Zhukov's black car was parked in the hotel's internal parking lot, and Cholokhov, Korolev, they put us in the car. Before getting into the car, Korolev hugged me, kissed me lightly on the forehead, and said in a fatherly tone of concern: "Lida, take care!" We'll see you later. ”

I suddenly felt my nose sour, and I felt that tears were about to burst out of my eyes, and I pressed my face to his chest and replied in a choked voice, "Uncle Pavel, thank you, I will miss you." Back in Leningrad, if you see Vera, please say hello to her on my behalf. ”

"Hurry up, Major Oshanina." Zhukov, who was already sitting in the car, urged me impatiently: "If you have anything to say, wait until you defeat the German devils." Now we have to go to the front immediately. ”

I pulled open the door, sat in the back of the car, sat down against a large canvas bag, and waved goodbye to Korolev outside through the windowpane.

The car started slowly, and after driving out of the parking lot, the speed gradually increased.

I looked back and saw that there were no cars other than our car. I was a little surprised and asked, "Comrade General, are we going to the front?" ”

"Yes." Zhukov replied unceremoniously: "Do you think we are going to a wedding?" ”

"But it's just you, me, and the driver here. You go to the front and don't even take a single guard with you? ”

Zhukov, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, did not even look back and said: "There is a submachine gun in that canvas bag next to you." As far as I know, you're familiar with firearms and have good marksmanship, and you're in charge of serving as my guard along the way. ”

I happily agreed, opened the canvas bag, pulled out the Popov submachine gun from it, pulled the bolt and checked the ammunition, and saw that there were enough bullets in the gun, and my heart was immediately relieved. As long as you have this Popov submachine gun in your hand, you will still be able to deal with a few German stragglers.

A checkpoint appeared ahead, and at the intersection where the barricades were placed stood several fighters with rifles on their backs. Seeing our car drive by, one of them stood in the middle of the road, raised his right hand above his head, and signaled us to stop. The car came to a steady stop in front of him, and the warrior came up and bent down to look inside. Zhukov sat up straight, turned his head and glared at him fiercely. The warrior quickly straightened up, took two steps back, and raised his hand to salute us. Seeing this, several other fighters hurriedly moved the obstacles on the road aside. As soon as the driver stepped on the accelerator, the car looked forward again.

Outside the checkpoint, large groups of laborers, mostly women, appeared on both sides of the road, digging trenches around the city. I saw that behind the trenches, in addition to the pillboxes, there were anti-aircraft machine gun emplacements every few hundred meters, in which fighters in charge of air defense were on duty.

"Comrade Oshanina," I was looking out the window with my submachine gun, when Zhukov suddenly spoke again: "I have a lot of questions, I want to ask you. ”

I was a little surprised to hear him say this, did Zhukov have anything else to ask me for? I quickly sat up straight and said with some nervousness: "Comrade General, please speak." ”

"What you said from the Kremlin podium, I have already seen the minutes of the meeting today. Admittedly, many of the arguments in what you have said are very incisive and original. At this point, he turned his head to look at me and continued: "But what surprised me is precisely here, you must know that the people who can analyze the current situation so clearly should at least be the chief of staff of the front army or someone with a higher position. And you, only half an hour ago, received the rank of major. There are a lot of things that even a commander at the rank of general doesn't have the authority to know the way, let alone a petty officer who stays on the front line every day. In the face of the ferocious attack of the German army, even the Supreme Commander himself did not have the confidence that he could hold them off under the city of Moscow. And you, from the podium, said in an understatement tone that our army can not only hold off the enemy, but also completely purify them. When it comes to analyzing the reasons for the failure of our army's senior commanders in the early stage, it is even more to the point. There is no doubt that the person who can come to such an incisive conclusion is definitely a military genius of the world. In this dire situation, I would very much like to get to know such a person, talk to him, and ask him how to deal with this dire situation. So I'm wondering who is instilling these thoughts into your mind. ”

I was speechless for such a direct question. Yes, everything I said from the Kremlin rostrum is what I see from the history books, and as for "adventurism in attack, conservatism in defense, and escapism in retreat", I directly quoted the chairman's summary at the Zunyi meeting. But how shall I answer him? Can I tell the truth to the general in front of me and say: "Comrade General, in fact, I am from the future, and everything I say on the podium of the Kremlin is the historical knowledge that I have learned in the books of later generations." ”

In that case, I guess I will be regarded as a traitor instead of being a madman. My mind was racing, trying to figure out how to make a lie.

"What's wrong?" Zhukov asked with some puzzlement: "Was that person arrested?" In that case, I can exercise my special right to free him up and arrange for him a suitable position in the command of the Front. "Zhukov dismissed my silence as another problem, and in the previous years of the Great Purge, a large number of experienced and capable commanders were ruthlessly purged, including the military genius of the Soviet army, Marshal Tukhachevsky himself. I guess he thought I had met a survivor of the purge, which is why he said that.

"No, Comrade General." I hastily denied it, and then prevaricated him with the reason I had just concocted: "I was seriously wounded in battle more than a month ago. As I lay dying, I felt that my soul had come to a mysterious castle and met a mysterious person inside. ”

"What kind of mystery man?" He asked, looking puzzled.

"I don't know what to say, he wears an iron mask on his face," I continued to make up the story, "but strangely, he was wearing the uniform of our army. ……”

"What kind of uniform? Let's get to the point. He interrupted me impatiently.

"Yes." Continuing the story has already begun, and it is much easier to make it up later. "It's a marshal's uniform. Although he was wearing a mask, he looked very young, just in his forties. He gave me a lot of the military views I expounded. Everything that was said from the Kremlin rostrum was nothing more than a repetition of his words. "Speaking of which, I feel the sweat on my forehead coming down, and it seems that lying still requires excellent psychological quality.

After listening to my words, Zhukov turned around and sat down again, without saying a word.

The sedan jolted onto a wooden bridge.

"Comrade General," the driver, who had been silent, suddenly spoke, "we are almost in Pultova." ”

Zhukov turned his head to look at the driver and said in a flat voice: "Really?!" He looked left and right for a moment, and then asked rhetorically: "Pultova?!" ”

The sedan continued to jolt forward on the wooden bridge, and I didn't know why the driver of the road would suddenly mention the name of the place, so I could only look out the window without saying a word.

"When I was a teenager, I traveled all over here." Zhukov suddenly spoke to himself, "The village where I live is only ten kilometers away from here. There, and now, there is the mother, the sister and her children. ”

"Comrade General," I couldn't help but interject, "why don't you stop by and have a look?" ”

"No," Zhukov shook his head and said very decisively, "time does not allow." ”

There was a brief silence in the car, and then the driver's words broke the calm. "Comrade General, if the enemy arrives here, what will happen to your mother and sister? If the enemy had known that this was a relative of General Zhukov, he would have been shot. Go, even if you say a word, let them go......"

"No!" Zhukov said very resolutely: "I said no, we don't have time. What we have to do is to hurry up and rush to the headquarters of the Western Front, where the situation is very critical at the moment. ”

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