About a quarter of an hour later, lieutenant commander Oleg called the division headquarters and reported that the German attack was repulsed and the situation in Highland 107.5 was eased because the fresh troops of the third regiment arrived on the battlefield in time.
Although Oleg repeatedly assured me on the phone that with the support of the third regiment, he was sure to hold the position firmly. But at the critical moment with a few hours to go before the counterattack, I didn't dare to take it lightly. After I finished the call with him, I took the initiative to call the third commander, Lieutenant Colonel kosga. On the phone, I asked sternly, "Comrade commander, your third battalion is now fighting the Germans on Highland 107.5. When can the rest of the troops get there?"
"Report, sir," kosga replied hastily, "the first battalion has just started by truck, the second battalion is assembling, and it can start in five minutes."
"Well done, comrade commander." Seeing that kosga's action was so quick, I praised him with satisfaction, and then told him, "remember, keep communication open so that you can get in touch at any time."
After I finished the call, akhromeyev, who had just returned from the telephone, reported to me: "Comrade division commander, the enemy who attacked the fourth regiment's position has retreated in ashes after leaving 70 or 80 bodies and nearly the number of wounded."
After listening to the situation of the fourth regiment, I asked akhromeyev, "how is the situation of the first regiment?"
"According to lieutenant colonel chejerikov, the officers and men of the first regiment are full of fighting enthusiasm. They can only rush towards the enemy with their heads held high by the order of attack."
"What about the artillery and tank battalions?" Kirilov and akhromeyev immediately asked him about the other two independent combat units.
"Major perskin reported that the tanks had sufficient fuel and ammunition to be ready for combat. As for the artillery battalion, "ahlomeyev said here, looking at me unconsciously, and then hesitated to say," they are ready to fight at any time. They are now waiting for the division commander to give the order to enter the position. "
"Chief of staff, call major Morozov and tell him not to worry. The counter offensive of our division begins at 12 o'clock. Before receiving my order, they should continue to stay in the hiding Department... "As soon as I said this, my words were interrupted by a strange sound from outside, as if something was flying over our headquarters.
People in the headquarters heard this voice. Political commissar sherbina came up to me and asked nervously, "Comrade deputy commander, this voice is so strange. Is it some new weapon used by the enemy to attack mamayev post?"
I didn't pick him up. Instead, I raised my legs and ran out. If the German army really used any new weapons, I would have to figure out the Countermeasures in advance. When I ran out of the headquarters, I found that the fog outside was gradually dispersing, and the strange sound just heard was coming from my head. I quickly looked up and saw objects with long tails flying at a high speed over the mamayev post towards the West. At this moment, I suddenly understood that it was our army's rockets that fired, and the sound I heard was the sound of rockets flying in the air.
Shelbina may not have seen flying rockets before. He looked at the rockets that drew arcs in the air in surprise and asked, "Comrade deputy commander, what's flying in the sky?"
His question immediately aroused laughter from several of us. Kirilov asked him with great interest, "Comrade shelbina, have you never seen such a weapon before?"
"I haven't seen it." Shelbina shook his head and asked modestly, "what kind of weapon is this?"
"Rockets, our Rockets!" Kirilov said with pride: "it seems that the counterattack of our Stalingrad front army has begun. It must be the artillery preparation before the attack."
"This is the rocket?" "Few infantry people have ever seen this kind of strictly confidential mobile device in the near future," said shelbina with self mockery
When I heard what shelbina said, I couldn't help frowning and thinking about it. It seems that it's true. I've been in the army for a year, and I've never seen a Soviet rocket at close range.
We were standing outside the headquarters, looking at the Rockets flying in the sky happily. Suddenly major basmanov ran out of the headquarters, ran to me, stopped and said aloud, "Comrade division commander, the commander of the group army has called and said that he has something important to inform you."
As soon as I put the receiver close to my ear, I heard trakov's excited voice: "Comrade oshanina, you see, our artillery has opened fire. This is the preparation for the attack. It's enough for the Germans to drink.
After the artillery preparation is over, the assault of the front army will be carried out in the sarpa Lake area 6 or 70 kilometers away from the headquarters of our group army. It was our group army and our neighbor that turned to attack. I was startled by the words of trakov. It was a supreme honor to name a battalion in his own name. You know, even if you get ten red flag medals in battle, it's far less than this honor. No matter how many medals a person gets, to remember him is to be familiar with his superiors and comrades in arms; Even if it takes decades or even longer for a battalion to be named after itself, as long as it is mentioned, the name of the heroic battalion commander will be mentioned again by later generations.
I took a deep breath, and when my mood was a little more stable, I solemnly said to trikov, "Comrade commander, I will convey your message to the commanders and fighters. Please rest assured that the independent division will definitely achieve more brilliant results in this great counterattack. " At the end of the conversation with trakov, I couldn't calm down for a long time. For this supreme honor, I even had the idea of leading my troops to the city of gorodyser. But soon, I tried to drive this tempting idea out of my mind, because I am a division commander and deputy commander of the group army. My post is in the headquarters, and I can't take the troops to attack like an ordinary battalion commander. Kirilov when they came back from the outside, they noticed my difference. Kirilov quickly came over and asked with concern, "Comrade oshanina, what's the matter? What's commander trakov saying on the phone?" I repeated trekov's words to several people in a voice that was a little bit out of tune with excitement. I didn't expect that several people's reaction was worse than mine. They were stunned at first, and then they cheered. After the cheering, akhromeyev took the initiative to ask me to fight: "Comrade division commander, when this great moment comes, I can't do nothing in the division headquarters, so I ask to go to the front-line combat forces, even if I only command a battalion or a company."“ No, absolutely not. " Without waiting for me to speak, kirilov had already stopped ahlomeyev's immature idea: "major ahlomeyev, don't forget that you are the chief of staff of the independent division. Your command position is to assist the division commander in commanding the battle in the division headquarters, not to rush into the army." After that, he told akhromeyev, "chief of staff, call the heads of the regiments immediately and convey the words of commander trakov to them." Seeing akhromeyev pick up the phone, I immediately added: "chief of staff, by the way, how are the enemies in front of the second and fourth regiments?"