Chapter 785

My words stunned everyone.

After a long time, Bantai leiev tentatively asked: "Comrade teacher, why do you want to oppose the plan of lieutenant colonel xijerikov? You know, the western highland is closest to us, and the terrain is gentle, so it is easy for the troops to climb, and the attack on the highland is easy to work. "

The expression on his face returned to normal. He asked carefully, "Comrade division, did you deny my plan because you have already thought about the attack plan in your heart?"

Bantai leiev seemed to hear something from Sergey reekov's words, so he frowned and asked, "Comrade teacher, do you have a better plan than that proposed by Lieutenant Colonel Sergey reekov?"

"Comrade deputy division commander, I really have a plan in mind," I said modestly. "Although I don't know if it's really better than Comrade xiejerikov's plan, it's definitely a super bold plan."

Bantai leiev angrily returned to his seat and said to me in a sarcastic tone, "since that's the case, please tell us about your bold plan."

I stood up and scanned the whole room with my eyes. First of all, I expressed my objection: "comrades commander, the reason why I do not agree with the plan of lieutenant colonel chejerikov is that if we attack from the foot of the mountain on the west side, we will not have an unexpected effect. If we attack one point at the same time and then attack another point, it is easy to form point-to-point contention. On the contrary, it prolongs the fighting time and increases unnecessary casualties. "

After listening to my reasons, kosga said somewhat unconvinced: "Sir, we all know that the west side of the mountain is gentle and easy to climb, and our attack is easy to work. But now you have denied this direction of attack. Which direction should we attack? We can't attack the main position directly, can we

I looked at kosga with some surprise, but he said casually, and really guessed my plan. So I nodded and went on, "Colonel kosga is right. I'm going to send troops directly to attack the main German position."

As soon as my words came out, the whole room was stunned. Without waiting for anyone to speak again, I said, "my plan is to concentrate our superior forces and attack the enemy's main positions. On the other hand, we still need to send troops to make feint attacks on the East and West Hills, especially on the west side. We need to put in enough troops to make feint attacks, so that the enemy can not figure out which side our main attack direction is. "

After I finished, bantaileiev immediately put forward his retort: "Comrade division commander, I think it's a little too risky to directly attack the main German position. When the troops charge to the main position, they will be killed by fire from the East and West hills. The attack of troops will be frustrated by the enemy's cross fire; Even if we are forced to seize the position, we will pay extremely heavy casualties. "

After Bantai leiev's words, several commanders began to whisper. I know they are talking about the feasibility of my proposal, so I didn't stop them, but let them continue to discuss. When the discussion gradually subsided, I coughed and cleared my throat and said, "to attack the main position directly, one is that it can surprise the enemy; the other is that the feint attack from the East and West hills will distract the enemy's attention and make them unable to concentrate on defense. In this way, we can capture the enemy's position with the least casualties in the shortest time."

Bantaileiev saw that my attitude was firm and it was not good to argue with me in front of many subordinates. He could only take a compromise. His eyes swept from every commander on the scene, and he said helplessly: "let's talk about it. What are the different opinions on the plan proposed by the teacher?"

I also curiously observed the expressions of the commanders, hoping to hear what additional opinions they would have. Colonel kosga looked around, then stood up, leaned forward slightly, put his hands on the edge of the table, and said, "I think the deputy commander's worry is reasonable. According to the information from the reconnaissance, the distance between the East and West Hills is 800 meters. That is to say, most of the routes attacked by the troops attacking the main positions are in the range of the enemy's machine gun fire. The attacks we launched are easily defeated by the enemy. "

"Comrade commander, I don't agree with you." As soon as he had finished speaking, he immediately stood up and retorted, "I think the teacher's plan is more feasible. Although the distance between the East and the West was not far, the fortifications on the hillside were built temporarily by the German army, which could not stop our army's fierce attack. What's more, the division commander also said that while launching an attack on the main positions, we should also feint attacks on the East and West Mountains. In this way, the enemy will not know where our main attack direction is, so we can't concentrate our forces on one point to defend. Therefore, we are quite sure that we will capture the enemy's positions with the least casualties in a short time. "

When he heard that xiejerikov supported my plan, bantaileiev's face became more and more ugly. It is estimated that in his heart, he still thought that my playing method was too risky, but maybe it was for my face. Although he didn't agree with my plan, he didn't directly say the opposite. Instead, he transferred the contradiction in time: "since the two leaders have talked about their own views, So next, I think we should listen to the ideas of the battalion commanders. "

As soon as the commander of the second battalion of the third regiment had finished what Bantai leyev said, he immediately stood up and said, "I support the opinion of the commander, Lieutenant Colonel kosga." Then he sat back to his position.

Then Nikolay and shereblenny stood up one after another. As I expected, they expressed their support for their regiment. The opinion of lieutenant colonel sherekov also indirectly supported my proposal.

The last one to stand up was major terenkov, the commander of the Third Battalion of the first regiment. He hesitated for a moment, and finally said ambiguously, "I am determined to obey the orders of my superiors. If the higher authorities ask our battalion to fight the main position, we will fight the main position. If we go to the East and west mountain tops to make feint attacks, we will go to the East and west sides to perform feint attacks. "

I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It's almost ten o'clock. If we continue our discussion, I don't know when we can come to a conclusion. So I stood up and said decisively, "well, you don't have to talk about it any more. We'll take the plan of feigning to attack the main position directly on the East and west sides of the mountain. The attack will start at 11 o'clock this morning. Now I will announce the tasks to be undertaken by the battalions in the next battle: the Nikolay battalion of the first regiment is responsible for the feint attack on the east hill; The second battalion of the third regiment was responsible for the feint attack on the Western Hilltop; The main attack task of the front main position was carried out by shereblenny's battalion, and the Third Battalion of major jerenkov served as the reserve. For the time being, the troops directly under the regiment of the first regiment are responsible for the defense of kongnieyi. After the assignment, do you have any different opinions? "

As soon as I said it, I regretted it. What I am now has the final say of the highest military officer in the whole division, and what attack plan to take and which troops to attack is entirely up to me to decide. If anyone really puts forward different opinions, it will waste a lot of time in order to unify their opinions.

What I was worried about soon became a reality. When several commanders stood up and walked outside, Nikolay suddenly said with some dissatisfaction: "Comrade division, I have different opinions."

"Tell me, comrade captain." Because camp Nikolay has made a great contribution in the battle of seizing konaiyi City, I can only listen to it in time. As long as it is not too difficult for me, I still have to find a way to satisfy him. I sat back in my seat and asked with a headache, "do you have any different opinions?"

"Sir, why did you send our battalion to perform the feint task?" Nikolay said wrongly: "although our battalion suffered a lot of casualties in the siege, there is no problem in capturing a poorly defended highland. Sir, I want to assure you that we will take down the main position in the shortest time. So I implore you to leave the task of attacking the main position to our battalion. "

After listening to Nikolay's complaints, I stood up and said to him in an official voice: "Captain Nikolay, according to the regulations, the commander's orders are not allowed to be discussed. Since you have ordered your battalion to carry out the feint task, go and carry out it well. In the days to come, we still have a lot of vicious battles to fight. Are we afraid that we will not be able to carry out more important tasks in your battalion? "

When Nikolay heard me say this, his face was smiling again. He said sincerely, "yes, sir, I will obey your orders." After that, he raised his hand to salute Bantai leiev and me, and turned to leave.

Looking at his back, I suddenly thought of an important thing, and quickly stopped him: "Hello, Captain Nikolay, please wait a moment, I have something important to discuss with you."

Nikolay, who had just arrived at the door, stopped, turned to look at me and asked, "Sir, do you have any instructions?"

I walked up to him quickly and asked quietly, "Comrade captain, how many commanders and fighters in your camp can drive tanks or armored vehicles?"

"There are probably two platoons," Nikolay did not know why I asked, but he told me truthfully: "they were all tank soldiers before they were captured. The last time you asked major Prikhodko to jump tank soldiers among the released prisoners of war, my soldiers who were tankers were a little excited, but they were afraid of being discriminated, so I didn't mention it. By the way, I almost forgot. In addition, there are about one platoon of artillery. Each of them has rich combat experience. As long as they have guns, they can immediately form an Artillery Force. "

Nikolay's words really surprised me. Originally, I thought it would be good to find out about ten tankers. Unexpectedly, there were two platoons and one platoon of artillery. In any case, in addition to tanks and armored vehicles, there were three 150 mm K18 cannons in the baggage on the square, which could arm them. Thinking of the tanks and cannons that will be put into battle, my voice changed a little: "Captain Nikolay, you leave all these soldiers behind and hand them over to captain busmanov, do you understand?"

"I understand." Nikolay readily agreed, and then carefully asked me: "Sir, comrade, may I leave?"

"Go ahead, go ahead," I said excitedly, waving to him, "go back to the army quickly and get ready for battle as soon as possible."

Looking at the figure of Nikolay's leaving, leyev, who had just come to the class, said excitedly: "Comrade division, this is really great. If we have tanks and cannons now, it will not be difficult to capture the enemy's positions any more. I reckon that as long as the cannon goes off, the enemy will have to pay for everything on the hillside, and then let our soldiers rush up and take down the position. "

Although I decided on the most adventurous attack plan arbitrarily at the meeting just now, I was still a little uneasy. Listening to Bantai leiev's confidence, I just said with a wry smile: "Comrade deputy division commander, although we have tanks and cannons, which have greatly strengthened our army's offensive strength, at the same time, we should also see that, The Germans who stick to the high ground have more skilled technical and tactical level and rich combat experience than our commanders and fighters, so we can't take it lightly at all. "

The German highland is in the northwest of kongniayi City, only four kilometers away from the city. There is a dirt road passing through the foot of the mountain. If we want to continue to go north, we must seize this highland. With the issuance of the operational order, the whole army moved quickly. In less than half an hour, only one company of a regiment directly under the regiment was left to take up the defensive task in the small town where more than 3000 people were originally stationed.

Basmanov and I set up our observation post on a small slope two kilometers away from the highland, from which we can clearly see the whole battlefield. As there was no ready-made telephone line, I asked basmanov to take a squad of soldiers from the guard company to act as a temporary Messenger, so that I could give orders to the troops in time.

At that time, when the needle pointed to eleven o'clock, I nodded to basmanov, so he walked out of the observation post, raised the signal gun he had captured, fired a red signal bomb into the air, and sent out an attack signal to the troops who had been eager to try.

With the launch of the signal bomb, the commanders and fighters hiding at the foot of the mountain jumped from the ground one after another and rushed to the front hillside with guns.

Bantai leiev saw a lot of officers and men rushing forward in his telescope. He could not help but nervously remind me, "Comrade division commander, why don't you prepare for the artillery fire and let the troops attack?"

I pointed to the Highlands in front of me and said with disapproval, "Comrade deputy division commander, we only have three guns and five tanks. If we want to prepare for the three Highlands, it will be a waste of time. Now our commanders and fighters attack the Highlands without artillery cover. This will give the Germans the illusion that we do not have heavy weapons, and their firepower and heavy weapons will be exposed when they are deployed on the hillside. In this way, we can allow artillery and tanks to destroy the enemy's fire points one by one and cover the attack of our troops. "

"Well, sir." Bantai leiev said helplessly after I finished my thoughts: "since you are so sure, we will wait until the enemy's firepower and heavy weapons are exposed, and then order artillery and tanks to fire."

As soon as he finished, the German troops on the hillside opened fire. In the direction of the main position, in addition to the long muzzle fire from several civil fire points connected with the trench, there were several mortar shells whistling out of the trench, drawing an invisible arc in the air, and then fell into the attack line on the hillside and exploded. The fire flashed at the explosion point, making a huge noise. At the same time, the flying shrapnel knocked down several soldiers nearby.

Troops under German artillery fire and fire were evacuated immediately. Some of them lay on the ground and shot, while others, in groups of three, rolled and leaped to approach the enemy's position under alternate cover of the terrain.

"Captain busmanov." Seeing the attack from the main attack direction and being suppressed by the enemy's firepower, I rushed to the door and called my own guard battalion commander.

As I called, busmanov appeared at the door. Without waiting for him to speak, I told him, "Comrade captain, there are mortars in the German main position, which pose a great threat to our attacking troops. We immediately ordered the cannons platoon to fire and destroy all of them."

Basmanov agreed, turned around and yelled out. He called a soldier who was a temporary guest messenger. He repeated my order to him and asked him to rush to the artillery platoon immediately to convey the order.

As busmanov relayed my orders at the door, I turned my attention to camp Nikolay, who was feigning on the east side of the hill. Perhaps it is because the battalion is made up of experienced soldiers. Under the suppression of the enemy's firepower, they fight very methodically. The soldiers crawl to the enemy's hillside position, and as soon as they get into the distance, they lie on the ground and drop the grenades directly. The shrapnel exploded in front of and behind the enemy's trench, and the fire was reduced.

"Comrade deputy division commander," seeing this scene, I immediately called to Bantai leiev: "you come to see the Nikolay camp, which is performing the feint task on the east side, and they are playing quite well. Their soldiers crawled into the distance, and the grenades put down the enemy's fire. "

"It's good. It's really good." Bantaileiev watched the battle of the Nikolay battalion for a while, and said with praise, "it's really a good fight for the veteran troops. In the face of the enemy's fierce fire, instead of rushing forward in a dense formation, they took the squad as a unit, crawled into the bomb dropping distance, and used hand grenades to suppress the enemy's fire. If our division can have more such battalions, its combat effectiveness will be greatly improved. "

I turned the telescope to the nearest mountain on the west side, which made me very angry. The German positions on the hilltop and hillside were frantically shooting at the foot of the mountain, while the troops of the second battalion of the third regiment were lying at a distance of at least 300 meters from the enemy positions to shoot back.

Bantai leiev may have seen me trembling with anger and asked unexpectedly, "what's the matter with you, sir?"

I pointed to the direction of the feint attack of the third regiment and said angrily, "I gave them the task of feint attack, but you see what they have done. They all lie hundreds of meters away from the enemy's position and shoot. God knows where the bullets are flying."

After listening to me, Bantai leiev turned his telescope around in a hurry and looked at it for a moment. He also said angrily, "what's the matter with lieutenant colonel kosga? When he attacked the South Gate in the early morning, he asked the soldiers to queue up to die. As a result, he was criticized by us. Now it's good. Their troops are lying so far away and firing. Can they attract the attention of the German army and cover our frontal attack? " At this point, he angrily suggested to me, "Comrade division commander, I don't think lieutenant colonel kosga is suitable to be the head of the third regiment. I suggest that we replace him immediately."

Although I have a lot of dissatisfaction with lieutenant colonel kosga in my heart, it will affect the morale of the army to change the commander on the spot. Thinking of this, I waved to leiev and said, "Comrade deputy division commander, it's not right now. Even if we want to remove him, we have to wait until the end of the battle. If someone were sent to replace him now, the third regiment might collapse. "

"But, sir." Bantai leiev said anxiously: "you see, the commanders and fighters of the third regiment are all lying there, and even the enemy fools will understand that our attack in this direction is only a feint attack. In this way, they may mobilize part of their forces to reinforce the position or use firepower to kill our front attacking troops from the flank."

"Busmanov!" I yelled at the outside. As soon as the voice fell, busmanov, who had been watching the movement of the station, appeared at the door. I pointed to the direction of the third regiment and ordered loudly: "Comrade captain, let the tanks go out immediately to reinforce the third regiment. Go yourself. By the way, I'll tell the third commander, Lieutenant Colonel kosga, that if I don't see his troops launch an attack on the western hill five minutes after the tanks arrive, then he will lose his rank of lieutenant commander and be sent to the military court. "

"You are right, sir!" Bantaileiev gave timely support to my handling opinions. "In such a battle, the military law should be strict. If the third regiment does not attack the west side of the mountain, not only kosja, the commander of the regiment, can't run away, but also his battalion commander."

Seeing basmanov still standing at the door, I yelled at him angrily: "Captain, what are you still doing here? Why don't you take the tank unit to support the third regiment?"

Not long after basmanov left, the artillery platoon began to fire.

A moment later, in my sight, the cannonball landed in the trench on the hillside and exploded. The enemy's trench area was ablaze with fire, smoke and dust, and pieces of wood, broken parts of various firearms and human remains were thrown into the air. After several rounds of firing, with the fire and black smoke covering the enemy's firepower points, the original raging firepower network on the enemy's position weakened, and the commanders and fighters who were suppressed on the hillside quickly jumped up from the ground and rushed to the hillside.

Seeing our officers and men approaching the hillside position, the artillery platoon extended its fire and began to bombard the German position on the top of the mountain. The German troops in the hillside position were dazed by the explosion. Before they recovered, some agile commanders and fighters rushed into the trench and opened close combat and hand to hand combat with them.

I turned the telescope to the west side again, and saw five tanks in a neat formation, speeding towards the assembly site of the third regiment. When the tank was about 800 meters away from the highland, it stopped moving forward. Then it lined up and made a good shooting posture. At this time, about fifty or sixty people jumped up from the soldiers lying on the ground and bravely rushed to the hillside.

Seeing that the troops that had been lying on the ground for a long time finally moved, I swore in a low voice: This lieutenant colonel kosga is really toasting and not eating and drinking. If you don't send basmanov to threaten you, you don't know how to send troops to attack.

My swearing was heard by Bantai leiev, but not much. Because the voice was too small, he didn't hear it clearly, so he asked me curiously, "what? What are you talking about, sir? "

Of course, I would not tell him that I was scolding kosga. Instead, I pointed to the west side and said, "deputy division commander, you see, as soon as I sent captain basmanov, the commander kosga sent troops to attack the hillside."

Bantai leiev looked at the other side casually, then muttered to himself, "this busmanov is really fast. The tank is still so far away from the highland. He actually conveyed your order to lieutenant colonel kosga in such a short time." Then he raised his telescope and looked to the West.

He only looked at it a few times, and then he suddenly yelled, "Damn it, damn it."

I was startled by what he said and asked, "what's the matter, comrade Deputy teacher?"

He put down his telescope, pointed to the distance and said angrily, "Comrade division, Captain busmanov has not had time to convey your order to lieutenant commander kosga. Commander, maybe he saw the tank you sent and knew that you were dissatisfied with him, so he rushed up with people himself. "

"What, Lieutenant Colonel kosga himself took people up?" I was startled by the words of Bantai leiev, and I immediately asked, "can't you read it wrong?" Bantai leiev looked at me innocently and said with a bitter smile, "Comrade teacher, how can I be wrong at such a long distance. Take a look for yourself. One of the people at the front is commander kosga in a big cornice hat. The people around him should be his guards. " I quickly raised my telescope and looked over there. The officers and men who had just rushed up the hillside were lying behind the small earth slopes less than 100 meters away from the hillside position, shooting at the enemy above. A commander in a cornice hat is lying behind a light machine gun, operating the machine gun to shoot at the enemy. When I look at it carefully, the commander of the temporary guest shooter is no other than the commander of the third regiment. Seeing that some commanders and fighters around him were shot and rolled down the hillside from time to time, my heart was raised to my throat. If such a feint mission would cost a regimental commander, then even if we won the highland, we would be defeated. When I was very anxious, the tanks lined up at the foot of the mountain opened fire. Five tank shells landed in front of the hillside position and exploded. The fire and black smoke from the explosion blocked the sight of both sides. As the enemy's firepower weakened, the commanders and fighters who were lying at the foot of the mountain rushed forward to see their commanders. They also got up from the ground one after another, bent down and rushed up with guns. Seeing this situation, I was relieved that since there were tanks to provide artillery cover, as long as kosga was not an idiot, he could turn feint into a strong attack and seize the western mountain from the German army. I turned my attention to the east to see how camp Nikolay was playing. I was overjoyed to see that although the terrain on the east side of the mountain was steep, the troops of Nikolay battalion had successfully captured the hillside position without the cover of artillery fire, and the troops were marching towards the top of the mountain in the face of a hail of bullets. Bantaileiev soon saw this situation, and again said with emotion: "this captain Nikolay is not simple. It's just a feint mission, but he turned it into a formal attack." After pausing for a moment, he suddenly uttered a startling remark, "Comrade division commander, I have an idea that he may be the right person to be the head of the third regiment?"