"Comrade division commander, what should I do?" Leviakin whispered to me for advice, "Hit?" ”

I didn't answer him right away, but carefully observed the German ranks marching through the streets below. The armored radio truck drove very slowly, and the German soldiers who followed behind them, all with guns, looked around as they went, vigilantly searching the surroundings with their eyes, but they did not want to enter the building to search at all.

Seeing this, I replied to Leviakin with confidence: "It seems that these Germans have not discovered us for the time being, so do not rush to open fire, lest we expose our own goals." ”

"Understood!" He agreed, and then instructed the officer: "Go down, everyone be vigilant, keep an eye on the enemy outside, and no one is allowed to shoot without an order." ”

"Yes!" The officer agreed, turned and ran away.

Every day was getting darker and darker, and the German troops below were getting more and more blurred. Finally, the armored car stopped broadcasting, turned around and drove back, and the German infantry, which had been following behind, also stopped advancing en masse, and the rear team changed into the front team and retreated neatly.

Watching the Germans gradually leave, I was finally relieved that the fierce battle I imagined did not happen, and it seemed that tonight was destined to be a peaceful night.

"What's next?" Leviakin asked me for the next step.

As soon as I relaxed, I suddenly felt tired and abnormal, because of the injury, I haven't had a good rest in the past few days, and I want to find a place to lie down and sleep beautifully. I instructed him: "Leave a few soldiers on guard to monitor the enemy's movements, and the rest of the warriors hurry up and rest, for after daybreak, there may be a great battle." I couldn't help but yawn as I said that, and then asked a little embarrassedly, "Is there any quiet place?" ”

"Yes," he replied quickly, "there is one next to the regimental headquarters, please come with me." ”

He led the way in front, and soon came to the door of a room not far from the headquarters, he pointed to the door and said: "This is the place where the commanders of the regimental headquarters rest, and now there is no one inside, if you are tired, you can go and rest first." ”

I nodded, stepped forward and pushed the door open. The dim light in the room reminded me of something, so I stopped and asked, "Is the light in the headquarters a little too bright so that it would be exposed in the dark?" ”

"Please rest assured of this, Comrade Division Commander." He replied confidently, "There are no windows in the room where the command is located, so there is no need to worry about the lights revealing our location through the room." ”

After listening to his words, I still asked worriedly, "If the room is closed, there will be no hypoxic suffocation, right?" ”

"No," he replied patiently, "don't worry, there is a hidden ventilation system in the house, and your worries will never arise." Then he stepped forward, pushed the door wider, and said to me, "It's the same with this room, you can sleep here in peace." ”

"Very good," I took a step forward into the room, and before turning to close the door, I politely said to Leviakin, who was standing at the door, "Good night, Comrade General!" Then he closed the door.

To the left of the door was a small table with a silver candlestick with four burning candles. Facing the wall in front of them were two marching beds with blankets next to each other. I walked over, leaned my submachine gun against the wall, sat on a random bed, and then covered my left shoulder and lay down carefully, pulling the blanket over my body and covering it haphazardly.

I closed my eyes and lay down for a while, and indeed as the general said, although there were no windows in this room, I didn't feel stuffy at all, and the hidden ventilation system did a great job. I hadn't had a good rest in the past few days due to my injury, so I soon fell asleep unconsciously.

I don't know how long I slept in the road, and in a daze, I felt that someone was gently shaking me, and at the same time, a familiar voice was shouting: "Comrade Division Commander, Comrade Division Commander." You wake up. ”

I opened my eyes and blinked vigorously, and the scene before me began to become clearer, and I found that standing in front of the bed was Ramis, the commander of the guard company. I was woken up from my sleep, and I was very upset, but I didn't dare to get angry casually, since someone else was calling at this time, it might be something important. So I asked coldly, "Is there something wrong?" Comrade Lieutenant. ”

Ramis replied: "Commander Leviakin, please go and answer the phone, saying that the commander of the army group, General Rokossovsky, is calling. ”

I sighed, there are some things that I can't hide from, and I still have to face them in the end. I closed my eyes tiredly and ordered, "Comrade Lieutenant, help me up." ”

"Yes!" He said yes, stepped forward to hold my body, and helped me sit up from the bed.

I sat on the edge of the bed for a while, feeling fully awake, before I grabbed the submachine gun by the wall and stood up, and said to Ramis, "Let's go, let's go to the headquarters." ”

As soon as Leviakin saw me entering the headquarters, he quickly handed over the telephone. I put the submachine gun on the table, took the microphone, and said, "Hello, Comrade Commander! ”

"Leda, you're fooling around! In order to do something, he ordered the troops to be withdrawn from the city without asking for instructions, causing so many unnecessary casualties. Also, you are a division commander and not a soldier, who allows you to run to the front on your own initiative. On the other side of the phone came Rokossovsky's angry voice.

"Comrade Commander, please listen to my explanation." I hurriedly laughed, "Because our division suffered too many casualties in the battle, and could not be replenished in time, there was no reserve in the depth of the defense, and once the troops were exhausted in the war of attrition with the Germans, the defense line would collapse." The task given to me by my superiors was to hold Volokolamsk, and as the commander of the first division, I had the right to adjust the deployment of troops according to changes in the situation on the battlefield. As for the casualties, it was a complete accident, and no one could have imagined that the German infantry would suddenly stop attacking at that time and bombard the city with artillery fire. ”

"Even if that makes sense, what are you going to do at the forefront? As you know, your mission is to command your troops to block enemy attacks, not to crouch in a trench like a warrior and fight the enemy face to face. In the event of an accident, who will command this force? ”

"......" I was speechless for a moment.

"Speak! Why didn't you speak? "The other side of the phone almost yelled at the question.

"Comrade Commander, I ......"

"What are you? I don't want your explanation, you immediately withdraw from the city for me, and immediately return to your division headquarters. All the remaining troops in the city were under the command of General Leviakin, understand? ”

Looking at the sympathetic expression on Leviakin's face next to me, I had to smile bitterly at him.

"Did you hear what I said?" Rokossovsky's voice was an octave higher.

"Yes, yes, yes! Comrade Commander, I'm listening. Hearing his unkind tone, I quickly agreed.

"When are you going to get out?"

"I ......" I thought to myself, when to retreat, is it up to me to call the shots? I am now surrounded by German troops on all sides, can I withdraw as soon as I say so?

"Why don't you answer?"

"I ......," I hesitated, deciding to report the truth to Rokossovsky: "The place where I am is is besieged by the Germans on all sides, and it is impossible to retreat. ”

"What?!" The commander on the other side of the phone was anxious, "Nonsense, it's nonsense." You have just been awarded the honorary title of the 8th Guards Division, and in less than a day, the division commander has been surrounded by the Germans, which is simply ridiculous. You must hold on, I will immediately report to Comrade Zhukov and ask him to send a reserve to pick you up and lead you to break through. ”

"No, Comrade Commander." Hearing him make such a fuss, the sweat on my head fell, "Our division has enough troops in the city, although it is difficult to repel the enemy, but we can drag most of their forces in the city, so that they cannot free up their hands to attack Moscow." ”

As I spoke, the microphone fell silent, and for so long no one spoke, that I thought Rokossovsky had hung up. I coughed and asked, "Comrade Commander, are you still there?" ”

"What's the matter?"

"I want to stay in the city for a few more days and hold back as many German troops as possible in order to relieve the pressure on the frontal defense of the army group."

"Good!" After he said this, he added: "You have to pay attention to safety, what I want to see is a living Leda standing in front of me, not your body lying in front of me." Do you understand? ”

"Understood!" I readily agreed.

"Good luck!" With that, he hung up.

Putting down the phone, Leviagin asked with concern: "Comrade commander is angry?" ”

I nodded, and instead of telling him the content of the phone call just now, I asked, "How is the defense of our army arranged?" ”

He pointed to a piece of paper on the table and explained to me: "Look, this is the defense plan of my regiment. "When I looked closely, it was not a city defense map or anything like that, but a plan drawn on a piece of paper, a few lines, a few squares, representing the distribution of our army. He pointed to one of the squares surrounded by lines and explained to me, "We're here now, and the lines around us represent the road that can be passed." Around these roads, we set up firing points, so that we could suddenly fire the Germans as they passed through the middle of the road, so that we could beat them hard. ”

"Good idea," I was very satisfied with Leviakin's ability, and in my heart, I very much wanted him to take up the post of division commander, and he should be more suitable for the post than I did. I then asked a key question: "How are we communicating with these firing points here, and can we get in touch with them in a timely manner?" ”

"No problem, our communication is unimpeded." He confidently pointed to the dozen or so telephones on the long table by the wall and said, "I can use these telephones to directly give orders to the squad." ”

I was about to speak, when someone slammed the door open. Rushing in was a soldier with a submachine gun, who panted and said: "Report to Comrade Regiment Commander, the Germans have come up." ”

Without waiting for Leviagin to speak, I spoke first: "Let's go, take us to see." As he spoke, he picked up the submachine gun on the table and walked out. The warrior looked at me, didn't move, and stood still stunned. Leviagin raised his hand and patted him on the back of the head, and scolded with a smile: "You didn't hear the teacher say that you want to go out to see, why are you still standing here in a daze?" ”