Hearing that General Lopatin had arrived with the NKVD, those who attended the meeting were stunned, not understanding why the commander of the army group had been changed at the very moment of the great battle, and some of them looked up and stole a glance at Kolpakchi to see how he would react. It is a pity that the former commander of the army group, General Kolpakchi, simply sat in his place in a daze without saying a word. After a while, everyone present unanimously reached a consensus that in this extraordinary period, it was better not to speak lightly, so they all sat in their respective positions and remained silent, and the silence in the headquarters became tense.

After a while, Kolpakchi slowly stood up, and instead of glancing at Gurov, the military commissar sitting next to him, he swept his gaze at the commanders attending the meeting, and said slowly: "Comrade commander, the superiors have sent you a new commander, General Lopatin, who is a commander with rich combat experience. I believe that under his leadership, you will be able to reverse the current unfavorable situation and stand out from the enemy's encirclement. ”

I could see that Kolpacic was trying his best to control his feelings, trying to remain calm in front of his old subordinates, but I could still hear his excitement in his voice.

When Kolpacchi was taken away by the people of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Lopatin sat down in the middle with a big grin, and after scanning all the commanders present with his eyes, he turned his head sideways and asked Gurov: "Comrade Military Commissar, what are you discussing?" ”

Gurov leaned his head over and replied: "We are discussing which unit of the army group should be left behind." Covering the retreat of the main forces from the pontoon bridge over the Koska River. ”

Lopatin's face darkened. Grab the military map on the table. Pulled in front of him, and then pushed it in front of Gurov, and said in an unceremonious tone: "Comrade Military Commissar, where is the pontoon bridge on the Koska River?" Show me. ”

Gurov tilted his head to look at it, then pointed to a position with his finger and said: "Comrade commander, we have built three pontoon bridges here. Originally, it was to facilitate the mechanized troops to cross the river from here, but judging from the current situation, there are no reinforcements. We were just talking about it. Which division remained to serve as a blocking cover, as well as the order in which the remaining divisions crossed the river. ”

After hearing this, Luo Pajing actually said in shock: "Comrade Military Commissar, you immediately arrange for manpower to blow up all these three pontoon bridges." ”

"What? Comrade commander, as soon as the pontoon bridge is blown up, our retreat will be completely cut off. ”

Lopatin heard Gurov say this, glared at him and said: "I remind you, Comrade Military Commissar, Comrade Stalin just issued Order No. 227 two days ago. The commanders and fighters are required to hold their positions and not take a single step back. Look at you. The enemy is approaching the Koska River step by step, trying to cross the river and join the German forces in other directions, and you are not thinking about how to hold off the enemy, but about how to retreat. With that, he slammed his fist on the table, "This is a crime, and I will never allow it." Without an order from above, the troops of the army group were not allowed to retreat at a moment's notice. The matter of blowing up the bridge cannot be delayed, Comrade Military Commissar, you should send someone to handle it. ”

Seeing that Lopatin's attitude was so resolute, Gurov was not easy to refute in public, so he had to call Captain Semykov, who was still standing in the room, over and instructed him: "Comrade Captain, you immediately go and call the battalion commander of the Boat Bridge Battalion and ask them to dismantle the pontoon bridge immediately." ”

Unexpectedly, Luo Pajing reminded him sternly: "Comrade Captain, when you called the commander of the Zhouqiao Battalion, you told him that it was to blow up the bridge instead of removing it, and this was an order from the commander of the group army, and this order could not be changed. ”

Hearing what Lopatin said so strictly, Semykov looked at Gurov with some embarrassment. Gurov glanced at Lopatin beside him, then turned his face and nodded to Semikov with a wry smile. Semykov saluted this time, turned around and walked out.

After Lopajing Liwei, he got back to business. He asked Gurov: "Comrade Military Commissar, how many divisions of our army group have fallen into the encirclement of the Germans?" ”

Gurov was familiar with the number of the troops, and almost without thinking, he replied: "Comrade commander, our troops caught in the enemy's encirclement include the 33rd Guards Infantry Division, the 399th, 196th, 181st, and 147th Infantry Divisions, as well as the 229th Infantry Division of the 64th Army. ”

After listening, Luo Pajing nodded with a flat expression, raised his hand and pointed casually to the command headquarters, and said, "I don't know the commanders who came to the meeting today, so please introduce them to me next to each other." ”

So Gurov began to introduce from the right hand side of Lopatin: "These two are the commander of the 33rd Guards Infantry Division, Colonel Fanaseyev, and the commissar Ryshchenko. Since the formation of the group army, they have been participating in many important battles within the structure of our group army, and have achieved considerable successes. Hearing the military commissar say his name, Fanasyev and the commissar quickly stood up, straightened up and saluted Lopatin before sitting down again.

"The commander of the 399th Infantry Division, Colonel Travnikov, commissar Doroshenko. Their division was transferred from the Far East to our army group battle sequence on 28 July. ”

"The commander of the 196th Infantry Division, Colonel Avelin, and the commissar Zheramsky. Their units joined the battle sequence of our army group on July 17. ”

"The commander of the 181st Infantry Division, Major General Novikov, and the political commissar Rudenko, their division has been in the battle sequence of the group army since the formation of the army."

"The commander of the 147th Infantry Division, Major General Volkhin, political commissar Kotov. ……”

When Gurov introduced the numbers of the units and the commanders in detail, I heard the new numbers, but a few familiar numbers were missing. I quietly asked a staff officer of the command, who was sitting next to me: "Comrade Major, why is there no Lieutenant Colonel Tarantsev's 192nd Infantry Division?" ”

The staff officer of the major looked left and right, and replied in a low voice: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you don't know yet. Lieutenant Colonel Tarantsev, who had been seriously wounded in the previous day's battles, had already been taken to the military hospital in Stalingrad, where he was replaced by Colonel Zhuravlev. This division, which had suffered heavy casualties in the previous two days of fighting, had been ordered to retreat and recuperate. ”

When I heard that Tarantsev was seriously injured, I couldn't help but sigh. Although I covered my mouth in time, the voice was still heard by Lopatin. He turned his head to look in my direction, and at a glance he spotted me sitting among the male commanders, and then pointed at me and asked Gurov: "Comrade Military Commissar, who is this female commander?" Why did she appear at such an important military meeting? ”

Without waiting for Gurov to answer, I already stood up, straightened up and reported to the new commander: "Comrade report commander, I am Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, who previously served as an adjutant to Commander Kolpakchi in the 62nd Army. Later, I was seconded by General Chuikov to the 64th Army to serve as a regimental commander, and as soon as I returned from my mission today, just in time for a military meeting to be held in the headquarters, Kolpakchi asked me to stay and observe. ”

I thought that Luo Pajing would say a few words, but I didn't expect him to listen, so he just raised his hand and pressed down, saying, "Since you're here, sit down and continue listening." Gurov, who was sitting next to him, was worried that Lopatin would attack me, and he seemed a little restless, but when he saw that he had passed the test so easily, his face also regained a relaxed expression.

Lopatin said loudly: "Comrade commanders, after the introduction of Comrade Military Commissar, I have come to know each other. The next thing everyone has to do is to quickly return to the troops and make defensive arrangements. I would like to tell the fighters that even if there is only one person left on the battlefield, they must resolutely hold on and never take a step back. Okay, I'm done, adjourn. ”

The divisional commanders stood up in unison, saluted the commander and the military commissar, and then turned to leave.

And I was still sitting in a daze, thinking sadly: "It's over, blow up the pontoon bridge, and there will be no way for the group army to retreat." If you have to fight with the superior German army on the position, these tens of thousands of troops will be quickly exhausted. (To be continued......)