Rokossovsky's thunderous tactics deterred the unruly warehouse managers who had no one in their sights. After they obediently handed over the military power in their hands, the first thing they did when they returned to the warehouse was to organize manpower and vehicles to rush the materials in the warehouse. And for those warehouses where supplies are piled up and cannot be transferred in the short term, explosives are planted, ready to be blown up when they are withdrawn from Shepetovka.

In the car returning to the command, Kamenev asked Rokossovsky with some concern: "Comrade corps commander, is it appropriate that you directly shot an officer today?" If the superiors will track it down in the future, how will we reply? ”

Hearing this question from the political deputy commander, Rokossovsky grinned and thought to himself: The commanders and fighters currently in Shepetovka, except for a very few people, are either sacrificed or captured, and who cares about the life and death of an ordinary warehouse manager.

Seeing that Rokossovsky did not speak, Kamenev repeated his question again, and at the same time, he thought that he had worked against Rokossovsky many times on many occasions before, although it was because of differences in work, but if Rokossovsky was resentful, he could find a reason to dispose of him, thinking of this, he couldn't help but be afraid for a while.

Rokossovsky turned his head to look at Kamenev and said with a flat expression: "Comrade Political Deputy Commander, I am now the supreme commander of Shepetovka, and I have the right to deal with things here according to my own wishes." The reason why I killed the political worker was because after he took the lead in leaving, all the warehouse managers would also leave. In that case, not only will we not be able to replenish our troops, but the military depots will continue to maintain the status quo. As soon as the Germans rush into Shepetovka, then these supplies will fall into the hands of the enemy, who will be able to fight us with our weapons and ammunition while eating our food. At this, he raised his voice sharply, "I will never allow such a thing to happen." ”

"Comrade Commander, you did the right thing." In this case, Kamenev could only echo Rokossovsky and say: "If in the future the superiors are to blame, I will take this responsibility together with you." ”

Hearing Kamenev's somewhat unwilled statement, a smile appeared on Rokossovsky's face, he measured his face and said: "Don't worry, Comrade Political Deputy Commander, even if the superiors know about this matter, they will not blame me." In extraordinary times, special measures need to be taken. You see, the warehouse managers are not handing over the troops to us, but they are also arranging manpower and vehicles to start moving the supplies in the warehouse. ”

"Stop, comrade driver, stop." As soon as Rokossovsky finished speaking, Kamenev suddenly patted the driver's back with his hand and said loudly: "Park next to that building on the side of the road." ”

Rokossovsky hurriedly looked out the window and saw a half-blown building on the side of the road, and a piece of paper on the wall said "Recruitment Office". Due to the fact that fewer and fewer refugees have passed through the defense zone recently, Rokossovsky, after consulting with Lukin, has abolished all recruitment offices. At this moment, for some reason, seven or eight men in civilian clothes were gathering at the door of the building covered with brick and rubble, shouting something to an officer.

"What's going on?" After the car stopped on the side of the road, Kamenev pushed the door and got out of the car, and asked the officer, who was surrounded by refugees: "Comrade second lieutenant, can you tell me what happened?" ”

When the second lieutenant saw Kamenev coming out of the car, he hurriedly squeezed out of the crowd, came over and saluted, and reported: "Hello, comrade political commissar of the regimental level! So, I went out to carry out the order, and when I passed by here, I was stopped by these ordinary people, who said that they would take revenge by becoming soldiers, and asked me to take them. I told them that now that all the recruitment was over and that we were no longer recruiting new recruits, they would not hesitate to join the army. ”

Figuring out what was going on, Kamenev took a few steps towards the refugees and asked with a smile on his face: "Comrades, do you all want to join the troops?" ”

As soon as his words fell, a young girl in a headscarf suddenly rushed out of the refugees, grabbed Kamenev's arm, and said excitedly: "Comrade commander, I beg you, take me and let me join the army!" ”

Kamenev gently broke free of the girl's arm, and then asked amiably: "Girl, our military health officer is recruiting female health workers, would you like to go?" ”

After hearing this, the girl shook her head like a rattle and said: "No, Comrade Commander, I am not a hygienist, I am going to the combat unit, you can send me a gun, I will go to the Germans to pay the blood debt!" ”

"No, girl." The girl's answer was beyond Kamenev's expectations, he did not expect such a delicate-looking young girl to want to be a soldier in the army. He was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile: "Girl, at present, except for the hygienists who recruit female soldiers, the combat troops do not look for female soldiers. ”

"Comrade commander," the girl was a little anxious when she heard that the combat troops did not recruit female soldiers, and she grabbed Kamenev's arm again, shook it vigorously and said excitedly: "If the troops refuse to recruit me, then you can give me a gun, whether it is a submachine gun, a rifle, or a pistol, as long as it is a gun, I will go to the Germans to fight hard." ”

"Can you tell me, girl, what do you have with the Germans?" Rokossovsky, who had been standing on the other side of the car, heard the girl say this, so he walked around the back of the car, walked in front of the girl, and asked with a pleasant face: "After I know the truth of the matter, maybe I can make an exception and give you a gun." ”

Rokossovsky's sudden appearance startled the second lieutenant standing next to him, who was originally surprised enough to see the appearance of a regimental political commissar, but he didn't expect another general to appear now, and hurriedly raised his hand to his forehead and saluted.

The girl looked Rokossovsky up and down, and then asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, if I had told you what had happened to you, would you really have shot me?" ”

Rokossovsky nodded and affirmed: "Yes, I always mean what I say." After a pause, he continued, "First of all, can you tell me what your name is?" ”

The girl replied briefly: "My name is Nadya, and I live in a collective farm outside Belz. ”

"Belz?" Hearing the name of this place, Rokossovsky couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then muttered: "Nadya, your home is not close to here, at least three or four hundred kilometers, and it will take at least ten days to walk here, right?" ”

"It didn't take that long," Nadya said, gesturing to a few refugees standing nearby, "I walked on the road for four days, and then I met them, and then I drove in a truck for more than a day. ”

"Keep talking, please keep talking." Rokossovsky stopped halfway through the girl's speech, and hurriedly urged her: "First of all, why do you have a deep hatred with the Germans?" ”

"At noon on the second day of the outbreak of the war, a group of Germans broke into our farm." Nadya gritted her teeth and said, "I was taking a nap in the house when I suddenly heard two gunshots outside, and when I rushed out, I saw my mother and brother lying in a pool of blood......"

When Kamenev heard this, he couldn't help but interrupt Nadya's words and interjected and asked, "What's the matter, who did it?" ”

"Who else could it be, of course the Germans!" Nadya gave Kamenev a blank look and said angrily: "My mother was not dying at the time, and she covered the wound in her abdomen and told me: 'When the Germans entered the courtyard, they said to me in broken Russian that they wanted water. Then a German soldier saw the milk jug I had placed on the wooden table, so he rushed over and grabbed it, and another German soldier next to him took out a crumpled bill from his pocket and threw it to me, saying that it was money to buy milk. Your brother was in the yard and saw the Germans walking outside with milk jugs, so he went over to stop them, but they shot him dead without saying anything. And when I saw your brother fall to the ground, I also grabbed a German by the clothes and forbade them to leave, trying to settle accounts with them, and then they shot me.'......"

Although Nadya's story came to an abrupt end at this point, Rokossovsky and the others had figured out what was going on. Kamenev clenched his fists tightly and said viciously: "Everyone remember this, this is another crime committed by the Germans against our people, and we will pay back all these blood debts from them sooner or later." ”

"Comrade Ensign, what part are you?" Rokossovsky did not rush to make a statement, but turned his head and asked the second lieutenant standing next to him.

"Report to Comrade General." The second lieutenant politely replied: "I am the platoon commander of the 327th Regiment of the 3rd Battalion, Second Lieutenant Seryosha. ”

"Very well, Comrade Second Lieutenant, when you go back later, you will bring this girl back to your regiment by the way." Rokossovsky saw that the second lieutenant had a surprised expression on his face when he heard these words, and hurriedly added: "You told your acting regimental commander, Captain Leskov, that General Rokossovsky personally agreed to let this girl join the combat unit. Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade General." Second Lieutenant Seryosha replied hurriedly.

"Comrade General, what about us?" Seeing that Nadya was approved to enlist in the army, several young men standing next to her immediately surrounded her and said nonsense: "We also ask to join the army and seek revenge from the Germans." ”

Rokossovsky heard a few people say this, and guessed that there was some deep hatred between them and the Germans, so he asked curiously: "Can anyone tell me what happened between you and the Germans?" ”

"My name is Lyudikov, and my friends and I are from Brody," a young man in a peaked cap came up and said, "because the head of the Soviet in the city told us that the Germans were rushing towards our city and that everyone was moving to the rear." My dad was a truck driver, so he took me and a few good friends along the road to the east.

As you just knew, on the way to the transfer, we met Nadya and seeing that she was exhausted, my dad picked up her and asked her to retreat with us to the rear. Who knew that yesterday, when our truck was heading along the road, a German plane suddenly appeared in the sky. Seeing the plane catching up from behind, my dad slowed down and told everyone to jump out of the car.

But when we jumped out of the car and hid in the grass on the side of the road, the German plane flew away. At that time, some people said: We are ordinary people and not soldiers, how can the German planes attack us civilians. With that, he walked towards the truck with my dad.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, the German plane turned around and flew again. It swooped down on our truck parked in the middle of the road, machine-gunned and killed, killing my dad and my friend instantly......"

Lyutikov didn't finish speaking, he covered his face and began to cry. The young man next to him said babblingly: "Comrade General, Uncle Ivan is a good man, but unfortunately he was killed by the Germans!" ”

"We can't let Uncle Ivan die in vain, we have to avenge him!"

"Comrade General, take us, let's join the army too, we will avenge the dead Uncle Ivan!"

Seeing the indignant look of the group of young people in front of him, Rokossovsky nodded secretly, and then turned his head and asked Kamenev: "Comrade Political Deputy Division Commander, I want to know what your opinion is?" ”

Hearing Rokossovsky's question, everyone immediately quieted down and turned their eyes to Kamenev, waiting for his answer. After being silent for a while, Kamenev looked up at Rokossovsky and said with a serious expression: "Comrade commander, since they are eager for revenge, let them join the troops." ”

"Ulla!" Hearing that he could join the army, a young man immediately cheered loudly.

After a while, the young man next to him also cheered: "Ula! Ulla!! Ulla!!! ”

Rokossovsky said to Second Lieutenant Seryosha: "Second Lieutenant, take them back to the unit. Remember, if your acting regiment commander, Captain Leskov, had the girl be laid out, let him call me, understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade General." Seryosha replied respectfully.

Rokossovsky nodded, and then said to the eight recruits of seven men and one woman who were agitated in front of him: "Okay, comrades, from now on, you are the fighters of the 109th Infantry Division. Now, follow your commander, Second Lieutenant Seryosha," Rokossovsky pointed to the second lieutenant next to him, and continued, "and go back to the troops together." ”

"Good!" "Yes!" The eight recruits agreed in a hesitant manner, followed behind Second Lieutenant Seryosha, and walked along the road towards the defense area of the 327th regiment. (To be continued.) )