Time flies, and before you know it, it's mid-February.

On this day, I summoned Captain Ali and Lieutenant Baku from the garrison by telephone and arranged for them to conduct training in antiaircraft artillery and tanks in their two companies.

Although I was the commander of the anti-aircraft artillery battalion, I was a bare-bones commander, and not only did I have no guards, signal troops, or orderlies, but I also had no separate place to live. From the day I arrived at the ice transport line, I was crammed with Kirianova and Orlova in a tent that served as the headquarters of the women's anti-aircraft artillery company. Because of this, the location where I convened a meeting of several company commanders this time naturally chose this tent.

The tent is too small, and it is okay for three people, but any more will be extremely cramped. There was only one company commander in the first and second companies, but the female soldier company was the company commander's instructor and the deputy company commander. Because the women's company had been conducting anti-tank training for a long time, there was no need to keep so many people, so I arranged for Orlova and Ugad to patrol the air defense positions, leaving me and the three company commanders to continue the meeting.

I told the two male company commanders about the steps of how to train soldiers to fight tanks with anti-aircraft guns, and Kirianova added some problems and precautions found during the training.

While Captain Ali was asking Kirianova about her technique, Lieutenant Ugad's voice came from outside the tent: "Comrade Major, may I go in?" ”

I looked outside and said, "Come in." ”

Ugad opened the curtain and wanted to come in, but when he saw that there were too many people, he hesitated for a moment, then stood at the door and did not come in, looking at me with his eyes and saying, "Comrade Major, can you come out for a while?" ”

"What's the matter?" I asked, surprised.

"I saw a few cars parked on the side of the road, and a few trucks with canopies, like big people were coming. I see them coming this way for us, so I'm here to let you know. ”

Big shot? It is not a matter of a day or two for Ugad to be an officer, and those who can be called big names by him are at least at the level of generals and above. But I'm just an ordinary battalion-level unit here, so it doesn't seem like it's worth alarming some generals in important positions to come here, right? So I tentatively asked, "Are you sure you're coming to us and not to Lieutenant Colonel Harpy?" ”

"Comrade Major, I'm absolutely sure." At this point, he retracted his head, looked into the distance, and then poked his head in and continued: "The one who has come closer and closer, and the leader seems to be General Shilov of the Ice Command. ”

"General Shilov is here?!" When the boss came, I couldn't stay still in the tent, so I hurriedly beckoned to a few other people, "Let's go, three company commanders, let's go out to meet the general together." ”

When I got out of the tent, I saw a group of people on the other side. At the forefront was a round-faced commander of medium stature and ordinary appearance, with the collar of his coat pulled high and blocking the rank tightly, but from my experience, I knew at a glance that Lu Dao was a general.

Behind him to his left was a middle-aged man in a short fur coat, a gray erme mink hat, and thick eyebrows, while General Shilov, whom I was familiar with, followed him to his right.

I hurriedly led people to greet them, and stood up and saluted in front of several people.

I raised my hand to my forehead and looked at General Shilov, not knowing who to report.

Shilov saw my embarrassment, stepped up, pointed to the general in front of me, and said: "Comrade Major, you should report to Comrade Commander of the Front." ”

It turned out that this round-faced general was Lieutenant General Huo Jin, so I quickly straightened up and said loudly: "Report to Comrade Commander of the Front Army, Major Oshanina, commander of the Second Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion of the Ice Transport Line, to report to you and wait for your orders." ”

"Please take a break!" Khozin returned the salute, pointed to the middle-aged man next to him and said to me: "This is Vasnetsov, a member of the Military Council of the Leningrad Front and a divisional political commissar." ”

I hurriedly rushed through civilian clothes and saluted: "Hello, Comrade Member of the Military Commission, welcome to the anti-aircraft artillery battalion. ”

Vasnetsov, although he had a military rank, did not wear a military uniform, and instead of returning the salute to me, he stretched out his hand and said in a friendly voice: "Hello! Comrade Oshanina. I've heard your name for a long time, and today I finally met you. ”

After greeting a few bigwigs, I introduced them to three company commanders and one deputy company commander behind me. Before I could ask about the arrival of the commander and members of the Military Commission in my battalion, Shilov was already the first to speak: "Comrade Major, go and assemble the company of female soldiers." Perhaps seeing my dazed look, he added: "The commander will personally award the medal to everyone." ”

Honours! When I heard the news, I remembered that after the last time the women's antiaircraft artillery company suffered heavy losses, I had submitted a report to the ice command to apply for the award of medals, and it had been more than ten days.

I turned around and instructed Kirianova and Ugad behind me: "Did you hear that? The commander will personally bestow the medals on everyone, and you will immediately assemble the troops. Go now, go now. "My voice trembled a little because of my excitement.

After the troops were assembled, as is customary, Kirianova Xiang ran in front of me, saluted and reported loudly: "Report to Comrade Major, the women's anti-aircraft artillery company has been assembled and is waiting for your orders." ”

"Take a break!"

"Yes!" Kirianova agreed, turned around and ran to the front of the group, shouting: "Take a break!" The team followed her command and cleanly completed the movement of a short rest.

Seeing her running to the front of the queue and standing up, I turned around and ran in front of Hozin and reported: "Report to Comrade Commander of the Front Army, the women's anti-aircraft artillery company has been assembled and is waiting for your order." ”

Huo Jin looked at the neat team and muttered in a low voice: "Women's anti-aircraft artillery company, why are there so many male soldiers?" ”

"Comrade Commander, this is the case." General Shilov put his mouth into Khozin's ear and whispered to explain why there were so many male soldiers in the women's company.

After listening to General Shilov's words, with tears in his eyes, Hozin strode to the front of the team and said with emotion: "Girls, comrades, good looks, you are all good!" It is thanks to you that the enemy's planes do not dare to fly unscrupulously over the ice transport lines, and our convoys are able to bring more food and daily necessities into Leningrad. On behalf of the Front Command, thank you! After speaking, he gave a solemn military salute to all the soldiers.

"Ulla!" Kirianova took the lead in shouting, and the warriors, with their chins raised upwards and their eyes slightly closed, followed her neatly and rhythmically shouting: "Ula! Ulla! ~~" At first, it was just the soldiers of the female soldier company shouting, and as Huo Jin responded, I and several company commanders, as well as the commanders and fighters brought by Huo Jin, all shouted.

"Adjutant, bring the papers." When the cheers subsided, Huo Jin turned to greet his men.

An officer holding a briefcase squeezed out of the crowd behind, walked up to Huo Jin, saluted, opened the lid of the briefcase, took out a stack of documents from it, and handed the top one to Huo Jin.

Huo Jin took the document and solemnly read: "In order to commend the heroic and tenacious antiaircraft artillery company of the second antiaircraft artillery battalion in the air defense battle to defend the ice transportation line, as well as the great results achieved, the front army command has studied and decided to award the glorious title of heroic antiaircraft artillery company. ”

After reading the commendation order for the women's anti-aircraft artillery company, he handed the page to General Shilov, who was standing next to him, and took the second page from the adjutant's hand. He picked up the papers, glanced at them, turned his head to me, and called me, "Major Oshanina." ”

"Here!" As soon as I heard him call me, I knew that I was going to get a medal or something like that, and although I was ecstatic in my heart, I still had to pretend to be casual on the surface, and took a step forward, walked in front of him, and stood upright.

"In view of the bravery and heroism shown in the air defense battles in the defense of the ice transport line, the command of the front army has decided to award the Order of the Red Banner to Lida Mushdakova Oshanina."

This is the third Order of the Red Banner, and I thought to myself, I wonder when I will be able to get the legendary Gold Star Medal, which is made of gold, which is worth a lot of money, and the winner will also receive the glorious title of "Hero of the Soviet Union".

"Comrade Major, don't speak for anything." Huo Jin said in a stern tone, "Don't you know that after receiving the medal, you should say something?" ”

I realized that I was distracted, and the general's retinue had already put the new Order of the Red Banner on my military coat, and I hurriedly said loudly: "Serve the Soviet Motherland!" ”

Seeing that Huo Jin nodded in satisfaction, he then reached out and shook hands with me and hugged me. After standing aside again, I couldn't help but secretly regret that I knew that if I wanted to win the medal today, I should have hung the other three medals on the uniforms inside on the military coat, so that the four medals were lined up, and it looked like a lot of style.

The second to receive the medal was Kirianova, although it was not the Order of the Red Banner, but this second medal was enough to make her tearful when Khorzin shook hands and hugged her.

The next to receive medals were officers such as Orlova, Ugard, Yelena, and even ordinary fighters like Naya received a medal.

After the Khozin award, Vosnetsov, who was with him, walked up and delivered a speech, warning everyone not to be proud, to continue to do their job, to protect our ice transport lines, and to continue to fight the fascist bandits.

Hozin called me into the tent alone and said straight to the point: "Comrade Major, I received a call from Senior General Zhukov the other day, and he cares about you very much. ”

"How is Comrade General? Having been away from Moscow for so long, I still miss him and those leaders of the Western Front a little. ”

"He's good and now he's preparing to deploy a new campaign." After Huo Jin said this, he continued with some embarrassment, "Originally, at the same time as this award, I wanted to promote your military rank again and transfer you to a more important department. After all, you have been a general and commanded tens of thousands of battles, and you have a wealth of combat experience. In the current breakout of Leningrad, there is a lack of commanders like you. But ......"

"But what? Comrade General. As soon as I heard this turning point, I knew that I had no hope of being promoted in the past few months, but I still couldn't help but ask.

"But your rank was personally lowered by Comrade Stalin, and no one has the right to raise your post or rank without his consent. I can't, General Shilov can't, not even General Zhukov. Please be able to understand this. ”

In fact, I don't mind whether my rank can be improved at all. It is now the time of the war, and the promotion of military ranks, with a great deal of arbitrariness, even depends on the personal will of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief. Don't look at him demoted me from major general to major some time ago, maybe one day he will be in a good mood and will be reinstated by my officer.

With a smile on my face, I replied: "Please rest assured, Comrade Commander, that I can understand your difficulties and will not be burdened ideologically." ”

He stared into my eyes for a long time to make sure I wasn't insincere, and then asked, "What are your plans for the future, you might as well tell me about it." ”

I thought for a moment and replied, "In a month, the ice on the lake will start to melt." I estimate that this anti-aircraft artillery battalion will soon be disbanded and merged into other units. I hope that Comrade Commander will be able to arrange a suitable position for me when the time comes. ”

"No problem." Khozin said very cheerfully: "Fedyuninsky's army group lacks enough middle-level commanders, I want to send you there, I wonder what your opinion is?" ”

I had dealt with Fedyuninsky before, and I knew that as long as there was someone who had the ability, he would definitely be reused under him, so I also replied very dryly: "Great, Comrade Commander, I obey your assignment." ”