By the time I identified myself to Rokossovsky, we were already not far apart, only seven or eight meters in between. Hearing that it was me, the commander broke free from the soldier who was supporting him, limped towards me, and asked excitedly, "Leda, is that you?" ”

"Yes, it's me. Comrade Commander! ”

As soon as he finished speaking, he pounced on my side, grabbed my shoulders with both hands and shook him vigorously, saying, "Great, great, it's great to see you alive!" ”

I endured the pain from the wound in my shoulder, tried to squeeze a smile on my face, and said jokingly: "Alive, of course alive, my life is big, and a German bullet can't kill me." ”

He let go of his hands, took a step back, looked me up and down, and suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Leda, are you hurt?" ”

Wounded?! Hearing him say this suddenly, I couldn't help but be taken aback, injured? But I didn't feel any discomfort, did I? I moved my body a bit, and I didn't feel any pain in the rest of the area, except for the wound on my left shoulder, which was a little sore. So I asked in confusion, "Wounded?!" I'm not hurt! Comrade Commander, why do you suddenly ask such a question? ”

He pointed to my right side of the body and said, "You say you're not hurt, look at it, your clothes are full of blood." ”

I hurriedly looked down, and under the light of the torches, I saw a brown mark on the right side of the white camouflage suit, and when I got closer, I smelled it closely, and there was a strong smell of blood. After pondering for a while, he immediately guessed that there was blood splashed by the sacrificed soldiers on the bazooka that he had used just now, and quickly explained: "It's not my blood, it's someone else's blood that has been splashed on me." ”

Rokossovsky stretched out a hand, put it on my left shoulder, and asked with concern: "This shoulder was injured last time, right?" ”

"Yes, that's where the Germans were bayoneted." I gently rubbed the wound, which was still a little painful, with my hand, and replied, "But the wound has healed, please rest assured, commander." ”

"It's okay if there's nothing to do."

"Commander, what do we do now?" Malinin walked over and interjected, then kept his eyes on Rokossovsky, waiting for him to come up with an idea.

"Leda, where do you think we should go now?" Rokossovsky did not answer the question of the chief of staff, but bowed his head and asked me, who was standing in front of him.

I looked at my surroundings and felt that I could not stay long in this place of right and wrong, and perhaps the Germans would come again, and I wondered if we would be able to stop their new attack, or leave early. So I cautiously said: "Our army has too few troops in the village, and if the Germans come to attack, I am afraid that they will not be able to stop them." ……”

"I see what you mean," Rokossovsky interrupted me before I could finish my sentence, and asked in an inquiring tone, "and where shall we go?" Where is safer than this village? ”

"Report to Comrade Commander," it was Ramis who spoke this time, "the division headquarters of the 8th Guards Division is just three or four kilometers north of the village, where the 1077th Regiment is stationed, and you will be safe there. ”

I was worried about where to arrange the personnel of the headquarters, but when I heard Ramis say this, I hurriedly got off the donkey and echoed: "Yes, Comrade Commander, this is not a place to stay for a long time, let's go to my division." After saying this, I felt that the reason for persuasion was not enough, and hurriedly added: "There are not many troops of our army in this village, and if the Germans attack again, it will not be able to guarantee the safety of you and the headquarters." If something happens to you, the entire army group will be left without a leader, paralyzing the chain of command, and the troops without unified command may be wiped out by the enemy individually. However, the situation is different when you go to our division, in addition to having a few thousand people who can directly command, you can also set up the headquarters in the defense area of our division, so that you can not only ensure the safety of you and the headquarters, but also flexibly command the troops under the jurisdiction of the group army. ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander!" Ma Linin promptly supported my statement: "Lida is right, let's follow her to the Eighth Guards Division, right?" ”

Rokossovsky frowned and thought about it for a while, before he reluctantly nodded and ordered Malinin: "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, you go and gather the remaining personnel of the headquarters, and we will go to the Eighth Guards Division together." ”

"Yes!" Malinin agreed loudly, turned around and ran to gather men.

As soon as Malinin ran away, I hurriedly beckoned Ramis to come over and help him, and he helped Rokossovsky to the place where the car was parked. Although I didn't give any orders, the troops who participated in the search just now automatically formed four columns and followed us in a neat line.

Since Rokossovsky had injured his foot, he walked very slowly, and by the time we got to the convoy parking position, Malinin and the personnel of the command were already waiting there.

I helped Rokossovsky to the jeep and said: "Comrade commander, please get in the car." Let's go to the division headquarters together......"

Without waiting for him to speak, Ma Lining interrupted me anxiously, pointed to a black sedan not far away and said to me: "Lida, this car can still be driven, let Comrade Commander get into our car!" ”

Rokossovsky looked at the two cars, then pointed with his hand and said, "I'd better take Leda's car." Then he instructed Malinin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you and the comrades of the headquarters go and take that car." ”

When I helped Rokossovsky into the car, the soldiers of the surrounding Guards Division extinguished the torches in their hands one after another, and got into the truck in an orderly manner under the command of the commander of the unit.

I stood next to the car and didn't get into the car, quietly watching my men board the bus. At this time, Captain Starcha and several soldiers came over, he stood in front of me and saluted, and then said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the search and rescue mission has ended, please allow me to lead my men to carry out other tasks." ”

"Zhilu Dao, go." I replied lightly.

He saluted again, turned to leave. I suddenly felt that my attitude towards him seemed to be too cold, after all, others had helped me a lot today, and without the anti-tank weapons equipped with his troops, even if the reinforcements of our division arrived in time, it would be difficult to say whether the battle would have been won or lost in the absence of sufficient anti-tank firepower. That is, without the help of the captain, it is estimated that Rokossovsky and the personnel of the command would be more than lucky. So he hurriedly stopped him: "Comrade Captain, please wait a minute." ”

He stopped, turned around, and looked at me with a puzzled look. I stepped forward and grabbed his hand, shook it vigorously, and said gratefully: "Thank you very much for today's incident, if it were not for you and your subordinates to help, it is estimated that the comrades in the headquarters would have suffered accidents." ”

"For the service of the Soviet Fatherland!" To my thanks, the captain replied formulaically.

"Go ahead, I hope to see you again in the future." After I finished speaking, I let go of his hand and raised my hand to salute him.

The captain took a step back, saluted me again, and led a dozen fighters away.

I sat in the back of the car, sat side by side with Rokossovsky, asked him about the injury on his foot, and then looked up at Grisa, who was driving, and said, "Let's drive!" We must rush back to the division headquarters as soon as possible. ”