While Rokossovsky's side was in full swing to deploy defenses, the squad led by Felip was already in a desperate situation. They did not run far in the forest and caught up from behind from behind the Germans. Looking at the enemy pouring up from all directions, Fripp could only divide his troops into squads, alternately covering the retreat back.

The warriors hid behind the trees, pulling the bolt and pulling the trigger as fast as they could, knocking down the enemies who rushed up one by one. But there are too many enemies, and if you knock down one, more will rush up. After only ten minutes, there were only a dozen people left in the row that retreated into the forest.

Seeing this, Kochetov, who was wounded in the leg by Felip on his back on his back, could not help but be anxious, and he shouted at Felip in a low voice: "Comrade Captain, you retreat with the rest of the fighters, give me a gun, and I will leave you for cover." ”

"No, Comrade Second Lieutenant." Without thinking, Felip directly rejected Kochetov's proposal, and he panted as he ran: "You are a wounded, how can I throw you to the Germans?" ”

"Comrade Captain," Kochetov couldn't help but get anxious when he saw Felip being so stubborn: "You carry me on your back, you can't run fast at all, and you will soon be caught up by the Germans, so you better put me down!" ”

"No, resolutely not." In response to Kochetov's request, Felip still insisted on his opinion, "I must not leave you here, otherwise you will either be killed or captured by the Germans." ”

"Comrade Captain, listen to me." Kochetov looked at the pursuers looming behind him, and said anxiously to Felip: "If you carry me on your back, not only will you not be able to run fast, but even the few soldiers next to you can only slow down. If we continue like this, we are in danger of being wiped out. ”

"But I can't just leave you behind." Although Felip felt that he was running slower and slower, he was still trying to persevere, but Kochetov's words also made his heart waver. "When the Germans rush up, you will be captured or killed, and I must not leave you."

"Alright, Comrade Captain, you find a hidden place and put me down first, and I will hide myself." In order not to drag down the remaining dozen fighters, Kochetov had to continue to persuade Felip: "When the enemy leaves, you will come back to me." ”

"Comrade Captain, that's a good idea." Hearing Kochetov say this, a fighter next to him immediately chimed in. "Let the second lieutenant hide himself, and when the enemy is gone, we will come back to him."

Seeing that Kochetov and the fighters were saying this, Felip finally gave up his insistence after a short thought, gritted his teeth and ran forward for a while, then put Kochetov behind a bush and whispered to him: "Comrade Ensign, you can hide here for the first time, and we will come back to you after the enemy has left." ”

Kochetov smiled bitterly and waved his hand, and said: "Hurry up, Comrade Captain, while the Germans have not caught up now." ”

Felip nodded, ran a few steps with the fighters, then ran back again, bent down and said to Kochetov: "Comrade Ensign, remember, I will come back to you. As soon as we get rid of the Germans, I will come back to you. So don't go too far from here anyway. You remember, I will definitely come back to you, this is my promise to you. ”

Kochetov watched Felip and several fighters leave, leaning against a tree, drew his pistol, checked the magazine, then removed one of the grenades from his belt, unscrewed the cap, put the tab on his little finger, and prepared himself to die with the Germans.

Watching Felip's back disappear into the forest in the distance, Kochetov's mood calmed down. He secretly thought in his heart that if it weren't for General Rokossovsky's rescue, his life would have been confessed to the border post long ago. To be able to live for such a long time is already earned. Later, the Germans will come up and kill one to save the capital, and kill two to make money, and they can also be temporarily dragged to cover the successful escape of their comrades.

It wasn't long before he heard the sound of hurried footsteps and the clatter of his boots on fallen branches. "The Germans are coming!" As soon as he thought of this, he couldn't help but clench the gun in his hand, ready to shoot decisively when the first German appeared in his sight.

But when he saw the presence of five or six Germans at the same time, he could not help but hesitate. Because he knew in his heart that as soon as he shot here, he would immediately be sieveed by a dense stream of bullets.

The Germans soon rushed over, stopped only seven or eight paces away from him, and began to talk in German. At this moment, Kochetov became desperate because he realized that he was alone. He pressed his back tightly against the trunk of the tree, trying not to make a sound so as not to be discovered by the Germans.

Although he had already made up his mind to die, when this moment really came, his mood began to be afraid. He even thought to himself that if the Germans took a few steps towards him, or even glanced at him, he might leave this world forever.

Hearing the footsteps getting closer and closer to him, he simply clenched the gun in his hand, ready to shoot at the Germans who appeared in front of him first, and then drained all the bullets in the gun in one breath, and then pulled the grenade and died with them.

Thankfully, the Germans didn't spot him. After a short pause, they swarmed into the distance. Seeing the Germans go away, Kochetov's strength seemed to be drained at once, and he fell on his back and face to the sky weakly.

When his mood calmed down a little, he listened intently for a while, and found that the footsteps of the Germans were getting farther and farther away from him, and it seemed that he was safe for the time being. He released his finger from the trigger, placed the pistol on the dirt, and at the same time removed the grenade tab from his little finger, and continued to lie on the ground to rest.

After lying for I don't know how long, Kochetov's heart began to worry about Felip and them: "I wonder how the captains are doing now, have they managed to get rid of the German pursuers?" Although there were still a dozen of them left, the Germans who caught up were more than thirty people, and the situation was still very unfavorable for them. ”

At this moment, the sound of boots stepping on a branch was heard nearby, and he couldn't help but shudder, and hurriedly touched the pistol on the ground and held it in his hand again. His heart was beating wildly, and he asked himself: "Who is here, German or his own?" ”

He raised his head slightly, looking nervously through the bushes in the direction where the sound was coming from, but for the moment no one saw anyone.

At this moment, he heard a man whisper: "We just put the second lieutenant near here, why can't we find anyone, could it be that we were caught by the Germans?" ”

"No," said another voice next to him, "there is no trace of a battle here, I guess the second lieutenant should still be there, everyone look carefully." ”

"Peripe, it's Captain Peripe." Kochetov immediately heard that the person who was talking behind him was Captain Felip. His heart suddenly became excited: "The captain didn't lie to me, he really brought someone back to find me." ”

Kochetov raised his hand to wipe the tears from his face, and after taking a deep breath, he shouted: "Comrade Captain, I'm here, I'm here!" ”

With his shout, the footsteps stopped abruptly, followed by a series of bolts. Then Felip's voice was heard again: "Don't be nervous, everyone, it seems to be the voice of Ensign Kochetov." ”

"Ensign, where are you?" The voice that spoke first shouted.

"I'm here." Kochetov replied with all his might, but he heard his own voice for some unknown reason, and it had become hoarse.

A moment later, a soldier ran to Kochetov's side, and after crouching down to see that it was Kochetov who was lying on the ground, he immediately turned his head and shouted behind him: "Comrade Captain, Second Lieutenant Kochetov is here, he is still alive." ”

Four or five more people came into Kochetov's field of vision, one of whom was Captain Felip. He squatted down, touched Kochetov's forehead, and then asked with concern: "Comrade Ensign, how are you feeling?" ”

Seeing Perip crouching in front of him, Kochetov knew that he was saved, and he suddenly felt a burst of soreness in his nose, and tears of displeasure burst out of his eyes again. He said with some difficulty: "Thank you, thank you, Comrade Captain, thank you for bringing someone back to me." ”

Perip stood up and made a gesture to the back, and immediately two warriors carrying stretchers stepped forward. He put a stretcher on Kochetov's side and carried him onto a stretcher.

As the fighters carried Kochetov towards the depths of the forest, Kochetov curiously asked Felip, who was following him on his stretcher: "Comrade Captain, how did you get rid of the Germans?" The reason why he asked this was because he noticed that there were obviously a few more fighters around him than there were just a few more than just now.

"When we were retreating, we met the rescue force sent by General Novikov, and after they waited for us to run over, they opened heavy fire on the Germans who were catching up, and it only took ten minutes to destroy all the enemy." Fripp said a little tiredly: "Now that the enemy has been destroyed, I must not leave you alone in the forest, so I will come back to you with the warriors." In order not to let you suffer more sins on the road, I also made a stretcher for them. ”

Novikov, who received a report from his subordinates, called Rokossovsky, in which he said: "Comrade commander, the troops I sent met in the forest small units withdrawn from the front. ”

Hearing that Novikov had a small army led by Felip, Rokossovsky hurriedly asked with concern: "How is it, Comrade General, have you rescued them, how many of them are left?" ”

"According to my fighters, when they rushed over, the detachment was being pursued by the enemy." Novikov reported: "Our troops eliminated the pursuers of the Germans and managed to free the detachment. At present, there are more than a dozen people left in the detachment, and they are advancing towards you under the escort of the troops I have sent, and it is estimated that they will arrive in another hour. ”

A fully equipped guard company, with more than a dozen soldiers under Felip, did not expect that now there were only a dozen people left, Rokossovsky thought of such a heavy casualty, his heart felt as if he had been slammed by something, and he felt particularly uncomfortable. After a moment of silence, he then asked, "Who is the commander of the squad?" ”

To Rokossovsky's question, Novikov thought for a moment, and then returned and said: "It is said that it seems to be a captain named Felip, who turned out to be from the 20th tank division. However, after escaping, they did not immediately return with our troops, but returned to look for a wounded man who had fallen behind. ”

"What, go back and find a wounded man who has straggled." When Rokossovsky heard this, he was extremely dissatisfied with Fripp, angry at him for putting the safety of a dozen fighters at risk in order to save a wounded man. He gritted his back molars and asked, "Did he say who this wounded man is, that it is worth so many of them to turn back to him in his own safety?" ”

"I heard it looks like a second lieutenant." Novikov didn't expect Rokossovsky to suddenly ask about this, and after hesitating for a long time, he said slowly: "Name, although he said it once, I can't remember it clearly." As for why he went back looking for the wounded, I think you can ask when the captain returns to you. ”

Although Novikov said that Felip and they would be able to reach Rokossovsky's headquarters in an hour, in fact, it took two hours for the remnants of the army to reappear in front of Rokossovsky.

Seeing Felip, who had walked into the headquarters, Rokossovsky asked coldly: "Comrade Captain, I would like to ask you, why did you risk the safety of a dozen fighters to go back to find a wounded person who had fallen behind?" ”

In response to Rokossovsky's questioning, Felip straightened his back, looked at the other party and said: "Comrade commander, because the German pursuers have been repulsed by us, I must go back to look for the wounded that I have left behind. I must not allow our comrades to fend for themselves in the forest. ”

Seeing Felip, who had walked into the headquarters, Rokossovsky asked coldly: "Comrade Captain, I would like to ask you, why did you risk the safety of a dozen fighters to go back to find a wounded person who had fallen behind?" ”

In response to Rokossovsky's questioning, Felip straightened his back, looked at the other party and said: "Comrade commander, because the German pursuers have been repulsed by us, I must go back to look for the wounded that I have left behind. I must not allow our comrades to fend for themselves in the forest. (To be continued.) )