Sergeant Gelia took his troops and left along the road from which we came. In order to increase the combat effectiveness of this unit, I also arranged for three other fighters to accompany him. As the team passed me, I noticed that there were still many wounded inside, some with bandages on their heads or arms, and some with a branch as a crutch. I couldn't help but feel guilty in my heart, wondering if my attitude towards them just now was a little too much.

"Comrade Commander, I know you." As a soldier passed me, he suddenly stopped and spoke abruptly at me.

"Really? Comrade fighters. I said nonchalantly. Guilt is guilt, but I still remember their performance just now, so my attitude is still extraordinarily indifferent.

"Not long ago in the Borodino area, you came to our regiment and personally led us in a counterattack against the Germans. And fought all the way to the War Memorial Tower on the high ground. ”

"There have been such things."

"I met you at the time, do you remember me?" He said happily.

Hearing him say this, I couldn't help but look him up and down curiously, but unfortunately, I had the impression that I had never seen the warrior in front of me, so I shrugged my shoulders and shook my head, saying, "I'm sorry, I don't think I've ever seen you before." ”

"Alas, Comrade Commander," he said with some grievances, "at that time, on the high ground, after the Fourth Tank Brigade and our division, their commanders were looking for you everywhere, or I went to report to you. You don't remember? ”

Come to think of it! When I heard him say that, I remembered it completely! At that time, I had just conquered the heights, and I was standing at the foot of the War Memorial Tower, and I was talking to Pavlov, who had come with a few captured French soldiers, and this soldier came to me and reported to me that the Fourth Tank Brigade had reached the heights and that their commander was looking for me everywhere.

"Well, I remember." I nodded and said, then asked with concern, "What happened to your regiment, and how did you get captured?" ”

"The day after you left, the German infantry, under the cover of tanks, artillery and aircraft, attacked our positions in turn. The fighters showed exceptional tenacity, repelling a dozen German charges, making them pay a terrible price in front of our positions. After a day of fighting, the positions on the left and right flanks were successively broken through by the Germans, and our regiment was surrounded by the Germans. That night, the regimental commander personally led us to break through. The fire on the German positions was fierce, and as soon as the regimental commander who led the charge left the heights, he fell under the enemy's guns and died a heroic death. The rest of the commanders continued to rush forward with us, but unfortunately they still did not succeed. The troops were scattered, most of the fighters were killed, and the rest were captured by the Germans. ”

"So in this army, are there still people in your regiment?"

"Nope." He shook his head and continued: "They have long been taken to the prisoner of war camp in the rear of the enemy, and because I was assigned to the temporary engineering team, responsible for digging graves for them to bury the remains of the fallen soldiers on both sides, or building fortifications, I was not sent to the prisoner of war camp with these captured soldiers until today. ”

"How's Pavlov?"

"I don't know how to do it, maybe it's sacrificed."

"I see! ...... "Speaking of which, I feel a little speechless.

"Comrade Commander!" The warrior suddenly said to me with a resolute attitude: "Can I stay and fight you everything?" ”

"For what?"

"I want to avenge my dead comrades! How many comrades I have buried with my own hands, in the future I will definitely send the same number of German fascist bandits to the grave. ”

I stared at him for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay, then you can stay." By the way, what's your name? ”

"Sergeant Sapochuk, Muscovites."

We walked more than 500 meters south in the forest, and it was not until we could not see the forest road with our binoculars that I ordered the team to stop and rest for a while. It turned out that the rugged forest was not easy to walk, and there was thick snow, so after the rapid march just now, I felt that the underwear on my body had been wet with sweat, wet and cold, and when I stopped to be blown by the cold wind, I felt the cold drill my body.

At the moment, there were only ten people left in the team, including me. At the head of the line was Sergeant Aggie, and with him were Private Saska and Private Leondev; I was flanked by the new sergeant Sapochuk, the sniper Aguminte, the operator Corporal Orlov; At the back of the line this time were Sergeant Lukin, Corporal Resdaev and Corporal Sgolia, all three of whom were armed with submachine guns.

I walked over to Aggie, who was currently the most familiar and trusted person in the squad, so I kept him in charge of the Spearhead's mission. At this moment, he was crouching in the bush between the two birch trees, watching warily ahead. I put one hand on his shoulder and asked softly, "Is there anything going on?" ”

Aggie turned his head and said, "No, it's quiet all around, and there's no movement." It seems that our ambush just now has not alarmed the Germans for the time being. ”

"Which direction shall we go in a moment?"

Aji took out his compass and measured the direction, then pointed a finger to the right front of Lu and said, "You should go in that direction." After about two hours of walking, you should be able to see a small village. If the village had not been occupied by the Germans, we would have chosen to camp there tonight. ”

Armed with my submachine gun, I returned to Sergeant Sapochuk and Corporal Orlov, the operator. The operator asked me softly: "Comrade commander, do you need to contact the headquarters of the group army now?" ”

I waved my hand and said, "I don't need it for the time being, I'll talk about it after the camp in the evening." Then he turned to Sapochuk and asked him, "Do you know what Yasna Yapollana is?" ”

"Huh?!" Sapochuk listened to me, looked at me with wide eyes and surprise, and said: "No, comrade commander. Don't you know that the estate of the famous Russian writer Leo Tolstoy is there?! ”

"Knowing the way, knowing the way!" I hurriedly concealed my ignorance, "Of course I know this, I'm just testing you." He quickly turned his gaze to Agumint and asked, "Is your sniper rifle heavy?" ”

"It's not heavy." As he spoke, Agumint raised the weapon in his hand and raised it a few times before he continued: "It's the same as a normal rifle, but with an extra scope." ”

I paced up to the three submachine gunners and had a brief chat with each of them.

After doing some rounds, I felt a lot more at ease and returned to my place. I asked the operator, "What time is it?" ”

He rolled up his sleeves, looked at the watch on his wrist, and replied, "It's eleven o'clock and seven o'clock, and we've been resting here for five minutes." ”

I looked around and saw that the fog had long since cleared, so I waved my hand forward and said, "Let's go!" "With my order, the squad moved forward again.

After walking forward in the snow for more than an hour, suddenly Aji's voice came from the front: "There is a situation!" ”

"Stop!" I hurriedly gave the order to the squad: "Hide in place and stand by." Then he ran to Aggie's side with a submachine gun and asked softly, "What did you find this time?" ”

"Look, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," he said to me, pointing ahead, "thirty meters ahead, it's a makeshift road that has just been built." ”

"Is there anything going on the road?" I saw that the highway was empty, and I couldn't see either the car or the people. But I believe that Aggie found something to alert us, so I asked a special question.

"The enemy's troops are coming in this direction, this time not infantry, but mechanized units." As if to verify the truth of what he said, the roar of a motor was heard on the road. The enemy came, and the thought came to my mind, and my body was already instinctively lying on the snow.

In a few moments, I saw German tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery tractors, and trucks full of soldiers, one after the other, driving along the rough and rudimentary forest road.