Rokossovsky planned to visit several nearby recruiting stations, the closest one to the command, just one block away from the command, and the defense zone of the lieutenant colonel who liked to carry the bar with him the most.

Krasnoretsky apparently knew this, so he volunteered to accompany him. Seeing that Krasnoretsky was so proactive, Rokossovsky could not refuse, plus he thought that if there was any conflict with the regimental commander and the colonel was present, things would be easy to handle. So he hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.

When the two were walking on the road, Krasnoretsky asked with some unwillingness: "Comrade commander, is it really good for us to recruit the girls into the army?" You must know that the work they are engaged in, whether it is health care or communications, male soldiers can do it very well. ”

Rokossovsky smiled at Krasnoretsky's stubbornness, and then explained to him: "Comrade Colonel, know that as the war progresses, maybe we will have a shortage of soldiers. By that time, women would not only have to work in medical and communications jobs, but also in dangerous occupations such as scouts, machine gunners, snipers, tank crews, and pilots. Don't look at them as women, but on the battlefield, they will behave as bravely and fearlessly as male soldiers, and establish their own immortal feats. ”

The buildings near the headquarters, during the bombardment a few hours earlier, almost collapsed. And the recruiting station was located in a two-story building that had only collapsed in half, and from a long distance, Rokossovsky saw a long line at the door, and several soldiers on duty with red sleeves on their arms.

Before he could reach the door of the recruiting station, Rokossovsky's attention was attracted by an old lady on the side of the road. The old lady sat in front of a pile of rubble and was babbling something to a few middle-aged women in headscarves.

Out of curiosity, Rokossovsky walked over, he wanted to hear what the old lady was saying. The old lady's face was black, and her clothes were burned to the ground, which must have been made when she escaped from the house during the German bombing. He stood silently and listened to the old lady's own words.

After listening for a while, he could hear the old lady telling everyone about the city's old days, and listing the names of the bombed-out streets. Rokossovsky was naturally unfamiliar with these place names, but he knew in his heart that they had a special meaning for this old lady, who seemed to have grown up here.

As she spoke, the old lady suddenly stopped, glanced around with her gaze, and muttered to herself, "O Virgin Mary, how much does it cost, and how much manpower does it cost?" ”

"How much does it cost?" A middle-aged woman next to her asked, puzzled.

"Do you need to talk about that?" The old lady glanced at the woman with disgruntled eyes, and then said solemnly, "Of course, the city has been rebuilt." ”

When Rokossovsky was listening to the old lady's self-talk, Krasnoretsky had already learned about the old lady's situation from the mouth of the woman next to him, and then came over and whispered to Rokossovsky: "Comrade army commander, this old lady is a military dependent, her three sons are in our army, and the youngest son is a border guard. She lives in the city with her husband and two grandchildren, and when the city was blown up and set on fire, she lost contact with her family and has not been in touch since. ”

Rokossovsky's nose ached when he heard Krasnoretsky tell the story of the old lady, and he closed his eyes vigorously for fear that he might not be able to hold back his tears if he stayed here. After feeling that his mood had stabilized, he ordered Krasnoretsky: "Let's go, Comrade Colonel, let's go to the recruiting station and have a look." ”

The entrance to the recruiting station was blocked by conscripts, and when they saw Rokossovsky and them coming, the soldiers on duty hurriedly opened a path and respectfully invited them in.

The corridors were also crowded with people who had come to apply, and Rokossovsky had no trouble squeezing a way through the crowd. The conscripts who were squeezed aside wanted to get angry, but when they saw that it was actually a general who came in, they quickly and obediently closed their mouths.

When Rokossovsky and Krasnoretsky entered the room at the end of the corridor, they saw the head of the regiment sitting behind the desk in the room, who was arguing fiercely with a young girl in a turban.

"What's going on?" Rokossovsky asked as soon as he walked in.

The lieutenant colonel, who has always loved to sing against the stage, glanced at Rokossovsky with a casual gaze, and just wanted to look away, but inadvertently found Krasnoretsky following closely behind, and quickly jumped up from his seat, raised his hand to his ear, and reported loudly: "Two comrades commanders, the commander of the 326th regiment is on a recruitment mission, please instruct!" ”

After Rokossovsky raised his hand to return the salute, he walked quickly to the table, picked up the thick stack of application forms on the table, and asked: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, how many recruits have you recruited here?" ”

"Report to Comrade Commander." The lieutenant colonel glanced at Krasnoretsky, who was standing next to him, and quickly answered Rokossovsky's question respectfully, "We received nearly three hundred application forms within an hour, and after screening, one hundred and seventy people remained. ”

Rokossovsky glanced at the girl standing next to him and asked: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I don't know what your selection criteria are?" ”

"As long as they are over 60 years old and have not undergone military training, they will be eliminated." The lieutenant colonel replied clearly: "Also, even people with various disabilities, we do not accept them. ”

After listening to the report of the lieutenant colonel, Rokossovsky nodded and praised: "Good job, comrade lieutenant colonel." Then he nodded at the girl next to him and asked, "What's the matter with this girl?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." After glancing at the girl, the lieutenant colonel said with some embarrassment: "This girl asked to join our unit, but I saw that her constitution was a little weak, so I didn't agree." When you came in, she was arguing with me about this. ”

"Comrade General," the girl next to her heard the two talking about her, and hurriedly rushed over, grabbed one of Rokossovsky's hands, shook it vigorously and pleaded: "I want to join the army, please approve me!" ”

"Lieutenant Colonel." Without waiting for Rokossovsky to speak, Krasnoretsky, who was standing behind, stepped forward and asked his subordinates, "Why don't you take this girl, don't you know that in the order given, there is a special clause for recruiting female soldiers?" ”

Seeing that his superiors were questioning, the lieutenant colonel said with some embarrassment: "Comrade division commander, our army is full of old men, and it is not suitable for a girl to come suddenly." Then he added in a whisper, "Look how thin her body is, and if she were to rush at the enemy with a gun, wouldn't it be for nothing?" ”

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." When Rokossovsky heard this, he said with some displeasure: "We need not only someone who can fight bayonets, she is fully capable of other positions." Then he turned to the girl and asked, "Girl, what is your name, where do you come from, and why do you want to be a soldier?" ”

The girl saw a glimmer of light in Rokossovsky's series of questions, and replied gratefully: "Comrade General, my name is Katya, and I am from Dubno, and I came here a few days ago with the fleeing crowd. ”

"Are you alone?" Krasnoretsky also couldn't help but ask curiously: "What about your family?" ”

"Dead, all dead." Katya said with red eyes: "Our family followed the fleeing crowd and left Dubno. Halfway through, they were bombed by enemy planes, and the fascist pilots, piloting planes with black crosses painted on their wings, shot a rain of bullets from machine guns at the unarmed refugees, and my mother and sister, as well as hundreds of others, were brutally murdered by them. ”

After listening to Katya's story, Krasnoretsky's eyes couldn't help but turn red, and he glanced at Rokossovsky, who was looking at him, and signaled that he could accept the girl. After Rokossovsky saw his gesture clearly, he raised his hand and patted Katya, comforting her: "Katya, this is war. Don't be sad, sooner or later, one day we will pay this blood debt to the fascist invaders. After a pause, he said decisively, "You can stay, I will arrange for you to go to the division health camp to be a hygienist first." (To be continued.) )