Let me be the division commander?! I was stunned by this big pie that fell from the sky, and it took me a long time to come back to my senses and ask Boroda tentatively: "Comrade Captain, are you sure that in the order issued by Commander Meretskov, I was appointed as the division commander?" ”

Captain Boroda nodded very affirmatively and said, "This appointment, I have confirmed it repeatedly. At this point he raised his hand to look at his watch, and then said: "In half an hour, the messenger from the headquarters of the front army should arrive, and he will bring you and me the letter of appointment and the new battle order." ”

After confirming that I was the acting division commander, I finally put my heart in my stomach. I smiled and asked, "Comrade Captain, do you know what Commander Meretskov would suddenly change the commander of the 378th Division?" ”

Boroda didn't answer, but glanced behind me. I followed his gaze, and it turned out that Ulanova was still standing behind me and did not leave. I knew that there were some things that needed to be kept secret, so I said to Ulanova with a smile: "Comrade Ulanova, you go back to the dormitory first, and I will come to you later." By the way, please continue to help me take care of my son. ”

Ulanova readily agreed, then walked up to Boroda, stood upright, saluted the captain, turned and shook her hands and left.

Seeing Ulanova coming out of the door, I turned my gaze back to Boroda, but I didn't expect to see him still staring intently at the door. I coughed lightly, and he hurriedly withdrew his gaze, but he couldn't help but murmur, "This female hygienist is really charming, you see her salute with neat movements and beautiful posture." ”

It seems that this Ulanova is still a girl who is loved by everyone, not only the chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Samoilov, covets her beauty, but even the wise and martial Captain Boroda in front of me is deeply fascinated by her, hoping that he will not come to another overlord to make a bow, otherwise he will not know what trouble he will cause. I looked at Boroda's somewhat distraught look, so I reminded him: "Comrade Captain, we have more important things to do, let's put aside the matter of love for the time being." Also, according to my observations, Ulanova has a strong temperament, and if she doesn't like you, you can't force her to comply. ”

When Boroda heard me say this, his face immediately turned red, and he quickly changed the topic and said, "Major Oshanina, didn't you just ask me, Comrade Commander, why would he change the divisional commander at this time?" ”

I nodded and asked curiously, "yes, for what?" It is important to know that Lu Dao is now at war with the Germans, and the sudden change of divisional commanders makes it difficult for the new commanders and his subordinates to get acquainted with each other in a short period of time, so that the battle may lead to confusion in the command system and affect the morale of the troops. ”

Boroda sneered and said: "Actually, Comrade Commander has long wanted to change the commander of this division, and when the 2nd Shock Army began to break through, Comrade General General once issued an order to the commander of the 59th Army, General Kolovnikov, to let the troops of this group army attack and advance from their existing positions to the north to meet General Vlasov's troops to break out of the encirclement. Two days after the order was issued, the remaining four divisions of the group army all took active action, starting from their original garrisons and launching a fierce attack on the German troops. Commander Meretskov even personally called Colonel Dorofeev and gave him an order to attack, but he disobeyed the law and verbally promised to immediately dispatch the main force of the division, but as a result, only a few company-level troops were sent to do perfunctory, and as soon as he made contact with the Germans, he immediately ordered the troops to retreat, so that the Germans could safely deploy enough troops to intercept the breakthrough troops. ……”

When I heard Boroda say this, my hatred for Dorofeev, the lecherous division commander, soared rapidly, and the best way to deal with this kind of death-defying fighter on the battlefield was not to talk nonsense with him, and immediately drag him out and kill him.

Boroda continued: "The task of rescuing General Vlasov was originally given to Dorofeev by Commander Meretskov himself, but who knew that he said that the troops had suffered heavy casualties in the battle with the Germans, and in addition to the lack of ammunition and food, they were unable to launch a new offensive. In desperation, the commander had no choice but to send me with five tanks and a motorized infantry company to carry out this rescue mission. ”

I knew what had happened next, so I raised my hand to stop Boroda from continuing, and asked, "Comrade Captain, how did the commander remember to appoint you and me as commanders of this division?" ”

"Originally, the commander was also worried about who could succeed the commander of this division, but when he heard that you were now in the 378th Division, he made a decision without hesitation to appoint you as the acting commander of the 378th Division, and I temporarily acted as the chief of staff."

I know that the reason why Meretskov was able to appoint me as a division commander so readily was because the last time I commanded the second lieutenant training team to fight against the German army, he was deeply impressed, and what about this Boroda, although he is Meretskov's adjutant, does he have the experience of commanding troops? It is important to know that there is a big difference between commanding a division and commanding a company or battalion. I hesitated again and again, but finally I stubbornly asked: "Comrade Captain, I don't know what kind of troops you commanded before?" ”

This is a very abrupt question, and it is also very hurtful, and the tone is full of doubts and distrust. As soon as I said this, I stared at Boroda nervously to see if he would get angry and slap the table and turn his face with me. But my worries were obviously unnecessary, he smiled at me and said, "Comrade Division Commander, you want to know my resume, anyway, it's still early, I'll tell you." I was awarded the Order of the Red Banner for my outstanding performance in the Soviet-Finnish War. When the Great Patriotic War broke out, I was a lieutenant and the head of the 5th border post near Suo Yarvi on the Soviet-Finnish border. After the start of combat operations, Finnish troops surrounded our border posts. I led my company in two days and repelled twelve enemy attacks. The enemy, having suffered a thwart attack, stopped the offensive and bombarded our border posts with cannon fodder. Although our company suffered heavy casualties, it still held out for twenty-two days under heavy siege by the enemy. When we ran out of ammo, we engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the men who rushed up. Once, when the enemy again attacked the position, I led the troops in a counter-charge and broke through from a direction that the enemy did not expect: the Finnish direction. After five days of arduous trekking, we finally joined up with the main force of our army. For this, even the remaining commanders and fighters were commended, and I was awarded the second Order of the Red Banner. While fighting in the 7th Army, he was wounded near Petrozavodsk, and after recovering from his wounds, he became the commander of the guard company of the Military Council of the Front. ……”

Hearing him say this, I stood up and stretched out my hand to him, shook it vigorously, then gave him a thumbs up and said sincerely, "Well done! Comrade Captain, you are well done! "Although I am praising him, I am still a little unsure, after all, he was only a company commander before, can he pick up such a heavy burden as the chief of staff of the division?

He saw my doubts in the expression on my face, and continued: "In the spring of this year, near Myasnybor, I was ordered by Commander Meretskov to go to the division under the command of Colonel Ugorich, to assist him in directing his troops to repel the enemy rushing to the Leningrad road. During the battle, the division headquarters was unfortunately hit by a shell, and the division commander was seriously wounded and could not command the battle, so I took over his command and acted as the division commander, commanding the division to withstand the frenzied attack of the Germans. When I returned to the headquarters of the Front, I was promoted to the rank of lieutenant by Comrade General and served as his adjutant. ”

The next thing to do is to wait for the battalion and regimental commanders in the division to come to the meeting, first, to get acquainted with them, and second, to take the opportunity to clean up military discipline, otherwise such a unit will not be able to win the battle even if it is pulled out.

"Comrade Division Commander," Boroda called me softly on the other side, "I want to ask, when I came in just now, why did so many commanders and fighters of the division gather around the house, what happened?" ”

When he came just now, things had almost subsided, so it was normal not to understand the situation. So I told Dorofeev about Dorofeyev fooling around with a group of hygienists, Samoilov's attempt to force Ulanova into submission, and emphasized that I shot Samoilov three times in the ground, and ricocheted Samoilov.

After listening to me, he nodded thoughtfully and said, "Comrade Division Commander, I just want to tell you one thing, your luck is really good!" ”

"Why do you say that? Comrade Captain. I asked, somewhat puzzled, "When you say that I am lucky, do you mean that the call of the commander of the army group, General Kolovnikov, arrived in time?" ”

Unexpectedly, Boroda waved his hand and said, "It has nothing to do with the commander of the group army." I want to tell you that there are only three rounds in the pistol I gave you. Fortunately, you only fired three shots, and if you had fired a fourth shot, Dorofeev and Samoilov would have ordered you to be shot indiscriminately. ”

Hearing him say this, my eyes went black for a while, and I almost fell headlong on the table. Hurriedly pulled out his pistol, pulled out the magazine and saw that it was really empty, and he was suddenly shocked into a cold sweat. The heart said that this Captain Boroda is too unreliable, give me a pistol, and I don't know if the road is full of bullets, just three bullets, what can I do? If it weren't for the fact that everyone didn't know that there were no bullets in the gun, would I still be alive now?

Just when I was embarrassed, Boroda changed the topic again, and said: "Comrade division commander, those battalion commanders in the division are coming soon, do you want to go back and change your clothes and leave a good impression on them?" ”

I looked down and saw that the military uniform on my body was in tatters, one was scratched by the escape in the forest, and the other was torn in several places by the bastard of Rayina. Later, in order to escape for my life, I even tore off the rank on my collar badge. With such an embarrassed appearance, it is really inappropriate to see those subordinates, and it seems that they can only go to Ulanova to borrow a military uniform to wear it when they come.