An enemy plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire from the shore and flew away with a long smoke strip in tow, and the remaining enemy plane did not dare to fight, and after strafing indiscriminately for a while, it also flapped its wings and flew north, leaving the battlefield. The flotilla was now approaching the shore and entered the blind spot of enemy artillery fire, and the enemy's artillery stopped its futile shelling.

Due to the obscuration of the hill, we could not see the specific situation on the pier in the observation post, only the fire and smoke rising from the river, which was the burning of the steamboat transporting troops, and we did not know how much the casualties of the 13th Guards had paid in the river crossing operation just now.

I sighed secretly and said to Kirillov: "Comrade commissar, let's go, it's getting dark, and we won't see anything left here." Let's go back to the headquarters, even if the commander wants to find us for something, it should be more convenient. ”

Kirillov did not object to me, packed up his belongings, and followed me out of the observation post, along the trenches dug by the 2nd Regiment, back to the division headquarters.

The first thing I did when I entered the command was to ask Akhromeyev: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is there any new order coming down from the army group command?" ”

Akhromeyev shook his head and said: "The command did not give us any new orders. After speaking, he picked up a telegram on the table and added: "Comrade division commander, there is also a telegram from the headquarters of the group army on the situation here. ”

"Hurry up and show it to me." When I left the headquarters, I was just in time for the enemy troops to rush into the city, and for the past few hours I had been in the observation post, but I was always worried about the safety of Chuikov. As soon as I heard a telegram informing the war report. So I can't wait to get out of Akhromeyev's hands. Snatched the telegram.

Unfold the newspaper and take a look. I saw that it was written: "The enemy who attacked the city, pointed the spearhead of the attack at the central railway station." Their attacks were unusually ferocious, and despite the huge losses, the fascist invaders rushed forward in spite of a single haze, rushing into the city in infantry columns of cars and tanks. Probably, Hitler's gangsters thought they had good luck, so each of them rushed desperately to the Volga, to the city center. It's good to divide the spoils. Our fighters, snipers, armorers and gunners were hidden in houses, basements, makeshift fire points and around corners. From there, they saw with their own eyes how drunken German devils jumped out of cars, played harmonica, shouted and jumped at crosswalks.

Although the corpses of the fascist bandits were strewn all over the place under our blows, the follow-up troops still swarmed into the streets like a tidal wave. Gradually, their submachine gunners infiltrated the city east of the railway, forced into the station, approached the specialist building. The battle took place just 800 meters from the command post of the army group.

On the left flank, on the outskirts of Minin, the fighting was fiercer and more brutal. The enemy also stepped up his offensive on my right flank. The shape shì is getting worse every hour. ”

I put the finished telegram on the table, frowned and asked Akhromeyev in a stern tone: "Comrade Chief of Staff. When did this telegram come? "The reason why I asked in this tone was because he did not keep me informed of the situation in the city in a timely manner. If only because we are watching from the wall. And if something happens to the headquarters of the group army, of course, this battle will not have to be fought again, and we will become sinners of history.

Akhromeyev did not seem to notice my abnormality, and replied directly: "Report to the division commander, this telegram was sent two hours ago. As soon as I received the telegram, I sent a battle alert to the fifth regiment closest to the city. The regimental commander, Lieutenant Colonel Oleg, after receiving the task, personally led a battalion of troops, together with the troops of the 299th Infantry Division, to launch a charge from the rear of the enemy army. The 4th Regiment also threw tank battalions into battle. After an hour of fighting, we cleared the enemy units on the road leading to the headquarters. ”

Although I was a little dissatisfied with Akhromeyev's actions to assert himself without asking for advice, when I heard that he had cleared out the enemy troops that threatened the safety of the headquarters, I had to pretend to be indifferent and praise him: "Good job! Comrade Captain, you, as the chief of staff of the division, have the right to give all sorts of operational orders to the troops when neither I nor the commissar nor I are at the command. ”

"Chief of Staff," as soon as I finished my insincere words, Kirillov could not wait to ask, "where are the troops of the 5th Regiment and the tank battalion now?" ”

"The fifth regiment and the tank battalion, having completed their combat missions, returned to their respective stations."

After listening to Akhromeyev, Kirillov was so anxious that he stomped his feet: "Oh, Comrade Chief of Staff, since our troops have reached the vicinity of the headquarters, then you should let them stay there and strengthen the defense of the headquarters, how can you let them withdraw at will?" As soon as they withdrew like this, wouldn't the defense forces near the headquarters be empty again? ”

Hearing Kirillov say this, Akhromeyev couldn't help but be a little nervous, and he hurriedly asked: "Then I will now let the Fifth Regiment draw a battalion to the headquarters to strengthen the defense there." With that, he reached for the phone.

Before his hand could touch the phone, I had already taken the first step to move the phone aside, and said in a calm tone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't be in such a hurry, the security work of the headquarters does not need us to send troops over. Speaking of this, I turned to Kirillov and explained, "Commissar, you also saw the 13th Guards Division crossing the river just now, and although it suffered some losses in the river, at least five or six thousand people went ashore, and I want to draw a part of the troops from it to take charge of the guard work of the headquarters, there is no problem." ”

When Kirillov heard me say this, he asked suspiciously: "Comrade Oshanina, do you think this is possible?" ”

I nodded and said in an affirmative tone: "Comrade Commissar, this is not my speculation, but when I was still in the headquarters, I heard the commander himself say that he intended to use a battalion of the 13th Guards as a guard battalion to protect the safety of the headquarters. ”

Then I went to Razumeyeva's side and asked her to immediately contact the 1st and 3rd regiments, and I wanted to find out how the two regiments were doing. On the phone, I repeatedly stressed to Sedjerikov and Godunov: "...... Although there is no sign of the enemy in front of your positions, you still need to be vigilant to prevent the enemy from launching a sneak attack on us. ”

Just put down the headphones and microphone. Basmanov was seen leading a man with a large-brimmed hat. Draped in a raincoat. The commander, covered in dust and with a face blackened by gunpowder, walked in. I habitually glanced at the other party's collar badge, and found that it was actually a colonel, and for a moment, I lost my mind for a moment, and secretly said in my heart that it was not Rodimtsev himself, right?

The colonel followed Basmanov to Kirillov, raised his hand to salute him, and at the same time said politely: "Hello. Comrade political commissar at the regimental level. Let me introduce myself, I am Colonel Ye Lin, the commander of the 13th Regiment of the 39th Guards Division, and I was ordered to go to the independent division defense area to receive the defense of the 107.5 heights. ”

After listening to his introduction, Kirillov stretched out his hands to hold the other party's hand, shook it vigorously, and said excitedly: "Hello, Colonel Yelin! I am Kirillov, political commissar of the independent division, and welcome to you. You have just crossed the river, and the commanders and fighters are tired, so let's rest first. Let's go to the 107.5 heights to pick up the defense. ”

I also walked quickly to the two of them and took the initiative to extend my hand to Colonel Ye Lin. Said amicably: "Hello, Comrade Ye Lin. I am the commander of the separate division, Colonel Oshanina, and welcome you and your troops to our defense zone. ”

Ye Lin obviously didn't expect that the commander of the Independent Division was actually a woman, and after being stunned for a moment, he held my hand and said politely: "Hello, Comrade Oshanina, I really didn't expect that the commander of the Independent Division was a woman. ”

"Colonel Ye Lin, this kind of thinking of yours is not good. What about women? Can you be a division commander and not be able to command the troops to fight? Kirillov deliberately said to Yelin with a straight face: "You must know that Colonel Oshanina is an excellent commander with great military achievements, not only the commanders of the front army and the group army are familiar with her, but even the supreme commander himself is very respectful of her. ”

Kirillov's compliment to me made Yelin feel a little embarrassed, and he muttered: "I'm sorry, Comrade Oshanina, I'm not...... It's not ......"

In order to prevent him from being embarrassed, I changed the subject in time: "Comrade Colonel, have all of your Guards divisions crossed the river?" ”

Ye Lin shook his head and said: "Comrade Oshanina, I have disappointed you, only the 34th and 42nd Guards Regiments and a battalion of the 39th Regiment have crossed the river. The other two battalions of our regiment, the guard company, and the artillery regiment are still on the east bank of the Volga, and they may all be able to cross by to-night. ”

"Colonel Ye Lin, please come here, and I will introduce you to the situation on the 107.5 heights." When Akhromeyev had almost finished speaking, he walked up to Yelin, invited him to the table, and showed him the map of the defense he was about to take.

After we and Yelin gathered around the table, Akhromeyev began to explain the situation: "Comrade Colonel, the 107.5 heights are located two kilometers west of the Mamayev Heights, and they are characterized by a gentle northern slope that is easy to attack and difficult to defend, while the southern slope is steep and difficult to defend. In other words, once the high ground is lost, we will pay a terrible price for launching a counteroffensive from the direction of the southern slope. ”

After Ye Lin listened, he asked expressionlessly, "What is the place behind the high ground?" ”

"About a kilometre from the heights is Sovetskaya Street, where the residential buildings are the dormitories of the families of the State Consumer Cooperatives, and there is a flour mill nearby, and in the center of the mill there is a tall chimney on which observation posts can be set up to monitor the movement of the enemy within a radius of several kilometers."

This is the first time I've heard of a flour mill behind 107.5 Heights, and there's a tall chimney in the mill. Hearing this, I couldn't help but curse Godunov in my heart, since you have set up an observation post on the chimney, you can monitor the enemy situation within a few kilometers around, but why are you still being attacked by the Germans and losing your position?

After Akhromeyev finished briefing on the situation, I habitually asked: "Colonel Yelin, if you have any difficulties, even if you raise them, as long as they are within our ability, we will definitely solve them for you." ”

Unexpectedly, after listening to our words, Ye Lin's old face turned red, and then he said in a hurry: "Comrade Oshanina, Political Commissar Kirillov, I really have a difficult matter, I want to ask for your help!" ”

Before I could ask the other party what difficulties he had, Kirillov had already preemptively stated: "Comrade Yelin, we are all friendly troops, if you have any difficulties, just mention them, and we will try our best to solve them for you." ”

Seeing that Kirilov and I both expressed their intention to help us solve the problem, Ye Lin boldly said: "That's the case, although our guards division is fully staffed. There were more than 10,000 soldiers. However, the armament of weapons and ammunition is poor. There were more than a thousand fighters in the whole division, and they did not even have weapons. The battalion I brought with me is five hundred men, two hundred of whom are unarmed, and I just want to ask you to provide weapons for my troops. ”

When I heard his request, I was dumbfounded, knowing that the current equipment of the independent division was also half Soviet-style weapons, and half was captured German, Italian, Romanian and Hungarian equipment, if the weapons were to be supported by the 39th Regiment. In the ensuing battle, many of our fighters could only charge at the enemy with their bare hands. When I thought of charging at the enemy with my bare hands, I suddenly remembered the later movie "Soldiers in the City" related to the Battle of Stalingrad, in which the famous sniper Vasily just entered the battlefield, didn't he also hold five bullets in his hand, and he didn't even have a gun, so he followed the large army and attacked the enemy. If he hadn't been lucky, he would have been killed by German bullets or killed by machine gun bullets from the Warlords. The Guards Division had thousands of unequipped fighters. Could it be that this Vasily is in this army?

Thinking of this, I couldn't help but want to ask Colonel Ye Lin directly. Is there a hunter from Siberia in his army, Vasily? But my mouth opened a few times, but I still couldn't speak. You must know that the Vasily I know is just a hero portrayed in the movie, and there is no way to verify whether there is such a person or not. If I asked rashly, it would definitely arouse everyone's suspicions, so I chose to remain silent in the end.

But my expression was seen by Ye Lin, and he thought I was going to say something, so he hurriedly looked at me, smiled and asked politely, "Colonel Oshanina, do you have anything to say?" ”

When he asked, he immediately put me in an awkward position. Seeing that everyone was looking at me, I had no choice but to laugh dryly and say in a disguised manner: "I want to ask Colonel Ye Lin, is two hundred rifles enough?" ”

Hearing me say this, Ye Lin nodded hurriedly and said, "Enough, enough, two hundred rifles are enough!" ”

"Okay, I'll let the Third Regiment leave you two hundred rifles when you change guards, and at the same time leave you a walkie-talkie, so that it is easy to keep in touch."

Seeing that I promised to give the 39th regiment 200 rifles, Akhromeyev's face showed a surprised expression, he moved his lips at me a few times, although he did not make a sound, but I understood what he meant: "Division commander, the third regiment has no extra weapons, where to find them 200 rifles?" ”

I deliberately pretended not to see Akhromeyev's expression, and turned my head to look at Kirillov, but I saw that he was talking and laughing with Ye Lin with a smile, as if I promised to give the 39th regiment weapons, and he also had a light on his face.

In this case, I had no choice but to give orders to Akhromeyev: "Comrade Chief of Staff, call Captain Godunov of the 3rd Regiment and ask him to leave 200 rifles and, if possible, two more machine guns for the comrades of the 39th Regiment when changing guards." ”

Yelin, who was beside me, heard my words to Akhromeyev, and immediately shook my hand again, and at the same time said gratefully: "Thank you, Colonel Oshanina, with these weapons, I believe that our troops will be more sure to hold their positions." ”

When I shook hands with him, I gave another order to Akhromeyev: "Chief of staff, and call Lieutenant Mihayev and ask him to come to the division headquarters." ”

After letting go of Ye Lin's hand, I pointed to the place next to me and said to him with some concern: "Comrade Ye Lin, the German army has been very cautious in the offensive in the past two days due to the fact that it has suffered several losses from our division recently. Once they find out that the defenders of Heights 107.5 have changed, they may adopt the old way of playing, that is, attacking in the middle and rounding the flanks. Leave the security of your right flank to us, and we have decided not to watch the enemy pass under our noses and go around your back. In addition, if you want to hold the high ground and strengthen the fortifications, I have already called the commander of the division's engineer company to show you how to build strong fortifications. ”

Ye Lin nodded thoughtfully and said, "When I came, I saw the commanders and fighters of the Independent Division repairing fortifications along the way. According to my estimate, the reason why the Germans have repeatedly failed in front of your positions is because you have strong fortifications. ”

Mihayev quickly rushed to the headquarters, I called him to Yelin, and after introducing the two, I instructed Mihayev: "Comrade lieutenant, Colonel Yelin's troops will soon go to the 107.5 heights to take over, and you can briefly introduce to him the experience of our division in building fortifications." ”

When Mihayev began to tell Yelin about the experience of building fortifications, I overheard that Razumeyeva was receiving the news, and guessed that it might be a telegram from the headquarters of the army group, so I walked towards her. Standing beside her and waiting for the telegram, Mihayev's voice kept coming to my ears; “…… The entrance to the fortifications should not be too large, preferably only for one person, and the entrance to the fortifications should be connected to a corridor. Every two or three meters in the corridor, a thick curtain is hung with water, which can effectively absorb and stop the blast wave of the shell or bomb. So as not to explode the shock wave and shrenchnel to kill and injure our fighters from the entrance......"

Before I could finish what Mihayev had to say, Razumeyeva looked up and handed me a telegram. I took it and saw that it was a new order issued by the headquarters of the group army: "From now on, all units in the section of the Mamayev post and the railway ring line to the Tsaritsa River will be under the command of General Rodimtsev, commander of the 13th Guards Division." Chuikov. ”

When I saw this telegram, I couldn't help but be stunned. Originally, I thought that after the arrival of the 13th Guards Division, even if they were going to send troops to take over the defense of the 107.5 heights, the independent division and them would also act separately and not interfere with each other, but I didn't expect Chuikov to suddenly send such an order to put all the combat units north of our city, including the independent division, under the command of Rodimtsev.

I stood next to the walkie-talkie for a long time, so much so that Kirillov called me a few times, but I didn't hear it. Razumeeva, who was still sitting next to me, gently pushed me a few times before I came back to my senses and heard her remind me in a low voice: "Division commander, Comrade Political Commissar is calling you!" ”

I hurriedly coughed, squeezed out a smile on my face, walked over to Kirillov and them, and at the same time raised the telegram in my hand high, and said loudly: "The telegram just sent by the headquarters officially informs us that from now on, our independent division will be placed under the command of General Rodimtsev!" ”

When Kirillov heard this, he hummed sternly, took the telegram in my hand and looked down, and the more he looked at it, the more his brow furrowed.

When Ye Lin heard the news, he was extremely happy, and said excitedly: "This is really good, since we are all under the command of Division Commander Rodimtsev, then we can fight side by side in the future." ”

"Yes, yes, Comrade Colonel, you are very aggressive." I forced a smile on my face and said, "I hope that under the leadership of the general, we will cooperate sincerely and defeat the German invaders at an early date." (To be continued......)