When I heard Stalin's words to Zhukov, it dawned on me that Zhukov had sent me out of the country, and he did not expect me to persuade Stalin to change his ways, but only asked me to first set the stage for Rokossovsky to create a good persuasive environment for Rokossovsky, who appeared later, and finally threw out the reconnaissance and analysis report that had been prepared long ago, so as to achieve the goal of finally convincing the Supreme Commander himself. Judging from the current situation, it is clear that he has achieved his goal.

Although I found out Zhukov's true intentions, I did not mean to reproach him in the slightest, after all, he created an opportunity for me to meet with the Supreme Commander himself, so that it would be of great benefit whether I continued to stay in the army or work in the local area in the future.

When Stalin put down the phone and walked back to us, he said to Rokossovsky slowly: "Comrade Rokossovsky, after you return to the army, you will put the work of building fortifications from beginning to end, especially the construction of the 'Oshanina trench,' and you will personally supervise the completion of the work. Because only before the German offensive was completed, the construction of such anti-tank trenches could effectively resist the surprise attack of the German armored forces. ”

"Yes, Comrade Stalin." Rokossovsky replied with a serious expression: "When I return to the army, I will personally take care of the construction of various fortifications. ”

Stalin nodded, then turned to me and said, "As for you, Leda, you probably don't have much time to spare." ”

When I heard him say this, I wondered if he was going to send me to help Rokossovsky. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but turn his head and glance at Rokossovsky, who was standing straight next to him. Unexpectedly, when Stalin saw this little action of mine, he waved his hand. It was as if he wanted to see through my heart: "Leda." You're thinking wrong. I will not send you to Comrade Rokossovsky's Central Front for the time being. Your mission is to travel to the United States with a delegation in mid-April. ”

Seeing that the expression on my face did not change, Stalin thought that I did not care about this matter, and made a point of explanation: "As early as the end of last year, we sent a female sniper with great achievements in war, Lyudmila, to visit the United States with our youth delegation. Her mission was to persuade politicians and citizens there to support the Allied counter-attack on the continent on behalf of the High Command. Open a second battlefield and force the Nazis to divide their forces and thus relieve the pressure on us. ”

When he was finished, I cautiously asked, "What is my mission?" ”

Stalin pointed at me with his fist in his pipe, and said: "Although Lyudmila met with Roosevelt and became one of the first Soviet citizens to visit the White House, he also succeeded in meeting with First Lady Eleanor Lee. Roosevelt formed a friendship. But probably because her rank was too low, she was only a lieutenant, so she called for the second battlefield, and no one responded to it. This. I decided to send you to the United States with the delegation and continue to complete the tasks that Lieutenant Lyudmila did not complete. Are you confident? "He was at the time of his last words. Deliberately accentuated the tone.

I did not dare to answer Stalin's question casually, because I knew that the Normandy landings were in 1944, so even if I were sent to the United States to lobby, the opening of a second theater would not have been brought forward. Because of this, after a long time, I said with little confidence: "Comrade Stalin, I will do my best." ”

After saying this, I stared nervously at Stalin, fearing that he would be furious at my reply. But fortunately, my worries were unfounded, and he only looked at me, and then walked around the house without saying a word.

Seeing this move of Stalin, Rokossovsky, who was standing next to me, threw a reproachful look at me. And I could only smile bitterly at him, saying in my heart that there were too many aspects involved in opening up the second battlefield, how could Britain and the United States immediately decide the matter of opening up the second battlefield without hesitation because I said a few words to a little-known person.

Stalin walked for a while, and finally stopped, he seemed to have forgotten my reply just now, but said to himself: "Leda, I will send someone to teach you English in the next few days, so that when you meet with the US military, you can do not need to bring an interpreter with you at any time, and you can also prevent leaks." ”

These few words of his made me feel miserable again, you think English is so easy to learn. In just over a month, even if I am a language genius, it is very good to be able to master the vocabulary necessary for basic communication, and if I want to memorize those military professional words, it is a bit of a duck to the shelf.

However, the thought of the reply just now made Stalin's face show a displeased expression, and if I raised difficulties again at this moment, it is estimated that it would leave a bad impression on his heart, so he slapped his face and said fatly: "Yes, Comrade Stalin, I will use this time to study English seriously." I assure you that you must be proficient in this foreign language before traveling to the United States. ”

This reply of mine brought a satisfied smile on Stalin's face, and he nodded and said: "Very well, I am satisfied to see that you have such confidence." It's not too early, you go back first, I still have something to talk to Comrade Rokossovsky. ”

Hearing that he had given me an eviction order, I felt a sense of relief in my heart, and I quickly raised my hand to salute him and Rokossovsky, and then turned and walked towards the door.

I came to the outside room, and Boskrebeshev, who was sitting at the table and was busy, raised his head and asked with a smile: "Comrade Oshanina, are you going back?" ”

"Yes, Boskorebeshev." To the chief of staff of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, I said respectfully: "Can you tell me where I can find the colonel who sent me here?" ”

"Please wait a minute, I'll let him come right away." As he spoke, Bosk Klebeshev picked up the phone on the table, dialed a number, and then said into the microphone: "Hey, I'm Pos Krebeshev, General Oshanina is going back to her residence, you ask Comrade Colonel to come over." ”

When he put down the phone, he pointed to the empty chair next to him and said, "Comrade Oshanina, you can sit down first, the colonel who escorted you home will come over immediately." ”

When he waited for me to sit down, he didn't talk to me again, but looked down at the papers that were in front of him.

It took about two or three minutes. The aspect leading to the corridor suddenly opened. The colonel who had sent me appeared at the door. See his appearance. Boskrebeshev raised his head again and commanded him: "Colonel, since Colonel Bezikov has another business to escort General Oshanina home, I will leave it to you." ”

The colonel agreed, then leaned to the side, made a gesture of invitation to me, and said politely, "Comrade General, please." I'll send you home. ”

I stood up, thanked Poskorebeshev and walked out with the colonel.

After I returned to my lodgings, Yushchenko, who had been waiting for me at home for almost a day, was already as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, and when he finally saw me appear, he immediately greeted me and asked politely: "Comrade General, you have come back, Dr. Sergei has been waiting for more than four hours." ”

"Doctor Sergei?" Hear the name of your primary doctor. I couldn't help but wonder if the stitches had been removed from the wound a long time ago. And I'm officially discharged from the hospital, what else is he chasing for? Although I had a lot of doubts in my mind, I still pretended to be calm and asked, "Where is he?" ”

"In the living room." Yushchenko replied simply.

As I walked with him into the house, I asked, "Captain, did Dr. Sergei say why he came to me?" ”

Yushchenko shook his head and replied: "I don't know either." I asked him, but he said he would have to wait until you came back to give you the latest news. ”

Inexplicably, after scolding in my heart, I came to the living room and saw Sergei, who had been waiting for a long time. As soon as I saw him, I took the initiative to extend my hands to him and politely said: "Hello, Dr. Sergey, you are welcome to my visit. But when I saw the empty wooden table beside Sergei, I turned around and ordered Yushchenko: "Comrade Captain, go and get the doctor a cup of coffee and find something to eat." ”

As soon as Yushchenko left, I sat down at the table, and at the same time looked at Sergei, who was still standing, and asked strangely: "Comrade doctor, are there any important things for you to come to me at this time?" ”

"That's right, Comrade General." Sergei said with a serious face: "After our inspection, your subordinate Vasily. Zaitsev's eye injury is so serious that there may be no chance of healing. Therefore, after consulting with the military representatives, President Osiminin decided to perform an eyeball removal operation for Comrade Vasily. ”

"What, enucleation?" Sergei's words startled me, and I nervously asked: "If Comrade Vasily had his eyeballs removed, wouldn't he have become blind?" ”

Sergei nodded and said with great certainty: "You are right, Comrade General, once the eyeball is removed, not only will he no longer be able to engage in the profession of a sniper, but at the same time, he may lose control of his emotions due to blindness. ”

"Doctor Sergei, you came to me, I don't know what purpose?" I couldn't figure out what Sergei suddenly was, so I could only break the casserole: "Also, is it possible to change this surgical plan?" ”

"That's what I've come to you for, Comrade General." Sergei said to me with a nervous expression: "Only if you come forward can you avoid such a tragedy." ”

"In fact, according to my diagnosis, although Comrade Vasily's eye injury has not healed for a long time, it is because shrapnel has been inserted into the eyeball, which has affected his recovery, and it is not enough to remove the eyeball at all." Sergei may have been more excited, so he spoke very quickly: "So I took the liberty of running to you, hoping that you would come forward and go to the people above to negotiate this matter, so as to avoid the tragedy of making a good sniper blind." ”

Sergei's words made me realize the seriousness of the matter, and I hurriedly asked: "In order to prevent this tragedy from happening, who should I talk to about this matter, is it to Comrade Osiminen, the dean?" ”

After hearing my words, Sergei actually shook his head hesitantly and replied: "Maybe even President Osiminin can't do anything about this matter, and the person who gave the order to perform surgery on Vasily is the military representative of the hospital. ”

"Military representatives?" When I heard this term, I was particularly surprised, and I couldn't help but ask curiously: "What does this military representative do?" ”

"Comrade General, you also know that this is the time of war." When Sergei explained this to me, his expression was full of helplessness: "All hospitals are under the management of the army, and ours is no exception. And this military representative was sent to our hospital by the army. ”

Hearing him say this, I understood that the rank of the military representative must be higher than Osiminen's, and he belonged to the role of a man of his own in the hospital, so after a moment of hesitation, I asked, "What rank is he?" "When I asked this, I seemed very unconfident, and said in my heart that as long as the other party's military rank was equal to or higher than mine, then I had to go to Zhukov to intervene and coordinate.

"Lieutenant, Comrade General." Sergei quickly replied: "He's just a lieutenant, and although he is much lower in rank than you, he is exactly what he said in the hospital." ”

When I heard that the other party was only a small lieutenant, my confidence immediately came up, and as soon as he finished speaking, I immediately asked: "When is Vasily's operation scheduled?" ”

"Tomorrow morning." Sergei said anxiously: "The operation will be performed by Dean Osiminin himself. ”

Although I had just returned from outside, when I heard of such a big event, I could not stay any longer, and hurriedly ordered Yushchenko: "Comrade Captain, you go to the headquarters and borrow a jeep, and we will immediately rush to the eye hospital." ”

Yushchenko, who had just stood by and heard the whole conversation clearly, was also worried about the fate of Vasily, and when he heard my command, he immediately agreed and ran out quickly.

After watching Yushchenko leave, Sergei continued: "Vasily's eyes, on the surface, seem to be unhealable, but according to my recent research, as long as he undergoes another operation to remove the shrapnel left in his eyeballs, there is still hope that his eyes will be restored. Seeing the joy on my face, he quickly added, "But even if his eyes are better, his vision will be severely impaired, and he will have to wear glasses at that time." ”

In response to his concern, I shook my hand and said disapprehantly: "Comrade doctor, for a good sniper like Vasily, no matter how bad his eyesight is, it is definitely much better than being blind. Thinking that Sergey had been waiting for me here for hours for this, I smiled and said to him: "Thank you, Dr. Sergey, on behalf of Comrade Vasily, I express my sincere thanks to you!" (To be continued......)