For the German artillery and bombing, no matter in the northern highland or the southern highland, even in the 107.5 highland troops have had experience. I heard kirilov say that the third regiment was bombed two days ago, and almost all the commanders left behind were killed. So as soon as I heard the gunfire, my heart hung to my throat, and I was worried that the third regiment would suffer heavy casualties in the shelling.
Akhromeyev also thought about what I was worried about. He picked up the phone on the desk, shook through the three regiments, and asked aloud, "commander kosja, have you hidden all the supplies?"
"Comrade chief of staff." Kosga also replied with a loud voice: "although our camp has not been shelled by the German army, the troops have been concealed. There are also materials. If the materials are concealed properly, you can rest assured. "
After putting down the phone, akhromeyev reported to me, "Comrade division commander, the materials stored in the third regiment have been properly concealed and should not be hit by German artillery."
After listening to akhromeyev's report, I suddenly thought of something and couldn't help asking him: "chief of staff, although captain Dragan, who you just mentioned was wounded in the health camp, had participated in the battle to defend the central railway station, if I guess correctly, he should have been injured not long after the 13th division of guards entered the city, Then he is not familiar with the roads of the city. Would it be appropriate for him to lead the way for the shock troops? "
Kirilov, listening to me, asked with some hesitation, "Comrade oshanina, is that the way to let captain Dragan go to the Third Battalion?"
"Comrade political commissar, since this matter has been decided, it cannot be changed." What I said just now is that Captain Dragan is not familiar with the terrain of the city. It's not to change his decision to send him to the third battalion as commander. "According to the chief of staff, Captain Dragan is an excellent commander with rich combat experience, and what the third battalion lacks is just such talent, so let him serve as commander, It can't be more appropriate. "
"What position do you intend him to take?" Asked akhromeyev tentatively.
"As for the specific position!" Since akhromeyev mentioned Dragan just now, I have planned to assign him an independent position. However, when it comes to specific positions, I still hesitated. After all, I haven't met the other party and I don't know his level, so I hesitated and said, "when Captain Dragan comes, we'll talk to him, I don't think we should give him another job. "
"The teacher is very considerate, so let's do it." After bantailiev echoed me, he reminded akhromeyev: "chief of staff, call commander Gaidar of the fourth regiment and major Yamin of 107.5 highland respectively, and ask them how things are going there?"
Akhromeyev nodded and first dialed the fourth regiment. He asked Gaidar in a loud voice, "Hey, comrade commander, what's the situation there?"
"Report to the chief of staff," I heard Gaidar's voice from the receiver from a long distance. "At the beginning of the shelling, except for a few observers, the rest of the officers and men hid in the shelter or the blast hole." He knew what akhromeyev was concerned about, so he went on to report that "according to the observer's report, there was no sign that the enemy in the German forward position was attacking. It is estimated that they just wanted to suppress us with fire."
The situation here in the fourth regiment is still good, but the situation on the 107.5 highland is much worse. According to major Yamin's report, the observers who remained in the position were unable to provide accurate information because of the German artillery fire. However, there was a lot of dust in the northwest of the highland, and it was estimated that a large German army was moving towards the highland.
When akhromeyev was on the phone, everyone around him heard major Yamin's report. Bantai leiev first said, "Comrade division commander, our people on the 107.5 highland are dying. Should we send troops to reinforce them immediately?"
"It's no use, comrade deputy division." Without waiting for me to speak, akhromeyev expressed his own opinion: "the 107.5 highland is under the heavy artillery attack of the German army, even if more troops are thrown into it, it's also..." speaking of this, he obviously hesitated for a moment, and then went on to say, "it's all cannon fodder!"
"What, cannon fodder?" When Bantai leiev heard this word, he suddenly burst into a rage. He slapped hard on the table, then pointed to akhromeyev's nose and said, "what do you say, our soldiers are cannon fodder!"
Seeing that a quarrel would inevitably break out between them in a few seconds, I quickly stood up and stopped them. Then he told akhromeyev: "Comrade chief of staff, you call major Morozov, the artillery battalion commander, and ask him if he can cover the German troops with newly captured howitzers when they attack highland 107.5? As long as our artillery can suppress the enemy's attack, we can not send reinforcements to the Highlands for the time being. We should put more troops into the night containment operations. "
Akhromeyev soon got in touch with major Morozov. Recently, the other side has been worried about the lack of enough artillery in the artillery camp to provide artillery cover for the comrades who stick to the high ground. Last night, he finally added nine cannons and enough shells, which made him very happy. But it was said that the artillery could not fire at the enemy without my permission, and he became extremely depressed. At the moment, when he heard that he could cover the enemy's offensive troops, Morozov said excitedly, "Comrade chief of staff, please tell the division chief that I will beat the German invaders to pieces."
We are busy, we call captain Dragan, accompanied by a soldier, into the headquarters. He came up to me, raised his hand and said, "report to Mr. commander, Captain Dragan has been ordered to report to you and wait for your instructions."
"Captain Dragan," kirilov said with a smile, looking at the short but alert young man in front of him, "can you tell me your father's name and real name?"
"Anton kuzmitch Dragan." Captain Dragan replied respectfully.
"Well, comrade Anton kuzmitch, tell us your story." Kirilov said with great interest: "although the chief of staff, comrade akhromeyev, has said something about you, he doesn't seem to know much about it, so I want to hear from you."
Captain Dragan hesitated at kirilov's request. He turned to me for help, as if waiting for my order. Seeing this, I nodded and said encouragingly, "come on, comrade captain. I also want to hear how you defend the railway station. "
When Dragan saw that I had said the same thing, he did not delay it any longer, but immediately began to tell: "on September 15, a day soon after our division entered the city, I received the order of general rojmtsev, the division commander, and immediately led the troops to drive the enemy out of the central railway station.
As soon as I got to the church in Pushkin square with my troops, I met commander trakov passing by. As soon as we met, he asked bluntly, "Captain, where are your men?" Looking at the dozens of officers and soldiers behind me, he continued, "Oh, they are all here. Then accept my order and drive the prisoners out of the railway station immediately. Are you clear?"
I agreed to accept his order and immediately led the company to the station. As soon as we got close to the station, the Germans inside opened fire on my troops. Unfortunately, the soldiers in the front were shot and fell down. The soldiers in the back quickly fell down on the spot or hid in the ruins, and launched a counter fire with the Germans.
Major chervyakov, the battalion commander, caught up with me. He came to me with two soldiers, and while wiping his glasses, he reminded me: "cut off the enemy and contain them. We should stick there for a long time and take more grenades. "
I led the company in the dark to the railway roundabout of the station, where simple fortifications were built. At night, we are surrounded by the sound of shooting and explosion. The soldiers in the company took the combat group as a unit and used the fortifications built in some destroyed houses to fight against the enemy's attack very hard.
During the battle, I realized that the building of the station was in the hands of the enemy. So we went through the railway subgrade on the left. At the intersection, we saw a damaged tank of our army. There were more than ten tankers nearby. When we met with them in the past, we started a close fight with the enemy. First it was a grenade, then our soldiers rushed up. The sudden attack made the enemy run for his life and shoot in the dark.
In this way, our company occupied the station. When the enemy wakes up and knows that we have only one company, the solid fortifications have been occupied by us. Although the enemy attacked me many times from three directions, the station was still in our hands before dawn
The morning came unconsciously. It was a dreary morning in Stalingrad*** In the light of the dawn, hundreds of bombs were dropped on the station. The bombing was followed by artillery fire. The building of the station was on fire, the walls collapsed, the exposed steel bars twisted, but the soldiers continued to fight... "
In the middle of Dragan's story, the gunfire outside stopped, and then the telephone on the desk rang. Akhromeyev picked up the phone and recognized that the caller was major Yaming, commander of 107.5 highland. He quickly and loudly asked, "Hello, comrade major, what's the situation there?"
"The situation is very bad, comrade chief of staff." Yamin also loudly reported: "at present, our troops are entering the positions on the north slope from the south slope. Almost all the fortifications repaired last night were destroyed by German artillery fire. Therefore, I had to give up the hillside position, and only temporarily deployed a limited number of troops in the fortifications on the top of the mountain. The enemy infantry are coming towards our high ground under the cover of tanks. I implore the division headquarters to send reinforcements to me as soon as possible, otherwise we can't stop the enemy's attack with our present strength. "
After hearing what he said, akhromeyev frowned and said discontentedly, "major, please don't panic. When the enemy attacks your Highlands, we will provide you with necessary artillery support."
"Well," major Yamin recognized the dissatisfaction in akhromeyev's voice and said helplessly, "I will do my best to hold the position."
"All right, chief of staff." When akhromeyev put down the phone, I ordered him decisively: "call major Morozov immediately and let him fire immediately to suppress the incoming enemy."
When akhromeyev called, I said to Dragan, "Comrade captain, I officially announce to you that from now on, you are the commander of the Third Battalion of the third regiment. You will lead an army to the defense area of the 13th division of the guards tonight, and join your former comrades in arms to eliminate as many damned bandits as possible. Do you understand? "
Dragan was stunned when he heard that he had been appointed as battalion commander. He didn't wake up until I asked him one last sentence aloud. He answered me loudly, "I see!"