After Khrushchev's words, the regimental commander, Lieutenant Colonel Ilya, sat there calmly as if he had already guessed what the military council in front of him said. But the political commissar Yaming was in a completely opposite way, he stood up again and said loudly at Khrushchev: "Comrade Military Commissar, I cannot agree with what you have said. Although our fighters were all recruits, not militarily trained and not armed, their loyalty was assured. I think the more the situation is not in our favor, the more we should send them to the most dangerous location. ”

After listening to Major Yaming's speech, I immediately turned to Khrushchev to hear how he responded. After listening to Yamin's words, Khrushchev asked without moving: "Comrade Major, I would like to ask, how many weapons does your regiment have?" ”

Khrushchev's question stunned Yameen. After hesitating for a moment, he said hesitantly: "The regiment currently has 20 pistols, 15 Bobosha submachine guns, and 40 Mosin Lagan rifles, all of which are distributed to commanders at all levels. ”

"With this weapon, how can you fight an enemy armed to the teeth?" Khrushchev said in a mocking tone: "Now the 62nd Army in the city cannot even meet the supply of weapons and ammunition for its own troops, how can it provide you with weapons?" You can't let the warriors fight the enemy with sticks and bricks. ”

Khrushchev's words made me laugh, but I knew that this kind of occasion was not suitable for laughing, so I bit my lip and forced a smile to listen quietly to the conversation between the two.

Major Yameen, continuing to maintain his posture with his head held high, continued to express his opinion: "Comrade Military Commissar. Although we have a little less weapons. But you can always kill a few enemies in battle. Let our warriors collect weapons from the hands of the enemy, knowing that our warriors, armed with Stalinist ideas, are not afraid of sacrifice......"

"Smack!" Khrushchev, who had been patiently listening to his nonsense for a long time, finally couldn't help but get angry, he took off his hat and slammed it on the table, startling me, who was not mentally prepared. He pointed his finger at the other party's nose and scolded: "I really don't know how the rank on your collar badge was obtained, according to what you said." We still need to deploy troops in the city to do something, all we need is hundreds of thousands of inhabitants to organize themselves, hold sticks and hold bricks and stones, and rush towards the enemy. Anyway, we can always kill a few enemies, collect these weapons, arm our men, and continue to fight the enemy. ”

I never expected that Khrushchev would dare to express his opinion so unabashedly in the face of the personnel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and my good opinion of him could not help but increase a little more.

"Since you think that with a group of warriors who are not bare-handed, you can fight an enemy armed to the teeth." Khrushchev angrily continued: "Then I will fulfill your wishes. On the dock there was a group of soldiers who had violated military discipline, about two hundred people. Compared to your new arrivals, they are not only highly trained in military affairs, but also have a wealth of combat experience, and I will now assign them to you and let you take them to the city to fight. ”

Khrushchev's rebuke immediately left Major Yaming speechless. Just when he was embarrassed, Ilya, who was sitting next to him, stood up, looked at Khrushchev and asked: "Comrade Military Commissar, since our regiment does not need to enter Stalingrad for the time being, what is our task now?" At this point, he paused for a moment, and then said as he did the following: "Allow me to learn about the new mission. ”

Ilya's words resolved the embarrassing situation in the tent, and after Khrushchev sat down, he looked up at Ilya and said: "The next task of your regiment is to build fortifications near the pier. The situation in the city is not good at the moment, and I don't know if the defenders who are holding on there will be able to stop the enemy attack, so we must prepare for the worst. ”

"So who are we going to lead?" When Ilya asked this, her eyes unconsciously turned to me, as if she was surprised that there were two female commanders in the tent.

Khrushchev pointed his hand at me and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I have introduced you, this is Major General Oshanina, the commander of the independent division. From now on, you and your men will be under her command. Who is this? When he introduced Razumeeva, he couldn't help but hesitate, because he had no idea who Razumeeva was.

I hurriedly took his words: "Comrade Military Commissar, this is Lieutenant Razumeyeva, she ......"

Before I could finish speaking, Khrushchev said to himself: "Yes, this is Lieutenant Lazumeeva, she is Oshanina's adjutant." ”

Seeing that Khrushchev misunderstood that Razumeyeva was my adjutant, I did not defend it, but just followed his meaning and said: "Yes, Lieutenant Razumeyeva is my adjutant. ”

Hearing that I was their new leader, the two of them were involuntarily stunned at first, but soon came back to their senses, raised their hands to salute me, and said politely: "Hello, Comrade General. ”

When I saw the two of them saluting me, I quickly returned the salute to them. Then he turned his head and asked Khrushchev: "Comrade Military Commissar, since you want to build fortifications, then the necessary tools are indispensable. I guess the comrades of the vanguard regiment should not have these tools with them, and I don't know where we can go to get them? ”

Khrushchev did not answer my question immediately, but, after thinking about it, shouted loudly outside the tent: "Captain Yakubow, Captain Yakubow, you come in." ”

With his shout, Captain Yakubov opened the curtain and walked in, straightened up and asked Khrushchev for instructions: "Comrade Military Commissar, I don't know what instructions you have?" ”

"You take General Oshanina to the headquarters, find the head of logistics, General Valennikov, and get the necessary tools for them." After explaining what had happened to the captain, he said to me kindly: "Comrade Oshanina, after you have received your tools, start the construction of the fortifications as soon as possible." We must hurry, because we do not know when the enemy will launch an attack on the east coast. ”

"Comrade Military Commissar, please rest assured." Wait for Khrushchev to finish speaking. I hurriedly expressed my determination to him: "We will definitely do it in the shortest possible time." The fortifications were completed. ”

Khrushchev nodded with satisfaction, waved his hand at me, and said kindly: "Go, take Lieutenant Colonel Ilya and them, and go to General Valennikov to get tools." I will continue to stay here and wait for the new division leader. ”

Walking out of the tent, I saw a dozen or twenty phalanxes neatly lined up in the open space outside. Curiously, he asked Lieutenant Colonel Ilya, who was standing beside me: "Comrade Regiment Commander." Are these your men? ”

Ilya nodded vigorously and affirmed: "Yes, Comrade General, they are all soldiers of our regiment. ”

I stood there and looked curiously at the soldiers in the queue in their new overcoats and boat-shaped caps, perhaps because of the long journey, most of them with unconcealed tiredness on their faces, and even a few soldiers yawning quietly.

Ilya beckoned in the direction of the queue, and soon a short commander ran up to us. Raise your hand and salute and say: "Comrade Regiment Commander, Captain Ramzin of the 1st Battalion reports to you. What are your instructions? ”

"This is our new commander, Major General Oshanina," Ilya instructed the lieutenant after introducing me, "take your battalion with us, go to the logistics department to get tools, and then build fortifications on the docks." ”

Ilya's words stunned Ramzin, and he muttered: "Why dig fortifications, didn't it mean that our regiment would cross the river into Stalingrad immediately?" ”

Ilya glared at him and said dissatisfiedly: "Don't you know that the orders of your superiors are not allowed to be discussed?" Gather your men and come with us. ”

Leaving Major Yamin in charge of the rest of the troops, a few of us with about five hundred warriors followed Yakubov in the direction of the docks. When we arrived at the checkpoint in front of the pier, Yakubov asked us to stop for a while, and he walked over to greet the commanders and fighters at the checkpoint, and was then led away by one of the non-commissioned officers.

The night before, when I arrived on the east coast, I didn't bother to look at the situation on the dock, and the rest of the day, I stayed in the headquarters, still not knowing what the dock was like. After walking in today, I finally saw the true face of Lushan at the wharf. More than 100 meters away from the dock, all kinds of materials were piled up, and in order to prevent German air raids, the cargo piles were covered with camouflage nets. Groups of soldiers were busy nervously transporting supplies onto several ferries docked at the docks.

After a while, Yakubov returned with a group of people, and among the crowd was a burly general, who should be the head of logistics of the Front I was looking for, General Valennikov. I hurriedly greeted him, and I took the initiative to greet the other party: "Is it General Valennikov?" ”

"Yes, it's me, Comrade Oshanina." The general was indeed the Valentnikov I was looking for, and he took the initiative to reach out and shake my hand, then turned his head and instructed an ensign behind him: "Comrade ensign, you take these comrades to get tools." After his men had left with the recruits, the general took me aside and pointed me out where to build fortifications: "Your task is to build two trenches behind the docks, so that our troops can rely on this position to block the enemy in the event of a river crossing. ”

"Understood, Comrade General." I replied to him briefly.

Although I was quick to agree, he was still uneasy and advised: "Remember, the trenches must be dug a little deeper, so that the soldiers can hide themselves." Also, this place is close to the river, and it is easy for water to accumulate in the trenches, so you have to find a way to get some wood and spread it in it, so that our warriors do not have to soak in the water while fighting. ”

I looked around, and there were hardly any trees in the nearby hills, except for some bushes, so I asked Valentnikov with a wry smile: "Comrade General, I don't know where to cut down trees?" ”

When Valentnikov heard my question, he pointed to the north and said, "Let your warriors go north, and about five kilometers away, there is a forest of considerable size, where you can cut down the trees and bring the wood here to strengthen the fortifications." ”

His understatement made me laugh and cry, cutting down trees is not a big problem, but the forest is a few kilometers away, and we don't have any means of transportation, how can we transport the cut trees back? Thinking of this, I hurriedly complained to him: "Comrade General, at such a long distance, we do not have any means of transportation, and if we want to get the wood back, we will definitely spend a lot of manpower and material resources, and in this way, the progress of the construction of the fortifications will be slowed down. ”

Valentnikov fell silent, as if to consider what should be done to solve the difficulties I had raised. After a while, he said decisively: "Well, I will send you two trucks to pull wood." At this point, he slowed down his speech and said carefully: "If you can repair two trenches before dark, it may be decisive for us to hold on to the east coast." ”

I frowned, and silently calculated in my mind the amount of work to be done. Thinking that after digging the trench, I had to lay wood underneath, and for a moment I even doubted in my heart whether I could complete the task assigned by my superiors within the specified time. Just as I was hesitating, Valentnikov asked again: "Comrade Oshanina, is there any difficulty?" ”

"No problem." After I said this, I almost wanted to slap myself in the face, and secretly scolded myself for speaking without going through my brain. With such a large amount of work, if the number of people who built the fortifications were doubled, it might have been completed on time, otherwise the construction period would have to be extended according to the specific situation.

Seeing that I had made a promise, Valentnikov nodded at me and turned to leave with his group of men. Yakubov walked up to me and said, "Comrade General, the task assigned to me by the military commissar has been completed, and it is time for me to go back to my life." ”

To this friendly captain, I smiled and held out my hand to him, "Thank you, Comrade Captain, for what you have done for us." Break a leg! ”

Next, I began to give orders to Lieutenant Colonel Ilya: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, our task, I think you have already made clear, is that we will build two trenches behind the dock before dark. Now you send a battalion of soldiers, armed with axes and ropes, to follow the trucks sent to us by the headquarters to the forest five kilometers away, to cut down the wood necessary for strong fortifications. As for the other three battalions, they were immediately deployed on the spot and began digging trenches for fortifications. (To be continued......)