I ran to Lelyushka's side, crouched down and carefully helped him to sit up, only to find that he was not only wounded on the forehead, but also that his military coat was already stained red with blood, and several parts were still bleeding out. Seeing this, tears rolled down my cheeks, and I anxiously called out to him: "Comrade Major General! Comrade Major General! How are you? ”

His hands were still on his forehead, his eyes were blank, and he said, "Seeing that the enemy army was repulsed by us, I didn't expect to be wounded in this situation, it's really too lucky." ”

I reached under his armpits, grabbed his shoulders, and half-bent back to drag him into the headquarters. In the process of dragging, his head was silently tilted to the side, and the hand that had been covering the wound also hung down, and I felt that his life was losing little by little.

"Lelyushka, General Lelyushonka, please, don't sleep! Wake up! Tears blurred my vision, and I sped up dragging backwards while shouting hoarsely, "Anyone?" Someone doesn't? Come help me! Help me! ”

At the sound of my shouting, two soldiers in steel helmets came from nowhere, and without saying a word, they took Leryushenka from my hands, jumped out of the trench and carried him to the headquarters, and I followed them with tears streaming down my face.

After entering the headquarters, two fighters carried Lelyushchenka in, put him on the marching bed, and was bandaging, and I saw that both of them were carrying medicine boxes and white cuffs with red crosses on their arms. It turns out that they are all hygienists, and with them, the major general's life is not in danger. I was finally relieved to be highly nervous, and sat on the ground against the wall, gasping for breath, and the strenuous exercise just now not only exhausted all my physical strength, but also made my close-fitting clothes soaked with sweat.

The phone on the table rang suddenly, which startled me, and I wondered if Lyushchenka just threw the microphone aside and ran out of the observation post, why did the phone still ring? If you look closely, it turns out that another one is ringing. I took a deep breath, stood up with my hands on the wall, took two steps to the table, and grabbed the microphone.

"I am the commander of the 4th Tank Brigade, Colonel Karrotov, and the chief of staff of the army group, Comrade Yesakov, who was sent to me to direct the battle, died." Before I could speak, the other party hurriedly told me the unfortunate news.

"Huh?!" My heart was shaken, the commander was wounded, and the chief of staff was also killed, so who should command this unit? I certainly can't, I don't have the experience and ability to command tens of thousands of troops in battle, and if I command blindly, it is entirely possible that the whole army will be annihilated.

As soon as I put down the phone, the bell rang again, this time from Colonel Porosushi, who also did not wait for me to speak, but hurriedly said: "My commissar has died, and several positions have been occupied by the Germans, please send me reserves from the army group, so that I can organize the troops to regain the lost positions." ”

"Colonel Porosushi, I'm Major Oshanina, the special commissioner of the Front." Distraught, I replied to him: "The commander of the army group, General Lelyushonka, is wounded, I am taking command from him, I have no reserves in my hands." ……”

"Huh?!" He was also taken aback by the news, but he continued to tell me about the difficulties he was facing: "More than half of my troops have been killed, many battalions and companies have been exhausted, but the Germans in front of us are still under the cover of tanks, launching a frantic attack on our positions. ”

"Alright, Comrade Colonel." I said impatiently, "I repeat, I don't have any reserves in my hands, and if I can't, I'll go to your position myself to take part in the battle." When I said this, he fell silent, and then I slowed down and suggested to him: "Put the enemy tanks over, then cut off the infantry, and send fighters with anti-tank weapons to destroy the tanks that have lost their infantry cover." ”

When the phone rang for the third time, I had completely lost my patience, picked up the microphone and didn't wait for the other party to speak, and couldn't help but roar angrily: "Which commander was injured or killed?" ”

"Leda!" Zhukov's familiar voice came from the microphone, and he smiled and said, "Dear Major, why are you so angry?" Did something happen? Where is General Lelyushonka? ”

His series of questions made my tears fall again, and I choked up and said: "Comrade General, the situation is very dangerous, the Germans once attacked near the headquarters of the army group. General Lelyushzynza was wounded in battle, the chief of staff of the army group Yesakov was also killed, and now the entire army group has lost its unified command and is fighting separately. ”

"Okay, don't cry, don't cry!" He comforted me on the phone: "Crying doesn't solve anything. How is General Lelyushonka's wounds, will he be able to continue to command the battle? ”

I wiped my tears, looked at the general, who was lying on the marching bed, nervously bandaged by the hygienist, and replied, "No, his injuries are very serious." ”

"Can you take the command of the army group and take command?" Zhukov was silent for a while, and then made this suggestion.

I thought about it for a while, and immediately rejected his proposal, and replied: "Comrade General, I cannot accept your proposal, I have commanded a battalion at most, and I do not have the experience and ability to command a large army at all. Therefore, I strongly suggest to you that Colonel Porosuehi take over the command of the army group, who had commanded a division for a long time, and who, by virtue of his experience and ability to work, was more qualified than I was for this position. At this point, I paused for a moment, and then continued: "In the meantime, I strongly ask you to send us some reserves. At present, the troops have suffered serious losses, the battalions and companies under the group army have been exhausted, and the defense line is precarious, and there is a possibility of losing it at any time. ……”

"That's it! Come on! Zhukov interrupted me: "You are like them, and you ask me for reserves as soon as you open your mouth, as if I would conjure troops out of thin air." ”

"But the present situation is indeed very dangerous, Comrade General."

"I understand that, so I sent troops to you an hour ago, believing they were almost there. I'm calling to let you know and get ready to receive them as soon as possible. "His words made the big stone in my heart fall to the ground, it would be good to have reserves coming up, at least this line of defense can hold out for a few more days.

"It's wonderful. Comrade General! I said excitedly: "On behalf of the fighters of the Fifth Army, I thank you. ”

"Alright, alright! Don't say these official words, after the reserves go up, you must hold the Germans back for a few more days. I have arranged for the air force to support you, and as long as the German tanks are repulsed, the pressure on you will be much less. After a pause, he added: "Also, be sure to tell the fighters that behind us is Moscow, and we have no way back." With that, he hung up the phone.

I stood in front of the lookout hole and watched the situation on the battlefield with a telescope. Our tanks lined up behind the first trench and were attacking the attacking German tanks and infantry with artillery fire. Many enemy tanks were destroyed, but from time to time our tanks were shot and caught fire. According to this style of play, it will not be long before it is estimated that our army's tanks will be completely lost. But I couldn't help them, so I could only watch the tank troops stop there and fight the enemy.

"Who's the commander here?" Suddenly, a loud voice came from behind him. When I looked back, an officer in a large-brimmed hat and overcoat was standing in the doorway, so I put down my binoculars and walked over, and replied to him: "I am Major Oshanina, commissioner of the Western Front, who are you?" ”

The officer saluted me and said: "The commander of the Guards Rocket Artillery Battalion, Captain Suvnintsev, reports to you that I have been ordered to come for reinforcements, and I ask for your instructions. ”

Great, the power of this rocket launcher is enough for the Germans. I pulled him to the lookout, pointed to the German troops in front of the position, and said: "Your battalion will immediately fire two volleys at your attacking troops, and you must destroy as many German tanks as possible." Do you understand? ”

"Got it!" The captain agreed, then turned and ran out of the headquarters.