs. In this way, the tragedy of liuban's breakout will be repeated again. But if the superior really gives us the order to attack, I can only take the troops to rush forward. Entering is also death; If you don't enter, you will die. It's better to simply die than to be shot after being tried in a military court.

When I was in a dilemma, Bantai leiev suddenly said, "why should we attack the enemy?"

"Ah?" We were all stunned by his words, and I asked, "Comrade deputy division commander, if we don't attack, how can we pass through the enemy's line of defense?"

Bantaileiev, with a smile, went to the map, pointed to the small town gorodyser, which made me headache, and said without hesitation: "Sir, political commissar, you see, although this small city blocked our way to the north, we just went north to meet with the friendly forces, not to attack the enemy's well defended city. Since we can't get through the city, we can think about going around it! "

Bantai leiev's words really awakened the dreamer. After listening to them, I raised my hand and patted my forehead fiercely. I secretly scolded myself for how I got into trouble at such a time. Bantailiev was right. The higher authorities only ordered us to join forces with the friendly troops going south, but they did not ask us to tackle the difficult problems. As a result, the simple problems were complicated. Thinking of this, I quickly turned to razumeyeva and yelled, "Lieutenant, contact the reconnaissance team near the small town of gorodyse immediately, and let them try to find a way around the city."

In the afternoon, the telegram sent by the headquarters of the group army told us in detail the progress of the Don River Front Army: General Malinowski, who was in charge of the frontal attack, was attacked by the German army after wedging into the German defense line for five kilometers. As the enemy firmly held the air supremacy and was assisted by tanks and artillery, the 66th group army suffered heavy losses, We had to give up the occupation and retreat. After recovering the lost position, the German army took the opportunity to follow our retreating troops to the river Dunn. Fortunately, general garanin, commander of the 24th group army, sent a division in time to launch a fierce attack on the flank of the attacking enemy, which forced the enemy to stop the attack.

Seeing the telegram, kirilov sighed and said with relief, "since the attack of the Don front army is not smooth, it is estimated that our attack time will be delayed. In this way, we will have more time to strengthen the training of our troops. "

On the 21st, our division stood still at mamayev post. As a result, the next day, we still did not receive the order to attack. It was only in the evening that we received a telegram from the headquarters of the group army saying that the 66th group army and the 24th group army had only advanced three to five kilometers respectively after a day's fighting. Because the distance is too far, it is not meaningful for the independent division to attack at this moment, so let's continue to hold still and wait for the next notice from the superior.

Although we failed to send troops for two days in a row, we did not waste the hard won two days. Through the strict training of each regiment, the newly recruited scattered soldiers and armed citizens barely had a certain combat effectiveness. At least in the face of the enemy's attack, the troops would not explode because of panic.

On the afternoon of the 23rd, kirilov was a little worried because he had been waiting for an order all day. He stood by the telephone and kept saying to me, "Comrade oshanina, you once said that the superior might ask us to attack on the 23rd. Today is the 23rd. Do you think commander trakov will let us attack? "

Just as he was talking, the telephone on the desk rang again. I thought it was the following regiment calling for instructions, so I impatiently told akhromeyev: "chief of staff, go to answer the phone and ask them what's the matter?" Unexpectedly, as soon as akhromeyev had heard two sentences, he immediately covered the microphone with his hand and nervously said to me, "Comrade division commander, it's general Krylov, chief of staff of the group army." I looked at the telephone in akhromeyev's hand and said in a puzzled way: "strange, the telephone line leading to the headquarters of the group army here was not broken by explosion. When was it repaired? Why don't I know?"“ It was fixed yesterday, yesterday afternoon. " Bantai leiev said with a smile: "because you and your political commissar went to inspect the troops below, you don't know about it." I took the phone from akhromeyev's hand and politely said to the microphone, "Hello, chief of staff of the group army, I'm oshanina, division commander of the independent division. What's your instruction?"“ Comrade o'shanina, the situation in the city is very bad! " Krailov said in a hoarse voice: "on October 21 and 22, the living forces of * * attacked the smehotvorov and guriyev divisions along commune street and central street. From that day on, the battle for the "barricade" factory, the "Red October" factory and our Volga River Ferry became increasingly fierce. German air forces began to send out 2000 sorties every day and night to repeatedly bomb our defensive positions. In the past two days, the enemy has lost 15 tanks and more than 1000 infantry due to the tenacious resistance of our army. The German position was so close to our position that we could use the flamethrower. This batch of newly equipped flamethrowers can blow fire within 100 meters, killing all living things. Today, the enemy put the supplementary 79th infantry division into battle together with tanks. They attacked our army again under the cover of a large number of planes. The main direction of the assault was central street, karushelenaya street and the Red October factory. Now, the focus of the battle has shifted to the area from the barricade factory to the bannegou. At noon, at the cost of huge losses, the enemy broke into the main street of stalina (to the bakery) and crossed the factory railway, which was full of destroyed carriages. About a company of enemy automatic Gunners infiltrated the sector northwest of the Red October factory. The battle front approached the Volga river bank for about 300-500 meters, posing a serious threat to the last ferry of the group army. " After listening to krailov's introduction, I quickly asked, "Comrade General, what is the task of our independent division?" When I said this, I was beating my heart and praying to myself that he would not transfer us into the city again. But fortunately, what I was worried about didn't happen. He simply ordered: "according to the commander's order, your division's troops will go north immediately, meet with the friendly troops going south, and attract the enemy troops from the city."“ I understand. I promise to finish the task. " When I put down the phone, I asked akhromeyev to inform several regiment commanders who participated in the war to come to the meeting. When the troops were assembled, I immediately took them to the north to join the friendly troops going south.