In fact, I knew in my heart that these reasons were just clichés, and my real purpose was to quickly establish my prestige in the army by personally leading the team to do several missions. And such a rescue operation with a relatively small difficulty coefficient is my first choice.

After confirming the matter of who would rescue General Afanasyev, Boroda said with a serious expression: "Comrade division commander, I have one more thing to report to you. ”

Seeing his serious appearance, I thought in my heart that it seemed that except for rescuing the general, it should not be a big deal, so I said casually: "Say, Comrade Chief of Staff, what else is important?" ”

"Just now the commander of the Front, General Meretskov, had another order."

In addition, there is an order, is it to transfer to the troops immediately? Thinking of this, I asked uncertainly: "Did Comrade Commander order our troops to immediately move to the designated position?" ”

Boroda shook his head and said: "Comrade Commander did not mention the transfer of troops, but informed us that it was not necessary to send Colonel Dorofeev and Lieutenant Colonel Samoilov to the headquarters of the Front. ”

The two former division commanders and chiefs of staff of the 378th Division have been locked up in a room next to the division headquarters since they were relieved of their posts. For them, neither Boroda nor I have the right to dispose of them arbitrarily, and we originally planned to send someone to escort them to the front headquarters today, but I didn't expect that there would be a change now. Hearing the news, I was upset, and asked with a straight face: "If it is not sent to the front headquarters, then where should it be sent?" ”

"Send it to the headquarters of the 59th Army and give it to the commander General Korovnikov at his disposal."

After listening to Boroda's explanation, I was silent. You must know that Lu Dao escorted the two to different destinations. Two completely different destinies await them. If they go to the front headquarters, the two of them may be charged with dereliction of duty and the delay of the fighter plane. was court-martialed; And to the headquarters of the army group, it is a different matter. Not only will they not go to court-martial, but they may be re-entrusted with the task based on their friendship with General Kolovnikov.

But if you think about it again, Captain Boroda and I took over the command of the 378th Division, and General Kolovnikov must have been a little unwilling, and he was bound to offer Meretskov a quid pro quo in exchange for not pursuing the negligence of the two. Perhaps Meretskov agreed to such a quid pro quo out of the desire to stabilize the morale of the army. When I think about it, I am relieved. I waved my hand and said, "Since the comrades have given orders, you can arrange for people to send them to the headquarters of the group army later." ”

Just then, a report came from the door. Second Lieutenant Peskov stood at the door, looked at me with his eyes and said: "Comrade division commander, the female hygienist of the medical station Ulanova has something to look for you. ”

I looked up at my watch, and it was seven o'clock in five minutes, and I didn't know what happened to Ulanova coming to me at this time, so I ordered the second lieutenant: "Comrade second lieutenant. Please let her in. ”

The second lieutenant agreed, turned to the side, stretched out his hand to the room and made a gesture of invitation, and said, "Please come in." Comrade Ulanova, the division commander is waiting for you inside. ”

Ulanova hurried into the room and saluted Boroda and me. After the ceremony. I smiled and asked her: "Comrade Ulanova, you came to me in such a hurry. Is there something important? ”

She nodded vigorously and said in the affirmative, "Yes." Comrade division commander, I have something important to come to you. I looked her up and down in confusion, and said to myself, "Is there another warrior who has insulted her?" But it shouldn't be, I slept in a room with her last night and didn't hear any movement. I only heard her continue: "The convoy transporting the wounded to the rear will leave at seven o'clock. I heard from you yesterday that you were going to have Alik evacuate with the wounded, so I came to the headquarters to ask you what your plans were. ”

"Comrade division commander," Boroda urged from the side, hearing Ulanova say this, "you go and get busy with Alik's affairs first, and leave the rest to me." ”

Hearing Boroda say this, my face turned slightly red, and I said to Boroda a little embarrassed: "Comrade Captain, I'll leave it to you here, and I'll go and deal with my personal affairs first." ”

Boroda said very reasonably: "Go ahead, here I am." Send Alik away, and you have less to worry about. ”

In addition to the headquarters, a long convoy was seen parked on the street in the distance. Ulanova and I trotted all the way towards the convoy, and as we ran I asked her, "Ulanova, did you see Alik this morning?" I didn't see him when I got up, and I don't know where he ran to play. ”

"Leda, don't worry. Alik doesn't get lost, he's been with me since he got up. When I went to look for you at the headquarters, I left him in the care of Tatiana. ”

As soon as we got to the front of the convoy, we saw Tatiana walking towards us with Alik in the lead. A few steps away, Alik broke free of Tatiana's hand and lunged at me. I crouched down and stopped him. Then I stood up with him in my arms and walked over to the convoy, with Ulanova and Tatiana following closely behind me.

The door of the co-pilot of the first car opened, and a second lieutenant officer jumped out, ran over to me and saluted, and reported: "Hello, comrade division commander! Second Lieutenant Varro of the Army Group reports to you today that the convoy for transporting the wounded is ready to depart, please instruct you! ”

I couldn't salute him because I was holding Alik, so I smiled politely and said in a consultative tone: "Comrade Ensign, I want to find a wounded person in the car and let her take my child to the rear." You see, can you drive a few minutes late? ”

"No problem, Comrade Division Commander." The second lieutenant agreed very readily, and then asked tentatively, "Do you need me to help you find it?" ”

"Thank you, Comrade Second Lieutenant." I thanked the lieutenant for his kindness, but didn't say if I needed his help finding someone. I walked back of the convoy with Alik in my arms, shouting as I went, "Sergeant Nina, Sergeant Nina, where are you?" ”

Ulanova, Tatiana, and the second lieutenant who were following me were also helping me shout. Zealous ensign. He also asked from car to carriage, "Is Sergeant Nina here?" Is there a sergeant named Nina here? ”

As we walked past the seventh car, I suddenly heard a familiar voice calling from behind, "Leda." I am here. Turning his head, he saw that Nina was lying on the baffle of the carriage. He leaned out and waved at me.

I walked up to Alik with me in my arms, bowed my head and said to Alik, "Son, mom is going to stay here and fight the German devils, and you follow this Aunt Nina to the rear, okay?" ”

Alik nodded sensibly and said, "Well, don't worry, Mom, I'll listen to Aunt Nina." ”

I lifted Alik up and handed it up, and immediately a soldier in the carriage reached out and took the child.

Nina was seen holding Alik in her arms. I smiled gratefully at her and said, "Thank you, Nina, I'll give you the child, please take care of him." ”

"Lida, please rest assured, I will take care of him as I would my own child."

I turned to the second lieutenant standing beside me and said, "Comrade second lieutenant, you are ready to go." Thank you! ”

The lieutenant smiled and saluted, turned and ran towards the lead car.

The truck moved slowly. Alek waved desperately at me from the baffle and shouted, "See you again, Mommy!" See you again, Mom! Remember to come to me sooner. ……”

Alik's immature shout made my nose sour for a while, and tears kept rolling in my eyes. If it weren't for the sake of maintaining the image. I guess my tears have already come out of my eyes. Turning his head, he saw Ulanova and Tatiana, who were standing behind him, wiping tears from their eyes. Hurriedly twisted his head back, raised his hand and wiped it from the corner of his eye. He turned around and patted the two on the shoulder. Forced to say cheerfully: "Ulanova, Tatiana, don't be sad. I'm sure it won't be long. We'll see Alik again. Go back to the medical station, there are still a lot of wounded waiting for you to take care of them. After speaking, I didn't wait for the two to speak, turned my head and walked in the direction of the division.

By the time I returned to the gate of the division headquarters, the guard battalion had been assembled, and more than 200 commanders and fighters were standing in line on the road outside the headquarters. When he saw me returning, a lieutenant came out of the column and ran to report to me: "Report to Comrade Division Commander, Captain Gusev, Commander of the Guards Battalion, that the 1st and 2nd Companies have been ordered to assemble and wait for your orders. ”

I frowned and asked, "Why are there only one company, two companies, and where are the three companies?" ”

"Comrade division commander," Boroda came out of the command headquarters and explained to me, "the village needs to be defended by troops, so I left the third company behind. ”

I have no objection to Boroda's arrangement, after all, we can't transfer all the troops in the village just because we have to save people. lest the Germans take advantage of the situation and take our old nest. So I turned my head to Captain Gusev and said, "Comrade Captain, introduce me to your company commander. ”

The captain called the two captains in the queue, pointed to a thin commander, and said, "This is the commander of the first company, Captain Burda, who used to be the commander of the reconnaissance platoon, so in this operation, his company will also be responsible for reconnaissance missions." ”

Captain Burda raised his hand to me and saluted: "Hello, Comrade Division Commander. ”

I saluted him back, nodded, and said, "Well done, Captain." Look at it, if this mission can be successfully completed, I will definitely ask for credit for you. ”

Then the captain introduced me to another captain with a dark face, and said, "This is Captain Chumark, the commander of the second company. He used to be an artilleryman, so in this operation, mortars and other heavy weapons were equipped in his company. ”

Captain Chumak also stepped up, raised his hand to salute me, and said: "Hello, Comrade Division Commander! ”

Although I am not familiar with the commanders and fighters of the guard battalion, after listening to Captain Gusev's introduction, I already have a preliminary understanding of the division of labor between the two companies. I'm very happy with this way of presentation. It seems that there is no shortage of capable people in this division, but the problem lies with the previous division leaders. Now that they are under my command, I will definitely let them make the best use of their talents, give full play to their abilities, and cultivate a group of my future team from them.

Seeing that I was satisfied with the two company commanders, Captain Gusev continued: "In this operation, we will first rush by truck to a place not far from Oledezh, and after getting out of the car, the second company will leave behind to guard the car and build improvised fortifications, and the first company will go through the forest to the Oledezh area to join up with Sazanov's partisans and receive General Afanasyev from danger. ”

I patted Captain Gusev, who was a head taller than me, on the shoulder and said with satisfaction: "Comrade Captain, your plan is good, and it will be carried out like this." Where is the truck? ”

"Report to the division commander, the truck is parked on the west side of the village. In addition to twenty trucks, there was also an armored car. (To be continued......)

PS: Thanks to book friends: Ocean Guard, ruoliuc123's tips and monthly passes. Congratulations to the Ocean Guard for being the first helmsman of this book