General Panfilov's command post was quite large, it was originally the village Soviet office of a collective farm, and after his troops had been deployed here two days earlier, he had converted the largest building here into his own headquarters.

At present, in addition to General Rokossovsky, General Panfilov, the division commissar of the 316th Infantry Division, and myself, there are also seven or eight staff officers of the division headquarters, as well as a colonel who is tied up with flowers and wearing a military coat, and the two soldiers who are guarding him, and the command post is crowded.

General Rokossovsky's face was unusually ugly, and he stared at the bound colonel without saying a word. Panfilov's face turned red next to him, and he roared at the colonel: "Why did you lead the troops back and give the Germans the position we had held for so long? Do you know that as soon as the position is lost, the flank of the entire army group will be exposed to the Germans, and if they take the opportunity to attack, we are in danger of being encircled. ”

The colonel glanced up at the two generals, and then defended in a hoarse voice: "Comrade General! Our 948th Brigade showed great tenacity, but the enemy's offensive was too fierce, they bombarded with aircraft and artillery every day, and our 2842nd Regiment had already been completely wiped out, and the 2843rd and 2844th Regiments had only been on the ground for two days, and they were almost completely killed and wounded. There were 5,000 people in the brigade, and now there are less than 500 left. I couldn't bear to see the soldiers die here without knowing it, so I took them down. ……”

"That's enough." Panfilov interrupted him and continued to rebuke him: "Less nonsense! The situation is not yet the same among the individual forces. The 947th Regiment of the 2840th Brigade had less than 180 men left, but they were still holding their positions and never allowing the enemy to move forward. ”

Rokossovsky waved his hand and motioned to General Panfilov to say no more. The mustachioed division commander immediately closed his mouth and looked at the commander of the army group in front of him, listening to how he sent down his own colonel, who was retreating from battle.

Rokossovsky stared at the colonel for a while, slowly walked a few steps in front of him, and then said unhurriedly: "The large corps fights, and the military discipline must be strict!" Especially in the current situation, we absolutely cannot tolerate those who are greedy for life and fear death who are retreating from battle. Turning to Panfilov, he said: "Resolutely enforce battlefield discipline." ”

As soon as the commander of the group army said this, it was tantamount to directly pronouncing the death sentence of this colonel. Not only me, but everyone in the room understood the general's final attitude when they heard this. There was silence in the room, and I saw tears rolling out of Panfilov's eyes and the muscles of his face trembling violently. After a long time, he raised his hand, slashed down, and ordered the two warriors: "Drag out of the gang, enforce discipline, and shoot on the spot." ”

The two fighters stepped forward, twisted the colonel's arm, and pushed him out. The colonel turned his face to Panfilov, wanted to say nothing but did not say anything, and allowed the two fighters to push themselves out of the command post.

Hearing the crisp sound of gunfire coming from outside the house, I couldn't help but be shocked: a living person is gone?! His troops were almost gone, and in the absence of reinforcements, he was able to hold his position. It is not right for him to lead the rest of the troops to withdraw without asking for instructions, but it cannot be said that he will be shot and killed. However, Rokossovsky cannot be blamed, only the ruthlessness of the war.

"General Panfilov, when we abandoned our positions, did our wounded withdraw?"

"Report to Comrade Commander, all withdrawn! The colonel ordered the retreat only after sending all the wounded down, and he was the last to evacuate the position! ”

Hearing Panfilov say this, Rokossovsky suddenly felt as if he had just been shot, his face turned pale, and he bit his lip tightly with his teeth. It took him a long time before he spoke: "Inform the Colonel's family that he died heroically, and that he died heroically in a brutal battle with the Germans." ”

"Yes. Comrade General! Panfilov replied: "I will convey your meaning to his family." ”

"What about the lost positions?" Rokossovsky asked: "Do you still have reserves on your hands?" While the enemy's foothold is not stable, immediately organize troops to take back the position! ”

"My battalion of guards can be put into battle immediately, but my battalion commander died in the recent air raid, and I ask the commander to send me an experienced commander to take this position and organize this important counterattack."

"Where am I going to find you an experienced commander?" Rokossovsky frowned and said, "You know the situation of these troops under my command, they are all patchwork, and they all lack commanders with rich combat experience. ”

"Then, if you can't send a commander, I'll personally lead the troops to counterattack."

"No way!" Panfilov's proposal was rejected by the commander without hesitation, "You want to stay here and command your troops, and it is not your turn to be this commando leader." ”

"But, Comrade Commander, I really can't find a suitable person to direct this counterattack. It is necessary for me to personally command the troops, we are fighting for the honor of the 316th Infantry Division. ”

Rokossovsky's words were deeply touched by Panfilov's words, and he became somewhat hesitant. Seeing this, I couldn't help but feel a little hot-headed again, took a step forward, and said to him in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, if you trust me, please let me command this unit!" ”

"You?!" He and Panfilov looked at me in disbelief, and they both asked in unison: "You want to command this counterattack?" ”

"Yes, Comrade General!" I looked at Rokossovsky with my eyes and answered him very seriously.

After listening to my words, he said to me in a kind tone: "Lida, this counterattack will be very dangerous, you think about it carefully, don't be impulsive." ”

"Thank you for your concern, Comrade General! I once commanded the Fifth Army's all-out counterattack against the Germans in Porodino and won. I have a lot of combat experience, and I am confident that this counterattack will be successful. Let me take command of this counterattack. ”

After listening to my words, Rokossovsky walked up and down the house with his hands behind his back, and everyone's eyes were on him, moving with his movements. Perhaps it was the Borodino counterattack I mentioned that made him the most reluctant. He slapped the table and said loudly: "Okay, Comrade Leda, I will appoint you as the acting battalion commander of the guard battalion of the 316th Division to direct this counterattack." Then he said to Panfilov: "There are no other commanders in the guard battalion, let him come in and get acquainted with Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina." ”

"Yes, now the commander of the troops is Comrade Kroschikov, the political deputy battalion commander and first-class political instructor, and I will immediately call him over and get to know Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina."

Soon Kroschikov appeared, a round-faced, dark-haired, extraordinarily handsome young man. Hearing that I would lead the guard battalion with him to regain the lost positions of the 948th Brigade, he looked me up and down curiously, and then reached out and shook my hand.

"Leda, are you sure you can take back the position this time?" Rokossovsky asked again with concern.

"I am confident, Comrade Commander! Please order the artillery of the army group to carry out a twenty-minute artillery bombardment of the positions occupied by the enemy. I replied confidently that when the Soviets dug trenches, the excavated soil was piled up in front, so the position appeared high in front and low in the back. It's okay to defend against a frontal attack, but if it's from behind, it's easy to attack and difficult to defend. The Germans, who had only occupied the position in the hope of it, had not had time to change the structure of the trenches, so that my chances of victory would be higher.

"No problem, I'll arrange it right away. It's 13:50, and in ten minutes I'll order artillery to shell the enemy's positions, and you should hurry up and prepare. Good luck! ”

"Yes! Comrade General. I said yes and left the command headquarters with the instructor of the first rank, Croshikov.

In the trenches of the preparatory positions for the attack, because of the rush of time, I summoned all the company and platoon cadres to speak, and the content was brief: for our honor, we must regain the lost positions.

At 14 o'clock, the shelling officially began, and the shells of dozens of cannons whistled down on the positions occupied by the enemy, and the positions were soon covered in fire and smoke.

After the shelling went on for a while, I asked Croshikov next to me: "How long has the shelling been going on?" ”

"Fifteen minutes, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." He replied loudly to me.

"I order: the whole battalion will attack immediately!"

"But!" He was embarrassed and said, "According to the regulations, we should wait until the shelling is over before we can attack." ”

"Go to his regulations, when the shelling is over, the German devils are already in positions and ready to attack, and then to attack again is to send the soldiers to death in vain. I am the supreme commander of the battalion, I have the final say, and I will attack on all fronts! ”

After that, I jumped out of the trench and shouted: "Comrades! Brethren! For the Motherland! For our honor! Advance~~~! With that, I strode forward with my submachine gun in hand.

I had already rushed out of the trench, and Kroschikov could no longer stay in the trenches, and he rushed out with him, and then the entire battalion of guards jumped out of the trenches with their weapons in their hands and strode towards the enemy's positions.

I looked around at the soldiers who walked past me, and I secretly sighed in my heart: after all, it is a guard battalion, the equipment is good, in addition to rifles, it is actually equipped with a large number of carbines, submachine guns and machine guns, and the firepower is not worse than that of the German army.

I don't know if the designer who designed the female soldier's military uniform has a leg fetish, and the military uniform designed, whether it is summer or winter, the bottom is a skirt, and it is not good to go fast first. So the longer I walked, the farther and farther I got between me and the fighters, and gradually I fell behind.

By the end of the shelling, our troops were already within a few steps of the trenches. The Germans were so dazed by the bombing in the smoke of gunfire that they could not have imagined that we would charge during the shelling. A few sharp-eyed Germans spotted us, and as soon as they raised their weapons, before they could shoot, they were beaten into a sieve by our dense fire.

Although I was lagging behind, I still heard the faint voice of Kroschikov from the dense gunfire in front: "Comrades, rush! For the honor of our division, drive the German devils out of the city. ”

The fighters stormed the trenches and engaged the Germans in close combat, and the automatic weapons in their hands played a huge role at this time. The shame and blood debt brought to them by the German devils were all recovered at this moment.

Although the Germans resisted with all their might, they held out for a short time before they were broken up, and they jumped out of the trenches and fled to their original positions, and we destroyed all the enemies in the trenches before we stopped fighting. The position was littered with the corpses of the Germans, and at least half of the Germans who defended the position were left here.

We regained the lost positions at a very small cost.