Rokossovsky followed Ustinov to the shooting range and watched the shooting of a sample gun.

When the shooting was over, the two went to the office at the shooting range. Rokossovsky opened his mouth and said: "Comrade People's Commissar, you have seen that the performance of the sample gun is fully adapted to the battlefield. Once again, I implore you to immediately put this firearm into mass production, so that it can be installed in the army as soon as possible. ”

"No, Comrade Rokossovsky." After Ustinov waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, he said with a smile but a resolute attitude: "I still say the same thing, this new assault rifle cannot be put into regular production until a full-fledged test is completed, and I am responsible for the lives of our commanders and fighters." ”

"Comrade People's Commissar," Rokossovsky said patiently, "if you can no longer assemble the whole army, can you make an exception and produce 20,000 ...... for the Central Front?"

Before Rokossovsky could finish his words, he was interrupted by Ustinov's raised hand, who said with a tough attitude: "If you just produce firearms, it is not a big deal, but this assault rifle uses a new type of intermediate-power bullet, which is often called a short-barreled bullet." If we produce 20,000 rifles to equip our troops, then we will have to open a separate bullet production line to supply you with bullets. Doing so will inevitably have an impact on our busy military production......"

The two men engaged in a heated argument over whether the new rifle should be put into battle, but neither could convince the other. However, the final victor was Ustinov, because he was a member of the People's Commissariat for armament, and he had the final say on what weapons he produced and what weapons he did not produce.

Because the production of assault rifles was not negotiated, Rokossovsky left the shooting range with such anger that when he entered the unit building of Borisova's house, he did not even pay attention to the aunt who took the initiative to greet him.

Rokossovsky came to Borisova's door, and before he raised his hand and knocked on the door, he suddenly realized that his appearance would frighten Borisova. He took his hand back, pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, and prepared to smoke one outside the door until his mood calmed down before entering.

He had just put the cigarette in his mouth, and before he could light it, the door suddenly opened, and Borisova leaned out of it, looked left and right, and reached out to pull Rokossovsky into the room.

After Borisova closed the door, she asked a little unhappily: "Koschika, why didn't you knock on the door when you came?" ”

Rokossovsky said with some embarrassment: "I want to smoke a cigarette outside the door before coming in." ”

"Can't I smoke in my house? If I hadn't heard your footsteps and went out to have a look, you would probably still be standing in the hallway smoking. After carefully examining Rokossovsky, Borisova guessed with a woman's intuition that he must have something to hide from herself: "I see that you seem to have something on your mind, whether it has something to do with Comrade Ustinov." ”

Rokossovsky nodded, took Borisova's hand, came to the sofa in the room and sat down, and said: "We had a little quarrel over work, and we quarreled a lot. ”

Borisova grabbed Rokossovsky's arm, tilted her head on his shoulder, and comforted him: "Koschika, since it is a matter of work, it is normal for a little dispute to occur. My deputy and I also often had arguments. ”

"What's going to eat tonight?" Thinking that he had finally come to Borisova's place for a trip, and that he couldn't affect his mood for such an unhappy thing, Rokossovsky quickly changed the topic and asked: "I'm already hungry." ”

"It has been prepared for you for a long time," Borisova smiled sweetly, took Rokossovsky's hand to the table, and uncovered the plates that were held back, revealing the following dishes: lamb stew with potatoes, hot beetroot soup, sliced dried sausages, and buttered bread slices. "Sit down, dear!"

After beckoning Rokossovsky to sit down, she walked to a cabinet, opened the glass lattice door, took out a bottle of red wine and two crystal wine glasses, walked back to Rokossovsky and sat down, and asked tentatively: "Is it okay to drink a little wine?" ”

Rokossovsky heard Borisova's voice-over and asked himself if he would leave tonight. He shook his head at first, then nodded again, and said, "It's okay, I won't go back to the front tonight, we can have a drink together." ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, a smile appeared on Borisova's face, she put a glass in front of Rokossovsky, poured him half a glass, poured the same amount of wine into her own glass, and then raised her glass to Rokossovsky and said: "My dear, cheers to our reunion!" ”

"Cheers!" The two glasses collided.

Putting down the glass, Borisova asked Rokossovsky: "My dear, I heard that in this battle of Kursk, your Central Front made outstanding achievements, right?" ”

"The results are definitely there." While eating, Rokossovsky said absentmindedly: "But it is a little inaccurate to speak of outstanding military achievements." After the battle, Comrade Stalin awarded medals to several commanders of the front who had distinguished themselves, and I was not one of them, proving that my performance was even less than that of the leaders of friendly armies. ”

"How long do you think this war will last?" When Borisova asked this, she felt as if she had been pricked with a needle, because the end of the war meant that she was permanently separated from Rokossovsky.

Rokossovsky did not perceive Borisova's abnormality, but said to himself: "Having won the Battle of Kursk, our army gained the initiative on the battlefield. We can launch an active offensive against the Germans at any time and in any place, and as long as we drive them out of our territory, then the war is not far from over. ”

Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Borisova's nose was sour, and tears immediately fell uncontrollably. Seeing Borisova crying suddenly, Rokossovsky didn't know what he said wrong, so he hurriedly raised his hand to help her wipe her tears, and at the same time asked in his mouth: "Borisova, what's wrong, she was fine just now, why did she cry all of a sudden?" ”

"Only during the war will your heart think of me." Bolysova, wiping tears from her eyes, said sadly: "If the war is over, you will leave me and return to your wife, so that I will never see you again." ”

Rokossovsky, who was trying to comfort Borisova, couldn't help but be stunned when he heard her say this, he thought to himself that what Borisova said was the truth, no matter how close he was with the opposite sex during the war, his superiors and subordinates would turn a blind eye and turn a deaf ear, but once the war was over, if he was still entangled with other women, it would directly threaten his future.

Fortunately, Borisova was a strong woman, and after a short period of sadness, she wiped the tears from her face and said to Rokossovsky with a forced smile: "My dear, don't talk about these unpleasant things, let's continue to drink." ”

Because of the preoccupation, Borisova drank very violently, almost as soon as the wine was poured into the glass, she drank it all in one gulp. It didn't take long for the bottle of red wine on the table to be drunk clean.

Seeing that Borisova was drunk, Rokossovsky hurriedly stepped forward and picked her up and put her on the bed. was about to clean up the table, but the unconscious Borisova reached out and hugged her waist. He tried to break free, but found that the harder he worked, the tighter Borisova hugged him, and he smiled bitterly, so he could only sit down on the edge of the bed and let the other man hold him.

……

Nothing was said all night.

When it was dawn, Borisova woke up from her sleep and found a person lying next to her, first startled, and then remembered that yesterday Rokossovsky was a guest at her house, and she was drinking with him, but then what happened and how she slept in bed, she could not remember at all.

As soon as Borisova moved, Rokossovsky was awakened, and he asked Borisova with a smile: "Are you awake?" ”

Only then did Borisova find that Rokossovsky was still wearing the clothes he wore when he entered the door, lying on the edge of the bed with his body crooked, and couldn't help but ask in surprise: "Honey, why do you sleep next to the bed, you are not afraid of falling under the bed." ”

Rokossovsky smiled bitterly and said: "You were drunk last night, I carried you to bed." As soon as you got to bed, you hugged me tightly and refused to let go, so I had to lie down with my clothes......"

After listening to Rokossovsky's explanation, Borisova was suddenly embarrassed. She quickly sat up straight and asked with concern, "How are you feeling now?" ”

"My hands and feet are numb," Rokossovsky said, turning over and falling asleep a little into the bed, "I feel much better now." ”

"I'll make you breakfast." Borisova hurriedly got out of bed, put on her shoes and ran towards the kitchen.

Rokossovsky knew that Borisova would definitely clean up the table first, and then make breakfast for herself, and it would not be possible to make breakfast without half an hour, so he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

Borisova's hands and feet were still very nimble, she cleaned up the leftovers on the table, and it took another ten minutes or so to make a hearty breakfast for Rokossovsky.

While the two were sitting at the table for breakfast, Borisova couldn't help but ask: "Koschika, are you going back to the front?" Seeing that Rokossovsky nodded in affirmation, he continued to ask, "Isn't it okay to rest in Moscow for a day or two?" ”

"Nope." Rokossovsky, thinking of the offensive campaign that was about to begin, shook his head and said: "The troops will soon have tasks, and as the commander of the Front, how can I not stay in the command?" ”

"Where is the base camp preparing to attack again?" As soon as Borisova finished asking this sentence, she found that she had asked things that she shouldn't ask, these are important military secrets, and how can a common man be qualified to know them, so she hurriedly added: "If it's inconvenient for you to say it, don't say it." Confidentiality, I know. To such an empathetic Borisova, Rokossovsky grinned and acquiesced in her statement.

After breakfast, Rokossovsky asked Borisova: "When are you going to work?" ”

Borisova raised her hand and looked at her watch, and replied: "There is still half an hour before the time to go to work, and from here to the office, at most ten minutes, I can sit with you for a while." ”

"Since it's almost time for you to go to work, don't delay." Rokossovsky got up to clean up the dishes and urged Borisova: "If you delay any longer, you will be late for work." ”

"What about you?" Borisova looked at Rokossovsky and asked, "Where are you going to go later?" ”

"There's a car parked nearby," Rokossovsky said as he pouted out the window, "as soon as I get out of the building, that car will take me to the airport, and then I'll fly back to the front." ”

"My dear," Borisova said reluctantly, holding Rokossovsky, who was washing dishes, from behind, "I can't bear you, how nice it would be if time could stop completely at this moment." ”

Rokossovsky put the cutlery in the cupboard next to him, turned to hug Borisova, and said softly: "Borisova, although we are about to separate, please rest assured, as long as I have time, I will return to Moscow to see you." ”

For both of them, sweet moments always pass quickly. Ten minutes passed in a flash, and the two packed up their things and walked downstairs side by side.

As soon as he stepped out of the door, a driver emerged from a car parked not far away, and he quickly ran up to Rokossovsky, raised his hand and saluted, and reported: "Comrade General, please get in the car, I am ordered to take you to the airport." ”

In front of outsiders, Rokossovsky could no longer hug Borisova, he had to reach out and hold Borisova's hand, "I'm leaving, you have to take care of your body." ”

Borisova nodded with tears in her eyes and said in a choked voice: "I will." The front line is too dangerous, you have to pay more attention to safety. ”

Rokossovsky got into the car, closed the door, waved at Borisova, who was still standing, and then ordered the driver: "Drive, let's go to the airport." ”

Looking at Rokossovsky's car drifting away, Borisova's tears fell like beads with broken threads, and she didn't know how long she would have to wait after this separation to have the opportunity to see Rokossovsky again, and her mood was particularly melancholy.

After half an hour of driving through the empty streets, Rokossovsky's black car finally arrived at a military airfield on the outskirts of the city. Seeing Rokossovsky get out of the car, a female officer in a pilot's uniform, immediately ran over and reported to him: "Hello, Comrade General, I am Captain Catherinanova, Chief of Staff of the 587th Dive Bomber Regiment, and I am ordered to return you to the front. ”

Looking at the two-seater bomber parked not far away, Rokossovsky asked curiously: "Comrade Captain, shall we take that plane back to the front?" ”

"Yes, Comrade General." Kathelenova nodded and replied: "Please rest assured, I am an excellent pilot in the regiment, and even without the escort of fighters, I can send you back to the front line safely." ”

"Alright, Comrade Captain." As soon as Rokossovsky finished speaking, he immediately ordered: "Go and prepare for takeoff, we don't have much time, I want to rush back to the front headquarters as soon as possible." ”

Catherina agreed, turned and ran towards her bomber to make preparations for takeoff. And Rokossovsky said to the driver who sent him: "Comrade driver, your task has been completed, you can go back." Thank you for bringing me to the airport. ”

The driver shouted: "For the service of the Soviet Fatherland!" With that, he turned around and walked towards the car parked on the runway.