I followed the second lieutenant to the commander's office, muttering to myself as I went, "It's all over the meeting, what will the commander do to me?" Do you think that I am only a major as a division commander, and it is difficult to convince the public in terms of rank and prestige, so I plan to promote my rank? As soon as I thought of this possibility, my steps suddenly became lighter.

Coming to the door of the front headquarters, I saw Meretskov, Vasilevsky, and the commander of the 8th Army, General Starikov, looking at a map around the table with their backs to the door. Starikov, who was clearly the docent, pointed with his hand at the map, while the other two generals nodded their heads from time to time as they listened. Because of the distance, I only vaguely heard a few words such as dirt road, crossbar, plank, etc.

The ensign who led the way told me to wait at the door for a moment, and he went in to report. I nodded, and quickly stopped at the door, straightened up, and pressed my hands to the seams of my pants. The second lieutenant walked up to Meretskov's side, bent down to his side and whispered a few words. Then I saw General Meretskov with his hands on the table, turning his head to look at the door.

Seeing me standing in the doorway, he immediately turned around and stood up straight, beckoned to me, and said kindly, "Come, come here, Major Oshanina." ”

I took two steps forward to his side, and found that my palms were covered with sweat because of nervousness, so I quickly wiped my pants and raised my hand to salute him: "Report to Comrade Commander of the Front, Major Oshanina has been ordered to come and listen to your instructions." ”

"Don't be too inhibited, Major Oshanina!" Meretskov said politely, and then introduced me to Vasilevsky: "Dear Comrade Vasilevsky. This is Major Oshanina. It was my newly appointed acting commander of the 378th Division. ”

I hurriedly turned to Vasilevsky. Raise your hand again and salute and say politely: "Hello, Comrade Chief of the General Staff." ”

"Hello, Comrade Oshanina." Vasilevsky returned the salute and took the initiative to extend his hand to me, and while shaking my hand, he turned to Commander Meretskov and said: "Comrade General, I have known Comrade Oshanina for a long time, but she followed General Zhukov to the Kremlin for an important military meeting. The splendid speech she made at the meeting was praised even by Comrade Stalin. ”

"Well, I heard you mention this at the meeting just now, and you must tell me in detail about it when you have time."

"No problem, we've been together for a long time anyway, I'll tell you about it later."

After I finished shaking hands with Vasilevsky, Meretskov pointed to Starikov again and introduced to me: "This is Major General Starikov of the 8th Army, you have already met at the meeting today. Then he introduced me to Starikov: "This is the acting commander of the 378th Division, Major Oshanina. ”

I walked up to Starikov and raised my hand to salute him. "Hello, Comrade General. Nice to meet you! ”

After Starikov returned the salute. Although he smiled and shook my hand like Vasilevsky, his smile was particularly forced, and he only touched my hand lightly when shaking hands and let go. For his attitude, I can understand what is going on after a little thought, a subordinate who dares to go to the battlefield to disobey orders and dare to accuse his superiors of being wrong in public, no one likes it.

After greeting me, Starikov straightened up and asked Meretskov: "Comrade commander, my work has been reported, can I leave?" ”

Meretskov nodded and said, "Go, General Starikov." Remember, the start of the campaign is imminent, and the work of building roads must be hurried. ”

Starikov agreed, rolled up the map on the table, tucked it under his armpit, raised his hand to salute Meretskov and Vasilevsky, nodded politely at me, turned and left the office.

Watching Starikov leave the office, Meretskov turned his gaze to me and beckoned me to sit down at the table. When everyone was seated, he asked, "Major Oshanina, do you know why I asked you to come here?" ”

I honestly shook my head, indicating that I didn't know what to say.

Meretskov and Vasilevsky looked at each other, and then said: "We have a secret mission for you." At this point, he turned his head and instructed the second lieutenant who was still standing aside: "Second lieutenant, you go outside first, close the door, and no one is allowed to come in without my order." ”

The lieutenant agreed, turned and walked out, closing the door with his hand.

Seeing this kind of arrogance, I can't help but be a little nervous.

Vasilevsky got up and walked to the wall, pulled out a rolled map from the bag hanging on the wall, and spread it out in front of me. He pointed to a place with his hand and said to me, "This is the area of Podubia where your 378th Division is stationed, right?" ”

I took a closer look, and sure enough, it was where my division headquarters was located, so I nodded.

Vasilevsky's finger moved to another place name and tapped it twice. I looked at the place name: Pyatnicsa. Immediately frightened me, isn't this the place where Vlasov was captured, could it be that the secret mission they are talking about is for me to search for Vlasov's whereabouts?

As soon as I looked up and saw the eyes of the two people looking at me, I couldn't help but panic for a while, and I couldn't say that General Afanasyev had told the two generals in front of me about my escape from the village of Pyatnitsa before Vlasov disappeared? I hurriedly took a deep breath, stabilized my emotions, and asked Meretskov tentatively: "Comrade commander, is the secret mission you are going to give me related to this Pyatnitsa village?" ”

Hearing my question, Meretskov nodded and said with a serious expression: "I once heard from my adjutant, Captain Boroda, that on the way to find Vlasov, I met you and fled with your child in my arms, and you also told him that Vlasov was surrounded by the Germans in the village of Pyatnitsa. But by the time you led the troops of the 378th Division to the village again, it was empty. ”

Vasilevsky added on the side: "Comrade Stalin was very concerned about the disappearance of General Vlasov and repeatedly instructed us to continue the search and to see the dead alive or dead. The reason why we are leaving the task of finding the general to you. One is that you had seen him before he disappeared. The second is the troops you command. It was only about 20 kilometers away from the place where he disappeared. After research, General Meretskov and I believe that you are the best person to carry out this task. ”

Vlasov was captured by the Germans, where can I find it? Could it be that I can still lead my troops to attack the prisoner of war camp and rescue the captured Vlasov and those fighters?

Seeing that I didn't speak for a long time, Meretskov frowned and asked with some displeasure: "Major Oshanina, why didn't you speak, were you scared out of your guts by the Germans during the breakout battle?" ”

In the face of Meretskov's imminent outburst of anger. I hurriedly stood up and answered honestly: "Comrade Commander, Comrade Chief of the General Staff, I have never been afraid of the Germans, not in the past, not now, and not in the future. At this point, I couldn't help but hesitate again and said, "I just ...... Just feel that the search for General Vlasov's secret mission, I ...... I can't get it done. ”

"For what?" Meretskov asked sternly, and even Vasilevsky's face became cloudy.

I hesitated. It was decided to tell the truth, lest others tell the truth in the future. I can't tell the difference. So I gritted my teeth and stomped my feet and said: "The reason why I say that this task cannot be completed is because General Vlasov is not missing, but captured. ”

"Captured?! You say Vlasov was captured? Hearing this, the two were taken aback, and their mouths were so big that they could fit a goose egg. There was a sudden silence in the room.

After a while, when the two of them had almost digested this shocking information, Meretskov again sternly asked: "Comrade Oshanina, where did you learn that Vlasov was captured?" Did you hear about it and see it with your own eyes? ”

I shook my head, and then I realized that this expression was inaccurate, and quickly nodded, and when I found that it was still not right, I quickly replied: "Report to Comrade Commander, although I did not see General Vlasov captured with my own eyes, when I escaped from that village, the Germans had already surrounded the village. ”

Meretskov slapped the table in anger, stood up sharply, and walked up and down the room with his hands behind his back.

Perhaps he slapped the table so loudly that even the ensign on duty outside was alarmed, and he pushed open the door and poked his head in to see what was happening. Vasilevsky waved his hand at him, signaling that it was okay and that he was not needed here. The lieutenant saluted us and silently closed the door.

"Tell me, Comrade Oshanina. How did you escape from the village of Piatnicsa? Meretskov continued to pace, and Vasilevsky, who was sitting across from me, began to question me with a serious expression, and even the address changed from a cordial "you" to a polite "you": "Didn't you say that the enemy surrounded the village to the ground, and why did you escape safely?" ”

At this point, there were some things that could not be said to be impossible, so I told the story of my arrival in the village in a proper manner: "Report to Comrade Chief of the General Staff, this is how it happened. After escaping from the encirclement of the Germans, I came to the village of Pyatnica by mistake, because I heard from the sentry that the headquarters of the army group was located in the village, and I was going to meet the commander, General Vlasov. As you know, I am an old friend of General Vlasov, and I served as his chief of staff during the defense of Moscow......"

Meretskov, who was pacing, stopped, waved his hand to interrupt me, and said impatiently: "I and Comrade Chief of the General Staff know about your resume, and then go on. ”

I agreed, and continued: "As soon as I arrived at the gate of the Provisional Headquarters, I saw a jeep with a German officer parked at the door, and the German officer, accompanied by one of the commanders of our troops, entered the headquarters. I wanted to follow up to see what was going on, but I was stopped by the sentry at the door. Later, I met a commander I knew, who said that the commander wanted to meet with the German representatives, and he didn't have time to meet them, so he temporarily placed me in a private house near the headquarters. ”

"Wait, you said that a German officer went to the provisional headquarters of the army group in the village of Pyatnitsa, did he go to see Vlasov?" Vasilevsky's interrogating tone became somewhat softened.

"Yes," I replied clearly, "but because I did not get into the command, I have no way of knowing what the Germans and General Vlasov were talking about." When I went to the headquarters again the next day, I met General Vlasov without incident. I also happened to hear him personally order the troops to lay down their arms. The order to surrender to the Germans. ”

Hear here. Meretskov gritted his teeth and asked: "Comrade Oshanina, are you telling the truth?" Did General Vlasov really give the order to our troops to surrender to the Germans? ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander. When I heard him give this order, I was very indignant, grabbed my rifle leaning against the corner, and tried to rush out of the city and fight the Germans. Unexpectedly, not long after I left the headquarters, I unexpectedly met my lost son in the village, so I threw away the gun in my hand. Tear off the rank, carry the child and go out. Perhaps I was dressed too badly, and when I passed through the ranks of the German troops who came to disarm, they took me as a fugitive, and I was lucky enough to get out of danger. "In order to prevent further interruptions from them, I spoke clearly in one breath.

Meretskov returned to sit down across from me, took a cigarette from the cigarette case on the table, lit it with a match, took two puffs hard, and asked with a serious face: "Comrade Oshanina." Let me ask you again, are you sure that General Vlasov gave the order to surrender? ”

I nodded vigorously. He replied: "Yes, Comrade Commander." I am absolutely sure that General Vlasov did give the order to surrender. Because when the Germans first appeared outside the village, someone raised a battle alarm, and many commanders and fighters entered the fortifications at the entrance of the village and prepared for battle. Unexpectedly, at this moment, Vlasov sent people with white flags to contact the Germans outside the village, and ordered all the commanders and fighters in the fortifications to lay down their arms. ”

After listening to my reply, Vasilevsky turned his head and asked Meretskov: "Kirill. Afanasyevich, I believe that what Comrade Oshanina said is true, what should we do? Just report to Comrade Stalin? ”

Meretskov took another puff of his cigarette, snuffed out the cigarette butt in the ashtray, waved his hand and said, "No, we can't report this news to the Supreme Command for the time being." Speaking of this, he looked up at me and asked with a serious expression: "Comrade Oshanina, tell me honestly, how many people know about this matter?" ”

I shuddered at his expression, and said to myself that he wouldn't want to kill someone, would he? He hurriedly pleaded and said: "Report to Comrade Commander, because this matter is not trivial, I have never said anything to anyone except you and Comrade Chief of the General Staff. ”

"That's good, then there is room for redemption." He was still frowning, but his voice was already satisfied. Then he asked me in a reproachful tone: "Since you know that Vlasov may be captured, why don't you report to me and the chief of the General Staff earlier." ”

"Alright, Comrade Commander." Vasilevsky sighed and began to say good things for me: "Comrade Oshanina is also kind, she did the right thing. If this is allowed to spread out, it will seriously affect the morale of our army. After all, we are about to start a new campaign, and if the morale of the army is weakened, this battle will not be fought. ”

Hearing Vasilevsky say this, Meretskov nodded, and said: "However, until it is determined whether Vlasov was captured or not, I think this matter will not be reported to Comrade Stalin for the time being." What about your opinion? ”

"I agree."

After the two reached an agreement, Meretskov said to me: "Although we all know that General Vlasov may have been captured, you must continue to carry out the task of searching for his whereabouts, knowing that this is an order given by Comrade Stalin himself." Do you understand? ”

"Yes!" I stood up and replied loudly: "Please rest assured, commander and chief of the General Staff, I promise to complete the task!" ”

After hearing my expression, Vasilevsky nodded with satisfaction and asked, "Is there anything you need my help with?" ”

I pointed to my collar badge and said teasingly: "My rank is a bit too low, and almost all the regimental commanders in the division have the rank of lieutenant colonel, so it is quite difficult to get them to completely obey the command of me and Captain Boroda." ”

Hearing me say this, Meretskov raised his eyebrows and said: "Promotion to the rank, I tell you, don't even think about it." You and Boroda became acting division commanders and acting chiefs of staff, which attracted so many people's opposition, and if you were promoted to your rank, it would be strange that you would not be drowned by those people's spittle. ”

As soon as Meretskov finished speaking, Vasilevsky also unexpectedly turned pale and said: "Comrade Oshanina, I would like to remind you here that your military rank was adjusted by Comrade Stalin himself, and no one has the right to adjust your military rank until he has his permission. Not to mention that you are now an acting division commander, even if you become the commander of the army group in the future, Comrade Stalin does not speak, you can only have the rank of major. Do you understand? ”

Hearing him say this, I knew that my desire to be promoted to the rank was shattered. I blushed with shame and honestly agreed: "Report to Comrade Chief of the General Staff, I understand." Then I looked at Meretskov again and asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, can I leave?" ”

"Go ahead. Immediately after returning to the troops, a manpower was organized to conduct a detailed search of the Podubia area. ”

I said yes loudly, raised my hand to salute the two of them, turned around and walked to the door, opened the door and walked out. (To be continued......)

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