Chapter 936

Wittkov heard the news of kosga's injury nearby, and his face showed an unexpected expression. He said to kirilov in a low voice: "Comrade political commissar, it seems that commander kosga was injured in the German artillery bombardment."

When kirilov heard the news, he was also surprised and asked me with concern: "Comrade o'shanina, is what the chief of staff said true? Is colonel kosga seriously injured? "

I covered the microphone with my hand. As soon as I wanted to answer kirilov's question, I heard ahlomeyev's voice coming out of the receiver: "Comrade commander, what should I do now? Send someone to send Comrade commander back to the city?"

Hearing akhromeyev's voice, I quickly gave kirilov an apologetic smile, released my hand covering the microphone, and said to the microphone, "yes, comrade major. As soon as the military doctors had dealt with Col. kosga's injury, they sent him to the city. By the way, did the German army attack the airport after the shelling? "

"No," akhromeyev replied, "the German army just shelled the runway and blasted it to pieces, but did not damage the special plane on the side of the airport. The selective shelling is over, but according to the report of the front line, there is no movement at the starting position of their attack. "

After listening to akhromeyev's report, I surmised to myself that the German army might have carried out a round of shelling for fear that some important people would leave by that plane. Thinking of this, I told akhromeyev: "Comrade major, since the enemy has not moved, in addition to leaving a small force on guard in the airport, you should immediately lead a large force back to the city."

"Yes, comrade commander, I will carry out your order at once."

After I put down the phone, I said to kirilov, who was very anxious beside me: "Comrade political commissar, the German army has just shelled the airport. Because a battalion of the 171st division was in chaos when it was shelled, Lieutenant Colonel kosga was unfortunately hit by shrapnel when he went to maintain order. At present, the military doctors are treating it."

"Comrade commander, can he still command the battle?" Kirilov asked with concern.

"He's been hit by more than a dozen shrapnel, and has temporarily withdrawn from the battle." I said with a little regret: "it seems that the task of leading troops to attack HAMA can only be completed by others."

As soon as I finished, wittkov asked, "Comrade commander, who do you think is suitable to take his place?"

"I think it's up to major akhromeyev to complete this task." Although kosja was injured, there are still many people who can take over his command, but the first thing I think of is akhromeyev, the former chief of staff of the division“ When the third regiment was stationed in Kuban, it was under his command. I believe major akhromeyev will do well in the attack tomorrow. "

"Well, comrade commander." After listening to what I said, vetkov nodded and said, "I'll call general bandeleev and tell him about this so that he can make adjustments in time."

Maybe enemy scouts have been monitoring the movement of the airport. According to akhromeyev's report, not long after our troops withdrew from the airport, the forerunners of the "skull division" seized the airport. The main force of the 308th division, which was attacked by the German army, successfully withdrew from the city before dark after fierce fighting.

When the "skeleton division" and the "imperial division" surrounded zaborosh from both sides of the South and East, wittkov asked me, "Comrade commander, do you still convey the order that you mentioned today to exchange missions between the 171st division and the 308 division?"

Considering that general gurdyev's 308th division suffered a lot in the battle with the German army today, but its combat effectiveness has not been greatly affected. It should still be able to carry out the task of protecting the right wing of the 22nd division of the guards, I shook my head and replied, "no, comrade chief of staff. At present, the combat effectiveness of the 308th division is still there. There should be no problem for them to attack the German positions on the right wing of the bantaileiev division. If they exchange orders with the 171st division, they do not have to convey them down. "

At ten o'clock in the evening, Bantai leiev called me. On the phone, he reported to me: "Comrade commander, I have sent the reconnaissance troops of the division. At present, I am quietly passing through the ice and going to the other side of the river. They were accompanied by two observation groups from the artillery regiment. "

"Comrade division commander," when I heard that the reconnaissance troops of the Jinwei division had set out, I immediately asked with concern, "how many reconnaissance troops have you sent?"

"There are 50 men, all of whom have rich combat experience." Bantaileiev patiently explained to me: "in order not to be found by the German sentinels on the other side, they all climbed over the ice. The third regiment, as the first echelon, is also ready. Only when the scouts clear the German sentries on the bank and send a signal, they will follow them across the river

"Very good, sir. You have done a good job." After praising him casually, I added: "please keep in touch with the reconnaissance forces at any time. If you have any information, please report it to me immediately."

When I put down the phone, wittkov said with some uneasiness: "Comrade commander, I'm still a little uneasy. Can't the Germans discover our actions? "

I looked at him and replied with a bitter smile: "Comrade chief of staff, we can only gamble our luck at present. I hope that the German defense will be relaxed and our troops will be able to reach the other side of the river successfully. Otherwise, we can stick to zaborosh and wait for reinforcements. "

In our anxious waiting, time passed by. At four o'clock in the morning, the telephone on the desk suddenly rang. Vitkov, who had been waiting for a long time, grabbed the microphone and said in a loud voice, "Hello, I'm captain Vitkov, chief of staff. Where are you?"

"Chief of staff," I vaguely heard bantaileiev's voice: "after the reconnaissance troops cleared the guard posts by the river, the third regiment led by major ahlomeyev had passed the Dnieper River from the ice, entered the attack starting position, and successfully eliminated the enemy near the pontoon. In this way, our tanks can rush over the bridge by the way. "

"That's great. That's great." When he heard that the floating bridge of a regiment's defense area had fallen into our army's hands, wittkov said excitedly: "Comrade General, which commanders and fighters participated in the battle of seizing the floating bridge, report their orders to me immediately, and I will ask for credit for them. OK, go ahead and let me make a record of it... "

While witkov was recording the list of meritorious personnel, kirilov said to me in a quiet voice: "Comrade oshanina, since our army has captured the floating bridge that can pass through the armed forces, the chance of winning today's battle has been greatly improved. Do you think we need to report our attack plan to our superiors now? "

"No, comrade political commissar." When kirilov told me to report the attack plan to the higher authorities, I quickly waved my hand and objected: "now the German army is very strict in eavesdropping on our communications. I am worried that if we report the operation plan, there will be leakage. Therefore, it is not too late to report to the higher authorities after we have captured the position. "

Kirilov couldn't object to what I said so firmly. He could only nod his head to show his agreement.

Now that the pontoon has fallen into the hands of our army, we must make a quick decision so as not to have too many dreams at night. I quickly interrupted wittkov, who was talking to Bantai leiev, and said decisively to him: "chief of staff, please immediately tell division commander Bantai leiev to make his troops ready for battle. As soon as our artillery preparation is over, we will immediately attack HAMA city."

Wittkov covered the microphone and said to me in some embarrassment, "Comrade commander, it's not dawn yet. Is it too early to launch an attack now?"

"Chief of staff, tell Mr. leiev that the attack will start in an hour. Let him be ready for the attack." In order not to let vetkov have any bad ideas, I specially added: "if we wait for daybreak, as soon as our artillery fire, German planes will rush to our artillery positions and blow them into a sea of fire."

When I said this, wittcofton understood the original intention of my order. After nodding, he said to the microphone, "general Bantai leiev, the commander has a new order. The attack will start in an hour. I want you to make all preparations for the attack. As soon as our artillery preparation is over, we will attack HAMA city immediately. "

After wittkov finished his call with bandeleev, he dialed lieutenant colonel kaverin. As soon as he heard the other party's voice, he said aloud, "Comrade commander, the commander has orders. An hour later, we launched an artillery attack on the German army. Did your artillery observers send back the specific coordinate information? "

"The coordinates have been sent back, chief of staff." Kaverin replied in a low voice, "the artillery can be ready in half an hour and bombard the marked German positions."

"To be on the safe side, I'll give you an hour." Wittkov said in a reasonable way: "in 60 minutes, I want to hear the sound of artillery from the artillery position."

Then he called up pelsjian and asked, "Comrade major, how many tanks do you still have in your hand?"

"Report to the chief of staff!" After hearing wittkov's voice, perlsjian immediately reported respectfully: "at present, I have 12 tanks, 20 armored vehicles and the same number of three wheeled motorcycles. As long as the pontoon in the regiment's defense area can be taken down, I can lead the troops across the river. "

"The pontoon has been occupied by major akhromeyev's forces. Your armored forces can swagger across the Dnieper River from the pontoon." After briefing him briefly about the availability of the pontoon, wittkov asked with concern, "how much fuel and ammunition are there for the tank?"

"Please rest assured the chief of staff." "All the tanks and armored vehicles have just been replenished with fuel and ammunition. They have been fighting for a long time. I don't think there is any problem," pelsjian replied confidently

An hour later, there was a rumble of artillery outside the headquarters. It was the artillery regiment of kaverin preparing for the attack. I quickly walked out of the headquarters, came to the third floor, and looked in the direction of the fire. Although I can't see the spectacular scene of our army shelling the German army because of the shelter of other buildings, I can still imagine how the unprepared German army was bombed.

The shelling ended in about ten minutes. This is not because kaverin did not dare to carry out longer shelling because they were afraid of being found by German planes. It is because our ammunition reserves are limited and we may have exhausted all the shells in the shelling just now. I was about to go downstairs when I saw a soldier running up the stairs in a hurry. He came to me and raised his hand to salute. He flurried and said, "Comrade commander, chief of staff, please go back to the headquarters and say that there is a phone call from the 22nd division of the guards." I went back to the headquarters, took the phone from Vitkov's hand, heard the voice of leiev in the receiver, and said in a loud voice: "Sir, I'm oshanina. Do you have anything to report to me?"“ Report to the commander Bantailiev reported to me excitedly on the phone: "the third Regiment under the command of major akhromeyev is launching an attack on HAMA city. Several other regiments of our division are crossing the Dnieper River one after another. In an hour at most, these troops will be able to launch an attack on HAMA city. "