The commander stopped, turned around slowly, looked at me absentmindedly, and then asked in a serious and businesslike tone: "Comrade commander, is there anything you have to do?" ”

Before I could speak, the expression on his face changed from serious to surprised, and he said in surprise: "Oh my God, isn't this my Lida Cheka?" I'm not mistaken, is it you or your ghost who appears in front of me? ”

Does he know me? I couldn't help but be taken aback, quickly rubbed my eyes, and carefully observed the commander in front of me with the help of the dim light in the corridor. Upon closer inspection, I recognized that this was actually my old acquaintance, Vera's father, Colonel Korolev, who worked in the headquarters, and who had lost so much weight compared to a few months ago that I did not recognize him at a glance.

I hurriedly straightened up, made an upright posture, and saluted him: "Hello, Comrade Colonel! ”

"Why haven't you seen me for a few months, and you've seen me like this? When you were in Leningrad, you always called me Uncle Pavel. Korolev sneered knowingly: "Of course, as a former general, it is understandable to pretend that he does not know me, a little colonel. ”

"Uncle Pavel," I felt a fever on my face when he said this, and quickly defended, "not what you imagined, and I am glad to meet you here." However, according to the regulations, when you see the commander, you should salute......"

"him, you and I are old acquaintances, and besides, you and my daughter Vera are still the best friends, so we don't need to talk about these false courtesies. Why, you're here to find Comrade Commander, right? ”

As soon as he said this, I remembered the purpose of stopping him just now, and immediately added: "Yes, Uncle Pavel, I have been ordered to report to Commander Hozin. I didn't know where his office was, so I kept ......."

"Just walking down the hallway, isn't it?" He smiled slightly, and continued, "What are you going to do if you don't happen to see me in the hallway?" ”

I hurriedly explained, "I don't know where Commander Ludao's office is, so I was about to go downstairs to ask the guards about it, but I didn't expect to meet you. ”

"Lieutenant General Khozin went with the engineering staff of the headquarters to inspect the defense of the Kirov plant, and it is estimated that he will not be able to return until very late. I've been authorized to arrange a new job for you. Let's go to my office now! ”

I followed him, walking down the carpeted hallway.

We soon came to a door, and he went up and pushed it open. When I entered the room, I saw that it was a small reception room, and there was a small table near the door of the inner room, where a second lieutenant was sitting. Seeing the two of us at the door, the second lieutenant immediately stood up and saluted us, glancing at Korolev with an inquiring look.

The colonel immediately pointed to the second lieutenant and introduced me: "Lida, this is my adjutant Second Lieutenant Zirkov. Then he beckoned the second lieutenant to come over, and then introduced me to me: "Zirkov, this is the Oshanina whom I often mention to you. ”

After listening to Korolev's introduction, Zirkov's eyes lit up, he stepped forward and saluted me again, shook my hand with some excitement and said: "Hello, Comrade General, it's a pleasure to meet you here!" ”

I smiled bitterly, and then corrected him and said, "Comrade Second Lieutenant, I am only a major now, not a major general. ”

"You have always been a great general in my mind. It's amazing that you killed so many Germans without showing weakness in avenging our fallen comrades! You know, our colleagues who know your deeds admire your ......."

"Enough, Comrade Ensign." Korolev suddenly interrupted what he was talking about, and said with a straight face: "Call Major General Shilov and Brigade Commissar Shikin and ask them to come to my office." After giving instructions to his lieutenant, he shook his head at me and said, "Leda, come with me to the office." ”

Once in the office, he walked straight to his desk and beckoned to me, "Leda, please take a seat now." Whatever you want, you don't have to take off your military coat, you know, because of the lack of fuel, our stove here is not thriving. ”

I sat down in a lap chair not far away, rested the cloth bag I had been carrying in my hand at my feet, and took off my hat and held it in my hand.

"Okay, let's talk," Korolev said, and sat down as well. "I have heard about you in Moscow, and I know that you have fought very well. It's just that I think you did something too impulsive to shoot those German prisoners. Is it worth it to order the killing of so many people for the sake of irrelevant people, and to ruin your future because of it? ”

I didn't want to discuss the killing of prisoners with anyone at the moment, so I changed the subject and said, "Uncle Pavel, I haven't seen you for a few months, why have you lost so much weight?" ”

Hearing my question, Korolev was visibly stunned for a moment, and then he said slowly: "Due to the siege of Leningrad by the German army, there was a shortage of food in the city, and the relevant parties introduced a ration card system. Since there was very little food to enter the city every day, the food quota for the military and civilians had to be cut again and again. Just two months ago, the concept of 'dietary malnutrition' was only understood by doctors who gave medical histories to patients who came to the clinic or were carried on stretchers. And the concept of this has become a household name, and all the people of Leningrad know it. ”

I understand that because of the siege of the German army, there was a shortage of food and all kinds of materials in Leningrad, and hundreds of people died of hunger every day. Even a mid-ranking officer like Korolev was affected by the lack of food.

The Colonel stood up from behind his desk, swaying a little as he got up, but he grabbed the edge of the table with his hand to avoid his own fall. Then he straightened up, walked with firm steps, and walked towards the wall where the map was hung. He walked to the map of the city, pointed to the map with his stick, and said to me: "In late December, we opened an ice transport line on the frozen Lado Lake, with which we were able to evacuate the elderly, women and children from the city and bring in the necessary supplies. ……”

Although he hadn't finished his words yet, I had already guessed the position he was about to take, so I couldn't help but ask tentatively, "Uncle Pavel, I want to know what position you will arrange for me, is it to defend the ice transportation line?" ”

Korolev was very satisfied with my understanding, he nodded and said: "Since the ice transportation line has not been opened for a long time, and the various facilities are not yet complete, you must know that it is very cold in the road, and the number of heating sheds we have set up is seriously insufficient. At the same time, the Germans sent planes to bomb and strafe our ice transport lines every day, so we urgently needed commanders with air defense experience to transport and direct the anti-aircraft artillery units deployed there. ”

I nodded, stood up, and said, "I see, Uncle Pavel. I don't know what kind of size of air defense force I can command, whether it's a company or a platoon, or even a squad. ”

Hearing me say this, Korolev smiled and put down the baton in his hand, walked over and patted me on the shoulder and said, "Lida, you really underestimate yourself." At present, the air defense zone of the ice transport line is divided into three sections, each of which is about five kilometers long, and we intend to appoint you as the commander of an anti-aircraft artillery battalion, and the air defense of the middle section of the road will be entrusted to you. ”

After watching him walk back to his desk, I sat back in my lap chair. I inadvertently lifted my foot as if I had kicked something. I looked down and saw that it was the cloth bag that Ehrenburg had given me at the airport. I haven't opened it to see what the bag contains, and if I hadn't taken it and got on the plane directly, I guess I would have thrown his things away. I bent down, frowned, opened the sack, and opened my mouth to look inside. I found two buns in it, one canned fish, two canned condensed milk, and seven or eight boiled potatoes.

When I saw what it was, I felt a little less disgusted with Ehrenburg. You must know that in peacetime, these things are not worth much at all, but in Leningrad at this time, they are more precious than gold, and these things can at least save the lives of several people.

I took out the canned fish and a bottle of condensed milk, walked to Korolev's table, gently placed it in front of him, and said: "Uncle Pavel, I came to Leningrad this time and did not bring anything for you. I'll give you a gift. ”

When Korolev saw the canned fish and condensed milk placed in front of him, he quickly stood up, and said in a bit of a panic: "Lida, you should keep these things for yourself, you must know that there is a shortage of everything in Leningrad at the moment, maybe you will be able to use it sometime." ”

"Uncle Pavel," seeing that although he verbally excused himself, his eyes had been fixed on the canned food and condensed milk in front of him without taking them away, he knew that he was being polite, so he pushed the two things in front of him a little more, "This is a gift from you, please accept it no matter what." ”

Seeing my repeated insistence, he accepted it as a matter of course, and at the same time thanked me repeatedly.

There was a soft knock at the door, and then the adjutant Second Lieutenant Zirkov pushed the door and walked in, and he stood straight at the door and reported to Korolev: "Comrade Colonel, Major General Shirov and Brigade Commissar Shikin are here!" ”

"Let them in!"

When the two future superiors entered the room, I had already risen from my seated chair, put on my military cap, and saluted them in a proper manner.

Korolev came out from behind the table, shook hands with the two of them, and then began to introduce me to Major General Shirov and Brigade Commissar Shikin. Tall and thin, with two gold stars on the diamond-shaped collar badge of the military overcoat, is Major General Shilov; The other fat man with eyes and medium stature was the brigade commissar Shikin.

The conversation with the two superiors was very brief, and they repeated what Korolev had just said to me, repeatedly emphasizing to me the importance of the ice transport line, which was the only ground line of communication in Leningrad with the outside world, the only line of ground communication in Leningrad, apart from the air line, which was the lifeline of Leningrad, and that she must be defended even if she sacrificed her life.