Although Zhukov was asking me, his eyes were on Chernyakhovsky, as if he wanted to get the answer he wanted from him. Seeing this, I closed my mouth in amusement and turned my gaze to Chernyakhovsky, waiting for him to tell Zhukov about our thrilling experience on the way.

As soon as Chernyakhovsky waited for Zhukov to finish speaking, he immediately replied: "Report to Comrade Marshal, Lida and I encountered an enemy cavalry attack of more than fifty people on the way to the tank brigade. With the support of reinforcements, we have annihilated all this cavalry. ”

"The enemy's cavalry?" After listening to Chernyakhovsky's brief account, Zhukov turned his head to look at Rokossovsky and asked in surprise: "Comrade Rokossovsky, do the Germans have formed cavalry?" ”

Rokossovsky shook his head and said with a blank expression: "Since the Germans have such a powerful armored force, cavalry is a dispensable branch of the army for them, and in the information I have obtained, the Germans have never heard of any formed cavalry units except for a small number of cavalry used for communication and reconnaissance." ”

"That's right, Comrade Marshal." Cherniakhovsky, realizing that Zhukov and Rokossovsky had a misunderstanding, hastened to explain: "We encountered not German cavalry, but Hungarian cavalry. They must have bypassed the lines of our army, passed through the forest, and happened to meet our convoy, so there was a battle. ”

After listening to Chernyakhovsky's narration, Zhukov walked around the table and walked in front of me and asked with concern: "Lida, you are not injured, are you?" ”

"No, Comrade Marshal." I was deeply afraid that Zhukov would be worried, so I hurriedly replied: "Before the enemy got close to me, he was already all killed." ”

"Are you really okay?" Without waiting for Zhukov to speak. Rokossovsky also walked around from behind the desk, walked up to me, looked up and down, and asked nervously, "Are you sure you really aren't hurt?" ”

"Comrade Rokossovsky, don't worry about Leda. She is blessed with a great life, and she will definitely be fine. "Zhukov after confirming that I was not injured. The expression on his face also became relaxed, so much so that he also said to Rokossovsky jokingly: "During the defense of Moscow, I took her to the front line to inspect and had an encounter with German tanks, but in the end it was safe." ”

Then, after the two of them and Chernyakhovsky gave some guidance on the deployment of the 60th Army, they shook hands with him and said goodbye.

I was wondering whether I should stay, or whether I should return to the front headquarters with Rokossovsky, when Zhukov, who was passing by me, stopped. He looked sideways at me and asked, "Leda, what are you still standing here?" Without waiting for me to speak, he added, "Come back to Moscow with me." With that, he and Rokossovsky walked side by side outside.

"Yes!" I said yes loudly, and then I turned my eyes to Chernyakhovsky to see what the reaction was. Chernyakhovsky and I met eye contact, opened their mouths and said something silently. Although there was no sound, I could tell from the shape of his mouth. What he said was: "Don't forget to mention to the marshal about replenishing our equipment." ”

I nodded at him, indicating that I would take his business to heart, and only then turned around and walked out of the headquarters of the tank brigade after Zhukov and them.

A few of us had not gone far from the headquarters, and Zhukov stopped and asked Rokossovsky: "Where are you going next?" ”

Rokossovsky hurriedly replied: "I plan to go to the defense areas of the 38th and 40th armies, which are next to the incomplete Voronezh Front. As soon as the Germans moved north from the direction of Belgorod, their positions would be the focus of the enemy's offensive. ”

"Since that's the case," Zhukov thought about it, "then you and Comrade Terekin should rush over as soon as possible." Seeing Rokossovsky's promise, he turned around and was about to leave, and hurriedly stopped him again. "Just now Leda was on her way here, she was attacked by the enemy. To make sure you're on the safe side, bring a little more people with you when you go later. ”

"Understood, Comrade Marshal. I'll take a company of guards with me. After Rokossovsky said this, he also said to Zhukov with concern, "Comrade Marshal, although from here to Moscow is the defense area of our army, for the sake of safety, I will send you more troops." ”

"No," Zhukov said very dryly, rejecting Rokossovsky's proposal, "your forces are already limited, how can you send these precious troops back to the rear with me?" I don't need you to worry about my safety, the two truckloads of soldiers who came with me are all battle-hardened, and they are more than enough to deal with any eventuality. ”

After he finished speaking, seeing that Rokossovsky still wanted to persuade him again, he raised his hand to stop him, and said stubbornly: "Besides, the return route is all within the defense line of our army, even if we encounter a sneak attack by the enemy, as long as we can hold out for half an hour, the nearby reinforcements will be able to arrive." ”

Rokossovsky saw that Zhukov's stubbornness came up, and he did not entangle with him, but shifted his attention to me: "Lida, Comrade Marshal, I ask you to bother more about the safety of this way." ”

"Okay, okay, Comrade Rokossovsky, why are you talking so much nonsense? It's not like I haven't been on the battlefield, and when I'm in danger, don't I know that I need to protect myself and ask for help? After saying that, he walked quickly to the jeep, opened the door on the passenger side, and shouted at me: "Leda, what are you still doing there, don't you hurry up and get in the car!" With that, he stooped into the car and slammed the door shut.

I raised my hand and saluted Rokossovsky, and said to him with a smile: "Comrade commander, don't worry, as long as I am here, there will be absolutely no accident to Comrade Marshal." See you soon! ”

"There will be a date later!" As he spoke, he reached out to me and shook me hard.

As soon as I sat down in the back seat, Zhukov ordered the driver: "Drive!" ”

When our car was driving on the muddy road, Zhukov said without looking back: "This Rokossovsky is also too cautious, the area we passed through is in the depth of our defense line, at most there are sporadic German scouts mixed in, they cannot pose any threat to us." ”

I heard Zhukov say that. I couldn't help but glance back at the two trucks that were following behind, and said in my heart: "Even if I encounter the kind of sneak attack I experienced today, with the strength of Zhukov's guards, it is still more than enough." I looked back, I wanted to hear what Zhukov had to say, but who knew that he was leaning back in his chair. He lowered his head and began to close his eyes.

Zhukov can close his eyes and recuperate, but after the attack I just experienced, I must be vigilant enough. I clenched the assault rifle in my hand and looked warily at the sides of the road, fearing that another group of people would emerge from the forest.

I didn't expect that the more I worried about something, the more something I came. After about ten minutes of our car being driven, I suddenly saw a group of people pouring out of the forest on the east side of the road, and immediately shouted nervously: "There is an enemy, the driver stops." Hurry up and stop, there are enemies ahead. With that, I picked up my assault rifle and got ready to shoot.

"Enemy, where is the enemy?" The jeep's sudden braking, and my panicked shouts, woke Zhukov, who had closed his eyes and recuperated, and he asked vigilantly: "Where is the enemy?" ”

"On the right front of the road. Comrade Marshal. I replied with a flustered look, "Just out of the forest, there are at least a dozen or twenty people." ”

Zhukov looked in the direction I was talking about. After looking at it for a while, he turned back to me and said, "That's not the enemy, it's our own people, don't you see that they are all wearing the uniforms of our army?" Driver, drive over. ”

When I saw that the driver followed Zhukov's order and drove the car towards the group of people. My heart was in my throat, my fingers were on the trigger and I wasn't going to move it, ready to shoot as soon as I realized that something was wrong.

As we got closer and closer to the group, I finally saw that they were indeed wearing the uniforms of our army. With the exception of a few with weapons in their hands, most of them were bare-handed. Seeing this, I secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and said that since they were seriously underarmed, even if they were disguised by the Germans, there was nothing to fear. With that in mind, I took my finger off the trigger.

The group apparently heard the movement and all stopped and stood still, waiting for our car to pass by. When the car stopped in front of them, Zhukov pushed the door open and asked them loudly: "Which of you is the commander, come here." ”

At his shout, an ensign in a steel helmet stepped out of the crowd with a beard, his uniform covered in dried mud, and a Bobosha submachine gun hanging from his chest. He came to the car, raised his hand to salute Zhukov, and said politely: "Hello, Comrade Marshal of the Soviet Union, what instructions do you have?" ”

Zhukov looked at the second lieutenant in front of him and asked with a serious expression: "Second lieutenant, where are you from?" ”

"From the vicinity of Belgorod." The second lieutenant straightened up and replied in a hoarse voice.

"Belgorod," Zhukov sneered after hearing the name of the place, and then looked at the ensign and asked unceremoniously: "The Germans captured Belgorod a week ago, where did you escape?" ”

"No, Comrade Marshal." The second lieutenant replied without humility or arrogance: "We are subordinate to the Voronezh Front, and after Kharkov was broken up by the Germans, our battalion withdrew to Belgorod, where after another battle with the Germans, retreated into the forest. We walked in the forest for a week and only got here today. ”

"Where's your battalion commander?" Zhukov then asked.

"I'm the battalion commander." The lieutenant replied.

After Zhukov looked him up and down, he asked with interest: "I don't know what merit you have made, and you have been promoted so quickly?" ”

"At first, I was just a platoon commander, and when the company commander was killed, I became the company commander." The second lieutenant continued to reply in his original tone: "After the battalion commander died, I was the highest-ranking among the remaining people, so I naturally became the battalion commander. There were twenty-one people left in the battalion, and they were all here. ”

"Where are you going?" Hearing the second lieutenant say this, Zhukov's tone became friendly.

"I don't know," said the lieutenant, shaking his head, "that after we retreated into the forest, we were separated from the main force, so we had to retreat in the direction of Moscow, hoping to meet the main force and join them." ”

"Comrade Second Lieutenant, you are now farther and farther away from the Voronezh Front, and have entered the defense zone of the Central Front." Zhukov took out his notebook, wrote a few strokes on it with a pencil, then tore off the page, handed it to the second lieutenant, and said: "Comrade second lieutenant, you and your men do not need to continue to withdraw to the north, find a nearby unit to join them." You give this piece of paper to the commander of that unit, and they will take care of you. ”

The second lieutenant took the paper in Zhukov's hand, and just as he wanted to speak, a commander in the car behind him hurriedly ran over, saluted Zhukov and asked: "Comrade Marshal, is there anything you need me to serve?" ”

Zhukov turned sideways and looked at his subordinates, then at the embarrassed soldiers in front of him, and then instructed the officer: "Take something to eat from the car and give it to the second lieutenant, after staying in the forest for so long, I guess there will be no more food." ”

Seeing that the officer ran to the back to get food, the second lieutenant, who was standing next to him, raised his hand and saluted Zhukov and said excitedly: "Thank you, thank you, Comrade Marshal." We will always remember your kindness to us. ”

Zhukov closed the door noncommittally and again ordered the driver: "Drive!" ”

I turned my head sideways and looked out the window of the car, the soldiers in ragged clothes but standing straight, and said to Zhukov with emotion: "Comrade Marshal, these commanders and fighters are all good, as long as they are allowed to eat well, sleep beautifully, and equip them with good weapons, they will be an elite division again."

Hearing me mention the matter of replenishing weapons, Zhukov was silent, and after a long while, he said: "Lida, some time ago we planned to equip our troops with the new assault rifle in your hand, but judging from the current situation, it may be that the installation time will be greatly delayed. ”

"Time is going to go back, why, Comrade Marshal?" Zhukov's words surprised me, and in a hurry, I forgot about the hierarchy and asked bluntly: "Is there something wrong with our production line?" ”

"There was no problem with the production line," Zhukov said back to me, "but there was a problem with the raw materials, the materials needed for the new assault rifles, because the American aid supplies had not arrived for a long time, so our production had to be stopped." (To be continued......)