"Only six tanks?" I was slightly disappointed when I heard this number, but then I was relieved, six is six, better than none. With the support of tanks, the militia battalion had a much better chance of recapturing Khimki.

Before I could say what I was going to do, Lieutenant Colonel Buniachenko beckoned me to sit down. I walked to the table, picked up the nearest seat and sat down, looked up at the people in the room, and saw that everyone was still standing restrained, so I hurriedly gestured and said, "Don't be so restrained, let's all sit down." ”

After saying this, I found that the commanders were standing upright and did not move, but turned their eyes to Bunyachenko beside me, and when I saw everyone's reaction, I glanced at Bniachenko in some surprise, and at the same time frowned slightly. Bunyachenko noticed my unhappiness and hurriedly sat down, and at the same time raised his hands and pressed down on Lu, nodded to his subordinates and said, "Since Comrade General has given the order, then everyone should sit down." With his order, the commanders sat down in unison.

I turned my head to look at Yushchenko, who was standing by the door, and tried to beckon him to find a place to sit down. Unexpectedly, he saluted me first and said, "Comrade division commander, there is no one standing guard outside the house, so I will arrange the guard work first." "I am very satisfied with Yushchenko's performance, after all, he came out of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and he thinks about everything. So I nodded in agreement. Seeing that I had no objection, he turned and shook his head at Grissa, the militia leading the way, and the two soldiers of the guard company, and everyone immediately understood, followed him out of the room, and led the door with him.

Seeing Yushchenko and the others leaving, Lieutenant Colonel Buniachenko coughed and asked, "Let's talk about it!" Comrade commander, do you have any instructions for coming here? ”

I coughed, cleared my throat, and instead of answering his question directly, I asked rhetorically: "Comrade Chief of Staff, before we came here, did any comrades from the militia annihilation battalion come to you and ask you to help them attack the enemy?" ”

"Yes." He replied in the affirmative: "There have been two people, and the one in charge of liaison is a captain, and he is a soldier in civilian clothes. He said that they were part of the Khimki militia annihilation battalion, and that they had received orders from their superiors to prepare a counterattack against Khimki's German troops, and that he hoped that we would be dispatched to cooperate with them. ”

"You refused their request?" I asked coldly.

"Yes, I denied their request."

Hearing his answer, I was extremely angry, but I couldn't show it, although my military rank was higher than his, he was not under my jurisdiction after all, so I just asked lightly: "For what?" Comrade Chief of Staff! ”

Bunyachenko shrugged his shoulders and replied: "Our division has received an order to stay here to rest and wait for the reserves to replenish us. According to the regulations, we can only stand by without receiving an order from our superiors. ”

Regulations, and regulations, as soon as I heard this term, I felt a headache, and secretly scolded Lao Maozi in his heart for being dull and not knowing how to adapt at all, no wonder less than half a year after the war began, the Soviet side was defeated and retreated under the fierce offensive of the German army, a large area of the country fell, and millions of troops were wiped out.

Although I tried my best to control my emotions, I couldn't help but raise my voice and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if I order you to send troops to help the militia drive away the enemy entrenched in Khimki, will you obey my order?" ”

Just as Bunyachenko was about to answer, there was a knock on the door, which drew everyone's attention, and I turned my head to look, and it turned out to be Captain Yushchenko who had come in from outside, closed the door, and walked behind me without saying a word. After seeing Yushchenko standing behind me, Bunyachenko spoke: "Comrade General, this may not work, I received an order from the headquarters of the Front, so even if your rank is higher than mine, I cannot obey your order, please forgive me!" ”

It turned out that their division was under the direct command of the Front Command, so it would be easy to do, and with my friendship with Zhukov, this unit would be under my command with just a phone call. So I looked at Bnyachenko, the corners of my mouth turned up slightly, and a smile appeared on my face: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is the communication between you here and the headquarters of the Front Army unimpeded?" I would like to speak with the commander, Senior General Zhukov, in person. ”

"I'm sorry, Comrade General." I was taken aback by Buniachenko's answer: "In yesterday's battle, our division suffered heavy losses and was almost completely annihilated. After receiving the order for the front army to retreat and recuperate, the troops encountered another air attack by enemy planes on the way to transfer, and the communication vehicle was blown up, resulting in the loss of communication between us and our superiors. ”

After listening to Bunyachenko, my brow furrowed, and the loss of communication with my superiors meant that it was impossible for them to receive new orders in a short period of time, so they could only continue to rest in the same place. However, without the cooperation of the tank troops, it would be a fool's dream to recapture Khimki just by relying on the militia with inferior equipment and poor combat effectiveness. What to do? My brain was spinning, how could I think of a way to get the best of both worlds?

Just when I was in a dilemma, Captain Yushchenko's voice suddenly sounded behind me: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, since Division Commander Oshanina is the commander of the highest rank here, she can completely control the actions of the troops. ”

Yushchenko's words drew everyone's attention. Hearing Yushchenko open his mouth to relieve me from the siege, I suddenly realized that since the troops could not receive orders from their superiors in the short term, I could use my identity to deploy troops.

Bunyachenko stared at Yushchenko with a serious expression, probably dissatisfied with his sudden interjection, then looked at me and asked me very unceremoniously: "Comrade General, who is this captain behind you?" ”

I leaned over halfway and introduced Yushchenko's identity to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, this is the commander of my guard company, Captain Yushchenko from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. ”

After listening to my introduction, Bunyachenko glanced at Yushchenko thoughtfully, then nodded and said, "Well, that's fine." Now that the captain from the Ministry of Internal Affairs has spoken, and here you have the highest rank, then the troops are under your command. His words were high-sounding, but I could hear a hint of sarcasm in his words.

I didn't care about the tone of his speech, and just as I was about to stand up and give the order to let the troops go, a major sitting opposite me had already taken the lead in getting up and attacking me, and his tone was particularly unpolite: "Comrade General, I don't know how you obtained this rank, but I want to know that you went to the front line to personally participate in the battle?" ”