A few minutes later, our troops withdrew from their positions on the edge of the swamp. The team made their way through the jungle towards the village of Pyatnica to the south.

Before leaving, Captain Gusev ordered his men to tie a simple stretcher for Vaskov, and specially selected four strong fighters to carry the stretcher.

As I walked, Captain Gusev, who was walking side by side with me at the front of the queue, suddenly said to me: "Comrade division commander, I feel that something is wrong. ”

Hearing Gusev say this, a thought suddenly popped into my heart, he would not suspect that Vaskov was a spy of the Germans, or he would have escaped alone because all the soldiers who had been on the task of luring the enemy had been sacrificed. Thinking of this, I asked coldly: "Comrade Captain, what do you think is wrong?" ”

The lieutenant didn't seem to notice the change in my expression, and analyzed me seriously: "Comrade division commander, you see, although we beat the Germans the edge of the swamp just now, they also retreated too quickly, could there be any conspiracy?" ”

After figuring out that what the captain wanted to say had nothing to do with Vaskov, I breathed a long sigh of relief, as if I had thought too much, so I said disapprovingly: "When the Germans were attacked by a sudden attack, they probably thought that they had been ambushed by our army, and they were afraid that the whole army would be annihilated, so they retreated in a panic." ”

"But ......," Gusev was about to say something, but I interrupted him, and I said impatiently: "There is nothing, and the Germans are not fools, they know that it is impossible to attack us through a swamp several hundred meters wide without heavy fire, so they are forced to retreat." All right. Comrade Captain. Speed up your men's marches. Rush to the village to join the 1st Company and return to the division headquarters as soon as possible. ”

Gusev reluctantly agreed, and then gave the order to the troops to speed up the march. As soon as his order was given, the warriors quickened their pace and made a rapid advance towards the village.

Captain Burda was standing with a few soldiers at the edge of the trench at the entrance of the village, looking around, and when he saw us coming out of the woods, he immediately trotted to meet us. Seeing Burda running over, Gusev stood still. Raised his right hand and shouted: "Troops stop!" "Following his command, the troops that were marching stopped advancing.

Captain Burda ran up to us, stood upright, raised his hand and saluted, and reported: "Comrade division commander, the rescued soldiers have boarded the car and are ready to set off at any time, please instruct." ”

I returned the salute and asked, "Is the truck enough?" ”

Burda shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Because the number of rescued fighters is too large, the number of trucks we brought is not enough, so I only let the wounded and some of the weakened fighters get into the car first." The remaining companies of fighters and guards remained in the village. ”

"You're doing the right thing, Comrade Captain. Then let the wounded go back to the division headquarters first. We will leave when the truck returns. "It is undeniable that this arrangement is the most reasonable for him, so I do not hesitate to praise him. After that, I said to Gusev, who was standing beside me: "Let's go, Comrade Captain, let's go back to the village together." ”

Following my order, the troops that had just stopped continued their advance.

Walking to the entrance of the village, Burda instructed one of the fighters: "You go and inform the driver, you can go." ”

The warrior agreed, turned and ran away.

At this moment, the roar of a motor was faintly heard from the air.

I stopped, looked up into the air, and said to myself, "What is this sound?" ”

"It's an airplane, it's a German plane." Gusev shouted loudly in my ear, and then ran towards the village, shouting loudly as he ran: "Air raid siren, hurry up and hide!" ”

With his shout, Bulda also came to his senses and ran towards the village, also shouting loudly: "Air raid siren!" Air raid alert! Everyone get out of the car immediately and hurry up and hide! ”

The planes of the Germans came too fast that the fighters in the trucks began to get out of them, and three enemy planes had already flown over the village, squishing and diving down.

Although I have worked as an anti-aircraft machine gunner and have shot down several German planes, in the absence of anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns, I can neither volley and explode Midi's plane with a 38 cover like some gods, nor can I blow down a Japanese plane with a grenade like a master in the mythological drama, the only thing I can do is lie down on the spot and save my life.

Three enemy planes swooped down and strafed the village, and bombs were dropped one after another. The smoke quickly filled the village. The house that was hit collapsed and immediately reduced to rubble. The trucks parked on the street were also hit one after another, and they were blown apart, and the soldiers who could not dodge next to them fell down screaming.

Perhaps seeing a large number of comrades-in-arms fall one after another around him, a red-eyed soldier stood in the middle of the street, raised his submachine gun and opened fire on enemy planes in the air. But his fire had no effect, and the enemy planes dived down on him, two long lines of machine-gun bullets that broke him in two.

Seeing this bloody scene, I closed my eyes in agony and buried my head deep in the trenches, hoping that the enemy planes would leave soon.

After using all the ammunition, the enemy plane finally stopped attacking the ground, flapped its wings and flew into the distance.

Watching the enemy planes leave, the village sounded one after another: "Air raids lifted!" Air raid lifted! Shouts.

I stood up, walked out of the trench, and walked down the street with a blank face. Looking at the roaring trucks, the soldiers who died in various positions, and the wounded moaning in pain on the ground, I asked myself, "Am I doing something wrong?" If I hadn't been afraid that my capture would be exposed, I wouldn't have asked Vaskov to take people to attack the station of the Vostok Battalion. When I found out that there were hundreds of captured fighters of our army nearby, if it were not for my temporary soft-heartedness, I would not have led the troops to rescue them. If they hadn't brought their troops to them, maybe the Germans wouldn't have found out and would not have provoked such a brutal retaliation. ……”

Maybe I was so preoccupied that Gusev called me a few times next to me, but I didn't hear it. Later, he grabbed my shoulder and shook it vigorously a few times before I woke up from my contemplation. Looking at Gusev, whose face was covered with jet, I cautiously asked: "Comrade Captain." Are our casualties large? ”

Gusev nodded bitterly. In a heavy tone, he said: "Our trucks were all blown up. Because the enemy plane came so suddenly, the wounded in the car did not have time to be transferred. Fortunately, however, there were no casualties among the 2nd Company outside the village, and only one platoon was killed or wounded in the 1st Company. And those rescued fighters, probably the number of casualties was more than two hundred. ”

Hearing such heavy casualties, my heart sank suddenly, just three enemy planes brought such heavy casualties to our army, if we had two more waves, we would have been completely annihilated. Come to think of it. I hurriedly said to Gusev: "Comrade Captain, immediately lead the troops out of the village, so that even if the enemy planes come again, we can immediately hide in the woods." ”

Gusev immediately replied: "Okay, I'll go and assemble the troops." With that, he ran towards the second company at the entrance of the village, because at present the most complete formation is only the company of Chumak, and if you want to transfer quickly, you need these young men to help carry the wounded.

As soon as Gusev walked away, I saw Captain Burda limping towards me. Seeing him like this scared me. I hurriedly greeted him, held him and asked with concern, "Comrade Captain." Are you injured? ”

Burda waved his hand and said, "Report to Comrade Division Commander, I was grazed by shrapnel and it is not in the way." It's too dangerous in the village now, and you don't know when the enemy planes will come again, so you might as well order the troops to move first. ”

I nodded and comforted him: "Comrade Captain, don't worry, I have already asked Captain Gusev to arrange the transfer of troops, so you should bandage the wound first." ”

"It's good." With my help, Bulda came to the open door of a house, sat down on the threshold, took out a first-aid kit from his briefcase, bit it in his mouth, pulled up his trouser leg and began to bandage it himself.

After the bandaging was finished, he stood up again with my support, first thanked him, and then said, "Comrade Division Commander, there is something I forgot to tell you. Before you and Captain Gusev arrived at the village, I contacted the division through the walkie-talkie that the company had carried, and asked them to send a truck to pick us up. At this, he raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said, "In terms of time, maybe in a few minutes, they will be able to reach the outside of the village." ”

"Great, Comrade Captain." Hearing him say this, I excitedly patted him on the shoulder and said happily, "Good job, you have done a great job." When I return to the division, I will write a report to my superiors and apply for a medal for you. ”

Maybe I slapped it too hard, and it hurt so much that Burda grinned. Before he could speak, Captain Gusev and Captain Chumak ran in from outside the village with their troops. Gusev stopped in front of us, ordered Chumak to take the fighters of the guard company to rescue the wounded, and then said to me: "Comrade division commander, the situation is very bad, the trucks have been blown up, and we will have to walk for at least ten hours to bring so many wounded back to the division headquarters." ”

I smiled and comforted him, saying, "Comrade Captain, don't worry. Just now Captain Burda reported to me that before we reached the village, he had spoken to the division headquarters, which had sent a convoy to pick us up, and that they should be there soon. ”

"Burda, you're amazing." After listening to my words, Gusev also slapped Burda on the shoulder excitedly. He was much stronger than I was, and he slammed Burda to the ground. He hurriedly went up to support Bulda, and at the same time teased in his mouth: "I said man, how weak is your body, you fell to the ground with a light pat." ”

Burda smiled bitterly and did not speak, and I hurriedly explained to him: "Comrade Captain, Captain Burda's leg is injured. ”

"Really? Where is it? Let me see. Gusev said as he bent down to examine Burda's wounds.

Burda hurriedly stopped him, raised his head and said to me: "Comrade division commander, that motorcycle is still intact, or you can take the motorcycle back to the division headquarters first." It's too dangerous here, you're the head of a division, you can't stay and take risks. ”

"Yes, Comrade Captain is right, I support him." Gusev immediately expressed his support for Burda's proposal, and he also said to me resolutely: "Comrade division commander, you should go back to the division headquarters first, I am here, you can rest assured." ”

To tell the truth, the scene of the indiscriminate bombardment of the village by enemy planes just now, and the inability of our troops to fight back, made me feel afraid. But as a division commander, if they just proposed, I immediately hurriedly agreed, it would affect my image in their minds, so I pretended to be embarrassed and said, "This is not good, the soldiers have not left yet, what is it if I leave first." ”

"There's nothing bad about it, if you leave now, no one will say anything." With that, Gusev beckoned the motorcycle and sat with Burda and me in the bike's sidecar.

I sat down on the sidecar half-pushed and half-sat on the ground, and said to the two of them with a serious appearance: "In that case, Captain Gusev and Captain Burda, everything here will be left to you." Remember, be sure to get the troops out of the village as soon as possible. After speaking, he instructed the motorcyclist: "Comrade soldier, let's go." ”

Not far from the village, the motorbike was met by a long line of trucks. The convoy stopped not far from us, the door of the co-pilot of the first car opened, and a second lieutenant got out of the car, ran up to me and raised his hand and saluted: "Report to Comrade Division Commander, Second Lieutenant Peskov, on the orders of the Chief of Staff, led the convoy to meet the troops on the mission and wait for your orders. ”

I sat down in the sidecar and returned the salute, looked at the convoy with no end in sight, and asked the second lieutenant: "Second Lieutenant Peskov, how many trucks have you come?" ”

"Report to Comrade Division Commander, a total of thirty-five vehicles came."

I heard that there were thirty-five cars, and it should not be a problem to fit all the people in the village, so I nodded and instructed Peskov: "Comrade second lieutenant, lead the convoy to continue and meet Captain Gusev, who is already waiting for you outside the village at this time." ”

The lieutenant agreed, saluted, turned and ran back to the car. After the convoy was restarted, I let the motorcycle continue to move towards the division headquarters.

After more than half an hour, I returned to the headquarters of the division, and when I got off the bus at the gate of the division headquarters, I immediately vomited and fell into darkness. It was not easy not to vomit, but two soldiers on duty came from the side and helped me into the division headquarters.

As soon as I entered the headquarters, I saw that Captain Boroda was on the phone, and when he saw me enter the door, he hurriedly said into the microphone: "Comrade commander, please wait, Division Commander Oshanina is back, and I asked her to talk to you." After speaking, he covered the microphone and whispered to me: "Comrade division commander, it is the commander of the army group, General Kolovnikov, who called. ”

I gently broke free from the support of the two fighters, waved my hand, motioned for them to stand down, and then staggered to Boroda's side, took the phone from his hand, took a deep breath, and said politely into the microphone: "Hello, Comrade Commander, I am Major Oshanina. (To be continued......)

PS: Thanks to the book friend demon. Technique. Division, midnight travelers, long-term diving, and monthly ticket support for the speed of the wind.