Although this time was either fighting or running away, I was exhausted. But lying on a comfortable bed, I couldn't fall asleep tossing and turning, and my mind was always thinking about the German officer who entered the headquarters, what kind of purpose did he have, did he come to persuade him to surrender, and would Vlasov agree to his conditions and let the troops lay down their arms?

It wasn't until dawn that I finally talked about the past. In my sleep, I heard someone muttering and rolled over impatiently. But my hand accidentally touched the wallboard, and the pain made me wake up immediately. When I opened my eyes, the sun had already risen over the horizon and the sun was shining through the windows to illuminate the room. After a brief wash, I planned to try my luck at the headquarters and see if I could see Vlasov. When I walked outside, I saw that there were already quite a few people walking around the street, both patrolling fighters and local villagers.

I came to the outside of the headquarters and saw that there were still two sentries on duty at the door, but they were not the same two soldiers as yesterday. I walked over and asked one of the fighters: "Hello, comrade warriors!" Is Ensign Gucipp here, please? "I learned the lesson of yesterday, I can't just say that I want to find the commander, but I have to say that I want to find the superior who is responsible for managing them, otherwise I may still be turned away.

When the sentry heard me say that he was looking for Second Lieutenant Gusip, he looked at the rank on my collar badge and immediately said, "Comrade Major, please wait a moment, I will go and call the second lieutenant out at once." Then he turned and went into the house.

In a few moments, Second Lieutenant Gucip came out after the sentry. As soon as he saw that it was me, he hurriedly ran over and asked in a low voice, "Major Lida, are you here to find the commander?" Seeing that I nodded, he continued, "Comrade Commander is still sleeping, please come back later." I raised my hand and looked at my watch, it was just five o'clock in the morning, which was a little early, and in order not to embarrass Gucipp, I didn't insist that I see Vlasov now, but said lightly: "Then I'll go around elsewhere and come back later." ”

The village was not very large, with only forty or fifty families, and as in other places, all the young and middle-aged people in the village joined the army, and only the old and young women and children were left in the village. Although the rest of the soldiers were still sleeping, except for those standing guard and patrolling, the industrious farm workers began their busy day again.

As I walked, suddenly a little boy wearing a peaked hat and a ragged shirt ran sideways from my right side, but fortunately I stopped in time to knock the child down. The boy ran into the family's yard on the left side of the road, hid behind the door, and stared at me without blinking with his two large, clear eyes.

Judging by his clothes, it must be a street child, I smiled at him, pulled out the rusks in my pocket, and tried to tease him. As soon as I lifted the bread, I suddenly felt a sour nose, and then I began to cry for some reason. I felt very strange in my heart, I just wanted to tease this lovely boy, why was my heart so sour?

An old lady wearing a headscarf stopped beside me and said in a regretful tone: "Comrade commander, do you like this child too?" Alas, the child's life was so miserable that when he fled from Leningrad with his grandmother and went to the village, his grandmother fell ill and died, leaving only this lonely child. If it weren't for the fact that everyone often gave him a little food, he would have starved to death. With that, the old lady sighed and staggered away.

I was just about to call the child over, when suddenly I heard the voice of Second Lieutenant Gucip in the distance: "Comrade Major, Comrade Major. So you're here, I'm looking for you everywhere. ”

I didn't care about the boy anymore, so I walked over to Gucipp and asked, "Ensign, do you have anything to do with me?" ”

Gucip came to my side, and without even saluting, he hurriedly said: "Comrade Major, the commander wants to see you, please come with me to the headquarters at once." ”

The living room outside the headquarters was where the staff officers stayed, while General Vlasov worked in his bedroom. As soon as I walked into the room, I choked on the smoke and coughed violently. Vlasov, who had been tall, was now sitting hunched over the edge of the bed, with ashtrays made of cans on the wooden table in front of him, filled with cigarette butts.

Hearing me come in, Vlasov raised his head, there was not a trace of blood on his pale face, perhaps because of excessive worry, he had a lot of white hair on his head, and the whole person looked at least ten years older than before.

I hurriedly stood up and saluted him and said loudly: "Report to Comrade Commander, Major Oshanina, the commander of the 327th Division, has come to report to you and listen to your orders. ”

He raised his right hand, pressed it down, and then said weakly, "Sit down first." ”

I sat down across from him, and although I had a lot to ask Vlasov, I didn't know how to speak, so I could only remain silent.

After a long time, Vlasov asked, "Leda, do you know the situation we are in front of us now?" ”

I nodded, didn't speak, and remained silent.

Vlasov said to himself: "We are now under siege by the Germans, the troops do not have enough ammunition, and there is no food. In this case, whether it is to break through or hold on, the final outcome is the same - the total annihilation. ”

"May I ask you what you have planned? Comrade Commander. I could hear the hidden meaning of his words, he was complaining that our troops were running out of ammunition and food, and there was no way out if they resisted, so I gritted my back molars and asked this sentence.

"Yesterday the German 38th Army sent a liaison officer, who offered that as long as we stopped resisting and laid down our arms and surrendered, the personal safety of all commanders and fighters would be ensured, and our prisoners of war would be treated as they deserved."

Hearing this, I was furious, slammed the table, stood up, and said loudly: "Comrade commander, I didn't expect you to actually want to lead your troops to surrender to the Germans, what you have done is really shameful!" ”

Perhaps it was me who slapped the table too loudly and alarmed the people in the room outside, and immediately several staff officers rushed in and asked loudly: "Comrade commander, what's going on, what's going on?" ”

Vlasov waved his hand at them and said, "It's none of your business here, let's all go out of here." ”

After everyone left, I stood there and stared at Vlasov, and Vlasov stared not to be outdone. The two of us confronted each other like this, and neither of us spoke again.

After a while, Vlasov sighed and said: "I have already agreed with the liaison officer of the German army yesterday that their troops will come at eight o'clock, and then I will order the troops to lay down their arms and formally surrender to them." ”

I took a deep breath and said slowly, "As long as I have a breath left, I will never surrender to the Germans." With that, I turned around and walked out of his room.

As soon as I went out, the staff officers who were busy stopped what they were doing and turned their eyes to me. I saw a couple of rifles on a gun rack in the corner, and when I walked over to grab one, I held it in my hand. Finding Ensign Gucip in the crowd, I walked up to him and asked: "Comrade Ensign, the commander intends to lead the troops to surrender, what are your plans?" ”

When Gucip heard me say this, he couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then he said in a slumber: "According to the regulations, the commander's orders are not allowed to be discussed. Since the commander decided to surrender to the Germans, I resolutely carried out even the wrong orders. ”

"You're ......!" I didn't expect him to answer like that, so I snorted heavily and walked out of headquarters with my rifle in hand.

When I got out, I looked in the direction and headed south. The heart said that even if I can't find someone to fight with me, I will resist to the end alone.

Unconsciously walked to the place where I met the little boy just now, I couldn't help but look into the yard on the left side of the road, but I didn't see the boy's shadow, and I couldn't help but feel a little lost. At this moment, a timid voice sounded on my right: "Hey! ”

I turned my head to see the boy standing with his back to a house, looking up at me with no look of panic on his face.

I walked up to him, crouched down, and looked at the emaciated boy. He took out a rusk from his pocket and handed it over. Instead of taking the rusks, he asked tentatively, "Are you Leda?" ”

"yes, I'm Leda." I found it very strange that only Vlasov and Gucip knew my nickname in the village, and this kid didn't know how to do it.

"Is your name Mushdakova Oshanina?"

"Yes, kid. How do you know my full name? "At this moment, I am really curious, this child not only knows my nickname, but also my real name and patronymic.

The boy's eyes suddenly overflowed with transparent liquid, and he began to sob, his dirty little hands wiping around his face, leaving pale gray marks. He cried and said, "Don't you know me, I'm Alik!" O your son Alex! Don't you know me? Mom!!! ”

Mom! When I heard this word, I was dumbfounded as if I had been struck by lightning, and oh my God, this wandering little boy was actually Lida's son Alex, what a surprise. When Alik called me mom again, the softest part of my heart was deeply stabbed.

I threw my rifle aside, picked up the sad Alik, wiped the tears from his face, and got up and walked out into the street. Whoever likes to fight this battle will fight, and I won't fight anyway. All I want to do now is get out of here safely with Alik, but will I be able to do so?

At this moment, shouts rang out all around: "The Germans are coming, everyone hurry up and get into position!" ”