—— Red Army Sniper ——74nightfall. Go straight to Regimental Commissar Agashin. You
need to be there by three o’clock.’
Weaving my way along the trenches, and stooped over as well,
was not a pleasant experience. Apart from that I was hungry; there
had been no issue of dry rations...
Try as I might, I still could not make it by 1500 hours. I was not
reprimanded for this; they knew what it was like getting out of our
sector in daylight.
‘Now dash over to the divisional staff and you’ll meet our
people there. Report to Matveyev, head of the political section.’
It was also quite a distance to the divisional staff. Of course
there were no vehicles along the route – the highway was under
German observation and was even shelled at night. And yet,
within a couple of hours or so, I was standing outside divisional
HQ, trying to tidy myself up. I had had occasion to visit it before
- for a snipers’ conference, a gathering of Nazikillers. And quite
recently we had been accepted here as candidate Party members:
Dobrik, Karpov, myself and some fellows from other regiments.
There were ten to twelve people gathered in a small space
outside Divisional Commander Colonel Panchenko’s office. Apart
from Captain Treshchev, deputy head of the political department
for the Young Communist League, there were two scouts present,
some sappers and some tank crew. While waiting for the divisional
commander, we speculated as to why such a varied collection of
people had been assembled here. Finally, we were invited into the
office.
‘Take a seat, comrades,’ said the divisional commander. ‘Our
conversation will be brief: you are being summoned by the army
commander, General Nikolaev. Why, I don’t know myself. Each
of you has received a personal invitation. At 1800 hours you must
all be with him. There’s not much time left. You will travel in an
ambulance; it’s already waiting. You will be escorted by Captain
Treshche v.
At precisely the appointed time we were invited into the
commander’s office. Its occupant was standing by the writing desk,