Chapter 854

"December 25." I read this date silently in my heart. My heart said that this day is not Christmas in Europe and America. The Germans are sure to celebrate this festival, so we can catch them by surprise.

I was about to end my conversation with trakov when gurov's voice came from the receiver: "Hello, dear comrade oshanina, I want to talk to you."

Gurov said this, which made me feel nervous. He always asked trakov or krailov to report anything in the past. But today he wants to talk to me in person. What's the matter? Although I felt uneasy, I politely said, "Hello, comrade military commissar, I'm waiting for your instructions!"

Gurov said with a smile: "don't be so restrained, comrade oshanina. I'm just chatting with you." Then he talked to me a little bit. Finally, he changed the subject and asked kindly, "I heard that you ordered your company commander, Captain Yushchenko, to shoot and kill a deserter. Is that the case?"

"Deserter, what deserter?" I answered mistily, "Comrade military commissar, you have confused me. I don't understand what you mean. I have never ordered captain Yushchenko to shoot any deserters."

"Comrade oshanina, think about it," gulov's voice became official. He reminded me coldly, "think about it again. It happened at noon today."

"What happened at noon today?" After hearing gurov's suggestion, I frowned and thought hard. I thought about all my trip from this morning to now, but I didn't think of a reason. I covered the microphone, waved to Yushchenko who was not far away, called him to the front, and asked in a low voice, "Comrade captain, comrade military commissar of the group army said that we shot a deserter today. Do you remember that?"

Yushchenko was also dazed when I asked him this question. He asked in surprise: "Comrade division, we have never used weapons today. How can we shoot any deserters?"

"But comrades of the military commissar definitely said that they were the deserters who were shot today." Although Yushchenko's answer was extremely decisive, in order to give an accurate answer to gurov, I asked: "Comrade captain, are you sure you didn't shoot today?"

"No, sir." Yushchenko replied without hesitation. Seeing that his answer was so positive, I felt that he would not lie in front of me. Maybe it was from whose mouth gulov heard some inaccurate rumors that such a misunderstanding would occur. Just as I released the palm of my hand covering the microphone, Yushchenko suddenly exclaimed, "wait, comrade teacher, I suddenly think of something?"

I quickly covered the microphone again and asked in a discontented tone, "Comrade captain, do you think of something?"

Yushchenko nodded vigorously, then said to me in a low voice: "Comrade division, do you forget that we were shelled by the German army on the way to the first regiment, and we hid in a gun shelter?"

When Yushchenko reminded me, I immediately thought of the young recruit in civilian clothes who climbed out with a gun and shot himself because he couldn't stand the German artillery. Thinking of this, I tentatively asked Yushchenko, "Captain, do you mean the recruit who shot himself?"

Seeing Yushchenko's affirmative nod, I had a clear idea of the matter. After sorting out my thoughts, I opened my hand to cover the microphone again and said to the microphone, "report to comrades of the military commissar, the situation is clear."

"What's the matter?" Gurov asked briefly.

I hastened to report to him in detail about the German artillery attack we encountered on our way from the fourth regiment to the first regiment. We hid in a gun shelter and met the timid recruit.

Gulov, listen to me, the recruit was not shot because he escaped, but because he was frightened by the German artillery and collapsed. After a moment's silence, he asked me again in a cold voice, "Comrade oshanina, can you guarantee that this soldier committed suicide and was not ordered to be shot by you for being a deserter?"

"Comrade military commissar, I can promise." I affirmed: "Yushchenko, the weapons they used are the latest weapons developed by the base camp, which are different from the weapons used by our troops. You just need to send someone to examine the wound of the dead, and you can understand what's going on

"Well, I see." When I finished, gurov returned to his usual friendly tone. "I'll send someone to investigate this."

Just as gurov was about to hang up the phone, I suddenly thought of another thing and called out: "Comrade military commissar, please wait a moment."

Gulov didn't know what I called him, so he asked curiously, "is there anything else? O'shanina. "

"Yes, comrade military Commissar." I don't know if I can do what I think of on a whim, if I please give it to gurov, so I'm a little hesitant.

"If you have anything to say," gurov said to me encouragingly, probably for the first time when he heard me say something to him in such a dilemma, "we are all old acquaintances. As long as we are within my ability, I will help you do it well."

"Well, in a week, the day we attack, it's Christmas." In order not to confuse Christmas in Europe and America with that in the Soviet Union, I specially emphasized: "it's the German Christmas."

"Krauts can't get through Christmas. What's your business?" Asked gurov, puzzled.

Seeing that I had already said this, I would not continue to beat around the Bush and said directly, "well, comrade military commissar, there are a number of defecting German officers and men in our division. Since it's time for the festival, we should always prepare some gifts for them so that they can have a sense of belonging to our independent teachers. "

"A sense of belonging!" After repeating what I said, gurov said with great interest, "your statement is quite novel. What are you going to give them? "

"Originally, I wanted to ask you to allocate a batch of chocolate from the commander's private warehouse, but there are a lot of chocolates in today's seized materials, so I don't need to trouble the commander to use his precious stock." After a short time of thinking, I resolutely said to gurov, "please prepare a batch of apples for them."

"Apple?! Apples are not good in this season When guloff heard my request, he was embarrassed and said, "what's the point of giving apples at Christmas?"

I remember reading about the tradition of sending apples in Europe on the Internet, but I can't remember whether it's Germany or Czech. But I can't manage so much now, so I retell what I remember to guroff: "in German Christmas tradition, cutting apples is a prediction of the coming year. They cut the apple, if the first can see the apple core, it indicates good luck in the coming year; If not, it means the coming year is not going well. "

"In that case, I'll find a way to help you get a batch of apples." Gurov said carefully: "as you said just now, this will make your defectors have a more sense of belonging to your independent division. Don't worry. I'll send someone to deliver the apples you need as soon as possible. "

After I put down the phone, kirilov immediately came up and asked, "Comrade oshanina, what's the matter? It is clear that he is just a timid soldier. He broke down in the enemy's shelling and shot himself. How can it become that you ordered captain Yushchenko to execute the deserters in a twinkling of an eye? "

Seeing that kirilov seemed to want to go on talking, I quickly raised my hand to stop him and said, "OK, comrade political commissar, this is the end of the matter. Don't mention it any more." Although I would not let kirilov mention it again, I thought to myself: were there any members of the Ministry of interior among the soldiers who stayed in the gun shelter that day?

In order to distract kirilov and akhromeyev from their attention, I briefly introduced what trakov had just said on the phone. Seeing that they didn't know that the 25th was European and American Christmas, they simply popularized science for them.

When I had finished, akhromeyev looked down at the map in front of him and studied which direction we should break through the German defensive position on Christmas Eve. Kirilov was curious to ask me about the custom of sending apples at Christmas.

At the moment, my mood stabilized, and I finally remembered that the custom just mentioned should be Czech, not German. So he introduced the German Christmas custom to kirilov: "in Germany, it is said that Santa Claus will put nuts and apples in children's shoes. He travels around in a two wheeled carriage to observe people's behavior, especially children. If he behaves well, he will get apples, nuts, sugar and many other prizes; Those who do not perform well will be whipped. Parents have adopted this legend to encourage their children to be obedient, and presented apples to praise their children. "

After hearing this, kirilov laughed. After laughing, he said, "Comrade oshanina, gramus and Beckman, these German officers and men, have performed really well in our division. They deserve such a reward." At this point, he seemed to remember that the version I told him was different from the version I told gulov. He also kindly reminded me, "it seems that you have made a mistake about the customs you told the military commissar just now. Do you want to call to correct it?"

Hearing his suggestion, I repeatedly waved my hand and said, "no, No." I knew in my heart that it was a bit too much to make a fuss to call gurov to trouble him for such a trivial matter that was not worth mentioning, so I rejected his proposal: "the military commissars still have a lot of important things to do. We can't trouble them with such a trivial matter."

"If so, forget it." When kirilov saw that I had no objection, he did not insist any more.

Akhromeyev looked up at me from the map and said, "Sir, I have an idea that when we attack on Christmas Eve, our division should concentrate its main strength on the current area of a regiment." Then he pushed the map in front of me, pointed to it with a red and blue pencil, and introduced it to me: "you see, at present, the buildings of the regiment on the edge of the dzerzhinsky district are only about 200 meters away from the German occupied position of the" Red October "factory. Once we break through the German position, our troops can quickly rush into the factory area, join up with the remaining friendly troops who stick in the factory area, and wipe out all the German troops who occupy the factory area. "

I stare at the map without saying a word, silently thinking about the feasibility of akhromeyev's plan. Kirilov looked askew for a while, then raised his head and asked, "Comrade oshanina, what do you think of the chief of staff's plan?" After kirilov finished, I nodded and said thoughtfully, "the Germans were busy with Christmas. They must have been very relaxed. Maybe the commander would gather the soldiers to celebrate. At this time, shelling them could cause great damage to them. When the artillery attack is over, they will be killed and injured severely, and the survivors will not be able to form a battle in a short time. At this time, we will rush up quickly and clean up the German troops in the position thoroughly. "“ Sir, I have a suggestion. " Akhromeyev, standing beside him, suddenly looked serious and said to me solemnly, "can't you say it or not?"“ Comrade chief of staff, please let me know what you think. " With a smile on my face, I said to my chief of staff, "although everyone is familiar with it, if your plan is unrealistic and can not be implemented, I will not hesitate to deny it." My words caused kirilov's laughter, and akhromeyev's face was tense and smiling. After getting my approval, he boldly expressed his own idea: "Comrade division commander, I think we should not only fight military wars, but also learn to fight political wars."“ Political war? " Kirilov heard the new words and asked akhromeyev curiously, "chief of staff, what do you mean? Can you be more specific?"“ Comrade political commissar, I will make a detailed explanation next. " Akhromeyev expressed his thoughts unreservedly: "I remember that in the past, after our army was surrounded by German troops, German commanders usually sent officers and soldiers who knew Russian to shout at our commanders and fighters with loudspeakers to persuade them to lay down their arms and surrender in order to reduce the casualties of their troops."“ I see, chief of staff. " As soon as akhromeyev was halfway through, he was interrupted by kirilov. He excitedly said to me, "Comrade oshanina, I understand what the chief of staff said. He wanted gramus to persuade the German troops who had been fighting in the corner to surrender to us through their loudspeakers in the counterattack on Christmas Eve. I think it's a good idea. What do you mean? " In fact, I had this idea in my mind when I left gramus and his subordinates, but the conditions have not been mature, so gramus and his subordinates will always be hidden by me. Now it's finally time to let them use it, so I nodded very simply, and then told akhromeyev: "chief of staff, Call captain Grimes and ask them to come to division headquarters immediately. "