After listening to my arrangement, General Affanasyev smiled and said: "Major Oshanina, your arrangement is very reasonable, I think that letting Comrade Vaskov return to the army will allow him to give better play to his talents." Speaking of this, he turned his head to look at Sazanov, who was standing next to him, "What do you think?" Comrade partisan leader. ”

Sazanov replied with a smile: "Comrade General, you are right. Vaskov was a comrade with a wealth of combat experience, and it was his greatest honor to be able to return to the army. ”

General Afanasyev asked me again: "Comrade Major, what rank are you going to give him if you let him become a platoon commander in the guard company?" ”

I thought for a moment and replied: "Report to Comrade General, I intend to give him the rank of lieutenant." Pointing to the rank on my badge, I said: "I have heard from Comrade Vaskov's subordinates that if he had remained in the front-line troops, he would have been at least a major now." To be honest, from what I know about Vaskov, with his abilities, being a lieutenant colonel or something is not a problem. Unfortunately, I am only a major at the moment, and it is impossible to promote him to a higher rank. ”

The general waved his hand and said disapprenously: "Comrade Oshanina, your current military rank is only temporary, I estimate that you will be promoted or not, and then you can give Comrade Vaskov a higher rank." After speaking, he stretched out his hand to Sazanov and said: "Comrade Sazanov, Xie Lu thank you for your hospitality, we will say goodbye to it, and we will meet later." ”

"There will be a date later!"

Seeing the two of them saying goodbye, I beckoned to Vaskov, who was grinning on the sidelines, to come over. He trotted in front of me. Raise your hand and salute. Respectfully reported: "Comrade Division Commander. Lieutenant Vaskov, the platoon commander of the guard company, reports to you and waits for ......"

Before he could finish speaking, I interrupted him and said, "Come on, Fija." After all, we have fought together in the past and in death, and there is no need to be so polite between you and me. ”

"But, according to the regulations," ...... he was about to say a few words, I called Captain Burda, the commander of the guard company. Pointing to Vaskov, he introduced: "Comrade Captain, come and get acquainted, this is the new second platoon commander Lieutenant Vaskov. Then he introduced the company commander to Vaskov: "Comrade Vaskov, this is your immediate boss, the company commander of the 1st Guards Company, Captain Burda. ”

After listening to my introduction, Vaskov hurriedly saluted Burda and reported it as the regulations stipulated.

After the farewell between General Afanasyev and Sazanov, he walked up to me and asked in a consultative tone: "Comrade Oshanina, I am ready. Are you ready to go? ”

"Yes, Comrade General." I promised. He also instructed Burda, who was standing nearby: "Comrade Captain, as when you came, divide the troops into three parts. The deputy company commander and the first platoon opened the way in front, and I and the second platoon were in the middle, responsible for protecting the general's safety; And you act as a defender. ”

General Afanasyev and I walked in the middle of the line, and at the beginning neither of us spoke. After a moment of silence, the general suddenly asked: "Major Oshanina, is there a whereabouts of the commander of the army group, General Vlasov?" ”

"Probably captured." I replied lightly.

"What? Captured? The general's loud voice caught the attention of the surrounding soldiers, and everyone looked back at him and continued to walk forward. How could he be captured? He lowered his voice and asked me, "Did you hear it or did you see it with your own eyes?" ”

I replied softly: "After I escaped from the encirclement, I once went to the village of Pyatnitsa, where Vlasov's headquarters was located at that time. Speaking of this, I hesitated for a moment, and did not say anything about Vlasov's order for the troops to surrender, but said vaguely: "Later, the village was surrounded by the Germans, and the people in the village should have been captured, because when I rushed over with the troops the next day, the whole village was empty." ”

"Wait a minute, there's something I don't understand." General Afanasyev heard a flaw in my answer, and he asked puzzledly: "Didn't you say that the village was surrounded by the Germans, and the people in the village were captured. I want to know, how did you escape? ”

When I heard this question, I was so scared that I broke out in a cold sweat. I thought twice about how to answer him, and decided to tell the truth: "It so happened that I met my lost son in the village, and I carried him to escape from the German encirclement. ”

General Afanasyev sneered twice and said in a mocking tone: "The Germans are really good to you, no one intercepted you, so you left the village so swaggeringly." ”

"Yes, Comrade General." I knew that this matter had to be made clear to him, otherwise there would be endless troubles in the future, and I explained with a wry smile: "When I went out of the village with my child in my arms, I tore off my military rank, and my military uniform was torn to shreds during the first breakout, and in the eyes of those Germans, I was a refugee who had fled." Of course, when I was about to escape from the German encirclement, I was stopped by several German soldiers. Fortunately, at that time, the child was more clever, and he began to cry so loudly that the German commander frowned, thinking that we were real refugees, and let us go. ”

The general frowned, and instead of continuing to dwell on this topic, he asked another question: "Aren't you in the 327th division of Colonel Anchufeev?" Why didn't you stay with your own troops, but ran to the 378th Division? ”

It's good that he didn't mention it, but when he mentioned it, I was furious, so I said angrily: "Why did you run to the 378th Division, it's not because of General Plivalov." ”

"General Plivalov?! What's the matter with him? ”

I snorted heavily, and then began to tell him about General Plivalov's depposition: "Our 327th Division is the vanguard of the breakout, and I led my battalion along the narrow-gauge railway, in succession, to break through the three lines of German defense. After breaking through the third line of defense, I found that the narrow-gauge railway passed through the middle of the two high grounds, and if we did not leave troops to garrison the high ground on both sides, once the Germans launched a counteroffensive to occupy the high ground, they could seal the gap we had opened with just a few machine guns or mortars. ……”

The general hummed thoughtfully and said, "I went to the place you mentioned, when the Germans had reoccupied the heights on both sides, and their mortar and machine-gun fire inflicted huge losses on our troops. I rushed twice with my troops, but I didn't rush through, so I had to retreat into the forest and look for a new route to break through. Speaking of this, his face was full of anger, and his voice was so fierce that he almost burst into a rage: "I want to ask you, since you have discovered the importance of the high ground on both sides, why don't you leave troops to hold on?" ”

"As soon as I broke through the defensive line, I ordered all the fighters to enter the position and repair the fortifications in case the Germans could attack at any time." I said lightly: "I have only about 400 men, but I have to guard two high grounds." No sooner had the fortifications been fortified than the Germans launched an attack on our positions, which failed with our stubborn resistance.

Soon after the battle, Colonel Anchufeev came with troops. I was glad to see the arrival of the main force of the division, because there would be enough men to attack the Germans and drive them farther away from our passage.

Unexpectedly, along with Colonel Anchufeev, there was also General Plivalov. My request for the division headquarters to leave enough troops to attack the Germans was vetoed by General Plivalov, who thought that we should move on and not stay to defend against a possible German attack.

Shortly after General Plivalov's departure, Colonel Tsoliv's 58th Infantry Brigade arrived, and when he heard me explain the importance of the heights, he immediately transferred an artillery battalion and an infantry regiment to my command, ready to cooperate with my troops in attacking the Germans. Unexpectedly, just a few minutes before the start of the offensive, he received an order from the army group headquarters to quickly lead his troops to the area of Myasnebor. The order of his superiors could not be violated, and he could only withdraw all the troops assigned to my command from the battle and transfer them to the designated area. ”

"Move the troops into the Miasnebor area?" General Afanasyev frowned and thought for a while, and said: "I have the impression of this order, it is that the command of the army group received a telegram from General Plivalov, saying that the breakthrough troops encountered the Germans, that there was a fierce battle, and that the troops in his hands were insufficient to ask for reinforcements, so he gave such an order to Zhicholiv. ”

I said to him bitterly: "Comrade General, do you know what to do? It was because of this order that the originally prepared offensive had to be canceled. Shortly after the departure of Colonel Zhicholiv's troops, the troops defending the high ground on the other side were transferred by order of Colonel Anchufeev, and I was the only one left to defend the high ground. If you want to know Lu Dao, I have more than 100 people, not to mention attacking, even the defense is not enough. ”

After hearing this, the general said with a serious expression: "If what you say is true, I will apply to the commander of the Front, General Meretskov, since General Plivalov's behavior seriously endangers the safety of the breakout troops, and it is recommended that he be sent to a military court for approval." ”

Hearing the general say this, the anger in my heart also calmed down a lot, so I also changed the topic and asked: "Comrade General, I heard that when the group army headquarters broke through the siege, it was divided into three groups. In addition to you and General Vlasov's group, do you know the whereabouts of the deputy commander of the province, General Alfiliev, and the head of the reconnaissance department, Colonel Rogov? ”

General Afanasyev shook his head and said, "I don't know. Not to mention the other two groups, even the chief of staff, Colonel Vinogorodov, who broke through with me, was lost in the battle. ”

While he was talking, Antonov ran up to us, stood up and saluted, and reported to General Afanasyev, the highest rank: "Comrade General, we have joined the 2nd Company of Guards who remained behind, and the car is waiting on the side of the road. (To be continued......)