As a traverser, I am confident that the troops under my command will be victorious, with the number of troops and equipment on both sides being roughly equal. But I am absolutely not arrogant enough to be so confident that I can hold on to such an important strategic point just by borrowing these 100 commanders and fighters under my command.

Not to mention that the Germans sent a large force to attack, it was a routine artillery bombardment of our army's positions every day, or in a week, there would be no living people left on the positions. I stayed and held on to this high ground, that is, I did my best, and I only hoped that more people from the 2nd Shock Army would break through the encirclement.

I held my position with the determination to die, but I did not expect that for the next two days, although the guns in the east kept ringing incessantly, the front of our position was calm. The Germans on the other side did not even shoot cold guns and cold guns, and we have become a forgotten corner here.

Idle, I stood on the hillside again and watched the troops passing below. The first two days were almost lightly armed, but today in addition to the troops carrying heavy materials, there are also many civilians carrying simple luggage in the passage. Due to the large number of people and the lack of people to maintain order, the entire passage was crowded, and people were slowly squirming forward.

At this moment, the carriage that was at the front suddenly overturned, and several large and bulky boxes rolled down, blocking the passage. Although the soldiers and civilians who followed behind bypassed the barricades from the slope of the hillside, the speed of the march was inevitably affected.

I hurriedly trotted over to the overturned cart, and when I came to the group of commanders and fighters who were trying to lift the carriage up and put the cart in order, I asked in a loud voice, "What part of you are from?" ”

At the sound of my shout, a political cadre wearing a large-brimmed hat walked up to me and said with a serious expression: "I am Zalilov, a battalion-level political commander, and the head of the editorial department of the 2nd Assault Army's "Bravery". Who are you? ”

I first pointed to the overturned carriage and replied, "I am Major Oshanina, the battalion commander of the 327th Division, and now I am in charge of defending the high ground of the passage. Comrade instructor, I would like to remind you that we are now breaking through the siege and we must try to travel as lightly as possible, but you are carrying so many unnecessary materials that you and the troops behind you will be very dangerous if you are attacked by the enemy. ”

Zalilov snorted from his nose and said in a mocking tone: "Comrade Major, what are we going to do to your liking, according to your meaning?" ”

His attitude was not friendly, and I was not polite to him, and said coldly: "Please order your subordinates immediately, except for weapons, ammunition, and food, all the rest of the things are thrown away, and move forward lightly." ”

Unconvinced, he retorted: "What authority do you have to order me to know that these printing presses are the precious property of the group army, and we must protect them like eyes." ”

"Comrade instructor," said to him, although I wanted to get angry at the sight of such political workers, but in order to restore the smooth passage of the corridor as soon as possible, I patiently said to him, "although these pieces of equipment are precious, they are insignificant compared to the lives of our vast number of Red Army soldiers. The speed of your moving movement has greatly slowed down the breakthrough speed of the troops. ”

"Comrade Major, please don't be alarmist. Even if we sacrifice our lives, we must protect these precious equipment in the printing house. Speaking of this, he paused and said in an accentuated tone, "Also, according to the regulations, in the case of the same military rank, the political workers have the most decisive decision. ”

"You ......!!!" His words choked me speechless, since he has already brought out the regulations to pressure me, and we are not in the same system, we really have nothing to do with him. I glared at him fiercely, then turned around and returned to my position in a huff.

As soon as I entered the command post, Lieutenant Ugad walked in and, after saluting me, reported: "Comrade Major, there is bad news, we are out of food. ”

I had just sat down, but as soon as I heard what he said, I immediately jumped up from my stool and asked nervously, "Lieutenant Ugad, are the troops left with no food?" ”

With a sad face, he nodded and said, "Originally, at the beginning of the breakout battle, the troops only had three days of food left. Originally, we wanted to wait for the breakthrough of the encirclement before replenishing, but we unexpectedly stopped here and got no supplements, so by today, all the food has been eaten, and there is nothing left. ”

I ran out of food, and this problem gave me a headache. If there was no food, we would not have been able to hold out for two days, and before the Germans could call, the commanders and fighters on the position were so hungry that they could not move. What do we do next, stay or go?

In the midst of a dilemma, there was a sudden screech of cannonballs outside, followed by a violent explosion that shook the roof and caused the dirt to fall down.

Ugad shouted: "Not good, the Germans are going on the offensive." So saying, he patted the dirt on his shoulder, and said to me, "I'll go to the position." And he ran away.

When I saw Ugad running out of the city, I suddenly understood: the Germans had not discovered the attack or shelling in the past few days, not because they had forgotten us, but because they were gathering strength and preparing to seize our high ground that defended the breakthrough passage in one fell swoop. It seems that today we will face this never-ending battle, and when I think of this, I suddenly feel a cold back, and cold sweat can't stop flowing.