I made the decision to leave the seriously wounded and those who would be left with disabilities out of necessity, because in a few days our troops would be transferred. The presence of a large number of wounded will inevitably slow down the movement of the troops, and then it will be difficult for us to break out of the German encirclement.

When returning to the command of the 308th Division, only Romanov and a few staff officers remained, as well as several communications corpsmen, among whom Razumeyeva was. Seeing my return, Romanov immediately asked with concern: "Comrade commander, is everything done?" ”

I nodded and replied: "Yes, the wounded have returned, and the remains of General Kharytonov have been exchanged." I have specifically asked the soldiers who know the general to identify it, it is indeed the general himself, and I have arranged for someone to store the coffin in the church. If we're going to move, we're going to find a suitable place to bury him first. ”

"How's the wounded doing?" Romanov then asked: "If the troops are to be transferred urgently, the presence of so many wounded will not affect our marching speed." ”

"It's a pity, Comrade Deputy Commander." To his question, I can only regretfully answer: "Of the 200 wounded, one-third were seriously wounded who were incapacitated, and those who were left disabled. I have ordered Captain Yushchenko to temporarily relocate the wounded to residents' homes after treating them, except for those who must remain in the health camp for treatment. That way, when we leave, we will have someone to take care of them. ”

When Romanov heard my arrangement, he was stunned at first, and then asked in surprise: "Comrade commander, you left these wounded in the city. If only the Germans came. What fate awaits them? We just got them out today. Or did he retreat them into the pit of fire again? ”

"No way, Comrade Deputy Commander." I spread my hands, shrugged my shoulders, and said helplessly, "Do you think I don't want to transfer with them?" But we are now behind enemy lines, and no one knows what kind of terrible situation we will encounter in the future. There is still hope for them to live, and if they are transferred with us, most of the seriously injured will die due to lack of medical care and a good environment for treatment......"

Didn't wait for me to finish. Razumeeva, who was busy on the side, suddenly walked up to me, handed me a telegram, and said: "Comrade commander, this is a telegram from the headquarters of the Front. ”

The telegram from the headquarters of the Front, when I heard Razumeyeva say this, I couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and thought to myself that Vatutin sent me a telegram at this time, what would happen? Thinking of this, I took the telegram to my eyes and looked at it carefully.

I saw that it read: "According to the German intelligence intercepted by the intelligence unit of the Front, it is said that the division commander of the German 'skeleton division', General Ick." On 26 February, while inspecting the front line in Kharkiv, he was killed due to a plane failure. A solemn funeral will be held for him shortly. Your ministry reported that Ike was captured alive, so why did he go to the front line in Kharkov to inspect it? After receiving the telegram, Major General Oshanina immediately called back to the headquarters to explain the situation. ”

When I saw the telegram, I handed it to Romanov and began to think about how to reply to the command on this matter. After reading it, Romanov, whose face was already a little gloomy, put the telegram on the table, looked up and asked: "Comrade commander, how are you going to reply to your superiors?" Although there was no change in his expression, the worry in his eyes could not be concealed.

"How else can I report it?" I shrugged my shoulders and said slowly: "Naturally, I will explain the actual situation to the commander of the front army. Even if we don't report the exchange with the Germans, our superiors will know about it through other means, so instead of waiting for that time to fall into passivity, it is better to take the initiative and report to them truthfully. ”

After hearing my words, the expression on Romanov's face suddenly became resolute, and he straightened up and said to me: "Comrade Commander, as the deputy commander of the 79th Infantry Corps, I ask you to sign my name when you send the telegram. Even if my superiors want to blame, I should share the responsibility with you. ”

Romanoff's words made my nose sour and tears almost burst out of my eyes. Although Kirillov has said this many times, after all, he has been working with me for a long time, knows me very well, and knows that the decisions I make have their own reasons. And Romanov, a battle-hardened general, who has known me for a few days, can give me such trust and is willing to advance and retreat with me, how can I not be moved.

After saying that, he turned to Razumeyeva and said: "Comrade lieutenant, please record the content of the message. The headquarters of the Front, the German SS General Ick, whom our troops had captured, died of his wounds on the night of February 26. After learning of this information, the relevant side of the German army took the initiative to send personnel and asked for an exchange with our army. Since the enemy offered to exchange the body of Ike for the body of General Kharidonov, who was killed in our army, as well as two hundred captured and wounded of our side, we accepted the other party's conditions and made an exchange. ”

Listening to the telegram dictated by Romanov, I couldn't help but interject: "Lieutenant Razumeyeva, I am personally responsible for adding the same exchange ceremony to the end." "When I saw that she had finished recording the order, I took the message from her hand and signed my name on the back, and then Romanov signed his name on the back of the message.

After the telegram was sent, Romanov and I sat at the conference table, no one spoke, and everyone waited anxiously for Vatutin's call back, waiting for his verdict on his fate.

Perhaps seeing my overly nervous expression, Romanov kindly proposed to me: "Comrade Commander, if your superiors blame me, you can push this matter on my head and say that I agreed to a deal with the Germans without asking you." ”

"Nonsense, Comrade Deputy Commander, aren't you fooling around." His words touched my heart a little, but I still put on a look of wanting to blame him: "I am the commander of an army, and I will bear any responsibility." "When I said this, I opened up a little abacus in my heart, thinking that if the situation was not right, I asked Razumeyeva to send a telegram to Zhukov and report to him what had happened, and maybe he would not only be innocent but merit when he knew the actual situation.

Thinking so, I suddenly saw Razumeyeva jump up from her seat, and then trotted all the way to me, smiling, and handed me a telegram.

Judging by Razumeyeva's expression, I knew that this time it must have been saved again. I immediately took the telegram and couldn't wait to read it. There was only one word on it: "Got it!" (To be continued......)