Unexpectedly, Chuikov said coldly: "The newly reinforced 204th Infantry Division and the 23rd Tank Army to us?" But where are these two troops, comrade commander, do you know? ”

Shumilov shook his head and said, "I don't know either." Since we didn't know anything about either of these forces, I immediately called the front headquarters and asked a question. ”

Chuikov leaned forward slightly, raised his hand and gently patted the driver's shoulder. The driver hurriedly tilted his head to the side and asked, "Comrade commander, do you have anything to do?" "Although the two commanders sat in the back seat, I understood that the commander in his mouth was referring to Chuikov and not to the newly appointed Shumilov.

Chuikov said: "I want to make a call, if you see the office of the garrison command or the city defense command, stop the car, their phone should be able to contact the front army command directly." ”

When you don't want to look for some places, you can see them at any time; When you really want to look for it, you can't find it anywhere, and the same is true for being able to call the front headquarters. The driver stopped the car in several places, and when he went down to inquire, he learned that these calls could not be directly contacted by the headquarters.

Running into a wall one after another, even Chuikov lost his patience, he sighed and asked in an inquiring tone: "Comrade commander, since we can't find a phone that can get through to the headquarters of the front army, why don't we turn around and go back to the headquarters to inquire?" ”

Shumilov hesitated for a long time before he nodded reluctantly and said, "Well, now it seems that this is the only way to go." ”

Seeing that Shumilov agreed with his opinion, Chuikov instructed the driver: "Driver, turn around at the intersection ahead." Back to the front command. ”

The driver agreed. Start slowing down. I am going to make a U-turn at the intersection ahead. I accidentally saw a sign reading "Air Defense Command" hanging outside a house on the side of the road in front of me, so I quickly turned around, pointed outside, and excitedly said to Chuikov: "Comrade commander, look, there is an air defense headquarters in the house on the side of the road, maybe we can find a telephone there." ”

Chuikov looked in the direction of my finger. Then he nodded and said, "Alright then, let's try our luck again." Driver, pull over on the side of the road. ”

After our car stopped on the side of the road, the jeep that followed behind also stopped, and the one that opened the road in front of us drove through the intersection, saw our car stop, and turned back.

Chuikov and Shumilov got out of the car and went straight to the headquarters, because they were walking too fast. I had to trot to keep up with them.

When we arrived at the door, one of the soldiers standing guard at the gate glanced at Chuikov and the two of them with their military ranks. Hurriedly turned his head and shouted inside: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, please come out." Then he turned around and straightened up and saluted us.

With his shout, a second lieutenant wearing a large-brimmed hat ran out of the building, and when he saw two generals standing at the door, he hurriedly saluted them and said, "Hello, comrades generals, is there anything I can do for you?" ”

Chuikov raised his hand and saluted back and asked: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, I am Chuikov, deputy commander of the 64th Army, and this is the commander, General Shumilov. We have an urgent matter and need to contact the front army headquarters immediately, can your phone number here be directly called to the headquarters? ”

The second lieutenant nodded vigorously and replied, "Yes, Comrade General, but I can only hit the duty room of the front army headquarters." ”

When Shumilov heard the second lieutenant say this, he immediately couldn't wait to say: "Then take us there." ”

The second lieutenant said with some hesitation: "Comrade General, you must know that the air defense headquarters here does not allow outsiders to use the communication equipment here without the authorization of the superiors. ”

Chuikov turned his face and said unceremoniously: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, let me remind you, we have important matters that need to be contacted by the Front Army Headquarters immediately, if it is delayed, can you take this responsibility?" ”

The second lieutenant was even more hesitant when he heard Chuikov say this, for for him, there were two generals on one side who could not be violated, and any choice could bring him trouble. Seeing that the scene had become embarrassing, I hurriedly stepped forward, stretched out my hand to wrap my hand around the second lieutenant's shoulder, and said in a friendly manner: "Comrade second lieutenant, I know that this matter has made you very difficult, but we really have something very important to contact the headquarters, so you can be accommodating." If the superiors blame us, we will testify for you. ”

The second lieutenant blushed with shame when I grabbed him by the shoulder, and after listening to what I said, he hesitated for a moment, and finally gritted his teeth and stomped his foot, and with an open expression, he said, "Okay, that's it." Comrades, generals, please follow me. Then he made a gesture of invitation to Chuikov and them.

The lieutenant gently broke free of my arm and led the way into the building, followed by Chuikov and Shumilov. As Chuikov passed me, he whispered, "Well done!" Then he went inside.

Hearing Chuikov's praise, I couldn't help but grin silently and followed them inside.

The second lieutenant led us to a spacious office, which had little furniture other than a large desk and a few chairs. The second lieutenant pointed to a telephone on the table and said to Chuikov: "Comrade General, this telephone can talk to the duty room of the front headquarters. ”

Chuikov walked straight over, picked up the microphone and prepared to make a call. And Shumilov found a chair and sat down, leaned back against the back of the chair, looked up and asked the second lieutenant: "Comrade second lieutenant, you are deserted here, and we didn't see a few people all the way in?" ”

The second lieutenant replied: "Report to Comrade General, our command has just been requisitioned and has not yet been officially put into use. You also saw that there was no one else except for a handful of fighters on duty. Comrade General, do I have anything else to do, allow me to leave? ”

Shumilov nodded and said politely: "Go and get busy, Comrade Ensign." We'll leave after the call. ”

When the second lieutenant left, Chuikov called the duty room of the headquarters of the Front, and he said: "Hello, I am General Chuikov. I have important matters to contact the Chief of Staff, General Nikishev. ”

The personnel in the duty room listened. Politely replied, "Hello." General Chuikov. General Nikishev just went out, please wait a moment, I'll go and see if he's back? ”

After a short period of effort, General Nikishev's voice came out of the microphone, and he said with a smile: "Comrade Chuikov, we have only been separated for a long time, why did you call me so quickly, could it be that you have already returned to the front line?" ”

Chuikov also laughed twice. said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I am in such a hurry to call you because I have something important to ask you?" ”

"What's the matter? Go ahead. ”

"I don't know where the 204th Infantry Division and the 23rd Tank Army, which are assigned to our army group, are located? You know, General Shumilov and I don't know where these two forces are. There are still 24 hours left, and our group army is about to carry out a counter-assault on the enemy with the 62nd group army, and at this moment there are still two participating troops who are missing, how can this battle be fought? ”

Nikishev was silent for a moment before replying: "The last information received by the command of the Front is that these two troops are near the Don River. I advise you to go to the area between the Don and Lisca rivers to find these two troops. Comrade Chuikov. As an old friend, I would like to remind you. General Golddorf is very annoyed that you have allowed your troops to retreat without permission, and if this counterattack is not successful, it is estimated that you will be in great trouble. ”

Chuikov nodded into the phone and said, "Thank you for your relationship, Nikishev, I will do my best to find these two forces." With that, he hung up the phone.

Shumilov saw that Chuikov put down the phone, and also stood up, the phone was very loud when talking just now, and he already knew it well without Chuikov introducing the situation, he shook his head and said: "Let's go, Comrade Chuikov, I heard everything I said just now, there is not much time left for us, and we should also go to our troops." ”

Leaving Stalingrad, since there was no harassment from enemy aircraft in the air, the driver could not help but speed up. In order to find the lost troops as much as possible, Chuikov stopped to inquire about the part of the scattered small troops on the road, and then tactfully asked them if they knew the whereabouts of the 204th Infantry Division and the 23rd Tank Army.

In this way, we went around the open steppe for half the night, and searched for another morning, until noon, when we came across a convoy escorting the retreat of the wounded, from whose mouth we knew that in the Zhirkov region there was a unit of our tanks, perhaps what we were looking for.

So our convoy rushed to the Zhirkov region without stopping. At one of the farms there, I saw a long queue of tanks. When they saw our car, they immediately met us on motorcycles, stopped us, and began to check our identities.

Chuikov pushed the car door open and walked down, asking, "Which part of you are from?" ”

The other party looked at Chuikov's rank, and hurriedly replied respectfully: "Report to Comrade General, we are a tank brigade under the jurisdiction of the 23rd Tank Army. Who are you? ”

"I am the deputy commander of the 64th Army, General Chuikov, and the commander, General Shumilov, is in the car. Is your Brigadier here? I want to see him right away. ”

The tank crew led us to the brigade headquarters. The brigade commander of the tank brigade was a lieutenant colonel with a beard, and he was sitting at the table drinking tea when he suddenly saw his subordinates leading two generals in, and quickly stood up to greet him.

After revealing his identity, Chuikov asked: "Comrade brigade commander, why are the tanks of your brigade lined up on the side of the road like a military parade, aren't they afraid of being bombed by enemy aircraft?" ”

The brigade commander's old face turned red and replied: "Report to Comrade Deputy Commander, it has been two days since my troops arrived here, and they have not received any orders, so they can only stay here and stand by." ”

"Let the troops unfold immediately. By the way, where is your military headquarters? ”

"Report to Comrade General, the military headquarters is located in the October Victory State Farm."

"Where is the October Victory State Farm, show me." Chuikov said, picking up the map from the table and handing it to the lieutenant colonel brigade commander.

Next, our convoy rushed to the "October Victory" state farm to look for the headquarters of the 23rd Tank Army, which was stationed there.

As the car passed by a small village, Chuikov suddenly shouted to the driver: "Stop, pull over to the side of the road." ”

After the car stopped, General Shumilov, who closed his eyes and recuperated, opened his eyes and asked: "To the state farm?" ”

Chuikov shook his head and said: "Not yet, this is the village of Vorodinsky, where the headquarters of the 62nd Army is located, let's go to see General Korpakchi by the way and discuss with him the details of tomorrow's counter-assault." ”

The sentry on duty at the gate of the headquarters of the 62nd Army, seeing our arrival, took the initiative to come up and greet Chuikov without waiting for Chuikov to ask: "Hello, General Chuikov, Comrade Commander is inside, please come in." "They were more familiar with me, after all, I had been the commander of the command for a while, so when I entered the door, the sentry nodded at me, but Shumilov was inadvertently ignored.

When we walked into the headquarters, Kol Parkucci had just finished a phone call, and judging by his expression, the content of the call was not pleasant. Chuikov greeted him loudly: "Hello, General Kolpakchi. ”

When Kolpakchi, who had a sad face, saw that it was Chuikov who appeared, he was immediately overjoyed, hurriedly greeted him and shook hands with him, and asked curiously: "Comrade Chuikov, why do you have time to come to my headquarters today?" ”

"I'm looking for two lost troops, passing by your headquarters, so I'm here to say hello to you and discuss the details of tomorrow's operation by the way."

Korpakchi beckoned Chuikov to sit down, and when he turned around and saw me standing next to him, he showed a surprised expression on his face: "Isn't this Comrade Oshanina, aren't you the head of the regiment, why did you come here with Comrade Chuikov?" ”

I hurriedly replied: "Report to Comrade Commander, I have already handed over the post of regiment commander to someone else. I had just returned from a mission with General Chuikov to the headquarters of the Front in Stalingrad. ”

Korpaki's eyes fell on Shumilov, who had been ignored all along, and asked Chuikov in surprise: "Comrade Chuikov, who is this general?" I've never seen it before, is it your new deputy? ”

Chuikov hurriedly explained: "General Kolpakchi, I forgot to introduce you, this is General Shumilov, the commander of our army group. ”

Korpakchi glanced at Chuikov with sympathy, then beckoned Shumilov to sit down.

Next, Kolpacic entertained us with that sumptuous lunch, and at the same time began a formal discussion with the two commanders and deputy commanders about the joint military operation in the early hours of tomorrow morning. (To be continued......)