Chapter 964

I set out to Alexandria. In addition to bringing Yushchenko and a special guard platoon, I also asked bantaileiev for the company commander of the division's communication company, razumeyeva. After all, I had been with her for some time and knew each other very well.

Razumeyeva and I were sitting in the back of the jeep. While waiting for the soldiers to get on the bus, razumeyeva suddenly saw that a soldier was carrying a coffin onto the truck. She asked curiously, "Comrade commander, who is in the coffin? Is it also a general?"

I was considering whether I should report this matter to the higher authorities after negotiating the exchange terms with the German army. When I heard razumeyeva's question, I casually replied, "yes, it's a general."

"When the lieutenant heard me, he was stunned for a moment. Then he understood that the deputy commander I was talking about, general Romanov, who is now the division commander of the 308th division, quickly replied," yes, comrade commander. The negotiations between the comrades of the division and the German army. "

I didn't care that what he said was not the division commander, but the mayors. Instead, I directly told him, "Lieutenant, the commander of my communication company is still in the car outside. Please find someone to arrange her accommodation."

"Yes, comrade commander." The lieutenant replied quickly“ I'll arrange it now. "

I stepped forward, pushed open the heavy door and stepped in. There was a long table with exquisite workmanship in the room. At the end facing the door, there were two people, Romanov and the commander of the 171st division, Colonel andriuschenko, and several other commanders on both sides of the table.

"Hello, general oshanina. Nice to see you again." Before I could see where the German negotiators were, I heard a familiar voice.

I looked aside and saw German Lieutenant Colonel Huber standing up from the table by the door. Seeing that I noticed him, he quickly closed his legs, slightly bent over me, and then said with a smile: "general, last time we had a little misunderstanding, please don't mind, don't affect our negotiation today."

"Good to see you again, commander Huber. Please have a seat. I'll go on talking with you. " With that, I asked him to sit down, and then I went straight to Romanov's position.

In fact, shortly after I entered the room, all the commanders, including Romanov, got up from their seats, stood upright and silently saluted me.

Romanov came out of his position, held out his hand to me, and whispered, "Comrade commander, you are here. This German guy is so cunning that he wants us to exchange Ike's body first and then the body of general haridonov and the captured wounded for us. "

I nodded slightly and answered in a low voice, "OK, comrade deputy commander, let's handle this matter." Then he went to the place where Romanov let out. Andreusenko, who was sitting next to Romanov, shook hands with me and took the initiative to sit next to him.

I sat down in the middle of the seat, across the long wooden table, at the distant commander Huber, and said aloud, "Mr. commander, please repeat the exchange terms of Marshal Manstein."

After hearing what I said, Huber, who had just sat down, stood up again and said humbly, "Sir, our Marshal's meaning is to ask you to return the body of general ike to us first, and then return your body of general haridonov and the other 200 captured wounded to your army after it is confirmed to be correct."

After listening to Huber's words, I sneered twice and then asked in a sarcastic tone, "what if we give you Ike's body first, and you can't fulfill your promise after you confirm it?"

After half a day's silence, Huber replied, "Sir, I've only come to discuss the exchange with you on the order of Marshal Manstein. However, I can assure you that once we receive the body of general Ike, I will do my best to ensure that our army fulfils its agreed obligations. "

"Guarantee?! Hum I stood up, snorted heavily, and said to Huber, "Mr. commander, please go back and tell Marshal Manstein that we are going to hand over the scene. As we hand over Ike's body to you, you must also release our wounded and return general haridonov's body. "

"This, this..." my proposal made Hu Bo's face look extremely embarrassed. After a long time, he said to me as if he had made up his mind: "Sir, I have no such authority. I have to go back and ask the marshal for instructions."

I nodded and said generously, "Mr. commander, your proposal is very reasonable. I totally agree with it. Go back and consult with Marshal Manstein. Once you have the letter, you can ask your troops stationed outside the city to send someone to inform us. "

Hu Bo picked up the cap on the table, put it on his head, saluted me, turned and walked to the door. Sitting at the door of a commander quickly jumped up from the seat, rushed to help open the wooden door. Hu Bochong nodded his thanks and walked out of the door.

After Huber left, Romanov immediately asked, "Comrade commander, do we really want to make a deal with the Germans?"“ Yes, comrade deputy commander. " Although Romanov is now the acting division commander of the 308th division, I still used to call him the deputy commander. "We can't let the remains of general haridonov fall into the hands of the Germans. No matter what the cost, we have to get back the remains of the hero. Besides, Ike is dead, which poses no threat to us. If we return a worthless corpse to the German people, we can exchange it for the remains of the general and 200 wounded captured soldiers. No matter how we look at this deal, we will not lose out. "“ But, comrade commander. " A major sitting next to him suddenly said, "didn't the Supreme Commander say that we have no prisoners of war, only traitors of our motherland? Is it appropriate for us to exchange the corpses of German generals for the return of a group of traitors? " The major's abrupt words immediately reduced the atmosphere in the room to freezing point. I looked at the major with a gloomy face. I wanted to slap him in the face. My heart said, didn't you make me feel embarrassed in public? Without waiting for me to speak, Romanov patted the table: "major, what are you talking about? Didn't you hear the Germans say that all the wounded are going to be returned to us? What is the shame of our officers and men fighting tenaciously with the enemy on the battlefield and being captured because they lost their fighting capacity? I was captured because I was injured after the outbreak of the war. Am I a traitor to my motherland? " Romanov's wounded soldiers, who were about to be exchanged, remembered his humiliating history, so he said so much to the major who made inappropriate remarks at the wrong time that he blushed and buried his head deeply“ Comrade deputy commander is right! " I know that at such a time, I should take the initiative to show my attitude and unify the thoughts of the commanders on the scene, so I took a clear stand from the perspective of Romanov and said, "since the enemy wants to return these wounded to us, it proves that they are all good. Even if they are in prison, they have not given in to the enemy." I stared at the major, "exchanging wounded soldiers captured by our army with the Germans is a decision I made after consulting with other army leaders. Major, do you mean to create chaos in the army or to compete with the leaders at the military and divisional levels? " The major, who had no reason to speak, sat in his seat silent, but with his head down and a cold sweat on his forehead. Seeing the major's expression, I thought of forgiving others. After all, I felt that I had exchanged prisoners with the German army without asking for instructions from my superiors. If the above really went into depth, I still could not get rid of the relationship, so I slowed down and said, "major, listen to me. Today's business is over. From now on, if I hear from you that the wounded are traitors of our motherland, I will remove you from your post and take you to the military court. Do you understand? " The major quickly raised his head, looked at Romanov, looked at me again, and answered with an iron face: "I see, comrade commander. I'm wrong. I shouldn't talk. I'll review it! " When there were only three people left in the conference room, I and Romanov, andrieuchenko, Romanov asked cautiously and with concern, "Comrade commander, without asking for instructions from the higher authorities, it won't be any trouble to have a private exchange ceremony with the Germans, will it?"“ Deputy commander, don't worry. " Seeing his uneasy appearance, I quickly comforted him and said, "although I didn't ask for instructions from my superiors this time, it's because our army has been fighting all the time. It's normal that we can't get in touch with our superiors. After the exchange ceremony is completed, I will report to my superiors and I will not eat. "“ Is this, is this OK? " The speaker is andrewshenko, who is also worried about the upcoming exchange ceremony“ There's nothing inappropriate. I'm the head of the first army. I have the right to make any decision according to the specific situation and my own judgment. " In order not to get entangled in this matter, I deliberately checked the topic: "by the way, Colonel andreushenko, where is your division after you arrive at Alexandria?"“ It's all set up, "said andreushenko. He got up and went to the wall, picked up a rolled map from the table beside the wall, went back to the table, spread it out in front of us, and reported to me," Comrade commander, please have a look. After arriving at Alexandria, our division deployed to the West and south of the city to cover the flanks of the 308th division. "“ Good, good. " After watching the deployment of the 171st division, I turned to Romanov and said, "by the way, comrade deputy commander, there is one more thing I haven't had time to tell you. The guerrilla unit originally under captain shamrih's command has been reorganized into the Fourth Battalion of the 22nd tank brigade, which will be transferred to kilovgrad by tomorrow at the latest. " In order to prevent Romanov from having any bad associations, I specially explained that "although there are a large number of guerrillas, their combat effectiveness is too weak. They were transferred to kilovgrad to mix them with the troops with rich combat experience, so as to form a strong combat effectiveness as soon as possible."