The whole division was divided into pieces and carried out a clean-up operation.

After only two days of fighting, I realized that I had misjudged. The number of German troops hiding in the villages and settlements was far lower than I had estimated, as few as five or six men, and as many as twenty, and they were not only devoid of heavy weapons, but also of rifles or submachine guns.

Every time our army dispatches a battalion of troops, the strength of which is more than ten or twenty times that of the German army, it is well-equipped and has a high morale. In addition, if you bully more and less, hundreds of people beat a few or a dozen others, and that is not a hand-to-hand capture.

Yesterday, the commander of the third battalion of the 1077th regiment, Major Lomov, in a battle in a small village, the whole battalion did not fire a single shot, and by fighting bayonets, he wiped out all the German troops in a squad in the village.

Seeing the brilliant results of my subordinates, I, who had been in the division headquarters and commanded remotely, couldn't help but feel a little itchy. Therefore, in spite of the opposition of Yegorov and Chistyakov, with the guard unit as the backbone, and a group of people from other units were transferred to form a battalion-sized clearance unit, and the commander of the guard company, Captain Yushchenko, was appointed as the battalion commander, and I personally led the search for the remnants of the enemy.

But luckily, I searched for two days in a row, and found no Germans in the villages or settlements I passed.

Seeing the joy of the soldiers gradually turn to disappointment, I was also very anxious. Every time my subordinates attacked, they could get something, but I, the commander of a division, led the team to attack, but I didn't get anything, which made me feel very shameless.

Tomorrow is New Year's Day, and in the morning I received a call from Commander Vlasov, saying that our army and all Soviet armies were attacking separately and encircling some units of the German 9th Army and the 4th Panzer Army in the Vyazma area. The retreat of the besieged German troops was also completely cut off by the paratroopers airdropped by our army. He asked me to rush to the headquarters in Vyazma at once to discuss a new combat mission for the upcoming year 1942.

What escorted me to the headquarters of the group army was a mixed battalion that had been formed only two days earlier. After the fighters quickly boarded the car, a long convoy was heading towards Vyazma. I sat in Grissa's jeep and looked out the window with a serious expression without saying a word, and I caught a glimpse of Yushchenko, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turning his head several times, as if to say something to me, but I was not in a good mood, so I closed my mouth in amusement.

After more than half an hour of driving, my mood gradually calmed down, although the battalion I led in the past two days did not find any remnants of German soldiers, but this is about to go to the battlefield, and there are still many opportunities to fight with the enemy.

I was about to say a few words to Yushchenko in the front seat, when suddenly a violent explosion was heard in front of me, and the cars in front of me stopped.

Yushchenko turned his head and said with a serious expression: "Comrade division commander, I'll go to the front and have a look." ”

I nodded and said, "Go ahead!" ”

He pushed open the door, jumped off, and trotted forward with his submachine gun.

I poked my head out and looked back and forth, and the soldiers in the trucks in front and behind had already lifted their tarps and jumped out of the trucks, and quickly dispersed to the woods on both sides of the road, seizing the advantageous terrain and guarding with guns.

Except for the explosion just now, there was no movement. I saw a puff of smoke rise in front of me, and neither the explosions nor the gunshots were heard, because there were so many vehicles blocking the view that I couldn't confirm what was going on.

After a few minutes, Yushchenko ran back out of breath, and without waiting for him to stop, I pushed the door open to meet him and asked loudly: "Comrade Captain, what happened?" ”

He hurriedly stopped, saluted me and reported: "Comrade Division Commander, the explosion just now was a mine on our truck in front. ”

"Huh?!" I was taken aback and hurriedly asked, "What about the casualties?" ”

Yushchenko lowered his head and said with some sadness: "The driver and the second lieutenant who led the team have already died on the spot, and six of the fighters in the carriage were seriously injured and fourteen were slightly injured. I have arranged for the hygienist to treat them, and after bandaging, I will send them back to the rear. ”

As soon as he finished speaking, a truck with a canopy staggered from the front, passed us, and drove back in the direction from which he came.

I watched the truck go away, then turned back to Yushchenko and said, "Let's go, Comrade Captain, let's go to the front together." ”

Yushchenko immediately stretched out his hand to block my way, and said with some embarrassment: "Comrade division commander, the front is too dangerous, you should stay here." ”

I frowned and asked him, "Can the convoy move on?" ”

He shook his head and replied: "Not yet, there are still mines laid by the enemy on the road, and I have arranged for the sappers on the truck in front to start clearing mines." You stay here for a while, and it won't be long before we can move on. ”

Hearing him say this, I didn't object, after all, the lethality of landmines is too great, and if I don't clean it up, even if I am asked to move forward, I don't dare. I don't want to be like the political commissar of the 7th Guards Division, Bakanize. So I instructed him: "Comrade Captain, it is too cold on this road, so let the rest of the men return to the car, except for the mine-clearing sappers and the necessary guards." ”

"Yes!" He said yes and went to my orders in earnest.

I got back into the car and closed the door. Grissa, who had been staying in the car, turned his head and asked me, "Comrade division commander, what happened ahead?" ”

I looked out the window at the snow-covered forest on the side of the road, and while wondering if I could get around the forest, I replied, "It was the truck driving at the front that hit the mine, and the commanders and fighters on the truck were all killed and wounded." ”

The snow in the forest is so deep that it is estimated that many places are more than one meter, and people may be able to pass through such places, but the car will definitely not be able to pass, and it seems that they can only patiently wait for the sapper soldiers to finish demining before moving on.

I leaned back in the chair and closed my eyes to recuperate, when I suddenly heard someone outside the car shouting to me: "Comrade Division Commander, Comrade Division Commander." ”

Could it be that something is going on again? I snapped my eyes open, poked my head out the window, and saw an ordinary soldier of the guard company. I hurriedly asked, "Comrade soldier, what's wrong?" ”

The soldier changed the submachine gun in his hand to his left hand, and then replied with a salute: "Report to Comrade Division Commander, there are people moving in the forest, and our Comrade Captain personally took someone to check it." He asked me to tell you to stay safe! ”

"I'll pay attention to it." I nodded at him and said with a smile, "Thank you!" ”