On the morning of 19 March, the work of the Operations Division suddenly became busy. The latest battle reports were compiled and sent to Fedyuninsky; One after another, operational orders were issued through the telephone calls of the Operations Department to the combat units of the group army. However, the 54th Army was fighting with the Germans, and the units of the Volkhov Front were also fighting with the Germans in different places. In the vast area of the Volkhov River basin, the enemy and the enemy have become a pot of porridge.

Since I could see the latest battle reports at the combat station, I knew the reason for this situation, and as I had estimated, the Germans launched a fierce offensive against our 52nd and 59th armies, which were located on either side of the breach.

In the face of the fierce German offensive, the Soviets were forced to retreat step by step after stubborn resistance, and by noon, the first line of positions of the two armies was almost completely lost, and the troops retreated into the second line of defense, relying on strong fortifications to resist.

In order to relieve the pressure on the Volkhov Front and respond to the fighting of the 2nd Shock Army in the Lyuban area, Fedyuninsky sent a new sailor brigade of 500 Baltic naval fighters to the Kilish region and reinforced it to the 301st Infantry Division of Major General Zamirovsky. The 301st Division, which had been replenished, was arguably the only bright spot in today's battle, and after consolidating the defenses of several villages west of Kirich, they pursued the victory, crushing the German forces in the area in one fell swoop, and advancing the front ten kilometers to the west.

When I took this latest inspiring battle report and went into the command to hand it over to Fedyuninsky. Unexpectedly, he was sitting at the table, staring at the map spread out on it in a daze.

He took my battle report, just glanced at it, and then threw it aside, not showing the slightest joy at the results achieved by the 301st Division. He looked at the map for a while before he raised his head and said to me in a hoarse voice, "Major Oshanina, it seems that your judgment is correct. Today, the German offensive against the 52nd and 59th armies, which were located on both sides of the breakthrough, was inevitable, and they wanted to completely encircle the 2nd Shock Army and then eat it bit by bit. ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander. The intentions of the Germans were obvious. I replied.

"What would you consider if you were to be sent to the 2nd Shock Army at this time?" Fedyuninsky suddenly asked thoughtlessly.

Although I didn't understand the meaning of his question, I replied in a proper manner: "The orders of the superiors are not allowed to be discussed. If the order to transfer me to the 2nd Shock Army is given at this time, I will obey it unconditionally. ”

He stood up, took out a folded piece of paper from his coat pocket, handed it to me, and said, "This is an order to transfer you to the 2nd Assault Army, and I have just received it. ”

I took it and opened it, and sure enough, it was an order to transfer me to the 2nd Assault Army, and it was General Meretskov, the commander of the Volkhov Front.

After reading the order, I folded it and carefully put it in my pocket, then straightened up and asked Fedyuninsky: "Comrade commander, I don't know when I will report to the 2nd Assault Army. ”

"Go now, the car sent by General Meretskov is waiting for you outside."

"Yes." I said yes, turned around and prepared to leave.

"Wait a minute." Fedyuninsky suddenly stopped me, he took my hand, gently patted me on the shoulder with his left hand, called me by my nickname like Zhukov, and said in a brotherly tone of concern: "Leda, this is going to be difficult. Promise me that I will come back alive. ”

I struggled to squeeze out a smile and said, "Please rest assured, Commander, I will definitely come back alive." ”

After I went to the dormitory to get an assault rifle, I went to the combat department to say goodbye to Colonel Lavrov. Zhilu said that I was going to work in the 2nd Assault Army, which was about to fall into the encirclement of the Germans, and the colonel repeatedly told me to pay more attention to safety.

When I walked out of the building, I saw a jeep parked not far from the door. This kind of American-aided car with good off-road performance was already heavily equipped with Zhukov's Western Front troops at the end of the Battle of Moscow, and this is the first time I have seen it in the Leningrad region.

A corporal was chatting with the sentry at the door, and when he saw me going out, he immediately greeted me. He walked up to me, stopped, stood upright, and saluted, and said, "Hello, Major Oshanina. I was ordered to pick you up and go to the Volkhov Front. ”

When I saw that the corporal knew me, I couldn't help but look him up and down, and went through all the drivers I knew in my mind, and finally I was sure that I hadn't seen him before, so I asked curiously: "Comrade Corporal, have you seen me before?" ”

The driver shook his head and replied, "No, Comrade Major." I also see you for the first time today. However, in the army, female officers are very rare, let alone a female major, so as soon as you appear, I am sure that it is you. Then he stretched out his hand back and said, "Please get in the car." ”

I sat in the co-pilot's seat, and after waiting for the car to start, I asked: "Are you going to send me to the command of the Volkhov Front, or directly to the command of General Vlasov of the 2nd Shock Army?" ”

"Neither. I was ordered to send you to the headquarters of the 52nd Army, where Comrade General is directing the battle. ”

When I met Meretskov, he was preparing to leave the command of the 52nd Army and go to the front with a group of staff officers. When he saw my arrival, he just said lightly: "Comrade Major, come with us." ”

He traveled in a large group, four jeeps and two covered trucks full of guards and fighters. I didn't know anyone except Meretskov, and I was too embarrassed to carpool with others, so I had to let the driver who had just given me off continue to drive me and follow Meretskov's motorcade.

After about ten kilometers of travel, the convoy stopped, and we got out of the car and walked through the snow-covered trenches to the forward headquarters in the forest.

Meretskov entered the headquarters with a dozen commanders, and I didn't know if I was qualified to enter, so I lingered at the door. As soon as Meretskov turned around, he saw me dangling at the door, and said with some displeasure: "Major Oshanina, what are you still doing standing at the door, come in quickly." ”

This headquarters is quite large, and can accommodate about 40 people at the same time. Seeing that our group had come in, a colonel, who was studying the map at the table, greeted him and reported to Meretskov: "Comrade Commander of the Front, Colonel Koshevoy, commander of the 52nd Infantry Division of the 65th Army, reports to you and awaits your instructions!" ”

Meretskov returned the salute and asked: "Comrade Colonel, how is the situation?" ”

"Very bad, Comrade General." Colonel Koshevoy replied: "The fascist bandits attacked us thirteen times, all of which were repulsed by us. After the first line of defense was breached, the troops had already retreated to the second line of defense to defend. ”

"When are you going to start fighting back?" Meretskov asked unceremoniously.

When the colonel heard this, he stammered and replied, "Comrade General, I don't think it is wise to counterattack at the moment. It must be known that our air defense weapons are too weak, our troops lack air cover, and the enemy's dive bombers carry out fierce assaults on our division's battle formations several times a day, and the casualties of our troops are very heavy. Moreover, we must not only dig up the bunkers of the personnel, but also hide the technical weapons, transportation equipment, and material technical reserves underground. Moreover, during the attack, we did not have fire cover at all, and as soon as the artillery opened fire, it would be indiscriminately bombed by enemy planes, and at present half of the artillery units of the group army had withdrawn from the battle. ”

"Have you figured out the number of the German troops in front of your division?" One of the generals beside Meretskov suddenly asked.

"Report to Comrade Army Commander, we have just finished interrogating the prisoners," replied the colonel, who replied to the general, "and the enemy forces in front of us, except for the original German infantry division, were all Dutch and Belgian fascists of the "Dutch" and "Flanders" Foreign Volunteer Corps. When they attacked our lines, they were supported by Kler's air force. ”

After listening to the colonel's report, Meretskov paced around the command headquarters with his hands behind his back, and the people around him were silent, and they did not even dare to come out of the atmosphere. I secretly compared Meretskov's height, which was the shortest among the commanders present, estimated to be about 1.6 meters, about the same height as Zhukov and Stalin.

Meretskov stopped and asked Colonel Koshevoy: "Comrade division commander, if I replenish you with reinforcements, can you immediately counterattack the Germans?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander of the Front." The colonel replied very crisply.

Meretskov turned his head to the commander of the 52nd Army again and asked: "How many reserves do you have left in your army?" General Yakovlev! ”

"No, Comrade General." General Yakovlev replied with a sad face: "In order to hold the line of defense, even the guard regiment of the group army was sent to the front, and in addition to the two sentries standing guard, only a group of staff officers and communications troops remained in the headquarters. ”

"I'll figure it out in the reserves. I just want to know that when the Dao is replenished, can you immediately counterattack and take back the lost position? ”

General Yakovlev and Colonel Koshevoy looked at each other and replied in unison: "Yes!" ”

Meretskov walked to the table, grabbed a phone and dialed the number. As soon as the phone rang, I heard him say loudly to the other party: "Is it Comrade Chief of Staff?" I'm Meretskov. Now record my order: immediately transfer all the personnel of the second lieutenant training team and the junior commander training company to the 52nd Division of the 65th Army. ”