(Two chapters combined into one chapter, large chapter)

Although the Americans regarded the Soviet Union's intervention as an outrageous provocation and protested in private, this still did not change the way the Soviets began to win orders from the United States. What's more, although the Americans promised to sell Black Hawk helicopters, after all, it was a civilian version. Under Yanayev's special advice, the weapons sold by the Soviet Union were for the exclusive use of the military, and compared with the American monkey version, the performance was certainly much better than the previous batch of Mi-17 helicopters.

In this way, the sincerity of both sides is high. And the leaders of the Chinese armed forces also have the same consideration, since the United States and the Soviet Union want to win over themselves, then they will use this opportunity to continue to introduce new types of weapons and equipment so that they can be used to eliminate outdated products in the army. The current Soviet Union is a production machine that has received orders and is running at full power, using arms sales orders to get rid of the problem of fiscal deficits.

Unlike the United States, which is afraid of the exploitation of its allies, the news of the Soviet Union's victory over the United States through arms sales was generously published in the newspapers, so as to disgust the Americans and Europeans, and at least let them see clearly what kind of virtues you leaders of the free world have.

So when Comrade Vladimir saw this news, he couldn't help but applaud and almost flipped over a dish on the table. But Vladimir didn't care, because for him, the glory and shame of the motherland were closely related to the old man, who was almost seventy years old.

On the contrary, Natasha, who was eating next to him, was a little unhappy, she had taken care of her disabled husband for so many years, which time had she worry, Natasha put down the dishes and chopsticks. Shouted by the ears of Vladimir. "How many times have I said it. Read the newspaper just read the newspaper, why are you so excited! That doesn't make people eat properly. ”

"Don't get excited, don't get excited, dear wife, you see, our Motherland has just defeated the Americans on the issue of arms sales. Isn't that something to be happy about? "Comrade Vladimir is like a child, laughing happily.

"That's the credit of other foreign trade personnel, compared to you who hasn't been on the battlefield for decades." Natasha continued to tease him. "Motherland, the subsidy for World War II soldiers was increased a little last year, do you think there is anything else to be proud of and celebrate?"

"Of course there is, and this is one thing that deserves our congratulations." Comrade Vladimir's expression became serious, and he said to his wife, "Last year was the most difficult year for our country's economy, and the government cut a lot of projects, except in the area of veterans' treatment and welfare, which did not fall but increased. Doesn't this show that the motherland has not forgotten us? ”

After Yanayev came to power, he raised the salary of both retired and active soldiers. It is also aimed at preventing social problems that arise after a balanced large-scale disarmament.

"Yes, yes, everything you say is right. Comrade Vladimir. Natasha said angrily, after cleaning up the dishes and chopsticks beside him, she opened the curtains behind her, looked at the sunny weather outside, and asked, "Old man, the weather is so good, do you want to go out for a walk?" ”

"Okay." Comrade Vladimir readily agreed.

Natasha picked up her husband and put him in a wheelchair like a lithe child. Vladimir's legs had already been blown off by Nazi shells in the Great Patriotic War, and although he was saved by amputation in the hospital, doctors told him that he would have to live in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

This was undoubtedly a heavy blow to Comrade Vladimir, a soldier who had lost his legs was as overwhelmed as a shell of his soul that had been drained. Fortunately, his fiancée did not abandon him, and Comrade Vladimir returned to his hometown, married his wife, who had been waiting for his return for a long time, and spent the rest of his life peacefully in his hometown. In addition to the allowance for disabled retired soldiers, who arrived on time every month, it was as if the motherland had forgotten him, like those soldiers who were once born and died, buried under a birch forest in various parts of the Soviet Union, and no one remembered him again.

When people get old, they will always be immersed in some memories of the past, and Comrade Vladimir, who participated in the Great Patriotic War, will naturally babble to his wife about the history of the war, "I tell you, I ...... at the beginning"

"Alright!" Natasha interrupted Vladimir's prepared tirade and said, "I've heard thousands of times about your glorious deeds of the past. Besides, you're in your seventies, so why are you still nagging about how it was back then? Change the subject, old man. ”

Natasha sighed and said, "It's been all these years, don't think about the original thing anymore, you should also let go." People are alive, better than anything else. ”

Vladimir was silent, allowing his wife Natasha to push his wheelchair on the long embankment, the warm wind hanging on his face, and he squinted his eyes comfortably, quietly admiring the scenery of spring.

It's not that he can't get out of the past, it's just that he was the only soldier left in a company back then. If he didn't even say it, then the deeds of these people would be buried under an unknown monument. When he dies, there will really be no one who thinks about it.

"In 1942, it was a bitter winter." Comrade Vladimir looked at the melting river and said to himself, "Our company is going to cross a river and launch a surprise attack on the German troops guarding supplies on the opposite bank." That was all the fuel supplies that the Germans had in the war zone. As always, we accepted the order and quietly approached the enemy's position under the cover of artillery fire and night. ”

"But we did not expect that it was a trap carefully designed by the enemy, and when our troops were almost halfway ashore, the German machine guns began to fire at us, many comrades fell, and I saw with my own eyes that the palm of the commissar was broken by the enemy's gun. But we did not give up and crawled towards the enemy's camp. Until those damned Nazis ignited the fuel and fuel supplies of the vehicles. The blazing flames flowed down the slope like magma, mercilessly devouring our comrades. And we were separated from the Nazis by a wall of fire, which could not be attacked, just when we were at a loss. The commissar who walked at the front. Without hesitation, he rushed into the burning oil. Shouting loudly. 'Forward, comrades'. ”

"With the beginning of the commissar, then the second, the third, the fourth, no one chose to retreat, even if they ran in front and were wrapped in flames. Like a moving fireball, the commissar did not hesitate to rush towards the enemy troops on the opposite side. Some of the comrades had already been burned black. But they still shot at the Nazis. Oh, Natasha, have you seen that? Countless comrades-in-arms who were swept by the flames shouted Ulla like this and pressed towards the enemy on the opposite side. This scene made me at the end unforgettable for the rest of my life. ”

At that time, the German army was rapidly depleted under the long winter, and there were not many troops left to guard the supplies. After the company had paid a third of the casualties, we occupied their logistical camp. It was also on that day that our company received a new designation. Inferno Company of the Red Army. Listening to the captives, it was like seeing countless demons crawling out of hell. Ready to tear them apart. ”

Natasha felt an inexplicable fear when she remembered what her husband had said about the soldier whose whole body was covered in fire. Not to mention the Germans who witnessed the scene.

"That night, I broke my legs with a mortar and was taken to the hospital in the rear. Later the company was surrounded in a war, and reinforcements arrived too late. All but a few survivors were killed. With that, cloudy tears fell from the corners of Vladimir's eyes, and Natasha took a handkerchief from her pocket and carefully wiped it off for him. The gray-haired woman kept her old nagging as usual, gently hugged Vladimir's arm, and said, "Old man, don't think about the past, you still have me, that's enough." ”

Vladimir did not answer, but silently pronounced out a few names that he could still remember.

"Private Kadyrov, died last March."

"Corporal, Rybalco, died in June of the year before."

"Private Rank, Romanovsky, died in January of this year."

"Sergeant Vladimir, the whole company so far...... The only survivor. ”

…………

Dmitry was surprised to meet a Soviet veteran like himself in this remote town, Dmitry, who was wearing an eye patch, shook Vladimir's hand happily, and said with a smile, "Private Dmitry once participated in the Great Patriotic War. Who are you? ”

"Sergeant Vladimir." The veteran, who was in a wheelchair, said with a smile, "Also participated in the Great Patriotic War, this is my wife, Natasha." ”

"Hello, ma'am." Dmitry smiled and said to the old woman beside him.

"It's rare for outsiders to come to this remote town, especially Soviet soldiers from World War II. So I was really surprised to meet you, Dmitry. Vladimir said excitedly, "And from you, I can feel the unique temperament of people who crawl back from the pile of dead people." ”

"Can I see it as a compliment to me? Comrade Vladimir. Dmitry replied politely. No matter how you look at it, the person in front of you looks like a gentle gentleman, not a soldier who has killed people.

"Of course you can, hahaha." Vladimir grabbed Dmitry's hand and said, "If you have time today, you must come to our house for a glass of vodka, how about it?" It's been a long time since I've told anyone a story about war. My wife always didn't want to listen to me nag about how I lost my legs. ”

"Of course, it's a pleasure. What's more, we've all lost our most beloved things in war, haven't we? Dmitry took off his blindfold to reveal his blind left eye, "You see, it was wounded by a stray bullet, and my left eye lost its light forever. ”

The hospitable Comrade Vladimir sat at the table with Dmitry, and Natasha prepared a bottle of wine and two small glasses for them, and she specially told her husband to drink less.

"Comrade Dmitry, was your eye wounded during the Battle of Stalingrad?" Vladimir asked. For a soldier of the Red Army, a person who did not return from the front with scars could not be called a real warrior.

"No, my eyes were not lost during the Battle of Stalingrad." Dmitry replied.

"But at Stalingrad, our troops were routed by the Germans. I was the only one who hid in the fountain pool, and the armored vehicles of the German patrol shot at the corpses of our comrades in the pool, but fortunately I escaped. Dmitry looked up and drank a glass of vodka, and even after all this time, he still said with a lingering feeling, "and then I met an old soldier in the pool." Yes, he is a real hero, calm and rational. We were inside the fountain, knocked off the heads of three Nazi soldiers with a Mosin Nagant rifle, and escaped. He said that he was going to assassinate a Nazi officer named Amzel, and that he and I ended up parting ways here. ”

"The patrolling soldiers didn't find out?" Vladimir said.

"The gunfire was drowned out by the sound of artillery fire, and by the time they found out, they had already fled the area." "Later, I was wounded by that stray bullet in the counterattack war, lost my eye, and was sent to logistics, and at this time I had entered the strategic counteroffensive stage, and I was not able to return to the front line. And the veteran continued to follow the torrent of armor and march all the way to Berlin. It is said that he also personally participated in the battle to capture the Capitol and witnessed soldiers planting the red flag on the top floor of the Capitol. This was the highest honor, although in the end he did not return to the Soviet Union as a hero. ”

As if sorry for an old friend, Dmitry gently slammed his glass on the table and whispered, "He said his name was Rezenov, and I don't know if that's his real name." After the war ended, I never heard from him again. Here today, please have a drink. ”

"This is a real man, and if I meet him, I will definitely become friends with him." Vladimir raised his glass and said, "A glass to Comrade Rezenov." ”

Dmitry threw up his head and drank another glass of wine, and by this time he was already slightly drunk. Holding his cheek with one hand, he said slowly, "Hehe, it's a pity, these things have long been thrown into the garbage heap of history." The high-ranking leaders who led the war were all lying in the Novodevichy Cemetery, and except for those of us who are old and can only live by memories, who can remember how we once fought to defend our motherland. ”

Dmitry said sadly, "We are all old, and one day we will die with the Great Patriotic War, which is already so long." ”

At this time, there was a knock at the door of the house, Natasha shouted who it was, and the people outside just replied that the army came, please open the door and find Comrade Vladimir.

Natasha hurriedly ran to open the door, and both Dmitry and Vladimir looked at it curiously. I saw a burly officer standing at the door, and a black sedan behind him. The officer nodded politely to Natasha and said, "Hello, I came to find the sergeant of the 3rd Company of the Red Army, Comrade Vladimir. ”

"I am." Vladimir, pushing the wheelchair to the officer's side, asked, "Is there anything I can do with this comrade?" ”

"Oh, that's right." The officer glanced at Vladimir's empty trouser legs, then took out an invitation from his bosom and handed it to Vladimir, "Moscow will hold a military parade to celebrate the victory in the Great Patriotic War next month, and some representatives of World War II veterans will be invited to go there." Comrade Vladimir, this is your invitation, please accept it. We'll send someone to pick you up a week before the parade starts. ”

"You mean, I can go to Red Square in Moscow to watch the parade?" Vladimir said excitedly, "Oh my God, quick, Natasha, prepare a cup for this comrade." ”

"Yes, Comrade Vladimir, be sure to participate. I still have official business, so I won't accompany you. After the officer delivered the invitation to Vladimir, he prepared to turn around and leave. Before leaving, he glanced at Dmitry, who was sitting at the table, who had lost one eye, and Comrade Vladimir, who was excited, and stood up straight and saluted them, which was a tribute to the two seniors who participated in the Great Patriotic War.

"Two seniors, although the war has taken away your most beloved things, please believe me, a strong motherland will not let you lose more." The officer said with a serious expression. (To be continued.) )