"Report to Comrade Major, Second Lieutenant Miducci has been ordered to come and listen to your instructions!" A sudden sound woke me from my contemplative state. I looked up and saw Ensign Miducci standing in front of me. It was then that I remembered that when I had sent Instructor Thorin out just now, I had asked him to inform Ensign Meducci to come to the command post in an hour.

I took another sip of my tea, put aside the three unanswered questions for now, stood up and said to Miducci, "Ensign, let's go." Send another soldier to get the four go-thorn geese and go back to the village with us. ”

Goose?! Miducci was stunned for a moment, but quickly reacted, and knew that I was talking about the four warriors of unknown origin, and immediately ordered a soldier next to him to carry out this order.

Once in the village, I ordered Sergeant Yemelyanov to take four men to the health team and have Sergeant Nina, the assistant military doctor, examine them. And I, with Second Lieutenant Miducci, returned to the company command post.

As I pushed the door open and walked into the command post, I saw Lieutenant Ugad just putting down the microphone in his hand. When he saw me enter the door, he hurriedly saluted me and reported: "Hello, Comrade Major! ”

"Hello!" I saluted him back, sat down on a stool at the table, and asked, "Is there anything new?" ”

"I just received a notice from the regiment headquarters that a company will be sent tomorrow to change guards with our battalion."

Vlasov once mentioned to me on the phone about the change of defense, but I didn't expect the change of defense to come so quickly. I hurriedly asked Ugad: "Comrade lieutenant, did the regiment commander say on the phone what the tasks of our battalion are?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Major." Ugad replied, "Lieutenant Colonel Harpy said that after the change of guard, our battalion immediately went to the regimental headquarters to assemble and prepare to participate in the breakout operation in a few days. At the same time, it is also necessary to send elite soldiers and strong generals to organize a small guerrilla force to stay in the Liuban area to fight guerrillas. ”

"Guerrillas?!" I can't have heard you wrong about the guerrillas being formed from the regular army, am I? So he deliberately asked: "Comrade lieutenant, have you heard clearly, did the regiment commander mean that we should transfer manpower to form a guerrilla unit?" ”

"That's right, the regimental commander said that the small guerrilla detachments to be formed, numbering no more than twenty people, will have to select those with all kinds of specialized military skills, not only machine gunners, communicators, sappers, wireless telegraphers, but also mortarmen and even gunners. Moreover, each member of the team needs to have a certain degree of command ability, so that when necessary, each person can pull up a new guerrilla unit on his own. ”

After listening to the order relayed by Lieutenant Ugad, I was so angry that I sneered again and again, there are many recruits in the battalion and the combat effectiveness is poor, and it is suspected that there is a shortage of manpower to participate in the breakout battle.

My reaction was seen by Ugard, who cautiously reminded me: "Comrade Major, the orders of the higher authorities are not allowed to be discussed, do you think we should immediately transfer men to form a guerrilla detachment?" ”

I'm just a small battalion commander now, and all I can command is the 200 or so people under my command. I knew very well in my heart that without a big tree like Zhukov covering me, even if my superiors gave me an absurd order, I could only carry it out unconditionally. So I replied with a wry smile: "Comrade Lieutenant, do you have a suitable candidate?" You know, we are only infantry, machine gunners, communicators, and wireless telegraphers can be found, but sappers, mortars, and gunners really don't. ”

Ugard's gaze looked over my head and toward the door. I turned my head to see that it was Ensign Miducci standing behind me, and I pointed to the second lieutenant and asked Ugad: "Comrade Lieutenant, are you going to make Ensign Miducci the captain of this partisan detachment?" ”

"Yes. I wonder if you agree? ”

I looked down and thought about it, and felt that it was far better for a second lieutenant commander with rich combat experience to stay in the army and direct regular operations than to be sent to a partisan unit that might not play any role at all and would be annihilated by the Germans. With this in mind, I very simply rejected Ugad's idea: "No, Comrade Lieutenant, no. Second Lieutenant Miducci was a good officer, and he should have stayed in the regular army to direct the battle, and not go to the guerrillas to bury his talent. ”

"Comrade Ensign, what do you think?" Ugad didn't contradict me, but asked Micucci directly.

Seeing that I was looking at him, Miducci quickly snapped up and replied loudly: "No matter what decision my superiors make, whether to stay in the unit and continue to serve as a platoon commander or to become a leader in the guerrillas, I will resolutely obey the order." ”

I stood up and made my decision: "Second Lieutenant Miducci will remain in the Eighth Company, and I will send another partisan leader." ”

"Who do you think is a good fit?"

I went through all the familiar people in my mind, and the person who served as a guerrilla leader must first have a certain rank, and he must also have a certain prestige among the fighters, so that he can manage the dozen or twenty people in the team well. Ugard, Diomi, Sorin, and others all hold important positions, and they can't leave casually, and the only one who can send them is my guard squad leader, Sergeant Yemelyanov. Having made up my mind, I replied: "Let Sergeant Yemelyanov be the commander of this partisan." ”

When Ugad heard this, he immediately ordered Miducci: "Second Lieutenant, go and call Comrade Tuas. ”

The second lieutenant said yes and wanted to go out. I said again: "Remember, call the devil instructor and the North Korean again." ”

When Miducci heard this, he hurriedly reported to me very quickly: "Comrade Major, that North Korean Pak Joon-jung had been sent to the hospital in the rear because of his wounds the day before he withdrew from his position. Only the Hojo Tani, who had been handed over to our company by the Seventh Company, was still there. ”

"Then call Hojo Tanio."

The devil instructor Hojo Tanio soon came in. After he finished reporting to us, he stood by honestly.

I walked up to him, looked at him with a smile and asked, "Hojo Tanio, how are you doing here?" ”

"Report to Your Excellency, it's much better than a prisoner of war camp." Hojo replied loudly.

I suddenly remembered one thing, it is said that after the Battle of Nomenhan in 1939, Japan and the Soviet Union repatriated all the prisoners of war to each other, why did Hojo Tanio and his men not return to China, and were sent to Leningrad to be cannon fodder? At this time, I can chat with him face-to-face, and I just need to ask this question.

Hojo Tanio listened to my question, and the muscles in his face twitched a few times before he replied in stiff Russian: "Your Excellency, Commander, soon after the ceasefire between the two sides, the repatriation of prisoners of war began. It is said that when the repatriation team arrived at our prisoner of war camp, the commander of the camp was drunk, and he told them that there were only Koreans and no Japanese in the camp, so we were left behind by mistake. When the Soviet-German war broke out, we were urgently drafted into the army and transported to the front to fight. ”

"Why are North Koreans not repatriated?" Ugard helped me with the questions I wanted to ask.

"According to His Excellency the Commander of the Prisoner of War Camp, it was Japan, not Korea, that fought against the Soviet Union, so the captured Koreans were only enemies who laid down their arms, not prisoners of war, and were not released."

"Report to Comrade Commander, Tus Yemelyanov was ordered to come and wait for your orders!" The voice of the old sergeant came from the door, and it seemed that the second lieutenant had brought him here.

"Comrade Tuas, I have called you here because I have an important task for you to complete." Yemeryanov was the leader of my guard squad, and there was no need to be polite with him, so I directly explained the task to him, "On the orders of my superiors, the battalion should transfer the backbone to form a partisan detachment. After the breakthrough of the large forces, they remained in the Lyuban area to fight guerrillas. Now that I have decided to make you the captain of this guerrilla detachment, do you have the confidence to accomplish this difficult task? ”

"Please rest assured, comrade commander, I promise to complete the task well." After saying these clichés, the priest asked again, "I wonder how many people there are in the Ludao guerrillas and what kind of equipment they have?" ”

I calculated it in my mind, and then replied: "There are twenty guerrillas in number, and we will equip you with machine gunners, signal men, wireless telegraph operators, and hygienists." At this point, I said with some regret, "It's a pity that no one in the battalion knows how to use mortars, otherwise I would have been able to equip you with the mortar that I captured last time." ”

"Your Excellency, I'll use mortars." The Hojo Tanio next to him suddenly interjected.

"You?! You will use mortars, are you not infantry? Ugard said in surprise.

"I used to serve as a soldier in the artillery unit, and then I was transferred to the infantry unit."

"Alright, I'll give you the mortar. Also, Hojo Tanio," I pulled the old man in front of him and continued, "I appoint you as the deputy captain of the partisan detachment, and the deputy of Master Yemelyanov, and you must cooperate well with his work, do you understand?" ”

"Hey!" A phrase from the Japanese language habitually popped up by the Hojo Tani.

"Comrade Second Lieutenant," I shouted to Miducci, who had been standing at the door, "take Comrade Tuas and the Devil Instructor to select the men of the guerrillas." Also, let those four stupid geese also join the guerrillas. I believe that when they join the guerrillas, they will be able to make some achievements. ”

Because tomorrow we have to change the guard, there are many things to do, in addition to the soldiers of the eighth company to pack up their bags, they also have to notify the seventh company on the position, and they must also be ready to hand over the position.

Before you know it, it's getting dark.

I was explaining my mission to Ugard, and while I was waiting for Diomi and the others to arrive, I suddenly heard music outside. I stopped and called to Miducci, who was standing aside: "Ensign, go out and see where the music is coming from, is there a concert somewhere?" ”

The second lieutenant went out and came back five or six minutes later to report to us: "Report to Comrade Major, it is the female hygienist of the medical team and the wounded who are having an evening, do you think they need to stop?" ”

I waved my hand and said, "It doesn't have to be, we're leaving here tomorrow anyway, so let's have a good time tonight." After saying that, I turned my head to look at Ugad and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant, do you want to go and see?" ”

Ugad was refreshed, and immediately stood up, grabbed the large-brimmed hat on the table, and said, "Let's go, Comrade Major, go and see, it's been a long time since there has been such a lively party." ”

The three of us came to the vicinity of the health team's house, only to see two bonfires lit in the open space in front of the house, and the wounded were all gathered around the fire, listening to Nina's beautiful singing in fascination.

There are beautiful women singing, and in my experience, those four modern youths might go up and offer their courtesy. As soon as he thought so, the square-faced Ivanovich and the messy Simon Lovich had already walked over, one taking the accordion from the accompanist and the other from the guitar and starting to accompany Nina.

At the end of the song, the audience burst into warm applause. And the two young men seemed to be unsatisfied, and began to play and sing to themselves: "Hold the gun in your hand, and the soldier goes to the battlefield; War is calling, and the medals are shining. Bring home with reputation, and the heroes are famous; Bring home and have a good time. This silence and sunshine heralds that there will be no more death. This silence and sunshine are the hope of victory in the war......"

"These lyrics are really well written, Comrade Major, do you know what song Lu Dao is?" Ugard, who could listen attentively, couldn't help but ask me.

"I don't know, I've never heard this song before."

I was about to continue, when I heard the footsteps of several people approaching, and when I turned to see Captain Diomi, Instructor Thorin, and two other warriors.

They walked up to me, stood up and saluted, and reported: "Comrade Major, the commander of the 7th Company, Diaomi, and the instructor, Sorin, have been ordered to report to you and listen to your orders. ”