I grabbed the political commissar by the collar who ran out after me and asked loudly, "Where can I find the car?" I'm going to go to the city and have a look. ”

"It's too dangerous, let's stay in the command and wait for news!"

"No, I have to go." I was really anxious, and when I shouted, my voice was a little choked. After all, this transfer of troops was personally ordered by me, and if they were to be wiped out by German artillery fire in the process of retreating, then my sin would be great. The only thing we can do now is to hurry to the city and find out how it goes. See if there is any remedy.

The commissar stood dumbfounded in front of me, silent for a long time.

"Comrade Political Commissar, I personally arranged this combat deployment, and I must personally go to the city. Look at how the situation of the troops is, and if I happen to meet a few regiment commanders, I can also readjust my deployment according to the specific situation. Do you understand? I let go of my grip on the collar, took two steps back, and re-spoke to the commissar in a more sincere tone.

The corners of the commissar's mouth moved, he wanted to say something, but he didn't say it. Obviously, it wasn't easy for him either. He was silent for a long time before he spoke: "No! You are the commander of a division, shouldering the heavy burden of commanding the whole division, you cannot leave your post without permission, you should stay in the headquarters to coordinate the overall command of the troops. Then he said in an aggravated tone: "Besides, you are still wounded, as a man, can I let a wounded female commander go to the front?" If you want to go, I will go. ”

Since he raised the question to the level of whether to respect women, I was really speechless for a while. I held back for a long time before I retorted: "It is the time of war, and there are only soldiers on the battlefield, and there is no distinction between men and women. Besides, you have been in the division for a long time, and the commanders and fighters in the division know you. If you are much better than me in controlling the troops, let you go to the city, if something happens, I can't control the entire army. ”

"But......" The commissar wanted to say something, but I interrupted, I waved my hand and said, "There is nothing to do, so it is decided." You have more important things to do while you remain in the headquarters, and in addition to reporting the situation here to the army group headquarters, you may also need to arrange for the personnel to contain the scattered troops. ”

"Okay!" Hearing me say this, the commissar finally reluctantly agreed to my request. He took two steps to the side and shouted, "Lieutenant Ramis, Lieutenant Ramis!" ”

"Here!" Lieutenant Ramis said yes loudly and ran out of a dirt hut not far away. He ran up to us, saluted, and reported: "Lieutenant Ramis has been ordered to come, please instruct!" ”

The political commissar didn't go around in circles, and explained the task to him straight to the point: "Comrade lieutenant, Division Commander Oshanina needs to rush to the city immediately, and you will personally accompany her." Remember, protect her life as if it were your own eyes. Now, you go find the car first, and when the car arrives, you will set off immediately. ”

"Yes!" Ramis agreed, saluted again, turned and ran away.

While waiting for the bus, I couldn't help but feel anxious when I heard the sound of gunfire coming from the direction of the city. If Volosramsk is lost, then a huge gap will appear in the defense line of the 16th Army. If the Germans were to advance through this gap, it would be a great disaster for the army group, which did not have any reserves in the depth of its defense. Once the forces were encircled, Zhukov's carefully constructed defensive line would crumble, and the Germans would be able to push straight under Moscow. Although in my known history, the Battle of Moscow ended with the victory of the Soviets and the defeat of the Germans, but at this moment I dare not take this risk, and who can guarantee that history will not be deviated by the appearance of my traveler?

Seeing that the car had not come, I said hello to the political commissar and went back to the headquarters to get the gun. The submachine gun was resting on the table, and I grabbed the barrel of the gun and was about to pick it up, but I caught a glimpse of the phone on the table, and I couldn't help but hesitate a little, should I report the situation here to Rokossovsky or Zhukov?

After hesitating again and again, I felt that it was better not to say it, the current situation was unclear, and rashly reporting it would not help the situation at all except that they would reprimand it, and this kind of tricky matter should be handed over to the political commissar to do. Thinking of this, I hurriedly walked out of the headquarters with my submachine gun on my shoulder.

When I went out, I saw a car parked outside, and the commissar, Ramis and two soldiers were standing next to the car. I was taken aback at the car I was about to ride, and I circled around the car to make sure that I was not dazzled, and that what was parked in front of me was not the usual Soviet-made black sedan, but an American jeep.

Seeing me circling around the car, with a look of surprise on my face, the political commissar patiently explained to me: "This is a car that the American allies have helped us with, called a jeep." Some time ago, when the front army issued US aid materials, it allocated one to our division. Later, let them drive you to the city in this car. ”

The commissar helped me get into the passenger seat of the jeep, then took my hand and said with concern: "Leda, you must come back alive!" My eyes couldn't help but moisten, and I couldn't speak for a while, so I could only nod vigorously.

The driver drove the car fast and approached the edge of the city in less than two minutes. Collapsed houses and dark craters were everywhere on both sides of the road, and lying corpses and wounded soldiers could be seen everywhere, and the closer you got to the city, the more corpses and wounded soldiers there were. The German artillery bombardment had not stopped, and from time to time a whizzing shell landed on the side of the road and exploded, blowing up many soldiers who were scattered and fleeing. I saw puffs of gunpowder smoke passing in front of the car, and the thick smell of blood was filled with the smoke of gunpowder. I feel a pang of sorrow in my heart, this is war!

I didn't bother to stop to check on the wounded soldiers and corpses along the way, and urged the driver to move forward. I know it's dangerous, but I can't help it. Today's tragic scene was caused by me, and besides, I am now acting as the commander of the division, if I do not take the lead, I will definitely be looked down upon by the soldiers, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to command the whole army in the future.

The car stopped after another section, and the road in front of it was so tightly blocked by masonry and rubble that it was impossible to drive through, so I had to get out of the car and walk. I walked ahead with a submachine gun, Ramis and two other fighters following closely behind.

A group of fighters ran up to him, and Ramis stepped forward and grabbed one of the fighters and asked loudly: "Which regiment are you from?" ”

The fighter replied: "1077 of the 2nd battalion of the regiment." ”

When I heard this, I couldn't help but be overjoyed, and hurriedly went over and asked, "Do you know where General Levyagin is?" ”

"Zhilu Dao, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel!"

"Then take me quickly, I'm looking for him."

The warrior looked at me, but did not speak, presumably wondering whether it would be necessary to accompany me back to that dangerous place.

"This is the division commander, Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina." Ramis saw the other man's hesitation and immediately revealed my identity to him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know that you were the teacher." The soldier stood up and saluted me and said, "Comrade division commander, I know where General Lu Dao is, and I will take you there." ”

"Okay, lead the way!"

As a result of the long period of artillery fire, almost the entire city was in ruins, littered with masonry, rubble, ruins, and some neighborhoods became unrecognizable. The warrior who led the way ran and got lost several times, leading several of us back and forth in circles through the ruins.

The sky gradually darkened, and finally I heard the excited shouts of the soldiers leading the way, and then pointed to a dilapidated building standing in the ruins not far ahead, and said: "Comrade division commander, look. The general and his command post were in that house. ”