I went back to the female hygienist's dormitory and chatted with Ulanova, who had just returned from duty, before lying down with my clothes to rest. I didn't expect to never be able to sleep, I tossed and turned in bed, thinking about tomorrow's celebration meeting, and I was afraid that something would go wrong. It wasn't until I saw through the window that it was already dawn outside and my sleepiness came up, that I closed my eyes and prepared to sleep for a while.

At that moment, there was a gentle knock on the door. Before I could get up, Ulanova, who was asleep near the door, had already gotten out of bed, and she muttered dissatisfiedly: "Who, who came to knock on the door so early and let people sleep!" ”

I raised my hand and looked at my watch, it was not yet five o'clock, it was a little too early, and I came to knock on the door at this time, probably to inform Ulanova to pick up the wounded.

Just thinking about it, Ulanova had already opened the door, and asked angrily: "Hey, I said comrade soldier, you came and knocked on my door early in the morning, is there anything wrong?" ”

After Ulanova finished speaking, the fighters outside were silent for a while, and then timidly asked: "Comrade female hygienist, is the division commander awake?" I came to call her on the orders of the Chief of Staff. ”

When I heard that it was coming for me, I quickly jumped out of bed, walked briskly to the door, gently pulled away Ulanova, who was blocking the door, looked at the soldier standing outside, and asked, "Comrade soldier, who asked you to call me?" ”

When the soldier saw my presence, he immediately took a step back, raised his hand in salute, and replied: "Report to Comrade Division Commander, it was Comrade Chief of Staff who asked me to call you." He said that the commander of the army group was about to arrive, and he asked you to go with him to greet him. ”

I nodded and said, "I know." You wait a while. I washed my face and set off. "Finished. I pulled Ulanova back and closed the door.

Seeing that I closed the door, Ulanova lifted the thermos that was placed next to the wall, opened the lid and put her hand on the mouth of the bottle to feel the temperature, and then said: "Lida, the water in the bottle is a little cold, you wait here for a while, I will help you get hot water and come back to wash your face." ”

I waved my hand. He said, "Ulanova, don't bother, I'll wash it with the water in this bottle." With that, I took the water bottle from her hand, walked to the basin shelf, lifted the lid, and poured all the warm water into the basin.

After washing my face, I put on my boots, said goodbye to Ulanova, then walked to the door, opened the door, and said to the fighters waiting outside: "Okay." Comrade warrior, I finished washing my face. Let's go to the division headquarters. With that, he raised his leg and left, and the warrior hurriedly followed me.

At the entrance of the division headquarters, two cars were parked. The one in front was a jeep, presumably for me and Boroda, and behind it was a truck, surrounded by a dozen heavily armed fighters.

Seeing me walking over, the door behind the jeep suddenly opened, and Boroda got out of the car, trotted in front of me and saluted, saying: "Comrade division commander, I just received a call from the headquarters of the group army, saying that Comrade Commander has set off and will arrive at us in about half an hour. ”

I looked up at my watch, nodded, and said, "Well, I see." Then let's go, and if we delay any longer, Comrade Commander will have to enter the village. After saying that, he walked to the front of the car and bent down into the car.

Boroda shouted loudly outside the car, "All get on board." After shouting, he stood outside the car for a while, presumably waiting for all the fighters to get into the car before he got into the car. As soon as he closed the door, he ordered the driver: "Drive." ”

On the way, I remembered that General Kolovnikov came this time to celebrate the merit, but I must not make a mistake, so I asked Boroda: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is the list of meritorious personnel and collectives ready?" ”

Boroda nodded and replied, "Comrade Division Commander, please rest assured, everything is ready. As long as the comrades in command send us the military medals and certificates of merit that we need, we can award them to the meritorious personnel. ”

The jeep left the village and drove east on Highway 56 before coming to a halt. Boroda opened the car door and jumped down, stood outside the car and said to me: "Comrade division commander, let's wait here for Comrade Commander." ”

I nodded, got out of the car, and stood with him on the side of the road. The guards and soldiers of the truck behind also jumped out of the car and quickly ran behind the two of us and stood in a neat row. The two cars turned around in place, drove a few dozen meters in the direction of the village, and then stopped on the side of the road.

The early mornings of the Russian summer are cold.

I stood on the side of the road, feeling that the cold wind was particularly biting today, and I couldn't help but shiver.

Boroda, who was next to me, saw me like this and asked with concern: "Comrade division commander, are you a little cold?" ”

I nodded and said, "yes, I didn't expect it to be so cold in the morning." I don't know when Comrade Commander Lu Dao will arrive, and if he waits for an hour like this, he will probably catch a cold. ”

Boroda looked left and right and said in a low voice: "Comrade division commander, if you don't do this, you go back to the car first and wait, and when the commander's car appears, you come back." ”

His words made me a little moved, and I wanted to agree with the boat, but as soon as I turned around and saw the soldiers standing straight behind me, I immediately dismissed the idea of returning to the car, because that would damage my image in the eyes of the soldiers.

In this way, our group stood in the cold wind for more than half an hour, and just as I began to get a little impatient, the roar of a car motor could be faintly heard in the distance.

"Comrade division commander, listen, it's the sound of a car motor." Boroda sniffed vigorously and said to me excitedly, "It should be Comrade Commander, they are coming." ”

Hearing the clearer and clearer sound of the motor, I muttered to myself: "It's okay, if we don't come, our group of people should be frozen and cold." ”

After a while, a jeep and four trucks full of fighters appeared in my field of vision. Looking at the machine gun on the roof of the truck, I secretly despised this General Kolovnikov in my heart: "Aren't you just a little major general, and you actually have to take two truckloads of soldiers to protect you when you travel." Someone else has such a high military rank as Zhukov, every time he goes to the front line, he is a light car, in addition to the driver, at most three or five guards, how can there be such a big pomp as you. ”

The convoy stopped more than ten meters away from us, and after the jeep that was driving the road stopped, no one got out of the car, but on the contrary, all the guards and fighters on the truck behind jumped out of the car and quickly set up a cordon around it.

Seeing this scene, Boroda whispered to me: "Comrade division commander, I didn't expect that the commander of this group army would have such a big shelf, and he actually brought a company of troops with him when he traveled. You see, what do we do now? ”

Although I was extremely dissatisfied with Kolovnikov in my heart, at this time I had to maintain basic respect for him, so I also whispered to Boroda: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the commander of the army group did not get out of the car, he was waiting for us to go over and see him. Let's go, let's go over and say hello to him. ”

Boroda and I walked side by side to the jeep and stopped, and after raising my hand in salute, I reported loudly: "Report to Comrade Commander of the Army, Acting Commander of the 378th Division, Major Oshanina, Chief of Staff Captain Boroda has come to report to you, please instruct!" ”

At this time, the door on the back of the jeep was pushed open, and General Kolovnikov got out of the car, pretending to be surprised, and said: "Oops, isn't this the division commander Oshanina and the chief of staff Boroda?" You're not waiting for me at the division headquarters, what are you doing here? ”

"Report Comrade Commander," Boroda stepped forward and replied, "you are our superior, and it is basic etiquette to come out to greet you." You can't let people say that your subordinates don't know how to be polite, and when the commander comes to inspect the troops, they don't even look at each other, they stay in the headquarters and wait for their superiors to come to them. ”

Kolovnikov heard Boroda say this, and walked over to us with a smile, and at the same time stretched out his hand and said: "I really didn't expect you to come out to pick me up, such a cold day, you must have frozen." ”

I shook his warm big hand and did not answer his question directly, but said politely: "Comrade commander, you are welcome to our 378th Division to guide the work. Please get in the car and go to the division headquarters to rest and rest, and after listening to me and Comrade Chief of Staff report to you on the work of the troops, then hold a celebration meeting. ”

Kolovnikov nodded with satisfaction, and after shaking hands with Boroda, he continued: "It's still too early, let the soldiers rest a little longer, I will go to your division headquarters first and listen to your work report." With that, he turned and got into the jeep and slammed the door shut.

Seeing that the general got into the car, the soldiers who were on guard also quickly returned to the surroundings of the truck, and under the command of commanders at all levels, they waited for the car in an orderly manner. But after all the fighters had finished waiting for the car, Kolovnikov's jeep slowly started and continued in the direction of the village.

When Kolovnikov's motorcade passed in front of us, I waved my hand and said loudly: "Get on board, let's follow the general back to the village." ”

When we returned to the village, Kolovnikov's motorcade had stopped outside the church gate, but strangely all the people stayed in the car, and no one got off.

Seeing this scene, I was stunned for a moment, and then I reacted that General Kolovnikov was waiting for us to ask him to get out of the car. So I got out of the jeep, trotted all the way to his jeep, and first said loudly outside the car to the inside: "Report to Comrade Commander, the division headquarters has arrived, please get out of the car." After saying that, he stepped forward, opened the car door, raised his hand to block the door frame, and respectfully waited for the general to get out of the car.

Seeing that I was so courteous, Kolovnikov nodded with satisfaction, got out of the car, looked around with his hands behind his back, and then said: "Major Oshanina, Captain Boroda, it's too cold outside, let's go to the headquarters." With that, he walked up the steps of the church with his hands behind his back and walked towards the headquarters. (To be continued......)