The train's carriage pedals were designed by that idiot, and they were so high above the ground. I muttered and stepped on the pedals, and several hands were held out to me from the carriage, two of which I grabbed indiscriminately, and with Captain Diomi holding me up at the waist, I was able to step into the carriage without a hitch.

I glanced at the overcrowded carriage and subconsciously frowned. At this moment Captain Diomi also stepped into the carriage, and he shouted loudly: "Hey, comrades, leave a place for Comrade Major to come out." ”

Hearing his words, the soldiers around me squeezed each other tighter, and in a short time, they made up a fairly small space for me and the captain, not to mention standing for two people, even for two people.

As the carriage door slammed shut, the train began to move slowly.

I stood against the wall of the carriage, closing my eyes and quietly thinking about my thoughts. I am not at all optimistic about the prospects of the 2nd Shock Army. At the beginning of the battle, I thought that the enemy's heavy army group was encircled, but I did not expect that it was our 2nd Shock Army that was surrounded. The curtain of the Battle of Lyuban has just been opened and closed again, is this a bad omen?

Just as he was thinking about it, there was a sudden loud sound, as if someone was knocking the wall of the carriage outside, and like encountering a sudden hail, and the dense ice particles were smashing down, and they rang non-stop.

I opened my eyes and asked curiously to Deomi, who was standing next to me with a calm face: "Comrade Captain, what is the sound outside?" ”

Diomi said disapprehantly: "We have been attacked by the Germans again. ”

"What? Attack by the Germans? When the Germans attacked me so casually, I was surprised and asked, "What the hell is going on?" ”

The captain explained: "Due to the fact that there are our escorts on both sides of the railway, the Germans are not able to capture this railway for the time being. So they changed their tactics, often sending out small troops, two or three hundred meters away, with machine guns to strafe the moving trains. They were few in number, and they ran after a while, and often by the time our convoy rushed over, they were gone. I've traveled a lot to and from this railway line, and I'm used to such attacks. ”

I admire the German commander who came up with this idea, and in doing so, he could make the Soviet convoy exhausted every day, and once the time was right, he could set a trap to wipe out the pursuing convoy. The cleverness of the tactics lies in the fact that this method of cutting flesh with a blunt knife will not attract the attention of the commanders of the Soviet army, but the combat effectiveness and morale of the troops will be weakened unconsciously.

The headquarters of the 2nd Assault Army was located only two or three hundred meters from the railway station, and Captain Diaomi accompanied me to the earthen shelter and said a few words to the soldiers on duty at the door, and walked straight in without even checking the documents.

The concealment was large, and there were several large and small rooms on either side of the corridor, and Diomi handed me over to a second lieutenant before saluting and leaving.

The second lieutenant took me to the Vlasov headquarters, and on the way he whispered to me that Comrade Commander had asked me several times, and what did Comrade Major do not have arrived?

As soon as I walked into the headquarters, I saw a large wooden table in the middle of the room, a bald general was sitting at the table and looking down at the map, and on the other side of the wall, there were two generals facing the enemy-friend situation map hanging on the wall, pointing and pointing, and on the side of the map, there were also two colonel-level officers, one of medium stature, the other short and thin. At a glance, I recognized the tall, thin man standing in the middle of the room as none other than General Vlasov.

The second lieutenant went up first and reported loudly: "Report to Comrade Commander, Major Oshanina has arrived." ”

Hearing the second lieutenant's report, several people turned around, and even the general who was sitting at the table stood up.

I hurriedly stepped forward, saluted several people, and reported: "Report to Comrade Commander of the Army Group, Major Oshanina has been ordered to come and wait for your orders. ”

With a smile on his face, Vlasov, who was wearing round-rimmed glasses, walked over, shook my hand, and said happily: "Lida, it's a pleasure to see you again." He turned his head to the fat general next to him and said, "My deputy commander, do you know what to do?" Yesterday, the 52nd Division of the 65th Army was able to repel the German attack, and the major had a share of the credit. ”

The fat general stepped up, stretched out his hand to me, and took the initiative to introduce himself: "Hello! Major Oshanina, I am the deputy commander of the army group, Major General Alfireyev. Nice to meet you. ”

Pointing to the bald general standing at the table, Vlasov introduced to me: "This is General Afanasyev, military commissar and communications chief of the army group. ”

"Hello, Comrade General!" I saluted him in front of him.

Major General Afanasyev smiled at me and nodded.

General Vlasov then introduced me to two other officers, Colonel Vinogorodov, Chief of Staff of the Army, of medium stature, and Colonel Brenin of the Operations Department, who was short and thin.

Since I was transferred from the operational department of Fedyuninsky's 54th Army, I took it for granted that I would work in the operational department here, so I first saluted Brenin: "Hello! Comrade Colonel. Then he turned slightly and saluted the chief of staff, Vinogoradov: "Hello! Comrade Chief of Staff of the Army Group! ”

After everyone was seated, Vlasov introduced them to me and said: "I know that everyone is very strange in their hearts, and for what reason, I will make a request to the Supreme High Command to transfer Comrade Oshanina to the 2nd Shock Army. It's normal for everyone to be unfamiliar with her and not understand her, so I'll give you a brief introduction to her situation now. While in Moscow, she first served as the commander of the 8th Guards Division, leading her troops in the battle to defend Volokolamsk, and made immortal achievements. In recognition of her military exploits, Comrade Stalin personally promoted her to the rank of major general. At the beginning of the great counteroffensive under Moscow, I was the commander of the 20th Army, and she was my chief of staff at that time, and her troops and my main forces were divided into two ways and outflanked the enemy in front of our army in a roundabout way. ……”

"Wait a minute, Comrade Commander." The director of communications, General Afanasyev, interrupted him, he glanced at my collar badge and asked curiously: "You say that Comrade Oshanina was personally awarded the rank of major general by Comrade Stalin, but now she has the rank of major, what is the matter?" ”

"Comrade Military Commissar, have you heard the story of the heroine Zoya?" Vlasov did not answer his question directly, but asked rhetorically.

General Afanasyev shrugged his shoulders and said, "Of course, our propaganda department once hyped up her heroic deeds. She was a guerrilla who was captured on a sabotage mission behind enemy lines, tortured and brutally murdered. Later, when Comrade Stalin learned of the brutal murder of Zoya, he issued an order to the subordinate units of the Western Front: all officers and men of the 332nd German Infantry Regiment captured were to be shot on the spot, and we would not accept their surrender. Speaking of this, the general suddenly shook his whole body and said in surprise: "Could it be that Comrade Oshanina's demotion has something to do with this matter?" ”

"You guessed it right!" Vlasov went on to say, "After Oshanina's troops recaptured the village of Petryshevo, they found Zoya brutally murdered in the village, and when they saw that the body of the heroine was completely destroyed by the fascist bandits, she could not contain her anger and ordered her troops to kill all the captured Germans. Later, this incident was stabbed out of the way, which caused a bad effect, and Comrade Stalin demoted her for this reason. ”

After listening to Vlasov's narration, the entire command fell silent.

General Afanasyev stood up, gave me a solemn military salute, and said: "Comrade Oshanina, it doesn't matter if you are a major general or a major. I want to say to you: you are good! He held out his hand to me.

I quickly stood up and saluted, then shook his outstretched hand.

Then the Deputy Commander, Major General Alfiriev, the Chief of Staff, Colonel Vinogoradov, and the Colonel Brenin of the Operations Department, all stood up and saluted me as a sign of their respect for me.

After everyone sat down again, Vlasov asked me kindly: "Leda, do you want to stay and work in the army group headquarters?" ”

Hearing the commander ask me this, everyone's eyes were on me, waiting for my answer. Since I had to choose my own position, it would be ideal to stay and work in the Operations Department. I stood up, accidentally touched the assault rifle leaning against the stool, and when I bent down to pick it up, the advice of Senior Engineer Fronin suddenly came to mind: stay away from Vlasov. So I hesitated, stood up straight, and didn't answer Vlasov's question right away.

"Leda, what do you think?" Vlasov asked again.

To keep a distance from Vlasov, you can only go to the combat units. I bit my lip, made up my mind decisively, and replied: "Report to Comrade Commander, I want to go to the combat unit." ”