Chapter 1313 Lineek's sad past

   Taking advantage of the opportunity of the air force to attack the German ground forces, Koida led the troops into the position.

  As soon as he entered the position, he grabbed a soldier who was busy, leaned close to his ear, and asked loudly, "Where is your battalion commander?"

  The soldier saw clearly that the person standing in front of him was actually the division commander, so he quickly straightened his back and was about to raise his hand to salute him, but Koida stopped him: "Don't salute on the battlefield!"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." The soldier hastily put down his hand that was about to be raised to his forehead, and said to Koida: "Comrade Commander, the enemy's shelling has destroyed our position, and the shelter where the battalion headquarters is located has been bombarded." Destroyed, I will take you to where the battalion commander is."

  Koida and political commissar Mashkov led a few guards, followed behind the soldier, and walked forward along the trench full of floating dirt. When the soldiers along the way saw Koyda and Mashkov, they quickly stood up straight and saluted them with their backs against the wall of the moat.

   "Comrade soldier," Mashkov chatted with the soldiers leading the way with great interest: "What's your name, where are you from?"

   "My name is Lenek, from Kyiv." The soldier replied blankly.

   "Oh, so you're from Kyiv." Mashkov continued to ask, "When did you join our army?"

"I escaped from Kyiv in January 1942, and walked on the road for more than two months before I came to Moscow." Lenek gritted his molars and said: "After arriving in Moscow, I first entered a factory. I worked as a militiaman there, but I never had the chance to fight the Germans. In March this year, the base camp formed a steppe front army, and when I came to the factory to recruit soldiers, I immediately signed up.”

   "What about your family? Have they all escaped?"

"No. They're all dead." Lenek's eyes were red, and he said through gritted teeth, "The Germans killed them all." Having said that, he stopped in his tracks, turned his head and said to Koida , "Comrade Commander, the battalion headquarters is here!"

  Koida reached out to Lenek, shook his hand, smiled and said, "Thank you, Comrade Warrior."

Guchakov happened to come out of the dilapidated command post, and seeing Koida and Mashkov at the door, he quickly straightened up and reported to the two colonels: "Commander, Comrade Political Commissar, one of the 562nd Regiment Battalion Commander Lieutenant Guchakov reports to you that our battalion is rushing to repair fortifications, please give instructions!"

   "Well done, Captain Guchakov." Koyda held Guchakov's hand again, and said with a smile on his face, "Your battalion is doing well. You actually blocked two onslaughts by the Germans."

Guchakov felt that he deserved the praise of Koida. For the first time, Yegor used rocket launchers to destroy many German tanks. The enemy's attack was barely repelled; and the second time, the German army was attacked by the Soviet Air Force before it approached the position, and was beaten to pieces.

  So Guchakov said modestly: "Comrade commander, you are too much, our battalion did not really fight the Germans..."

"Comrade Lieutenant," before Guchakov could finish, Mashkov interrupted him: "Your battalion has performed its duties very well. The arrival of the troops bought valuable time, and for that alone, your battalion should be commended."

   "How many people are left in your battalion?" Keida asked.

   "There are still 87 people left in the whole battalion."

"87 people." When hearing this number, Keida's heart seemed to be grabbed by someone severely, and he felt severe pain. Can the strength of Kove's men stop the German attack?"

"Comrade Captain," Keida continued after a brief silence: "Your battalion has successfully completed the tasks assigned to you by your superiors. Let other troops complete the next defensive tasks. Your battalion first Withdrew to the back to rest."

Now that Koyda gave the order, Guchakov did not refute, but after a loud promise, he called Lenek, who was leading the way, and told him: "Leneke, you should immediately inform the first company commander and the third officer. Company commander, order them to assemble their troops and prepare to retreat to rest."

  Looking at the back of Lenek leaving, Mashkov asked Guchakov curiously: "Comrade Captain, do you know this soldier?"

   "Yes, Comrade Political Commissar." Guchakov replied simply: "I know all the commanders and fighters in the whole battalion."

   "I think this is called... called..." Although Lenek had just told Mashkov his name, but at this moment he forgot Lenek's name.

   "My name is Lenek, from Kyiv." Guchakov said unequivocally: "Join our army as a factory militia in March this year."

   After hearing Guchakov's words, Mashkov asked with some surprise: "Comrade Captain, do you think you can remember the resumes of the soldiers so clearly?"

"Comrade Commissar," Guchakov grinned, and replied, "When the battalion was fully staffed, there were more than six hundred people. When I have nothing to do, I like to go to the squad below and chat with the soldiers. Understand their family situation. Comrade Commander once said that a qualified commander must get along well with his subordinates, so that he can be handy when commanding troops on the battlefield.”

"That's right, Comrade Commander said that." Koyda waited for Guchakov to finish speaking, then nodded to Mashkov and said, "I've heard that too. Familiarity will lead to better cooperation on the battlefield."

  Mashkov asked Guchakov: "Comrade Captain, I just heard from Lenek that his family members are all dead. Do you know what happened?"

"Know!"

   "Know?!" Guchakov's answer surprised Mashkov: "Can you tell me?"

   "This, this..." Guchakov saw that the communication company soldiers brought by Koida were pulling telephone lines and erecting antennas in the command post, and said with some embarrassment: "Will it affect the work of the communication company?"

"No." The person who spoke this time was Keda: "It will take time for the communication company to set up antennas and telephone lines, and it will also take time for your troops to assemble. Take this opportunity to tell us about this Let’s talk about the situation of Soldiers Lenek. To tell you the truth, I’m also very curious.”

"Leneke is a piano teacher. He teaches piano at school." Guchakov saw that both Keida and Mashkov wanted to know about Lenek's situation, so he stopped being pretentious and began to tell them about the situation. Get up: "Shortly after the outbreak of the war, the enemy launched an attack on Kyiv. At the beginning, everyone thought that our army could completely smash the enemy's attack, but in September, they found that not only did our army show no signs of repelling the enemy , but there is a possibility of being annihilated.

  Under such circumstances, people with connections in Kyiv began to try their best to leave this city that would fall sooner or later, and the Lenek family was no exception. The family pooled a large sum of money and contacted a truck that was leaving Kyiv. The driver promised them that he could take them safely to Moscow.

  When the truck braved the German artillery fire, left Kyiv and drove on the road to Moscow. The people in the car thought they were rescued and would arrive in Moscow smoothly in a few hours.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, dense gunshots sounded ahead, Lenek's father and driver were killed on the spot in the driver's cab, and then machine guns fired into the carriage, killing Lenek's mother and sister, As well as the neighbor's family were killed.

   Seeing the dead relatives around him, Lenek knew that although they had left Kyiv, they were not out of danger. The Germans had cut off the road from Kyiv to Moscow. In order not to be shot to death, Lenek risked jumping off the truck, and then fled back to Kyiv under the cover of night.

  Shortly after the German army occupied Kyiv, they carried out a reference cleansing of the Jews in Kyiv. They posted notices in the urban area, asking the local Jews to gather at the intersection of Melnikov Street and Jieggarevskaya Street on September 29, 1941, so that the German army could implement the "relocation plan." The next day, tens of thousands of people arrived at the designated place to gather. They were asked to walk from Melnikov Avenue to the Babi Yar Gorge on the outskirts of Kyiv, guarded by the Germans.

  When approaching the canyon, all men, women and children were required to take off their clothes and fold them up, and sort out the valuables on their bodies. Then, they were divided into several teams and entered the canyon. The Germans slaughtered them with machine guns. "

  Hearing this, Mashkov couldn't help interjecting and asked: "Comrade Captain, so Lenek is a Jew? Then how did he escape?"

"Yes, Lenek is Jewish." Guchakov nodded and continued: "When he was going to the designated place, he happened to meet a teacher at the school who knew some German. Knowing the true purpose of this gathering, the Germans stopped him and hid him in his attic at the risk of danger.

  Leneke hid in the attic, watching the endless queue of Jews, under the **** of the German army, passed hour after hour. In the crowd, he saw his relatives, friends and neighbors. He knew that these people were going to be taken to Babi Yar Canyon to be shot, but he could do nothing but watch them die step by step.

   In the next few months, he literally lived like a year. Since there were Germans living in his friend's house, he didn't dare to leave the attic for half a step, so as not to expose himself and hurt his well-meaning friends. It was not until January 42, when the German who lived at a friend's house, was transferred in another direction, that he had the opportunity to escape from Kyiv, and after several months of difficult walking, he finally came to Moscow. "

  After listening to Lenek's tragic past, Mashkov continued to ask: "Comrade Captain, how is his performance in the army?"

"He was very heroic on the battlefield." After Guchakov said this, he found that he was using general formulas to evaluate his subordinates, and quickly added: "According to my statistics, the soldiers from our division who participated in the battle Since then, he has successively destroyed two German tanks, one armored vehicle and eight trucks, and killed 21 German officers and soldiers."

   "Oh, he actually achieved so many victories?" Mashkov asked in surprise when he heard this, "Why didn't you see his name in the results reported by your battalion?"

   "Comrade political commissar, it's not that I don't want to report his results." Guchakov said with some embarrassment: "It's that he refuses."

"What, he won't let you report your battle results?" As a nation that loves honor, some people don't want to get the honor they deserve. This makes Mashkov extremely puzzled: "Comrade Captain, have you asked What happened to him?"

"He said that he was avenging his relatives, friends and neighbors." Guchakov said: "He said that the Germans owed him 159 lives. After the relatives and friends take revenge, let me report the results he has achieved."

After figuring out the ins and outs, Mashkov pondered for a moment, and then said to Koida: "Comrade Commander, this is a great hero. We must not let him be so unknown. If other commanders and fighters know that we are doing this, It will chill them."

   "Comrade political commissar, you are right." Koyda nodded and said, "We must not let such a hero go into obscurity, we must let more people know about him."

   "So what are you going to do?" asked Mashkov.

"After our division fought these few battles, the commanders and fighters suffered heavy casualties." Koyda said: "I think after the battle is over, the superiors will definitely recruit new recruits for us. As a backbone of the battle, I think It should be no problem for him to serve as a squad leader."

   "Comrade commander, I think the position of squad leader is too low." Mashkov suggested: "How about we appoint him as platoon leader?"

"Well, it's decided like this. After the battle is over, as long as he is still alive, he will be promoted to platoon leader." After Koyda finished speaking, he specifically told Guchakov: "Comrade Captain, the battle is over." After that, you must remember to remind me of this."

Knowing that Koyda planned to appoint Lineek as platoon leader, Guchakov was also sincerely happy for him, and he quickly and loudly replied: "Don't worry, Comrade Commander. After the battle is over, I will definitely remind you It's your business."

   "Comrade Captain," Mashkov reminded Guchakov as soon as Guchakov finished speaking, "but this matter must be kept strictly confidential so that Lenek will not be proud when he finds out about it."

   Guchakov grinned, and when he was about to speak, he heard the voice of the company commander Narva not far away: "Comrade Captain, the troops have been brought here, please instruct us on the next move."

   Guchakov turned his head and saw Narva and the third company commander standing not far away. In the trenches behind them stood dozens of soldiers covered in gunpowder smoke. Gutchakov did not speak, but turned to look at Koida and Mashkov, waiting for further orders from the two.

   "Comrade Captain," Koyda raised his hand and patted Guchakov on the shoulder twice, and said to him, "Your battalion has successfully completed its mission, and now you can withdraw to rest."

  (end of this chapter)