When I knew that I had chosen the wrong unit, I regretted that my intestines were blue, and I wanted to slap myself a few big ears. As a traverser, I know very well that the entire city of Stalingrad is a huge mill of flesh and blood, and that there will be millions of soldiers and civilians who lost their lives during the battle, and who chose the wrong troops and commanders, let alone any meritorious deeds, and whether they can save their lives is unknown. When I think about that, I feel extremely depressed.

Zhukov was talking energetically, and found that I didn't have any response here, so he stopped, turned his head to look, and when he saw that I was distracted, his face immediately sank, and he asked unhappily: "Lida, what's wrong with you, why do you look listless." ”

Of course, I couldn't tell him that I was so frustrated because I found out that I had chosen the wrong unit, so I could only force a perfunctory smile and say, "Comrade General, I'm sorry, I may have been a little dizzy now because I've only been in the car for more than ten hours." But it doesn't matter, just keep talking. ”

Zhukov beckoned me to sit down at the table, poured another cup of hot tea and placed it in front of me, before continuing to introduce me to the situation in Stalingrad: "...... On July 16, about a battalion of German troops entered the Chernishevskaya-Morozovsk area. The next day, the vanguard of the 62nd Army, which had just arrived here, immediately launched an attack on this group of enemies and succeeded in repelling them, preventing the Germans from plotting to establish a starting point for the attack in this area. ”

I picked up the teacup, took a sip, looked at the map and asked Zhukov: "Comrade General." I want to know the way. How many troops are there in the 62nd Army at the moment? ”

Zhukov picked up a notebook on the table. I just looked at it casually, and then quickly replied to me: "Before July 16, the 62nd Army originally had 5 infantry divisions, 3 cannon regiments, 7 anti-tank destroyer regiments, 1 mortar regiment, 4 rocket artillery regiments, 1 rocket artillery regiment, and 1 anti-aircraft artillery regiment. One boat bridge battalion, 3 engineer battalions. In order to strengthen the combat effectiveness of this force, the Supreme High Command transferred the 131st Infantry Division of Colonel Jahua, the 112th Infantry Division of Colonel Sologub, and the 196th Infantry Division of Colonel Avelin into the battle sequence of this army group on the 17th. ”

Hearing that there are eight infantry divisions and so many artillery regiments, if you launch an attack, maybe the strength is still a little weak, but it is more than enough to fight a defensive battle. Think about it this way. I felt a lot more at ease. I put down the teacup and stood up and asked Zhukov: "Comrade General." Am I going to the 62nd Army now? ”

Zhukov waved his hand and said: "This is not in a hurry, you just took a car all night to the headquarters, you must be tired, go to rest first, and then set off in the afternoon, I will still let Captain Aratoli send you to take up your post." After saying that, without waiting for me to make a statement, he walked to the door, opened the door, and said to the major on duty outside: "Comrade Major, you take Comrade Oshanina to rest first, and then call her when you set off in the afternoon." ”

The major agreed, walked to the door, nodded at me in a friendly manner, and said politely: "Major Oshanina, please come with me, the lounge is nearby." ”

When I walked out the door, I turned to say goodbye to Zhukov, who took my hand and said, "Lida, you go and rest first, and when the time comes, I will have Captain Aratoli call you." You'll just go later, and you won't have to say goodbye to me. ”

I understood that he was busy with official business and did not want to be distracted by such trivial matters, so I nodded understandingly, let go of his hand, and saluted again before following the major to the lounge not far away.

The road from Leningrad was so bad that the Arattori car was driving so fast that I couldn't rest at all. Now that I finally came to a place where I could sleep, my sleepiness also came up, I went to bed with my clothes, and in a few minutes at most, I fell asleep.

I was sleeping soundly, and I felt someone shaking my body vigorously, and at the same time kept shouting: "Comrade Major, wake up!" Comrade Major, wake up! ”

I opened my eyes dimly and saw a chubby female soldier standing in front of me, looking anxious, and when I woke up, her face immediately showed joy. Without waiting for me to speak, she preemptively said, "Comrade Major, Captain Arattorius is waiting for you outside, and I have been ordered to call you. He said please hurry up, you're about to go. ”

I raised my hand and looked at my watch, it was already one o'clock at noon, which means that I had slept for five hours unconsciously, and I quickly sat up and said politely to the female soldier: "Thank you, comrade soldier." ”

The female soldier said, "No thanks, this is what I should do." Then he pointed to a small door next to him and said, "Comrade commander, I will go and tell Captain Arattori that you are up." It's the bathroom, so let's go wash up first. With that, she opened the door and walked out.

As soon as the female soldier walked out of the room, I immediately rolled over and got out of bed, went into the bathroom next to it, and went to wash up briefly. Back in the bedroom, I looked around and saw that nothing had been pulled down, so I opened the door and walked out.

Aratoli and his jeep stopped right in front of the door, and as soon as I got into the passenger seat, the car started.

With yesterday's lesson, shortly after the car started, I specifically told him: "Comrade Captain, if the road conditions are not good, don't drive too fast." After more than a dozen hours of jogging in this car yesterday, it almost knocked me apart. ”

Aratoli's face flushed slightly, and he replied to me: "Comrade Major, rest assured, there will be no more such situation as yesterday. Although it is also six or seven hundred kilometers from Stalingrad, the roads are relatively intact because they are rarely bombed by German aircraft. ”

"When will I get there?"

Arattori looked up at his watch while driving, and said, "It's one o'clock in the afternoon, and it is estimated that by five o'clock, we will be able to reach Tambov." We rested there for a while, had a bite to eat, refueled the car, and then continued on to Stalingrad. If nothing else, it will be possible to reach the headquarters of the 62nd Army in the village of Kamesh at about two o'clock in the morning. ”

The road to the south is indeed easier than the section from Leningrad to Moscow. Perhaps, as the captain said. It was rarely attacked by German aircraft. Therefore, the integrity of the road and the smooth flow of traffic can be maintained.

Around ten o'clock in the evening, we passed through a small city. You don't feel the atmosphere of war here, and you can even see citizens shopping and children playing on the streets.

Aratoli stopped the car in front of a grocery store and said to me: "Comrade Major, you wait for me for a while, and I will go in and buy something to eat, so that I don't get hungry on the road later." Can't find something to eat. ”

When Aratoli went in to buy something, an old lady passing by stopped next to the car, she looked at me sitting in the car, and asked curiously: "Comrade soldier, where are you going?" ”

To the old lady's question, I got out of the car and politely replied: "Go to Stalingrad." ”

"Stalingrad, less than two hundred kilometers from here, can be reached in a few hours by car."

I looked around and watched the leisurely pedestrians on the street. I couldn't help but ask the old lady curiously: "Why are people so idle and haven't built fortifications in the city?" Aren't they afraid of the Germans coming over? ”

"Did the Germans hit here?" The old lady listened to me. His expression suddenly became serious: "Comrade soldier, why do you have such thoughts?" To put it well, this is an absurd idea, and to put it badly, it is a manifestation of defeatism. You know, we have so many troops, no matter how fierce the Germans are, they will be stopped by our army, and they will never want to reach this city. After saying that, the old lady actually brushed her sleeves away, leaving me stunned and in a daze.

Fortunately, at this time, Arattorius came back from buying something and beckoned me to get in the car, and I was freed from the embarrassing situation.

As soon as the car started, I self-deprecatingly repeated the conversation I had just had with the old lady to Arattori. Unexpectedly, Aratolus said disapprovingly: "Comrade Major, this is not strange. Even the High Command had only recently established that the Germans would attack Stalingrad, and it was not at all surprising that ordinary people did not understand the situation. ”

"But, Comrade Captain, look, there is no defense in this city. Once the Germans came over, they could take the city almost bloodlessly. ”

"Comrade Major." Aratoli's face became gloomy, and he said in an accentuated tone: "Although I don't know why there are no military facilities in this city, even ordinary citizens will not watch the Germans occupy their city, they will spontaneously arm themselves and fight these invaders armed to the teeth to the last moment. ”

I wanted to argue with him, but considering that he didn't understand the future historical development, there was no point in arguing with him, so I obediently closed my mouth and looked at the scenery outside the window.

Aratoli told me that if things went well, I would be able to reach the village of Kamesh at two o'clock in the morning. Unexpectedly, it was not yet a little while, and our car entered the village of Kamesh.

There was a fortified checkpoint at the entrance of the village, and we saw our car driving by. A soldier with a submachine gun and two signal flags in his hand stepped out of the bunker, waved the flag in his hand desperately, and ordered us to stop in the language of the flag. Arattori drove a little further, parked the car on the side of the road, turned off the fire, took out a cigarette and lit it, and waited quietly for the soldiers on duty to come and inspect it.

The flag-waving warrior came to the side of Aratoli with two other fighters, and after glancing at the inside of the car, he asked vigilantly: "Comrade Captain, where are you from?" ”

"I'm from the Western Front Command, and here's my ID." As he spoke, he took out his ID from his jacket pocket and handed it over. I took a keen eye on the soldier's rank and found out that it was a sergeant. The sergeant took Aratoli's papers, looked at them, gave them back to him, and continued to ask, "What are you doing here?" ”

Aratolli pointed to me and said, "I was ordered to send this Major Oshanina to the headquarters of the 62nd Army. Where is your headquarters? I need to see Major General Kol Pakchi immediately. ”

"You two, go over and move the barricades." After the sergeant gave the order, he grabbed the door and stood on the pedals, and said to Aratoli: "Comrade Captain, drive, I'll take you to the headquarters of the army group." ”

Under the guidance of the sergeant, our car soon saw a stop in front of a stone building, the sergeant jumped off the pedal of the car, walked to the sentry on duty at the door and said a few words, then turned around and shouted at us: "Comrade commander, this is the headquarters of the group army, you can go in." ”

When I got out of the car, as I walked inside with Aratori, I was still muttering to myself that the guards at this headquarters were so bad that the sentry standing guard at the gate let us in without even asking us. If we were a special forces squad sent by the Germans, it is estimated that this headquarters would have been easily eliminated by us.

Aratori had apparently been to this place, and he came to the door of an open-door house with ease, and raised his voice to call out a report. When someone inside called us in, Arattorius turned to me and said, "Let's go, Comrade Major, let's go in." Major General Kol Pakchi and his military commissar were inside. (To be continued......)

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