"Leda, Leda! Open the door for me! Before I could speak, Ina's voice suddenly came from outside the door. Hearing Ina's shout, I hurriedly broke free of Oshanen's hand, took two steps back to the door, and opened the door with a twist of the handle.

As soon as the door opened, I immediately saw Ina standing in the door with two teacups in her hands and a smile on her face, and she said as she walked inside, "I just met Comrade Chief of Staff, and he said that you and your husband have reunited, and you are catching up here. I'm here to bring tea to both of you, and I'm here to see how handsome our lieutenant colonel's husband is. After speaking, she put the two cups of tea in her hand on the table, looked at Oshanin with interest, and asked curiously, "You are Lida's husband, Captain Oshanin?" ”

"Yes!" Oshanin stood up a little nervously, and actually respectfully saluted Ina, who was lower in rank than him.

"Leda," Ina did not salute him according to the regulations, but pulled me in front of Oshanin, and said enviously, "Your husband is so handsome! Then he changed the subject and teased me, "How about giving him to me as a lover?" ”

"Cut!" deliberately disdainfully said: "If you like it, take it, as long as he agrees, don't say be a lover, be a husband!" Although I knew that she was ridiculing me, I still felt a little fever on my face, and after saying this, I glanced at Oshanen, and found that he was also blushing with shame, and looking at me with a smile.

"Okay, okay, I still have to help the comrades in the headquarters prepare dinner, so I won't delay your husband and wife to catch up." Seeing the embarrassment of the two of us, Ina stuck out her tongue in embarrassment, hurriedly found a reason, explained the scene and slipped away, and closed the door when she went out.

I saw that Oshanin's eyes were still looking in the direction of the door, and deliberately teased him: "What, are you taking a fancy to a young and beautiful female sergeant?" Otherwise, you will be wronged and be her lover. ”

Oshanen turned his head, smiled very awkwardly, then grabbed my hand and said, "No matter how beautiful she is, she is not as beautiful as my dear Lida Cheka." ”

I struggled cautiously, but I couldn't get my hand out, so I had to let him pull him back down. As soon as he sat down, he couldn't wait to say, "Lida, I've told you my story, and now it's your turn." Where are our children? When did you join the army and become an officer? ”

I had been recalling the plot of the novel about Leda when I had been listening to Oshanen's story earlier, and when I heard him ask, I coughed, cleared my throat, and began to tell him the story of Leda: "After you left that morning, the whole city was in chaos, except for the occasional detachment of heavily armed warriors running through the window, and quite a few residents carrying their luggage and dragging their children and began to move to the rear.

At noon, the city defense headquarters sent a propaganda vehicle to broadcast along the streets, saying that the invading enemy was suffering heavy losses from our troops, telling everyone to stay calm and continue to stay at home, and calling on activists to participate in the voluntary work of building barricades and fortifications. After listening to the propaganda truck's announcement, the panic calmed down for the time being, and many people who had left returned to their homes one after another, and even volunteers went to the streets to help the army maintain order and build fortifications.

Unexpectedly, the situation took a turn for the worse the next day, and yesterday the propaganda van that was still calming everyone went on the street again, this time not to keep everyone calm and stay at home, but to say that the fierce enemy had approached our city, in order to avoid unnecessary sacrifices, please move to the rear immediately.

The people in the building have moved, but I'm still staying at home because I'm going to stay at home and wait for you to come home.

On the morning of the third day, I woke up feeling restless. He was walking back and forth around the house with his son, who had just spoken, when he suddenly heard Sasha's wail. At first I thought I had heard it wrong, but I listened again: yes, it was Sasha's wail. So I quickly put the child on the bed and rushed out of the house.

I followed Sasha's voice along the street, and after walking two streets, I finally saw Sasha. Its feet were lame, lying in pools of blood, its body convulsing, foaming at the mouth, but it was always screaming hoarsely.

I walked over, crouched down, and picked up Sasha's head with both hands, and Sasha immediately fell silent and looked at me with its blank eyes. With that, I broke free of Oshanen's hand, took off the bronze key that hung around my neck, and handed it over: "I saw at a glance that this glittering bronze key was hanging from Sasha's neck unharmed.

At that moment, I suddenly felt strongly in my heart: 'You are alive!' My Oshanin must still be alive! ’

I carefully removed the key from Sasha's neck and clutched it tightly in my hand. Sasha let out a faint wail when she saw me take off the key, her eyes quickly drifted, she lowered her head, and slowly closed her eyes.

Although I was advised not to wait any longer, I firmly believed that you would still be alive. I held my son in my arms and watched the queue of people who had withdrawn every day, hoping that a miracle would happen suddenly.

But by the evening of the fifth day, German artillery shells had begun to bombard the city, so the troops forcibly evacuated the military family to the front line. But halfway through, I sneaked out of the car with my baby in my arms and walked to my home.

When I finally got home exhausted, I found that one of the walls of the house had been blown down by the shelling. Even so, I chose to stay. With the sound of gunfire in the distance, I held the child in my arms and sang a lullaby for him. The shells exploded in the vicinity, making an earth-shattering roar, and my son lay in my arms without the slightest fear.

At this moment, the door was suddenly slammed open, and several Soviet soldiers rushed in, picked me up without saying anything, and forcibly rushed out with the child in their arms. I hadn't taken a few steps before I looked back and saw that the door of my house was wide open, and I desperately broke free from the soldier's big hand and rushed back like crazy.

When I closed the door, it occurred to me that you didn't have the key with you, and if you came home, you wouldn't be able to enter the house, so I just gently closed the door and didn't lock it. Then I glanced into the distance again before following the soldiers to retreat into the distance......"

"And then?" Oshanin sniffled vigorously and took my hands again, his eyes filled with tears.

"I put my kids at Pochnock's mother's house, and then I went to the recruiting office to sign up for the army." Speaking of which, I can't help but fight a cold war, as if I had told many people that I joined the army a month before the outbreak of the war, not after the outbreak of the war. If someone checks my details in the future, and knows that I will even get the date of joining the army wrong, I don't know what the consequences will be?

"I went to the recruitment office to sign up, but I was refused, and the recruiter said that according to the women's protection regulations, I could not serve in the military if I had given birth to a child for less than three years. I didn't argue with them, but went straight to their superiors. I gently pushed open the door to the office of the head of the military council and saw a large number of people arguing fiercely around a major. I didn't say a word, just sat in the corner and waited patiently. After a while, everyone dispersed, and the major found me. He asked, 'What is the matter with you?' ’

I wanted to join the army, but I wasn't approved. ’

'Oh, for what?' The major asked curiously.

They said that I could not serve in the military for less than three years after giving birth. ’

The major smiled: "The comrades of the recruiting office did the right thing, we can't send a mother of an underage child to the battlefield. ’

But I have to join the army! ’

'Give me a good reason?' ’

I thought for a moment and replied: 'My husband was a border officer, and he died on the battlefield. ’

The Major held back a smile, evidently struck him by the reason: 'You know, we have thousands of soldiers who have died. He said no more, bowed his head and wrote something on a piece of paper. Then stand up and hand me the note: 'Go, go to the anti-aircraft machine gun unit and avenge your husband.' ’”

"For what?" Oshanin asked.

I looked into Oshanen's eyes and whispered, "To avenge you!" At the time I thought: maybe, a German must fall under my gun to calm my heart. ”

"And then?" Oshanin asked with concern.

"After I joined the army, I was assigned to the newly formed separate anti-aircraft machine gun battalion. At that time, you taught me marksmanship and military knowledge, which made me feel like a fish in water in the army, and I quickly stood out from the recruits, and was soon promoted to corporal by exception and became a squad leader.

The anti-aircraft machine gun platoon I was in was all women, and since there was no platoon commander, the deputy platoon commander, Sergeant Kirianova, was in charge. She turned out to be a member of the Transbaikal Division, participated in the defense of Smolensk and was awarded a medal. After the battle, she was transferred to the position of deputy platoon commander. But she especially looked down on people like me who had no qualifications and were promoted too quickly, so she went against me everywhere.

Later, our platoon moved to the 171st Lodge near Pochnok, because I had been outstanding in the battle, and it was only after I had shot down two German planes in quick succession that she changed her opinion of me, and the relationship between us began to gradually improve.

One day I sneaked up at night to Pochnok to see my son, and when I came back in the morning, I saw two German soldiers in the forest, and judging by their dress, they were supposed to be preparing to infiltrate our rear to carry out sabotage, so I promptly reported the situation to the commander of the camp, Warrant Officer Vaskov and Sergeant Kirianova.

When Vaskov heard that there were only two German soldiers, he took five female soldiers, including me, Genia, Sonia, Risa, and Garka, to search in the forest. Vaskov was familiar with the nearby terrain, and he led us to an ambush on the German road, intending to take advantage of the terrain and numbers to destroy or capture the two German soldiers alive.

When the German soldiers reappeared in front of us, we unexpectedly found that the German soldiers were not two people, but sixteen people, so that we were at an absolute disadvantage in terms of equipment and numbers. With only one pistol and five rifles in the hands of the six of us, not only could we not stop the enemy, but we were even in danger of being wiped out by the enemy.

Fortunately, Warrant Officer Vaskov, who led the team, had a lot of combat experience, and while he sent Risa back to report the news, he took the four of us and a dozen German soldiers around the forest.

Unfortunately, Risa died while crossing the swamp, and our men did not get the information, so no reinforcements were sent, and only a few of us German soldiers who had the advantage in the forest were left around. During the battle, Genia, Sonia, and Garka were killed one after another, and I was also seriously wounded by shrapnel from a grenade. ”

"Huh?!" Hearing this, Oshanin screamed in surprise, then reached out and touched my body, and asked anxiously: "Hurry up and let me see, where is the injury?" ”

"The wound is in the abdomen, but it's long gone." I grabbed his hand and continued, "Listen to me continue." ”

"Hmm." He nodded, twisted my palm slightly, and then looked at me intently, waiting for me to continue the rest of the story.

"I was badly wounded, bleeding profusely, and I couldn't bear to die in pain, so I begged Vaskov to give me a shot so that I could die happily. But he couldn't do it, and I finally took it upon myself to raise my pistol and shoot myself in the temple. ……”

"Ahh Oshanin could not help but cry out again, interrupting me again. Seeing me looking at him with displeasure, he smiled embarrassedly and motioned for me to continue.

"After the gunshot, I passed out. I don't know how long it took, but the cold rain dripped on my face and made me sober up. Strange to say, the bleeding that kept flowing miraculously stopped, and the wound didn't hurt. I struggled to lift the branch that covered me, sat up and looked around, looking for Warrant Officer Vaskov.

It was raining in the sky, and it was quiet all around, and there was no one. Just then the thought of the monastery bell was heard in the distance. I stood up and followed the prestige, and I could see the spire of the monastery in the distance, it was a long-abandoned monastery, it was supposed that there would be no one in it, why did the bell ring inexplicably, could it be that the Germans were there?

So I looked in the direction of the monastery and strode forward. Along the way, I saw boxes of explosives, steel helmets, water bottles, and even a submachine gun that had been discarded by the Germans. I picked up the submachine gun, expertly pulled the bolt, and when I found that there were no bullets inside, I threw the gun to the side of the road. For me, this weapon without bullets is no different from a burning stick.

But it was these items that became important signposts for me to find Warrant Officer Vaskov and the German devils.

Outside the door of the monastery, I saw the corpses of the Germans lying on the ground, and heard the angry roar of the warrant officer coming from the house, and I was afraid that he would be outnumbered, so I hurriedly picked up a submachine gun and rushed in.

There were six German soldiers in the room, but there was only one bullet in the warrant officer's pistol. As I entered, I was just in time for a German soldier to grab a gun and try to resist. The warrant officer fired a shot that missed the target, and I quickly made up two shots and knocked out the German soldier. The rest of the German soldiers, faced with our guns, had to obediently raise their hands and surrender as prisoners.

Later I was sent to the military hospital in Leningrad, where I was recuperating from my wounds. Not long after, the commander of the Front, Marshal Voroshilov, personally went to the hospital to award me the honor. After being discharged from the hospital, I was promoted to sergeant and appointed platoon commander of a women's anti-aircraft machine gun platoon on the unnamed heights of Pulkovo. ……”

I told Oshanin about my experiences on this plane, of course, the first half was the story of the real Leda, and the second half was my experience as an impostor. When he heard that he was shooting infantry with anti-aircraft machine guns and speaking from the Kremlin podium, he could not help but be amazed and full of emotion.

After telling the story of Lida and me, I only felt my mouth dry, and I took the tea on the table and drank it. Oshanen opened his mouth, and was about to ask something, when there was a knock at the door.