By the time we arrived at Stalingrad, it was already dark.

Although Stalingrad had not yet been attacked by the Germans, the streets were littered with bunkers made of sandbags and wood, anti-tank tripods, anti-aircraft guns on rooftops pointing into the sky, gray balloons floating over the city, and splinterproof tapes on the windows of buildings on the streets.

On both sides of the road, in addition to heavily armed patrols, I could occasionally see ordinary people in twos and threes, and from their indifferent expressions, I guessed that in their hearts, the German troops who were rushing towards the Don valley must be blocked by our troops, and their lives would not be affected in the slightest.

"Look, Comrade Commander," Chuikov's driver, seeing the complacent pedestrians on the side of the road, echoed my opinion, "the inhabitants here are calm, as if they were not at all afraid that the enemy would approach our heroic city. ”

Chuikov looked out the window and said with emotion: "Yes, although our army is fighting fiercely with the enemy in the Don River valley, there is no obvious atmosphere of panic in the city, which is understandable to the inhabitants of this city in a certain way. The citizens of Stalingrad found it hard to believe that their city was about to become a battlefield of fierce battles, and they did not believe that our army could not hold back the enemy on the Don. ”

Our car, after passing through a series of checkpoints, arrived at the headquarters of the Front.

After we got out of the car en masse, Chuikov ordered the others to stay where they were and wait for him, and then led me into the headquarters.

As soon as I walked into the building, I was greeted by a short, fat general. As soon as he saw Chuikov. Immediately opened his hands. Greeted Chuikov excitedly: "Hello, dear Vasily. Ivanovich, welcome to the headquarters of the Front. ”

Chuikov also smiled and greeted the other party: "Hello, General Nikishev. Then the two of them came to a warm hug.

After the two separated, Chuikov took the initiative to introduce me and the general to each other: "Comrade Oshanina, let me introduce you to the Chief of Staff of the Front, Major General Nikishev. Comrade General, this is Zhukov sent to the 62nd Army. Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, who served as an adjutant to General Kolpakchi, but she is now assigned to my 64th Army, having recently acted as regimental commander. ”

Hearing that it was the chief of staff of the front army in front of me, I hurriedly raised my hand and saluted, and said respectfully: "Hello, comrade general, it's a pleasure to meet you." ”

Nikishev just nodded lightly at me and said, "Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina." Then he said to Chuikov: "Let's go, dear Vasily. Ivanovich. Comrade Commander is still waiting for you. He saw that you were delayed, and he was cursing people in the headquarters. ”

We were soon outside Goldorf's office. The door was not closed tightly, and a loud voice could be clearly heard growling, and the large group of commanders standing outside waiting to be seen looked very stern, apparently fearing that they would suffer the same fate when they entered the house.

A lieutenant officer sitting on duty at the door, seeing our arrival, hurriedly got up to greet us, and after saluting Nikishev, he said in a low voice: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the commander is cursing people inside, you see, are you going to go in later." ”

Nikishev waved his hand and said: "Comrade lieutenant, don't worry, General Chuikov, who Comrade Commander has been waiting for, has arrived, and I was ordered to bring him to the commander as soon as Comrade Chuikov arrives, and this is urgent." ”

When the lieutenant heard Nikishev say this, he had to say helplessly: "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, I'll go and ask you for a briefing right away." With that, the lieutenant turned and pushed open the door and walked in, closing it with his backhand. After a while, the door was opened, and the lieutenant came out of the room, came to our side, made a gesture of invitation, and said: "Please, Comrade Chief of Staff, the commander said that he would see General Chuikov immediately." ”

I wanted to stay at the door, but Chuikov shook his head at me and said, "Comrade Oshanina, let me in, there are some things you need to know." ”

There were two commanders standing in the room, one was a young major general, judging by his uniform, he should belong to the Air Force, and the other gray-haired old general, needless to ask, could be General Goldov, who had been waiting for Chuikov.

Seeing that both Chuikov and Nikishev raised their hands to salute the old general, I was even more sure of my judgment, and I followed their example and saluted the general.

Goldov glanced at me, turned his face blank, and asked Chuikov: "Comrade Chuikov, I summoned you to the headquarters because I wanted to discuss important matters with you, why are you late?" Not to mention that it was too late, without my permission, she brought a female conductor to my office without permission. When will even women in our military be able to participate in decision-making? ”

Goldorff's words were so heavy that I was immediately embarrassed that if he hadn't been a superior, maybe I would have turned around and left at once. I looked up at Chuikov, and saw that his face still did not change, and calmly responded to Gordorf's rebuke: "Report to Comrade Commander, this is Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, she was sent by General Zhukov to the 62nd Army, and is currently seconded to work in my army. As far as I know, Comrade Zhukov sent her to the Stalingrad Front with the consent of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief himself. ”

Hearing that Chuikov brought out the Supreme Commander and Zhukov, Goldov did not continue to dwell on the details, but changed the topic, pointed to the major general in the room, and introduced Chuikov: "Comrade Chuikov, let me introduce to you, this is the commander of the 8th Air Force Army and Air Force Major General Khryukin. ”

Chuikov stretched out his hand to the other party and said in a friendly manner: "Hello, General Khryugin, I am the commander of the 64th Army, Chuikov, and it is a pleasure to meet you. ”

After the two sides got to know each other, Goldov went on to say to us: "Comrade commanders, at present the enemy has fallen into the defensive position of our army, and you must cooperate well and strive to annihilate them in one fell swoop in the shortest possible time. ”

As soon as Goldov said this, Chuikov suddenly interjected and said: "Comrade commander, I have a different opinion. At present, the enemy's forces are too strong, and our troops are still at a disadvantage compared to them, so it is unrealistic for me to launch a war of annihilation in the short term......"

Unexpectedly, Goldov interrupted Chuikov's words and said unceremoniously: "Comrade Chuikov, I know no less about the front than you!" I summoned you to hear your explanation as to why the right flank of the 64th Army had withdrawn across the Chir River? ”

"Retreat is a last resort!" Chuikov replied: "We did not have time to unfold the entire army group. Only half of the 229th Division took part in defensive battles......"

Gordorf did not let Chuikov finish speaking, and said sharply: "Submit a written report!" Written! ”

Seeing that things had become like this, Chuikov also seemed helpless, so he could only ask Goldov: "Comrade commander, allow me to rush back to the army group now?" In that case, I could write a detailed written report based on the operational map and the text. ”

Goldorff waved his hand impatiently and said, "Go ahead and hand in the report as much as you can." ”

Chuikov replied loudly, turned around and planned to leave with me. At this moment, Goldov stopped him again and said in a stern tone: "General Chuikov, I remind you that Comrade Stalin issued Order No. 227 on July 28, stating that if we want to save the situation and defend the Motherland, it is necessary to establish strict order and iron discipline in the army...... The panicked and the cowardly, fearing the dead, are to be shot on the spot. From now on, every commander, Red Army soldier, and political worker should abide by this iron discipline: without an order from the Supreme Command, no step back is allowed. ”

Chuikov nodded and replied: "Yes, Comrade Commander, I also received this order, which I will convey to the troops immediately." ”

"It is necessary to convey the orders of Comrade Stalin. But what needs to be done now is to redeploy your troops that have crossed the Chir River to forward positions, and if any commander does not carry out his orders, he will not need to be court-martialed, and all of them will be shot on the spot. (To be continued......)