When the car entered the village, I asked the driver to stop the car, and when Vaskov got out of the car, I asked the driver to drive to the division headquarters. In the car, I could hear Vaskov's loud voice shouting: "Don't get out of the car, keep going." ”

My car stopped at the door of the division headquarters, I pulled the door and jumped in. Peskov, the second lieutenant on duty at the gate of the headquarters, immediately greeted me and saluted. I returned the salute and said, "Comrade Second Lieutenant, go and call Captain Gusev, Captain Burda and Captain Chumak, move quickly!" ”

Seeing the second lieutenant trotting away, I raised my legs and walked towards the division headquarters.

Walking into the headquarters, I saw Boroda sitting alone at the table reading the map. Seeing me enter the door, he quickly stood up and asked enthusiastically with a smile on his face, "Leda, are you back?!" ”

I nodded at him and politely replied, "I'm back." ”

"Come, have a cup of tea and moisten your throat." As soon as I sat down, he handed me a cup of hot tea.

I thanked him, took a sip of tea, and then asked, "Comrade Boroda, after I left, nothing major happened in the division, right?" ”

Boroda sat down opposite me and said with a serious expression: "I sent Sholov's 1134th Regiment in the morning to collect all the remains of the soldiers who died on the way to the village of Piatnicsa. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you are doing the right thing." I affirmed his decision: "As long as the conditions allow, we will bury the bodies of those soldiers who have died." After saying this, I saw that his face was still full of displeasure, so I asked strangely, "Is there anything else?" I think you're a little upset. ”

He slammed his fist on the table. He said angrily, "Do you know the way? We were all deceived by the former division commander and chief of staff. ”

"Huh?!" Hear him say that. I couldn't help but be surprised: "What the hell is going on. How did they lie to us? ”

"Do you remember the last time we went to the village of Pyatnicsa, the then chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Samoilov, transferred eight infantry companies to us?"

I nodded vigorously and said, "I remember very well, in addition to the eight infantry companies that were provided to us, there were also tank regiments, but there were only eleven tanks, and the rest were said to have been lost in the battle. ”

Boroda snorted heavily, and said dissatisfiedly, "What is lost." It's all a lie. Samoilov sent us only forty or fifty troops per company, but when I telephoned several regiment commanders today to learn about the strength of each unit, I found out that the troops had not gone through any decent battles at all, and the attrition was not serious. Today, there are more than 140 people in the large company, and nearly 100 people in the small number. The reason why the troops we saw last time were seriously understaffed was because they had received orders from the chief of staff to draw only one platoon from each battalion to perfunctory us. ”

When this truth is learned. I was simply stunned, the division commander and chief of staff of the 378th Division were too bold. How dare you hide from us like this. It is no wonder that after the troops were assembled, they could have been transported by truck, but all the infantry were left on foot, delaying our rescue operation in the village of Pyatnica. I also slapped the table hard and said indignantly: "This is too much, do they dare to deceive their superiors and subordinates like this, and they are not afraid to send them to a military court?" ”

"Others have a backstage, so they won't be afraid." Boroda said with a wry smile: "You see, it turned out that after the two of them were dismissed from their posts, they were going to be escorted to the front headquarters for disposal, but as soon as the commander of the 59th Army, Kolovnikov, came out to intercede, the two were transferred to the headquarters of the group army. ”

At this moment, there was a shouting report from the door, and Boroda stood up and shouted at the door: "Come in!" ”

As he spoke, Captain Gusev, Captain Burda, and Captain Chumak walked in. The three of them walked up to me and raised their hands and saluted: "Comrade Division Commander, Captain Gusev, the commander of the guard battalion, Captain Burda, the commander of the 1st Company, and the Captain Chumak, the commander of the 2nd Company, are ordered to come and wait for your instructions. ”

Without waiting for me to speak, Boroda asked in surprise: "Comrade division commander, do you have anything important to do when you summoned them over?" ”

I stood up and saluted the three of them before turning to Boroda and saying, "Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, I summoned them here because I had an important task to be assigned. Then I went up to the three men and said to them with a straight face: "Captain Gusev, Captain Burda, Captain Chumak, I am calling you here in such a hurry because on my way back I received news that an Eastern battalion of the German army was stationed north of the village of Pyatnicsa. The soldiers of this battalion, made up of the soft bones who had been captured and renegade, dressed in the uniforms of our army, attacked villages and settlements everywhere, slaughtering our inhabitants and lone commanders and fighters. In order to ensure the safety of our division's defensive ground, this enemy must be eliminated as soon as possible. ”

"So, comrade division commander, what is our task?" Captain Gusev asked with a blank face.

"Now Lieutenant Vaskov is taking the fighters of his platoon to the station of the Eastern Battalion to monitor the enemy. I was afraid that the enemy was too numerous to deal with, so I planned to have Captain Burda bring two more platoons to reinforce them. And you, Comrade Captain, take Captain Chumark's 2nd Company and set up a defensive position in the rear of the 1st Company, and be responsible for receiving the 1st Company and ensuring a smooth retreat after completing their mission. ”

"Understood, Comrade Division Commander. Can we leave? Gusev asked politely.

I nodded and said, "Go, Comrade Captain, go and gather the team." Remember to have enough trucks ready, we had to rush to the rendezvous with Lieutenant Vaskov's troops as soon as possible. ”

After the three of them left, Boroda said with concern: "Lida, I listen to your tone, do you plan to lead the team in person?" ”

"Yes." I gave him an affirmative answer.

Hearing my answer, Boroda waved his hand again and again and said, "No, no, you are the head of a division, how can you take risks casually!" I'll lead the team this time. ”

I was never sure that I was not sure that I had seen the scum of the Eastern Battalion being killed with my own eyes, so I said with a resolute attitude: "Captain Boroda." The task of destroying the Eastern Battalion. It's not dangerous. The camp we were going to attack actually had only one platoon stationed. If there is a sneak attack, just one platoon of Vaskov will be enough, you see, for the sake of safety, I transferred two more companies to reinforcements, and they are also the most elite guard companies. You can rest assured that there will be no danger. ”

See that I am stubborn. Boroda couldn't say anything more, so he had to change the topic and ask: "Lida, I went to the front army headquarters for a meeting today, I don't know what Lu Dao said?" ”

After I gave him a detailed account of the deployment of the battle, I added: "After the meeting was dismissed, the commander of the Front, General Meretskov, also summoned me to his office and specially assigned us a secret mission. ”

"Secret mission, what is it?"

"Comrade Commander ordered the commanders and fighters of my division to immediately go into action and search for the whereabouts of General Vlasov in the vicinity. To live to see a man and to die to see a corpse. ”

"But," Boroda said, with some embarrassment, "General Vlasov said he was missing. But you and I both know in our hearts that nine times out of ten he was captured by the Germans. It was a very difficult thing to find him. ”

"Of course, of course, if this task is not difficult, it will not be handed over to our division, you must know that you are the most important commander of Comrade Commander."

As he spoke, Captain Gusev came in again to report that the two guard companies were ready to go at any time. I raised my hand and looked, the time had only passed fifteen minutes, and it seemed that Gusev's efficiency was quite high. So I gave Boroda a few brief explanations and left the command with Gusev.

The reinforcements I led arrived at the village of Pyatnica two hours later. In the village, we met two fighters sent by Vaskov to meet us, and they were the guides, and led the troops to the edge of the swamp.

Gusev looked at the ocean in front of him. He said to me with some concern: "Comrade division commander, there is a swamp ahead, and if you advance lightly, it will not be a big problem, but heavy weapons such as mortars and heavy machine guns will not be able to pass through here. ”

As soon as I waved my hand, I said disapprehantly: "If you can't pass it, you will go, you stay, and command the second company to build fortifications on the edge of the swamp." If a company is pursued by the enemy while retreating, they provide fire cover for the company here. ”

After instructing Gusev, I looked at Burda and asked, "Are you ready?" Comrade Captain. ”

"Ready, ready to go." Speaking of this, he said with some embarrassment: "Comrade division commander, don't you also want to sneak attack the enemy through the swamp with us?" ”

"Where is all this nonsense, let's go." After I finished speaking, I took the lead and walked towards the swamp.

Startled by my movements, Bulda ordered two able-bodied warriors to carry me behind the troops through the swamp.

Out of the swamp, we didn't go far when we came across a guard post set up by Vaskov, who led us to the place where the troops were lurking.

Vaskov took out a sketch of his own drawings and told me and Captain Burda: "According to our reconnaissance, there was not a platoon but a company in the station. Due to the presence of Germans nearby, their garrison was very lax, and only two sentries were on duty in the camp, and the rest slept in tents. Comrade division commander, you see, their tents were divided into two rows of nine each, and there were six people in each tent. ”

Bulda looked at the sketch, nodded thoughtfully, and said, "As long as we kill the sentries, and then send people to sneak into the tent and kill all these sleeping enemies with bayonets and daggers, it shouldn't be a big problem." ”

Hearing Burda say this, Vaskov did not object, so I nodded with satisfaction and said, "Just do it, and act when it gets dark." I raised my hand and looked at my watch, and it was only nine o'clock, and the sun had not yet set in the sky, so I added, "Let the soldiers rest well, and recuperate themselves and move." ”

The two whispered yes and went separately to deploy.

At eleven o'clock, it was getting dark, but with an ordinary telescope, I could still see everything clearly two hundred meters away. With the exception of one platoon, which remained on guard, the remaining two platoons, led by Vaskov and Burda, respectively, quietly approached the camp from two directions.

Two sentries in German uniforms and steel helmets, guns in hand, walked listlessly around the camp, unaware of the danger approaching them.

I saw that Vaskov had reached a tree just a dozen meters away from the sentry, and he made a gesture from a nearby warrior and slashed his palm on the neck to signal the knife to solve the sentry standing guard. The warrior nodded, and quietly approached the sentry under the cover of trees and bushes.

When the two sentries parted back to back, Vaskov and the warrior burst out of their hiding place, each covering the sentry's mouth and slashing his knife around his neck, causing the sentry to struggle a few times before his body went limp.

The two dragged the body to the place where they had just been hiding and sent a signal to the nearby hidden warriors. Then the warriors stood up, their guns on their backs, daggers or bayonets in their hands, and stooped down and quietly approached the barracks.

When the sneak attack troops led by Burda and Vaskov converged, they immediately divided into two teams, one for one row of tents. The warriors divided into groups of four, and in one group found a tent, lifted the curtain and got in. (To be continued......)

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