—— Red Army Sniper ——182‘Comrade “Third”! Comrade Nikolaev requests shelling of
the gully, and let them fire directly at the command post! Only
quickly! The Germans may break into the dugout! There are a lot
of them and they’re pelting the trenches with grenades. Nikolaev
is shooting them through the window.’
‘Got you. Where’s the company commander?’
‘We don’t know. He went to see the company straight after
the bombing raid. We have no contact with the platoons and it’s
impossible to restore it – there are Germans all around. We can’t
get out of the dugout. Hurry up and fire!’
‘Just hang on and we’ll give them what for! Don’t leave the
dugout. You’ll have to adjust our range from there!’
The shell and mortar explosions drowned out the voice from
the general staff – our artillery had begun to strike the gully.
‘Excellent, “Third”, excellent! Thanks for the fireworks! Now
aim a little bit farther forward, about fifty metres, towards the
embankment. The Germans are running in our direction, towards
the command post! Don’t worry about us. Aim at the dugout!’
Aksyonov shouted down the telephone receiver.
I fired at the Nazis, who were now retreating in fear – right into
their faces. Over the gully darkness was thickening and visibility
had grown noticeably worse.
‘Twentyeight!’ Knyazev continued counting my hits. ‘Well, it
looks like that’s the last for the day, eh? And, indeed, silence hung
over the gully. The firing had ceased on both sides. The Germans
had pulled back and the previous situation was restored. They
would not bother us at night, of this we were certain.
Sometimes in war a single battle, even one lasting a few minutes,
can stick in the memory for the rest of your life. In battles like this
the young turn grey, the quiet ones become bold, the insolent turn
out to be cowards. In battles like this not only are people found
out, but you find out about yourself. This battle went on almost
the whole day. I realised that I was not afraid of the Germans at
all, even if they outnumbered us tenfold, because I was not alone;
I had my comrades beside me and they would always bail me out