Since I couldn't see the officer, I quickly put away my rifle, crouched down with my back against the wall, and tried to remember: the German officer I had just seen in the telescope was very familiar, had I seen him somewhere before?

Maybe it was because he saw me squatting there in a daze, and Leviakin, who was next to him, asked with concern: "Comrade division commander, what are you thinking?" ”

"Just now I saw a German officer on the armored car in the distance, who was quite familiar, but for a while I couldn't remember where I saw it." I replied loudly.

"Did you see it before the war?" He kindly reminded me.

I shook my head and replied: "It can't be, I had never been in contact with the Germans before the war." "I don't have Leda's old memories, so it's absolutely impossible for this familiar-looking German to be the one he knew before.

While I was pondering, a soldier bent over and ran over, crouched down in front of me, and loudly reported: "Comrade division commander, there is your phone in the command. ”

I asked curiously, "Where did you call from?" A call from the command of the army group or from the commissar? "He didn't say the content of the call, I can guess that nine times out of ten it was for me to immediately withdraw from the city and return to my command post, I just wanted to know if it was Rokossovsky or the political commissar who called at this time?

The soldier shook his head and said, "No, it was the commander of the Front, General Zhukov, who called." ”

Ah, my heart sank when I heard this familiar name, and with my knowledge of Zhukov, calling me at this time would surely scold me for ordering the troops to retreat without authorization, and then order me to withdraw from the city at once. As for returning to the rear, he may be sent to a military court for trial.

With trepidation, I followed the soldier back to the command room. took the microphone handed over by the communications soldier, held it in his hand and took a few deep breaths before he mustered up the courage to say into the microphone: "Hello, Comrade General, I'm Leda!" ”

"Leda, you're so bold!" Zhukov's voice came out of the earpiece like a thunderbolt, "You are committing a crime. The order I give to your division is to drive it into the city like a nail, and not to retreat a single step. But what about you? He withdrew his troops without asking for instructions and lost the city to the enemy! Do you know that if I hadn't stopped you, you would have been court-martialed by someone from the Ministry of Internal Affairs! ”

Zhukov's words frightened me into a cold sweat, and I knew that his words were not alarmist, especially in this sensitive period, not to mention my small acting division commander, even he himself, without consulting the Supreme Command, did not dare to arbitrarily order any unit to withdraw from its existing position. And I was self-righteous and made the decision to retreat without authorization, which is really a bit of a big disapproval of the world. If it weren't for the good relationship with Zhukov, it is estimated that he would have regarded me as a fugitive and sent someone to enforce battlefield discipline.

"Comrade General, please listen to my explanation." I knew that if I didn't make my plans clear to him, even if my division commander came to an end, I would be court-martialed.

"Say it, I'll listen." His voice immediately became much quieter, but his tone remained stern: "You'd better give me a reasonable explanation." ”

"After a long battle, the attrition of our division was serious. ......" I cautiously explained to him.

"Hell, it's not just your division, all the troops are the same, some divisions are almost gone, but the remaining soldiers are still fighting stubbornly. This cannot be a reason to order the troops to retreat without authorization. Zhukov interrupted me dissatisfied, grumbling on the microphone.

"Comrade General, please listen to me." I was afraid that he would interrupt me again, so I quickly grabbed the conversation.

"Okay, you go on."

"Our division has been seriously attritional, and it is an impossible task to hold back the attack of four or five German divisions without replenishment. After much deliberation, I decided that instead of continuing to fight the Germans in the city, it would be better to change my tactics. So I temporarily withdrew the main force of the division, leaving only a small force and the Germans to maneuver around the city. In this way, even if the Germans occupied most of the city, they would have a considerable number of troops firmly held back by us. ”

"The small army in the city may be wiped out by the Dekou soon, have you considered this question?" Zhukov asked in a skeptical tone.

"I don't think it's likely," I replied with great confidence, "because we were so intertwined with the German lines that they didn't dare to use the aircraft artillery at will." The combat effectiveness of the German troops, deprived of the cover of these heavy weapons, was about the same as ours, and I was confident that I would hold the city. ”

"Okay, I'll wait for your good news." Zhukov gave me an order: "Hold the city at all costs." ”

"Yes." Hearing the other party put down the phone, I breathed a sigh of relief, only to realize that I was actually scared out of a cold sweat.

I returned to the observation point and found Leviakin standing in front of the window with a big grin, holding a telescope to observe the battle outside.

"Comrade General," I was taken aback, and quickly reminded him: "Stay safe." ”

"It's all right," he said, looking back at me, then turning his head back and saying, "My regiment has gone out on all fronts in the vicinity and is destroying the remaining Germans." ”

"Huh?!" Hearing him say this, I couldn't help but be surprised again, and only then did I go in and answer the phone, but I didn't expect the battle situation to become so favorable to our army. So I rushed to the window in a few steps and raised my binoculars to look down. I saw that our troops were pouring out of the buildings on all sides, and I saw that there were at least five or six hundred people on the plane. Dozens of German troops were fighting and retreating, one after another into a two-story building that had been blown through the roof a hundred meters away.

The armored car, which was once arrogant just now, is also burning, and several corpses are still burning around the car. I searched for the officer I had just seen and found him running into the building by two soldiers in steel helmets.

I put down my binoculars and asked Leviakin, "In the building opposite, why didn't you set up our people?" ”

"I went to see it when I was arming it, and it looked like a two-story building on the outside, but the inside had been blown into ruins, which was not conducive to defense, so I didn't arrange manpower to defend it."

"Oh. I see, I see. ”

"Comrade division commander, look at it." Leviagin excitedly pointed to me and said, "Our men have already surrounded the house, and with one more charge, we can rush in and destroy these enemies, and maybe we will be able to capture many prisoners." ”

Prisoner, when I heard him mention this word, I suddenly remembered who the German officer I had just seen was, wasn't he the same Major von Tolmann who had led his troops to surrender to me near the station? He wasn't taken to the prisoner camp in the rear, how could he be here?

"Comrade General," one of the fighters came running over and reported to Leviakin, "we have surrounded the enemy, do we immediately launch the most rear-end attack?" ”

"Of course, attack right away." Leviakin gave the order almost without thinking.

"Wait a minute," I quickly stopped the soldiers from leaving, and gave them an inexplicable order: "Let the troops stop, and besiege them for the time being." ”