—— From the Soviet Information Bureau... ——183at a difficult moment. And Nazis had to be annihilated if I wanted
to survive myself and prevent my friends from perishing.
When silence fell, I felt how terribly tired I was, how great the
tension had been. I felt like sitting down, stretching out my legs to
still the repulsive nervous tremble affecting my knees.
‘Aksyonov, go back with Knyazev to the company, at the double!
Restore communications with them and help the wounded. I’ll look
after the telephone. Make sure you find the company commander.
If he’s alive, he can go back to the command post, to the telephone,’
I said, wiping the sweat from my face with my cap.
The lads were out of the dugout in an instant and back in our
trenches within a minute. At moments like this it is important
that somebody should take charge in an authoritative way. For
them I was now that authority, though only in terms of my title.
I also needed the company commander to sort me out so I would
not grow limp from fatigue. I was already feeling sleepy. At the
command post I was completely on my own.
Sometime later, after the lads had withdrawn to the dugout, the
telephone buzzed. I picked up the receiver.
‘How are things there, Nikolaev? What can you see in front of
you?’ asked the ‘Third’ after I had identified myself and reported
on the situation.
‘Peace and quiet over here,’ I reported. ‘The Germans have
gone back to their starting position and may not bother us till the
morning. I’m on my own at the command post, waiting for the
company commander. I’ve sent the medical orderly and the radio
operator back to the company – to restore communication and
find the lieutenant.’
‘Good. If there’s anything new, report immediately. If Popov
turns up, let him contact me at once,’ ordered Captain Naida.
About twenty minutes after this conversation Anatoly Knyazev,
who had returned to the company command post, was telling
me: ‘Well, it looks like the war’s over for today. The company
commander’s still alive and he’ll be here any minute. I saw your
friends in the trenches – snipers Rakhmatullin and Dobrik.