I returned to the command post and sat for a while before I felt warm. I rubbed my cold hands together and said to Chistyakov, who was sitting next to me, "It's so cold outside, it didn't seem so cold when we came here just now, right?" ”

As he added coal to the charcoal basin in the corner, Chistyakov replied: "Yes, it is much colder than in the morning, and it seems that it has cooled down." ”

Looking at the gray sky outside through the observation hole, I said with some concern: "It's cold, and the soldiers sleep in the trenches at night, can you stand it?" ”

Hearing this, the colonel said to me with some surprise: "Comrade division commander, who told you that the soldiers slept in the trenches at night?" There were usually special barracks behind the trenches, which were used by the soldiers to rest. ”

"yes, I must have made a mistake." In order to hide my ignorance, I hurriedly diverted the topic and said, "After all this time, why haven't they come back yet, Major Schedurin?" ”

As soon as the words fell, Xie Dulin's loud voice came from outside: "Comrade division commander, I'm back!" ”

Then a submachine gun in his hand, and a face full of gunpowder, Sedulin appeared in front of us. As soon as he walked to the table, he put the submachine gun in his hand on the table, and then said to us: "Comrade division commander, comrade colonel, this is the submachine gun we just captured, you see what is wrong?" ”

Chistyakov picked up the submachine gun, looked at it for a long time, and then handed it to me, and said in frustration: "I see that all the parts of this gun are intact, and I don't find anything wrong." ”

I took the submachine gun, and the first thing I felt was that it was so cold, it almost felt like I was holding a piece of ice. I threw the submachine gun on the table with a clatter, and said dissatisfiedly, "This gun is like being taken out of an ice cellar, and it hurts to freeze my hands." Comrade Major, don't go around in circles for us, let's reveal the answer directly. ”

Xie Dulin smiled and said: "Comrade Comrade of the division commander has observed carefully, and the wrong thing about this gun is that it is as cold as an ice cube, and it hurts to hold it in your hand." ”

Hearing him reply, Chistyakov and I looked at each other, still not understanding what was going on. The colonel frowned and said, "What the hell is going on?" ”

Seeing that we were a little displeased, Sedurin hurriedly explained: "You see, because it was cold, and the Germans did not use antifreeze on the gun, the bolt was frozen. As he spoke, he tugged on the bolt of the gun, and sure enough, he didn't move.

Seeing this scene, I immediately understood, because the weather was cold and the Germans did not have special antifreeze, as a result, all the bolts were frozen. Thinking about this, I immediately asked excitedly: "Comrade Major, what was the result of the battle just now, and did our army suffer heavy casualties?" ”

"Report to Comrade Division Commander, the casualties of our battalion are not large, and after the battle, the enemy has been completely annihilated, only 5 people have been sacrificed, 18 wounded, 159 enemies have been eliminated, and 147 people have been captured."

I was very satisfied with this result, and then asked with concern: "Where are our troops, and have they all withdrawn?" ”

"No," replied Sedurin, shaking his head, "the original defensive line of our battalion is in that forest, and except for the seventh company, which has withdrawn here, the eighth company and the ninth company are all in the positions that have just been regained. ”

"Where is General Katukov?" I asked again.

"He's on the position over there, spreading out the tank troops and covering the troops to strengthen the fortifications."

"Are there any officers among the captives? Find another soldier who understands German to assist us in interrogating the prisoners and understanding the enemy's disposition. "Chistyakov is a veteran of many years, and he thinks about things more comprehensively than me.

"I captured a captain, supposedly a German company commander. But he didn't need to find a translator, he himself knew Russian. With that, he turned his head and shouted from outside, "Bring the captives here." ”

With his shout, two fighters walked in with a dejected German officer. The officer was dressed in a peculiar way, with a towel wrapped around his head, a somewhat crumpled hat with a large brim, and a military coat with a few holes in his body covered in mud.

Chistyakov and I sat at the table, then asked the fighter to move a wooden stool for the officer to sit down, and then we began the formal interrogation.

It was Chistyakov who asked: "Name, position, rank?" ”

The officer honestly replied: "My name is Lawrence, and I am the captain of Company D of the 23rd Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht. ”

"What is your mission?"

"After breaking through the Soviet defensive line, cut off your retreat, cooperate with the frontal assault troops, and annihilate you all."

"You speak Russian well, where did you learn it?" I was curious why he spoke Russian so fluently, so I asked curiously, and at the same time wondered why there were so many officers in the German army who knew Russian.

"I had been to Russia in 1936 and studied at the Frunze Military Academy, so I could speak Russian."

"Nonsense!" This time it was Schedurin who spoke, and he loudly rebuked the captain, saying: "How is it possible for our Frunze Military Academy to make fascist bandits cadets. ”

"It's true, it's true," the German captain turned his eyes to Chistyakov, who was sitting next to me, asking for help: "Mr. Colonel, you must know that at that time our two countries were still allies, and it was very common for each other to send personnel to each other's military academies. ”

Serdurin turned his head to look at Chistyakov and asked: "Comrade Colonel, is this true?" ”

Without waiting for him to answer, I had already taken over the topic: "Okay, Comrade Major, I believe what he said is true. I said that I believe it, this is not a lie, since both countries can join forces to carve up Poland, what else is impossible to do, I glanced at Chistyakov and ordered: "Continue the interrogation!" ”

"Why didn't you attack today?" Chistyakov asked again.

"According to the plan, the division headquarters will send two battalions of infantry and a tank detachment to cooperate today, but due to the tense fighting on the side of Sun Hill City, these troops have been thrown into that place to participate in the battle."

It turned out that the Germans were not engaged in the battle today because reinforcements had been transferred to other directions. It turned out that it was not us relieving the pressure on Cumbre del Sol, but the troops who were fighting there bloody battles to contain the German troops who were supposed to attack us.