No one can answer Alitai's question. You, the lieutenant leading the team, don't know what's going on. How can the soldiers below understand the situation?
There were dense footsteps nearby, and they were getting closer and closer to him. When Alitai heard the sound, he was stunned and thought to himself, could the Germans be coming up again? He quickly shouted to the soldiers behind him: "Comrades, take cover and prepare to fight!"
As soon as Alitai's shout ended, he heard someone shouting in the darkness: "Victory belongs to the Soviets, honor belongs to the motherland! Brothers, for the motherland and for Stalingrad, move forward!"
"Ula! Ula!!!" As he shouted, a sound like a roaring mountain and a tsunami quickly sounded all around.
"It's one of our own." Alitai immediately understood that the people approaching him were not enemies, but friendly forces. They must have wanted to take advantage of the night to launch a counterattack against the enemy. In order to avoid misunderstanding, he shouted to the hidden soldiers: "Lie down where you are and don't move, so as not to cause unnecessary misunderstandings."
The troops approaching in battle formation were about one company in strength. With the help of the firelight from the tank, the leading commander saw clearly several comrades lying on the ground. He quickly asked loudly: "Hey, comrades, what are you doing?" Which part is it?”
Seeing that the person asking the question was an officer, Alitai quickly stood up and answered him: "I used to be the tank company commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade, and now I am under the command of Colonel Bely's tank brigade."
"It turns out to be Lieutenant Alitai." When the officer heard Alitai reveal his identity, the officer rushed over, held his hand, and shook it vigorously. "I really didn't expect to meet you here."
"Are you...?" Seeing that the other party seemed to recognize him, Alitai quickly looked at the other party carefully. He looked kind-hearted, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before: "Comrade Commander, have we met before?"
"What's wrong with you, Comrade Lieutenant?" The officer took off the big-brimmed hat on his head and said to Alitai: "I am Captain Paulkoski, commander of the 1st Battalion and 1st Company. Why, you don't recognize me?"
"Ah, you are Captain Paulkoski." After figuring out the other party's identity, Alitai became excited: "So, our brigade also participated in tonight's counterattack?"
"The infantry brigade no longer exists." As soon as Paulkoski said this, he noticed that Alitai's face had changed, and he quickly explained to him: "Since the merger with the 41st Guards Division, our brigade has After the commander became the division commander, the original infantry brigade became a reduced regiment, with Comrade Belkin, the original brigade political commissar, as the regiment commander."
Aritai couldn't help but feel ecstatic when he learned that the infantry brigade had now been upgraded to a Guards Division, and that the brigade commander Sokov had also assumed the position of division commander. He originally wanted to ask Paul Koski for more information, but the other party waved his hand at him and said: "Comrade Lieutenant, we still have to eliminate the enemies in the factory area. We will talk after the battle is over. Goodbye!" After that, he quickly chased his troops.
"Comrade Lieutenant," the scout asked Alitai after the counterattack force passed in front of him: "What should we do? Follow them and go forward to eliminate the Germans?"
"No!" Regarding the scout's suggestion, Alitai shook his head and replied: "Our mission has been completed. Next, we will withdraw according to the original plan and report the results to Colonel Bely."
"Yes!" The scout reluctantly glanced at the commanders and fighters of the company who were gradually retreating, and replied helplessly: "We will return to the brigade headquarters immediately!"
Alitai led the soldiers of the combat team back to the location of the brigade headquarters. However, he did not immediately go back to Bely, but stood outside the headquarters, waiting for his men to return.
After more than half an hour of waiting, four combat teams returned one after another, three of which were at full strength and one with more than half of its casualties. Although Alitai felt sad to see this situation, he still tried to control his emotions and tried his best to ask the other leaders of the combat team in a calm tone: "Have you seen the group moving to the west of the city? "
Upon hearing Alitai's question, everyone shook their heads in unison, saying that they did not see the missing combat team. After a while, a team leader cautiously said to Alitai: "Comrade Lieutenant, there are two tanks, an assault gun, and seventy or eighty infantrymen in the area responsible for the missing combat team. I'm worried about them." An accident has occurred. You'd better report to the brigade commander as soon as possible."
"Wait a minute, wait a minute." Alitai did not see the last combat team appear, and his heart was still not at ease. He said stubbornly: "I will never leave here before I see the last team appear. .”
When everyone saw that Alitai was so stubborn, not only did they not complain about him, on the contrary, they were quite moved. Some people are even thinking that if my group does not show up at the designated place within the specified time, Comrade Lieutenant will probably still stay here waiting for us.
After waiting for a while, the last team still did not appear. A team leader said tactfully to Alitai: "Comrade Lieutenant, you should go and report to the brigade commander first. We can just stay here and wait."
Just when Alitai was unmoved, he suddenly heard someone nearby greeting him: "Comrade Lieutenant, when did you come back?"
Alitai turned around and saw that he was still a staff officer from the brigade, so he replied casually: "I've been back for more than half an hour."
"Since you have been back for so long, why don't you go in and report back to the brigade commander?" After hearing Alitai's answer, the staff officer said unhappily: "Don't you know the brigade commander has been waiting for news from you?"
"We still have a combat team that has not arrived." Alitai did not argue with the other party, but whispered: "I originally planned to wait for this combat team to arrive before reporting to the brigade commander, but after waiting for a long time, there was still no news. nothing."
"Comrade Lieutenant." After listening to Alitai's explanation, the staff officer thought for a moment, then pointed at the other party and said: "You follow me in first and report to the brigade commander. As for the missing group, I will find a way to ask someone to help. You seek.”
Hearing that his staff offered to help him find the missing group, Alitai was overjoyed and quickly thanked him: "Thank you, thank you, comrade staff."
"Okay, okay, thank you later." The staff officer waved his hand to Alitai and said, "Let's go see the brigade commander now. He is already a little impatient with waiting."
Aritai followed the staff into the headquarters and reported to Bely. When Bely saw Alitai appear, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief and said repeatedly: "Comrade Lieutenant, why did you come back so late? There were gunshots and explosions outside. I thought you were leading several combat groups to join the friendly forces. The counterattack went."
"I'm sorry, Comrade Colonel." Alitai lowered his head and replied with some embarrassment: "Actually, we returned to the brigade headquarters more than half an hour ago. It was because we saw that a combat team had not returned yet. I offered to wait until everyone has arrived before reporting back to you."
After Bely figured out the reason why Aritai was late, he asked tentatively: "Are they back now?"
"No." Alitai shook his head and replied with a bitter look on his face: "We haven't seen them come back until now."
After listening to Alitai's explanation, Bely's face became serious: "Comrade Lieutenant, according to your wishes, if this group never comes back, you have no intention of showing up here at all, right?"
Aritai did not dare to answer Bely's question, but lowered his head. Seeing his reaction, Bely knew that his guess was correct, and said seriously: "Lieutenant Alitai, although you have successfully completed the task I assigned you, I still want to criticize you. Since you have arrived at the brigade Outside the headquarters, why don't you report back to me immediately? Even if you have to stay outside and wait for your soldiers, you must always send someone in to tell me so that I can know what's going on.
If I hadn't sent a staff officer out to inquire about your whereabouts, would you have planned not to show up to me for the rest of your life? I think you are a typical example of being unorganized and undisciplined. Have you ever thought that your failure to show up will cause your superiors to misjudge and make wrong decisions? "
"I'm sorry, Comrade Colonel, it was my fault." After hearing what Bely said, Alitai immediately realized that he was wrong, and it was very serious. He quickly apologized to the other party and said: "I will never do something like this again in the future. mistake."
"Forget it, this is the end of the matter, and it won't happen again." Bely pointed at Alitai and said to him: "The reason why our army's counterattack went so smoothly tonight is entirely because you successfully blew up the enemy's Tanks and assault guns. After losing the support of these technical equipment, the German infantry did not even know how to fight, and as a result we were defeated."
Alitai listened to the noise outside and found that the location of the gunshots and explosions was getting further and further away from here. This meant that the Soviet counterattack troops had successfully advanced again. He stood up straight and asked Bely tentatively: "Comrade Colonel, do you think our troops can successfully eliminate the enemies in the factory before dawn?"
"According to our reconnaissance, the enemies who broke into the factory during the day included more than a dozen tanks and assault guns, plus a battalion of infantry." Bely said with great concern: "After you successfully destroyed the German tanks and assault guns, Our army dispatched two divisions and one regiment to launch a counterattack against the enemy. I think there should be no problem in dealing with all the enemies in the factory area before dawn."
After Bely finished speaking, he turned to look at the staff officer who had just finished the phone call and asked, "Who are you calling?"
"Lieutenant Alitai just said that one of their combat groups has lost contact," the staff officer replied: "I called the health team and the field hospitals of the two divisions to see if they have treated the wounded of the combat group."
"Any news?"
"Yes!"
"Come on and tell me!"
Aritai listened to the conversation between the staff officer and Bely, with his heart in his throat. He hoped to hear news about the combat team, but was afraid to hear accurate news. The combat team had not been found for so long. It was obvious that something unexpected had happened. He was worried that they had been completely destroyed.
"Our medical staff treated a wounded person." The staff officer did not look at Aritai, but looked at Bely and reported: "The military doctor told me that the wounded person was injured while performing the task of blowing up the tank. I think Lieutenant Aritai The troops under my command are carrying out the task of bombing tanks tonight, and this wounded man is undoubtedly..."
"Wait a minute," Biely heard this and couldn't help but interrupt the staff officer. "You just said it was a wounded person. Where are the other members of the combat team?"
"Sacrificed!" The staff officer's expression suddenly became gloomy. "According to the wounded, the enemy infantry surrounded the tank as soon as the tank was blown up. The team leader asked him to come back to report the news to you, and then led other soldiers to rush in other directions. Go and attract the enemy's attention."
"So that's it." Bely nodded, turned his gaze to Alitai, and said thoughtfully: "No wonder they didn't return to the designated place after waiting for them for so long."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Alitai waited for Bely to finish speaking, and immediately rushed to say: "Please allow me to lead people back to the battlefield, find the remains of these fallen soldiers, and bring them back for a proper burial."
Bely raised his hands and put them on Alitai's shoulders, and said to him sincerely: "Comrade Lieutenant, I understand your feelings for these soldiers. If I were in your position, I would also like to collect the remains of my comrades immediately. But it’s not possible, at least not yet. You didn’t hear that the fighting outside is still going on. Even if you want to collect the bodies of your comrades, you have to wait until the entire battle is over.”
After saying these words, Belei took his hand away from the opponent's shoulder, took a step back, and said: "Comrade Lieutenant, you have just completed your mission, you must be very tired. I now order you to find a place to rest." .Whether it is to visit injured comrades or to collect the remains of fallen comrades, we have to wait until dawn."
When Alitai heard what Bely said, he was about to try again, but Bely raised his hand to stop him: "Lieutenant Alitai, this is my order, there is no room for bargaining. Do you understand?"
"I understand, Comrade Colonel." Alitai raised his hand and saluted Bely, and asked respectfully: "Do you allow me to leave?"
"Permission!" Belei nodded towards Alitai and said, "Don't worry, you can rest. I will send someone to call you after dawn."
Watching Alitai's back disappear at the door, Bely said to the chief of staff who had just walked over: "This is a commander who knows how to cherish his subordinates. If he can survive until we repel the enemies attacking the city, I will tell Soko The husband made suggestions to promote his position and military rank."
The chief of staff grinned after hearing this and replied: "Comrade Brigade Commander, after we repulse the enemy attacking the city, are you really willing to let him return to Colonel Sokov?"
"Does this need to be said?" Hearing the chief of staff's question, Bely said somewhat insincerely: "Although this is a good commander, in any case, he was seconded from Sokov. There is a borrowing If you return it, it won’t be difficult to borrow it later.”
