As the days passed, the Germans intensified their offensive, but due to the stubborn defense of the 316th Infantry Division, until the evening of November 6, the enemy's forward troops were still twenty kilometers away from Volokolamsk. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

At the headquarters of the 16th Army, Rokossovsky was discussing the next day's defense plan with Malinin when the high-frequency telephone on the table rang. He turned his head to look and saw that Lobachev, who was sitting at the table, had grabbed the microphone and put it to his ear to talk to the other party.

Rokossovsky thought that since Lobachev was answering the phone, he didn't care, and continued to discuss how to devote more troops and artillery to the defensive zone of the 316th Division tomorrow to stop the German army's frantic attack.

As soon as he had said a few words, he heard Lobachev shout in an excited voice: "Comrade commander, come here, I have something important to tell you." ”

Rokossovsky thought that something was wrong, and after glancing at Malinin, he quickly walked in front of Lobachev and nervously asked: "Comrade Military Commissar, what happened?" ”

"Comrades, everyone stop what they are doing." Lobachev did not immediately return to Rokossovsky's question, but said to the other commanders of the command: "Everyone come here, I have something important to announce." ”

After Malinin, Kazakov, Orel, and many other staff officers had gathered around, Lobachev said loudly: "Comrade commanders, I have just received a call from General Zhukov. He said that tomorrow, as in previous years, a military parade will be held on Red Square to celebrate the great October Revolution......"

"Ulla!" Before Lobachev could finish speaking, a staff officer in the crowd cheered loudly. Who knew that as soon as he shouted, without waiting for others to echo, he was stopped by Lobachev with a raised hand: "Don't worry, I haven't finished my words yet." The higher authorities asked us to send a mixed battalion of 200 people to participate in the military parade. ”

"Let's send troops to the parade?" Hearing Lobachev say this, the staff officers gathered around began to talk again, guessing according to their own imagination which unit in the army group would carry out this glorious task.

"Comrade Commander, which unit do you think will go to the parade?" Lobachev ignored the staff officers who were talking around him, and asked Rokossovsky directly.

If there were other things, Rokossovsky might have to think about it for a long time, but he already knew about sending troops to the parade, so he said without hesitation: "Let General Panfilov transfer men from the troops to complete this glorious and arduous task." ”

Seeing Lobachev pick up the microphone, he hurriedly added: "By the way, Comrade Military Commissar, I think that General Panfilov will be notified in the form of a written order at the end, and at the same time, the medal awarded to the division will also be sent." ”

When Malinin saw Lobachev drafting the order to Panfilov, he said with emotion: "If it were possible, I would really like to go to this grand military parade." ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Rokossovsky said to him with a smile: "Sooner or later, one day, you will be able to see with your own eyes the military parade on Red Square." But it is possible that instead of following the troops through the square, you will sit on the viewing platform next to Lenin's tomb and see our troops passing by Red Square. ”

"Really, Comrade Commander?" When Malinin heard Rokossovsky say this, his eyes immediately lit up and said: "Can I really sit on the viewing platform one day and watch our parade troops pass by on Red Square?" ”

"Yes, my Comrade Chief of Staff." Rokossovsky nodded, gave him an affirmative answer, and at the same time drew a large circle in the house with his hand, adding: "Most of the people in the house here, except for you, have seen the day when they saw the parade on Red Square with their own eyes. ”

……

An hour later, Panfilov and Yegorov, who were in the headquarters of the division west of Volokolamsk, received orders and medals from Lobachev.

Looking at the pile of medals neatly placed in front of him, Yegorov said with some excitement: "Comrade division commander, these medals are the affirmation of our superiors for our stubborn defense this month. ”

After nodding his head, Panfilov asked Yegorov: "Comrade Political Commissar, where do you think troops should be transferred to participate in the military parade on Red Square?" ”

"After a long battle, the attrition of the various units is very large." Yegorov frowned and said thoughtfully: "If forces are drawn from one unit alone, then the defense on the position will be weakened. I think so, one company from each of the three infantry regiments was formed into mixed battalions to participate in the parade on Red Square. ”

"Who should be in charge?" Panfilov then asked.

"Let the deputy commander of the guard battalion, Major Schedurin, be the battalion commander of this mixed battalion. As for the battalion instructors," Yegorov frowned and thought for a moment about the selection of battalion instructors, and then said decisively: "Let Comrade Crochkov, the first-class instructor of the 1075th regiment, be appointed." ”

"I agree!" Panfilov readily agreed to Yegorov's proposal, and then called several of his regimental commanders and asked them to immediately transfer men to the division headquarters to assemble. He also specially instructed the commander of the 1075th Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Dulov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, let Comrade Crochkov, the first-class instructor of the 1st Battalion, report to us. ”

Having received Dulov's notice, Krochkov trotted all the way to the division headquarters. After entering the door, he went straight to Panfilov and Yegorov, raised his hand to salute them, and reported: "The division commander, the commissar, the instructor of the first rank Crochkov are ordered to come, I follow your orders, please instruct!" ”

Seeing Crochkov who appeared in front of him, Panfilov stood up and said to him with a smile: "Comrade Crochkov, we called you here for two things. After speaking, he glanced at Egorov next to him and motioned for him to come out with a medal.

"Comrade Krochkov, in recognition of your heroic and tenacious fighting spirit and great achievements in the defense of Moscow. The higher-ups decided to award you the Order of the Red Banner. After Yegorov finished speaking, he handed over a red flannel box in his hand.

Crochkov took the box, opened it with joy, took out the Order of the Red Banner inside, and was considering whether to hang it on his chest or wait to find an awl to drill an eye and put it back on later, but Yegorov took the medal from his hand. Crochkov looked at Yegorov blankly, only to see that the other party took out a ceramic tea jar, put the medal in it, and then took an open bottle of vodka from Panfilov's hand, and poured most of the glass of wine into it with a clatter.

Seeing Crochkov's dazed look, Yegorov explained to him: "According to the tradition of the Russian army, hopefully this is not the last medal." Seeing that Crochkov had taken the cup somewhat reluctantly, he said to him in a commanding tone: "Drink!" ”

Seeing that Crochkov was holding a cup and not drinking, Panfilov smiled and encouraged him: "Come on! For the sake of this kind of good thing, you can give it a try. At the same time, it is also to celebrate our great October Revolution Day. ”

The words have already been said for this part, and if Krochkov doesn't drink it again, it will be a bit too much. He raised the cup high and said loudly: "Glory belongs to us, glory belongs to the motherland." He took the cup and drank the rest of the wine as if it were plain water. As soon as he finished drinking, his body began to shake, and he quickly sat down on the bench. He sat down and let out a few breaths, then smiled and said to the two division leaders, "I should be drunk." ”

"It doesn't matter, the Germans won't touch it at night, you can sleep with peace of mind." Yegorov took the medal out of the cup and pinned it to his chest for Crochkov.

At that moment, the telephone on the wall rang, and Panfilov went over to pick up the microphone and said loudly: "I'm number one, say it." Then he straightened up and said respectfully into the microphone: "Hello, Comrade Commander! Then he did not speak, but listened carefully to what the other party said without saying a word, and when the other party had finished speaking, he continued: "Okay, everything is understood, Comrade Commander, I will arrange it immediately." Wishing you good health and goodbye! ”

Putting down the phone, he excitedly walked up to Krochkov and said to him: "I just received a call from Commander Rokossovsky, he said that the car sent by the base camp to pick us up is about to arrive, let us get ready. Speaking of this, he looked at Crochkov and called his name with a serious expression: "Comrade Crochkov!" ”

"Here!" Crochkov quickly jumped up from the table and stood with his back straight.

"We have drawn a company from each regiment to form a mixed battalion, and now I appoint you as the battalion instructor of the mixed battalion."

"Comrade division commander," Krochkov asked with some confusion after receiving this inexplicable appointment, "can I ask, what is the task of this mixed battalion?" ”

"The task is simple," Panfilov and Yegorov looked at each other, and said to Crochkov with a smile: "The task of the mixed battalion is to immediately rush to Red Square and go to the review of the October Revolution Festival tomorrow!" ”

"Great!" When Krochkov heard the news, he was as excited as if he had been beaten with chicken blood, and the drowsy drunkenness just now suddenly disappeared without a trace. He belonged to the category of people who were anxious, and when he heard that the troops were waiting outside, he saluted Panfilov and them, turned around and wanted to run out, but was stopped by Panfilov.

Panfilov took off the fur military hat he was wearing from his head, handed it to Crochkov, and said with concern: "It's cold outside, and you will have a headache if you don't wear a hat, so I'll give you this leather hat I'm wearing." ”

Somewhat embarrassed, Crochkov took the hat, hesitated for a moment before putting it on his head, then slowly raised his hand, gave a solemn military salute to Panfilov, and said gratefully: "Thank you, Comrade General. ”

As soon as he ran to the door, he suddenly felt that something was wrong, stopped again, turned his head and asked Panfilov: "By the way, Comrade Division Commander, I don't know who the battalion commander of the mixed battalion is?" ”

"The battalion commander of the mixed battalion is Major Schedurin, who is the deputy battalion commander of the guard battalion." After Panfilov finished speaking, he smiled and waved his hand at Crochkov and urged: "The major and the troops are waiting for you outside, you can get out quickly." ”

Outside the division headquarters, Krochkov met Major Shedurin, who was waiting here, and after a few words of greeting, the two selected three company commanders from among the commanders and fighters who were ready to be paraded, taking advantage of the fact that the truck had not yet arrived.

…………

Sitting in the driver's seat of the first truck, Krochkov chatted with the driver with great emotion: "Hey, comrade driver, what part are you?" ”

The driver glanced at the rank of political worker on his collar badge and replied respectfully: "Report to Comrade First Class Instructor, before the war, I was a bus driver. After the outbreak of war, most of my colleagues enlisted, and I was no exception. ”

Crochkov was blown by the cold wind, and his alcohol was a little stronger, so he asked in a daze: "Comrade driver, do you also participate in this review?" ”

"No, Comrade First Instructor. My task is to send you to Red Square, and then go around to the Moskva River, and then send you to ...... when you have finished reading" Before the driver could finish his sentence, he heard snoring from beside him, and turned his head to see that Crochkov did not know when he had fallen asleep.

The driver was afraid of disturbing the rest of the commander, so he closed his mouth in time and concentrated on driving his vehicle. After more than five hours of driving, ten trucks loaded with 200 commanders and fighters of the 316th Division drove into the city of Moscow.

In his sleep, Crochkov noticed that the car seemed to be slowing down, and he tried to open his eyes. While rubbing his eyes, he asked the driver next to him: "Comrade driver, are you about to reach your destination?" ”

"Soon, comrade commander, we have already arrived at Pushkin Square, and in five minutes we will be on Red Square."

Crochkov looked out the window of the car and saw the bronze statue of Pushkin erected on the left side of the road, which seemed to have entered the martial law zone, and on both sides of the road stood armed men every few meters, judging by uniforms, in addition to the soldiers of the garrison, there were also policemen, traffic police, and even workers' pickets, all of whom without exception carried rifles with bayonets on their backs, standing on the side of the road like telephone poles.

The convoy came to a stop in the small square next to the Historical Museum, and the driver turned his head and politely said to Krochkov: "Comrade instructor of the first degree, we are on Red Square." ”

"Got to the place?" Crochkov, who came to Moscow for the first time, looked out the window curiously, and saw that in front of him was the largest GM department store in Moscow, and in front of him on the right was the famous Red Square. After thanking the driver, he pushed the car door and jumped down, shouting at the fighters who were getting out of the car: "Comrades, it's time to get out of the car!" ”

"Comrade Commander!" As soon as Crochkov's shout fell, a serious voice came from behind him: "Please be quiet, don't make a lot of noise here!" ”

Crochkov turned his head to see that it was the commander of the garrison, he smiled awkwardly at the other side, and then gestured for the fighters to enter the formation on Red Square. (To be continued.) )