"Comrade Commander," I determined, trying to defend myself, "I feel that with my ability, I am still fit to stay at the front. If my superiors felt that I was not suitable to serve as a division commander, I would rather be a deputy under the division commander of an independent division, or an operational staff officer next to Commander Chuikov. ”

"Alright, Comrade Oshanina, don't complain." Yeremenko didn't wait for me to speak, then he interrupted me impatiently, "Do you think that Chuikov sent you to the east coast to work for you at the headquarters of the Front?" I sue you, that's not the case at all. ”

Yeremenko's words completely confused me, Chuikov asked me to bring the female soldiers from the army group to the east coast, not so that I could stay in the front army headquarters to work, so for what?

Before I could come up with an ugly figure, Khrushchev had already picked up a telegram from the table, handed it to me, and said with a smile: "Comrade Oshanina, read this telegram." ”

With a puzzled look on my face, I took the telegram from Khrushchev's hand and read: "The three new divisions that have been replenished to your front will arrive in two days, and I hope that they will be received in time and thrown into battle as soon as possible." Chief of the General Staff Vasilevsky. ”

When I had finished reading the telegram, I did not understand what was going on, so I silently read it over and over again, trying to figure out what it meant. When I read it for the fifth time, my mind suddenly cleared up, and I understood it all. Khrushchev's purpose in showing me this telegram was to put me in charge of the task of receiving troops.

"Commander, Comrade Military Commissar," I asked tentatively, "do you mean that I should be put in charge of receiving these troops?" And take them across the river into Stalingrad? ”

"Not bad." Yeremenko said with certainty: "I think Chuikov sent you to the east bank." One is to be responsible for the retreat of the female soldiers, and the other is probably to let you be responsible for the reception of several new editors. ”

Hearing Yeremenko say this, my originally low mood became happy, this time to the east coast is really not a small gain, in addition to being restored to the rank of general, but also received the important task of receiving new divisions, it seems that I can participate in the whole battle of Stalingrad. When the battle is over, the merit will be rewarded. Maybe I'll have an unexpected catch. However, I didn't know when the new troops would arrive and how long I would have to stay here, so I asked euphemistically: "Comrade commander, I don't know what my task will be before the new division arrives?" ”

Yeremenko thought for a moment and replied: "In this case, the front army is short of manpower in charge of communications, and I plan to draw some of these female communication soldiers you brought to replenish our strength. When the newly replenished troops from my superiors arrived, I returned these female soldiers to Chuikov. You see. All right? ”

"No problem, Comrade Commander." Anyway, this matter is Kang Chuikov's anger. So I agreed without hesitation, and took the initiative to say, "Do you need to arrange this now?" ”

Yeremenko shook his head after hearing this, and said: "The female soldiers have just arrived on the east bank, and they are probably tired early, so let them rest well for the night first, and talk about it tomorrow." ”

"Your arrangement is right," Khrushchev said with a smile as he looked at Yeremenko: "Let the female soldiers have a good night's rest, they will be in good spirits at dawn, and when they get to work, they will definitely be able to get twice the result with half the effort." After saying that, he smiled and said to me, "Comrade Oshanina, I will leave this matter to you with full responsibility." ”

As far as I can remember, Khrushchev has always been very friendly to me, and even when I found out that enemy planes were about to attack Stalingrad and people warned him, I even drew a bad insult from him. Originally, I thought that it would be a very embarrassing scene to meet him, but I didn't expect it to be so harmonious. Hearing him say this, I quickly replied with a smile: "I understand, Comrade Military Commissar, I will handle this matter according to your instructions." ”

After saying this, I saw Yeremenko casually raise his hand and look at his watch, and understood that this should be a precursor to his send-off, so I hurriedly put the matter in my heart that I had been hanging on to and hurriedly mentioned it to him: "Comrade commander, I have a request. ”

"Tell me, what's the matter?"

I was afraid that my words would be interrupted by someone, so I hurriedly finished speaking in one breath: "At present, there is a shortage of artillery shells and medicines at Mamayev Heights, and we will continue to replenish them, but the group army headquarters will replenish the independent division in ten days at the earliest." And even if we wait for ten days, it is still unknown whether we will be able to get a supplement. ”

Yeremenko nodded, looked up at Zakharov and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you have to find a way to solve this matter of Oshaninati. You know, Mamayev Hill is the commanding heights north of Stalingrad, and once occupied by the enemy, they can set up artillery and bombard the city of our heroes with impunity, which is absolutely not allowed. ”

After listening to Yeremenko's instructions, Zakharov sighed and said helplessly: "Comrade commander, this is very difficult. As you know, the men, the armament, and the supplies we have received are not only for the 62nd Army, but also for the 64th Army and the 57th Army, which are defending the southern part of the city, and are fighting back against the frenzied attacks of the invaders, and they are unusually strong, so that Hitler's generals are forced to leave some of the regiments and divisions that should have been used to attack the center of the city in front of Bektovka and Ressa. ”

"I'll give you two days," Yeremenko ordered in an unquestioning tone, "and the independent divisions holding the Mamayev Hill must be replenished with the artillery and medicine they need." ”

Seeing that Yeremenko's attitude was so resolute, Zakharov had no choice but to reluctantly agree: "Yes, I will try to fulfill the order you have given." ”

I walked out of the headquarters alone, and was standing at the door, wondering who to ask about the location of the female soldiers, when Yakubov's familiar voice came from the side: "Comrade Colonel, here I am!" ”

I looked in the direction from which the voice came from, and saw him and several soldiers standing at an intersection more than ten meters away, and hurriedly walked over. When he approached him, he asked him with a smile: "Comrade Captain, can you please take me to the camp of the female soldiers?" ”

Yakubov readily agreed: "No problem, Comrade Colonel, please follow me!" ”

Although I had the general's uniform in my hand, I did not correct the mistake of Yakubowov's salutation, and followed him with a smile towards the camp of the female soldiers.

After a while, we came to a mound, and he took me to a hole, pointed to it, and said, "Comrade Colonel, the female soldiers live here, and I won't send you, but go in yourself." ”

"Thank you, Comrade Captain." I thanked him and stepped inside.

After passing through the seven or eight meters long Yongdao, the field of vision suddenly opened up, and there was about seventy or eighty meters of space inside, densely filled with double wooden beds, and the beds were full of sleeping female soldiers. Razumeyeva and Tokareva sat at a wooden table in the middle of the cave, and in the dim candlelight of the table, I saw them dozing off with their chins on their hands.

At the sound of my footsteps, the two of them were awoken, and then they stood up and saluted me. I was afraid of alarming the sleeping female soldiers, so I quickly raised my hand to stop them. I walked over to the table and sat down, and asked in a low voice, "Are all the female soldiers here?" ”

Razumeeva shook her head and replied: "There are too many of us to live here, so some of the female soldiers and the female soldiers who have just crossed the river are scattered to the other two shelters. At this point, her eyes suddenly fell on the military uniform I had placed on the table, and after a brief moment of surprise, she asked in surprise: "Oh my God, Comrade Division Commander, this is the general's uniform." Could it be that you have been promoted to general? ”

I smiled and nodded, and replied in a low voice, "Yes, I am now reinstated by the official and have become a general." Speaking of this, I turned to Tokareva and said: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, the Front Army Headquarters needs some experienced communications personnel. ”

Tokareva was taken aback when she heard this, then grabbed my arm and nervously asked: "Colonel, no, Comrade General." Let's go to the front headquarters to report, don't we go back to the 62nd Army? As she spoke, her eyes turned red, and tears flowed down her cheeks.

I hastened to comfort him and said, "No, Comrade Second Lieutenant. Commander Yeremenko simply said that there is a shortage of personnel in charge of communications, and that you will be seconded for a period of time, and when the new personnel arrive, you can return to the 62nd Army. ”

Although I was telling the truth, Tokareva asked with some distrust: "Is what you said true?" ”

"Of course, of course." I replied to her with a bit of a cry, "Of course it's true, do you think I'm going to lie to you about this kind of thing?" ”

After receiving my assurance, she burst into tears and smiled, and while wiping the tears from her face, she said, "Okay, order me to take a few girls with good skills to report to the communication room." ”

The next morning, I personally took Tokareva and her sisters to the headquarters of the Front, found the Chief of Staff Zakharov, and asked him to take us to the communications room.

It has to be said that Tokareva and the others are still very competent, as soon as they are in front of the walkie-talkie, they are immediately familiar with the operation, and their proficiency is as if they have worked here for several years.

Since the new editor had not yet arrived, I was pinned to the communication room during this time, working with Tokareva and the others.

Speaking from the heart, their work ability was impeccable, and during the whole day's work, they were praised by Yeremenko, Khrushchev, and Chief of Staff Zakharov.

But in the evening, when they heard Chuikov's call, the girls were immediately excited, and they gathered around the transmitter of the walkie-talkie and shouted at Chuikov: "Comrade commander, we have rested, when will you let us go back to the city?" Or: "Comrade commander, when are you going to fulfill your promise?" ......" The communication room was suddenly a mess. (To be continued......)

PS: I wish you all a happy Chinese New Year and an auspicious Year of the Goat!