When the four young men entered, they automatically stood in a row with their backs to the wooden wall.

I instructed Yemelyanov, who had brought them in: "Comrade Tusser, you go out first. Stand at the door, and no one will be allowed to come in without my permission. "Next, I want to ask the four of them about what will happen in the future, and the fewer people who know the Tao, the better, even the old sergeant who is the leader of my guard squad.

After the sergeant had left, I walked up to the four of them and asked the square-faced man: "Private Ivanovich, last night, I seemed to hear you say that you are our juniors, you are from the future, am I right?" ”

The man, whom I call Ivanovich, nodded desperately and replied with great speed: "Yes, Comrade Commander. I did say that we are from the future, and the Great Patriotic War has been won. ”

I looked back at Diomi and Thorin sitting at the table, then turned to him and asked, "Do you know what day it is?" ”

He shook his head vigorously, indicating that he did not know what to say.

"Today is June 13, 1942," I said slowly, "and we are now stationed near Lyuban. Can you tell me a little bit about the history that you know? ”

Hearing me mention the place name Lyuban, his body suddenly trembled violently like chaff, and he muttered to himself: "Battle of Lyuban, 2nd Shock Army, Vlasov......"

"Tell me what you know about the Battle of Liuban in Ludao," I walked back to the table and sat down, looked at him and asked, "Maybe you can tell us why this battle is called the Battle of Liuban?" ”

“…… The Volkhov Front was formed by the Supreme High Command in order to free Leningrad from the siege of Deko. The Volkhov Front, commanded by General Meretskov, launched an offensive on 13 January. However, due to the stubborn resistance of the Germans everywhere and the fighting was extremely brutal, the 2nd Shock Army crossed the Volkhov River and captured some settlements along the river in the evening of the next day. The young man seemed to be familiar with this period of history, and after a little thought, he began to gush, "The greatest result of the battle was the 327th Infantry Division under the command of Colonel Anchufeev, who drove the enemy out of Red Village and seized the fortified positions established by the enemy. To the left of the division, the 58th Infantry Brigade, commanded by Colonel Zhilitsov, was also progressing well. After repeated assaults, the brigade captured the inhabited Yamno. To the left of the brigade, the right flank corps of the 52nd Army advanced to the west bank of the Volkhov River, where it broke through the enemy's defenses. In order to develop victory, the 2nd Shock Army and the 52nd Army threw the 2nd echelon into battle on the morning of January 15. After the 2nd echelon was thrown into battle, the offensive of our troops improved, but it was not possible to completely crush the enemy's resistance. The more the troops advanced, the fiercer the enemy's resistance became. Both sides suffered significant losses. ……”

"Obviously, Comrade Major." Thorin whispered beside me, "You can understand what he said if you read the battle reports of our army in the past few months. ……”

"Comrade instructor, please be quiet." Diaomi next to him unceremoniously interrupted Thorin's words, "Do you think that a few of them are qualified to check the battle report of our army?" Listen to the warrior continue. ”

“…… A week later, the 2nd Shock Army advanced to the second line of positions in the enemy's main defensive strip along the Chudovo-Novgorod railway and road. Meretskov ordered the troops to break through the position, but without success. So the Front Army transferred artillery here again. However, the German command, feeling threatened by its main supply lines, transferred reserves to the area of Spassayapolist, as well as artillery and the main forces of aviation.

The battle is getting fiercer day by day. Although the 2nd Shock Army broke through the enemy's defenses several times, the defense line was recaptured by the Germans several times due to insufficient ammunition and air supremacy in the hands of the German aviation.

After three days of stubborn fighting, the 2nd Shock Army finally captured Miasnebor and broke through the main German defenses in that direction. In order to close the breach, the German command threw in a wide variety of troops, which were transferred from other parts of the front, including from near Leningrad. At the same time, the German Army Group "North" was forced to abandon preparations for the assault on Leningrad and go on the defensive. At this time, Hitler expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the command of the army group. In mid-January, the commander of Army Group "North", Field Marshal von Lieb, and the chief of staff, Brenneck, were replaced, and were replaced by Generals von Küchler and Hasse.

If the 2nd Shock Army made progress, the offensive of the 4th and 59th armies did not work. Their impact became weaker each time, and then they stopped completely. The 54th Army, our friendly neighbor, the Leningrad Front, also stopped its offensive on 17 January, having run out of ammunition.

In this case, the impact carried out on the right flank of the Front was tantamount to a wasted effort. After General Meretskov reported the situation, the base camp agreed to transfer all its forces to the direction of Spasskayapolisti and Lyuban. As a result, the area became the main direction for the next six months. That's why the whole battle is called the Battle of Liuban. ”

"That's right, comrade private." Instructor Thorin stood up from his seat, walked up to the soldier, and asked in a mocking tone: "Are you in the intelligence department of the army group headquarters, do you have a good girl, otherwise how could you see such a detailed battle report?" ”

"Comrade commander," replied Ivanovich in a somewhat flustered manner, "I don't have any good relations in the intelligence department, and I have seen all these things from history books, and it is very simple to know that I am a student of history, and to understand this history." ”

Seeing what else Thorin wanted to say, I coughed and stopped him: "Comrade instructor, you first take the other three fighters out of the city and let them go to repair the fortifications with the soldiers of the seventh company." By the way, inform Second Lieutenant Miducci and ask him to gather the fighters in his platoon first. Let him come to me in an hour, and then we will go back to the village together. As for this comrade private," I pointed to Ivanovich, and continued, "just stay here for the time being, and I have something to ask the captain about him." ”

Thorin was about to say something, but when he saw me staring at him indifferently, he had to say yes and leave the command post with three other young men who had never had a chance to speak.

When Sorin left, I hurriedly comforted Ivanovich and said, "Comrade private, don't worry. Now there are only three of us left in the command post, and you can talk as much as you want. ”

"What do you want to know? Comrade Commander. Ivanovich asked a little nervously.

"Just tell me and the captain about what has happened and what is going to happen in the past few days." As I said this, I turned my head to look at Daiomi, who was sitting next to me, and asked in a tone of asking for his opinion: "Comrade Captain, you don't object, do you?" ”

"Comrade private, speak boldly," Diomi was also aroused by curiosity at the moment, urging Ivanovich to continue: "We will not interrupt your story. ”

“…… Thanks to the Leningrad Front and the Volkhov Front, merging at an inopportune time, coupled with damned forest swamps, the 2nd Shock Army was completely encircled by the Germans at the beginning of June. At this time, the base camp removed the post of commander of the Khotzin Front, and the Volkhov Front was reorganized, with General Meretskov still serving as the commander of the Front. ……”

"Wait a minute, Comrade Private." Hearing this, Diomi couldn't help but interrupt him and asked curiously: "You said that the Supreme Command reorganized the Volkhov Front, when did this happen?" I don't know how to do it. ”

"Comrade soldier is right," I said, "I only learned about the reorganization of the front army last night. Moreover, in addition to the original structure, the 8th and 54th group armies were newly reorganized. Then he said to Ivanovich: "Say, comrade warrior, go on." ”

“…… The first thing General Meretskov did after his reinstatement was to draw out three infantry brigades and a number of other units, including a tank battalion. Organizing these meager forces into two clusters, they were ordered to open a corridor one and a half to two kilometers wide, and to cover both flanks of the corridor to ensure the withdrawal of the troops of the encircled 2nd Shock Army.

At dawn on June 10, the signal for the offensive was given. The artillery carried out a short period of preparation for artillery fire. Then tanks and infantry launched a storm. Although the plan was carefully considered, and the commanders and fighters showed tenacity, the impact did not work.

In the evening of the same day, Meretskov and Vasilevsky, the representative of the high command, again repeatedly calculated the entire strength of the Front and decided to transfer some troops to the breakthrough site. Our army is increasing its forces, and the enemy is increasing its strength. From the north, from the west of the Leningrad Highway, three infantry divisions and one SS police division, as well as a number of units that had previously served as defenders in other sections, were combined into three brigades, 'Kalenburg', 'Bass' and 'Main Road'. From the Novgorod side, two clusters 'Jump' and 'Yashkai' were transferred, as well as other troops. From the west, there was a 'Duke' cluster consisting of two infantry divisions and a security division pressing violently towards the 2nd Shock Army. The fighting did not stop for a minute, and it was unprecedentedly fierce. Both sides suffered heavy casualties.

After a week of brutal fighting, the Dekou finally could not hold out in front of the offensive of our troops.

On June 19, the tank crews of the 29th tank brigade of our army, as well as the infantry following them, broke through the enemy's defenses and joined up with the troops of the 2nd Shock Army, which was attacking from the west. After another two days, a corridor three or four hundred meters wide was opened along the railway from the east and west. Using this corridor, a large number of wounded commanders and fighters of the 2nd Shock Army withdrew to Miasnebor. ……”

"Stop! That's all for it, comrade warrior. "I didn't wait for him to tell him what happened to the entire 2nd Assault Army and Vlasov, and then I stopped him, after all, there are some things that I, the traverser, don't care, and if I let Diomi know the way, I may get into trouble. I waved my hand and said to Ivanovich: "Comrade warriors, go to your companions and go with them to strengthen the fortifications." ”

Ivanovich agreed, saluted and left.

As soon as he left, I didn't know what Captain Diomi could say, but I preemptively said: "I saw that what Master Yemelyanov said was right, and several of them were shocked to the brains, plus they were stimulated, and their nerves were a little abnormal. Later, let them go to the village health team to see if they can be cured. ”

Captain Diomi frowned and said in a suspicious tone: "Comrade Major, are you sure they are insane? But when I heard what he said, it was still clear and organized. ”

"This is your delusion, Comrade Captain." I lifted the teapot on the floor, poured two cups of tea, handed one to the captain, and added, "The reason why he knows so much is that there is a good girl working in the intelligence department, as Instructor Thorin analyzed." Everything he said was told to him by the girl during her tryst with him. ”

With that, I sat down and took a sip from my teacup, thinking at a high speed in my head: Will the history he spoke of happen according to the original trajectory? If I go to the breakout battle on the date he said, will I make the breakout? What will be the consequences if what he says is dismissed as nonsense? I asked myself three questions in one breath, but I didn't have answers to them.