When Chernyshov arrived at the cemetery, the commanders and fighters were cleaning the battlefield. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 When he saw more than a dozen German prisoners sitting around under the supervision of several soldiers, he couldn't help frowning, and said to himself: "Strange, there are thousands of German officers and soldiers who escaped from the village of Popkovo, how can there be these prisoners?" ”

He hurriedly called one of the guards and ordered: "You go and bring the officers from the German prisoners." ”

When the guard received the order, he walked quickly to the captives and shouted at them: "Which of you is an officer, stand up immediately!" ”

The captives looked up at him, but no one spoke.

Seeing that the captives ignored him, the guard's face was a little unbearable, and he raised his voice and asked, "Didn't you hear me?" Whoever is an officer, immediately stand up for me. ”

The captives still didn't speak.

The guard put his finger on the trigger of the pistol, ready to teach the Germans a good lesson. At this moment, a soldier guarding the captives next to him reminded him in a low voice: "Say, don't they understand Russian?" ”

The soldier's reminder immediately made the guard blush, he removed his finger from the trigger, returned to Chernyshov, and said ashamedly: "I'm sorry, comrade division commander, the prisoner does not understand Russian, I can't complete your task." ”

After listening to the report of the guards, Chernyshov immediately realized that he had not thought it through, and that there must be some Germans who knew Russian, but these captured ordinary officers and soldiers may not be able to find anyone who can speak Russian. Thinking of this, he instructed the guards: "Find someone who understands German to translate for us." ”

After the guards found the interpreter, they came to the captives for the second time. After listening to the translation, the captives finally reacted, and a German soldier with a face blackened by gunsmoke, no military cap, a tattered uniform, and only one epaulette left stood up and said: "I am German lieutenant Zwick, take me to meet your commander." ”

The interrogation of the German prisoners took place in a half-blown stone church next to the cemetery. Chernyshov sat on a reclining chair and carefully looked at the German lieutenant standing in front of him before he asked slowly: "Your name, position, rank?" ”

After listening to the translation, Zwick replied with his head held high: "Mr. General, I am German lieutenant Zwick, and I am the commander of an infantry company. ”

"Mr. Lieutenant," Chernechov had just learned from the commander of the battle that the enemy holding the cemetery had only one company of troops, and the total number was no more than one hundred and seventy, but he still inflicted huge casualties on his troops, and they delayed for several hours. Such a complete enemy is worthy of respect, and he politely said to Zwick: "You commanded a force of less than two hundred men, and you only built a temporary fortification here in the cemetery, and you resisted the attack of one of our main regiments, and delayed the end of the battle by several hours." You and your men are qualified warriors, and I still have admiration for you even if you stand in the enemy's position. ”

"Thank you, Your Excellency." Hearing the Soviet commander comment on his troops, Zvik had a smug smile on his face, and then said: "Your subordinates are also doing well, after all, you are the victors." ”

After Chernyshov waited for the lieutenant to finish speaking, he asked curiously: "Mr. lieutenant, can you tell me where your troops have withdrawn?" ”

The lieutenant raised his hand and looked at his watch, a smug smile appeared on his face, and he sneered and said: "Your Excellency, General, we have received an order to hold on to the cemetery here for two hours to cover the retreat of the main force. But I just looked at my watch, and we actually held you back for four hours, which means that even if you send troops in pursuit now, it will be too late. ”

"Can you tell me where your main forces have gone?" Chernyshov didn't understand why the Germans were retreating, so he couldn't help but ask curiously: "You must know that you still have tanks and armored vehicles, and if you rely on the village to resist, even if we occupy the village, we will have to pay a huge price." ”

"Mr. General, although you are suspected of inducing a confession, I will tell you the truth." The lieutenant did not have the slightest sense of being a prisoner, and still said triumphantly: "The task of our company is to hold off your army for two hours in order to cover the retreat of the main force of our army, and I think they have now reached a safe place." ”

After he said this, he carefully looked at the angry Chernyshov for a while, and said with great righteousness: "Okay, Your Excellency General, I have already finished what I should say, and you can order me to be shot." ”

"Division commander," at this moment an officer ran in and reported: "Comrade Commander is here, just outside." ”

Chernyshov turned to the guards and interpreters standing behind him and said, "Send him back to the prisoner and give him the treatment he deserves as a prisoner of war." ”

Chernyshov walked out of the dilapidated church, and saw Borisova standing next to Rokossovsky at a glance, and couldn't help but be a little stunned, he secretly said in his heart that the scandal between Rokossovsky and this woman was originally an officer at or above the regimental level, and as long as Lobachev came forward to say hello, this matter would not be leaked. He took this woman to the battlefield with a big grin today, didn't he want to make everyone know?

When Rokossovsky saw Chernyshov standing in a daze, he guessed what he was thinking, and when shaking hands with him, he preemptively said: "General Chernyshov, Comrade Borisova heard that you have won a great victory, so he offered to bring a condolence group here to comfort the commanders and fighters. ”

Speaking of this, he lowered his voice and said: "After finishing today's condolences, she will return to Moscow early tomorrow morning with the condolence group of the Leningrad District." ”

"Leaving tomorrow?" Chernyshov asked tentatively, and after receiving an affirmative answer from Rokossovsky, he immediately smiled and said: "That's great." I believe that the commanders and fighters will be very happy to see their relatives come to express their condolences to them after the war. ”

After Rokossovsky waited for Chernyshov to finish speaking, he asked the Germans bluntly: "Comrade general, I have a general understanding, you have only destroyed a few hundred enemies, so where did the remaining more than a thousand enemies go?" You know, this is not a small amount, and it would be very bad to let the enemy detour back to our rear. ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Seeing that Rokossovsky was so worried, Chernyshov smiled and said: "I have already interrogated the prisoners, and the enemy said that their main forces have been withdrawn to the rear. ”

"What, the main forces of the enemy have withdrawn to the rear?" Rokossovsky couldn't help frowning when he heard Chernyshov say this: "When I came, I saw that there were still quite a few tanks, armored vehicles and trucks in the village, why did the enemy abandon these technical equipment and run away?" It's just weird. ”

"Comrade Commander, I think this is understandable." Chernyshov pointed around with his hand and explained to Rokossovsky: "You see, the village of Popkovo can only be marched on foot on three sides, except for the side of our attack, which is suitable for tanks and armored vehicles. The enemy saw that they could not take their technical equipment, so they had to throw it away. ”

"Where do you think the enemy will retreat?" Rokossovsky then asked.

Chernyshov shook his head and replied with a wry smile: "The captives only said that their main forces had retreated, and as for where they had withdrawn, there was no confession." ”

Rokossovsky originally wanted the staff officer to bring a map, but when he looked back, he was followed by some guards, who definitely couldn't find a military map on them, so he could only say to Chernyshov a little helplessly: "My chief of staff is now in the village church, let's go back first to see if he has studied the direction in which the enemy may have withdrawn." ”

By the time Rokossovsky and Chernyshov, under the protection of the guards, left the cemetery and returned to the village of Popkovo, the condolence group led by Borisova and Tvelin had already been engaged in intense work.

Twelin took the male comrades to help the soldiers of the Guards clean up the corpses of the enemy, collect the weapons that could still be used, and at the same time work, they also asked the soldiers about their warmth and learned about their family situation, etc., and got along very well.

Borisova, on the other hand, took a few female comrades to help the hygienists, help them bandage the wounded, and chat with the seriously wounded to distract them and relieve their pain. There was even a beautiful female comrade squatting beside the stretcher and singing a song loudly, drawing applause from the wounded and nearby soldiers.

Li Muzi was shot in the left shoulder in the battle just now, and at this moment he was sitting on a tombstone lying on the ground, waiting for the hygienist to bandage his wounds. Borisova saw the appearance of an Asian face here, and asked curiously: "Comrade, are you from Kazakhstan?" She was under the impression that fighters with Asian faces were usually from Central Asian republics such as Kazakhstan or Tajikistan.

"No," Li Muzi saw a big beautiful woman squatting in front of him chatting with him, although he was a little distracted, but when he heard her question, he still replied very seriously: "Girl, I am not from Kazakhstan, I am from China, the anti-Japanese coalition army from China is here to help the Soviet army fight against the fascist invaders." ”

Borisova glanced at the medal on the military uniform in Li Muzi's hand, smiled and nodded, "It seems that you have performed well on the battlefield, and even the medal has been hung up." ”

Hearing Borisova talk about her medal, the smile on Li Muzi's face couldn't help but stiffen, because the first thing he said was that he was awarded a medal, but who knew that it was a medal in his hand, which made him lose his heart for a long time. Hearing this beauty uncover her scars again at this moment, Muzi wanted to get angry, but looking at the bright smile on the other party's face, he also smirked and said: "It's nothing remarkable, it's just a medal, what I want to get most is a medal, preferably a red flag or the Order of Lenin." ”

Borisova quickly bandaged the wound on Li Muzi's shoulder with her hands and feet, and said with concern: "Comrade Ensign, hurry up and put on your clothes, don't freeze on such a cold day." ”

Li Muzi stared blankly at Borisova's departing back, so much so that Lao Zhu didn't notice it when he came to his side. It wasn't until Lao Zhu deliberately pinched his injured shoulder that an unforgettable pain finally woke him up. He looked up at Lao Zhu standing in front of him, and said dissatisfiedly: "Lao Zhu, what are you doing, what are you doing when you have nothing to do with my wound?" ”

Lao Zhu rubbed two handfuls on Li Muzi's head, and said angrily: "Okay, don't see a beautiful woman and can't walk." You can still mix it up with other girls, but this one is absolutely not good, and you can't even think about it. ”

Since the two were talking in Chinese, the surrounding Guards soldiers couldn't understand at all, so Li Muzi asked the question in his heart without hesitation: "Why can't you even think about it?" ”

"Because that woman is a good friend of the commander." Although he knew that the soldiers around him couldn't understand the conversation between himself and Li Muzi, for the sake of safety, Lao Zhu, who was cautious by nature, still lowered his voice and told the truth, and finally added: "Just know about this, don't be foolish everywhere, otherwise if something happens, I won't be able to protect you, understand?" ”

"Understood, understood!" When Li Muzi heard Lao Zhu's advice, he immediately replied with an oath: "You can rest assured, this matter can be out of your mouth and into my ears, and no third person will know about it." ”

Just when Lao Zhu and Li Muzi were talking about Rokossovsky's scandal in private, Rokossovsky, who kept sneezing, came to the church in the village of Popkovo. Seeing that the commander was sneezing incessantly, Ma Lining asked with concern: "Comrade commander, what's wrong with you, do you have a cold?" ”

"It's not like a cold," Rokossovsky said, shaking his head, "I don't feel bad, I just keep sneezing and I don't know what's going on." By the way, have you worked out the direction of the retreat of the German army? ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander, after repeated analysis, I guessed to what area the Germans would withdraw to." Malinin stretched out his hand and pointed to a long table in the corner of the church hall: "There is a map on the table, I will explain it to you in detail." ”

Several people came to the long table, and Malinin pointed to the map and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, you see, to the southwest of the village of Popkovo, there is a village called Maklaki, fifteen kilometers from here, and I estimate that the enemy has withdrawn there. ”

Rokossovsky stared at the direction that Malinin was pointing for a while, and then said with a smile: "If the German army really retreats here, then our next stage of combat mission is to seize this stronghold of the enemy." As soon as we occupied here, the entire defense of the Germans in the direction of Zhizdra was crushed by us. All that remains for us is to purge the enemy from the village of Buren and the small villages scattered across the vast, woodless plains, so that they can no longer retreat to Zhizdra. ”