When the commanders had left, I got up and walked up to Gurov and Lopatin, raised my hand to salute them, and asked respectfully: "Comrade Commander, Comrade Military Commissar, how are you going to arrange my work?" ”

Lopatin glanced up at me and touched Gurov, who was sitting next to him, with his shoulder: "I said, Comrade Military Commissar, the work of Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina will be arranged by you." I came this time with my adjutant. ”

Lopatin said that he had brought an adjutant with him, and the implication was that as long as I didn't let me be his adjutant, Gurov could arrange me in any position. Gurov lowered his head and thought about it for a moment, then raised his head and said: "Comrade Oshanina, among the encircled troops, there is also the 64th Infantry Division of the 229th Army. You've been with Chuikov, and I think the division commander, Colonel Sazhin, will welcome you. ”

Now that the place has been decided, I raised my hand to salute the two of them and then planned to leave. Unexpectedly, Gurov stopped me and said, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I'll send you out." ”

The two of us walked out of the headquarters and into the streets. Just as I was about to salute Gurov again and say goodbye, he called me by name and said slowly, "Comrade Oshanina, after you arrive at the 229th Division, you should do your best to discuss the breakout with Colonel Sazhen. ”

"Breakout?!" Hearing this word, my heartbeat couldn't help but accelerate, it turned out that Gurov also saw the danger faced by the group army after being encircled, but just now Lopatin said at the meeting that he would not break through and fight to the death with the German army, why did Gurov make me think about breaking through again? So I lowered my voice and asked with some puzzlement: "Comrade Military Commissar, didn't Commander Lopatin say it just now. Do not allow the troops to break through and fight the enemy until the last moment? ”

Gurov snorted. Said disdainfully: "What is Lopatin." In addition to being able to obey orders and please his superiors, he has no command ability at all, and it is difficult enough to command a division, let alone a group army of more than 100,000 people. He took a step forward, reached out and grabbed my arms, and said earnestly, "Oshanina, according to my observations, you are very talented. You can't sacrifice it here for nothing. Listen to me, if you have a chance to break through, don't hesitate to stand out immediately. ”

"But Commander Lopatin ......"

Before I could finish speaking, Gurov interrupted me with a wave of his hand: "General Lopatin is the commander of the 62nd Army, and he can command the troops of the 62nd Army, do you understand what I mean?" ”

I understood that Gurov said this out of concern for me, so I nodded silently.

"Go, go to the 229th Division. Good luck! With that, he patted me on the shoulder. Turn around and walk towards headquarters.

I walked towards where I got off when I came, hoping to come across a car that was on its way to the 229th Division. You can take me to the division headquarters. I hadn't gone far when I saw a jeep coming towards me, and I hurriedly walked to the side of the road to make way for the vehicle. Unexpectedly, the jeep stopped beside me, and then the driver pushed the car away and asked me loudly: "Hey, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I said, where are you going?" Need me to drop you off? ”

When I looked up, it turned out to be Sidorokov, who had sent me here, and was overjoyed, and hurriedly opened the back door and sat down, and ordered him: "I want to go to the division headquarters of the 229th Division, do you know the way?" ”

Sidorokov tilted his head as he drove and replied: "You know, when I was in the parking lot just now, I met an acquaintance who came to pull military supplies, and he is now in the 229th Division. When I was chatting with him, I asked for directions to them, and I didn't expect it to come in handy so quickly. ”

Sidorokov pulled him to a valley, and after driving a short distance, he was stopped by a patrol.

The car stopped on the side of the road, and a soldier with a submachine gun on his shoulder walked up to our car, stood outside the car, bent slightly, and asked in a polite tone: "Who are you, Comrade Commander." ”

I glanced at his collar badge and replied: "Comrade sergeant, please take me to the division headquarters, I am Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, from the headquarters of the army group." ”

"Army Group Command?! Which army group command? The sergeant stood still and asked.

"Headquarters of the 62nd Army."

"I'm sorry, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," the sergeant said in a stiff tone, "our division belongs to the battle sequence of the 64th Army, and General Kolpakchi has no right to command us. ”

Seeing this old-fashioned sergeant, I was really angry and funny, and just wanted to count him down in two sentences, but the driver Sidorokov took over the conversation first and said: "Hey, I said Comrade Sergeant, maybe others have no right to command you, but this comrade lieutenant colonel has the right." You know why? In addition to her position in the 62nd Army, she was also the chief of staff of the Provisional Command appointed by General Chuikov. Seeing the sergeant's surprised expression, he said proudly, "I was ordered by Commander Chuikov to send her back to the 64th Army." ”

With Sidorokov's help, the sergeant's attitude became better, and he saluted me and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the division headquarters is halfway up the mountain, and the car can't drive up. Please get out of the car and I'll take you up. ”

I got out of the car, waved my hand at Sidorokov, and said with a smile: "Comrade driver, I'm fine, you go back, thank you for sending me back from such a long distance." ”

The sergeant led me slowly up the mountain path, asking me as he went: "Comrade commander, do you think we can break out of the encirclement?" ”

"Of course, Comrade Sergeant." Without hesitation, I replied: "Judging by the strength of the 229th Division, it is not a problem to break through the enemy's encirclement and successfully break through the encirclement. ”

After walking a short distance, I saw a cave in front of me, and the communications soldiers were busy setting up wires. The sergeant led me to the sentry at the entrance of the cave, whispered a few words to him, and then walked back to me and said, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I can only send you here." Comrade division commander is inside, please come in. ”

I walked into the cave and saw that the cave was not small, but it was still very spacious for more than 20 people. A middle-aged colonel stood in front of the desk, pointing to the map spread out on it, and assigning tasks to several commanders standing around.

I stepped forward, raised my hand in salute, and said loudly: "Hello, Comrade Divisional Commander! Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina reports to you that I have come to report to you on the order of Comrade Gurov, the military commissar of the 62nd Army, and I am waiting for your instructions. ”

Colonel Sazhin looked up at me for a moment, then burst out laughing and said to the commanders around him, "Comrade commander, do you know who she is?" ”

Everyone looked at me and shook their heads collectively to show that they didn't know me.

Colonel Sazhin walked around the table, stretched out his hand to shake my hand, and turned sideways to say to everyone: "Let me introduce you to this Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, who some time ago acted as the commander of the 678th Regiment of the 214th Division. On the night of her arrival, she sent a force to attack the German baggage camps, destroying the enemy defenders with almost no casualties, and capturing enough weapons and ammunition to arm two regiments. ”

After listening to his introduction, everyone suddenly realized that they came up to shake hands with me.

After a brief pleasantries, we returned to the table. I looked at the map spread out in front of me and asked Colonel Sazhen: "Comrade division commander, what are you discussing?" ”

"What else can be discussed?" One major said angrily: "Where do you want to break through?" ”

Sazhin continued: "Our division now has only four battalions left, and the ammunition has not been replenished for a long time, so it is planned to break through at the right time." ”

I looked up at Sazhen and asked, "Comrade division commander, from which direction do you plan to break through?" ”

The colonel pointed to the map and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, I intend to have the troops cross the 147th Division's defenses, cross the river from the pontoon bridge on the Koska River, and then turn around and go south to cross the Don River and withdraw to Stalingrad." ”

I sighed and said regretfully: "Comrade division commander, this breakthrough plan will not work. ”

"Why?" Sazhin asked in surprise.

I pointed to the location of the original pontoon bridge, glanced at each of the commanders present, and said: "Comrade commanders, maybe you don't know that an hour ago, the commander of the 62nd Army, General Kolpakchi, was removed from his post and arrested. The first thing he did when he took office was General Lopatin, who took office, ordered the Boat Bridge Battalion to blow up all the pontoon bridges over the Koska River in order to prevent the troops of the group army from retreating through the pontoon bridges without permission. ”

"Ahh As soon as I finished speaking, there was a gasp in the room.

Sazhin looked at the map with a stern expression, and after a long time, he said slowly: "Our division is not strong enough and there is not much ammunition, if we don't find a way to break through and continue to fight, we will either be completely wiped out by the enemy or captured." ”

Since I was sent to the 229th Division by Gurov, then my fate is closely related to them, and I don't want to be a prisoner or die here, so I have to actively think of a way. I looked at the map and asked Sazhin tentatively: "Comrade Division Commander, if we do not break through the defense area of the 62nd Army, but break through from other directions, which direction do you think we should choose?" ”

Sazhin looked at it, then pointed to the south side of the map and said: "I think we should take the risk of protruding from the front of the enemy and going straight to the Don River, where there should still be troops of our 64th Army, and after joining them, we will withdraw by ferry from the pier at the Don crossing to the left bank of the Don River." ”

I looked at the route he pointed out, and it seemed to be operable, so I nodded and said, "Comrade Division Commander, I agree with your proposal." However, in order to ensure the success of the breakout, the operation should be carried out in the evening. It's too late tonight, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow night. But what worries me is whether our troops will be able to withstand the enemy's frenzied attacks during the day. (To be continued......)