The charging soldiers had their rifles loaded with bayonets in their hands, and except for a few who ran for a while and stopped to fire a shot, the rest of them rushed forward with their heads down. The fighters in front fell, but the fighters behind still rushed forward stupidly regardless of it, because there was no fire cover, they all fell under the gun's guns under the enemy's intensive fire sniping.

More than 100 soldiers lay in the open space in front of the settlement, and some of them were seriously injured and not dead, struggling in the pile of corpses.

I don't know which idiot is commanding the road, and now without any fire cover, let the troops attack, doesn't this let the soldiers go to death in vain? If it weren't for Yushchenko, who was next to me, who reacted quickly and grabbed me in time, I guess I would have rushed out of the city with a pistol. He said in my ear urgently: "Comrade division commander, please calm down! After a pause, he continued: "It depends on the situation, the starting point of the attacking troops should be in the forest on the right, and we should be able to find their commander there. ”

Yushchenko's words calmed me down, yes, a person on the battlefield can't play a role, even if I rush out, I'm just sent to death, nothing can change. I took two deep breaths and said to Yushchenko in a deep voice: "Let's go, let's go over there and see, who is commanding the troops?" Then he took the lead and walked briskly towards the place where there might be our troops.

After walking a short distance, suddenly someone in front of me shouted: "Stop!" With a shout, two people jumped out from behind the trees. Almost at the same time as the two men jumped out, Yushchenko and Grisa behind me had already dodged in front of me and aimed their guns at each other.

I saw two soldiers wearing caps and civilian clothes aiming at us with guns on the opposite side, and the rifles with bayonets in their hands were also the standard of our army, and hurriedly stopped Yushchenko and Grissa: "Don't shoot, it's your own people!" With that, I separated the two of us and walked forward, and asked in a loud voice, "Which part are you?" ”

"We are from the Khimki militia annihilation battalion, what part are you, comrade commander?" One of the fighters answered my question, while his gun was still aimed at us.

"We belong to the 8th Guards Division." Yushchenko took a few steps forward, stood beside me, and replied in a loud voice: "This is our division commander - General Oshanina." Comrade soldiers, we are going to see your commander right away, and you take us there at once! ”

Yushchenko came out of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the end, and he spoke with a condescending atmosphere, which completely shocked the fighters on the other side. Two warriors with their guns on their shoulders saluted me and led us in front.

After walking in the forest for a few more minutes, I saw a dense crowd in the forest in front of me, and I guessed that this was probably the assembly place of the destroyer battalion, so I couldn't help but speed up my pace. As soon as he approached the edge of the crowd, he heard someone in the crowd speak loudly: "...... Comrades, although the offensive of the first company failed, we could not give up easily, and as long as there was one person alive, the offensive could not be stopped. Now I declare that the fighters of the 2nd Company are ready for battle and are ready to start the second round of the offensive immediately......"

"Wait! Don't make unnecessary sacrifices! "I didn't want to see these warriors go to their deaths in vain, so I hurriedly stopped them, and at the same time pushed aside the fighters who were in front of me and walked inside.

"Who said that?" When the speaker inside heard my words, he looked extremely angry and asked loudly: "What is a senseless sacrifice, in order to defend the motherland, each of us will not hesitate to sacrifice his precious life." ”

When the other party spoke, I had already squeezed into the crowd, walked to his side, looked up, and couldn't help but be stunned, I actually knew the commander of this militia. The other party was also stunned the moment he saw me.

"Captain Bukov!" "Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina!" We cried out almost at the same time, and the next moment, our hands were clasped together.

I said with emotion: "I really didn't expect to see you here, Comrade Captain!" ”

He also said excitedly: "Yes, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel. We met last time on the subway, but we didn't expect to meet here again after only a few days. ”

"Comrade Captain!" Yushchenko said coldly next to him: "Division Commander Oshanina now has the rank of major general, which was awarded by Comrade Stalin himself. ”

"The rank that Comrade Stalin personally conferred?!" There was a gasping sound from the side, and it seemed that his words had stunned the commanders and fighters around him.

Bukov let go of my hand, took a step back, and saluted and reported: "Report to Comrade General, Captain Bukov, commander of the Khimki militia annihilation battalion, is being ordered to launch an offensive against the fascist forces that have captured Khimki, and is waiting for your instructions!" ”

I stepped forward, pulled his hand down from my forehead, and said, "It's all old acquaintances, don't be so polite." You give me a brief overview of the situation, and then we'll figure out how to attack. ”

"Yes!" As soon as he agreed, he began to brief me on the situation in the Khimki settlement: "According to the information we have received, Khimki was occupied by a reconnaissance battalion belonging to the German 258th Infantry Division, numbering nearly two hundred men, along with three armored vehicles, which were armed with mortars and heavy machine guns in addition to a large number of submachine guns. ……”

I interrupted him and asked with concern, "What about the strength and equipment of our army?" ”

He smiled bitterly and replied: "There are five companies and six hundred men in the battalion, as for the equipment," he pointed to the left and right, and said self-deprecatingly: "The soldiers are equipped with rifles, not any heavy weapons, after all, we are a militia, not a regular army!" ”

After listening to his introduction, the idiom "hitting a stone with an egg" immediately came to my mind, and attacking a well-equipped German army with such troops and equipment was simply sending people to death. I also smiled bitterly twice, and asked with a fluke mentality: "Are there any troops of our army nearby?" ”

"Yes!" I was taken aback by Bukov's answer: "There is a tank division of our army. It is said that they were withdrawn from Klin, and the day before yesterday they fought a battle in Greentown, a dozen kilometers north of Khimki, and suffered heavy losses, and are now resting in the forest two kilometers east of our battalion. ”