On the way to Lukin's headquarters, Felip, the new commander of the guard company, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned to the side and asked with a nervous expression: "Comrade commander, are we really going to evacuate Shepetovka?" ”

Hearing Felip's question, Rokossovsky couldn't help frowning, you must know that only a few army leaders know about this retreat plan, and now even Felip knows about it. He asked with a straight face and in a stern tone, "Comrade Captain, where did you hear this rumor?" ”

Hearing Rokossovsky's question, Felip replied with an embarrassed face: "Comrade commander, I was wrong, I heard other fighters talking about how our troops would soon abandon this place and withdraw to the rear. ”

Seeing Fripp's uneasy move, Rokossovsky slowed down and said: "Captain, judging from the whole battle situation, the enemy is far stronger than us, and with our current strength, it is unrealistic to completely block the enemy. ”

"Are we really going to retreat?" Seeing that Rokossovsky was no longer to blame himself, Felip asked tentatively: "Do you really want to give up Shepetovka?" ”

Rokossovsky replied with a wry smile: "Captain, this is also a matter of no way. Although we have military warehouses in Shepetovka on our backs and can replenish all the necessary weapons, ammunition and supplies in a timely manner, there are fewer and fewer people who can take part in the fighting. What's the use of having more weapons if you're running out of people? ”

After listening to Rokossovsky's explanation, Fripp nodded half-incomprehensibly, and just wanted to sit up straight, he heard his commander say again: "Even if we have to retreat, then we must first cripple the German 13th Panzer Division in front." So that for a long time, they could no longer participate in the battle. ”

Since there were not many refugees fleeing on the road, Rokossovsky's car made it to the outside of the station. When the two got off the bus, Felip said with emotion: "Comrade Army Commander, some time ago we came here, and there was an endless line of refugees on the road and on the tracks, but today we didn't see a few refugees on the road, it's really strange. ”

"There is nothing strange about this, Comrade Captain." Rokossovsky looked at the road with only a few pedestrians, and said thoughtfully: "The reason why I can't see a few refugees today is because those refugees who can flee their homes have almost fled, and the rest want to stay and be obedient to the Germans." As he said this, the scene he had seen in the documentary came to mind: the Germans marched into the Ukrainian city in a neat line, with cheering crowds on both sides of the road. There were even elderly men, with a few girls dressed up in fancy clothes, who presented round bread and coarse salt to the German commanders, and welcomed them with the most solemn courtesy on behalf of the inhabitants of the audience.

Felip saw Rokossovsky standing next to the car, his eyes fixed on the empty road in front of him, and he was distracted. He coughed heavily, and seeing that Rokossovsky did not react, he touched his arm with his hand and shouted in a low voice: "Comrade commander, comrade commander." ”

Rokossovsky was awakened from his musings by Felip's cry, and he looked at Felip and asked with a blank expression: "Captain, what's the matter?" ”

Ferry pointed to the station next to him and said, "Comrade Commander, shall we go in now?" ”

Hearing Felip say this, Rokossovsky immediately remembered that he had received a call from Lukin and came here to discuss matters with him, so he nodded and walked towards the station.

Due to the war, there were only a few soldiers on duty in the wide ticket hall and waiting hall, which seemed empty. When he arrived on the platform, Rokossovsky saw that there were countless stretchers lying on which were wounded in battle or bombing. Due to the limited number of hygienists, it was impossible to take care of so many wounded people at the same time, and the entire platform was filled with the painful moans of the wounded.

Rokossovsky took Felip with a blank face, passed through the stretcher placed on the ground, and came to the door of Lukin's headquarters. Seeing that the door was closed, he pushed it hard, but did not push it open. He knocked the door a few more times, but there was still no reaction inside.

Seeing this, Philip said beside him: "Comrade commander, General Lukin may not be here. ”

"Not there?" When Rokossovsky heard Felip say this, he felt very unhappy in his heart, and said that Lukin had called him to come over, but when he came, there was no one here. He couldn't help but say to himself, "General Lukin is not here, so where will he go?" ”

Perip looked left and right, and saw that on the platform more than twenty meters away, there were a large pile of ammunition boxes, and seven or eight soldiers were sitting on the wooden boxes smoking, so he pointed there and said, "Comrade commander, let's go there and ask, maybe those soldiers know the whereabouts of General Lukin." ”

Rokossovsky felt that Felip had a point, and after nodding his head, he planned to go to the ammunition box and ask the fighters if they knew where Lukin was. Not long after walking, I saw a group of members of the song and dance troupe in black uniforms, carrying musical instruments over the tracks and walking towards the platform.

Seeing the appearance of the song and dance troupe, Felip couldn't help but stop and turned to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, did you see it? There is also a song and dance troupe here, is General Lukin planning to hold a concert here in the evening? ”

Although Rokossovsky heard a hint of mockery in Felip's tone, he did not speak, but stopped where he was, quietly watching the cabaret walk towards him.

The troupe of twenty or so people soon got on the platform and came to a stop near Rokossovsky. The commander who led the team raised his hand to salute Rokossovsky, then turned around and ordered his subordinates: "Alright, let's line up here." ”

With his order, the soldiers of the song and dance troupe began to line up, except for two soldiers of the accordion who sat on the horses, and the rest of the soldiers were lined up in two neat columns behind them. Rokossovsky spotted the soldiers sitting on wooden boxes and smoking, but after glancing in this direction, he looked away and continued to smoke and chat.

The conductor of the band stood at the front of the queue and shouted to his fighters: "Attention, everyone, prepare, start!" ”

As soon as he finished speaking, two accordionists began to play, and then the soldiers behind followed the music, singing loudly: "Arise, great nation, fight to the death to destroy the fascist evil forces, and destroy all evil bandits!" ……”

Almost as soon as the soldiers sang the first lyrics, Rokossovsky heard that they were actually singing the most famous military song of the Great Patriotic War, "Holy War". Although he had heard this song countless times, he still felt his blood boiling when he heard the soldiers of the song and dance troupe singing loudly at this moment.

When they first started singing, the fighters sitting in the ammunition boxes didn't pay attention yet. When they finished listening to the first song, they quickly got up from the wooden box, threw the cigarette butt on the ground, crushed it with their toes, and then straightened their bodies, maintained an upright posture, and listened to the soldiers of the song and dance troupe singing.

The wounded lying on the stretcher, after hearing this uplifting song, their groans disappeared unconsciously, and they turned their heads to look at the song and dance troupe. The lightly wounded, even without help, half-sat up from the stretcher, tried to maintain an upright sitting posture, and looked with reverent eyes at the soldiers of the song and dance troupe who were singing loudly.

When the song and dance troupe sang the whole song "Holy War" and was about to sing another song, the soldiers standing there shouted at them: "Sing again, sing again!" ”

Their shouts resonated with the wounded on the other side. The wounded also shouted in unison: "Sing again, sing again!" ……”

The conductor of the song and dance troupe looked at Rokossovsky, who was standing next to him, with some embarrassment, and asked tentatively: "Comrade General, what should we do now?" ”

Rokossovsky glanced at the rank on his collar badge, and then said: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, since all the fighters want you to sing it again, then you should fulfill everyone's wishes and sing it again." At this point, he turned his head to look at the position where the wounded were placed, and asked loudly, "Comrades of the wounded, are you right?" ”

"Yes!" "Sing it again!" Hearing Rokossovsky's question, the wounded replied in a rambling manner.

Rokossovsky raised his hands above his head, and the entire platform fell silent again. He looked at the second lieutenant and said with a smile: "Comrade second lieutenant, have you heard the voices of all the commanders and soldiers? Everyone wants you to sing it again, so you can sing it again! ”

When the second lieutenant heard Rokossovsky say this, he quickly nodded, and the soldiers of the song and dance troupe again sang "Holy War".

Felip leaned close to Rokossovsky's ear and whispered: "Comrade Commander, this song sounds really exciting. I feel so strong now that even if a German tank were coming at me, I would bravely rush up and blow it up. ”

Rokossovsky nodded, shook his head towards the position of the wounded, and said in a low voice: "Comrade Captain, don't say it's you, even those wounded who are lying on stretchers, after listening to this song, even in the face of the enemy rushing up, they will not change their faces, and even pull grenades, and they will die with the enemy." ”

After listening for a while, Fripp couldn't help but ask curiously. "Comrade Commander, do you know what song this is?"

He originally asked casually, thinking in his heart that Rokossovsky must not know the order of this song, let alone the origin of this song. Unexpectedly, as soon as his words fell, I heard Rokossovsky say: "The song of this song is called "Holy War". It was after the outbreak of the war that the poet Kumachi wrote his famous poem with the novelty of pain and anger, which was then published in the newspaper "Red Star" and "Pravda". Then the music was composed by Comrade Aleksandrov of the Red Banner Song and Dance Troupe, which was adapted into this song you heard. ”

After listening to Rokossovsky's introduction to the song, Felip continued to listen to it twice, and then mustered up the courage to say to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, we should invite the soldiers of the song and dance troupe to our troops and let them sing this song for our soldiers, so as to boost our morale." ”

In fact, even if Felip didn't say it, Rokossovsky had this idea in his heart. At this moment, when he heard Philip mention it, he nodded, and said smoothly: "Comrade Captain, your proposal is good, I will mention this matter to the second lieutenant of the song and dance troupe later, and see what he thinks." ”

After singing "Holy War" for the second time, the platform remembered the tsunami-like shout: "Sing it again!" Sing it again! Sing it again!! ……”

Hearing the neat and rhythmic shouts on the platform, the second lieutenant of the song and dance troupe smiled bitterly, and then commanded his soldiers to sing this blood-boiling song again.

The fighters of the song and dance troupe tirelessly sang over and over again, and every time they had just finished singing, a shout for them to "sing again" immediately sounded on the platform.

Rokossovsky stood nearby, listening to the soldiers of the song and dance troupe sing this popular military song over and over again, until the voices of many soldiers became slightly hoarse. He waited for the soldiers of the song and dance troupe to finish singing again, and a neat shout sounded on the platform, and he raised his hands above his head to signal everyone to be quiet.

When the platform became silent, he shouted to the wounded on the platform: "Wounded comrades, the comrades of the song and dance troupe have been singing this song for a long time, and many of the fighters' voices have become hoarse. If you want to continue listening to them sing, let them rest for a while, okay? ”

After Rokossovsky's words, there was silence on the platform for a moment, and then a neat shout rang out: "Okay, let them rest for a while and sing!" ”

When they saw the comrades of the song and dance troupe scattering to find a place to rest, the soldiers who were standing near the wooden boxes hurriedly moved a few wooden boxes for them and invited them to sit on them to rest, and even got tea from somewhere, and brought it to the comrades of the song and dance troupe to moisten their throats.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Rokossovsky called the second lieutenant aside and asked in a low voice: "Comrade second lieutenant, I am Major General Rokossovsky, commander of the Ninth Mechanized Army, I want to invite you and your soldiers to perform in our army, I don't know what you think?" ”

When the second lieutenant heard Rokossovsky say this, he quickly straightened up and replied: "Hello, Comrade General! Our song and dance troupe received an order to go to the front line to perform for our commanders and fighters. Even if you don't say it, we'll be performing in your troops soon. ”

Hearing the second lieutenant say this, Rokossovsky was overjoyed, he took the second lieutenant's hand and shook it vigorously twice, and then said: "Since this is the case, comrade second lieutenant. Later, when I'm done here, you and your troops will go back with us. (To be continued.) )