USSR 1941

The cannons boomed, shells exploded around Shulka and Vasily.

Vasily glanced at Shulka, nodded slightly to each other, and then disappeared into the darkness with a sniper rifle.

Shulka understood Vasily's move.

To be precise, they should understand each other, and there should not be too many forms on the battlefield, especially at this time:

Saluting is dangerous, it only gives the enemy a chance.

Talking is unnecessary, it's a waste of aircraft and it's difficult and dangerous amidst the sound of gunfire.

At the same time, as a sniper, Vasily should be a lone wolf, a lone wolf staring at the enemy in the dark, instead of staying with other soldiers, especially the deputy commander Shulka, etc. Command and other orders.

If anyone had to say that Vasily needs to cooperate with someone, it should be a sniper.

That's why Vasily and Shulka parted ways after making brief eye contact.

This is the battlefield, the sniper and the officer each have their own mission, they need to do their own thing before the enemy attacks.

For example, Shulka at this time, what he should do most is to unify the command on Mamayev Post... There are two continuous troops on Mamayev Post: the 82nd Infantry Regiment and the 39th Guards Infantry Regiment.

Although the two forces have joined forces and know each other, they have also fully controlled Mamayev Gang.

However, due to the inevitable division of each under the two command systems, many troubles have arisen, especially in the dark.

For example, the problem of task assignment, which section of the trench is in charge of which unit, who to report to if reinforcements and supplies are needed, whether to attack or retreat or hold on, and so on.

All of these are mobilizing the whole body. If one is not done well, there will be problems such as the deployment of two companies in the same trench while the other trench is empty.

This would not be a big problem if it was the German army with strong communication equipment and coordination capabilities. They would first integrate the command system through communication equipment... This may only take a few minutes.

Then, soon the various orders will be conveyed from top to bottom through telephones, correspondents, etc., and then there is no doubt that it will be unified operations.

But it is a big problem for the Soviet army, which is seriously lacking in communication equipment.

Shulka first had to find the commander of the 39th Guards Rifle Regiment, and he could only use the most primitive method: roar!

Shulka ran back under fire with a gun in his hand, grabbed a few soldiers from the ground while lying in the crater, and asked loudly, "From the 39th regiment?"

"Yes, comrade!"

"Where is your commander?"

The answer he got made Shulka almost vomit blood.

"I don't know, comrade!" the soldier replied: "Our company commander died not long ago!"

Later, Shulka learned that not only the company commander died, but also their battalion commander... The 39th Infantry Regiment is worthy of the title of "Guard Infantry". The instructor leads the charge.

The result of this is that the basic and even middle-level commanders suffered heavy casualties.

Of course, the casualties of the commander can pass the command down according to the rank.

But this is easy to say. In a battlefield full of shells, especially in a tense night battle, no one knows what rank the commander has sacrificed at this time, and of course they don't know who their commander is.

While Shulka was still working hard, gunshots rang out nearby.

This was extremely unusual, as the artillery bombardment was still going on, and normally there should not be an enemy charge at this time.

Sure enough, when Schur lay down on the ground and raised his binoculars to look straight ahead, he saw groups of three and four running towards the Mamayev Hill... Their formation was not a charge at all.

"Stop shooting!" Shulka yelled: "Stop shooting, they are our own!"

That was Valery's troops, who held off the Germans at the cemetery until they received the order to retreat before abandoning their position and retreating to Mamayev Kurgan.

Shulka's shouts were insignificant amidst the gunfire, but fortunately, quite a few soldiers of the 82nd Infantry Regiment knew what was going on, so they shouted spontaneously.

Of course, there are snipers including Vasily, they can also distinguish the enemy from the skill and formation, even if it is night at this time.

So the gunfire stopped soon.

Only then did Valery and his party retreat back to the line of defense without any risk and jumped into the trench to avoid the gunfire.

After a while, the sound of German artillery gradually stopped.

Shulka rested for a while and waited for his hearing to return to normal before thinking about continuing to look for the friendly army headquarters.

At this moment Mikhailvich called Shulka from a few meters away and waved to Shulka.

Then Shulka understood that Mikhailvich had found someone to talk to in the 39th Guards Rifle Regiment.

Following Major Mikhailvich, he ran back along the almost invisible trenches and corpses along the way, and soon found a lieutenant and a radio station under emergency repair in a bomb crater.

"This is Lieutenant Lermontov!" Mikhailvich introduced: "He is the battalion commander of the 3rd Infantry Battalion!"

"Hello, Comrade Lermontov!" said Shulka.

But Lermontov just looked at Shulka, and then ordered to the soldiers around him:

"Order them to build fortifications immediately, not to retreat, and not to let the enemy move forward!"

"Send a correspondent to inform the regiment headquarters that we need supplies and reinforcements!"

"A radio station is also needed! Our radio station has been bombed!"

...

"The most important thing we should do is to establish a unified command!" Shulka couldn't help interrupting the battalion commander.

From these orders given by the battalion commander, it can be seen that he is not a qualified commander. His idea is pure defense, persistence, and reinforcement...just like the ideas of most Soviet commanders.

"I know what to do, Captain!" The lieutenant glanced at Shulka: "Yes, we should indeed establish a unified command!"

As he spoke, the lieutenant took out a map from his pocket, pointed to the slope of Mamayev Hill, and said, "This part is your defense zone, and the rear is ours. Is the mission clear?"

"Wait!" Shulka looked at the "both big and small" lieutenant with incredible eyes: "Comrade lieutenant, I wonder if you can see that there is a major next to you? Comrade Mikhailvich, He is our captain!"

"Of course!" the lieutenant replied. "Any questions?"

"You should listen to the command of Comrade Major instead of trying to command us!"

The lieutenant couldn't help laughing: "I don't have time to argue with you, Captain. But I think you should know something, we are the Guards Infantry Regiment, do you understand? Guards Infantry Regiment? And the 82nd Infantry Regiment...you Do you think the Guards should be under the command of a Guard?"

The lieutenant was being polite when he called the 82nd Infantry Regiment a guard force. In his mind, the 82nd Infantry Regiment was actually a punishment battalion, so of course there was no reason for the guards to follow the command of the punishment battalion.