The soldier who shot first just now, named Floning, was the captain of the patrol with the rank of sergeant.

After carefully putting away the rusks, he politely asked, "Comrade commander, what should I call you?" ”

"Oshanina," I said my name, thought for a moment and added: "Major Oshanina, my troops are on the ice transport line." ”

Sergeant Floning nodded and said, "I know." Perhaps the cannibalistic soft-mouthed and short-handed, he continued in a friendly tone, "Comrade Major, according to the regulations, I should have checked your documents and business travel permits, but now I don't have to. May I ask you what you do when you come to town? ”

"Came to visit my mother and son." I knew that it was Sergeant Floning's duty to ask me this, and I answered it truthfully.

"See?" The sergeant asked with concern.

I shook my head and said, "No." When I found where they lived, I realized that they had been evacuated. ”

The sergeant was silent, and after a while, he said in a tone of regret: "It's all this damn war, otherwise we wouldn't have been separated from our loved ones." Then the subject changed and I asked, "Comrade Major, where are you going next?" ”

"I'm going to take a ride or a tram back to the headquarters."

"Except for the occasional tram, you can't catch a ride on this stretch of the road. I think we'll escort you to the station and wait for the train. Without waiting for me to say anything, he turned to the other two fighters and said, "Let's go." ”

So the three of them accompanied me to the bus stop not far from the scene of the robbery. Because there were no people waiting for the train on the platform, they were afraid that I would be lonely, so they did not leave immediately, but took the initiative to stay and chat with me.

It wasn't until a tram came to a stop in front of the station and I was about to get on the train that the three of them saluted me and said goodbye. Sergeant Fronin also kindly reminded me: "Comrade commander, in a little while, the fascist bandits will be shelling the city, you must pay more attention to safety." ”

The driver of the tram was a young man wearing a peaked cap, and when he saw me getting on the train, he took the initiative to say: "Comrade commander, you don't need to buy a ticket." ”

I thanked him and habitually squeezed through the back door of the car.

Near the back door, there was a fat old lady, who weighed at least nearly 400 pounds according to my eye, and if she wanted to get out of the car, it was estimated that she could only lean on her side, otherwise she would not be able to get out of the car at all.

The tram stopped and stopped, and before I knew it, it had passed seven stops, and a lot of passengers got on it one after another. When I was thinking about stopping at the next stop, I was not far from my destination. Because there are too many passengers on the bus, many people get off the bus with a lot of effort to squeeze out of the middle. Seeing this, I was secretly glad that I had the foresight to stand at the back door in advance, otherwise I would have had to squeeze in the crowd for half a day to get off when the tram arrived.

In the distance, I could see the station where I was about to get off the train, and suddenly there was a series of screams in the air. Then a shell flew and exploded very close to the tram, shaking the car for a moment. Then another shell landed on the left, about a few dozen minutes from the tram, and exploded with a thud, kicking up a column of black and white smoke mixed with mud and snow.

Shelling! I immediately thought of Sergeant Floning's reminder. I didn't expect my luck to be so bad that I was actually shelled at the place where I was about to get off.

The driver stopped the car, opened the front and rear doors, and jumped out of the car first, running in front and rear, shouting to command the passengers to get out of the car and evacuate and hide.

At this time, the loudspeaker on the side of the road sounded: "Attention, attention! Residents, this area is being shelled, please take shelter in a nearby bomb shelter immediately and do not walk in the streets. ……”

I could have jumped out of the car quickly, only to be stopped by the fat old lady. She didn't know if she was hungry or weak, or because she had a leg problem, and her whole body moved in millimeters. Shells exploded in the streets, and those who got out of the front doors quickly disappeared into the middle of the snow-covered buildings. And all of us who got out of the car through the back door were blocked by this old lady.

I had the heart to go back and get out of the car from the front, but I was jammed by the people rushing up from behind. And those people didn't know whether they were frightened or confused, and they just stared at the car door in front of them, completely ignoring the fact that the front door was almost empty.

The driver evacuated the passengers in the front half of the car, and when he saw that no one of us got out of the car in the second half, he hurriedly ran over, stood a few steps away from the door, and shouted: "Hurry up, comrades!" Hurry up,......"

Before he could finish shouting, a cannonball exploded about twenty meters behind him, only to hear him scream, cover his back with both hands and fall softly to the side. A shell also exploded on the left side of the car, and the flying shrapnel shattered the few pieces of glass in the window and hit the nearest passenger by the window.

Watching the driver fall, and screaming from behind. I knew that if I didn't take decisive measures, I guessed that everyone in the car would be doomed, so I gritted my teeth and slammed my shoulder into the fat old lady who was in the way. Under my impact, the old lady's upper body leaned out of the car, her hands desperately trying to keep her body balanced. Before she could find her balance, I slammed my knee on her hip again. At this moment, she couldn't support it anymore, and the whole person flew out of the car door, and then fell heavily on the snow, splashing countless snow powder.

Almost as soon as the old lady landed, I jumped out of the car and quickly flashed to the side to check on the driver who had fallen to the ground. The passengers on the car, suddenly brightened up before meeting, and they also jumped out of the car one after another and fled in all directions.

The driver had several pieces of shrapnel stuck in his back, one of which was embedded in the position of the vest, and although he still had a breath, he could not be saved by seeing it. His mouth and nose were bleeding, his whole body was convulsing, and his legs kept kicking in the snow.

I glanced at the car, saw that there were no more passengers in the car, and did not bother to check the life and death of the old lady I had knocked down, so I ran with my gun and followed the passengers into the complex, to find a safe place to escape the shelling.

There was a bomb shelter in the complex, and as soon as I ran in, a middle-aged woman wearing a red sleeve closed the iron door. As soon as the door closed, the deafening sound of artillery outside suddenly became much quieter.

"Comrade commander, go and stay inside, it's too dangerous here." There was a lantern hanging at the door, and in the dim light, the woman on duty saw clearly the pistol hanging from my briefcase and belt, recognized my identity, and offered to make overtures to me.

I declined her offer because I was embarrassed to stay with the passengers who had escaped with me. Although my decisive action saved many lives, the fat old lady was more than lucky.

"Comrade Commander, where are you from?" The middle-aged woman asked.

"Ice transport line."

"Do you know my husband? He was in the convoy of the ice transport line. ”

"What's his name?"

"His name is ......" The woman was saying her husband's name when a cannonball landed not far outside and exploded, muffling out her voice with a loud explosion.

I didn't hear her husband's name clearly, and I didn't want to ask again, so I could only vaguely reply, "I'm sorry, I haven't heard of this name," seeing her disappointed look, I hurriedly comforted her and said: "There are too many troops on the ice transportation line, maybe his troops are not near our station, so it is not surprising that I have not heard of his name." ”

The shelling lasted more than ten minutes before it stopped. Hearing that the artillery outside had stopped, I immediately wanted to get out, but was stopped by the woman on duty: "Comrade commander, please wait a moment, you can only leave after confirming that it is safe outside." ”

"How can I be sure it's safe outside?"

Before she could answer me, the horn installed in the bomb shelter suddenly sounded: "Residents, the shelling is over, everyone can leave the bomb shelter." At the same time, attention is drawn to the fact that if you find shells on the street that have not exploded, you should report them to the relevant authorities in a timely manner......"

The woman pulled the iron door open, breathed a sigh of relief, and said to me, "Comrade commander, now that it is safe outside, you can leave with peace of mind." ”

I left the bomb shelter and went to the place where the tram stopped to have a look. The tram had been overturned to the ground, the body was burning, and where the driver and the fat old lady were lying just now, there was only a deep pit, and there was nothing human in it. I couldn't help but be a little afraid, if I hadn't made a quick decision to push the old lady in the way, I and so many passengers in the car would probably have been blown to pieces by the German shells.