At six o'clock the next morning, the change of guard troops sent by the regimental headquarters arrived. The commander who led the team reported to me, and I sent Second Lieutenant Miducci to guide them and lead the troops to the position.

Looking at the departing team, Lieutenant Ugad, who was standing next to me, suddenly asked worriedly: "Will they be able to hold their position?" ”

"The position cannot be held." Without hesitation, I replied, "The reason why the Germans had been so slow in capturing our position was that there was a 131st Regiment not far away that threatened their flank. Now that threat is gone, they can quickly take their positions if they have to carry out a round of artillery bombardment on the high ground and then cover the infantry attack with tanks. ”

"But, Comrade Major." Ugad was a little anxious when he heard what I said, "Since you know that you can't hold the road, what's the point of changing guards?" ”

"Time, Comrade Lieutenant. We need time to gather our troops, and then concentrate our efforts on the dense encirclement of the Germans, tearing a gap and protruding the troops. The regimental headquarters used other units to change defenses, and it was intended to use our battalion as the main force to attack the fortified positions. At this point, I paused and changed the subject in time: "How is the situation with the partisans?" ”

"I'm ready to go, just waiting for your last order."

"Let's go! Let's go over and see. When Captain Diomi and the others returned from their positions, we set off. ”

The partisans, led by Master Yemelyanov and the devil's instructor, lined up in two columns in the open space outside the sanitary team, waiting for my final orders.

I walked past the line, my eyes sweeping over everyone's faces. The eyes of the old sergeant, the devil instructor, the thirteen carefully selected soldiers, and a female hygienist all moved with me. And the four stupid geese standing in the line, one of them had a rifle in his hand, but his body was shaking like chaff.

I stared at them contemptuously, then walked up to Tuas and asked in a gentle tone, "Are you ready, Sergeant Yemelyanov?" ”

The old sergeant replied excitedly: "Report to Comrade Major, the guerrillas are ready and are waiting for your orders." ”

I gently patted the old sergeant on the shoulder and said, "Comrade Tuas, you must remember that the guerrillas are still very weak, and they must not fight hard with the Germans, but must focus on sneak attacks." Remember, we must follow the combat mode of rationally choosing the place of operation, rapidly deploying troops, rationally distributing troops, rationally choosing the timing of operations, and quickly retreating after the battle. Do you understand? ”

The old sergeant saluted me and replied loudly, "Yes, Comrade Major. Please rest assured that I will definitely lead this guerrilla force well and actively develop and grow it so that it can cooperate with our army's counteroffensive in the future. ”

Shortly after the departure of the guerrillas, Diomi also returned to the village with his company. Together with the Eighth Company, they moved to the location of the regimental headquarters.

The regimental headquarters was about five kilometers away from our village, and it would take an hour to march normally. However, the horse-drawn wagons of the medical team transporting the wounded could not increase their speed on the muddy dirt roads, which seriously affected the marching speed of the entire army. As a result, we did not arrive at the regimental headquarters until noon.

I put the troops on standby and ran to the regimental headquarters to report to the regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Harpy.

The regimental commander saw that we were late, and his face was so black that he could squeeze out water, and without waiting for me to speak, he asked solemnly: "Comrade Major, I thought you would be able to get to the regiment headquarters at nine o'clock, but as a result," he pointed to the watch on his left wrist with his right index finger, and said dissatisfiedly, "It's already twelve o'clock, and you are slower than a snail." ”

Hearing the regiment commander's criticism, I felt a burst of heat on my face, and I was considering whether to justify a few words, when the regimental political commissar Pucciko happened to return to the headquarters and saw that I was being trained, and hurriedly came over to relieve me of the siege. He said loudly, "Major Oshanina, you are here. The movement is very fast, the three battalions of the whole regiment, you are the first to arrive. ”

Lieutenant Colonel Harpy, who was about to continue to criticize me, saw that the commissar came out to relieve me, so he didn't say any more, just muttered a few words in a low voice, and then ordered me: "Take your battalion, follow the commissar, and he will arrange accommodation for you." ”

When the soldiers in the battalion were encamped, I quietly asked the political commissar: "Comrade political commissar, how is the situation now?" ”

He sighed softly, shook his head and said: "Major Oshanina, it's very bad, the army group is under siege by the Germans. Originally, the headquarters ordered our 327th Division to be the vanguard of the breakthrough, but the entire division currently occupies a very wide area, and it will take a long time to shrink and assemble. Therefore, the original plan to start the breakout battle on the 15th was replaced by reinforcements from the Steppe Front. The breakout battle, commanded by Major General Privalov of the command of the army group. ”

I thought about the name, and I didn't seem to know it, so I didn't continue to think about it, but continued to ask myself the question I was concerned about: "If our division does not participate in the breakthrough, can we hold the current occupied area and launch a new attack?" ”

Pucciko waved his hand and said, "It's impossible, Major Oshanina." It is important to know that our division is distributed over a wide area, and after half a year of non-stop fighting, the troops are already very tired, coupled with the lack of ammunition and food, let alone launching a new offensive, even an active defense cannot be done. ”

The troops in the regiment were all assembled the day after we arrived. However, we still stayed where we were, and when I went to the regiment headquarters to inquire, I learned that only our regiment had been assembled, and the other regiments of the 327th Division were still being assembled.

We spent the next few days waiting, and every day we heard heavy gunfire from the northeast, and it seemed that the troops under the command of General Plivalov were attacking the German positions.

Everyone is waiting quietly, and no one will take the initiative to run to the headquarters to ask for a task without an order from the superiors, which is probably the difference between Eastern and Western cultures. If it were the Eighth Route Army, it would definitely not be as calm as we are now, and it is estimated that the phone number of the headquarters has already been blown up by the commanders of various subordinate units, and the table is full of letters of requests from commanders and fighters who are eager to fight.

It wasn't until the afternoon of the 17th that I was summoned to the headquarters by Lieutenant Colonel Harpy. I didn't dare to slack off, and immediately trotted all the way to the headquarters, and at the door, I met the commanders of the other two battalions, and I nodded at them in a friendly manner, which was regarded as a greeting.

As soon as I entered the door, I heard Lieutenant Colonel Harpy shouting: "Major Oshanina, the order from the division headquarters has come down." Ordered our regiment to advance at once to the east to join up with the main forces there. Your battalion, as the vanguard of the whole regiment, immediately set off east along the forest path, do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Regiment Commander."

"Then you should set off immediately, I will lead the troops directly under the regiment and the other two battalions to catch up."

Although I was dismissed by Lieutenant Colonel Harpy in a few words, basic etiquette was indispensable, and I saluted him in a proper manner before turning away.

In order not to let the sanitary team hold back the company's marching speed, I took only two companies with me and rushed to the assembly point designated by the division headquarters at the speed of a rapid march. The order of march was seven companies in front and eight companies in the rear, and I was at the front of the line.

The troops walked east along the forest trail for about two hours, and I suddenly smelled a peculiar smell, which I thought was my own delusion, so I sniffed my nose and sniffed it carefully, this time I smelled the pungent smell of burning tire rubber, and there was also a foul smell, but I didn't know what it was.

I stopped, raised my right hand, ordered the troops to stop, and then rushed to the back, shouting out Daomi's name: "Captain Diomi, where are you?" ”

"Comrade Major," Diomi heard me call him, trotted in front of me from the middle of the ranks, snapped a military salute, and asked in a loud voice, "Captain Daiomi is at your order, please instruct!" ”

I covered my nose with my hands, frowned, and said, "Comrade Captain, do you smell a strange smell wafting in the air?" ”

Diaomi sniffled as well, and then replied, "I smell it, it seems to be the smell of burning car tires, and there is also an indescribable stench, I don't know what it is." ”

"You take someone to investigate immediately, I'll wait for you here."

Captain Diomi looked left and right, then pointed to the left, and said, "Comrade Major, there is a dirt slope there, which is the highest in the vicinity, and you should be able to see what is going on from there." ”

"Go ahead, Captain."

He saluted and ran towards the dirt slope with a few warriors.

Not long after he left, Sorin, the instructor of the 7th Company, and Ugad, the commander of the 8th Company, came to my side and asked curiously: "Comrade Major, why did you stop the troops?" ”

"I smell a strange smell in the air, and I don't know where the road is coming from, so I'll ask Captain Diomi to take a few to check it out." I looked back and saw that Ensign Miducci was standing behind Ugad, so I pointed at him with my hand and said, "Ensign, take a few men and follow me up the hill over there." ”

The hill wasn't too low, and when I looked up before the climb, I saw Captain Diomi looking around with a telescope. When I reached the top of the slope, I saw the telescope in Captain Diomi fall to the ground, but he didn't hear it, and sat down on the ground, and the soldiers around him were all stunned.

"What's wrong, Captain, what's wrong?" I asked aloud and walked over to him.