Chapter 618

When safchenko brought people to us, without waiting for him to speak, I asked coldly, "instructor safchenko, what's wrong with this soldier, spreading rumors or trying to be a deserter?" Although I don't know what position Pugachev assigned to safchenko, according to his rank, he can only serve as a instructor, so I took the initiative to add the post of commander to him while addressing him by his name.

After listening to my words, safchenko immediately asked in a dazed way: "what's the rumor, what's the attempt to be a deserter, why don't I know at all?"

"Comrade safchenko," kirilov asked him again this time. He probably recognized my impatience from my tone of questioning, so he asked ahead of me this time: "what's wrong with the soldier you brought, and why did you send someone to arrest him?"

"Well, comrade political commissar." Facing kirilov, safchenko introduced the situation to him: "some refugees came to the company headquarters to complain that our soldiers raped a girl. After the clues provided by the victim, we caught the soldier in the tunnel where she was attacked. "

Hearing what safchenko said, I couldn't help but be stunned. It turned out that the soldier he brought was not arrested because he complained or something, but because he raped a girl in the tunnel. It seems that I just wronged safchenko because of my prejudice against political workers. Thinking of this, I feel a fever on my face. However, in order to ensure that there are no unjust, false and wrong cases, I specially asked: "Comrade instructor, has this soldier admitted the crime he committed?"

Safchenko nodded hard and said in a positive tone: "yes, when we took the victim to arrest him, he voluntarily admitted his crime."

"Is there any evidence?" Kirilov asked cautiously, "you know, it's too dark in the pit. Can the girl see the person who raped him?"

Kirilov's words reminded me that the hiding holes and tunnels used by the 1st and 2nd regiments were newly excavated, and there was no lighting in them for the time being. How could the girl recognize the soldier as the one who had done wrong to her? So I echoed kirilov and asked, "yes, coach safchenko, can't you make a mistake?"

Safchenko answered with confidence: "teachers, political commissars, you can't make a mistake. The girl said that although the tunnel was too dark to see the perpetrator's appearance clearly, she scratched each other's neck when struggling. You see, "said safchenko, grabbing the soldier's hair with his hand, pulling it aside, and then pointing to his neck, he continued," this is the mark of being scratched by that girl. "

Kirilov and I went over to have a look. There were some fresh scratches on the left side of the soldier's neck. It seemed that the girl did not recognize the wrong person. As for the independent division's commanders and fighters, I always regard them as my relatives. However, when I saw the soldier who had disgraced the whole division in front of me, I was so angry that I raised my hand and fanned the soldier fiercely. After the clear slap in the face, I scolded fiercely: "things are inferior to animals. Have you not seen a woman for several years?"

Unexpectedly, the soldier stopped his neck and said, "I haven't touched a woman for six years. What's so great about playing with a girl? If we hadn't protected them here, they would have fallen into the hands of the Germans."

"Damn it." Kirilov used to be a good tempered man, but seeing this unrepentant soldier, he got angry and, like me, slapped the man in the face. After the fight, he came up to me and said angrily, "Comrade division commander, this is a time of war, and the military discipline should be strict. I think this soldier must be severely punished. You see, what should we do? "

When I heard kirilov leave this contradiction to me, I had a headache. If not in this country, I just need to give an order to safchenko: take the soldier who has violated military discipline to the refugees and shoot him in public. But in this country, this kind of thing is really no big deal. I remember that one of my former guards committed the same crime. When I was going to shoot him, a group of people pleaded with me and ended up with nothing.

Seeing that I didn't respond, kirilov was a little worried and asked again what he had just said: "Sir, comrade, what do you think we should do with him?"

Looking at kirilov with an anxious face in front of him, I suddenly have an idea. Since he is my political commissar, I can just leave such troublesome things to him. What worries do I have. Thinking of this, I deliberately posed a rather embarrassing expression to him, "Comrade Comrade commissar, when you went to the independent division, you once said that I has the final say in terms of military means. But right now, this has nothing to do with military affairs, right? As for how to deal with it, I think it has the final say.

Safchenko had been staring at me, waiting for me to give an order and pushed me to kirilov. He did not want to wait any longer and asked in a hurry, "Comrade political commissar, what do you say to deal with this matter?"

Kirilov looked at me and at the culprit, frowning tightly. But he didn't wait for safchenko to urge him, so he came up with his own solution: "well, comrade safchenko, take this soldier back and whip him 200 times in front of the common people."

"What, two hundred whips?" Safchenko was startled by kirilov's words. He put his head together and said in a low voice, "Comrade political commissar, after 200 lashes, I think the soldier will not be angry."

When I heard safchenko's words, I hummed softly. I said in my heart that it was a mercy outside the law not to shoot the soldier in public. As for whether he died or lived after being whipped by 200 lashes, it depends on his own nature. Who made him hot headed and did such extraordinary things?

Kirilov didn't answer safchenko, but waved impatiently to take the man away. Safchenko nodded and said to the soldiers who followed him, "take him back first."

Kirilov watched as the culprit was taken away, and curiously asked safchenko, "Comrade instructor, how did it happen?"

Safchenko shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "when I was interrogating just now, the soldier said that he had finished digging outside and went back to the tunnel where their platoon was. Because it was too dark in the tunnel, he could only hold the wall and walk slowly inside. Walking, his feet suddenly tripped, so that he almost fell. He squatted down to feel what it was, and almost tripped him. As a result, he touched a person's body. When he touched it up, he felt his long hair, so he... "

"Well, comrade instructor, don't go on." Before he finished, I interrupted him in time. Then I changed a smiling face and said to him, "coach safchenko, you did the right thing today. We must not tolerate this ugly phenomenon which is detrimental to our independent division. We must resolutely fight against it. "

When safchenko heard me say this, he scratched the back of his head with a embarrassed smile and said, "teacher and political commissar, when I came here just now, I was deeply afraid that you would criticize me and say that I was just stirring up the army for such an hour."

"How can this be a small matter, comrade safchenko. My opinion is the same as that of my teacher. You have done a good job in handling this matter. If similar things happen in the future, we must deal with them seriously. Two hundred lashes this time, three hundred next time. I'd like to see how many people are not afraid of death. "

When kirilov finished, I asked, "Comrade safchenko, which company are you in now?"

Safchenko quickly straightened up and replied respectfully, "Mr. reporter, I am a company instructor in the third company of the first battalion."

"Two regiments and one battalion?" Hearing this, kirilov frowned and thought hard, as if recalling who was the commander of the battalion?

"The commander of the first battalion of the second regiment is captain horushov." I saw him think for a long time, but I didn't think about it. I immediately reminded him, and then said to safchenko, "Comrade instructor, when you go back later, you should inform the battalion commander captain horushov about this, and let him draw ten soldiers from each company to watch the execution scene. When these soldiers go back, they will tell what they see to the soldiers in the company. We must avoid the recurrence of similar incidents. "

After safchenko returned to the company, I turned around and asked akhromeyev, who was standing beside me and kept silent all the time: "Comrade chief of staff, what do you think of this matter?"

After listening to my question, akhromeyev didn't answer it immediately. Instead, he hesitated. Maybe he was thinking about how to answer it so as to take advantage of our wishes.

When kirilov saw that akhromeyev did not speak, he also said, "tell me, Captain akhromeyev. After all, you are the chief of staff of the division. The division commander and I also want to hear what you would do if it were you?"

"Go ahead, Captain akhromeyev, and say whatever you think. Don't worry about it." I lost no time in encouraging him.

When kirilov and I asked him to express their opinions, akhromeyev stopped prevaricating and said clearly: "although the division commander, political commissar and independent division are a new force, I think the military discipline should be strict if we want to form combat effectiveness as soon as possible. The punishment just mentioned by the political commissar is 200 lashes in public. I have decided that it is too light. For this kind of black sheep, we should shoot them without hesitation to make an example. "

Unexpectedly, akhromeyev thought the same as me. I nodded slowly with a smile on my face. But kirilov did not agree with his opinion: "Comrade captain, you know, I have already imposed a heavy penalty of 200 lashes on him. In the past, when this kind of thing happened in the army, the party concerned was scolded by the superior at most, or imprisoned for a few days."

While we were talking, Lieutenant Mikhail yev, who was only wearing a white smock, came to us in a hurry. At the same time, he excitedly reported to us: "report to division commander and political commissar, the new division headquarters has been completed, and you can officially settle in."

When we heard that the new headquarters had been repaired, we couldn't wait to discuss the punishment for the soldier. We hurried behind Mikhail and walked towards the headquarters.

The entrance to the new headquarters is just next to the old one. We walk along a two meter high and one meter wide corridor. After walking seven or eight meters, we suddenly see that the whole headquarters is more than 20 square meters in size. According to mihayev's introduction, the roof is covered with several meters of soil. No matter whether the shells or bombs fall on it, it will not pose any threat to us.

Seeing the spacious new headquarters, kirilov excitedly patted mikhayev on the shoulder and said with satisfaction: "great, comrade lieutenant, your engineering company is really capable. It's only a few hours. We have built such an excellent headquarters." At this point, the political commissar turned his head and said to me in a deliberative tone, "Comrade teacher, I want to discuss something with you."

"Come on, comrade political commissar, please tell me what you want." I responded politely to him.

"Comrade mihayev is the company commander of the engineering company, but he is only a second lieutenant. Is his rank a little lower?" Kirilov nodded in agreement with me, so he asked me, "I'd like to propose that he be promoted to the rank of lieutenant. I don't know if you agree?"

"No problem. I agree. I'll promote Comrade Mikhail to the rank of lieutenant." The last time I adjusted the rank, if it wasn't for the fear that mihayev would be promoted too quickly to convince the public, I wouldn't just give him the rank of second lieutenant. Since I promoted him to the rank today, I can't forget razumeyeva, who is with me day and night. So I also said to kirilov, "by the way, there is lieutenant razumeyeva, the company commander of communication company. Her rank is too low. I suggest that she be promoted to the rank of lieutenant, comrade political commissar. Do you have any opinion? "

"No problem, sir. I think Comrade razumeyeva's rank should have been promoted a long time ago. Since you also think she should be promoted, let's promote her and Comrade mihayev to the rank of lieutenant. " In our understatement, Mikhail yev and razumeyeva were promoted from lieutenant to lieutenant.

The new headquarters was put into use soon. Mihayev is a good architectural engineer. Although the headquarters has only doors and no windows, it doesn't feel stuffy when it stays inside.

After dark, after dinner, kirilov and akhromeyev and I were studying the map around the table when suddenly there was a faint gunshot outside. In akhromeyev's ear, he put his head aside, looked out of the headquarters, and said warily, "it's the gunshot! Is something wrong? "

"No, comrade chief of staff." Kirilov said a little incredulously: "according to our reconnaissance, there is no sign of the enemy near here. What's the matter? I think the sentry's gun may have gone off."

When I didn't know which one of them was right, there were two more shots coming from the outside, and then the shots and explosions became one. By this time, even the deaf can recognize that something is wrong outside. I quickly rushed out of the headquarters, turned around and entered the old headquarters, which was changed into a communication room. I yelled at razumeyeva, who was going out: "Lieutenant razumeyeva, do you have any information from the regiments?"

Razumeyeva shook her head and said, "no, I'm going to go out to see where the gun is firing, and I think it's very difficult to contact any regiment."

Hearing what razumeyeva said, I patted my forehead hard and said that I was really confused. Even razumeyeva knew to observe the situation outside first, and then felt that I contacted with which regiment and asked what happened. But I didn't even know where the gunfire was, so I ran to the communication room in a panic.

Razumeyeva and I went out of the communication room. Kirilov and akhromeyev were also standing outside. They were raising their binoculars and looking at a regiment of positions. When I saw this scene, my heart sank. Is there something wrong with a regiment?

I walked quickly to akhromeyev's side and asked in a loud voice, "chief of staff, are the gunshots and explosions coming from the same direction?"

"Yes, sir." Akhromeyev said as he handed me the telescope in his hand, and said: "I suspect that a small group of sneaking German troops were found by our sentinels, so there was an exchange of fire."

I raised my telescope and looked at the hillside where the regiment was. Although it was late, I could still clearly see the muzzle flame of the gun and the fire light produced by the explosion of the grenade. It seems that akhromeyev's analysis is correct. I put down my telescope and told razumeyeva, who was standing behind me, "Comrade lieutenant, get in touch with a regiment immediately and ask them how they are doing over there."

Razumeyeva agreed, went to the door of the communication room, lifted the curtain, and yelled, "girls, contact a regiment immediately and ask them what happened there?" When I saw that razumeyeva didn't enter the communication room, but stood at the door giving orders, I remembered that today our superior sent us several female communication soldiers, and now they are all staying in the communication room.

After a few minutes, the sound of gunfire and grenade explosion on the first regiment's position gradually faded away. Razumeyeva also came to me and reported to me: "Comrade division, I have contacted lieutenant commander xiejerikov of the first regiment. He reported that about 50 Germans attempted to sneak into our positions, only to be found by the Sentinels on duty, which led to the exchange of fire. "

"Is the commander online?" I turned and asked.

"Yes, he is waiting for your order."

Hearing what razumeyeva said, I shoved the telescope into ahlomyev's hand and ran quickly into the communication room. I yelled at the transmitter, "Hello, Hello, commander chejerikov? I'm o'shanina. What's the situation over there? "

"Report to the division commander that about 50 German soldiers attempted to sneak into our position, only to be found by our sentries and fired warning shots. Comrade oberstein, the political commissar on patrol, heard the gunshot and immediately rushed forward with the guard team, making fire with the German army. When I heard that there was a fight outside, I sent a company in time to fight back the enemy with the political commissar. "“ Where is political commissar oberstein now? " I asked nervously, because in my influence, the level of political workers in commanding battles is limited, and the slightest carelessness in fighting such encounters will pay a heavy price. So I asked directly if xiejerikov knew the whereabouts of his political commissar“ After the enemy was beaten back, the political commissar of oberstein went after him with a company. At present, he is still fighting As soon as I heard this, I became angry and yelled at sjejerikov: "I order you to lead a company to support political commissar oberstein immediately. If anything happens to him, you don't have to do it."