General Affanasyev refused Antonov's request and instead of riding in an armored car, he sat on the bridge of the truck, as I did. He poked his head out of the co-pilot's window and said, "Major Oshanina, how far is it from here to your divisional headquarters?" ”

I looked at my watch, looked up and said, "Comrade General, you will reach your destination in about two hours." ”

"Then don't bother, let's go."

"Yes!" As soon as I turned to leave, I vaguely heard General Afanasyev muttering: "The Germans will come over at some point, so it is better to leave this place as soon as possible." ”

The convoy went back faster than when it came, and it took only an hour and a half to reach the outside of the village. As I passed through the entrance to the village, I was surprised to find that there were actually fortifications built here, and in addition to the machine-gun positions made of sandbags, there was also a trench more than half a man deep, and at least two squads of soldiers defended here.

I hurriedly asked the driver to stop, and after getting out of the car, I came to the group of fighters and asked a sergeant: "Comrade sergeant, when was this fortification built?" When I left in the morning, there seemed to be nothing but a few sentinels. ”

When the sergeant heard my question, he straightened up and replied loudly: "Report to Comrade Division Commander, this fortification was ordered to be built by Comrade Chief of Staff, and he said that this would prevent a sneak attack by the Germans. ”

"Is this kind of fortification only available at the entrance of this village, or at every entrance to the village?"

"There are at the entrance to every village, and in those houses near the fortifications, there are also firing points. Even in the face of an attack by the Germans. They were also unable to storm the village in a short time. ”

I listened to the sergeant's answer. Looking at the commanders and fighters in the trenches and fortifications, he nodded with satisfaction, in such a short time, the fortifications in the village can be perfected, it seems that Boroda's ability is still quite strong.

With a wave of my hand, I asked the driver to drive the car away, and walked to the parking place, where I saw that General Afanasyev was already waiting for me under the car. Major Antonov, Captain Gusev, Captain Burda, and Captain Chumak stood around him, and everyone bowed their heads as if they had just been criticized by the general.

Seeing me walking over, General Afanasyev said with some displeasure: "Major Oshanina, how long are you going to make people wait?" It took us five or six minutes to get off the bus before you came slowly. ”

I smiled apologetically at him and replied, "I'm sorry, Comrade General, I beg your pardon. I was just at the entrance of the village inspecting the newly repaired fortifications, so I was late. ”

General Afanasyev snorted dissatisfied. said: "Then don't bother, hurry up and take me to your division." I'm still anxious to talk to Commander Meretskov. ”

I didn't argue with him, and with a smile on my face led him to the division headquarters.

As soon as I entered, I saw Captain Boroda sitting at his desk, looking down at a map spread out in front of him. Sensing that someone was entering the headquarters, he raised his head, and when he saw that it was me and General Afanasyev entering the door, he was visibly stunned for a moment, then he abruptly stood up and rushed over to meet us.

He gave a solemn military salute to General Afanasyev and reported loudly: "Comrade General, your subordinate Boroda reports to you and welcomes your arrival. ”

Afanasyev looked him up and down, and then exclaimed excitedly: "It turned out to be you, Lieutenant Boroda, I didn't expect you to be alive!" ......" Then the two hugged each other.

Boroda also said with some emotion: "Comrade General, I am really happy to see you get out of danger safely. ”

Seeing the two big men hugging and hugging in front of me, I felt a little awkward, so I coughed, cleared my throat, and said, "General Afanasyev, let me introduce you to this Captain Boroda, who is currently the acting chief of staff of the 378th Division. ”

"Captain? Chief of staff? Afanasyev separated from Boroda, looked him from head to toe, and said: "I haven't seen you for a few months, and I didn't expect you to be a captain." Then he turned around and asked me: "Major Oshanina, can you tell me how you and Captain Boroda became the division commander and chief of staff of the 378th Infantry Division?" I'm all confused. ”

I led the general to the table and sat down, picked up the teapot that was placed on the table, poured a cup of hot tea, and as I handed it to him, I asked, "Comrade General, was Captain Boroda your subordinate before?" ”

General Afanasyev took a sip of his teacup and said: "Yes, Boroda was my first guard, he was out of the company during the Soviet-Finnish war, became a platoon commander, and was awarded a medal for his bravery in battle. Later he served as a commander at a post on the Soviet-Finnish border, and after the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, he held our post in very difficult circumstances, and at the end of the day he led his troops to break out of the encirclement from the front of the enemy. At this point, the general suddenly threw the teacup on the table, and because it was used too violently, a lot of tea spilled on the table.

Before we could figure out the situation, he pointed to the map with his finger and asked Boroda with a serious expression: "Comrade Boroda, I want to ask you, your station is only more than 20 kilometers away from the place where we broke through, why didn't you send a strong force to support our breakout operation?" Seeing that Boroda wanted to speak, he continued: "You must know that I have seen the troops of your division today, although they are not strong and strong, but the overall combat effectiveness is still not low. Don't prevaricate me with any reason, I just want to know the real answer. ”

"Comrade General, this ......" Boroda hurriedly didn't know how to answer this question, opened his mouth, but still couldn't speak.

I hurriedly relieved him of the siege and said, "Comrade General, I can give you an explanation for this matter. ”

"Say it." General Afanasyev said with a serious expression. Seeing his expression, I realized why Lu Dao always felt awkward from the time he escaped to the present, it turned out that he was blaming our division in his heart for not going to relieve the siege of the 2nd Assault Army in time.

"Captain Boroda and I only received an order from General Meretskov yesterday to temporarily assume the positions of division commander and chief of staff of the 378th Division."

"What about the former division commander and chief of staff?"

"I have been escorted to the headquarters of the 59th Army." Boroda was afraid that I would not understand the situation, so he preemptively explained the whereabouts of the two former divisional leaders.

"The command of the 59th Army," Afanasyev sneered twice when he heard this unit, and said, "since he has been relieved of his post, he should be sent to the headquarters of the front army to receive punishment, and for what to send to the headquarters of the army group." You must know that there are no good people in this group army, and the commanders from top to bottom, from the commander of the group army to the commander at the regimental level, have not done anything serious except for being greedy for wine and obsessing with women. ”

I turned my head to look at Boroda, just as he was looking back at me. Seeing that his face was full of helplessness, I had to smile bitterly, and said in my heart that the fame of the 59th Group Army is really big enough, and everyone knows that this is a wine-colored army, and it is self-evident that the combat effectiveness of the army is not strong.

I pouted to Borodanunu and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, you know the ins and outs of this matter better, so it's up to you to explain it to Comrade General." ”

Boroda stood up and respectfully said to Afanasyev: "Comrade General, this is how it happened. When the 2nd Assault Army launched a breakthrough, the commander of the Front gave orders to all the troops outside the encirclement to attack, hoping that they would join you in meeting with you and breaking the German encirclement of the Assault Army.

Unexpectedly, the commander of this division, Colonel Dorofeev, disobeyed the orders of General Meretskov and sent only a few small units to launch a small-scale harassment operation in the area where the German troops were stationed. As soon as he came into contact with the enemy, he hastily ordered the troops to withdraw from the battle, leaving you to fend for yourself in the encirclement. ”

Afanasyev slapped the table heavily and roared in anger: "Damn, damn, what a hate! This Colonel Dorofeev should be shot, because of him, how many more commanders and fighters we have sacrificed! Then he angrily asked Boroda: "Didn't the commander of the front army only remove him from his post and say what to do with him?" ”

"Yes." Faced with this question, Boroda seemed a little reluctant to answer.

"What is General Meretskov going to do with him?"

"Originally, I wanted to send him to a military tribunal for trial, but I didn't expect that the commander of the 59th Army, General Kolovnikov, personally called the headquarters of the Front Army to intercede, hoping that Comrade General would let them go. Comrade General weighed it up again and again, and after the most important order, I was ordered to escort Colonel Dorofeev and his chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Samoilov, to the headquarters of the 59th Army and handed over to General Kolovnikov for disposal. ”

"The two of you became division commanders and chief of staff, and were they also directly ordered by General Meretskov?"

"Yes, Comrade General." Boroda replied: "Since it will not be long before the Front will launch a new campaign." In order to have a better grasp of the units under the Front and to prevent the occurrence of poor command, Senior General Meretskov made an ad hoc decision to let Major Oshanina and I act as the division commander and division chief of staff of this division. ”

"This decision of General Meretskov is very wise, at least from my observations of the division's troops today, the troops are full of vigor and fighting spirit. I think that under the leadership of the two of you, this unit will surely achieve brilliant results in the new campaign. With that, he picked up the cup of tea on the table, tilted his head and drank the tea in the cup. After putting down the cup, he wiped his mouth, stood up and asked Boroda: "Boroda, is there a high-frequency phone here that can talk directly to the headquarters of the front army?" I'm going to call General Meretskov and tell him I'm out safe. ”

"Yes, yes, this one." Boroda, who had served as a guard for General Afanasyev, immediately got up and went to the corner to grab the phone, then held it in both hands and handed it to Afanasyev. (To be continued......)

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