"Don't panic, don't panic! Stay calm, everybody! "Just as I, like the fighters around me, was frightened by the sudden appearance of the enemy plane, Kokunov's shouts came from the side.

With his shout, the chaos in the cabin gradually calmed down, and all the commanders and fighters tilted their heads to stare at the enemy plane hovering in the air. And after I saw the enemy planes passing over the ferry, I also took a special look at the ferry boat that was boarding the Seventh Company. Although the ferry carried a large number of people, it was faster than us, and it had already pulled us down a distance of more than a hundred meters at this moment.

I squeezed to Kokunov's side, looked at the enemy planes circling in the sky, and asked with some concern: "Comrade instructor of the first class, do you think that the enemy will bomb us?" ”

Kokunov's facial muscles twitched violently, and then he replied calmly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you are the commander, the soldiers are watching you, if you are all panicked, then the morale of the troops will be affected." At this point, he lowered his voice and whispered: "At such a time, we can only resign ourselves to fate, hoping that the ferry will succeed in reaching the left bank before the enemy planes blow us up." ”

Hearing him say that, my heart suddenly cooled. Looking at the rushing river outside, I thought to myself, if our ferry is bombed, it will be all over, you must know that this is the center of the Don, the deepest part of the water, and if the ferry is sunk, everyone on board will have to sink to the bottom.

After circling in the air a few times, the enemy plane swooped down on our ferry, its on-board machine guns firing wildly, and a long line of bullets piercing the roof of the ferry. Ploughed through the crowd. In a burst of exclamations. Seven or eight warriors didn't snort. He fell covered in blood in the cabin.

Seeing this scene, the cabin suddenly became chaotic again. Just as I was frightened by this sudden incident, Kokunov's voice sounded again: "Comrades, calm down, calm down, don't panic!" Don't panic!! "I turned my head to see him crawling onto the ammunition box, standing with his hands on the roof. shouted at everyone: "Comrades, don't panic, stay where you are, as long as the ship docks, the enemy planes will have nothing to do with us." ”

It takes courage and tact to dare to stand on the most dangerous ammunition box and calm the morale of the troops in the face of the danger of being strafed by enemy aircraft. Although I have never liked any political workers, there are many of them who deserve our respect and admiration, and Kokunov in front of me is undoubtedly one of them.

Kokunov was seen standing on the ammunition box calmly giving orders. The fighters in the cabin no longer panicked, but began to help the health attendants rescue the wounded fighters. The bodies of several fighters who died on the spot were carried aside. The hygienist squatted beside the wounded man, and after a simple debridement, began to bandage the wound.

Order had just been restored on board, and before we could catch our breath, the enemy planes that had flown away circled in the air, then dived down from the right side again and fired at our ferryboat with their on-board machine guns. Luckily, the bullet missed this time, and it flew over the roof and hit the river on the left side of the boat.

Looking at the enemy plane that was climbing, my heart beat faster, and I only felt that my throat was dry, and the sweat on my body couldn't stop gushing out. I secretly prayed in my heart that this enemy plane would leave and that it would not turn around and attack us again, otherwise this raging Don River would be our burial place.

After a while, the enemy plane turned around again in the air and dived down to our ferry for the third time, this time not strafing with the on-board machine gun, but dropping a bomb directly. The bomb did not hit the ferry, but exploded near the boat, setting off a column of water more than ten meters high, and the cold river water poured on us. And Kokunov, who was standing on the ammunition box, would have probably been swept off by the air wave if he had not tightly clung to the iron pipe of the roof.

I stared at the enemy plane, which had been pulled up again after dropping the bomb, and thought bitterly: "Anti-aircraft machine guns, if only there were anti-aircraft machine guns on board, then the enemy planes would not dare to attack the ferry so brazenly." ”

Seeing that the enemy plane turned around and swooped down again, I couldn't help but ask loudly: "Comrade Kokunov, the enemy plane is coming again, what should we do?" "At this time, I don't care about maintaining any image, nor do I care if such a question will cause panic among the commanders and fighters on board, because at this moment, we are a bunch of lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

Kokunov did not answer me, but stared at the enemy plane with fire-breathing eyes. If his vision had been lethal, it is estimated that the enemy plane would have exploded in the air long ago. It was only a moment later that I heard him curse viciously, "Damn the Germans, you'd better get headlong into the river." ”

On the contrary, the bomb dropped on the front of the ferry and exploded, blowing the bow to pieces, and in the face of the powerful blast wave of the explosion, I, like the commanders and fighters in the cabin, fell backwards in unison and fell heavily into the cabin. Soon, the ferry began to lean forward, and the icy water rushed into the cabin.

I had just struggled to get up from the deck of the cabin, and most of my body was already submerged in the water. At this time, I didn't care about others and swam desperately out of the ferry. Anyone who has studied physics knows that when a ship sinks, it forms a whirlpool, and if you are caught in a whirlpool, you may not have a chance to escape.

Not far from the ferry, the ferry was hit by another bomb, which accelerated the sinking speed of the ferry, and in less than two minutes, the hull of the boat completely disappeared under the water, only the fragments of the boat scattered on the water were still burning, and there were some commanders and fighters who were as lucky as me to escape, struggling on the surface of the river.

Unexpectedly, the ferry sank, and the damned Germans refused to let us go, and swooped down again, strafing the commanders and fighters floating on the river. I quickly held my breath and dived underwater. Bullets shuttled in, drawing lines of water below the surface, scaring me into diving as deep as I could.

I didn't dive much deeper, I felt that I couldn't hold it back, and if I stayed underwater, it was possible that the bullets of the enemy plane did not kill me, and I had already drowned due to lack of oxygen. I swiped up with my hands and feet, and my body quickly scurried to the surface. When I floated on the water, I deeply realized that when you breathe normally, you can't feel the air. But once we lose the possibility of breathing, we immediately realize how much a breath of fresh air means to us.

After repeated strafing by enemy planes, there were no more people alive on the river, and the enemy planes probably didn't want to waste any more bullets and flapped their wings and flew into the distance. I looked in the direction and swam towards the left bank of the river.

Swimming in a pool and swimming in a river are two completely different concepts. I could swim a few hundred meters in the pool, let alone in the fast-flowing Don River. Not long after I swam forward, I felt that my body was overwhelmed, and my movements were getting slower and slower, and then I felt my body begin to sink slowly, and I thought sadly: Am I going to drown in the river today?

Just as the river was flooding my ears and nose, someone grabbed my arm and pulled me forward. I turned my head to the right, and the first thing that caught my eye was Kokunov's familiar face. Looking to the left, there is a young sailor. With their help, I swung my legs desperately and swam with them across the river.

Ten minutes later, Kokunov and the sailors dragged me ashore in a no-man's land. I went limp, and as soon as I stepped on solid ground, I collapsed weakly. I looked up at Kokunov and the sailors sitting next to me and thanked them: "Thank you, Comrade Kokunov, if it weren't for you, I would have drowned in the Don." I didn't expect you to be so water-based. ”

Kokunov replied with a smile: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you're welcome, fortunately we are all alive." ”

I turned my face to the other side and said to the young and handsome sailor: "And you, comrade sailor, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, if it weren't for your help and that of the first class instructor, I would have sunk to the bottom of the river by now." ”

Unexpectedly, the sailor's face turned red and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, don't be so polite, you must know that I have seen you, how can I let someone I know sink to the bottom of the river beside me." ”

I stared at the sailor's face, trying to remember where I had seen him, but after thinking for a long time, I still had no impression in my mind, knowing that the number of people I had seen was thousands, and it was impossible to remember the appearance and name of each person, so I couldn't help asking: "Comrade sailor soldier, have we met before?" But I don't remember it at all. ”

The sailor said embarrassedly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I am from the 192nd Infantry Division, and I once participated in counterattack battles with you, and you will definitely not remember me." But I happened to meet you one night with my girlfriend, Natasha, who was the hygienist, on a date. At the time, I was still criticizing me because you were going to criticize me, but I didn't expect you to let me go because you just said that you were going to fight tomorrow. ”

When the sailors said this, I suddenly remembered the meaty conversation I heard outside the headquarters of the 62nd Army that night, that women are the sky, the moon, and the indispensable air for men, and the men are the sea and the sun for women. Thinking of this, I couldn't help but smile slightly, and asked curiously: "Comrade sailor, why did you appear here?" ”

The sailor replied: "Comrade Colonel in the report, in order to escort the personnel of the political department to cross the river safely, the higher authorities have transferred some personnel from our sailor brigade, and I am one of them. ”

I let out a sigh and asked, "Is your Natasha where?" ”

The sailor replied, "She is still in the 192nd Division's health team, but we have not seen each other again because of the recent fierce fighting." ”

As he was talking, Kokunov suddenly said: "It seems that some troops are coming towards us, and they should be looking for us." With that, he stood up, waved his hands desperately, and shouted loudly, "Hey! Come here, we're here. (To be continued......)