With the help of the villagers, the bodies of our fallen soldiers were transported to the rear by truck, along with the wounded, while the bodies of the Germans were dragged to the wasteland outside the village and thrown directly into a large pit that had already been dug.

Zoya's body was placed in a coffin provided by the well-meaning villagers and stored in the village church.

Although all the prisoners had been killed by us, Ryőeyev had already known the name of this unit from the mouths of the captured German officers and soldiers: the 332nd Infantry Regiment of the German Army, and the commander of the regiment was Lieutenant Colonel Lyutelier.

After dealing with the affairs in the village, I gave a direct order to the division's troops through the radio: all German officers and soldiers of the 332nd Infantry Regiment who encountered them were to be sentenced to death and their surrender would never be accepted.

Although those regimental commanders and battalion commanders found this order strange, they still carried it out to the letter. Only Yegorov, Chistyakov, and Serebryakov raised objections, feeling that for the German troops who laid down their arms and surrendered, we should still give the other side the treatment that a prisoner of war deserves, instead of shooting them casually.

When I recounted what had happened to Zoya, they were silent and did not raise any objection to my order to execute all the prisoners of the German 332nd Regiment.

Nothing was said all night.

At noon the next day, while I was having lunch with Resdaev, Yushchenko, and several company commanders at the makeshift command post at Polina's house, the soldiers on guard outside the village reported to us via walkie-talkies that a troop had come over, led by the deputy division commander, General Chistyakov. So I immediately took Rysdayev and them out to meet them.

From a distance, Chistyakov, two other commanders and a group of soldiers walked towards me, and my heart suddenly jumped, and I had a faint feeling of bad feelings.

"What's going on?" I said to myself: "Why did Chistyakov bring the commanders of other units to me without even saying hello?" "I left Rysdayev behind, and they hurried up to meet them.

"Comrade Division Commander, hello!" Chistyakov stopped first and saluted me.

When I returned the salute, I realized that the person standing next to him was actually General Sokolovsky, the chief of staff of the Front. I looked at the chief of staff with some surprise, wondering why he would come to me from the front headquarters at this time. I saluted him and greeted him politely: "Hello, Chief of Staff Sokolovsky, welcome to the 8th Guards Division. ”

"Hello! Comrade Oshanina. Sokolovsky returned the salute with a bitter face, then frowned, pointed to the officer next to him and said: "Let me introduce you to you, this is a ...... from the NKVD"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, let me introduce myself." The officer, who had already stepped forward, arrogantly raised his hand to interrupt Sokolovsky's words and said to me: "Hello, Division Commander Oshanina! I didn't expect us to meet again so soon, I'm Major Zuyev of the NKVD, remember me? ”

I pursed my mouth and didn't speak, and said in my heart that I have seen so many people, how can I remember who you are? So he shook his head and said that he didn't remember seeing him in the place at all.

"We met in the Red Blesno subway station, have you forgotten?" The young alumni kindly reminded me. "Before I arrived at the subway station, you had a confrontation with my subordinate, Second Lieutenant Dolnikov."

Hearing him say this, I was a little impressed that I was at odds with Ensign Dornikov on what to do with the people on the subway train, and we had to find separate connections to settle the matter. I was looking for Colonel Bezikov of the Central Guard Regiment, and the second lieutenant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was looking for this major.

I have always had no good impression of the people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but since others have shown friendly behavior, I cannot refuse people from thousands of miles away, so I stretched out my hand and shook his hand, and by the way, I greeted him, and asked him what he meant: "Hello, Comrade Major! Why did you have time to run to our Eighth Guards Division today? ”

The major shook hands with me and smiled and said, "I was ordered to arrest you!" ”

His words were like a bolt of lightning that directly made me stupid. After a long time, I broke free from his hand and asked in a daze, "Arrest me?" What is this for? Am I doing something wrong? ”

Before Zuyev could reply, several officers behind me were already shouting wildly.

In particular, Captain Yushchenko, who is also from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, first jumped out and questioned: "Comrade Major, I am also Captain Yushchenko from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and I am currently the commander of the guard company of the 8th Guards Division. ”

"Yes! For what? Rysdayev and several company commanders also shouted in unison.

"Quiet!" I came to my senses at this time, waved my hand to silence everyone, and then turned my head and asked Major Zuyev solemnly: "Comrade Major, can I know the reason for my arrest?" ”

Zuyev nodded with a straight face and replied: "According to the photographs provided to Comrade Stalin by Comrade Ehrenburg, a correspondent of the newspaper "Red Star", it was you who personally ordered the brutal killing of nearly a hundred German soldiers who laid down their arms and surrendered, which caused a serious impact. In order to avoid a similar incident, I have been ordered to come and arrest you and hand you over to a military court. ”

I nodded, and then said to Sokolovsky, who was standing next to me and remained silent: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front, I would like to know who will command the 8th Guards Division after I am arrested. ”

Sokolovsky's eyes glanced at Chistyakov beside him, and then replied: "By order of Zhukov, after you are arrested by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the 8th Guards Division will be replaced by the deputy division commander, Major General Chistyakov. ”

I still know a lot about Chistyakov's ability, and I am relieved that he will take the post of division commander. Then I turned my gaze back to Zuyev, and I tried to squeeze a smile on my face and said: "Comrade Major, before you officially arrest me, I would like to ask you to see something. You won't object to this proposal, will you? ”

Major Zuyev nodded slightly in agreement.

Then I said to Sokolovsky and Chistyakov: "Two generals, please come with you." ”

I led a group of people to the small church in the village, walked to the coffin parked in the hall, and I ordered Yushchenko: "Comrade Captain, open the coffin." ”

"Yes!" Yushchenko loudly agreed, and then personally removed the coffin lid with two other fighters.

It was strange that I had brought everyone to the church, whether it was Zuyev, Sokolovsky and Chistyakov, and when the lid of the coffin was removed, and Zoya's broken body appeared in their sight, everyone present was filled with righteous indignation, and even Zuev was without exception.

He looked at me in amazement and asked, "Comrade Oshanina, is it because of this that you ordered the execution of all the German prisoners?" ”

I nodded, and began to explain to them the real reason for my killing: "If they capture this young girl named Zoya and just shoot or hang her, I will not express my anger, after all, this is a war to the death." But you've all seen what they do with the captured Zoya? First, she was raped and insulted by dozens of German soldiers who were inferior to beasts; After hanging her, he hung her body on the gallows for a month and a half; The most extreme thing is that they even insulted the corpse, not only cutting off her room, but even gouging out her eyes. Seeing that our army was about to fight here, the German soldiers dismantled the gallows in order to destroy the incriminating evidence, and threw the body of Zoya, who still had a rope around her neck, into a pit for burial. ”

At this point, I paused, saw the angry expressions on everyone's faces, and knew that my goal had been achieved, and then continued: "Is it still the way a soldier should be for a German to do this?" It can be said that they are not human beings at all, they can only be regarded as animals. For such two-legged beasts, we should pay for the eyes and teeth for the teeth, and the blood debt should be paid with blood. I want to let these fascist bandits know that when they want to run rampant and wanton on our land, they must carefully weigh what the consequences of doing so will be, and what price they will pay. ”

Sokolovsky took two steps forward with a cold face, came to my side, patted me lightly on the shoulder, and said: "Division Commander Oshanina, I really didn't expect that things would be so complicated, I will report to Comrade Zhukov immediately." ”

Major Zuyev also came over and whispered to me: "Commander Oshanina, let's go, the way back to the city is quite long, if you don't go, it will be dark when you enter the city." ”

"Comrade Major." Chistyakov, who had not spoken, suddenly spoke: "Please take care of our division commander." ”

"Yes, Comrade Major!" Rysdayev and Yushchenko also chimed in: "Our division commander will entrust you." ”

Zuyev saluted the commanders present and solemnly promised: "Please rest assured, I will definitely give convenience to Division Commander Oshanina within the scope of my authority." Then he made a gesture of invitation to me.

After shaking hands with Sokolovsky, Chistyakov, and Rysdayev, I strode out of the lecture hall accompanied by Zuyev.