Fifty commanders and fighters of the assault engineer battalion. When I heard Godunov repeat the old story, although the weather was cold, my heart still felt warm. I understood what he meant, he wanted these commanders to stay with me to keep me safe. I could not live up to his kindness, so I pretended to think for a moment before replying, "If the enemy were to attack, our village would be the target of their attack." At the moment there are only about twenty fighters in the village, and the strength is very thin, so let's do it, Major Godunov, if you have no opinion, I will leave them behind and strengthen the garrison in the village. ”

When Godunov heard me say this, a smile suddenly appeared on his face, and he hurriedly replied: "Comrade commander, I have no opinion, resolutely obey your orders, and leave them to strengthen the garrison in the village." ”

After deploying the mission and sending a few commanders away, I asked Yushchenko to call Katerina in, saying that there was something important to discuss with her.

In fact, Katerina never went far, but in the next room, when she heard Yushchenko say that I was looking for her, she immediately ran over. As soon as he entered the door, he hurriedly asked: "Comrade commander, I heard that you are looking for me, is there anything important?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Katerina." I politely said to her: "After all, the defense fortifications in the west of the village have not been used for nearly two years, and individual areas may need to be reinforced." However, we have limited manpower, so I wonder if you can please send some people to help us? ”

"No problem, Comrade Commander." Katerina replied with a big grin: "When the Germans had just invaded our land, we did not just send all the men of the village to battle. Also take all of our stuff. All were given to the Red Army, which fought bloodily on the front. Now since you are going to fight the Germans. Then we will do our best to help you. ”

"How many of you are there?" When I had said this, I realized that there was something wrong with the fact that the village was full of women, and there were also elderly or sick people, and they could not be counted among them, so I added: "I am talking about the number of people who can participate in the construction of the fortifications, how many?" ”

"There are still 217 people in the village," Katerina said, knowing the situation in the village all over the back of her hand. When I asked, I immediately replied without hesitation: "Excluding the elderly and sick, there are about 170 people who can participate in voluntary labor." When it comes to farm work, they are all good hands, let alone repairing the fortifications. ”

170 people, this number exceeded my expectations, not to mention the fact that I had the impression that women in the USSR were more hard-working than men, so I nodded busily and said: "Comrade Katerina." It's great. Excuse me, after tomorrow morning at eight o'clock in the morning, after taking the women comrades to the fortifications in the west of the village. Find Major Godunov and ask him to arrange a job for you. ”

"Okay, Comrade Commander." Katerina readily agreed, and then she took the initiative to say to me, "It's not too early, you should rest early." ”

After Katerina left, Yushchenko asked with some anxiety: "Comrade commander, is it really appropriate to let the women of the village come and assist us in reinforcing the fortifications?" You must know that women are inherently inferior to men in terms of physical strength. ”

Hearing Yushchenko's remarks that he looked down on women so much, I said with some dissatisfaction: "Comrade Captain, you are right. In terms of strength, perhaps women are inherently weak. But don't forget, they are no weaker than men when it comes to hardship and hard work. It is not only strength that builds and strengthens fortifications. ”

After teaching Yushchenko, I walked up to the operator, bowed my head and asked him: "Comrade operator, during this time, have there been any new telegrams?" ”

"No, Comrade Commander." The operator hurriedly stood up and reported to me: "So far, there has been no telegram. ”

"Okay, keep working. As soon as a telegram arrives, report it to me immediately. ”

"Yes!" The operator resoundingly agreed.

In the last few days, I have been so busy that I haven't had a good rest. I walked to the table and sat down, I just wanted to rest at the desk for a while, but I didn't expect to fall asleep without much effort.

It wasn't until I was woken up by Yushchenko that I sat up straight and asked lazily: "Comrade Captain, what time is it?" ”

"It's seven o'clock, Comrade Commander." After Yushchenko finished talking about the time, he hurriedly explained the reason for waking me up, so that I would not blame him: "Major Godunov has just sent someone to report that they have begun to strengthen the fortifications. And Katerina also took the women and the fighters to work. ”

After listening to Yushchenko's report, I immediately got up from my seat and said to him: "Go, Comrade Captain, accompany me to have a look." With that, he walked around the table and headed for the door.

Yushchenko hurriedly followed, called a couple of fighters at the door, and followed me towards the fortifications west of the village.

The fortifications to the west of the village were a busy scene, and the soldiers walked in pairs, carrying logs cut down from the distant woods, towards the trenches, ready to reinforce the collapsed lot.

Seeing our arrival, Godunov immediately greeted us, saluted me, and reported: "Comrade commander, we are rushing to repair the fortifications, please instruct!" ”

"Please go on, Comrade Major."

"Don't stop, keep working." Godunov shouted at the commanders and fighters behind him who had stopped their work because they saw me appear. Seeing that everyone had resumed their work, he said to me: "Comrade Commander, I have already checked and found that most of the trenches of this fortification are still intact except for the reinforced concrete pillboxes, and they must be reinforced. That's a lot of work, and I don't know if we'll be able to complete all the reinforcement work before the enemy attacks. ”

Probably seeing me coming, it didn't take much effort for Katerina to come from where the trees were being cut down. She shouted at me from a long distance: "Hey, comrade commander, do you see that? Our women do the work no less than the boys in your ranks. ”

"That's right, Comrade Katerina." I replied with a smile: "All of your comrades in the collective farm are good, and we can get your help." It is believed that the reinforcement of the fortifications will be completed soon. ”

That's when it happened. A warrior ran from a distance. Seeing his panicked look, Godunov frowned, then pointed to the soldier and said to me: "Commander, that soldier is a member of the reconnaissance detachment I sent in the direction of the town, and judging by his expression, it is estimated that something is wrong." ”

The scout quickly ran in front of us, his hands on his waist. Breathlessly, he said, "Report ...... Report...... Few...... Comrade Major ......"

"Don't rush, speak slowly." Godunov walked up to him, reached out and grabbed his arm, shook it twice, and asked: "You went to reconnoiter in the direction of the town, what did you find?" ”

The scout company took a few deep breaths, then said breathlessly: "Report to the major, when we were reconnoitring outside the town, we found a large number of German troops entering the town, and the platoon commander decided that the situation was serious. He ordered me to come back immediately and report to you, while he and the rest of his comrades continued to stay and monitor the enemy's movements. ”

"Comrade warriors. How many troops did the Germans have when they entered the town? "When I heard that the enemy had really increased the number of troops in the town, I was taken aback, and I hurriedly took two steps forward, walked to the scout's side, and asked nervously.

When the Scout saw me suddenly appear in front of him, he quickly straightened up and reported to me, "Yes...... I'm sorry, Jun...... Comrade Commander, I didn't notice you just now. ”

"Alright, don't say it's useless." Seeing the terrified scout, I waved my hand and urged impatiently: "Tell me quickly, how many troops the enemy has?" ”

The scout stabilized his mood a little, and then replied: "The troops that entered the town had a dozen tanks, and the same number of armored vehicles, and thirty covered trucks in the back, full of infantry, estimated to be at least two companies of troops. ”

"Are they showing signs of moving toward us?" I then asked, and at the same time calculated in my heart that if the German army really moved to our side in a short time, we would not have time to repair all the fortifications, and then the commanders and fighters could only rely on this broken fortification to fight a hard defensive battle with the German army.

After hearing this question, the scout immediately shook his head and replied: "Report to the commander, according to our observations, it seems that the German troops have gone through a long journey, and may have to rest for a period of time before they can return to battle. ”

After listening to the report of the scouts, I turned to Godunov and said: "Comrade Major, the situation is not good for us at the moment, so you must speed up the reinforcement of the fortifications, and you must complete the repair of the fortifications before the enemy attacks. Have faith? ”

Hearing my question, Godunov quickly straightened up and reported to me: "Please rest assured, commander, I assure you that we will complete the repair of the fortifications before the enemy's offensive begins." ”

"Very good, then I'll be relieved." After saying this, I turned to Katerina, who was standing aside, and said, "Comrade Katerina, it is estimated that it will not be long before fierce battles will break out here, and for the sake of your safety, as soon as the fortifications here are repaired, you should immediately lead the women to move to a safe place." ”

After hearing this, Katerina shrugged her shoulders and said unexpectedly: "Comrade commander, as long as the Germans are still on our land, there is no place to be safe. I strongly beg you, leave our men behind, let them stay in the trenches with the Red Army soldiers, and take revenge on the hateful fascist invaders. ”

"No, it's too dangerous here." I pointed to the commanders who were still busy not far away, and said to Katerina, "Did you see that? Many of the fortifications here are simply unusable, and I don't feel comfortable with women who don't have any combat experience staying in such a dangerous place. ”

Seeing Katerina's unhappy face, I explained to her in a slow tone: "Comrade Katerina, among you, there are quite a few young girls. As a commander of a unit, I have no right to let my future mother, worthless sacrifice on the battlefield. ”

"How can it be said that it is worthless?" Although she heard me say this, Katerina still stubbornly said: "Many of us, after the outbreak of war, have mastered certain military skills and can participate in battle like a warrior. Please be sure to approve our people to stay. ”

Seeing her so stubborn, I knew it would be difficult to convince her in a short period of time, so I decided to back down so that things could be resolved satisfactorily. I coughed, cleared my throat, and then said, "Comrade Katerina, since the women comrades in the village have such a high fighting enthusiasm, it seems a little inappropriate to reject you outright. ”

As soon as my words came out, a bright smile immediately appeared on Katerina's face, and she said proudly: "Comrade commander, you are right to say so. I'm going to tell you the good news right away. With that, she turned and left.

I grabbed her arm and said, "Comrade Katerina, don't worry, I'm not done yet. ”

"Not finished yet?" Katerina looked at me and asked puzzledly, "What else do you have to say?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Katerina." I quickly explained to her: "Although some of you have mastered combat skills, there is no need to put all of them in the trenches. So, you choose twenty suitable men to be incorporated into Major Godunov's troops. The rest of the men were divided into two teams, one of which was responsible for guarding the village with my guard unit in case the Germans bypassed our line and attacked the village; The other team is not only responsible for delivering ammunition and supplies to the front line, but also carrying the wounded back to the village for treatment as much as possible. You don't have a problem with my arrangement, right? ”

"No problem, Comrade Commander." Katerina seemed pleased with my arrangement, and she then said, "If you don't have anything to do, I'll go and arrange for it." ”

"Go, Comrade Katerina," I waved at her, and at the same time admonished, "if there is anything, you can always come to Major Godunov to settle it." ”

As soon as Katerina had gone away, Godunov whispered to me: "Comrade commander, is it appropriate to let the women of the village go to war?" I was afraid that they would panic when they saw the shells explode next to them, the bullets whizzing overhead, and the tanks speeding away. If they can't support it and turn around and run away, it will shake the morale of our army. ”

Godunov's words make perfect sense. The first time I went to the battlefield, I was so scared that my whole body trembled, and these women in the village who had never been on the battlefield before probably performed no better than me. It was with this in mind that after thinking about it for a while, I instructed Godunov: "Major, put all those women who participated in the battle in pillboxes, where it is relatively safe. As long as they listen to the sound of gunfire, they will soon be able to adapt to this battlefield. (To be continued......)

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