I lowered the muzzle of the gun, but my fingers didn't leave the trigger, and if I noticed something wrong with the other party, I could immediately pull the trigger and raise my hand to sweep the bullet out of the chamber. I looked the young officer of medium stature up and down, and then asked unhurriedly, "Sabotage mission, what kind of sabotage mission?" ”

"Comrade Colonel Report," said Captain Starcha in the dry tone of a subordinate reply to his superior, "our battalion received an order to cut off the roads from Kling to Volokolamsk, Volokolamsk to Lotoshilo, Klin to Novopetrovskoye, and Shakhoskaya to Novopetrovskoye after the parachute landing in Klin. ”

When I heard that their combat range is so large, can they have enough troops? I took my finger off the trigger and asked with interest: "How many people are in your battalion, and can you simultaneously complete the combat missions in the above-mentioned areas?" ”

"There were 415 people in the battalion, three companies. The deputy battalion commander took a company to sabotage the railway from Shakhoskaya to Novopetrovskoye, and I led a second company here to ambush German units that might be passing by. In the past few days of fighting, our battalion has destroyed 10 German trucks, and more than 100 enemies have been killed by us......"

"Ramis, let's go!" I was not interested in hearing the captain tell me about their battles, so I called Ramis, picked up my gun, and walked away.

"And where are the soldiers of the third company?" Ramis, who was following me, asked curiously.

"By order of the brigade headquarters, I have deployed them in the village of Peshki."

"What?! Peshki village ?! I had already walked a few steps towards the position of the car, when I suddenly heard the name of the place mentioned by the captain, I couldn't help but stop, and after a few steps, I hurried back to the captain's side, looked at Captain Lu, and asked in an uncertain tone: "Comrade Captain, what place are you talking about?" Peshki village? ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." The captain was taken aback by my unusual behavior, and although he didn't understand why he would suddenly ask such a question, he still respectfully gave an affirmative answer.

"What is the situation in the village, is it in our hands or in the hands of the Germans?" I stepped forward and grabbed the captain by the collar and asked anxiously.

The captain took a step back, gently wrenched his collar out of my grip on it, and replied with some embarrassment: "Comrade commander, I'm sorry that I can't answer your question for the time being. ”

I realized my gaffe, quickly put my hand down, laughed wryly, apologized to Captain Lu with some embarrassment, and then repeated the question I had just asked.

"I don't know about this, maybe in the hands of our army, it may also be taken away by the Germans." The captain shook his head and gave me an ambiguous answer. Seeing the look of disappointment on my face, I quickly added, "Please don't worry, I'll ask how the situation is on Sanlian's side right away." ”

"How do you ask?"

"There's a phone in the Shelter Department where you can contact them directly, please!" With that, he leaned to the side and made a gesture to me, and then he took a step forward to show us the way.

Following the battalion commander, our group came to the forest, and I realized that there was a long trench in the middle of the forest, and in the middle of the trench there was a heavy machine gun position made of snow.

Walking along the trench into the depths of the forest, about seventy or eighty meters, I turned a corner and saw a shelter made of wood. The captain stopped and turned around and said, "This is my battalion headquarters, please come in!" After saying that, he opened the curtain and walked in first.

As soon as I walked into the shelter, I felt that the light in the room was unusually dim, and it took me a while to get used to it. In the middle of the room lay a map and a gas lamp on a simple wooden table. There is also a table in the corner, on which is a boxy machine, and next to it sits a warrior with headphones.

The captain pointed to the communications device and introduced it to me: "This is the walkie-talkie that the American allies have helped us, a portable, low-power radiotelephone transceiver that can communicate even on the march." After saying that, he took off the headset from the head of the communications soldier, put it on his head, and then picked up the microphone and began to shout: "Parachute, parachute!" I'm a glider, I'm a glider! Hear it, please answer! ”

After he repeated it a few times, the other party's answer came from the headphones: "I'm a parachute, I'm a parachute." ”

The captain turned his head to look at me, then asked, "Where are you now?" ”

"Our company is currently one kilometer south of the village of Peshki."

"Is the village in our hands, or is it occupied by the Germans?"

Perhaps the question was asked too abruptly, and the other party obviously paused before replying: "In the hands of our army. Two days earlier, almost a regiment of troops had moved into the village and had built a number of fortifications to the north of the village. ”

"Have there been any recent battles?"

"No, there hasn't been a fight, not even a shadow of the Germans in the vicinity."

After listening to the other party's report, the captain removed the microphone and took off the headphones, turned his head and said to me: "Comrade commander, I just asked, Peshki Village is still in the hands of our army. ”

I slung the submachine gun over my shoulder, paced the shelter with my hands behind my back, and smiled bitterly in my heart: it was so ridiculous, it was just an ordinary dream, and I actually believed it, and I sent Stalin a regiment of troops from the reserve to defend this little-known village. If the Germans attacked, it would be fine, and if they did not attack, how would I have the face to meet Stalin in the future.

After walking back and forth in the house a few times, I looked up and saw that the captain was still holding the headset microphone in his hand, so he said casually: "Comrade Captain, please ask him again, has any commander of the Western Front been to the village recently?" ”

The captain put the headphones back on, and then asked into the microphone, "Have any commanders of the Western Front entered the village in the past two days?" ”

"Yes, two days ago, an investigation team from the Western Front entered the village, led by two generals."

As soon as I heard the word "investigation team", my eyes lit up, and I hurriedly ran to the captain's side and urged him: "Quickly ask, has the investigation team left?" ”

"No," the other party said categorically without waiting for the captain to ask, "absolutely not!" After they entered the village, they never left. ”

"Are you sure?" I asked the captain again.

"Absolutely sure, Comrade Commander!" The other person replied: "I have men all around the village, and I can find them in time no matter which direction they are leaving." ......" As soon as he said this, he suddenly snorted and said in some surprise: "They are leaving, and the car of the investigation team is driving towards our highway." ”

"Are you sure?" This time it was the captain himself who asked this.

"Yes, Comrade Battalion Commander," replied dryly, "a total of four black sedans came out of the village and drove northeast along the road, apparently intending to go to the defense area of the Eighth Guards Division. ”

The captain took off the headset again, handed it to the communications corpsman along with the microphone, and asked me, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, is there anything else I can do for you?" ”

"Yes," I was confident that the investigation team of the front army was in the village and had just left, at least part of my dream was real, and it remains to be seen whether the rest of the things will happen. But instead of passively waiting, something should be done, so I continued: "Comrade Captain, can you give me a few fighters and let me take them to the village of Peshki to check them out?" ”

Captain Starcha frowned a little embarrassed, then nodded resolutely and said, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, this is no problem, I will take someone personally." ”

I nodded with satisfaction and said, "Thank you, Comrade Captain, but you'd better hand over command to your deputy first." I'll go out and wait for you outside. As I spoke, I patted Ramis, who had been standing next to me without speaking, "Let's go, let's go back to the car." ”