As it got dark, the phone rang in the command headquarters. Colonel Sazhen, who had been busy all day to gather the work of reorganizing the troops, was sleeping on a bench by the wall at the moment, and I was afraid of disturbing his rest, so I quickly grabbed the phone and asked in a low voice: "What's the matter?" ”

The call came from Captain Slavin, who in the afternoon was appointed by Colonel Sazhin as the commander of the newly formed 4th Battalion, responsible for guarding the Stalingrad direction. He heard that it was me, and hurriedly said: "Comrade Colonel Report, a convoy has just entered our defense area, and I have already led someone to stop them. ”

"Comrade Captain, what convoy?" When I heard him stop rather than block, I knew that it was our convoy, so I asked disapprerovingly, "How many cars are there, and what are they transporting?" ”

"There were fifteen trucks in total, and according to the commander who led the team, they were carrying ammunition supplied to us by the front command." At this point, Slavin interrupted, perhaps because he was covering the microphone with his hand, and I could only faintly hear him talking to another person. After a while, he continued: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the commander who led the team asked me, where should I unload the ammunition? ”

"Just take it to the open space east of the village and unload it. Unloading the truck, you bring the commander to the headquarters. ”

I put down the phone, turned around, and found that Sazhin had sat up from the bench where he was sleeping. Seeing that I had put down the phone, he rubbed his face and asked me, "Comrade Oshanina, who called?" ”

I hurriedly reported to him: "Comrade division commander, it was Captain Slavin who was on guard in the east called and he said that there was a convoy from Stalingrad. Entered our defense zone. After his examination and cross-examination. It was learned that the vehicle was transporting ammunition for us. I have ordered him to take the convoy to the open field in the east of the village to unload the trucks. ”

Colonel Sazhin stood up and walked over to me, nodding approvingly and saying, "Yes, let the convoy unload the ammunition outside the village, and I will immediately call the commanders and ask them to come to the division headquarters for a meeting to discuss the distribution of ammunition." ”

In one day's time, though, we contained thousands of scattered commanders and fighters. And it was reorganized, but the main commanders were still Gogol, Lukin, and Captain Sailing. Sazhin said to call, that is, to call a few of them. Fortunately, there are now telephones in all regiment-level command posts, and it is very convenient to contact them, and there is no need to let the signal troops run away, and they can be recruited with a single phone call.

After several commanders who received the notice came to the headquarters, Sazhin warmly greeted everyone: "Everyone is here, sit down, let's have a short meeting." Then he pointed to the empty seat on the right and said, "Oshanina." Come and sit beside me. ”

After everyone was seated, Sazhin glanced at the audience. Then he said very casually: "I know that today our division has received a lot of scattered small units, and these commanders and fighters have been enriched into all units. Now, which of you will first tell us about the reorganization of each regiment? ”

The commander of the 804th Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Gogoli, looked left and right, then leaned forward and tried to stand up, but Sazhin hurriedly greeted him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you don't need to stand up, you just sit down and talk." ”

Gogol smiled, and after sitting down again, he said loudly: "Comrade division commander, comrades commanders, in today's operation to collect sporadic small troops, our regiment has accommodated more than 800 people, and has been dispersed and supplemented into companies with large shortages, and the number of the whole regiment has now reached 1,500 people. Speaking of this, he leaned to the side in front of the sailor captain next to him, and said teasingly: "I said, Sea Soul, is it time for you to talk about the situation of your sailor camp next?" ”

Sazhin nodded and agreed, "Comrade Captain, let's talk about it." How many commanders and fighters did your sailor battalion contain today? ”

The sailor captain sat up straight and replied in a proper manner: "Report to Comrade Division Commander, our battalion has taken in 470 people today, except for a few sailors and soldiers, the rest are the army. At present, the total strength of the battalion is 700 men. ”

After the Captain had finished speaking, I turned my gaze to Captain Lukin, winked at him, and motioned for him to continue. Lukin saw my hint to him, and then the lieutenant said: "Report to Comrade Division Commander, our 678th Regiment has contained 900 people today, and with the original strength, the total strength is now 2,500 people. ”

"Two thousand five hundred?!" This number startled Sazhin, not only did he not expect it, but even I was taken aback, I didn't expect that the 678th Regiment would be able to maintain such a strong force after continuous battles. Sazhin asked curiously, "Captain Lukin, if I am not mistaken, you will have 1,600 troops before you get replenishment today." I'm very curious, how do you still have so many troops in your regiment? ”

Lukin glanced at me before replying, "Comrade Division Commander, since we were stationed near the village, we have been taking in those commanders and fighters who have been separated from the troops to replenish the troops. ”

"Well done, Comrade Captain. ......" Sazhin was about to say a few more words when a voice shouted a report from the door, interrupting his later words.

Sazhin stopped the latter words in time and shouted loudly outside: "Come in!" ”

With his shout, Captain Slavin, wearing a steel helmet, walked in with a commander wearing a large-brimmed hat. As soon as I saw that the person who came was a commander, I habitually looked at the other party's collar badge and found that it was actually a battalion-level political commissar.

Slavin raised his hand and saluted Sazhin and reported: "Comrade division commander, this is a commissioner from the headquarters of the Front. "I heard that it was a special commissioner from the front army, Sazhin quickly stood up, and I didn't dare to slack off, so I stood up and greeted him with him.

The political worker raised his hand and saluted Colonel Sazhin, and said politely, "Hello, Colonel Sazhen. I am Panchenko, the battalion-level political commissar of the Political Department of the Front, and I have been ordered to come as the political commissar of the 229th Infantry Division, and at the same time I will send you a batch of ammunition. ”

Colonel Sazhin returned the salute, stretched out his hands to hold his hand, shook it vigorously, and said excitedly: "My comrade political commissar, you are really timely. We have received thousands of scattered commanders and fighters today, most of them without weapons, and this batch of ammunition you sent really solves our urgent needs. ”

Political Commissar Panchenko also said politely: "Comrade division commander. In fact, this batch of ammunition was not transported from Stalingrad. More than seventy kilometers to the east. There is one of our arsenals, from where all these ammunition are delivered. Originally, according to the order, in order not to leave these ammunition to the enemy, I was going to blow up this arsenal tonight, and I was sent to supervise the execution of this order. Having received a request from General Chuikov, the Front Command decided to mobilize as many drops of ammunition as possible from the arsenal for you in preparation for a long-term operation. When the ammunition is unloaded, I will arrange for them to go back and continue transporting it. ”

Panchenko's ammunition was raining down just in time. The brows of everyone in the room who were originally locked because of the lack of guns and ammunition were relaxed, and their faces showed expressions of joy.

Then Sazhin began to introduce the commander of the room to the new commissar. The first person he introduced was me, and he said to Panchenko: "Comrade commissar, this is Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina. ”

Panchenko couldn't help but be slightly stunned when he saw me, a trace of surprise flashed on his face, and then he showed a generous smile: "Oh, it turned out to be a female commander, it's really rare in our army." He spoke enthusiastically, but he just shook my hand and let go, and then ignored me. Twisting his face and saying to Sazhen: "Comrade division commander, I don't know which commanders are there. Is that your commander? ”

Sazhin hurriedly introduced him to the commander of the 804th Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Gogogli, the acting commander of the 678th Regiment, Captain Lukin, the acting commander of the 783rd Regiment, the commander of the sailor battalion, and so on. He was then led to the table and invited to sit on his left side.

Panchenko did not take his seat immediately, but took off his hat and placed it on the table. The top of his head was slightly bald, but he was in good spirits, his face was full of red light, he greeted everyone one by one, and raised his hands to press down to him, signaling everyone to sit down.

Seeing that I was actually sitting on the right side of Colonel Sazhen, he couldn't help but look at me twice, and then asked, "Comrade Division Commander, why is this female commander sitting next to you?" ”

Colonel Sazhin glanced at me and said lightly: "Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, as an excellent commander with a lot of combat experience, is qualified to sit here. ”

Hearing Sazhin say this, Panchenko smiled and said to me: "It turns out that she is still a female commander who has experienced a hundred battles, I was really disrespectful just now." ”

Although Panchenko was smiling at me, in my eyes, his smile was a little reluctant, and I could see some disdain and contempt in his tone and eyes, and I couldn't help but flash a trace of unhappiness in my heart. But this is not the time for me to turn the other cheek with him, and I still have to maintain the politeness on the surface, so I said politely: "Comrade Political Commissar, at present, the composition of the commanders and fighters in the division is very complicated, many of them come from those defeated troops, and their thinking is confused and demoralized, and there is an urgent need for political workers of a level like you to strengthen the political work in the division, explain to the commanders and fighters the important decisions of the party and the combat tasks of the troops, and let the commanders and fighters feel more deeply who they are and better understand the importance of fulfilling the tasks at this stage. ”

When Panchenko heard me say this, he actually laughed, and actually praised me at Sazhen: "Comrade division commander, I don't see it, Comrade Oshanina speaks quite well." ”

Sazhin also followed his topic and praised me without hesitation: "That's natural, otherwise, would she be appreciated by General Zhukov and Commander Chuikov?" ”

The next item on the agenda of the meeting was how to distribute the weapons and ammunition that had just been received. Since there were still 10 mortars in this batch of ammunition, at my suggestion, Sazhin took out the mortar platoon under Captain Slavin and the artillery from the battalion of the captain of the sailors to form an artillery company, which was led by Lieutenant Rozhkov, who had made a great contribution last night.

Early the next morning, I went to the front line alone to inspect it.

The first line of defense of our division was only a hundred meters away from the dock on the Don River. A new trench was dug here, guarded by a sailor battalion, whose task was to hold off the Germans who might land at the ferry terminal.

I walked along the trenches, stopping from time to time to check whether the newly built firing points were properly positioned, whether the field of view for firing was wide, whether the depth of the anti-artillery holes was up to standard, and so on. As soon as the sailors on the battlefield saw me approaching, they hurriedly stepped aside, leaned back against the wall of the trench and raised their hands to salute me. At first, I had to return the salute, but then there were so many people who saluted that I didn't continue to return the salute and walked straight forward.

As I was walking, I suddenly heard a familiar voice calling out to me, "Hello." Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina. Nice to see you again. ”

I turned my head to look. Unexpectedly found the person who called me. He was actually a sailor soldier who saved my life, but he now has two triangular rank symbols on his collar badge. I walked over, looked at his collar badge, and said with interest: "Comrade soldier, isn't it simple, when I met you some time ago, you were still a private, but I didn't expect that now you are all sergeants." ”

The sailor smiled sheepishly. He replied: "This rank was personally awarded by the regimental political commissar Comrade Kokunov. He said that when I crossed the river, I showed the courage and tenacity that I should have. ”

Although the sailor's reasons for promotion are commonplace, if I hadn't left the 678th Regiment, I guess I would have promoted him to the rank, after all, he was my savior.

The sailor then said: "I heard that you were transferred to the headquarters of the group army, and I thought that I would never see you again, but I did not expect you to come back again. ”

When I heard him say this, I thought to myself, no, I had just crossed the Don River. was taken away by Chuikov. I ran around for several days, and after the last round, I went around in a big circle. Returned to the defensive ground of the 678th regiment. I looked at the young sailor in front of me, and suddenly remembered that I had known him for so long, and I still didn't know his name, so I pretended to ask very casually: "Comrade sailor, I don't know what to call you?" ”

"Kruglov," the sailor hurriedly replied, "you can call me Kruglov." ”

"Well, Sergeant Kruglov, I'll call you by your name in the future."

"No problem, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Kruglov, with whom I was chatting, seemed particularly happy.

"Comrade Sergeant, if the enemy lands at the ferry pier, will you be able to stop them?"

Almost without thinking, Kruglov replied: "No problem, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I am sure that our fighters will be able to hold them off." Even if we fight to the last one, we will never retreat. ”

Just when I was about to talk to Kruglov, a timid girl suddenly came from overhead: "Excuse me, do you know how to get to the division headquarters?" ”

Kruglov and I looked up in unison to see a slender and handsome hygienist carrying a first-aid kit, looking down at us. Behind her, there were more than a dozen soldiers dressed as hygienists, half of whom were women.

Before I could speak, Kruglov next to me was already screaming: "Ah! My dear Nadani. Then he crawled out of the trench with his hands and feet, and pounced on the hygienist who was questioning.

I watched as Kruglov rushed to the front and back of the hygienist's door, stood on his feet, and muttered, "Is that you?" My dear, my Natani? "When I heard the sergeant shout the nickname of the hygienist again, I knew in my heart that this hygienist was the same Natasha I had seen with Kruglov that night by the jeep.

"Yes, my sea soul, it's me. Your Natani. The female hygienist tried her best to pretend to be casual, and endured it, but she still couldn't hold back, her eyes were red, and tears flowed out, "Kruglof, I didn't expect to see it alive, it's really good!" She cried and threw herself into Kruglov's arms, smacked Kruglov a few times, and then hugged the sailor so hard that she began to cry in his arms. Kruglov also hugged her tightly, did not speak, and let her cry. Although there were more than a dozen people standing next to them, and many soldiers in the trenches flocked to my side to watch the excitement, no one spoke, because everyone understood in their hearts how difficult it was for lovers to reunite on the battlefield of life and death, and they all understood that Natasha needed a process of venting, and it would be much better to cry.

The two hugged for a long time before Natasha stopped crying, looked up at Kruglov standing in front of her, and asked tentatively, "Honey, is this true?" I'm not dreaming, am I? Are you really holding me? ”

Kruglov nodded vigorously and replied, "Yes, dear Natanie, this is not a dream, we are meeting again." With that, he leaned down and kissed Natasha's forehead. Natasha looked up and met her lips, and the two of them met unsurprisingly, and began to kiss passionately.

I crossed my hands over my chest and watched with interest what was happening in front of me, without interrupting their thoughts at all. I don't know which naughty sailor blew a whistle, and then cheered. Whether it was the hygienist or the sailors in the trenches, everyone shouted in unison: "Bitter! Bitter! Bitter! "It's like at a wedding. The guests want to let the bride and groom kiss in general.

didn't wait for the kiss between the two to end. From the trenches, however, a discordant voice came: "Hey. I said, what are you all doing here, go back to your posts, dig fortifications for those who should dig fortifications, and patrol for those who should patrol. Stay here any longer, and be careful that I keep you in confinement. ”

The sailors in the trenches stopped cheering and dispersed. Kruglov and Natasha also quickly separated, standing honestly in place and not daring to move.

By the time the sailors in the trenches were almost gone. Only then did I realize that it was the captain of the sailor who was shouting. At this time, the sailors blocking us were almost gone, and the captain also saw me, hurriedly trotted over, raised his hand and saluted, and asked respectfully: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, why did you come to inspect the position without saying hello?" My subordinates didn't bother you, did they? ”

I waved my hand at him and said, "You're welcome, Comrade Captain, I'm just going to walk around." "Finished. I looked up at Kruglov and Natasha, who were still standing stupidly outside the trenches, and I couldn't help but be angry and amused. Hurriedly shouted at him: "Hey, I said Comrade Sergeant, hurry up and take your Natasha down." ”

Kruglov helped Natasha out of the trench, and I pointed to the two of them and said to the captain: "Comrade Captain, your subordinates finally reunited with his lover in the battlefield, and when they were about to express their feelings to each other, you interrupted him. Tell me, what to do? ”

In the face of my accusation, the lieutenant glanced at the two of them, lowered his head, and said embarrassedly: "I'm sorry, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I was wrong. ”

"If you are wrong, you must be punished." I said unceremoniously.

"At your disposal." The official level crushed people to death, knowing that I was a little strong, but the captain had no temper at all in front of me.

I did not immediately say how to punish him, but pointed to the hygienists who were still standing outside the trenches and said: "Comrade Captain, they are going to report to the division headquarters, and you send someone to take them there." ”

The captain agreed, and immediately called a sailor soldier and asked him to take the people of the health team to the division headquarters to report.

After the sailors had left with the sanitary team, I said to the lieutenant, "Take me to your command post." When the captain saw me so ordered, he didn't dare to object, so he could only honestly agree. He leaned to the side, made a gesture of invitation, and said helplessly: "Please, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." With that, he walked along the trench.

I said to Kruglov and Natasha, who were still standing nearby, "What are you still doing?" Follow me. ”

After a while, we came to the captain's command post. Maybe it's new, and there's nothing in it except a wooden table and a few benches, and a phone on the table. I asked the captain: "Comrade Captain, why is your command post so rudimentary?" ”

The lieutenant replied: "The command post has only been repaired, and it has not yet had time to be put into use." ”

I nodded with satisfaction and said to the captain, "Okay, I will now announce the decision on your punishment." ”

The lieutenant looked at me nervously and said with some uneasiness: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I am at your disposal. ”

I pointed to Kruglov and Natasha, who were following in, and said, "My punishment for you is to lend this command post to them for an hour. Speaking of which, I also turned my head to look at Kruglov and asked teasingly: "Comrade sergeant, is an hour enough?" ”

Hearing me ask, the two of them immediately blushed. Without waiting for the two of them to reply, I pulled the captain who was smiling next to me and walked out, and said to the two of them at the same time: "Comrade sergeant, I am in charge of this matter, let the captain lend you the command post for an hour." It's a rare opportunity, so you can hurry up. ”

As soon as the words ended, the captain and I had already arrived outside the command post. I restrained the smile on my face and said to the captain: "Comrade captain, you go find two fighters and stand guard in the trenches on both sides of the command post, stand a little farther away, and don't let people disturb them." The battle is so brutal now, and it's not easy for them, maybe ...... "Maybe something, I didn't finish it, but I can already see from the captain's face that he understands what I mean."

The lieutenant solemnly saluted me and replied, "Please rest assured, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, that I will fulfill the task you have entrusted to me." What you have done for us, I am sure every sailor soldier will remember in their hearts. (To be continued......)