I came to the door of the hygienist's dormitory and gently pushed the door. I didn't push it open, I pushed it a little harder, but I still didn't push it open, it seems that the door was plugged in inside. So I didn't push it anymore and knocked softly on the door.

After a few knocks, there was no movement inside. After a few more knocks, a vigilant voice came from inside: "Who's outside?" ”

I heard Ulanova's voice and quickly replied, "Ulanova, it's me, Leda." ”

Then the door opened inward, and Ulanova, who was wearing white underwear and underwear, let me in, and she leaned out to look left and right again before she retracted and closed the door.

Alik had already fallen asleep, and although there was no light in the room, the light from outside was enough for me to see the frightened expression on Ulanova's face. I asked curiously, "Ulanova, what's wrong with you?" I pointed out the door again and asked, "When the door was closed just now, why did you lean out and look around?" ”

When I asked this, Ulanova blushed for a long time before replying: "Lida, do you know that when we first arrived in this village, we often had to get up in the middle of the night to pick up the wounded, so we never plugged the door. Later, I don't know which male soldier found out about this secret, and passed it on, so some male soldiers from the division guard battalion took advantage of the situation to sneak into our dormitory at night, covered the heads of those sleeping sisters with quilts, lifted their underwear, and groped all over their bodies. ”

"Ulanova, who are you talking to?" I was startled by the sudden sound, and I turned my head to see a girl sleeping on the bed in the corner. She was probably woken up by the sound of me talking to Ulanova, after lifting the quilt and sitting up. The whole person was still unconscious, and he was rubbing his eyes with his hands.

"Tatiana. It's okay, you go back to sleep. I'll talk to the teacher for a few more words and go to sleep. ”

Unexpectedly, it was Ulanova's words, which immediately caused Tatiana to scream, her body curled up in the corner, hugged the quilt tightly to her chest, and shouted: "Ulanova, quickly get the division commander out of the city, get out of the room!" ……”

Her screams woke Alik from his sleep, and the child looked around in horror. Seeing me standing in the room, he lifted the quilt, jumped out of bed barefoot, threw himself over and hugged me tightly, sobbing and shouting, "Mom, Mommy......"

I bent over and hugged the weeping Alik, staring blankly at what was happening in front of me, not knowing what was going on.

Ulanova walked over and half-knelt in front of the female soldier. Putting his arm around her shoulders, he whispered, "Tatiana, don't be nervous, it's not that pervert division commander." It's the new division commander today, and it's a woman. It's also Alik, the mother of the little boy you were playing with just now. ”

"Ulanova. What did you say? Tatiana timidly asked, "Is it a female teacher, or Alik's mother?" Is it true. You're not going to lie to me, are you? ”

"It's true, I didn't lie to you. If you don't believe me, see for yourself. With that, Ulanova turned her body to the side, leaving enough space to observe me.

It turned out to be a false alarm, I patted Alik on the back and whispered to him, "Don't worry, child, it's that auntie who has a nightmare, you can go back to sleep." After saying that, he put him back on the bed, covered him with a quilt, and told him to close his eyes and sleep. When I was done with all this, I walked over to Ulanova and the others, sat down on the side of Tatiana's bed, and said to her with a smile: "Hello, Tatiana, my name is Oshanina, I am Alik's mother, and I am the new commander of the 378th Division. ”

"Comrade Division Commander, hello!" Tatiana leaned forward as she spoke, trying to stand up and salute me.

I hurriedly stopped her and said, "Don't stand up, let's sit and talk to us." After she sat down again, I couldn't help but ask, "Why are you so nervous when you heard the teacher just now?" ”

Hearing my question, Tatiana pursed her mouth, covered her face with her hands, and sobbed silently. What the hell is going on, why did I cry again for some reason, I turned my puzzled gaze to Ulanova, who had not spoken, and asked puzzledly: "Ulanova, what's wrong with Tatiana?" ”

Ulanova made a bitter face and said: "Lida, you don't know, Tatiana has suffered the losses of those male soldiers, and someone even ripped off her underwear last time, if it wasn't for the fact that someone happened to inform her to pick up the wounded outside the village, it is estimated that she would have been innocent at that time." With that, she gently pulled the quilt off Tatiana's body and lifted her underwear. I leaned in and took a closer look, and the white and smooth chest was indeed blue and purple, and even more excessively, there were blood marks from the nails and teeth marks on the side of the small RU head.

I was immediately furious and asked aloud, "Do you know who did it?" I can't spare him. ”

Ulanova shook her head and said, "The soldiers of the guard battalion are very cunning, and they cover people's heads with quilts every time before they do it, so they don't know who did it. ”

Since I don't know who did it, although I am angry, I can only stop there, I can't punish all the commanders and fighters of the division guard battalion, so who will guarantee the safety of the division headquarters.

Tatiana removed her hands from her face, wiped a handful of tears from the back of her hand, and said with a cry: "The tooth marks and blood marks on the chest were made by the division commander last night. ”

My anger came up again, slapped me hard on the bed, and said through gritted teeth: "This damn Colonel Dorofeev is such a perverted pervert. Tomorrow I will ask the soldiers who took him to the headquarters of the front army to find an opportunity to clean him up on the way. Then I raised my hand and patted Tatiana on the shoulder, comforting her: "Tatiana, don't worry, I have already greeted the commanders and fighters in the division today, and no one is allowed to bully female soldiers in the future, otherwise she will be severely punished." ”

"Really? Lida. "For Ulanova, this news is the biggest piece of good news, so she wants to confirm it.

"Yes, I promise you that as long as I am the commander of this division for a day, no one will dare to bully you again." Seeing that the two of them kept nodding excitedly, I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was almost eleven o'clock, although it wasn't quite dark yet. But it was time to go to bed, so I said to them, "It's not early." Rest early. ”

I lay down on the bed that Ulanova had laid out for me, and soon fell asleep.

Nothing was said all night.

When I opened my eyes again, it was already bright outside, and I looked at my watch, it was six o'clock in the morning. I sat up and looked left and right, and I was the only one left in the room, not only Ulanova and Tatiana, but also Alik.

I'm simply washed up. I was going to go around the medical station and say hello to Nina, because she was going to be transferred to the rear today, and I was going to ask her to take Alik out of this place of right and wrong. As soon as I opened the door, I saw a second lieutenant trotting towards me from a distance.

After the second lieutenant ran up to me and stood up and saluted, I was the first to ask: "Second Lieutenant Peskov, did something happen when you came to me in such a hurry?" ”

Peskov nodded vigorously and replied, "Yes." Comrade division commander. The Chief of Staff had just received a telegram, and without waiting to finish it, he sent me to ask you to go to the division headquarters. ”

I closed the door and tugged at the hem of my uniform. Then he said: "Let's go, Second Lieutenant Peskov, let's go to the division headquarters now." ”

Walk into the headquarters. In addition to Captain Boroda, there were two other commanders standing up straight. One was Major Antonov, Chief of Staff, whom I knew. Next to him stood a captain.

I walked towards Boroda and asked as I went: "Comrade Chief of Staff." What happened? ”

Boroda picked up a piece of paper on the table and handed it over, saying, "Comrade division commander, look at it, this telegram has just been received. ”

I took it and read it, reading the contents of the telegram: "Colonel Dorofeev, General Afanasyev of the command of the 2nd Shock Army, was escorted to us last night by Comrade Dmitriev of the Luga partisans. Sazanov. ”

I took the telegram and asked Boroda with a frown: "Comrade Chief of Staff, where did this telegram come from?" ”

Without waiting for Boroda to reply, the tall captain standing next to him stepped up and said to me, "Allow me to report to you, Comrade Division Commander. ”

I looked the commander standing in front of me up and down and asked, "Comrade Captain, I don't know what to call you?" ”

"I'm Captain Avtukhov, a member of the military council of the independent telephone company of the division headquarters."

Hell, members of the Military Commission, it's these bizarre duties again. Wait, he seems to be from an independent call company, also known as Avtukhov, is he the captain who usurped the assistant female military doctor at the medical station and didn't let her go to see the wounded? I was thinking about removing him yesterday, but I didn't expect him to appear in front of me today. But at the moment, the military situation is in full swing, and I can only wait for him to clean him up later, and I said lightly: "Captain, tell me what this telegram is all about." ”

"Yes!" The captain resounded in agreement, and then explained the origin of the telegram. "Twenty minutes ago, my fighters received this telegram about the commander of the 2nd Assault Army, because the stakes are very high, I am verifying it, and after confirming that the contents of the telegram are true, I will immediately send it to the headquarters."

Although I was dissatisfied with his house arrest of the female military doctor, it was clearly not the time to get angry, and I pointed to the payment behind the telegram and asked, "Who is this Sazanov?" ”

"Report to Comrade Division Commander," replied the captain, "Sazanov is the leader of the partisan detachment in the Oledezh region, he has a radio station there and is in constant contact with us. Many partisan commanders were aware of this incident, and whenever there was any important military information, they would contact us through Sazanov's radio and report it to us. At the same time, any combat orders from the higher authorities were also conveyed to Satanov through us, and then Satanov conveyed them to the commanders of other partisan units. ”

"Well done, Comrade Captain." From his answers, I can see that he is very serious about his work, if he can get rid of those shortcomings, but he is also a rare talent. I put the telegram on the table and asked Boroda: "Comrade Chief of Staff, after the captain handed you the telegram, did you make any arrangements?" ”

"Report to Comrade Division Commander," Boroda replied honestly, "I have just spoken on the telephone with General Meretskov, and he instructed us to send capable troops to the rescue of General Afanasyev at once. At the same time that I sent Second Lieutenant Peskov to call you, I had already given the divisional guard battalion an operational order to assemble within half an hour and be ready to go at any time. ”

I nodded and complimented him: "Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, you have thought it through. Have you found a guide to the Olejezh area? ”

"Report to the division commander," the chief of staff, Major Antonov, stepped forward and reported to me: "I am very familiar with the Oledezh region, and I will act as a guide and lead the troops to pick up General Afanasyev from danger. ”

I nodded with satisfaction and said, "Since it's all arranged, let's go ahead and prepare." "Antonov and Avtukhov saluted me and turned to leave.

At this time, I suddenly remembered about the female military doctor, so I stopped Avtukhov and said to him: "Comrade Captain, there are many wounded in the medical center at present, and there is a serious shortage of manpower. The female military doctor has seen you, so let her go back and treat the wounded. ”

I didn't directly point out that he was detaining the female military doctor, but in what I said, I made it very clear that I knew that he would not let the female military doctor treat the wounded, which was also a warning to him. If he is not interested and continues to lock up the female military doctor in the house, I don't mind removing him from his post justifiably, after all, I specifically greeted you yesterday on this issue of military discipline.

Hearing me say this, Avtukhov's face flushed, and he said yes loudly, saluted again, and left.

Boroda looked at me inexplicably, just about to ask something. I preemptively said: "Later, when the troops are assembled, I will lead the troops to rescue General Affanasyev, and you will be in charge of the division headquarters left behind." ”

When he heard me say this, he immediately became anxious: "No, comrade division commander." You know, you are a woman, how can you be allowed to carry out such a dangerous mission. ”

I waved my hand and said, "Listen to me, the reason why I arranged it this way is because I am a subordinate of General Afanasyev, and it is only natural for me to go to his rescue." And you are more familiar with the leaders of the front army and the group army than I am, and it is much more convenient than me to have any contact with you. ”

He was silent for a moment, nodded reluctantly, and said, "Okay, just divide the labor according to what you said." (To be continued......)