I am now a battalion commander, not a company commander, so there are some things that I don't have to do myself, I just need to give orders, and naturally someone will carry out the orders I have issued. For example, if I rearrange the gun emplacement, I don't need to brave the cold wind to supervise the execution on the spot, and Kirianova and Orlova will do it properly. All I can do now is sleep under the covers in my tent, because I've been sleeping so little lately.

I didn't expect to sleep soundly, but I was woken up by a noisy sound outside the door. I opened my eyes, raised my wrist and looked at the time, having only slept for an hour. Because of the lack of sleep for a long time, I finally had a chance to sleep in, but I was woken up by someone like this, and I was anxious to rush out of the tent at once, and beat the guy who disturbed my sleep.

I lifted the quilt, rolled over and put on my military coat, lifted the curtain and walked out to see what was going on outside.

Twenty or thirty meters outside the door, there was a group of female soldiers, surrounded by a red-faced male soldier, a female officer wearing the rank of second lieutenant, pointing her finger at his head, talking something, and the onlookers let out laughter from time to time.

I walked over to them to find out what was going on. A sharp-eyed female soldier noticed me walking towards them angrily, and hurriedly shouted: "Comrade commander is here!" ”

With her shout, many people found me in the shortest possible time, including the second lieutenant, who only heard her shouting the command: "All of them, stand up!" Suddenly, the female soldiers were all silent, and they collectively saluted us.

I walked to a stop two or three meters away from them, and then asked in a dissatisfied tone, "Can anyone tell me what the hell is going on here?" ”

The female second lieutenant quickly ran in front of me, stood up and saluted and reported: "The second platoon commander Yelena reports to you, please instruct!" ”

I returned the salute and asked, "Comrade Ensign, can you tell me what happened?" ”

The female second lieutenant Yelena turned her head to look at the male soldier behind her, and stopped talking. Seeing her expression, I knew that things could not be explained in a few words, and that male soldiers were the key to it, so I beckoned him and asked him to come over.

The male soldier honestly came to me, his chin pressed against his chest, his face flushed, his hands behind his back, his mouth open a few times, but he could not say a word.

I turned to Yelena again and asked, "Comrade Second Lieutenant, what's going on?" I command you. ”

When Yelena saw me asking, Zhilu Dao could no longer avoid it, so she could only answer honestly: "Report to Comrade Major, this male soldier is here to find Naya." ”

"What's wrong with finding Naya?" I asked, puzzled.

Yelena pulled the male soldier's hands behind her back to the front, and I saw a handful of unknown wildflowers in the male soldier's hands, perhaps because the weather was too cold, the flowers had withered. Without waiting for me to speak, Yelena kicked the drooping bouquet in the hand of the male soldier with her toes, and lectured him in front of me: "Comrade soldier, do you know that this is a time of war, and the most important thing now is to love the motherland, not to love a certain person. A female soldier is on the front line, first and foremost a fighter, not a woman. When fighting, it should be a steel gun in your hand, not flowers for women. Instead of spending so much energy on romance, you might as well sign up for the front-line combat units and eliminate a few more fascist bandits......"

In all fairness, what Yelena said made a lot of sense, but she was also a very principled person. Listening to her endless lectures to the male soldiers, I knew that if I didn't stop her, I guess she could talk for another two or three hours, and if my battalion headquarters needed political workers, she would be a suitable person. But now is not the time to listen to her tirade, there is still a lot of work to do.

So I interrupted her, turned to the male soldier, and said, "That's the end of today's business, you can go back." Please remember that our priority at the moment is to protect this lifeline of Leningrad with our own lives, and we do not have the time or energy to spend on romance. Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." The male soldier raised his head and straightened his back, then asked for my opinion: "Can I leave now?" Comrade Commander. ”

"Go ahead!"

He saluted me, threw away the bouquet of withered fingers, and turned away.

Seeing the male soldier leaving, Yelena was a little anxious, and hurriedly pulled my sleeve and said, "Comrade Major, I haven't finished my words yet, why did you let him go?" ”

I stared at the ensign in front of me and said coldly, "Let him go, because we have more important things to do, instead of wasting our energy on these trivial things." Have you adjusted the gun emplacements of your platoon? ”

Hearing my question, the second lieutenant hurriedly stood up and replied loudly: "Report to Comrade Major, the anti-aircraft gun positions of the second platoon have all been adjusted. Please instruct! ”

When I saw Kirianova and Orlova approaching us from a distance, I waved my hand and said, "When the work is done, you can take the soldiers of your platoon back to rest." ”

Yelena agreed, and then issued a command to her group of female soldiers to "stand upright" and "turn back", and then left with them. Naya, who was walking behind the most, stopped, smiled at me and nodded, before briskly chasing the team in front of her.

Kirianova and Orlova walked up to me, stood up and saluted, and loudly reported: "Report to Comrade Battalion Commander, the adjustment of the gun position of the women's anti-aircraft artillery company has been completed. Please instruct! ”

I didn't return the salute, but grabbed her hand and pulled it down from her forehead, and said, "Report to me about work, you don't need such a serious job." ”

Kirianova looked at me, snorted softly, and said in an unkind tone: "I don't dare to be too casual, you are a general, and I am just an ordinary petty officer." ”

"Comrade Company Commander, please pay attention to your attitude" Orlova saw that Kirianova was speaking in a bit of a yin and yang manner, so she quietly pulled her sleeve and carefully reminded her.

I knew in my heart that Kirianova's willingness to change her attitude towards me was because I hid from her the story that I had been a general. Hurriedly pulled her to the tent, and said as she walked: "It's too cold outside, let's go back to the tent, and I'll tell you what it's like to be a general." ”

Once in the tent, Kirianova and I sat down around the table, while Orlova was busy lighting a fire for us to make tea.

After everyone had sat down, I began to tell the two of them about what had happened in the defense of Moscow, including, of course, how he reunited with Oshanin and broke up, how he became the commander of the Guards Division, how he became the chief of staff of the 20th Army before the great counteroffensive, and how Stalin personally awarded the rank of major general.

When I heard that I ordered my subordinates to kill all the captives in a fit of rage because I saw the tragic situation of Zoya's sacrifice, the two of them applauded again and again. Orlova, in particular, said that if she had been in my position at the time, she would not hesitate to give the same order as me. The benefit of this conversation is that it unconsciously brings the three of us closer together and increases their trust in me.

While they were talking happily, a familiar voice came from outside the tent: "Comrade commander, I'm Lyuda, can I come in?" ”

Hearing that it was Lyuda, Kirianova raised her hand and looked at her watch, and said in surprise: "Unknowingly, it was so late, we even forgot to eat dinner." She was about to beckon Lyuda in, but Orlova had already stepped out of the tent to take Lyuda's dinner, and brought it to us on the table.