Burning Moscow

By the time I hurried back to the division headquarters, it was already two o'clock in the morning on November 19th. As soon as Kirilov saw me back to the division headquarters, he hurriedly ordered Akhromeyev to call the heads of the regiments and inform them to come to the meeting immediately. He couldn't help but curiously asked: "Oh. Comrade Xia Ningna, what are the latest instructions from the headquarters? Why do you have to convene all the commanders for a meeting as soon as you come back?"

Although I know better than anyone the time of the start of the counteroffensive and the end of the entire battle, when this moment really approaches, I still feel extremely nervous and excited. Hearing Kirilov’s question, I grabbed his arm. , Shaking vigorously, replied with a changed voice, "Comrade Political Commissar, it's a counter-offensive, a big counter-offensive, and a real all-round counter-offensive under Stalingrad is about to begin!"

When I said this, Kirilov and Bantaiyev's eyes stared like brass bells, and they looked at me with neurotic eyes. After a long time, Kirilov asked tentatively: "Comrade Oshanina, I think you have a flushed face. You just drank at the headquarters of the group army, right?"

I was taken aback by what Kirilov said, and then I understood why he said it. At present, under the fierce German offensive, we are almost beaten to jump the Volga River. Where is there enough? Strength to counterattack, not to mention a full-scale counterattack, no wonder he thought I was talking drunk.

I didn’t talk nonsense with them, I pulled the two directly to the table, pointed to the map on the table, and told them about the plan to launch a major counterattack. Finally, I specifically emphasized: “This counterattack is different from any previous counterattack. A counterattack, supplemented by the Southwest Front and the Don Front, will begin at 7:20 this morning. The enemy’s defensive positions will be bombarded. After the preparations for artillery fire are completed, our army’s hundreds of thousands of troops will be at two All directions simultaneously launched a comprehensive counterattack against the Germans."

Hearing me talking to this level, Kirilov no longer suspected that I was talking drunk, but cautiously asked: "What about our Stalingrad Front?"

"Because our 62nd Army has been greatly weakened during the fighting in the past few months, and in the early stage of the counter-offensive, we cannot get enough supplies. Therefore, the main force of the Stalingrad Front Army's counterattack will be the friendly neighbor's 64th. The group army, the 51st army and the 57th army. Our task is to find ways to hold the enemy. So that they cannot easily withdraw from the city in order to achieve the purpose of encirclement and annihilation." After saying this, I Turning his head and looking around, he noticed that Shelbina, the political commissar of the 37th Guards Division was not there, and asked Kirilov curiously: "Comrade Political commissar. Why is Shelbina political commissar not in the headquarters? Where did he go? "

Hearing my question, Kirilov raised his head and looked around. Then he asked Akhromeyev who had just finished the call: "Comrade Chief of Staff, have you seen Shelbina's political commissar?"

Akhromeyev quickly nodded and replied: "The Shelbina political commissar said that he was going to see if the officers and men of the 37th Division of the Guards had been placed, so I asked Major Basmanov to accompany him. "

After knowing Shelbina's whereabouts, I specifically instructed Akhromeyev: "Chief of Staff, the meeting later is very important. You must notify him to attend."

Not long after, the commanders at all levels who received the notice came to the headquarters one after another. I sat in my seat, watching the commander who walked in. I silently remembered which regiment's battalion-level commander this was, and raised his hands to his forehead from time to time to return salutes to the commanders who saluted me.

As more and more people gathered in the command post, there was a buzzing voice in the room. Major Perskin, the tank battalion commander, approached Morozov's ear and whispered: "It seems that something important has brought us here..." He saw me staring at him. She smiled at me embarrassedly, then pulled Morozov aside and whispered.

After a while. Seeing people are almost here, Kirilov leaned close to my ear. Asked in a low voice: "Comrade Commander, everyone is here, can you start?" Seeing me nodding in agreement, he stood up, walked to the commanders, and said loudly in a passionate tone: " Comrades commanders, please keep quiet. Next, Comrade commander has important things to announce to everyone.” The room suddenly became quiet, and everyone turned their eyes to me, quietly waiting for me to announce the importance to them. Things.

After a brief silence, I stood up, smiled, and walked slowly in front of the commanders, raising my voice and saying, "Comrade commanders, I am calling you here at this time. There is one important thing. I have to announce to you.” At this point, I suddenly found myself unable to speak because of excitement, and the joy of seeing the dawn, disrupted the outline of my speech. I can only calm down my excitement by slowly looking around at the commander of the meeting.

After a while, I waited until my mood was almost calm, and then continued: "Comrades, in the early morning of November 19th, that is, this morning, our Southwest Front and Don Front will move from two directions at the same time. Launched an offensive against the Germans, and our Stalingrad Front will also launch a diversionary attack on the Germans in the existing area, making it impossible for them to easily withdraw from the city. The purpose of this counter-offensive is different from the previous ones. This counterattack is not just about repelling the enemy from the vicinity of the city. We will encircle and bury the enemy completely under the city of Stalingrad."

After I finished speaking, the headquarters fell into silence. Everyone hadn't recovered from what I said. Except for Kirilov and the others, the rest of the commanders looked at me dumbfounded. .

"Comrade commanders, what's the matter with you?" Akhromeev saw everyone's reaction and quickly stood up and said in the same tone as usual: "Didn't you understand what the commander said?" At that time, he couldn't help raising his voice, "Don't you understand that the time has come for us to carry out a full-scale counteroffensive and collect blood debts from the Germans?"

Everyone was stunned for a moment, not knowing who was the first to applaud, and then the applause in the room became full.

After waiting for the applause for a while, I raised my hands and pressed down to signal everyone to be quiet. After the applause in the room ceased, I went on to say: "Comrade commanders, although the Southwest Front and the Don Front will launch a counterattack early this morning, our Stalingrad counterattack will be one day late." In order to prevent the commanders and soldiers. Whispering to interrupt me, I deliberately speeded up my speech and said, "The task of our division is to firmly hold the Mamayev Hill and the 107.5 heights to ensure that the strategic depth of the group army will not be compressed. The enemy is firmly attracted, preventing them from getting out easily."

"Comrade commander," the artillery battalion commander, Major Morozov, just stood up and asked loudly, "May I ask questions?" Seeing my nodding agreement, he asked repeatedly, "Comrade commander, please Allow me to ask a question, what is the mission of our artillery battalion?"

"Your mission is still simple," I didn't blame him for his recklessness, but said lightly: "It is to provide necessary artillery support to our troops when they attack." Having said that, my eyes turned to sitting. Perskin, the tank battalion commander next to him, called his name loudly: "Major Perskin!"

"Here!" Perskin promised loudly and jumped up from his seat.

"After you go back, check whether the tank's ammunition and fuel are sufficient, and be prepared for all battles." After the counterattack begins, the air supremacy of the battlefield must be in our hands, so I can use Perskin with confidence and boldness. The tank battalion, "Remember, let the soldiers remove the Nazi cross sign on the tank as soon as possible, otherwise it will not be worth it to be blown up by the German tanks of our planes during the offensive."

After I finished speaking, Pantai Leyev stood up and said to the participating commanders: "Comrade commanders, some time ago the division commander ordered everyone to hurry up and expand their troops. Now it is time to test whether you have implemented this. It’s time to order. Starting from the first regiment, each regiment reports your current actual strength."

As soon as Pantai Leyev finished speaking, Sederikov, who stood up first, reported in a loud voice: "After several days of expansion, the current total strength of the regiment is 3,267, including 1,000. Many people have no weapons yet."

After Sergeikov sat down ~www.wuxiaspot.com~ Lieutenant Colonel Oleg, the second regiment commander, stood up. He said with some embarrassment: "Comrade Commander, due to our geographical location, it is difficult to be like A regiment replenishes its troops in such a large amount, so so far, there are only 786 people in the regiment, but every soldier has weapons in his hands."

"The Third Regiment currently has 1,536 troops."

"The current number of the four regiments is 2,475."

After listening to the numbers reported by the regiments, I couldn't help but nodded in satisfaction. I didn't expect them to execute their orders very thoroughly. In just a few days, the total strength of the entire division was several times that of the last meeting. With so many troops, in tomorrow’s counterattack, we don’t have to stay in the trenches, waiting for the Don Front Army to join us, and we can take the initiative to attack, under the cover of tanks, and stick to Goro. The German army in the city of Jiche launched an offensive.

After finishing the statistics of the regiments, Pantai Leyev raised his hand to look at his watch and turned to ask for my opinion: "Comrade Commander, it's getting late, can I ask the commanders to return to their respective units to make preparations?"

I nodded, and replied briefly: "Well, now that the mission is clear, let's end the meeting!" (to be continued)