Chapter 575

With the sudden appearance of Zhukov, the joint investigation team had to cancel my investigation. Then Zhukov ordered Pixin to return to Stalingrad immediately with the soldiers from the Ministry of interior, leaving kirilov, director of the Political Department of the 62nd army.

After Pickering and the officers and men of the Ministry of interior left, Zhukov looked at me, frowned discontentedly, and said, "Rita, since the members of the investigation team have left, can the troops you ambushed on the road to Stalingrad also be withdrawn? You know, to the south of you, there are several divisions of the 4th group army of hotter tanks, which are eyeing this defensive position of your division. You can't lose the big for the small. "

"Troops on the road to Stalingrad?" I was a little confused and said, "senior general, I don't understand what you mean."

Zhukov snorted and said with a gloomy face, "do you think I'm blind? At least one battalion of troops was ambushed on the roadside, even equipped with mortars and heavy machine guns. I estimate that if the convoy escorting you passes through this area, it will be severely blocked by them. Maybe there will be no survivors except you at that time. " At this point, he turned to kirilov, who was sitting on the left, and said, "Comrade political commissar of the regiment, you are lucky. If I come a little later, you will go to see God. And Comrade oshanina, you can blame the Germans for your murder. In any case, under the current situation, anything can happen. "

Zhukov's words surprised me in a cold sweat. I quickly stood up, went to the door and cried out, "come on, come on!"

With my shouts, basmanov, Godunov and razumeyeva, who were outside the house, ran in and saw that I was safe. Their faces were full of joy.

I can't afford to talk to them about the past either. I asked frankly, "who can tell me what happened to the ambush on the road to Stalingrad?"

Godunov took a wary look at Zhukov, kirilov and kreilov sitting at the table. He could not help but stop talking. I quickly comforted him and said, "it's OK. If you have anything to say, no one will blame you."

Godunov then braved himself and replied, "Mr. report, after the investigation team arrived just now, lieutenant commander xijerikov thought that the situation was a bit wrong, so he ordered me and basmanov to take the soldiers of the guard camp to guard near the headquarters, and try not to let the investigation team take you away."

In fact, after listening to Godunov's words, I understood what was going on, but I had to confirm it again, so I asked, "if you don't stop them, what's the plan of chejerikov?"

"If we don't stop the investigation team from taking you away, Lieutenant Colonel chejerikov will lead the troops to ambush them on the road, kill them and save you."

"Nonsense, it's nonsense!" Although I scolded them, I felt warm in my heart. Fortunately, Zhukov appeared in time, otherwise today's bloodshed could not be avoided. I yelled at razumeyeva: "I said, comrade second lieutenant, what are you still doing? If you don't get in touch with lieutenant commander xiejerikov and ask him to withdraw his troops, it's not good to have a misunderstanding with the comrades of Stalingrad municipal Party committee."

Razumeyeva agreed and ran to the telephone to contact lieutenant colonel shejerikov. And I'm still asking busmanov and gordonov, "have all the soldiers left?"

They nodded and replied, "except for the four soldiers standing guard at the door, the rest have been withdrawn."

Hearing that all the soldiers outside the door had withdrawn, I felt more secure. So I waved to them and said, "go out first. I'll call you if you have something to do."

When I sat down at the table again, I heard kirilov telling Zhukov about yesterday's fighting situation: "the troops that captain oshanina went to rescue were besieged by the Germans in the little rososhki area, 40 kilometers west of Stalingrad. The besieged troops belonged to the soldiers of the 1379th regiment of the 87th Infantry Division of the 62nd group army. They were led by political instructor yevdifyev and Deputy instructor Leonid kovaliev, a member of the Communist Youth League. Although they were besieged, they stuck to their position and did not step back. The soldiers ran out of food. It was so hot that they didn't have a drop of water. The German used 70 tanks to attack the hero's position many times. But they did not waver. In two days of fighting, they destroyed 27 enemy tanks and killed nearly 200 people. After the arrival of captain oshanina's troops, 33 of their soldiers succeeded in jumping out of the German encirclement. "

Kirilov was interrupted by Zhukov when he wanted to continue. He asked, "since Comrade oshanina led the troops and rescued 33 officers and men from the German encirclement, why did the Political Department of your group army and Stalingrad municipal Party committee form a joint investigation team to investigate Comrade oshanina?"

Kirilov blushed and said sheepishly, "because the troops who broke through the siege did not tell them in time when they joined the rescue forces of the independent division that there was a railway passing station behind the highland and the communication relay station of our army. So that when Colonel oshanina got the news, a new round of German attack began At this point, he stopped and looked at me, waiting for me to tell Zhukov what happened later.

I laughed at him, and then he said to Zhukov, "general, when I got the news, it was too late, and the German army launched a new attack on the highlands. They not only have more infantry than us, but even tanks are several times as many as us. If we attack rashly, we will not only be unable to save the besieged troops, but may even take them all in, so I can only order the troops to stand by and wait for the fighters. "

"How long did the troops who stayed at the meeting station last?" Asked Zhukov.

I bowed my head and pondered for a moment, silently calculating the approximate time. As soon as I worked out the correct answer, I immediately replied, "I've persisted for about ten minutes."

"Ten minutes?" Zhukov frowned again, and then asked, "how far are your troops from the Highlands?"

"Two kilometers," I said clearly, "even if there is no German block, my troops will have to wait about a quarter of an hour to get to the passing station."

Zhukov listened, staring at the map on the table, seemed to be lost in thought. After a long time, he said slowly, "Rita, you are doing the right thing. If it was me, I think I would make the same decision as you

Zhukov's words made me put down the big stone in my heart. Just as I wanted to say a few more words to him, Zhukov had turned his head and said to krailov, "Comrade krailov, how is general korpakchi's injury?"

The acting commander of the 62nd army, korpakchi, is injured? This news surprised me. No matter when the senior commander is talking, I am not suitable to interrupt. I can only sit by and listen to the conversation quietly.

Krailov sighed and said: "originally, it was just a leg injury. Because of no timely treatment, it's getting more and more serious now. It's even difficult to walk."

Zhukov put one arm on the table and leaned over to kreilov, saying, "since his injury is so serious, he can't be left in the front line any more. He should be transferred to the right bank of Volga River and treated in a good military hospital in a safe place."

"But if he leaves, comrade general," said Krylov in embarrassment, "who will command our army?"

"Trekov, comrade trekov is the right person." Zhukov took a piece of paper from his pocket and handed it to him, adding: "that's what the Supreme Commander himself meant. Had it not been for the disappearance of Comrade trakov on the grassland for some time, he would have been the commander of the 62nd army. "

After hearing Zhukov's announcement, I was relieved that trakov would finally become commander of the 62nd army. It seems that my life will be much better in the future.

After two minutes of complacency, I suddenly found another problem. Trakov was the commander of the 62nd group army, while my independent division was the organizational system of the 64th group army, which was not under his jurisdiction.

When Zhukov had finished talking with krailov, he turned to me and said, "Rita, comrade trakov needs a competent commander to help him finish the task of defending Stalingrad. Well, you can stay here for another two days. When Comrade trakov takes office in the 62nd army, you can also take the army with him. As for the new defense site of your division, "he said decisively after looking at the map for a while," I think it's at mamayev post. Maybe it will become a key area for both sides. "

Just then, a voice calling for a report came from the door. I quickly stood up and called out: "come in!"

As soon as the words came to an end, four people, including xijerikov, Pugachev, kosja and gedar, came in from outside the house one after another. They stood in front of me, raised their hands and saluted, and then loudly reported, "Comrade division, we are ordered to come and wait for your instructions!"

Before I could speak, Zhukov strode over, stood beside me, looked at the four regimental commanders, and said with great interest, "Rita, is this the commander who is ambushing by the road with his troops?"

I don't know why Zhukov asked, so I had to introduce him with a wry smile and said, "yes, Comrade General. I'd like to introduce you to the first regiment commander, Lieutenant sergeant xijerikov, the acting regiment commander of the second regiment, Captain Pugachev, the third regiment commander, lieutenant commander kosja, and the fourth regiment commander, lieutenant commander Gaidar. "

Zhukov reached out to shake hands with the four commanders one by one. After shaking hands, he faced them and said, "I'm glad to see that you love your teachers so much. But I don't approve of the way you have taken. "

I was deeply afraid that Zhukov would blame them, so I hastened to defend them first: "Comrade General, they only took such drastic actions out of their concern for me."

Zhukov waved his hand and stopped me from going on. Then he said to the four commanders, "although the measures you have taken to protect your teachers are wrong, I will not pursue them. I hope that when you come back to the army, you will deploy your defense well to fight against the possible German attack. "

Hearing that Zhukov would no longer pursue this matter, not only me, but the faces of the four commanders all showed a look of joy. They all answered in unison: "please rest assured, senior general. We will guarantee to complete the task."

Zhukov nodded with satisfaction, waved to them, and said with a smile, "OK, it's OK. You all go out."

After we sat down at the table again, kirilov asked curiously, "Comrade Zhukov, how did you come to Stalingrad?"

"Comrade Stalin needed his chief of general staff to assist him in commanding the national battles, so he sent me to Stalingrad to exchange Comrade vasilevsky for Moscow."

Then kirilov asked tentatively, "Comrade Zhukov, there is a saying in the Army: where Zhukov goes means that the attack will begin."

After listening to kirilov's statement, Zhukov burst out laughing, and krailov and I followed suit. After everyone's laughter stopped, Zhukov said solemnly: "although I also want to launch a counterattack against the Germans immediately, at present, our strength is not enough, whether it is military strength or weapons and equipment, the Germans have the advantage. We still need a relatively long time to accumulate the strength of the counter offensive, so that we can give the Germans a final blow. "

"Do you think we can keep Stalingrad?" When I heard kirilov's question, I was stunned for a moment. You know, these words should not be freely asked by commanders of his level.

"You say, Rita?" Zhukov suddenly threw the question at me.

Hearing Zhukov asking me, I quickly stood up and said in a positive tone, "that's to say, we can certainly hold Stalingrad. We will do everything we can to keep the Germans on the left bank of the Volga River and prevent them from crossing our Volga River."

"It seems that Colonel o'shanina is very confident that our army will win this battle." After listening to my words, the onlooker said with emotion.

"Comrade Krylov," Zhukov looked at me and echoed my opinion in time. "Comrade Rita has always been very accurate in judging the situation. Just like when the Germans rushed to Moscow last year, many people were frightened by the swarming Germans, and even some high-level commanders lost confidence in our ability to defend Moscow. But on different occasions, Lida said firmly that we would be able to hold Moscow. The final facts also proved that Rita's judgment was correct. I believe this time is no exception. "

"Hello, dear Georgi konstantinovic. It's a pleasure to see you in Stalingrad." The reappearance of the door caught all the attention.

For this familiar voice, even if I don't look back, I know it's general trakov. Since my immediate superior arrived, I didn't have the reason to sit still on the stool, so I stood up quickly, turned to salute him and said, "Hello, comrade commander."

"Wrong, wrong, comrade Rita." Zhukov jokingly said: "Comrade trakov is only the deputy commander of the 64th army, not the commander."

I grinned and didn't speak.

Trikov walked up to Zhukov and raised his hand to salute him. The two hands were clasped. "In the army, there is a legend that as long as Zhukov appears in any place, it means that the attack will begin there," he said with emotion

As soon as trikov's voice fell, Zhukov and some of them burst out laughing, making trikov dumbfounded. After the laughter stopped, Zhukov patted the back of trikov's hand with his empty left hand, and said with a smile, "Comrade trikov, you are late to say this sentence. Long before you came, comrade kirilov, the political commissar of the regiment, had already said it."

Trikov chuckled and said, "since we all say that, it proves that we can not only hold on to Stalingrad, but also have a chance to wipe out all these enemies in the near future."

After relaxing Zhukov's hand, he shook hands with chief of staff Krylov and director of Political Department kirilov one by one. Zhukov saw the intimacy of the three, and said: "in two days, you will be colleagues. Take the time to get familiar with them."

The appointment of trakov to the post of commander of the 62nd army is known to all in the headquarters at the moment, except himself. So after listening to Zhukov's words, in addition to trikov's blank face, kreilov and kirilov shook hands with trikov again, and said: "Hello, comrade commander, we will defeat those enemies who are trying to occupy Stalingrad under your leadership."

Trikov looked at Zhukov and asked, "Comrade General, can you tell me what's going on?"

Zhukov handed the paper that had been shown to krailov to trikov and explained, "Comrade trikov, this is the appointment of the supreme commander. From September 1, you will officially assume the post of commander of the 62nd army. "

After taking over the letter of appointment and looking at it carefully, trikov straightened up and said to Zhukov in a loud voice, "to serve the Soviet motherland, I will shed my last drop of blood to defend Stalingrad."

After hearing this, Zhukov said with a displeased face: "Comrade trakov, I don't need your blood, nor the blood of your subordinates. I just hope that the blood flowing under Stalingrad is the blood of the bandits."

When trakov asked why Zhukov came to Stalingrad, Zhukov also asked curiously, "Comrade trakov, why do you come to the independent division today?" Trikov looked at me and replied, "I just received a call from general korpakchi saying that the Stalingrad municipal Party committee and the Political Department of the 62nd army had formed a joint investigation team to investigate the criminal act of o'shanina in yesterday's battle. I heard that he actually used the word crime. I was afraid that she would encounter difficulties, so I came here specially. By the way, why do you also appear in the independent division, comrade Zhukov? " Trikov's question is exactly what I always wanted to ask but didn't ask out. Since he asked first at this moment, I'll wait quietly for Zhukov's answer. Zhukov took a look at krailov and said with a smile: "when krailov came to meet me at the airport, he mentioned the joint investigation team by accident. I think the same as you. I'm afraid that Rita will encounter any trouble that can't be solved, so I let the team change its direction and come directly to the independent division." When Zhukov finished, I quickly stood up, saluted him and trakov respectively, and said gratefully, "thank you, general, commander, for your care and love for me!" After watching me sit down, trikov turned to Zhukov and said, "Comrade General, I have a request. I don't know if I can put the independent division into the 62nd army?" Zhukov and krailov looked at each other and both of them were smiling. Zhukov happily said to krailov, "Comrade chief of staff, it's up to you to report this matter to your future commander." Krailov agreed, stood up, and respectfully reported to trikov, "Comrade commander, long before you arrived, general Zhukov had made a decision to divide the independent division into the 62nd army group to be responsible for the defense of the mamayevgang area."