When I heard that the puwai landing site was being attacked by the German army, my blood ran up to my head. I rushed to Gusev with a lunge, grabbed the microphone in his hand, and said in a tone of command: "Hello, Mr. askarebov, report to me immediately about your situation there."
"Comrade deputy commander," askarepov reported by telephone, "the enemy is carrying out intensive shelling on our front-line defensive positions, and there are more than a dozen bombers bombing and strafing our second echelon."
I listened to the boom from my headphones, and I could imagine how intensive the enemy's shelling and bombing were. I asked nervously, "what's the situation with the troops?"
"We have lost contact with the 215th guard regiment," askarepov said excitedly. "Maybe the telephone line was broken by German artillery fire. But please rest assured that the commanders and fighters will never let an enemy pass through our positions. "
"I see." When I finished this sentence, I hung up the phone and ordered Gusev: "general Gusev, immediately give an order to the artillery deployed by the river visva to suppress the enemy's artillery."
"Comrade deputy commander, is it too dangerous to do so?" "Once our artillery fire, it will certainly attract the attention of the German air force. If they send planes to bomb, it will cause us great casualties," the chief of staff said
Seeing that the chief of staff was so panicked, I gave him a dissatisfied look and said, "if the Germans have planes, we don't have them?" With these words, I picked up the phone on my desk and asked the messenger to connect me with the headquarters of the sixth group army of the air force. As the deputy commander of the front army, I also have the right to directly transfer the air force.
The person who answered the phone was air force major general berenin. After he recognized my voice, he politely asked, "Comrade deputy commander of the front army, do you have any instructions?"
"General berenin," thinking of the current situation of the puwai landing site, I didn't care to exchange greetings with the other side, so I gave him a direct order: "the German army has sent out more than a dozen bombers and are carrying out indiscriminate bombing on our puwai landing site. I order you to immediately send out two fighter teams to drive away the enemy's planes."
"Comrade deputy commander," said berenin politely after hearing my order, "we may not be able to send so many fighters for the time being due to the lack of enough fuel and ammunition."
"How much is that going to do?" I asked, frowning.
"It's only two squadrons at most, and it's the kind of three," he replied
"No, there are too few squadrons." I heard that he could only send two fighter squadrons of three aircraft scale, but considering that he has a demand for him now, he can only patiently say: "six planes are too few. You will suffer losses when competing with the enemy for the air supremacy of puwai landing site. You need to send at least one squadron."
As for my order, berenin hesitated for a long time, then clenched his teeth and said, "Comrade deputy commander, in this way, I'll send you two squadrons of four planes to provide air cover for puwai. Do you think that's ok?"
I know very well in my heart that every minute in the battle is precious. Seeing that berenin agreed to send out eight fighter planes to expel the enemy planes over puwai, I said decisively, "well, general berenin, please send out your fighter planes immediately. You must drive out the enemy planes over puwai in the shortest time."
"I understand." "I'm going to give you the order to fight," he replied loudly
As soon as I put down the phone, I told Gusev, "Comrade General, please arrange vehicles and ships for me. I'll go to the pwawi landing site myself."
"What, you're going to the poivais landing site." My words startled Gusev, and he quickly advised me: "Comrade deputy commander, it's too dangerous. You can't go there."
"Don't worry, general Gusev." Although I had made up my mind that I would never go to the most dangerous front line again, considering the importance of the powavi landing site, I felt it necessary to go there in person, so I stubbornly said, "you don't have to worry about my safety, I will be more careful."
Gusev saw that my attitude was firm, so he didn't advise me much. First he told me to prepare a jeep for me, and then he called the commander who was in charge of managing the boats by the river and asked him to prepare a boat for me to cross the river.
An hour later, after successfully crossing the visva River and walking for another half an hour, I finally showed up at the headquarters of askarepov.
When he saw me suddenly, ascallepoverton was shocked: "Comrade deputy commander, how did you come here?"
"Let me see." After I finished this sentence, I went straight to the theme: "Comrade teacher, what's the situation here?"
"The enemy's artillery has stopped firing after being suppressed by our artillery. Their bombers were also driven away by our fighters. " Askarepov reported to me with a flat expression: "next, they may launch a ground attack. But please rest assured that our soldiers will be able to crush their attack. "
I went to the lookout, picked up the telescope on the windowsill and looked at the smoke filled position in the distance. Although the enemy's shelling and bombing had stopped long ago, the smell of blood on the battlefield was so thick that it was about to drip out. Mixed with the smoke, it formed a disgusting mist. It came with the wind and irritated my eyes and throat.
I quickly put down my telescope, covered my mouth and coughed a few times. Then I turned and looked at askarepov standing in the middle of the headquarters. Pretending to be calm, I asked, "Comrade division, how are your casualties?"
"According to the report, there are 92 casualties in the 215th regiment of the close guard in the first line of defense," askarepov shrugged and said helplessly, "while the casualties in the 217th and 219th regiments of the second line of defense are more than 400."
After askarepov's explanation, I finally ordered why I just smelled so choking smoke and blood. The second echelon, originally deployed near the headquarters, suffered heavy losses in the enemy's bombing.
I just wanted to say something. A staff officer sitting not far away, after receiving a phone call, stood up and reported to askarepov: "Comrade division commander, the frontier report says that the enemy has launched ground fortifications."
Askarebov and I came to the observation port. At the same time, we raised our telescope and looked into the distance. We saw a large group of German officers and men pouring out from the forest a few kilometers away. Under the cover of seven or eight tanks, they bent over with all kinds of weapons and trotted towards our position.
Our artillery on the East Bank of the visva river opened fire as soon as the Germans were halfway through. Due to the limited shells, the German attack road could not be completely blocked. But one after another falling shells exploded in the German line, causing a lot of casualties to the enemy. The tank that covered the infantry charge was hit by shells from time to time. After a dazzling flash of fire, it emitted rolling black smoke and stopped in the middle of the battlefield.
Although the German tanks were destroyed one by one under the attack of our artillery, the enemy still rushed to our defensive position tenaciously. Seeing this situation, askarebov just snorted and said with disdain, "no matter how many Germans come here without the cover of tanks, they will only die."
With these words, he turned to the chief of staff one after another: "call the 215th regiment of the guards and let them prepare for all battles. In a few minutes, the Germans will rush into their fire range. Give me a hard hit!"
As soon as the order was given, the German army approached our position. The soldiers, who had long been ready, opened fire decisively. The dark red fire whip shot from the fire point swung back and forth, and the layers of fire net woven by it would make one German figure after another; The mortars in the position were not idle. They bombarded the enemy constantly. The continuous shrieking mixed with the indistinguishable bullet points, and the gaps in the German queue were filled in immediately. The smoke and dust mixed with the broken limbs.
About a battalion of German troops lost at least 300 people in the 20 minute battle. Seeing that the rest of them could not break through our defense, they began to retreat to the rear under alternate cover. When the enemy retreated 200 meters away from our army, the firing of light and heavy machine guns, rifles and submachine guns on the positions gradually stopped, leaving only mortars still firing occasionally, and sporadic shells falling among the enemy, causing them constant casualties.
"This wave of German attack was repulsed by us." Askarepov put down his telescope, looked at me and said, "it will be at least another hour before they launch a new attack."
As soon as his words were finished, I saw through the telescope that there were dense German soldiers rushing out of the forest in the distance, carrying weapons and coming quickly.
I quickly pointed to the German soldiers who suddenly appeared, and said to askarepov, who was in a state of complacency: "Comrade division, don't you say that the Germans will attack again in an hour? Now tell me, where did these Germans come from? "
Askarepov raised his telescope and looked at the group of Germans who suddenly rushed out. He was stunned and said repeatedly, "it's impossible. It's impossible. The Germans will never engage in such a continuous attack. There must be something unexpected."
When the fleeing German army and the advancing friendly army were about to meet, the latter suddenly opened fire on his colleagues. The German soldiers who had just escaped from our guns fell down in pieces. Seeing this scene, I can't help but be stunned. My heart says that the German soldiers who just rushed up are not the SS, they are specially for enforcing battlefield discipline. So when I see the defeated troops, I will not hesitate to shoot them?
After killing all the defeated soldiers, the German soldiers continued to run towards our position. However, I found a very strange phenomenon. During their running, their weapons were all held in their hands, as if they were not afraid of us shooting.
"What the hell is going on?" Askarepov turned to me and asked in surprise.
Before I could figure out the answer, I saw another group of German soldiers and even a few armored vehicles in the forest. The armored car stopped at the edge of the forest, and the machine guns on it began to fire at the soldiers running in the middle of the battlefield, and immediately knocked down more than a dozen soldiers who ran last.
Immediately after the soldiers were attacked from the rear, an officer like man jumped out, leaving a group of soldiers to fight back in place, and then took the rest to run towards our position.
"Comrade deputy commander, what's going on?" Askarepov became more and more confused when he saw this situation. He asked me anxiously, "what should we do?" Seeing that the German soldiers who were running for their lives were shot by machine guns in the rear, my brain flashed. I immediately guessed the origin of this army, and immediately called askarepov: "Comrade division commander, call the troops in the front quickly, and order them not to shoot. The group of German soldiers coming here are our own."“ What, our own people? " Askarebov seemed more and more confused when I said this, but time was pressing. If he didn't give the order, the officers and men of the 215th regiment of the guards might shoot. So I gave him a hard push and said, "I'll explain to you later. Go and give the order quickly!" Askarebov rushed to the table, grabbed the phone and said to the receiver, "Hello, this is Mr. askarebov. I now order that no one should shoot at the German soldiers who are coming! I repeat, no one is allowed to shoot at the coming German soldiers! " After askarepov returned to me, I solemnly told him, "Comrade division commander, some time ago we flew a troop to the enemy's rear to fight. After completing their mission, they planned to break through here tonight. Now there may be something wrong, so their breakthrough is ahead of schedule. " As the forward forces received our order not to shoot, the troops disguised as German troops entered the trenches one after another. Even the soldiers after the break, after paying more than ten casualties, successfully retreated into our defense area. When all the living soldiers entered the trench, the telephone rang in the headquarters, and the head of the 215th regiment of the guards reported to askarepov: "Comrade division commander, I have just asked the commanders in charge that they are going to carry out tasks behind the enemy." I went up to askarepov and said in a loud voice, "ask if the commander in charge is major monakov. If so, let him come to the division headquarters immediately."