Red Moscow

The chief of staff of the regiment looked at the back of the officer going away, and said to Papchenko worriedly: "Comrade commander, the troops of the first battalion have withdrawn inexplicably, which may lead to the collapse of our defense line. You see, whether to put this matter immediately report to the teacher..."

Before the chief of staff of the regiment finished speaking, Papchenko immediately realized that it was inappropriate for him to send an ordinary officer to prevent the troops from retreating. In this case, the only way to prevent the troops from continuing to retreat is to go out in person. Thinking of this, he said to the chief of staff of the regiment: "Chief of staff, you are in charge of this place, and I will stop the troops."

After giving this order, Papchenko didn't wait for the chief of staff of the regiment to speak, and ran towards the rout of the troops with a pistol in hand. The chief of staff of the regiment was afraid that something would happen to him, so he quickly called two guards to follow him to protect his safety.

"Stop!" Papchenko rushed to that road, and found that the officer he had sent to look for a battalion commander had been pushed aside by the panicked soldiers. He shouted at the retreating troops: "Everyone!" Stop for me!" However, the panic-stricken soldiers, who could not hear his shout, kept retreating.

Papchenko raised his gun and fired two shots upwards. The huge echoes from the bullets hitting the top of the sewer alarmed the retreating soldiers. gun.

Seeing the soldiers stop one after another, Papchenko raised his voice and asked sternly, "Who told you to retreat!"

The soldiers crowded in the passage looked at each other, and after a while, one soldier said, "It was the battalion commander who ordered us to retreat."

Hearing someone speak, the soldiers around him also echoed: "That's right, the commander ordered us to retreat."

Papchenko asked with a livid face, "Where is your battalion commander?"

A battalion commander who was following the crowd originally wanted to take advantage of the crowd to get away, but was discovered by the soldiers beside him: "The battalion commander is here!"

Seeing that he was recognized, the first battalion commander could only bite the bullet and came to Papchenko, and asked calmly, "Comrade commander, what instructions do you have?"

"Say, why did you order the troops to retreat?" Papchenko pointed his gun at the battalion commander and asked viciously, "Don't tell me you forgot Order No. 227 and didn't know that you retreated without authorization. Are you going to a court-martial?"

"Regiment commander, you...don't be angry." Looking at the pistol on his forehead, the first battalion commander said nervously: "There is a reason why I ordered the troops to retreat."

"what reason?"

"The enemies who rush into the sewer are equipped with flamethrowers. When they encounter resistance, they will use the flamethrower to spray flames." The first battalion commander stammered: "Even if the fighters who resisted were not burned to death by the flames, I will suffocate due to lack of oxygen. I have to order the troops to retreat in order to preserve the strength of the troops!"

"You coward who is greedy for life and afraid of death, I misread you." Papchenko said, about to pull the trigger.

Although the chief of staff of the regiment sent two soldiers to be responsible for Papchenko's safety, he heard gunshots in the passage and worried that something might happen to Papchenko, so he hurried over and saw Papchenko To shoot a battalion commander, he rushed over and lifted his hand up. The fired bullet hit the wall of the sewer above his head, and the splashed gravel jingled on the helmet of the soldier below.

"Comrade regiment commander, don't be impulsive. The first battalion commander ordered the troops to retreat without authorization. He should be punished, but I think he should be handed over to the division commander." The chief of staff of the regiment worried that Papchenko would shoot the first battalion commander in public. It affected the morale of the troops, so he hurried out to smooth things over: "Our current priority is to order the troops to return to their original positions and continue to resist the enemy's attack."

Hearing the persuasion of the chief of staff of the regiment, Papchenko also realized that he could not deal with a battalion commander here, otherwise it would affect the morale of the troops, so he called the officer just now and told him: "You take two Soldiers, take the first battalion commander to the duty room at the gate of the factory and hand him over to the division commander for disposal."

After the officer escorted a battalion commander away, Papchenko shouted to the hundreds of soldiers in the passage: "Comrades, if the enemy successfully passes through our defense line, then the Red October workers behind us will be killed." I can't hold it anymore. Now, I order you to return to the original defensive position immediately and prevent the enemy from advancing any further."

After shouting these words, Papchenko was very angry when he saw that the soldiers were still standing still. Just when he was about to explode, the chief of staff of the regiment said first: "The commanders of the companies come and gather, and the commanders of the regiments will report to the soldiers. You assign tasks."

The three company commanders in the crowd, hearing the voice of the regimental chief of staff, did not dare to be negligent, and rushed towards Papchenko's position, ready to accept the order personally issued by the regiment commander.

Because the commander of the first battalion led his troops to retreat without authorization, the area in charge of the defense of the first battalion was quickly occupied by the German army. Some soldiers who stayed in the ruins of the building did not receive the order to retreat, and did not know that the sewer under their feet had been occupied by the German army. As a result, the German soldiers who came out of the sewer were beaten by a measure. After some fighting, the soldiers who stayed in the ruins were either wounded and sacrificed, or they became prisoners of the German army.

Sokov, who was staying in the observation post of the destroyer battalion, could not help showing a surprised expression on his face when he saw soldiers being escorted out of the ruins by the German army from time to time. Borshak, who was standing beside him, was also puzzled: "Comrade Colonel, what happened? Why did so many soldiers become prisoners of the Germans? I just counted, and there are at least thirty people. "

"What a hell." Sokov picked up the telephone hanging on the pillar and said into the microphone: "Operator, connect me to the command post of the 122nd Regiment immediately."

After the call was connected, Sokov heard an unfamiliar voice, and frowned and asked, "I'm Sokov, who are you?"

"Hello, Comrade Commander." The chief of staff of the regiment heard the call from the commander himself, and quickly replied respectfully, "I am the chief of staff of the regiment."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov looked at the captured soldiers in the distance, and asked dissatisfiedly, "What happened to you? Why did I see that many soldiers were captured by the enemy?"

Although the chief of staff of the regiment did not see the soldier being captured by the enemy, he heard what Sokov said and immediately understood what was going on. He didn't know whether Papchenko had brought his troops back to the original defensive position, so he hesitated how to report to Sokov.

Hearing that there was no sound coming from the microphone, Sokov's dissatisfaction increased a bit. He raised his voice and asked, "Comrade Chief of Staff, what's going on, why don't you speak?"

"Report to Comrade Division Commander!" Hearing that the division commander was angry, the chief of staff of the regiment replied with some embarrassment: "Not long ago, the enemy entered the sewer from the defense area of ​​the first battalion. But the commander of the first battalion entered the sewer without asking for instructions. Leading the troops to retreat led to the enemy's occupation of the battalion's defensive area. I guess those captured soldiers should have stood firm in the ruins on the ground, because they didn't know that the underground troops had retreated, so they were beaten by the enemy. Caught off guard."

The explanation of the chief of staff of the regiment made Sokov understand the reason why the soldiers were captured. Thinking of the instigator, Sokov became angry. He asked angrily, "Comrade Chief of Staff, where is the first battalion commander? I want to send this coward who is greedy for life and afraid of death to court-martial." , let him accept the punishment he deserves."

"I have sent someone to take him to you." The chief of staff of the regiment said cautiously: "I think you will be able to meet the first battalion commander in a while."

"Where is Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko?" Sokov thought that he had never heard Papchenko's voice, and worried that the other party was embarrassed to talk to him, so he ordered the regiment chief of staff: "Let him talk to me."

"I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I'm afraid the regiment commander won't be able to talk to you for the time being." The chief of staff of the regiment reported to Sokov: "The regiment commander has led the troops to the west, and he said that he wants to see the lost defensive zone being recaptured with his own eyes. .”

"It's nonsense, it's nonsense." Sokov said loudly into the microphone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, these matters can be left to the commander below. How can he take risks as a regimental commander? I order you now, Send someone to bring Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko back immediately. Understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Commander." The chief of staff of the regiment knew that he could not persuade Papchenko to come back, but now that he had the order from the commander, it was another matter, and he could justifiably send someone to call the regiment commander back. . He quickly straightened his body and replied, "I will immediately send someone to bring the regiment leader back."

After putting down the phone, Sokov turned to Samoilov who was standing outside the door and said, "Second Lieutenant, let's go back to the duty room at the gate of the factory. Later, Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko will send an officer who ran away Come here, you are in charge of sending him to the army headquarters."

"What, running away?" Hearing what Sokov said, not only Samoilov was stunned, but even Balshak was dumbfounded: "Comrade Colonel, I really didn't expect that there would be such a soldier in your army." There are people who are greedy for life and afraid of death."

"The forest is big, and there are all kinds of birds." Sokov sneered, and said, "There are so many troops, there are brave and fearless heroes, and naturally there are cowards who are greedy for life and afraid of death. Let's go, Second Lieutenant Samoilov , let's go back to the duty room now."

Sokov had just walked into the duty room, and before he had time to talk to Zinchenko who was staying inside, he heard someone shouting a report at the door, and said without turning his head, "Come in!"

A second lieutenant walked into the duty room, raised his hand to salute Sokov, and reported: "Report to Comrade Commander, I am the combat staff officer of the 122nd Guards Regiment, and I have been ordered to send the first battalion commander to you."

Sokov walked to the table and sat down, and ordered to the combat staff officer, "Bring him in!"

The combat staff officer promised, walked to the door and said to the outside: "Bring people in!"

Zinchenko was confused by what happened. He stared at a major who was escorted by two soldiers, and walked in dejectedly from the door. He asked Sokov in a low voice: "Comrade Colonel, What happened?"

Sokov didn't have time to talk to Zinchenko, but stared at the major who was escorted in, and asked angrily: "Tell me, major, why did you order the troops to retreat without authorization, which almost caused a big mistake!"

"What, he ordered the troops to retreat without authorization?" Zinchenko said in surprise, "When did this happen? How come I don't know at all?"

"Do you know that because you ordered the troops to retreat without authorization, the enemy quickly occupied many areas controlled by your battalion." Sokov pointed at the opponent and continued: "Because the soldiers who stayed in the ruins on the ground did not get The order to retreat, I didn't know that the enemy had occupied the area under my feet, so I was caught off guard by the enemy who drilled out of the sewer. Many soldiers have died or been captured. For such consequences, you have to bear the main responsibility responsibility."

Although Sokov didn't answer Zinchenko's question, from his words, Zinchenko already understood what happened. He stared at the poor major and thought in disgust: I really didn't expect that this major He is a coward who is greedy for life and afraid of death. He cannot be polite to such people. Even if they are not shot on the spot, they should be sent to a military court and let them accept the punishment they deserve.

"Comrade commander, I was wrong." The first battalion commander said in a weeping voice: "I am willing to make up for my own process. Please give me a chance to redeem myself."

"I'll give you a chance?!" Sokov sneered, slapped the table hard, then stood up and said, "Then who will give those sacrificed soldiers a chance to be reborn? Second Lieutenant Samoilov, immediately put him Take it away, I don't want to see this annoying face again." The next sentence he said was to Samoilov who was standing at the door.

When Samoilov heard Sokov calling him, he hurried into the duty room and asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, what should I do with him? Should I drag him out and shoot him?"

For the mistakes committed by a battalion commander, it would not be an exaggeration to shoot him immediately. But Sokov didn't want to randomly shoot a school-level officer at a time like this, especially in friendly defense zones, as that would have varying degrees of impact on the morale of the troops. So he told Samoilov: "Take a few soldiers, take him to the headquarters of the group army, and hand them over to the military law department for trial. The superior will naturally arrange how to deal with it."

After Samoilov escorted a battalion commander away, Sokov looked at the combat staff officer and said, "Comrade staff officer, please go back and tell Lieutenant Colonel Papchenko that if something like this happens again, he will immediately Wait for the military court."

"Yes, Comrade Commander." After listening to what Sokov said, the combat staff officer replied loudly and quickly, "I will definitely pass on your words to the regiment commander."

"Okay, it's none of your business here." Sokov waved at the combat staff officer and said, "Go back to your troops."