The new commander of the Southwestern Front, Timoshenko, who had served as People's Commissar of Defense since May 1940, recognized the inevitability of a German invasion of the Soviet Union. Vigorously promote the building of the armed forces, establish a wartime system, and upgrade ordnance.

Before the outbreak of the war, he had advised Stalin to bring the border troops into combat readiness, but it was not adopted.

These deeds proved that he was a highly qualified military strategist, and in the face of the predicament of the Southwest Front, someone must stand up and turn the tide. Stalin gave him the task - to save the South-Western Front and the Soviet troops fighting in the South-Western direction.

Therefore, after Timoshenko took office, the first thing he did was to thoroughly investigate his troops. He found that 700,000 Soviet troops were surrounded by the Germans, many of them had been divided by the enemy, and even worse, many of them had been forced to surrender, and some troops were struggling to resist.

His predecessor died on the way to break out, and at this point in time, in southern Belarus, not far north of Kiev, the Germans were attacked very seriously.

Through the staff of the command of a small number of fronts who managed to break through, it was reported that in the Pripet swamp, north of Kiev, the remnants of the Guards 284 Infantry Division were there. Although they were scattered, the division headquarters remained, and this unit was absorbing some armed forces to respond to the call of guerrilla warfare.

According to the latest intelligence, in the territory of Belarus in the north of Ukraine, around the road from Mozyr to Lechitsa, two occupied towns have suffered devastating blows, and the enemy has suffered heavy losses. Worst of all, the enemy's 707th division headquarters was destroyed, and the division commander was killed.

"The only possibility of producing such a result is that force. Ordinary guerrillas would not have been able to achieve such results, but if it was the 284th Guards Division, it might be. ”

The staff officer's words alarmed Timoshenko, who immediately inquired about the situation of the army with the military council, and received even more astonishing information. Beria, who was then the head of the NKVD, had the opportunity to give Timoshenko an order: "You must find a way to assist the 284th Guards Division." We identified them with Yevlov as the division commander, Berekov as the deputy division commander, and now the 284th Guards Division was changed to the command of the Southwestern Front. You have to inform them of this life and at the same time provide them with military assistance. ”

Beria and the Military Council gave Timoshenko a lot of orders, and the force was already under his de jure command, but on the map it can be seen that deep in the swamps were enemy-occupied territory, and the only way to support them was to risk air assistance. At the same time, Timoshenko also learned that the deputy division commander Berekov, he was not a citizen of the Soviet Union.

He briefly sorted out the information at the new headquarters. "A Chinese, an inventor of weapons, annihilated the German 14th Panzer Division, defeated the German 20th Motorized Division, almost annihilated an infantry division of the Romanian Third Army, once liberated the city of Moziri, and routed the German 707th Infantry Division. This force is simply a monster. It is clearly the trump card of trump cards. He remembered Beria's rhetoric that Berekov would have to be forcibly brought back to Moscow if conditions permitted. Not because he was a foreigner, but because he invented new weapons that gave ordinary soldiers the ability to easily blow up enemy tanks at medium and close range.

But the reality is that the 284th Guards Division was surrounded by German troops, and the Soviets suffered heavy losses and could not be rescued at all.

Timoshenko knew that providing them with air assistance was the only feasible way at the moment, and as commander of the front, he was responsible for the entire force. Armies outside the encirclement were forced to shrink strategically, and the encircled troops were given orders to fight to the last man.

He had no choice but to brutally abandon the car to protect the commander, reorganize the army to prevent the enemy from continuing the offensive, and the German offensive never stopped. As long as the Soviets are bombing the oil fields of Romania, then the Germans will have to occupy all of Ukraine, especially Crimea.

And Timoshenko did not expect that the 284th Guards Division would take the initiative to contact.

Yevlov intermittently ordered the radioman to launch a lot of messages, so that Timoshenko had a clear understanding of this force.

Yevlov continued to wait and received a new message, which was a little surprising, and immediately ordered Yang Mingzhi, who was recuperating from his injuries, to hurry back for a meeting. He called both Fumin and Yerenkina over, and placed a slip of paper with the translated code on the table. "Comrades, our troops have been incorporated into the Southwestern Front by the higher-ups, and in the future we will be commanded by the new commander of the Southwestern Front, Timoshenko. He also hopes that since we have the ability to send signals to such a long distance, we can use plain language to communicate. ”

Yang Mingzhi looked at everyone, now the number of the unit remains the same, and the ownership has changed.

Yerenkina asked, "Is it too dangerous for them to ask us to communicate in plain language?" We are afraid that we will be exposed, the Germans are not fools. ”

"Actually, we have been exposed a long time ago." Yevlov said, "Whether it's plain language or code, we do have the ability to communicate directly with them. And, they mentioned, be sure to get Berekov in contact. ”

"Me?" Yang Mingzhi asked in surprise.

"Yes, that's you. This is Timoshenko's order, and I'm afraid it's up to you to contact him directly. ”

That's a Marshal of the Soviet Union, a historical figure! Yang Mingzhi never expected that he would have to talk to such a big man in person. As a foreigner, Yang Mingzhi knew that he had already won the interest of the Soviet high-level, and his fate had changed in a new way.

He calmed his excitement, tried to contain the tremor of his lips, and nodded yes.

The next day, after the completion of preparations, the radio stations of the troops began to work at maximum power. The radio station has added some water cooling devices to prevent damage due to overheating. Powerful electromagnetic waves echoed in the sky, the radioman repeated the call, and soon he received an echo.

Timoshengo wasn't ready, he didn't expect those people to really contact him successfully, since that's the case, let's talk directly!

Yang Mingzhi took the radioman's headset and walkie-talkie, and said slowly: "I'm Berekov of the 284th Guards Division, please answer when you receive it, finish ......" He repeated the call until the other party heard the voice of stabbing Lala. "The information has been received, I am Timoshenko, commander-in-chief of the Southwestern Front."

The two sides spoke a few more words and confirmed each other's identities. Yang Mingzhi knew that the top leaders of the Soviet Union had clearly known that he was a Chinese and a foreigner. Even then, they were based on a very high position - deputy commander of the 284th Guards Division.

"The leader has long known about your existence, your title of Hero of the Soviet Union has been awarded, and the Order of the Golden Star will soon be on your chest. As for you yourself, if conditions allow, you will be brought back to Moscow, your invention has already attracted the attention of the army, and the production of new weapons has already begun. You have officially become the deputy commander of the 284th Division, with the rank of colonel, and you will receive a large amount of urgently needed supplies in future airdrops. ”

Yang Mingzhi tried to calm down, he knew that the time allowed by the high load of the radio station was not long, and he had to hurry up.

Timoshenko added: "The leader and the NKVD minister have given you a new task, which is to organize the defense of the Pripet swamp from now on. You must gather as many men as you can fight, arm them to train them, and wait for an opportunity to attack the Germans. You have become an example for the guerrillas, and we will find ways to provide you with all kinds of assistance. Now that many Komsomol members and patriots are marching toward the occupied territories, you must search for them and expand your strength. “

Yang Mingzhi quickly counted the main points of these words, and he memorized them as he listened. Because the Chinese characters are very refined, the key words that Temoshenge said have been written down. Yevlov on the side couldn't understand these at all, and couldn't help but feel a little upset, but he still couldn't disturb him.

Timoshenko mentioned military assistance, and Yang Mingzhi immediately made a request: "Let's collect some people who can fight and put them into battle, of course there is no problem." But we need a lot of guns and ammunition, and our barracks and civilians have a population of more than 13,000 people, and we need a lot of food. Besides, it's winter, and we need a lot of bedding, and we need a lot of brand new uniforms! ”

"There's nothing wrong with that." "Ammunition, food, medicine, and all the necessities of life, we can do the first round of airdrops in a few days, you just need to make a Peugeot." For example, light another flame so that the fleet can be seen from a distance. ”

The conversation took a short time because of the distance and the voice was very sloppy. But Yang Mingzhi still asked for what he needed, and he immediately translated the key things of the Chinese logo on the paper. "You don't have to worry at all, we have successfully contacted the new chief, and if nothing else, a new airdrop will come in a week at most."

Everyone in the conference room was ecstatic, because Timoshenko's promise was very comprehensive, he promised to provide all military supplies, and sent some heavy transport planes to drop them.

Yevlov asked: "In that case, how can we contact them?" ”

Yang Mingzhi smiled: "They have the administrative map of the entire Soviet Union, and they know the location of our collective farms here. We used to be forced to light smoke to determine where we were, but now they can see where we are by looking at the map. There will definitely be an airdrop for Catfish Village. But if we light another fire, we have to make sure they don't go to the wrong place. ”

"Just do it, and then just wait?" Yevlov asked.

"Of course not. We still have to be self-reliant, and I think it's potato harvest time. ”

Yevlov nodded, "Yes, plenty of potatoes will be enough to feed us until spring." With the airdrop supplies, our winter will be even better. (To be continued.) )