"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the special detachment has been assembled, please instruct!"

The person who was reporting to me was Aggie, a warrior in a white camouflage suit. He was the soldier who stabbed the German sentry in the jaw with a dagger during the night raid I led. Because of this heroic performance, he was soon promoted to sergeant by the relevant department.

Late the night before yesterday, I braved the snow to return to the headquarters of the Front Army and briefly reported to Zhukov about my current situation. Of course, I didn't mention the wounding of Stalin's stand-in, and I didn't dare to mention it. I stayed in my room for one night, and the next morning, I politely declined Zhukov's kind offer and insisted on returning to the Sixteenth Army, which I was familiar with.

For my return, Rokossovsky, who was short of experienced commanders, was desperate for it. After only one day of work at the command post of the army group headquarters, Rokossovsky gave me a special task of forming a crack special detachment to go to Yasnaya Polyana to reconnoiter the enemy's armament and then return to report to the army group. After he grasped the detailed situation of the enemy, he was able to formulate a detailed counterattack plan in accordance with the orders of the high command.

When I accepted this task, I felt very strange, because this kind of reconnaissance mission, which is usually entrusted to the guerrillas, how could regular troops be used this time? So he asked him rhetorically: "Comrade commander, are there no our partisans in the Yasnaya Polyana region?" ”

"Yes." At that time, he replied to me with a serious expression: "Because the German army is advancing so fast, we have not had time to send partisans and sabotage groups to the area, so it is necessary to temporarily form a special detachment to accomplish this task." And the commander of this squad, you are undoubtedly the best candidate. ”

So, I accepted the assignment and selected twelve elite fighters like Aggie from the remnants of the army. Right now I'm having them assemble in the trenches outside the guard camp shelter to prepare them for pre-departure mobilization.

I nodded at Aggie and said, "Get in the ranks." Aggie saluted me and stepped back into the queue. I carried my submachine gun and walked two times in front of the line, my eyes flowing one by one with the help of the light from the shelter, one by one over the twelve ordinary faces in front of me, which seemed plain and calm, their eyes moving with my movements, anticipating the mobilization of the battle that I was about to begin.

"Comrades." As soon as I said a word, they came to a neat stand.

"Please take a break!" I continued, "Our mission this time is to go to Yasnaya Polyana to carry out reconnaissance missions. Because the Germans had already occupied this area, we could not get there by any means of transport for these tens of kilometers, and we had to walk on our own legs. I would like to state in advance that the danger of this mission is very high, not to mention the fate of the entire army if it fails. Even if the task can be successfully completed, there will be many comrades who will die. Therefore, if anyone is afraid of death and does not want to go, you can bring it up immediately, and I will definitely not embarrass him......"

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Croshkov, the political instructor who had been in the shelter, came out of nowhere, hastily interrupted me, and then leaned into my ear and whispered a reproach: "How can you do such a combat mobilization, it will affect morale." ”

"I'm measured, you don't have to worry." I whispered to him, then coughed and turned to the fighters and asked, "Is there anything you want to stay?" If you want to stay, take a step forward; Or just raise your hand and say a word. ”

As soon as I said this, there was a silence, no one spoke, no hand was raised, and no step forward.

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," my words made Croshkov a little annoyed, and he said dissatisfiedly: "In the face of a fierce enemy, even with a bayonet to his chest, our fighters will not flinch. ……”

I raised my hand to stop Croshikov from continuing, and then said to the fighters: "Since everyone is not afraid of death, they will willingly participate in this operation." Then I will say ugly things in the front, if on the battlefield, there is anyone who is greedy for life and afraid of death, cowers or escapes," I said this, I raised the submachine gun in my hand and said loudly: "I know him, but I don't know him with the submachine gun in my hand." Do you understand? ”

"Got it!" The warriors replied in unison.

"Okay, let's go!" At my command, the warriors collectively turned to the right and marched forward along the trench.

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," I heard Kroschikov call me from behind, I turned around and saw him stretching out his hands to me, and I quickly reached out to take his hand. When shaking hands, he said sincerely: "The future is difficult, be careful!" I shook his hand gratefully, and when I let go, I gave him a solemn salute, ignoring my rank above him. As I saluted, I felt my nose sore for a while, and before I could return the salute, I turned to chase after the squad that was walking in front, while secretly raising my hand to wipe away the tears that had slid down my cheeks.

Marching through snowy forests, finding a path is not easy and it is easy to get lost. In order to prevent accidentally running into the German positions, our detachment would stop every 500 meters or so, correct the direction with a compass, and then continue to advance.

The team was divided into three parts, and Aji led two soldiers as spearheads to walk about ten meters in front of the team to open the way for the team; Sergeant Gelia and three other warriors fell behind a dozen meters and took on the task of the queen of the palace for us; I, on the other hand, walked in the middle of the group with a sniper, a surveyor, a communications soldier with communications equipment on his back, and two submachine gunners.

We set out in the middle of the night, and by dawn we had advanced for five or six hours in the snow, and according to the surveyors, the distance traveled did not exceed fifteen kilometers, and the straight-line distance was estimated to be shorter.

In the early morning, fog began to rise in the forest, and our vision became more and more blurred. At first, you can see thirty or forty meters away, but at the end of the day, you can only see the scenery five or six meters away. I hunched my neck to avoid the snow falling from the treetops, and cautiously led my troops through the forest, listening vigilantly to the movements around me.

Suddenly, the soldier who was opening the road in front of him ran over in a panic and called out to me in a low voice: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel! ”

"I'm here," I didn't know what was going on, and I didn't dare to shout loudly, lest I expose the team's goal. When the warrior ran up to me, I asked him in a low voice, "What's wrong?" ”

"Aggie heard movement in the distance, and when he heard the voice, he thought it was a large army coming towards us. Aggie asked me to report to you about the situation, he himself has set up an ambush and is continuing to observe the situation. ”

"Behind, hurry up and keep up!" I turned back to greet the four fighters behind me, then looked at the fighters standing on the left and right, and said, "Come with me." ”

Running forward for more than ten meters, I saw Aji crawling in the snow, I hurriedly threw myself on his right side, and asked in a low voice, "How is the situation?" Do you hear what kind of troops it is? ”

"I only heard one or two motorcycles, and the rest were on foot, probably an infantry unit."

As we were talking, the warriors behind us also rushed over and threw themselves on the snow. Because we were all wearing white camouflage suits, lying on the snow, we really couldn't be spotted if we didn't look closely.

"Prepare for battle!" I whispered orders to everyone. I turned my head to look at the sniper lying to my right and told him, "If I give the order to open fire later, you will be responsible for knocking out the German commander." Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel. Just look at it, if the German commander dares to show his face, I will kill him with one shot. ”