Chapter 365

General afanasiyev refused Antonov's request. Instead of taking an armored car, he sat on the bridge of the truck like me. He leaned out of the co pilot's window and said, "major oshanina, how far is it from here to your division headquarters?"

I looked at my watch, looked up and said to him, "Comrade General, we can reach our destination in about two hours."

"Then stop dawdling and get going."

"Yes I promised, and then told captain Gusev to let the motorcade go. When I turned to leave, I vaguely heard general Afanasiev murmuring in a low voice: "the Germans don't know when they will come, so I'd better leave this land of right and wrong as soon as possible."

The team went back faster than when they came. It took only one and a half hours to get outside the village. When I passed the entrance of the village, I was surprised to find that fortifications had been built here. In addition to the machine gun positions piled up with sandbags, there was a trench more than half a person deep. At least two classes of soldiers were defending here.

I asked the driver to stop the car. After getting out of the car, I came to the group of soldiers and asked a sergeant, "Comrade sergeant, when was this fortification built? When I left in the morning, there seemed to be nothing here but a few sentries. "

When the sergeant heard my question, he straightened himself up and answered in a loud voice, "report to Mr. division chief, this fortification was ordered to be built by Mr. chief of staff. He said it can prevent the German from sneaking attack."

"Does this fortification exist only in this village, or in every village?"

"There are fire points in every village, and in the houses near the fortifications, even if they are attacked by the Germans, they will not be able to enter the village in a short time."

After listening to the sergeant's reply, I looked at the well prepared officers and men in the trenches and fortifications, nodded with satisfaction. In such a short time, the fortifications in the village can be improved. It seems that boroda's ability is quite strong.

I waved and asked the driver to drive away. I walked to the parking place and saw that general Afanasiev was waiting for me under the car, while major Antonov, Captain Gusev, Captain bulda and captain chumark were standing around him. Everyone bowed their heads, as if they had just been criticized by the general.

Seeing me walking over, general afanasiyev said with some displeasure, "major oshanina, how long will you keep people waiting? We've been out of the car for five or six minutes, and you've come slowly. "

I gave him an apologetic smile and replied, "I'm sorry, Comrade General. Please forgive me. I just checked the new fortifications at the entrance of the village, so I'm late. "

General afanasiyev snorted with dissatisfaction and said, "don't dally. Take me to your division headquarters as soon as possible. I'm still in a hurry to talk to commander meletskov."

I didn't argue with him. I led him to the division headquarters with a smile on my face.

As soon as he entered the door, Captain boroda was sitting at a table, looking down at a map spread out in front of him. Aware that someone had entered the headquarters, he raised his head and saw that general Afanasiev and I were entering. He was obviously stunned for a moment. Then he suddenly stood up and rushed to meet us.

He gave a solemn salute to general afanasiyev, and said in a loud voice, "Comrade General, your subordinate boloda reports to you and welcomes you."

Afanasiyev looked him up and down, then exclaimed excitedly: "it's you, Lieutenant boroda. I didn't expect that you are still alive!" Then the two fell in love.

Boroda also said with some emotion: "Comrade General, I'm so happy to see you out of danger."

Looking at two big men cuddling in front of me, I felt a little uncomfortable, so I coughed, cleared my throat, and said, "general Afanasiev, I'd like to introduce you to this captain boloda. He pointed to the map with his hand, and asked him seriously," Comrade boloda, I want to ask you, Your base is only 20 kilometers away from the place where we broke through the encirclement. Why didn't you send strong troops to support our break through operations? " Seeing that boroda wanted to open his mouth, he went on to say, "you know, I've seen the troops of your division today. Although they are not strong, their overall combat effectiveness is not low. Don't prevaricate me with any reason, I just want to know the real answer. "

"Comrade General, this..." for this question, boroda hastily did not know how to answer, opened his mouth, but still could not speak.

I quickly rescued him and said, "Comrade General, I can give you an explanation about this."

"Go ahead." General afanasiyev said solemnly. Seeing his expression, I know why he always feels awkward since he got out of danger. It turned out that he was blaming our division for not going to rescue the second shock group army in time.

"It was only yesterday that captain boroda and I received an order from general meletskov to temporarily assume the post of division commander and chief of staff of the 378th division."

"What about the former division chief and chief of staff?"

"They have been escorted to the headquarters of the 59th army." Afraid that I didn't know the situation, boroda explained the whereabouts of the two former division leaders.

"The headquarters of the 59th group army," afanasiyev heard this unit, sneered twice, and said, "since he was relieved of his post, he should be sent to the headquarters of the front army to receive punishment. Why did he send it to the headquarters of the group army. You know, there are no good people in this group army. The commanders from the top to the bottom, from the group army commander to the regiment commander, have never done anything serious except drinking and drinking and being obsessed with women. " I turned to look at boroda, and he looked back at me. Seeing that he was helpless, I had to smile bitterly, saying that the 59th army is really famous. Everyone knows that it's a wine and sex army. It's self-evident why it's not so effective. I said to borodanu, "Comrade chief of staff, you are quite clear about the whole story of this matter. It's up to you to explain it to Comrade General." Boroda stood up and said respectfully to afanasiyev, "Comrade General, this is what happened. When the 2nd shock group army broke through, the commander of the front army gave orders to all the troops outside the encirclement, hoping that they would cooperate with you inside and outside to break the German encirclement of the shock group army. Unexpectedly, the commander of the division, Colonel dorofeyev, disobeyed the orders of general meletzkov and only sent a few small troops to launch a small-scale harassment operation against the areas where the German troops were stationed. Just after contact with the enemy, he hastily ordered the troops to withdraw from the battle, leaving you to live and die in the encirclement. " Afanasiyev slapped the table heavily and roared angrily: "hateful, hateful, really hateful! It's time to shoot this Colonel dorofeyev. It's because of him that we have sacrificed so many officers and men! " Then he angrily asked boroda, "the commander of the front army only removed him. Didn't he say what to do with him?"“ I said Facing this question, boroda seems to be reluctant to answer“ What will general meletzkov do with him? "“ Originally, he wanted to be sent to the military court for trial. Unexpectedly, general kolovnikov, commander of the 59th group army, personally called the headquarters of the front army to plead for mercy, hoping that the senior general would let them go. After careful consideration, the senior general finally ordered me to escort Colonel dorofeyev and his chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel samoylov, to the headquarters of the 59th group army and hand them over to general kolovnikov for disposal. "“ Are you two the commanders of the division and the chief of the staff also the orders directly given by general meletzkov? "“ Yes, Comrade General. " Boroda replied: "because in a short time, the front army will launch a new campaign. In order to better grasp the forces of the front army and put an end to the situation of poor command, general meletzkov made a temporary decision to let major oshanina and I act as the division commander and chief of staff of the division. "“ General meletzkov's decision is very wise. At least from my observation of the division's troops today, the troops are full of vigor and fighting spirit. I think that under the leadership of both of you, this unit will surely achieve brilliant results in the new campaign. " At this point, he took the cup of tea on the table and drank it clean. After putting down the cup, he wiped his mouth, stood up and asked boroda, "boroda, is there a high-frequency telephone that can directly communicate with the headquarters of the front army? I'm going to call general meletzkov and tell him that I'm out of danger. "“ Yes, this is it. " Boroda, who had served as a guard for general Afanasiev, immediately got up and grabbed the phone in the corner, then handed it to Afanasiev in both hands.