Chistyakov sighed and said softly: "Well, when it's too dark, I'll send scouts over." "Having said that, everyone knew in their hearts that this was just doing their best, and there were still seven or eight hours between now and dark, and in such cold weather, it would be difficult for the wounded lying on the battlefield to hold out for more than half an hour.

I sat in my chair with a gloomy face and did not speak, and the memory of the "Russian Liberation Army" became clearer and clearer in my mind, and I would rather find the cold corpse of Bonyachenko on the battlefield by the scouts sent by Chistyakov at night, than to see the situation of no one alive or dead. If it is his remains that are found, then at least he will have a chance to receive the title of "Hero of the Soviet Union". If he disappears, what awaits him will be ruined and discredited for 10,000 years.

The commissar came up to me and asked for my opinion in a low voice: "Lida, do you see the matter of Colonel Bunyachenko, do you need to report it to the commander of the army group immediately?" ”

I looked up at the commissar standing in front of me, shook my head, and said, "Don't worry, wait for the scouts to report the results in the evening." Speaking of this, I paused, looked in the direction of the walkie-talkie, and said in a calm tone: "Inform Major Malafeyev that the gun position they are in has been exposed, and it is no longer necessary to continue to stay in the current position, in order to avoid becoming the first target of German artillery fire, let them choose the right time to withdraw to the city." We have only this amount of anti-tank power left, and we can't afford to lose it in vain. ”

"It's good." The commissar agreed, straightened up, and went to deliver my order to Major Malafeyev.

After another half an hour, Chistyakov reported to me the news coming back from the front: the German artillery bombardment had ended, their tanks had withdrawn, and for the time being there was no sign of a new offensive. And the remaining tanks of our army, as well as the anti-tank artillery battalion of Major Malafeev, were safely withdrawn to the city. ……

I was listening to the report when the phone rang on the desk in front of me, and I grabbed it, "Hey, I'm Oshanina!" ”

"Leda!" Hearing that it was Rokossovsky who spoke, I quickly stood up, straightened up and respectfully said: "Hello! Comrade Commander. "When I said this, I was beating a drum in my heart, and I wondered who had stabbed the matter of Bunyachenko? So he swept all the people in the room with dissatisfaction.

"Come to my headquarters right now!" After he said this, he didn't even have time to give me an answer, and hung up.

"Captain Yushchenko!" I shouted outside, and then said to the political commissar who came by: "The commander told me to go to his headquarters at once, I wonder if it is for Colonel Buniachenko's business." Remember, as soon as it gets dark, send scouts to find the whereabouts of the colonel. ”

"It's good." The political commissar agreed, saw me turn around and walked out, and hurriedly shouted from behind: "Lida, the headquarters of the army group is not in Istria now, it has been transferred to Lyalovo." ”

"What? Transferred? For what? I stopped and asked, puzzled.

"According to intelligence, yesterday morning the 1st Tank Division, consisting of 3 tank groups, appeared on the right flank of the army group, and although the army group threw all the remaining forces into battle, the enemy used the temporarily superior forces to force our troops to retreat, so the command we had to set up the command post closer and closer to Moscow, and this new choice was in Lyalovo,"

"I know it." I answered, and continued to walk out, screaming in my heart that it was all messed up, it was all messed up. I remember in the movie, there didn't seem to be any big battles between December 1st and 6th, so why was Rokossovsky beaten back step by step? Could it be that the director also chose to only report good news and not bad news out of the dual needs of politics and propaganda? When I got to the door, I saw Yushchenko standing upright waiting for my orders, and I shook my head at him and walked straight out, and he immediately followed.

When the car drove outside Rokossovsky's headquarters, it was almost twelve o'clock. When an officer on duty at the headquarters saw my arrival, he hurriedly took the initiative to open the car door for me and whispered to me: "Comrade division commander, please come with me, the commander has been waiting for you for a long time." ”

I followed the officer towards the headquarters, and I was supposed to be very familiar with Rokossovsky, and I should have been in a calm mood when I went to see him, but I didn't know what it was, and I was a little flustered from the beginning of the road, and I didn't know if it was because of nervousness, or because of some other inexplicable factor.

The headquarters of the army group was located in a semi-underground shelter, and the room was dimly lit, but as soon as I entered, I immediately recognized Rokossovsky in a group of commanders who were studying the map. I hurriedly stepped forward, raised my hand and saluted, and reported loudly: "Comrade Commander, Major General Oshanina, commander of the 8th Guards Division, has come on your orders to listen to your instructions!" ”

Rokossovsky straightened up, beckoned me to sit down in a corner of the room, took out a piece of paper from the briefcase hanging on the wall, handed it to me, and said: "Look, this is an order sent by General Zhukov." ”

I picked up the document and looked at it carefully, only to see that it read: "From December 2nd, the 8th Guards Division under the command of Major General Oshanina will be assigned to the 20th Army battle sequence." Commander of the Front Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov. December 2, 1941. ”

After reading the order, I stood up, looked at Rokossovsky and asked in surprise: "Why did Comrade General put my division under the command of the 20th Army?" ”

Rokossovsky shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "I don't know anything about this, maybe Comrade General thinks that the assault force of the 20th Army is too weak and needs to be strengthened." You must know that others are the main force of this great counteroffensive. ”

I asked, somewhat aggrieved, "So what should I do?" Really go to the 20th Army? You know, I already have feelings for the 16th Army now, and I am reluctant to leave here. ”

"I'm sorry, Leda." Rokossovsky patted me gently on the shoulder and comforted me: "In my conscience, I am reluctant to let you go, because with you we can achieve more victories that will attract the attention of the Supreme Commander." But as you can see, this matter has nothing to do with me, it is a direct order from General Zhukov, and as a subordinate, we can only carry him out unconditionally. ”

Hearing him say that, I didn't say anything, just kept silent.

Probably afraid that I would be too careful, he also deliberately explained to me: "It is my idea to detain the troops that General Zhukov has replenished to you." As you know, the current losses of the group army are very large, and a large amount of replenishment is urgently needed to recover. ”

When he said this, I despised him fiercely in my heart, and said in my heart, "Maybe you knew that we were going to be assigned to the 20th Group Army, so in line with the principle that fat water does not flow into the fields of outsiders, you justifiably took the troops that were replenished to our division as your own. However, he is a senior commander, and he has the final say on the 16th Army's one-third of an acre, and I can only suffer this dumb loss, so I asked lightly: "Can I go?" ”

"Okay, we'll see you later. We're at war, and we'll meet again when we have the chance. I'm going to beat the Germans up and pounding them here, and that's what I have on my mind...... Thank you for your exploits to the 16th Army during this time, and we will all remember your ......."

I got into the car and ordered Grissa to turn around and go to Volokolamsk, to the headquarters of the 20th Army, which was located there.

We all fought in Volokolamsk, so not only Grissa, but also I was very familiar with the road. But after entering the city, we still lost our way, because it was no longer a city, but only ruins of ruins.

Our car drove for half a day in the narrow passage left in the middle of the pile of rubble, and it was inevitable that we got lost. Fortunately, we encountered more than one patrol, and under their rotational guidance, we finally came to a large pile of rubble where many soldiers were standing guard, and this was General Vlasov's headquarters.

I got out of the car, stepped forward alone, showed my ID to the soldiers standing guard, and was guided to a basement in the lower part of the rubble.

It was not Vlasov who came to greet me, but his deputy, Deputy Commander Lin, whom I was familiar with. Seeing this military god I admired, I hurriedly took two steps, walked in front of him and saluted, saw that there were no outsiders on the left and right, and hurriedly whispered in Chinese: "Hello, Comrade Deputy Commander Lin!" It's great to see you here again! ”

Deputy Commander Lin smiled slightly, did not speak, turned sideways and made a gesture to me to please, and then turned around and walked towards the house, and I followed with my face.

When I saw General Vlasov, I also saluted him in a proper manner, and reported: "Comrade Commander, Major General Oshanina, commander of the 8th Guards Division, reports to you that our unit has been placed under the command of the 20th Army from today and is here to listen to your orders. ”

Vlasov, who was wearing glasses, looked me up and down, smiled, stretched out his hand to me and said happily: "Comrade Oshanina, welcome to the 20th Army, from today we will fight side by side together." ”

After shaking my hand, he picked up a piece of paper from the table, looked at me and said, "Here is an order from the front command, I will read it to you." ”

Hearing Zhukov's order again, the corners of my mouth couldn't help twitching, and my heart was secretly shocked, is Zhukov planning to transfer my troops to some most dangerous place?

Fortunately, Vlasov did not notice my abnormality, and began to read out the order according to the document: "From now on, Lida Mushdakova Oshanina is appointed Chief of Staff of the 20th Army and Commander of the 8th Guards Division." With that, he put down his order and smiled and stretched out his hand to me to congratulate him.

Hearing that it wasn't a defensive adjustment, I secretly breathed a sigh of relief, it doesn't matter if I am promoted or not, as long as I am still allowed to stay in the Eighth Guards Division. So I shook hands with him and everyone else who congratulated me.