In the face of the concern of these subordinates, my heart suddenly swelled up with a huge emotion, I did not expect that I would be so important in their minds, after they saw me, they did not complain about their own situation, but cared about how I was in prison like them.

When everyone had quieted down, I said apologetically, "Brothers, I want to say sorry to you. When I learned that you were arrested, I argued with the people of the secret service department, and even drew a gun and threatened you, but unfortunately not only could I not rescue you, but I was also arrested. ”

Hearing me say this, a lieutenant was stunned for a moment, and then blurted out: "Comrade Division Commander, you just said that after you learned about our arrest, you once argued with the people of the special service department, and even drew a gun?" ”

I nodded and replied in the affirmative: "Yes, when that Lieutenant Turchinov of the Secret Service refused to release you, I did pull out my pistol and put it on the table, threatening that if he didn't let you go, he wouldn't be able to get out of the defense zone of our 378th Division." ”

"Comrade division commander, what happened then?" Someone asked curiously.

The lieutenant slapped the man on the back of the head and counted him down in dissatisfaction: "What else? Sergey, you idiot, didn't you see that the division commander was also imprisoned? Then he looked at me again and said bitterly: "Comrade division commander, you shouldn't be. You shouldn't have a conflict with the Secret Service for the sake of us people, you have to know that you are in danger. ”

I tried to squeeze out a smile, pretending to be casual, and said to them: "It's all because I was too careless, and when I returned to the headquarters, I didn't find that the soldiers standing guard at the door were not from the guard company." and was replaced by a soldier of the secret service. If only I had found it earlier. Maybe I can also take the soldiers of the guard company to detain all the people in the secret service. Use them to exchange you back. ”

The lieutenant waved his hand and said, "Comrade division commander, fortunately you didn't do this at that time, otherwise the consequences would have been serious." ”

"For what?" Hearing the lieutenant say this, I was very curious and wanted to find out what the consequences would be, so I couldn't help but ask.

"Comrade division commander, please take a seat first." The lieutenant did not answer my question directly, but beckoned me to sit down on a wooden plank in the corner. After the other commanders had all squatted around, they continued: "Even if you mobilize the guard company to rescue us today, soon the superiors will characterize this as a rebellion, and it is possible to send troops to suppress it." We're locked up here now, and maybe we'll be released soon, and if there is an armed clash with the Secret Service, then there is no room for recovery, and there is only one fate waiting for us, and that is to shoot them all. ”

Sergei, who had just been beaten by him, asked curiously: "I said Petrovalov, you said that we are being held here." Will you be released or shot? ”

Petrovalov, that is the lieutenant. glared at him fiercely, raised his hand and wanted to whip him again, this time Sergei learned wisely, tilted his head back, dodged, and then muttered: "If you have something to say, I just ask so casually, don't you always want to hit people." ”

Petrovalov did not pay attention to Sergei, but turned his head to look at me and asked: "Comrade division commander, when we were arrested, the people in the special service said that we were Vlasov elements and were suspected of collaborating with the enemy, so we should arrest them all." Do you know what's going on? General Vlasov is the commander of our 2nd Shock Army, is something wrong with him? ”

"Yes, Comrade Division, can you tell us what happened?" The rest of the commanders chimed in.

Hearing everyone say this, I can't help but be stunned, don't they even know the real reason why they were arrested? So I couldn't help but ask strangely: "Don't you know about Vlasov?" ”

The people present listened to my words, looked at each other, and then collectively shook their heads and said, "I don't know, we were all arrested by the special service soldiers who suddenly rushed in when we were having lunch in the restaurant. ”

Since they didn't know what was going on, I had to explain it to them, so I coughed, cleared my throat, and said, "According to reliable information, General Vlasov, the former commander of the 2nd Shock Army, defected to the enemy the day before yesterday, embarked on the evil path of being forced to the motherland, and became a shameful traitor. ”

As soon as I finished speaking, someone rushed to speak: "Although we were all subordinates of General Vlasov, it is his personal business that he became a traitor, and he has nothing to do with us. ”

Petrovalov sat limply on the ground, and kept muttering: "It's over, it's over, we're all finished!" ”

"What's going on? Petrovalov, why do you say we're all going to be finished? Sergei asked curiously.

Petrovalov froze and asked: "You all know about Marshal Tukhachevsky, right?" ”

Everyone nodded collectively and did not speak, waiting for him to continue.

"In June 1937, Marshal Tukhachevsky, having been relieved of his post as Deputy People's Commissar of Defense, was demoted to the post of commander of the Volga Military District. I was one of the guards escorting him to his duty, and the day before I left, I had an unexpected car accident and was taken to the hospital, where someone else had to take my place. I lay in the hospital for half a month before I was discharged, and when I was discharged, I heard that Marshal Tukhachevsky and seven other generals, including Yakil, Ubolevich, Feldman, Kolk, Eedman, Primakov, and Shantner, were arrested by the personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on their way to the military district and brought before the military council for trial. After a brief secret trial by a military court, the defendant was executed on the 11th for 'treason'. The accompanying guards were all executed on the same day. After the death of Marshal Tukhachevsky, the Ministry of Internal Affairs carried out a purge among all the commanders and fighters of the Red Army, and a large number of commanders who had relations with the marshal and others were arrested or executed. ”

As soon as Petrovalov's words fell, the room suddenly became a pot of porridge, and some timid people were so frightened that they cried: "I am not a Vlasovite, I don't want to die." After shouting, he rushed over and banged on the door, shouting outside: "Open the door quickly." Let me go. I'm not a Vlasovite. I don't want to die. ”

His shout alarmed the guards at the door, and as soon as the guards opened the door, the man tried to rush out of the half-open door, but the two guards outside stopped him in time, raised the butt of his rifle and smashed him to the point of bleeding. I hurriedly walked over and shouted at the two guards: "Stop, do you want to kill him?" ”

The guard stopped. He kicked the man lying on the ground twice, and threw down a cruel sentence: "I warn you, keep quiet, and no one is allowed to speak again, otherwise I will not be polite to you." With that, he slammed the door shut.

I crouched down and examined the commander, and I was startled to find that his face was covered in blood, and I quickly put my finger to his nose. I found that I still had to breathe before I put my mind at ease. I waved to the crowd standing next to me and said, "Carry him over." ”

Petrovalov and a couple of people came over. I carried the wounded commander to the board I had just sat on and put it down. After a brief examination, Petrovalov raised his head and said, "It's fine, it's all skin trauma, just take care of it for a few days." ”

I waved my hand at everyone and said, "Since there is nothing to do, let's rest early." Maybe tomorrow when we find out that we have no contact with Vlasov, they will release us from the city. ”

Everyone found a place, sat down with their backs against the wall, and began to close their eyes and recuperate.

I sat near the door, and although I closed my eyes, I couldn't sleep, and I thought about what Petrovalov had just said, and the more I thought about it, the more my heart sank a little bit, and my originally calm mood began to fluctuate a little, and I knew that what he said was true. After Tukhachevsky was killed on a trumped-up charge, he implicated so many people. Now that Vlasov's betrayal is a sure thing, then more people will inevitably be implicated, will we really become his martyrs?

Early the next morning, the guard opened the door and yelled at the door, "Hurry up, come out!" I slowly stood up, stretched my waist, and moved my aching body for a moment before I followed the others out unhurriedly.

When I walked outside the house, there were a lot of people! Except for a dozen people in our room, the people in the rest of the room also rushed out, and at a glance, it was black. At that moment, a guard pushed me from behind and shouted unceremoniously, "Go ahead, don't stop." ”

The commanders who came out of a dozen rooms were brought together, and at this time, the head of the special services, Lieutenant Turchinov, surrounded by more than a dozen fighters, came over. He stood at the front of our group and looked at it, then instructed an ensign behind him: "Ensign Matvey, are you ready?" ”

Second Lieutenant Matvey immediately nodded and replied, "Comrade Section Chief, everything is ready." ”

Turchinov nodded and instructed him: "Now that you are ready, bring all these people over." ”

Ensign Matvey agreed, and gestured to the soldiers who were guarding us, and the soldiers standing around us immediately came with their guns in hand and drove us deeper into the forest.

I heard the conversation between Turchinov and Matvey just now, and as I walked, I was guessing what Turchinov meant by asking whether he was ready or not. If we were to have breakfast, we could hand out food in front of the hut without taking us to the forest. Is it to shoot us? The thought of this possibility made me break out in a cold sweat. Due to his distraction, he didn't notice a wooden stake on the ground, tripped over, and threw himself forward, hitting his head the back of one of the commanders in front of him.

The man was caught off guard, and was hit hard by me, and cried out in pain, and turned his head to get angry, but when he saw that I was a woman, he slowed down his tone and asked dissatisfiedly, "How did you walk?" I don't know how to look at my feet. ”

I bumped into someone, a little embarrassed, blushing and apologizing to him again and again, saying I'm sorry.

Our team soon came to an open field deep in the forest, and in the knee-high grass stood four groups of men, each consisting of an ensign, a sergeant, and three soldiers, each with a thick stack of papers, one of whom carried a large cloth bag on his shoulder. Seeing this, I began to panic, and I thought to myself, is it really that we were taken here to be shot?

As soon as Turchinov, who was at the forefront, raised his hand, the second lieutenant Matvey immediately turned around and shouted: "Stop!" The soldiers around us also shouted: "Stop, stop!" Don't stand still! At their shouts, the team stopped in place.

See the arrival of Turchinov. All four groups trotted towards him. Stopped a few meters away from him. Four ensigns stepped forward and raised their hands to salute him. Several people began to talk. In the course of the conversation, from time to time Turchinov pointed to where we were.

After a while, the conversation ended. Turchinov walked towards us with four ensigns, along with their respective men. After stopping in front of our queue, Turchinov announced loudly with a blank face: "The commander whose name will be called later will come out of the ranks." ”

After speaking, he shook his head at the four ensigns who followed behind him and said, "Let's start." ”

The four lieutenants said yes and stepped forward. Pick up the file in hand and start the roll call.

Soon, four commanders whose names were called out of the ranks. The second lieutenant handed each of the papers in his hands to his men, who took them and looked at them, then nodded to the soldier with the large cloth bag, who quickly opened the bag, pulled out a hemp rope from it and handed it to the other two soldiers. The two warriors took the rope and rushed towards their respective targets, pulling the slipknot rope around their necks, and when the commander's head was thrown back, they tied the prisoner's hands behind his back. Wait until it's all done. Two warriors pushed the tied commander forward, with Tuas following closely behind.

They stopped when they had walked twenty meters. Standing behind the commander, Tuas pulled his pistol out of his holster, pressed it against the back of the head, and pulled the trigger without hesitation. After a gunshot rang out, the commander, who was being held by two soldiers, went limp and seemed to be unable to survive. The warrior threw his body to the ground, turned and followed the sergeant back to the front of our group.

Seeing that we were really dragged here and shot, although I tried my best to make my expression very calm, my hands and feet were already shaking uncontrollably. Originally, I thought that after yesterday's arrest, I would be detained in the secret service for a certain period of time, and that there would definitely be someone who would try to inform Commander Meretskov who was far away in Moscow about this, so that I and the arrested commanders might be released. I didn't expect that the actions of the secret service were so swift, and all the people who were arrested yesterday were shot today, am I going to die here today?

Despite the fear in my heart, I still held on to the hope that a savior would come down from the sky and save me from the brink of death. From time to time, I turned my head to look in the direction we had just come, hoping to see Meretskov or some other heavyweight figure appear, only to look back again and again and again disappointed. The forest was quiet, and there was not a single figure in sight.

Just then, I heard the second lieutenant at the front of the queue read a familiar name: "Lieutenant Petrovalov!" "My heart beat faster and I secretly said that it was my turn to shoot the commander of our division. I sometimes talk about good things that don't work, and bad things do often come true, and then I hear another familiar name: "Second Lieutenant Sergei!" ”

Before I could find the two victims in the queue, I heard my own name: "Major Oshanina!" ”

When I heard my name, I was so overwhelmed that I didn't immediately walk out of the queue like the other victims. The second lieutenant whose name was my name, seeing that everyone else was out of the ranks, did not move, frowned, pointed at me, and ordered his men: "Go and bring the female major out." ”

At his command, two wolf-like warriors rushed into the procession, and, without saying a word, put the rope around my neck, and then pulled it back, and quickly tied my hands the moment my head was thrown back.

Soon, I was pushed to the position where I was shot, and I realized that there was a trench, and the bodies of dozens of commanders who had just been shot were piled up in the trench at the moment.

I closed my eyes in despair as the cold muzzle pressed against the back of my head. I couldn't help but be shocked by the sound of a gunshot, and when I opened my eyes, I saw that I was still standing. At this time, I heard Turchinov's voice coming from behind, and there was a hint of dissatisfaction in his tone: "What's going on? Why don't you shoot for? ”

The muzzle of the gun that had been on the back of my head was removed, and the sergeant replied a little aggrievedly: "Comrade lieutenant, it's not that I don't shoot, it's that the gun is jammed." ”

"It's stuck, change it for me!"

Soon the cold muzzle of the gun hit the back of my head again, I was completely desperate this time, the gun was jammed just now, it won't jam again this time, I'm really finished.

At this moment, I heard a familiar voice in the distance: "Stop! No shooting! ”

Then the gun in the back of the head was removed again, and I heard Turchinov ask dissatisfiedly: "Comrade General, who are you?" What right do you have to stop me from carrying out my orders? ”

The man replied coldly: "Comrade lieutenant, I am Major General Fedyuninsky, commander of the 54th Army. I am on the orders of the Deputy Commander-in-Chief to stop you from carrying out the death penalty against Major Oshanina. ”

"Deputy Commander-in-Chief? I haven't heard of him, who is he? ”

"General Zhukov, Deputy Commander-in-Chief General Zhukov personally appointed by Comrade Stalin!" (To be continued......)