Without saying a word, I looked Pavlov up and down to see if he was a time-traveler like me. Perhaps it was because he had been watching for too long that Pavlov was a little embarrassed, his face flushed, he rubbed his hands together and stammered to me: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you ...... Why do you keep looking at me? ”

Hearing him say this, I realized my gaffe, quickly calmed down, coughed, and said, "What is the Great Famine in Ukraine that you are talking about?" Let's hear it. "I say this to see if the history he knows matches what I remember.

"Between 1932 and 1933 the All-Union collective farm movement was launched, in which peasants were encouraged to join the farms on a voluntary basis. But the collectivization movement developed so fast as the government could figure out that there were not enough machinery for the farms, and there were not enough accountants and managers. The hopeless and inefficient nature of the kulaks, together with the indiscriminate slaughter of livestock at the instigation of the kulaks, and two years of drought, led to the food famine of 1932. ……”

Hearing this, I let out an "oh", thinking to myself that he was talking about the famine of the thirties, which was not the same thing as what I knew. Since this is the case, then he is also an ordinary person, not a traverser at all, and traversing this thing is unattainable, not a coincidence, where is the opportunity to reach other time and space. However, I interrupted him curiously and asked, "Is the great famine you are talking about related to this nationwide food shortage?" ”

"Yes." He answered me in the affirmative, and then continued: "The kulak class in the Ukrainian regions is large, the collectivization of the farms is low, and most of the grain produced is hoarded by the kulaks, with the result that the farms supply the cities with very little grain. Due to the nationwide food shortage and the hoarding of grain by the rich peasants, the inhabitants of the cities could not buy food, and people died of starvation. This situation began in one or two small cities, then gradually spread to large cities, and finally inevitably spread to the whole of Ukraine. ”

"Did many people die in the Great Famine?" I asked with concern.

"The state was able to tide over the difficulties thanks to the timely campaign of the government to purge the saboteurs of the collective farms, the organization of grain conscription teams to the countryside, the seizure of surplus grain from the kulaks, and the immediate introduction of a strict system of national rationing. But that's it, there are still about 100,000 to 150,000 people who died of starvation in the Great Famine. ”

"Oh." I thought that the death toll that could be equated with the Great Famine would be in the millions, but it seems that the Soviet government was still quite efficient and able to save people from the famine in a timely manner. I suddenly remembered something else, and then asked, "Is it because the grain conscription team has collected the surplus grain, which has aroused the dissatisfaction of the rich peasants with society, that the old lady named Alyoua will run to report to the Germans?" ”

"Exactly, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Pavlov nodded and said in an affirmative tone: "Maybe this Ayouna is a rich peasant who ran from Ukraine and has been hiding incognito in this village." Now that he saw the Germans coming, he couldn't wait to take refuge in them and became a lackey of the fascist bandits. ”

"Report!" As he spoke, Lukin's voice came from outside.

"Come in!" I yelled out the door.

Lukin came in and saluted me, then respectfully reported: "Comrade commander, the casualty figures have been counted. ”

"What about the casualties of our troops?" I was concerned about the casualties of my men in the skirmish, so I couldn't wait to ask.

"Our troops lost 38 people and 25 were wounded. The overwhelming majority of casualties occurred during the assault on the hut. ”

In a battle of that magnitude just now, there were more than 60 casualties, and I couldn't help frowning, and then asked, "What about the Germans?" ”

"In this battle, our fighters showed great valor, killing a total of 31 German devils, capturing 17 submachine guns, 10 rifles, and 1 pistol. ……”

"That's it!" I interrupted Lukin with some impatience, saying that more than 200 people beat more than a dozen others, and there were so many casualties. If the other party is not a dozen, but hundreds, it is estimated that it will be us who will be wiped out. Then he turned to Pavlov, who was sitting on the side, and said: "Comrade instructor, please go and call all the company commanders here, I have something to say to you." ”

"Yes!" Pavlov stood up, saluted me, and walked out.

Five minutes later, the room was filled with commanders of lower ranks. The reason why I say low ranks is that these people all have the rank of sergeant, sergeant, etc.; Although they all have low ranks, in this improvised team, they all hold the position of company commander or deputy company commander. For example, Lukin's friend Ishaev, although he only holds the rank of sergeant, holds the position of commander of an artillery company.

I stood in the middle of the room and said, "Today we have a battle with the Germans in the village, and I would like to ask the commanders here to share their feelings." ”

"Comrade commander, let me say a few words." A short sergeant with a freckled face stood up and said he was short, but for the others, he was still a lot taller than me. Seeing that I nodded in agreement, he continued: "In the battle, the soldiers behaved so valiantly that not a single German devil could escape from us. ”

"Yes, it was because our fighters behaved so bravely that none of the fascist bandits escaped." As soon as his words fell, someone next to him immediately chimed in. When one person opened his mouth, he immediately mobilized the emotions of the others, and everyone talked babblingly, to the effect that no matter what kind of enemy, if they encounter our heroic warriors, they will all be destroyed without exception.

"Enough!" I interrupted the group, perhaps because my voice overshadowed everyone and frightened them, and the room suddenly fell silent. I glanced at the more solemn atmosphere around me, and a wave of anger welled up in my heart, so I scolded mercilessly: "I want you to summarize the lessons that should be learned in today's battle, not to let you come here and talk nonsense!" ”

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, can I say a few words?" It was Sergeant Isayev, the commander of the artillery company, who spoke, and I nodded, signaling that he could say something directly.

He stood up and cleared his throat, and said loudly: "In today's battle, although many German devils have been eliminated, I should also see that the casualties of our army are not small, and even far greater than the enemy. ......" At this, he paused, his eyes looking at me, afraid that I would suddenly lash out again after listening to his words.

I didn't think that anyone would see the problem with this battle, and I wanted to hear if he could say anything new, so I smiled at him and said, "What would you do if it were you who commanded this battle?" ”

"If I were to command this battle, I would have sent a few soldiers over to reconnoiter it before it began, and to make sure there were no Germans in the house. Judging from the size of that house, at best, it can only hide about 20 people, and judging from the current skills and equipment of our army, there is no need for today's crowd tactics, and it is only necessary to carry out a round of artillery preparation before attacking, blast the enemy out of the house, and then launch an infantry charge when they are unable to form an army, and they can be completely annihilated in one fell swoop, and at the same time, this method of fighting can also effectively reduce the casualties of our army. ”

"Mmmm, that's kind of interesting." Although what he said was very simple, it was more in line with my thoughts, and I nodded again and concluded: "Isayev is right, when you fight, it is not enough to have courage, you also need to use your brain. The lives of soldiers are precious, so when we are commanders, we must not blindly rush and fight wildly, but must know how to rationally use strategy and tactics to reduce unnecessary casualties in battle......

At this point, I saw people around me looking at me strangely, as if they were looking at an alien monster. I looked at Ferstov and Pavlov, who were sitting next to me, with a puzzled look, and asked, "Did I say something wrong?" ”

"Not so, Comrade Commander." Felstov stood up and explained: "What you say is very different from what we learned in military schools. For example, according to the regulations, when attacking an enemy position, the soldiers should charge forward in a straggler formation with their guns in hand, while the commander should charge at the front of the whole group. ”

"I see." I sighed and patiently explained to them: "A lot of what you have learned is out of place in the present situation, for example, if you still line up to attack according to the regulations, maybe it only takes a few enemies to wipe out all our attacking troops. The ultimate goal of the offensive is to defeat the enemy, and in order to achieve this goal, we can use all necessary means. Let me tell you about the battle I fought on the outskirts of Volokramsk. At that time, the Germans occupied the positions of the 948th Brigade, and the commander of the army, General Rokossovsky, was furious, ordered to shoot the brigade commander who had escaped from the battle, and ordered the division commander to immediately organize forces to recapture the lost positions. I happened to be there at the time, so I took the initiative to take on the counterattack mission. Before the attack, I asked Comrade Commander to order the artillery of the army group to shell the enemy's positions for twenty minutes. ……”

At this point, I paused, and seeing that everyone was listening with relish, I continued: "When the shelling has been going on for fifteen minutes, I will order the troops to attack. ……”

"Huh?!" There was a cry of fuss, which immediately attracted a bunch of contemptuous glances, and he hastened to cover his mouth with his hand, lest he make any more noise and offend the public. I told them the truth, and it was simple but it was still amazing to everyone, especially when I told them that after regaining their positions, our troops had suffered only twenty casualties, and the Germans had nearly 200 men wiped out by us, they opened their mouths in astonishment, and they did not believe what they had heard with their ears. It is no wonder that on the battlefield, there are often cases where one or two battalions of German troops completely annihilate a division of the Soviet army. So it was incredible for them to hear that we, as the attackers' side, could win at a very small cost when we were roughly equal in strength.

Pavlov was a little surprised and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you are really remarkable that you can achieve such great results. ”

"Comrade instructor, Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina has achieved more than that," Sapochuk, who had been sitting next to him without speaking, stood up and began to sing his praises for me: "Some time ago she served as a commissioner in our Fifth Army, but after the commander was wounded and withdrew from the battle, it was she who led us in a large-scale counterattack in the Borodino area, which severely inflicted heavy losses on the fascist bandits. ”

When Sapochuk said this, everyone looked at me with reverence, and I was a little embarrassed to see it. I laughed dryly and said, "I'm calling everyone here for a summary of today's battle so that you can learn something useful from it." For example, our department now has a lot of artillery, and there is no need for soldiers to charge with bayonets and brave the enemy's dense firepower; Instead, we will shell the enemy's positions before the attack, and after inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy, we will attack again, so as to reduce the casualties of our troops. ”

Pavlov slapped his face and said: "Yes, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you said it very well, why did we never think of such a fight before?" Hearing him say this, I just smiled slightly, but did not speak, you must know that this style of play is not my creation, but I learned it from the posts on the military forums of later generations.

I bowed my head and asked Ferstov: "How many more do we have now?"

Feerstov frowned and thought for a moment, then looked up and replied, "Of the more than 60 people who have been killed or wounded today, there are still nearly 700 people in the army. ”

"Seven hundred?!" This number startled me again, wasn't it four hundred during the day? There are dozens of casualties, and now there should only be more than 300 left? I asked curiously, "Where did so many people come from?" ”

"On the way to the arsenal, we met a group, and on the way back, we met another group, and we saw that they were all fighters with combat experience, so we put them all into the team."

"How many weapons have you found?" I asked again about this most important question, after all, we still have a long way to go before we can return to the Volokramsk area, where the 316th Division is stationed.

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you can't believe it, there are a lot of things in that arsenal. Not only did we get rifles, submachine guns, machine guns, mortars, but even a couple of 45mm guns, as well as a lot of ammunition that the troops urgently needed. The weapons and ammunition we brought back were enough to equip two regiments. ”

"How did you get so many weapons and ammunition back?" I thought to myself that the two regiments have a lot of equipment, even if you have seven or eight hundred people, each carrying two guns and a box of ammunition, then you won't be able to carry much.

Unexpectedly, his answer greatly surprised me, "We also found dozens of sleds in the warehouse, except for the part that the fighters carried with them, the rest of the weapons and ammunition were pulled back by sleds." Unfortunately, there were no horses or dogs, so people had to pull the sleds. ”

I was talking to Pavlov when Lukin's voice came from the door: "Comrade commander, can you come out?" There is a member of the village soviet here, and she has something to talk to you about. ”

I agreed, then patted Pavlov on the shoulder affectionately and said, "You can continue to organize everyone to discuss!" With that, he turned and walked out the door.