After dark, a force of more than a thousand people came from the east bank to the west bank through the pontoon bridge connecting the banks of the Volga River.
When the troops set foot on the West Bank, they were in full swing, they heard someone whispering in the darkness: "Hey! Comrades, where is your commander?"
The team leader was a deputy commander named Kisley. He hurriedly stepped forward and spoke, "I am the deputy commander Lieutenant Colonel Kisley, who are you?"
"I am Captain Klimov, the adjutant of the 62nd Army Command, and I am here to welcome you." The visitor replied: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, please come with me. The Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army is waiting for you."
Under Klimov's leadership, they came to an earthen shelter half buried underground, and walked down the steps without wooden boards. Walking into the shelter, with the help of a steam lamp hanging on the roof, Kisley saw three commanders sitting next to the wooden table in the middle of the room, one of whom was a general and the other two were colonels.
Kisley thought that the general was the deputy chief of staff that Krimov mentioned, so he hurriedly walked forward and raised his hand to salute: "Comrade of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Group Army, Lieutenant Colonel Kisley, deputy commander of the 187th Regiment of the 45th Infantry Division, reported to you. We are ordered to come for reinforcements. I am waiting for your order, please give instructions!"
Unexpectedly, the general only looked up at Kisley and said, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you are wrong. I am not the deputy chief of staff."
Just when Kisley was confused, a colonel sitting next to him stood up, stretched out his hand to Kisley, and said friendly: "Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Kisley. I am Colonel Witkov, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army, General Lobov, the Minister of Logistics, and the Chief of Engineers, Colonel Tupichev."
After introducing the people around him, Vetkov waved to Kisley and said, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, come here to the map, I want you to assign a combat mission."
Kisley came to Vitkov's side, his waist was straight, but his eyes were fixed on the map on the table, waiting patiently for Vitkov to assign tasks to him.
Witkov pointed a position on the map with his hand and said to him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, your mission is to go to Building 4 of the Derzhinsky factory to strengthen the defense there so that the enemy cannot occupy them."
After seeing the location on the map clearly, Kisley asked in surprise: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, isn't it marked on the map that the factory militia's defense zone? Are you planning to let us take over their defense?"
"Yes, it was indeed a militia defense zone before, but a few hours ago, they had been forced to withdraw due to heavy losses." Witkov said to Kisley: "Your mission is to enter Building 4 and turn it into a new defense support point again. Do you understand?"
"I understand, comrade Chief of Staff." After Kisley answered, he repeated: "I will lead the troops into Building 4 and turn it into a new fire support point. Are I allowed to go back to the troops?"
"Wait a minute, comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Witkov called him and asked, "How many people did you bring?"
"Two battalions, one thousand two hundred men, Comrade Chief of Staff." Kisley replied briefly.
"Well, it's totally enough to defend Building 4." Witkov nodded and then asked, "What kind of equipment do the warriors have?"
"There are submachine guns, rifles and machine guns, but the number of machine guns is not large. Each battalion has only two heavy machine guns and twelve light machine guns."
"Persisting in Building 4 may be attacked by German tanks," Witkov asked thoughtfully: "What kind of anti-tank weapons do you have?"
"There are no anti-tank guns or anti-tank rifles, only more than fifty anti-tank grenades." Kisley replied with a wry smile: "If the anti-tank grenade is used up, we can also organize soldiers to use cluster grenades to blow up enemy tanks."
"Well... I wish you success." After Witkov said this, he suddenly remembered a more important thing: "When will the other troops of your division cross the river?"
"It will be tomorrow night as soon as possible." After Kisley finished answering, he straightened his body and asked Witkov: "Can you leave, Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff?"
Witkov nodded and finally said, "The guide we sent to you will arrive soon, I wish you good luck!"
When Kisley returned to his troops, the two battalion commanders immediately came up and asked with concern: "Comrade Deputy Commander, what is our mission?"
"The superiors ordered us to go to the Derzhinsky factory and build a new defense in Building 4." Kislay replied, "The guide sent to us will arrive soon."
As soon as he finished speaking, someone behind him heard a question, "Is it Lieutenant Colonel Keesley?"
"Yes, it's me." Kisley turned around and saw a short warrior standing behind him. He asked curiously: "Comrade Warrior, what are you doing?"
"Hello, lieutenant colonel." Because the short soldier did not salute Kisley, but straightened his body and replied: "I am the commander of the army, Cydolin, and I was ordered to come to serve as your guide."
When Kisley heard the other party's voice like a child, he approached and looked at it, and found that it was indeed a child. He couldn't help but frown: "Soldier Cydolin, how old are you?"
"I..." Ciderin didn't expect that Keisley would suddenly ask about his age. After hesitating for a moment, he replied: "I'm already sixteen this year."
"Sixteen?!" After hearing Cidolin's answer, Kisley shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Child, you are too young, and the place we are going to is too dangerous. You should ask the Deputy Chief of Staff to change someone else to serve as a guide for us."
"Ltd Colonel, you can't look down on others so much." Seeing that Kisley not only looked down on himself, but even wanted to replace him, Little Cydollin was a little anxious: "I'm a little younger, but since the establishment of the 62nd Army, I have been in the army and have participated in many battles. I'm very familiar with the places you are going to, otherwise my superiors wouldn't have sent me as a guide for you."
"Comrade Deputy Commander," the first battalion commander standing next to him came out to smooth things over for Cydolin: "Since the superiors asked this child to be our guide, let him take us to the Derrensky factory as soon as possible. Anyway, it's night now, so there is no need to worry about being bombarded or air strikes from the enemy, and there will be no danger."
"Okay," Kisley agreed with the first battalion commander's statement. After all, marching at night is higher than during the day. Even if a child leads the way, there will be no danger. So he issued an order readily: "Get off!"
On the way to the Derzhinsky factory, Kislay asked Cydolin curiously: "Child, where are your parents?"
"My mother died shortly after I was born, and I grew up with my father." Sidolin looked up at Kislay and said, "My father is now in Stalingrad."
"Where is he?" Kisley continued, asking: "Do you work at the Army Command or fight the enemy at the forefront?"
"He used to be the chief of combat at the headquarters, but later transferred to Mamayev hill." Sidolin felt pride when he heard Kisley ask about his father: "He serves as the chief of staff in that heroic unit."
"What, your father is Lieutenant Colonel Cidolin?" After hearing Cidolin's answer, Kisley showed a surprise expression on his face. He put an arm on Cidolin's shoulder and said with a smile: "Child, you can't imagine that your father and I are classmates from Fulongzhi Military Academy."
"You are the Uncle Kisley, the father often mentioned?" After learning that the other party was his father's classmate's military academy, Little Cydollin immediately recalled some of the comrades and classmates mentioned by his father, and asked tentatively: "Aren't you transferred to the Volkhov Front Army? How could you appear here?"
"I was injured when I participated in the Leningrad Rescue," Kisley replied: "I lay in the hospital for two months, and when I was discharged, I was transferred to the 45th Infantry Division."
The two walked and chatted, and before they knew it, they entered the Derrensky factory and came to a place not far from Building 4. At this moment, the sound of submachine guns suddenly sounded in front of them. When Kisley heard this, he heard that it was the German MP40 submachine gun shooting, and quickly issued a hidden order.
Besides, Goria, who was staying in the computer room of the building, heard the gunshots coming from outside the building, and suddenly grabbed the phone in front of him and asked at the microphone: "Lt. Geria, what happened? Where did the gun fire?"
"Report to the deputy battalion commander," Geria, who was staying in the command post outside the building, heard Goria's question, and quickly replied: "The gunshots came from the east, maybe because my sentry discovered an enemy who had been attacked."
"Comrade Lieutenant," Goria asked carefully after hearing this: "Before we attacked Building 4, Colonel Omelichenko did not say that the Army Command sent them a guard company, could it be this guard company?"
"I don't think so." Geria said in a affirmative tone: "The positions of Omelichenko and the Sixth Company are in the southwest of Building 4, but the gunshots are coming from the east. I think it may be that the enemy has bypassed the friendly line of defense and touched them from behind us."
After listening to Geria's analysis, Goria felt that there was some reason and quickly issued an order: "Comrade Lieutenant, let all the soldiers enter the position and prepare for battle."
In fact, there was no need for Goria or Geria to issue orders. When gunfire sounded on the defensive positions outside the building, soldiers who were staying in the building or in the trenches quickly entered the position and prepared for battle.
The troops approaching Building 4 heard the gunshots sounded in front of them and thought they had encountered the German army. The first battalion commander bent over and ran to Kissed and asked him for instructions: "Comrade Deputy Commander, we have encountered the Germans, what should we do next?"
"It's too dark. If too many troops are put into battle, it may cause unnecessary chaos." Kissed frowned and looked at the location where the gunfire sounded in front, and then ordered the first battalion commander: "Send two platoons first and find out the enemy's firepower deployment, so that we can launch a targeted attack."
With the order issued, the first battalion commander sent two platoons of soldiers to form a scattered formation and quickly rushed towards the location of Building No. 4 with the help of the cover of the ruins. The fifth company soldiers who were standing in the trenches saw a black shadow approaching in the distance, immediately fired various weapons at the same time, trying to suppress the opponent's attack.
After giving the order, Goria in the building found a window for easy observation and raised his telescope to look into the distance. He saw his position constantly firing and blocking the way forward with firepower. The officers and soldiers who came to the army were extremely brave in the face of the gunfire of the place. Although there were people constantly falling in the firepower, the remaining people still rushed forward bravely.
Goria looked at it for a while and found something was wrong. She quickly grabbed the phone beside her and shouted at the microphone: "Hey, Captain Geria, order the troops to stop shooting. I will repeat it again and order everyone to stop shooting!"
"What, stop shooting?" Geria was shocked when she heard this order. He loudly reminded Goria: "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, if we stop shooting, the enemy will rush up."
"Hey, how could the enemy be so brave when fighting at night?" Goria said in an uncertain tone: "Maybe we are fighting with our own people."
"No, how is this possible when you fight with your own people?"
"What's impossible," Goria continued: "You can tell what weapons they are using by listening to the gunshots. They are all Soviet-style weapons. Do you think the Germans will equip so many weapons of our army?"
"My God, did you really call the wrong one?" Geria didn't even have time to put down the microphone, and shouted to the correspondent standing beside him: "Hurry up and order everyone to cease fire, and cease fire immediately!"
One or two minutes later, all weapons on the outer positions of Building 4 stopped firing. The officers and soldiers of the 45th Division, who were attacking, saw the sudden ceasefire of the opponent's position, thought it was a conspiracy of the Germans, and also stopped the attack, hid behind the craters or ruins, and quietly waited for Kisley's new order.
"Strange!" Hearing that the front suddenly became quiet, Kissed's face showed a surprised expression: "What the hell are the Germans doing? Why did they suddenly stop shooting?"
Although Cidolin was a commander of the Army Command, he had no idea about the adjustment of defense in the city because his level was too low, so he did not know that Building 4 is now guarded by the 41st Guard Division. However, when he saw the ceasefire of the position ahead, and when Kisley was full of question marks, he suddenly thought of a possibility and quickly said to Kisder: "Uncle Kisder, I think the position ahead may not be Germans, but ourselves."
"What, are we our own people?" Kisley shook his head and said, "Little Cydolin, how is this possible? Haven't you heard that they are using German weapons?"
"In my father's army, there was a regiment equipped with German weapons. Maybe they were the troops guarding the front positions." Sidorin asked Kisde: "Let me go over and learn about the situation."
"No." As soon as Cider made his request, Kisd refused: "It was so dangerous before, how could I let you, a child, take the risk?"
"Don't worry, Uncle Kessid." Ciderin comforted the other party and said, "I know many people in the group. If I go to contact you, the misunderstanding may be eliminated soon." As soon as he finished speaking, before Kessid could make another statement, he bent down and ran forward.
"Come here!" Seeing Little Cydolin ran away, Kisley hurriedly called the two soldiers: "You guys hurry up and follow them, and you must protect their safety."
Chapter completed!