Sitting in the jeep, I leaned my head back against the back of the chair and closed my eyes to recuperate, and the boring arguments between the two communications soldiers did not go to my heart at all, and my mind kept echoing the last words of Lieutenant Yambekov: "Farewell, comrades, don't forget our ......"

At that moment, the jeep suddenly jolted and stopped. Originally, I didn't care, but the car stopped for a while, and it didn't move in place, and then I heard Chuikov's impatient voice: "Comrade driver, what's wrong?" ”

"Comrade Commander," the driver replied a little reservedly, "the car seems to be out of order, I'll go down and take a look." Then I heard the sound of the car door. I quickly opened my eyes to see that the driver had already gotten out of the car, and Chuikov was still sitting in the front seat nervously. I hurriedly asked: "Comrade General, is something wrong?" ”

After glancing at the driver who lifted the front cover, Chuikov turned his head and said to me: "There is something wrong with the car, and the driver has already gotten out of the car to repair it." After speaking, he also pushed the car door, leaned out half of his body, and asked in a stern tone: "When will the fault be eliminated?" ”

Hearing his question, the driver hurriedly replied: "Comrade commander, there is something wrong with the carburetor, please wait for a while, it will be solved in five minutes at most." ”

Chuikov looked up at his watch, saw nothing, and sat back in his place.

The driver said five minutes, but at least two five minutes have passed, and the fault of the car has not been eliminated. Chuikov waited impatiently and pushed the door open again and leaned out. But before he could ask the driver, suddenly a shout came from outside: "Air raid siren, all get out of the car." ”

Chuikov heard the shout. Hurriedly leaned on the car door and turned around. Shouting at us: "Air strikes." Get out of the car and immediately find a place to hide. ”

When I got out of the car in a panic, I found that not only the people in our car had come down, but also the people in the jeep behind me. Seeing that the dirt road was surrounded by bare plains, and there was no place to hide, I couldn't help but panic. The heart said that so many people are huddled together, as long as a bomb is thrown from the sky, we can all be reimbursed.

Just when a bunch of us were panicking. I inadvertently glanced up into the air, and my hanging heart fell to the ground. Quickly walked up to Chuikov's side and said to him in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, don't worry, it's the enemy's reconnaissance plane. ”

Chuikov also looked into the air and shouted loudly at the signal soldiers who were running around: "Comrades, don't panic, it's the enemy's reconnaissance plane, and there are no weapons on the plane." ”

Hearing that it was an unarmed reconnaissance plane, most of the communications corps stopped. Look up at the enemy planes in the sky. The enemy's reconnaissance aircraft suddenly reduced their altitude and passed low over our heads. We had to duck down and dodge. At this moment, a communications soldier who was sitting in the back car ran to the plain.

Seeing the signal soldier fleeing the road, a signal sergeant stood up and shouted at the man's back, "Hey, where are you going?" You fool, where are you going?! ”

Unexpectedly, the sergeant shouted for a long time, but the signal soldier continued to run forward. At that moment a corporal rushed out of the spur and shouted loudly at the back of the timid messenger in a language I did not understand. At his shout, the warrior stopped and turned to look over us. Seeing that his men had stopped, and the corporal shouted a few more words in a foreign language that I did not understand, the warrior's mood became stable and he walked towards us.

I walked up to the corporal and asked him curiously, "Comrade Corporal, what are you from?" ”

When the corporal heard me ask him, he hurriedly raised his hand and saluted, and replied in slightly stiff Russian: "Comrade Colonel Report, I am from Kazakhstan," and when he said this, he pointed to the soldier in the distance and explained to me: "The soldier and I are from the same village, and when the sergeant called him just now, the reason why he did not stop was because he did not understand any Russian." ”

As he was talking, a loud noise was suddenly heard in the distance. I turned my head to look at the place where the explosion sounded, and saw the soldier with his hands on his chest, stumbling forward a few steps with a painful expression on his face, before falling headlong to the ground and never moving again. Judging by the still smoking pit behind him, he had stepped on a mine.

When the corporal saw his fellow countrymen lying in a pool of blood, he cried out and rushed over without hesitation. The rest of the signal corps also tried to rush over, but were stopped by the sergeant. He shouted at his men: "Comrades, no one is allowed to pass, there is a minefield ahead." ”

The signal soldiers wanted to rush over, but when they heard the sergeant say that there was a minefield ahead, they all stopped and stood there anxiously looking at the corporal who had rushed into the minefield.

The corporal rushed to the side of the communications man, leaned down and crouched beside him, and after some examination, he picked up his body with both hands and walked towards us step by step. Watching him get closer and closer, I stared nervously at his feet, fearing that he too would be unlucky and accidentally step on another mine planted by our troops.

However, the corporal was still lucky, and he was almost walking to us, and he did not hear the explosion of the mines again. When he was only five or six meters away from us, the sergeant came up with a couple of messengers, took the soldier from the corporal's hands, and carried him to the open ground and put him away.

"How's he doing?" Chuikov walked over and asked with concern.

The corporal shook his head and replied bitterly: "Comrade commander, his chest is blown up, all, all of it!" The whole person is no longer good. ”

Although I saw that the communications soldier lying on the ground was motionless, and the military uniform on his upper body had been soaked with blood, I still planned to try, so I ordered the sergeant: "Comrade sergeant, you ask, who has a first-aid kit, help him bandage it, and carry it to the car behind." When we rush back to the army group headquarters, we will be able to find a military doctor there. ”

The driver of our jeep walked up to Chuikov and reported to him: "Comrade commander, the car has been repaired, please get in the car!" ”

Chuikov nodded, turned and walked straight towards the jeep. I said to the signal soldiers who were bandaging the wounds of their comrades: "Comrades, hurry up and get your comrades-in-arms into the car, we must rush back to the headquarters as soon as possible." ”

Sit in the back of Chuikov. Thinking of the undead communications soldier. A thought popped into my mind. So he hurriedly asked Chuikov in the front row: "Comrade commander." Do we have a lot of troops from Asia in our army? ”

Chuikov turned his head to look at me, nodded, and asked in surprise: "Almost all the troops replenished in the later period are from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia and other places, which are all in Asia. What are you doing for this? ”

I hurriedly expressed the worry in my heart: "Comrade commander, the soldier who stepped on the mine just now is from Kazakhstan. From the fact that he was injured, I just discovered a very serious problem. ”

Chuikov probably saw my serious expression. Hurriedly asked, "Oshanina, what do you mean?" What the hell are you trying to say to me? ”

"Comrade commander, when I say serious problems, I mean that many of the commanders and fighters from these places do not understand Russian, and they do not understand the orders we give at all!"

"What? I don't know Russian! Hearing me say this, Chuikov jumped straight from his seat and hit his head on the roof. He lifted the crooked brimmed hat and said in disbelief, "No." Most of the commanders and fighters from Central Asia do not know Russian?! ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." The sergeant sitting next to me took over the conversation. "Allow me to report back to you. It's really difficult to work with these warriors from Central Asia. Communicate with them, because the language difficulties and the resulting misunderstandings make the situation worse. Coupled with their lack of understanding of modern techniques, they are more likely to be overwhelmed and even frightened by air raids. ”

After listening to the sergeant's words, Chuikov nodded thoughtfully and said: "What you said is really a problem, if half of the commanders and fighters cannot understand Russian, the orders given by the superiors will not be well implemented. ”

The sergeant waited for Chuikov to finish speaking, hesitated for a moment, and plucked up the courage to say: "Comrade commander, there is one more thing I want to report to you. ”

Hearing that the sergeant was going to report to Chuikov, I couldn't help but glared at him fiercely, and said in my heart that I didn't want to see what your identity was, so I wanted to report the information to the commander of the group army by skipping the ranks, and see how you would be scolded by Chuikov later. But when I saw the sergeant's blood-stained uniform, I remembered the scene when he had just carried his wounded comrade, and I couldn't help but hesitate, wondering if I should help him say good things when he was reprimanded by Chuikov later.

I saw that Chuikov frowned, and said a little impatiently: "If there is anything, just say it, don't stumble." ”

The sergeant agreed, and began to report: "Comrade commander, this is the situation. A week ago, I was in the 284th Division, and half of the division was made up of Tatar fighters. Due to the language barrier, the political workers in the division carried out political propaganda against them, and it became a piano for the cow. Because their indoctrination was unsuccessful, many people did not know what the war was for. In this case, wavering elements appeared. ……”

"Shakers?! What shakers? The sergeant's words aroused Chuikov's curiosity.

"Comrade Commander, I have heard about this, so let me report it to you in detail." Hearing the sergeant's beginning, I immediately knew what he was going to say, and quickly took over the topic, after all, there were some things that he didn't say very appropriately. As for the sources of information, they are all from military forums of later generations. After seeing Chuikov nodding, I continued: "Because many soldiers do not understand the meaning of this war, and they cannot communicate with their superiors, there are wavering elements who are greedy for life and afraid of death. A Tatar of the 284th Division, feeling that the future was bleak, decided to flee. He took advantage of the darkness to crawl out of his position and crawled towards the German position. But his bad luck and he lost his way in no man's land, and the deserter, unaware of the slightest, climbed to the position of the 685th regiment. Seeing the bunker of a command post, I got into it. He thought that he had reached his destination, and that the commander who was staring at him strangely in front of him must have been in German disguise, and the Soviet uniform he was wearing was nothing more than a disguise, so he immediately announced to the commander standing in front of him that he had come to surrender. Since the commander could not understand his words, he also found an interpreter to understand what he said. ……”

"What happened?" Chuikov asked curiously.

I shrugged my shoulders and replied, "What else, of course I was shot." Know the way. This is a crime of treason. Punishment for them. It's just shooting. ”

"Commander, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel is absolutely right, it is true." The sergeant hurriedly added.

Instead of dwelling on the issue of language, Chuikov directly changed the subject and asked, "Sergeant, do you know Order No. 227 issued by the Supreme Command?" ”

The sergeant nodded vigorously and replied, "Zhilu, comrade commander." The order says that you can't take a step back! ”

Chuikov followed his words and asked, "Comrade Sergeant." Do you know how to deal with those in your group army who retreat without permission after this order was issued? ”

When the sergeant heard this question, he became a little hesitant, and I could see from his expression that he obviously knew a lot about it, after all, he had also been in the headquarters of the group army for a while, and he probably knew a lot of inside things, so I encouraged him and said, "Say it, Comrade Sergeant." Just report to Comrade General what you have seen or heard. Even if you say something wrong, Comrade General will not blame you. ”

"Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina is right. Comrade Sergeant. Just talk about it. Chuikov echoed me in time.

With our permission, the sergeant became emboldened, and he said clearly: "Since the issuance of Order No. 227, many wavering elements and deserters have indeed been executed in the army, but some have also been killed by mistake. ”

"Wrongful killing?! There were actually cases of manslaughter in the group army. When Chuikov heard this, his eyebrows were raised, and at the sight of his frightened expression, the sergeant was so frightened that he closed his mouth and did not dare to say any more.

I hurriedly encouraged the sergeant: "Don't be afraid, you just need to tell the truth of the matter." ”

With my encouragement, the sergeant continued: "As far as I know, a 19-year-old lieutenant of the 196th Infantry Division was pierced by a submachine gun bullet in the palm of his left hand during the battle. He was then arrested and shot in front of other commanders of his own troops. ”

"Anything else? You go on to say. Chuikov said with a frosty face.

Seeing the sergeant's frightened and hesitant appearance, I knew that he did not dare to report more to Chuikov, otherwise he himself might be killed, so I took the initiative to say: "Comrade commander, I happen to know some things that happened in the 64th Army, and now I will take this opportunity to report to you." At this point, I paused, and deliberately turned my head to look at the sergeant beside me, only to see a grateful look on his face. I turned around and continued to say to Chuikov: "In a regiment of the 204th Division, after the battle, when the commander was counting the numbers, he found that two fighters were missing. Since it was only after a fierce battle, it would have been difficult to define whether the two fighters died or became deserters. Unexpectedly, the regiment commander and the regimental political commissar insisted that these two soldiers had become deserters, and gave an order to the company commander to severely punish the platoon commander of the platoon where the deserter was located. This young second lieutenant platoon commander has only been in this regiment for a few days, and he can't even recognize the soldiers under his command, how can he know about the situation of the two missing soldiers? However, regardless of the actual situation, the company commander resolutely carried out the order of his superiors, and he took the instructor to the trench and fired a shot at the platoon commander in the head. ”

"Bastard, what a bastard." Chuikov scolded viciously, and after taking a few deep breaths, he asked, "Oshanina, is there anything else?" Keep saying it to me. ”

I tried to recall what I saw in the post, and although I remember most of it, many of it hadn't happened after all, and what I said now became a god. So I said vaguely, "I don't know anything specific." But you also know that I have been in many units and have dealt with those who have retreated from the front, and from their mouths, I know that some of the executed commanders and fighters, some of whom were arrested by the Ministry of Internal Affairs for their defeatist anti-Soviet behavior just because of the defeat of the troops and a few complaints. When they are executed, it is often claimed that there is abundant evidence that they plotted to betray the motherland and surrender to the enemy. ”

After hearing this, Chuikov sighed and said: "In this cruel battle, we cannot tolerate cowardice, we cannot give it any room to survive. Comrade Stalin quoted Lenin as a warning to all commanders and soldiers and the common people: Those who do not want to help the Red Army in any way possible, those who do not obey the orders and discipline of the Red Army, are traitors and must be exterminated without mercy. In order to ensure victory in this war, all 'warmness' is unacceptable. Just as front-line troops always run the risk of being killed by their own artillery or aircraft, there are certainly cases of misadministration of military trials. ”

Originally, in the future, I would have said a few good words for these unjustly killed commanders and fighters, and took them as a warning to ensure that there would not be so many unjust cases in future battles. I didn't expect it to come out of his mouth, which couldn't help but make me feel a little chilled.

Hearing that I didn't speak, Chuikov turned his head and asked me, "Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, what are you thinking?" Am I not right? ”

Accusing him of his mistakes in front of Chuikov, I don't want to do such a stupid thing, otherwise how will I mess with him in the future. I had no choice but to follow his meaning and say, "Comrade commander, I was thinking, you have a very good point. It will be difficult to enforce this extremely cruel discipline, but only by doing so will we be able to ensure our ultimate victory. (To be continued......)