Red Moscow

"Griza," Yegor asked suddenly after taking a few puffs of cigarettes, "Tell me, will Comrade Commander come here with the division headquarters?"

Griesa understood why Yegor asked this question. Sokov had been in the division headquarters of the 188th Division for a while during the Battle of Kursk. After staring at Yegor for a while, he shook his head slowly and said: "Yegor, if it was another time period, maybe Comrade Commander would come here with the division headquarters. But today, that is not at all. possible."

"Why?" Yegor asked in surprise.

"You don't know yet," Grisa recalled that when the first battalion left on a hovercraft, Sokov had not yet had an accident, so he explained to Egor: "Comrade Commander took a plane today and went to reconnaissance over October Town. It was shot down by an enemy plane!"

Yegorten stood up suddenly: "What, the plane that Comrade Commander was on was shot down by the enemy?"

Several wounded soldiers from the second company who were waiting for the medical staff to bandage heard that Sokov was shot down by plane, and they also stood up from the ground one after another, looking at Grisa in unison, their faces were full of worry.

Seeing Yegor standing up, Griza quickly followed suit, raised his hand and patted the other person on the shoulder, comforting him and said: "Yegor, don't worry, although the plane that Comrade Commander was on was killed by the enemy It was shot down, but he and the pilot were lucky to survive with only minor injuries. They should be resting in the headquarters at this moment, and they must not be able to come here."

Knowing that Sokov suffered only minor injuries after the crash, Yegor heaved a sigh of relief. After sitting down again, he murmured: "Thank God, Comrade Commander is fine. If something happens to him, Our troops are sure to mess up."

"Yegor, you're right." Grisa agreed with Yegor's statement: "When Comrade Commander's plane was shot down and its whereabouts were unknown, the entire army was in disarray. Don't say I was panicked at the time. Even Colonel Mashkov, the division political commissar who has always been prudent, was anxious like an ant on a hot pot. He kept calling the army headquarters or other division headquarters to ask if there was any news about the comrade commander. I can't imagine what the consequences would be for the troops if something really happened to Comrade Commander."

Before Yegor could speak, he suddenly heard a voice from the stairs: "Captain Yegor, where is Captain Yegor?"

Yegor turned his head and saw that one of Guchakov's signal soldiers was walking up the stairs. He bowed quickly and replied loudly, "Comrade signal soldier, I'm here."

The communications soldier quickly came to Yegor, raised his hand to salute him and said, "Comrade Captain, the battalion commander ordered that as long as you are still alive, go to see him immediately."

"Where is the battalion commander?"

"In the doctor's duty room on the second floor."

"Grisa, I'm going to see Major Guchakov, I'm sorry I can't accompany you anymore."

"It's okay, go get busy, I will leave the work here to me."

When Yegor followed the communicator downstairs, he asked tentatively, "Communication soldier, how many people are left under the battalion commander's men?"

"Where are there other people!" The communications soldier replied with a wry smile: "Including the guard company of the group army commanded by Captain Seryozha, there are only 21 people."

"What, there are only 21 people left?" Yegor was so shocked that his jaw almost dropped to the ground, "Why did you fight so badly?"

"No way, there are too many enemies, and they are attacking from two places at the same time. Our troops are limited, and we can't stop them from rushing up to the fourth floor. We can only retreat into the conference room and continue to stand there. If the reinforcements did not arrive in time , I think we're all wiped out."

I met many commanders and fighters along the way, but Yegor found that almost all of them were from the second or third battalion, and none of the commanders and fighters from the first battalion were seen. These people were collecting the corpses of both the enemy and us, and placed them neatly in the corridor, covering them with white cloth regardless of whether they were the enemy or us.

Yegor came to the doctor's duty room on the second floor. As soon as he entered the door, he saw Guchakov, Major Bunch, and Sergei sitting at the table, talking in low voices. He hurriedly stepped forward to salute, and said loudly: "Comrade Battalion Commander, Captain Yegor, the commander of the Second Company, has been ordered to come here. I will obey your orders, please instruct!"

Guchakov got up and came to Yegor, stretched out his hand and pulled his hand from his forehead, then pulled his hand towards his front, gave him a warm hug, and said excitedly: "Yegor Gore, it's hard to see you alive."

"Comrade Battalion Commander, I am the same."

Guchakov let go of Yegor, took a step back, and then asked, "Second Company Commander, how many people are left in your company?"

"Report to Comrade Battalion Commander," Yegor straightened his body and said, "Including me, there are still six people who can breathe."

Hearing Yegor's answer, the corners of Guchakov's mouth twitched violently a few times, and then he said with a sad face: "I really didn't expect that after this battle, there are less than 15 people left in our battalion. "

21 people plus 6 people, shouldn't there be 27 people, why would the battalion commander say that there are only 15 people? Yegor was taken aback by Guchakov's statement at first, but when he saw Seryozha standing aside, he immediately understood that the number of people Guchakov said might leave Seryozha's subordinates behind. computational.

"Don't worry, Captain Yegor." Guchakov comforted him and said, "The soldiers we lost in the battle will be replenished by Comrade Commander."

Hearing Guchakov mention Sokov, Yegor couldn't help but said: "Comrade battalion commander, you may not know that something happened to comrade commander today."

"What happened to Comrade Commander?" Guchakov didn't know what happened to Sokov until now, so he couldn't help asking in surprise when he heard Yegor say this: "What's going on?"

"I heard from Captain Grisa, the commander of the fourth company, that when Comrade Commander took a plane to reconnaissance October Town, he was attacked by an enemy plane. Unfortunately, the plane he was in was shot down by the enemy..."

When Guchakov learned that Sokov had an accident, he suddenly felt his eyes go dark, his body shook twice, and he fell back. Fortunately, Seryozha and Major Bunche supported him in time, so that he didn't fall to the ground.

Seryozha supported Guchakov and said emotionally: "Captain Yegor, how is Comrade Commander doing now?"

"He is still alive. It is said that he was only slightly injured when the plane crashed, and he is resting in the headquarters now. There should be no serious problems. However, due to his physical condition, he will not come here for inspection in a short time."

"Comrade Commander is still alive!" Hearing that Sokov was still alive, Guchakov immediately revived with blood on the spot, grabbed Yegor's arm, and asked excitedly: "Is what you said true? "

"Of course, Comrade Battalion Commander." Although Guchakov's arm hurt, Dang Yegor didn't dare to struggle, and he said, enduring the pain, "That's what the fourth company commander, Captain Grisa, told me. "

"Communication soldier!" Guchakov obviously still had doubts about Yegor's statement, so he quickly called the signal soldier and told him, "You go to the second battalion commander, Major Goria, once you see him, Just ask him to come here."

"Major Guchakov, what do you want from me?" Before the messenger left, a commander wearing a helmet and carrying an assault rifle came in from the door and said to Guchakov with a smile : "I'm right here, if you want to ask anything, please feel free to ask."

Seeing Golya appearing at the door, Guchakov hurried over, grabbed his arm excitedly, and couldn't wait to ask: "Major Golya, I heard that the plane that Comrade Commander was on was shot down by an enemy plane. Is there anything wrong with him?"

"Huh?!" Hearing Guchakov's question, Golia was a little surprised: "Major Guchakov, who did you hear about this?"

Guchakov, who was eager to know Sokov's safety, asked with great emotion: "Tell me quickly, how is the situation of Comrade Commander, will his life be in danger?"

"How could it be?" Goria shrugged his shoulders and said disapprovingly, "There is no danger to life. Although the plane that Comrade Commander was on was shot down by the enemy, when it landed, the pilot pulled the nose up in time. , he and the comrade commander were only slightly injured, and they will recover after two days of rest."

After getting the real information from Golia, Guchakov's heart hanging in his throat returned to his stomach again. He took a few steps back, sat on an armchair, and panted heavily. The moment just now made him feel more tired than he had been fighting all day.

"Major Guchakov, I have come here to ask you something."

"Is there something you want to ask me?" This time it was Guchakov's turn to be puzzled: "What is it?"

"It's like this. When my subordinates searched on the first floor, they found the entrance to the basement. When they went in to check, they found not only the residents of the town, but also hundreds of German wounded soldiers." Golya said to Guchakov : "In addition, there is a squad of soldiers inside. I know two of them, and they are the subordinates of Captain Sergesha. They told me that these German wounded soldiers were the enemy before they stormed into the building of the inpatient department. You sent people to settle in the basement. Yes. I came to you just to ask, is what they said true?"

"That's right, what they said is true." Knowing that many of his subordinates were still alive, Seryozha was extremely excited, and he took two steps forward and said to Golia: "Comrade Major, these German wounded are indeed We moved to the basement before the enemy stormed the building."

"I have a question, why do you put so many German wounded soldiers in the basement?"

"This is my idea." Seeing a trace of hesitation in Seryozha's eyes, Guchakov said first: "Comrade Commander once said that we are soldiers, not butchers. For an enemy who has lost resistance, we will Treat them preferentially. The German wounded you see in the basement were captured when we took the building. The reason I moved them to the basement was because I was worried that they would be harmed if the Germans broke into the building."

"So it's like this." Goliath nodded, and said thoughtfully, "So it's like this."

While the two were talking, the head of the regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Majevo, ran in sweating profusely. Seeing Guchakov sitting in the room, he quickly opened his arms and said excitedly: "Guchakov It is good to see you alive, Major."

When Guchakov saw the head of the regiment appearing, he couldn't continue to sit still, so he quickly got up and saluted, shook hands and hugged. After completing these steps, he smiled wryly and said to Majwo: "Comrade commander, fortunately, the reinforcements you sent came in time. If it was a little later, our entire army would be wiped out."

"How many of you are left?"

"I still have 15 people under my command." After Guchakov answered this question, he glanced at Sergey and Major Bunch standing beside him, and continued: "Captain Sergesha still has 11 people, and Bunch He's all alone in the major's tank battalion."

Seeing that the second company commander Yegor was also there, Majwo asked curiously: "By the way, where is the first company commander Narva?"

Guchakov lowered his head, and said with a sad face, "I haven't heard from him since the enemy bombarded the outpatient building in front of him with heavy artillery. He must have died."

"Sacrificed?" Majvo shook his head and said, "Major Guchakov, let's not make such damned inferences until we see his dead body. When I came here, I passed the ruins of the outpatient building." , a platoon leader who was busy there reported to me that there seemed to be movement in the ruins, maybe our own people were trapped. I have instructed them to rescue as soon as possible, and we must rescue the comrades buried in the ruins .”

"Comrade Commander," Guchakov couldn't sit still when he heard that there were still voices coming from the ruins of the outpatient building. He hurriedly asked Majvo, "Can I leave?"

"Leave? Where do you want to go?"

"Comrade Commander, didn't you say that there seemed to be living soldiers in the ruins of the outpatient building?" Gutchakov explained to Madevo, "I want to rescue them."

"You must be very tired after fighting for such a long time." But Majvo denied Guchakov's request: "You should hurry up and rest, I have already given the task of rescuing the trapped soldiers to Sanying, I believe they will not disappoint my trust in them."

Although Madevo did not agree to go to the outpatient building by himself, Guchakov was still uneasy. He quickly turned around and told the communication soldier standing beside him: "Communication soldier, you rush to the outpatient building immediately to assist the comrades of the third battalion. Search the ruins. Come back and report to me as soon as you hear from the company commander."

"Comrade Commander," Golia asked Majwo curiously after the signal soldier left, "Have you reported the situation here to the division headquarters or the army headquarters?"

"The division headquarters is now in an outlying position outside the town. Even if I don't report it, the division commander and political commissar can still understand the situation here." Majwo explained: "At my level, I am not qualified to directly report to the group army headquarters. Let’s wait for the division commander and political commissar to report to the comrade commander.”

"Comrade Commander," Guchakov is now thinking that the troops must still have many battles to fight, but his own troops are basically lost. Ask Majwo: "I don't know when the superior can supplement us?"