Yushchenko, who suddenly appeared, defused the awkward scene between me and Bukov. I said, "Let's go, Comrade Captain!" The troops of the 389th Tank Division are coming, let's go out and have a look. After speaking, he opened the curtain and walked out.

As soon as I stepped out of the tent, I saw Yushchenko standing not far in front with a submachine gun. When he saw us coming out, he hurried up to salute me and reported again: "Report to Comrade Division Commander! Units of the 389th Tank Division came over. ”

I looked in the direction where the roar of the motor came from, and I saw six Soviet T-34 tanks in a line, slowly moving towards where we were. In the rear of the tank, unhurriedly followed eighty or ninety fighters. The uniforms of these fighters are very mixed, ranging from black tank crews to ordinary military overcoats, and it seems that they are not all infantry, and some may even be tank crews who have lost their cars.

The tanks came to a halt in the middle of the clearing that had just been opened up in the woods, and while the infantry was in formation, two of the tanks had their turret roofs lifted and two men emerged from the tanks. Because it wasn't too far away, I immediately recognized it as Lieutenant Colonel Buniachenko and the major who had just picked me on the stab. The two of them stood on the tank and looked around, and when they saw me standing in the tent, they quickly jumped out of the tank and strode towards me.

The two of them walked up to me, and Bnyachenko raised his hand and saluted: "Report to Comrade General, Chief of Staff of the 389th Division Bunyachenko, the troops are coming with orders, please give an order." ”

I returned the salute, then stretched out my hand to shake him, and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, since your troops have arrived, then, according to the plan just now, send two tanks back to Khimki's right flank to hide, and wait for the feint attack on the front to begin, and then attack from the enemy's flank and beat them fiercely." As for the infantry who work together. At this point, I looked at the infantry of the 389th Division, which was standing neatly in the open field, and the militia who were arranging in a chaotic formation, and felt that it would be more appropriate for a well-trained regular army to go to such a task, so I continued: "It's still your division's infantry." After all, they are all part of the same army, and the effect is better when they are cooperated. ”

"What a shame!" It is estimated that my reply was expected by Bunyachenko, so he readily agreed, and then asked for my opinion: "I intend to let Major Comrade Malafeev carry out this task, and I must know that he is currently the commander with the most combat experience in our division, and if he commands him, he will definitely be able to achieve the expected results." ”

I looked at Major Malafeev, who had offended me just now, nodded slightly, turned my head and ordered Bukov next to me: "Comrade Captain, you go and arrange two guides to lead the way for the major's assault troops." ”

"Yes!" Bukov agreed, then walked up to Malafeev, made a gesture of invitation sideways, and said: "Comrade Major, please come with me, I will arrange a few fighters for you to be guides." ”

After the departure of the special detachment led by Major Malafeev, the fighters of the militia battalion were also assembled. Seeing a crowd of people standing in the clearing, Bunyachenko suddenly proposed to me: "Comrade General, we are about to attack. In order to motivate the morale, do you think you should go and give a few words to the fighters? ”

Seeing that there were so many people, I wanted to refuse, but seeing that Bukov had already stood on the tank of Bunyachenko, he began to speak loudly to the fighters: "Comrades! Our tank units have arrived, and with their fire support, we will launch a fierce attack on the fascist bandits who occupy Khimki! ...... "While Bukov was speaking, I walked towards his tank with Bnyachenko, surrounded by Yushchenko and several of them.

Seeing us pass, Captain Bukov, who was speaking, stopped, looked at me, and then turned the topic to me: "Comrades, the commander of the 8th Guards Division, Comrade Oshanina, who commanded us in battle, who had just been promoted to the rank of major general by Comrade Stalin, now I would like to ask her to say a few words for you. ”

With everyone's welcome applause, I had no way back but to climb into the tank with Buniachenko. I stood on the tank, stretched out my arms, and pressed my palms down to signal everyone to be quiet. Seeing my action, everyone stopped clapping and quieted down, and only the roar of the tank motor could be heard on the scene.

I cleared my throat, looked down at the militia fighters who were looking up at me, and said in a loud voice: "Comrades, brothers! I don't care what you used to do, whether you were a worker or a citizen, a student or a professor, but at the moment, you are all soldiers. Your mission is to take up your guns and fight valiantly to defend our great capital, Moscow. The Kremlin, where Comrade Stalin worked, was not far behind us, and we must not allow the enemy to move forward, but must take the initiative to destroy them. Even if we are only one of us, we must stop the enemy's advance. Hearing me say this, the soldiers below were silent, and it seemed that everyone still had little confidence in defeating the Germans, so I hurriedly added: "The fascist bandits occupying Khimki no longer have the ability to attack, and we must attack them with one blow to destroy or drive them away." When the war is won, we will erect a monument here with the inscription 'Khimki's militia battalion stopped the fascist bandits', so that our children and grandchildren will remember our glorious battle today! ”

After saying this, I carefully observed the expressions of the militiamen, and saw that although everyone was still silent, it could be seen from the eyes of many people that they could not wait to go and fight this battle immediately, so I pushed the boat down the river, and then added fuel to their high emotions, and I shouted loudly: "Today's battle, whether it is success or failure!" It will go down in history! ”

"Ulla!" First one person shouted, then more shouted, and soon a neat shout resounded through the heavens and the earth, and even Bukov and Bnyachenko, who were beside me, raised their arms and shouted, and the fighting passion of the fighters who longed for honor was stirred up by a few simple words from me.