Serdyuk's proposal had just been spoken, and before anyone else could make a statement. Suddenly, a staff officer hurried into the headquarters, came to Colonel Raskin's side, leaned down and whispered something. When Raskin heard this, his face changed greatly, and he immediately got up and walked quickly to Shumilov and said a few words.

Shumilov's face changed with this, and he wanted to tell something, but he hesitated for a moment, but still didn't say anything. He frowned and looked at Chuikov for a few moments, then his gaze fell on me.

Seeing Shumilov's gaze resting on me, an ominous feeling suddenly rose in my heart, could it be that something had happened to the rescue of the female soldiers? When I think about it, I can't help but get my heart racing.

Shumilov was silent for only a moment before he began to speak. He said with a serious expression: "Comrade commanders, something has happened. Serov, the lieutenant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who had been detained by us, had just been taken out of the command headquarters when his men saw them and immediately rushed up with machine guns and surrounded our fighters. Now that the two sides are tense and there is a possibility of an exchange of fire at any time, you can tell me, what should we do? ”

Although Shumilov told the commanders present about the imminent fire fight outside, his eyes kept looking at me. I thought to myself that this matter had something to do with me, and maybe Shumilov was going to push me out of the way to solve it. Sure enough, as soon as I thought so, Shumilov had already said to me: "Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, this matter is left to you, can you handle it?" ”

When Shumilov said this, he gave me a dilemma. Promise to go, go and negotiate with these fighters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Maybe a fight broke out if they didn't agree with each other. lost his life in vain; Don't promise to go. Maybe it's safe for the time being, but my image in the minds of several army leaders will be greatly reduced.

When Chuikov heard that Shumilov had handed over such a dangerous matter to me, he couldn't help but persuade him: "Comrade commander, I don't think it's appropriate for Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina to come forward in this matter. She was too young, and she was a female commander, and those officers and soldiers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who were above the top would not buy her account. I think it's better to change someone, if you really can't find the right person. Then I'll go out and settle this matter. ”

Originally, I was hesitant to consider whether I should go to the site to see it. Hearing Chuikov's words, he made up his mind decisively, since he cares about me so much, I can't be looked down on by him, after all, this is the territory of the headquarters of the 64th Army, and those personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs do not dare to be too arrogant. So I stood up and replied very simply: "Okay, comrade commander, leave this matter to me." ”

Chuikov looked at me puzzled. Worriedly, he asked, "Oshanina, there may be a fight outside at any time." If you go, will you be able to do it? ”

I looked at him gratefully and replied, "Comrade General, please rest assured, I will definitely take care of this matter." ”

Raskin also took a few steps towards me and asked with concern: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, do you need me to send you a few people with you?" ”

I said in my heart that if I really fought, no matter how many people we go, they would be sent to death, so I shook my head and rejected his kindness: "Thank you, Comrade Chief of Staff, it is enough for me to go alone." ”

I walked out of the headquarters and saw the staff officer who had just come to report standing outside the door, so I walked over and, after seeing his rank, asked politely: "Comrade Captain, where are the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs you are talking about?" ”

The captain's staff officer hurriedly came to the middle of the road, pointed to the west, and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, if you follow this road to the west, about four or five hundred meters, you will see a large group of people, and they are there. ”

After thanking Captain Lu, I strode westward with my submachine gun in hand. After walking more than 100 meters, I saw several groups of people facing each other in the distance. Lieutenant Serov and two of his men were in the middle of the crowd, and outside them were the fighters of the guard company of the headquarters, who were holding rifles and submachine guns in their hands, and confronting a dozen fighters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with machine guns and submachine guns, who were preparing to rescue Serov. Outside them, there were again dozens of commanders and fighters from the 208th Division, whose muzzles were invariably pointed at the fighters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

I quickly picked up speed and shouted at the same time: "Stop! Stop it! Put the guns down! "I was also in too much of a hurry, and I was shouting a few hundred meters away, and I didn't think about whether they could hear me.

As I approached the crowd, I heard someone in the group shouting, "Look, everyone, there's a commander coming." ”

As I walked towards the middle of the crowd, the commanders and fighters of the 208th Division outside made way for me, but the guns in their hands were not put down, and the muzzles of the guns continued to point at the dozen or so soldiers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

I came to Lieutenant Serov and stood still, shouting: "All the commanders and fighters obey my orders and put down their guns." ”

Both the fighters of the Guards Company and the fighters of the 208th Division lowered their guns, while the fighters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs remained unmoved and continued to point their guns at us. Seeing this scene, I snorted coldly, turned my head to Lieutenant Serov and said, "Comrade Lieutenant, order your fighters to put down their guns. ”

I didn't expect Serov to buy my account at all, and he raised his head and ignored me directly.

Seeing the muzzles of the dozen or so guns pointed at us, I didn't point my guns at Serov as I had just done in the command headquarters, after all, there were senior commanders present at that time, and Serov just ate the gall of a leopard, and he didn't dare to shoot casually. And here, there are not so many soldiers under him, if he sees me pointing a gun at their commander, he may shoot directly, and then not only me, but also the soldiers of these guard companies around him will suffer.

Seeing Serov ignoring me, and a dozen guns pointing at us on the other side, the individual guards company fighters beside him couldn't help but panic a little. I didn't panic in the slightest, just stared at Serov, and said word by word: "Lieutenant Serov, let me remind you that if it is because of you, it caused a fire within our army, causing heavy casualties. After the fact, the higher authorities will hold you accountable, and even if you are from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, you will not be able to escape the blame. ”

Hearing me say this, Serov didn't dare to continue to put on an indifferent appearance, so he had to take a step forward. He just moved. The guards next to him thought he was going to run away. Someone immediately blocked his way. Serov stopped. He smiled bitterly at me helplessly. I hurriedly waved my hand for the warrior to make way for him.

Serov walked up to his men, raised his arm and waved it violently, shouting: "Didn't you hear the order of the lieutenant colonel? Put your guns down for me. With his command, the fighters of the Ministry of Internal Affairs lowered their guns one after another.

Serov, after waiting for his men to put down their guns, turned to me and asked: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, do you have any other orders?" If not, I'll leave with my men. ”

I glanced at this lieutenant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with contempt, and said in my heart what do you think of our 64th Army Headquarters. Come and go as you want. Although he was extremely dissatisfied with him, he thought about rescuing the five girls he was detaining, so he couldn't turn his face with him for the time being. To his question, I replied lightly: "Comrade lieutenant, please gather your team, I have something to say." ”

Without waiting for him to reply, I shouted at the guards company and the soldiers of the 208th Division: "All assemble!" "Following my command, hundreds of commanders and fighters belonging to the two armies quickly lined up in five neat columns.

I looked at Serov and his subordinates, who were still standing still, and said in a displeased tone: "Comrade Lieutenant, didn't you hear my order to line up your troops?" ”

"But ......" is something. I wasn't interested in knowing the word, as soon as he spoke. I interrupted him and said unceremoniously, "As an officer, don't you know that the orders of the commander of the road are not allowed to be discussed?" ”

Listening to what I said, if he disobeyed again, he would be suspected of disobedience, so he had to make a gesture to his subordinates, and quickly came to the front of the line and lined up again.

I walked back and forth in front of the queue with my submachine gun, looking at the young faces in front of me, and I couldn't believe that they were the ones who had fired at the young girls without hesitation. I really wanted to take a gun and knock out all these cold-blooded people and avenge the unjust deaths of the girls, but my reason didn't allow me to do so, and I could only sweep them in their faces with a vicious gaze.

After the last moment, I stopped in front of the team, took a deep breath, and began to speak to everyone, and I said loudly: "Commanders and fighters, maybe you all want to know what happened in Lu Dao, so that our own people almost fought with our own people. "At this point, I deliberately paused to see if anyone in the group was talking. Seeing that except for Serov and the two fighters, the rest of the people were looking at me blankly, so I continued: "Today, Lieutenant Serov of the Ministry of Internal Affairs escorted a Lieutenant Colonel Gorman, the commander of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment, to the headquarters and said that he would send the lieutenant colonel to a military court.

You must not know what kind of mistake this lieutenant colonel committed to be arrested by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and sent to a military court, right? Well, I'll tell you now. Under the command of this heroic anti-aircraft artillery regiment, there was a women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion of more than 300 people, and when the enemy's tank units attacked our positions, these girls bravely fired flat fire with anti-aircraft guns to bombard the enemy's tanks. After a fierce battle, all the anti-aircraft guns of the anti-aircraft artillery battalion were destroyed by the enemy's tanks, and only about 30 of the more than 300 young girls remained.

As the commander of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Goleman, he could not bear to see these young girls who were still in the tenth grade give up their lives in vain, so he made a bold decision to let the remaining thirty or so girls leave the battlefield and withdraw to Stalingrad.

But in the process of retreating, the girls were met by the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs under the command of Lieutenant Serov, who shot at the girls indiscriminately. In the end, except for the five girls who survived, the rest died tragically at the hands of their guns. ”

At this point, the commanders and fighters in the mixed team all stared hatefully at the soldiers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs standing in the first row. And a few of the soldiers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the first row also blushed and bowed their heads deeply.

Seeing that he had aroused everyone's public outrage, Serov defended himself in an inaudible voice: "We are also acting on orders, and anyone who retreats from the battlefield without authorization, regardless of gender, will be shot." ”

I didn't answer his topic, but pointed to the medal on my left chest and asked in a loud voice: "Commanders and fighters, do you know how I got my medal?" ”

Although no one in the team answered, everyone's eyes were on the medal on my chest without exception. I saw that everyone's attention was drawn to me, so I said, "I'll tell you the story of this medal." ”

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel. We still have important tasks ahead of us. I don't have time here to hear the story of the medal you tell. Serov didn't know what I was going to say next. So I couldn't help but say something to stop me.

I glared at him fiercely and said unceremoniously: "Comrade Lieutenant, don't you know that when the superiors are talking, the subordinates can't interject casually?" "Although I have never done anything to oppress people with military ranks, I will make an exception for these people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs today.

Seeing that Lieutenant Serov was honest, I began to tell my story: "Comrades, before receiving the first medal. I'm an anti-aircraft machine gunner at the 171 Willinghouse Station. One day, I spotted two heavily armed German soldiers near the Huirang station and went to report it to the commander of the station, Warrant Officer Vaskov. The warrant officer took me and four other female soldiers to pursue the two German soldiers who appeared in the rear of our army, because from the analysis of the map, it is possible that they wanted to blow up the bridges and railways in the rear of our army and cut off the connection between Smolensk and the rear.

The warrant officer, who was well acquainted with the terrain of the area, led us to the enemy's path in advance, and arranged his positions to capture or destroy the Germans as soon as they arrived.

Unexpectedly. When the enemy appeared in front of us, we were surprised to find out that the enemy was not two people. It's sixteen people, and all of them are heavily armed,......"

"Oh my God!" A soldier from the Ministry of Internal Affairs standing in the front row couldn't help but cry out: "There are only six of you, and five of them are women, can you deal with them?" ”

"Quiet!" Serov interrupted his men, but my story clearly intrigued him, and he asked curiously: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, have you blocked the enemy at the end of the day?" ”

I continued to follow my own line of thought: "Seeing that the enemy was outnumbered and better equipped than us, the warrant officer called me aside and said with confidence: We have only five women and one man, how can we deal with these sixteen German devils armed to the teeth. Now if we can have a machine gun full of bullets, the Degtyalev type, or three submachine guns, plus three skilled men, then we can be sure that we can use the terrain to block the enemy here...... The five of you have to go at once, and if you want to survive, you have to go far.

I retorted at the time, "No, Comrade warrant officer, we are soldiers, we can't leave here, we have to fight side by side with you."

He was in a hurry at that time, and he started a fire at me, saying: War is not a woman's business, you should do what you have to do.

I asked him again, can you alone hold the Germans, sixteen Germans armed with submachine guns, in the middle of here?

He was speechless. He agreed to send a warrior back to report the news, and the rest stayed behind to fight alongside him. ”

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what is the situation at the end of the year? Did you hold the Germans at bay? "This time it was the soldiers of the guard company who were standing in the back row.

I smiled at the fighter and replied affirmatively, "Of course it's blocked, comrade warrior." Then I said with a look on my face, "But we also paid a terrible price, warrant officer Vaskov and I were wounded, and the remaining four girls died heroically." But the enemy could not advance a single step, they were blocked by us. Not only were they blocked, but eleven of them were exterminated by us, and the remaining five were taken prisoner by us.

And for my bravery in battle, I was later awarded the Order of the Red Banner and a medal for bravery by Marshal Voroshilov himself. Let's take a look at these two pieces. "In order to make it easier for everyone to see, I also deliberately raised two medals.

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you are amazing!"

"yes, that's amazing!"

My story got everyone talking about it with excitement.

I raised my hand and pressed it down, and when everyone had calmed down, I continued: "Comrades, what Lieutenant Colonel Gorman, the commander of the anti-aircraft artillery regiment did today, is the same thing that Warrant Officer Vaskov did at the beginning. They said the same thing: I can sacrifice, my comrades-in-arms can sacrifice, but I can't let you sacrifice, because you are women and should be protected by us. "Actually, what I said later was not what Gorman or Vaskov said, but what I often heard from those Russian men in later generations.

"Lieutenant Colonel Gorman can do it, he shouldn't be court-martialed, he's a hero, he's a hero!" The people who shouted this were the fighters of the guard company who saw Gorman being escorted to the headquarters by Lieutenant Serov.

"Lieutenant Colonel Gorman is good!" These are the commanders and fighters of the 208th Division.

Seeing everyone's attitude, Serov did not dare to insist on his original point of view, walked up to me with his head bowed, and confessed his mistake to me: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I was wrong. I wish I had a chance to make amends for this mistake of mine. ”

Seeing that Serov had already bowed his head to me and admitted his mistake, I also pushed the boat and said: "Comrade lieutenant, aren't there still five female soldiers detained by you?" If you want to atone for your sins, let them go. ”

Serov quickly nodded, called one of his subordinates and ordered: "You go to the truck and bring those five girls over." Remember, let them loose first and then come back, and have a better attitude. (To be continued......)