Chapter 351

The infantry gathered in the open space where our tanks were parked. It was said that there were eight companies, but there were less than 50 people left in each company. The so-called tank regiment is even more unreliable. There are only 11 tanks. According to Colonel dorofeyev, the rest of the tanks have been lost in the battle. Now there is only one tank company left.

Just now, the chief of staff vowed that the troops could be assembled in three hours. But after five hours, there were only less than half of the companies in the open space, and the rest were still on their way to the village. Captain boroda and I stood at the front of the line, looking at them in a row without expression, and no one spoke.

Looking at these tardy commanders and fighters, I can't help frowning. It took so long to gather troops. If they were allowed to walk more than 20 kilometers, they would have taken all the prisoners away by the time they got to piatnica village.

When the troops were finally assembled, Captain boroda went up and yelled in a loud voice, "all comrades, listen to my command! attention! stand at ease! Turn right and target the village of piatnica to the north. Let's go

With his command, the soldiers in four columns marched in neat steps along the road to the north.

Not long after the infantry set out, boroda got on the tank and stood on the body to direct the tank troops to set out. They soon passed the infantry line and sped forward

I wanted to march with the infantry, but the chief of staff refused to let me go with him. It's hard to be gracious, so I didn't refuse and went straight to the back of the jeep.

After nearly ten hours' March, our reinforcements finally arrived two kilometers away from piatnica village shortly after dawn. The tank troops led by boroda are now in attack formation and stopping in front.

Our car stopped next to captain boroda's tank. I saw that he was looking at the village in the distance with a telescope. I couldn't help calling him: "Comrade captain, what's the situation in the village? Have you seen the Germans? "

Boroda put down his telescope, looked down at me and said, "Comrade major, the village is very quiet. No one can see. I don't know if general Vlasov is still there."

My proposal was quickly approved by the chief of staff, who rushed ahead of me and said to boroda, "Comrade captain, since the enemy has not moved, maybe they are not aware of our arrival. You should immediately organize the troops to attack and take them by surprise. "

Boroda did not answer, but looked at me. Seeing that he turned his attention to me again, I was a little upset. Didn't you stir up the contradiction between me and the superior leaders? When people give you orders, what do you keep looking at me? Although I was full of complaints, on the surface, I had to pretend nothing happened and said to the captain, "Captain boroda, since the chief of staff has given orders, you can carry them out! The tank soldiers advanced into the village, and the infantry entered the designated position and advanced to the village in a scattered formation. "

Boroda agreed in a loud voice and yelled at the open hatch: "tank soldiers, go ahead, rush to the village." The tank under his feet gave a loud roar, and a stream of black smoke came out from behind. Then he rushed to the village quickly, and the eleven tanks followed him closely. The two three wheeled motorcycles also rushed into the village behind them.

Seeing the tank approaching the entrance of the village, my heart couldn't help but raise my voice. My heart said that the Germans would not ambush anti tank men at the entrance of the village, would they? Will they open fire as soon as our tanks enter the village?

The following facts proved that I was completely worried, until all the tanks drove into the village, and no Anti Tank Man I imagined jumped out to block the tanks, and I didn't even hear the gunfire. I was surprised. Where are the Germans? Did they go to piatnica just to catch Vlasov and get rid of them all?

Soon after the tank troops entered the village, after a long journey of infantry, they entered the designated position one after another, and set up the attack of the formation of scattered soldiers, just wait for a command, they can fight at any time.

Chief of staff samoirov looked through the telescope for a while, then asked me when I could launch an attack. I replied that I would let the infantry launch an attack after captain boroda sent someone to report the situation in the village.

Just when we were very anxious, a motorcycle came out of the village. The chief of staff pointed to the approaching motorcycle and excitedly said to me, "Comrade major, you see, Captain boroda has sent someone back."

When the motorcycle stopped five meters away from us, a soldier jumped out of the sidecar and trotted to us. After standing at attention and saluting, he loudly reported, "report commander comrade, Captain boroda asked me to let you report that the village is empty and there is no one."

"No one?" The chief of staff asked in disbelief, "don't you even have a common people?"

"Report to commander, we have searched carefully and there is no one in the village."

"What, no one?" This answer makes me depressed. What's the matter with the German? Since frasov's troops have surrendered, you just take the soldiers away. Why don't you even let the civilians in the village go?

The chief of staff turned his eyes to me and asked suspiciously, "major oshanina, I would like to ask who did you listen to about general Vlasov in this village?"

"Who's to say," I replied impatiently, "I saw general Vlasov himself in the village yesterday morning, but I escaped before the Germans surrounded me."

"Then tell me, what shall we do next?"

I looked down for a moment, pointed to the forest around the village and said to the chief of staff, "although there is no one in the village, I can't rule out the possibility that someone will escape to the forest when the Germans enter the village. Comrade commander, I ask you to send half of your troops to search the forest. Maybe you will get something. "

The chief of staff looked me in the eye for at least thirty seconds, then nodded and said, "well, major o'shanina, since you say so, do as you say." Then he sent for several company commanders. Except for leaving two companies on guard outside the village, the rest of the troops went into the forest to search for possible commanders and fighters.

As soon as the search force started, Captain boroda came out of the village by motorcycle. When he came to us, he said solemnly, "I've seen it in the village. Although it's empty and there's no sign of fighting, we found our standard weapons and uniforms in several houses. Judging from this, our troops were once stationed in this village, but where are they now? I still can't understand that. "

My heart said that they were all prisoners. Now no one knows where they were taken by the Germans. Of course you can't find them. But just think about it in your heart. You can't say it. In order not to be cold, I comforted him and said, "Captain boroda, please don't worry. When the search forces come back, everything will be clear."

The chief of staff looked at his watch and said, "you two, should we go to the village to wait for news and have something to eat?"

After listening to the chief of staff's proposal, boroda patted his forehead and said with a smile, "Oh, chief of staff, if you don't tell me, I really forgot that it was my negligence to let you stand outside the village all the time. Well, let the troops on guard come into the village with us first, and we'll wait for the news in the village slowly. "

Boroda took us to the former headquarters of Vlasov. In this room, except for a few rifles without bullets in the corner, maps on the wall, telephones on the desk and other things, it is estimated that they were all moved by the Germans.

In the abandoned headquarters, we ate something with cold well water, and soon some company commanders came in to report their search results to us.

After an hour's search, the search force found nearly 50 sick or injured officers and soldiers in the forest. Some of them were carried out by the search fighters - mostly starving, swollen and half dead. The ones in better health came out with their own shoulders on their own.

The officers and men were found by the stream or in the bush. Every one of the rescued commanders and fighters was emaciated. When they saw the commanders and fighters going to rescue them, some of them were silent and obstinately refused to speak. Some people keep on talking nonsense.

After repeated inquiries, we made it clear that after the Germans surrounded the village, they captured most of the village's officers and soldiers and villagers without fighting. Some officers and soldiers who didn't want to be captured fled into the forest. In order to eliminate them, the Germans went to the forest several times to search for them, and even released police dogs. In this case, some of the commanders and fighters were killed by the German soldiers on the spot, while others were taken prisoner. The officers and men who survived by chance were hiding in the forest, always on guard against the enemy's search. They didn't come out of the hiding place until they saw our search team appear. But none of the surviving commanders and fighters can tell the whereabouts of Vlasov himself.

After sending these officers and men into the village, boroda said to me with a sad face, "my task is to meet general Vlasov, but no one knows his whereabouts. Major o'shanina, what do you say we should do? "

I knew that it was very urgent to find Vlasov himself. At the same time, I knew that he would definitely be a German prisoner. Now when I heard that captain boroda asked me for help, I could not ignore it. I could only reply vaguely, "I think you should contact the headquarters of the front army immediately, report the news of general Vlasov's disappearance to general meletskov, and wait for his further orders."

After listening to my suggestion, the chief of staff echoed and said, "Comrade captain, I think major oshanina's proposal is good. You should contact the headquarters of the front army immediately, report the current situation and let the superior make a decision."

When boroda saw that I and the chief of staff both said this, he had no choice but to nod his head and say, "in that case, I will report to the headquarters. However, how should these troops be arranged? Should they garrison here or go back to the headquarters of the 378th division? "

The chief of staff estimated that he had been waiting for him to ask this question for a long time. He almost did not hesitate to reply, "the troops are tired after a day's walk. Let them have a night's rest in the village and return to the headquarters tomorrow."