An organized retreat in the face of superior enemy forces is not running away, Comrade Sergeant, I objected, Fleeing is abandoning a position contrary to an order from a superior commander, and did Comrade Fyodorov have orders to defend that railroad embankment to the last man? Or maybe he had orders to attack the German company column that came out from behind the woods? No! His orders were completely different. Comrade First Lieutenant had to deliver the men entrusted to him to the assembly point in Uman, where representatives of the units that had suffered losses in the battles with the enemy were already waiting for them.
That was the order, in my opinion, that should have been followed, considering all the circumstances, including the wounded we had on our hands and the lack of weapons in most of the detachment. Everything I proposed before and during the battle was aimed precisely at saving men and carrying out the orders of the command. And what happened? You saw it yourself, Comrade Sergeant.
Pluzhnikov gritted his teeth, but remained silent. Apparently, he did not consider today's fight from that point of view. Taking advantage of the pause, I continued.
And as for the field manual, it doesn't just provide for an offensive combat. The 14th article states that defenses are to be used whenever defeating the enemy by offensive is impossible or impracticable in the circumstances. And the 22nd article explicitly states that every case in war is unique and requires a special solution, so in combat you must always act in strict accordance with the situation. In our case, when there is no goal of holding a specific line and the enemy has overwhelming superiority of forces, the manual prescribes actions such as mobile defense, withdrawal from combat, and retreat. All of this is described in Articles 417 through 422. Didn't Comrade First Lieutenant know all this? I don't believe it!
Listening to me, the Sergeant grew darker and darker, and after I finished, he was silent for another 30 seconds.
Here's the thing, Red Army man Nagulin, Pluzhnikov finally answered, First Lieutenant Fyodorov was my commander, and he died in combat for our homeland, honestly doing his duty. Like any man, he may have made mistakes, but he atoned for them in his death. Let's just say I didn't hear everything you just said to me. I am in the NKVD, in case you have forgotten, and if you were any other Red Army man from our unit, I would have you arrested for attempting to undermine the morale of the unit's men and for defeatist sentiments. But I saw how you behaved in battle. You're an excellent shot, not a coward, not a fool, and certainly not a German collaborator. But you're being silly, and I can't understand why.