Chapter 573

"Well, Colonel o'shanina, now tell me: How did you think about it at that time? Why did you make the decision to die when our relay station was attacked by the German army, which killed dozens of soldiers?"

There were three people sitting at the wooden table of the division headquarters. They were all commanders who did not belong to our division. The chubby political worker on the left is kirilov, director of the Political Department of the 62nd group army and political commissar of the regiment level, who I met on the river. The commander on the right is a lieutenant colonel of the interior department. My usual seat is occupied by a bald man in military civilian clothes. On the other side of the wooden table stood a bench, on which I sat, two armed interior soldiers and a second lieutenant. The place where the telephone was placed on the wall was no longer razumeyeva, but another middle-aged man in military casual clothes.

The bald man in the middle was wearing a pair of round glasses and a fine moustache. When he came in just now, he once introduced himself, saying that he was piksin, member of the Stalingrad municipal Party committee, and chuyanov, the first Secretary of the State Party committee. He came to our division to learn about the battle I commanded yesterday.

When they arrived, I was assigning today's task to several of them. When I saw a group of strangers coming into my headquarters, especially two middle-aged people in military civilian clothes, I immediately terminated the meeting and welcomed them. At the same time, I politely asked, "comrades, what can I do for you?"

As soon as my voice fell, the first person who came out of the crowd was kirilov, whom I once met. He said with a smile, "Comrade oshanina, we are from Stalingrad. We have something to talk about." At this point, he turned and looked at the commanders standing at the table.

Obviously, he didn't want to have too many outsiders present, so I immediately ordered several of them to "Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant Sergeant serge Several of them agreed, turned and walked out of the headquarters.

Kirilov's eyes looked at basmanov and razumeyeva, who were still in the room, and ordered them to go out first: "Comrade captain, and this female lieutenant, we have something important to discuss with your division commander." Although they heard kirilov say so, they didn't move, but looked at me for consultation. See me nodded, just salute after turning to leave.

When I was the only one left in the room and the group of uninvited guests who had just come in, the bald middle-aged man in military civilian clothes and glasses said haughtily, "Colonel o'shanina, you may not know me, so I'll introduce myself. My name is piksin. I'm a member of the Stalingrad municipal Party committee. I'm an investigation team formed on the order of Comrade chuyanov, the first Secretary of the State Party committee. I'm here to learn about yesterday's battle from you. " At this point, he did not pay any attention to me any more. He told the people around him: "Comrade Fernando win."

Another middle-aged man in military civilian clothes crowded up to him. Pixin pointed to the position that belonged to razumeyeva in the corner and said, "you sit there and take charge of the record."

The middle-aged man didn't speak. He just nodded and pushed to the position pointed by the committee member.

Then Pixin said to one of the commanders around him, "Comrade commander, you are from the Ministry of interior. You are more familiar with how to alert the soldiers. I'll leave it to you to arrange it."

The lieutenant commander nodded, and then issued orders to his subordinates: "Lieutenant, you take four soldiers to the door to guard. No one is allowed to come in without my orders."

When the lieutenant who received the order left with four soldiers, he told the remaining second lieutenant, "second lieutenant, move that stool back a little and ask this comrade to sit down."

The second lieutenant agreed to let the remaining two soldiers move the stool. He came up to me and said coldly, "Comrade Colonel, please follow me." I shrugged my shoulders, gave kirilov a bitter smile, and obediently followed the lieutenant to the position I had been assigned.

"Now let's take a seat," Pixin said to the two remaining commanders around him, and then took the lead to my seat. When he sat down, he said frankly, "Colonel oshanina, we are ordered to investigate the battle that took place yesterday in basarji At this point, he turned to kirilov, who was sitting beside him, and said, "Comrade political commissar of the regiment, you have dealt with colonel oshanina. You are responsible for these inquiries."

Kirilov did not object, but nodded. Then he stood up, supported the edge of the table with both hands, leaned forward slightly, and slowly asked what he had said at the beginning.

After listening to his culture, I sighed silently in my heart: in the face of the enemy, you did not consider how to take defensive measures to resist the German attack, but sent a group of people to my headquarters and tried me like a prisoner. What's the matter? Although I was dissatisfied with the so-called investigation team, I still had to maintain the superficial respect, so I wanted to stand up and answer his question.

I didn't expect that as soon as I raised my hand, I felt the gravity on my shoulder. As soon as I left the stool, I had to sit down again. I looked to the left and right, it turned out that the soldiers on both sides pressed my shoulder and did not allow me to stand up. Just as I was about to get angry, the second lieutenant whispered: "be honest, sit and answer the questions of the political commissar at the regiment level."

Seeing that I couldn't stand up, I could only sit on my stool and report to kirilov the situation of yesterday in good order: "as we suddenly attacked from the enemy's rear, we repulsed the enemy who was besieging the Highlands, and the friendly troops who were covering the Highlands successfully emerged. As the friendly troops were retreating, I did not get a report that there was still a communication relay station of our army behind the highland. After the rescued friendly troops returned to the temporary defensive position of our division, and after I gave the order to withdraw all of them here, the political instructor of the communication company suddenly said that there was a communication relay station behind the highland, in which there were two classes of scouts and a women's communication class. "

Before I finished, Pickering interrupted me and asked impatiently, "don't say so many useless things. We just want to know why you didn't send troops to rescue them immediately and watch them destroyed by the Germans?"

When he finished, I introduced him with a wry smile and said, "comrades of the municipal Party committee, I also want to send troops to rescue these besieged soldiers immediately after I get the news. But just then, I found that the German attacked the Highlands again. They sent out a battalion and a dozen tanks. Our troops are much smaller than theirs. There are only two companies, one platoon and one class in the outgoing guard camp. The company is full of recruits who lack training and combat experience. As for heavy weapons, there are even fewer. There are only two tanks with insufficient fuel and ammunition, and five mortars. Under such a huge contrast of forces, if I send troops to attack rashly, I will not only fail to rescue the besieged commanders and fighters, but also take all my troops in. "

"Enough!" Without waiting for kirilov to speak, Pixin clapped the table and stood up again, pointed at me and said in a loud voice, "you coward who only know how to maintain your strength, just because you are afraid of the casualties of your troops, you make the decision of holding still, and watch those soldiers who will stand by die in vain. We will not tolerate your behavior. You have to pay for the sacrifice of these soldiers. I will send you to the military court to try your cowardly behavior of being greedy for life and fearing death. "

"Comrade Pickering, please calm down." Seeing that he was angry, kirilov, a political commissar at the regiment level, urged him to say, "what's the situation, I'll find out. Sit down first, and I'll take care of the rest. "

After Pixin sat down angrily, kirilov didn't pay attention to me. Instead, he asked the interior officer sitting opposite him, "Comrade commander, I want to ask you what kind of decision you would have made if you had been in the position of Colonel oshanina yesterday?"

The lieutenant commander of the Ministry of interior looked at me contemptuously and replied: "what else can we do? It's better to let all the troops fight immediately, even if they all die, than to sit and watch their comrades in arms be destroyed by the enemy."

Listening to the commander's words, I feel very bad. Do you think I don't want to rescue the troops in the relay station? The key is to have this strength. Otherwise, the besieged troops will not be rescued, and their own troops will be exhausted. It is really a small loss. I also know that I should not abandon my comrades in arms, but I'm a mud Bodhisattva. When I can't protect myself, I can't give the kind of stupid orders that the commander said.

Kirilov put on a kind posture, and then asked me: "Captain oshanina, I met you once by the river dun. From my understanding of you, you are a brave and very fighting commander. I believe you made this decision for your own reasons, and we all know that the enemy is strong and we are weak. But when you see the enemy troops rushing towards the high ground, you should at least do something to support the commanders and fighters of those relay stations. "

When I was talking to Najia, the leader of the communication class, I also heard something about it. Last night, I stayed up all night and repeatedly asked myself, if I had been cruel at that time, pegodunov would have launched a fierce attack on the flank of the German army under the cover of tanks, would it be possible to repel their attack, Will cover allow some of the troops in the station to withdraw safely? The final answer is No. If I had recklessly ordered the troops to rush up at that time, it would have been hitting the stone with eggs. Not only gordonov's company would have been killed, but even we in the temporary defensive positions would have been more or less in danger.

Thinking of this, I explained to myself: "Comrade political commissar of the regiment level, I repeat that under the circumstances at that time, we could not provide any help for the commanders and fighters who would stay in the station. Our temporary position is about two kilometers away from the highland. The range of mortars is not enough, and the tanks are almost carrying armour piercing bullets, which can not effectively kill the swarming German infantry. "

When he heard my reply, Pickering was impatient. He said harshly, "well, my regimental political commissar, don't talk to her anymore. No matter what kind of lies she weaves to cover up her mistakes, it can't change the fact that she is a coward who is afraid of death At this point, he turned around and ordered the commander of the interior department: "Comrade commander, what are you still doing? Arrest her immediately, take her back to Stalingrad and send her to the military court for trial."

"Comrade Pixin," kirilov interrupted, explaining to me, "although in yesterday's battle, Colonel oshanina did not take decisive action to rescue the troops besieged in the passing station, it does not mean that she is a coward? What's more, we're only here today to learn about the real situation of yesterday's battle. We haven't received the order to arrest o'shanina! "

"Comrade political commissar of the regiment level," Pickering said impolitely, "I am a member of the municipal Party committee and one of the persons in charge of the defense headquarters. I have the right to arrest such a coward who is greedy for life and afraid of death without the discussion of the leading group." In order to prevent kirilov from saying good things for me, he specially stressed, "Comrade kirilov, although you know the colonel, you can't say good things for her. You should know that this is a manifestation of tenderness and is very dangerous." Kirilov was speechless. He looked at me, laughed apologetically and sat down in silence. When kirilov sat down honestly, the commander stood up, waved his hand in my direction, and decisively ordered his men, "Comrade lieutenant, handcuff her." The second lieutenant agreed, took out the handcuffs from his body and was ready to start. Just then, there was a noise outside the room. Hearing the unexpected sound, Pixin was stunned. He looked at the door and asked aloud, "what's the matter outside? Why is it so noisy?" The lieutenant, who was on guard outside the headquarters, ran in and raised his hand to salute. After that, he said in a loud voice, "report to members of the municipal Party committee that more than 100 soldiers have come outside and surrounded us."“ It's just nonsense. Surround this place. What do they want to do? Do they want to rebel? " We have to say that Pixin is very brave. Although he heard that many people were coming from outside, he still waved his head to the commander of the interior department and said without fear, "come on, comrade commander, let's go out and see what happened."