Although the tankmen are very good at driving, they still feel like dancing at high speeds on a highway full of craters. I held Alik tight, but I also held the handle on the turret so that I wouldn't be pushed down as the tank dodged one black crater after another.

Less than two kilometers ahead, the corpses on the ground, the wreckage of tanks, armoured vehicles, motorcycles and trucks still burning, silently tell people how fierce the fighting took place here not long ago. It seems that Captain Boroda's troops may have met and fought with the Germans here. Due to Boroda's eagerness to find the whereabouts of General Vlasov, the battlefield was not even cleaned, and the bodies of our soldiers and German soldiers lay there as they were, guns and ammunition scattered everywhere.

Looking at the dead bodies in various postures on the side of the road, as well as the dense craters, I was afraid that I would frighten Alik, and I couldn't help but look sideways at him. This little guy was already asleep when he didn't know what to do, and now he was sleeping sweetly with his head on my shoulder, and he didn't see the bloody scenes that might have left him with a psychological shadow.

Boroda looked down at Alik, who was holding me in my arms, squatted down, lowered his voice and asked, "Comrade Major, whose child is this?" ”

I smiled at him and whispered, "His name is Alex, and he's my son." ”

"What?" Hearing my answer, Boroda raised her voice in surprise, "Your son? You have a son of this age? And I still don't understand why your son would be with you in the forest near Liuban? You must know that a child like him can't come to this area alone. ”

To be honest, I don't know exactly why Alik will appear in the village of Pyatnicsa. But since Captain Boroda asked, I couldn't help but answer, so I said vaguely: "After the outbreak of war, I joined the army and left home, and I lost contact with my mother and son. Later, after several inquiries, I learned that they were in Leningrad, and I went to look for them, but the neighbors told me that they had been evacuated. I had no hope of finding them, but I met my son in the village of Pyatnicsa. ”

"And what about your mother?"

"Dead," I replied calmly, "from malnutrition." "Although I don't know how Lida's mother died, it is most acceptable to use this reason to prevaricate.

After listening to my explanation, Boroda's face flushed, he coughed, and said, "I'm sorry, Major Oshanina, I shouldn't have brought up your sadness. With that, he stood up again, holding on to the handle.

Half an hour later we approached a small village. There is a makeshift checkpoint at the entrance to the village, a crossbar in the middle of the road, flanked by machine-gun fortifications made of sandbags. Seeing our tank heading towards the village, a fighter stood in front of the crossbar, waved a signal flag at us, signaling to stop.

The tank stopped, and Boroda jumped out of the tank and walked over to meet the fighter.

At this time, Alik also woke up, he rubbed his sleepy eyes, and asked lazily, "Mom, where are we here?" ”

I looked at the small village surrounded by forests, shook my head, and said, "I don't know what to do." ”

After a few words between Captain Boroda and the soldier on duty, the soldier turned and ran to lift the crossbar, and the captain gestured to us for the tanks and motorcycles to drive directly into the village.

The tank came to a halt in an open field, and I jumped out of the tank and picked Alik out of it. Originally, I wanted to continue to hold him, but he resolutely refused, saying that he was afraid that he would tire me. So I took him by the hand and stood where I was, waiting for Boroda to come.

Boroda trotted up to me and said, "Major Oshanina, here is the 59th Division of the 378th Army, and the division commander is Colonel Dorofeev. His headquarters was stationed in the village. ”

I looked at Alik and said a little embarrassed, "Captain, what about this kid?" ”

Boroda looked around, pointed to a wooden house in the distance and said, "Major, look, there's a medical station there. I recommend that you drop your baby there first and let the hygienists take care of it. ”

I saw that near the wooden house, the hygienists came and went from time to time, and it seemed that there were still quite a few people, and it was better to put the children there than to take them around. So I nodded, and led Alik and Boroda to the medical station.

As soon as we arrived outside the medical station, a young female nurse walked up to us with a smile on her face and asked Boroda, "Comrade commander, is there anything you need my help with?" ”

Seeing that the female hygienist only greeted him, Boroda smiled awkwardly at me, and then replied: "Comrade hygienist, do you think it is convenient for us to leave this child here for the time being because we have important things to do?" ”

"No problem, just leave the baby to me." After she finished speaking, she bent down and beckoned to Alik, "Come to me, little friend." ”

Alik looked up at me, waiting for my decision. I smiled and nodded, and said softly, "Go ahead, Alex!" Alik, who had my permission, let go of my hand and ran briskly towards the hygienist.

Watching the hygienist pick up Alik, I thanked her first, and then asked, "Comrade hygienist, I don't know what to call you?" ”

"Ulanova, you just call me Ulanova."

"Comrade Ulanova," Captain Boroda asked, stopping the female hygienist who was about to leave, "I would like to ask how your division headquarters is going." ”

Hearing Boroda ask the division headquarters, Ulanova shuddered inexplicably, then stretched out her hand and pointed in a certain direction, saying: "Go east, walk two hundred meters, and see the house where a few sentries stand guard at the door." With that, he ran away without looking back.

Seeing Ulanova's strange behavior, Boroda and I looked at each other, wondering how she could have heard that the division headquarters had become like this.

The two of us walked down in the direction pointed by Ulanova, and sure enough, we soon saw a few sentries standing guard in front of a large wooden house, and it seemed that this was the division headquarters we were looking for.

Boroda and I walked to the door of the headquarters one after the other. Facing the sentinels who met him, Boroda spoke first: "I am Captain Boroda, the adjutant of Commander Meretskov, I want to meet your division commander, is he there?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Captain. Comrade division commander is inside, please come with me. With that, the sentry was going to take Boroda inside. I hurriedly quickened my pace to follow, but I didn't expect to be stopped by another sentry, who said in an official tone: "I'm sorry, this female soldier, this is the division headquarters, not everyone can enter, you just stay outside and wait for Comrade Captain to come out." ”

"Hey, comrade warrior." When Captain Boroda, who was walking inside, heard this man's words, he immediately stopped and said in a stern tone: "That's Major Oshanina, hurry up and let her come." ”

The sentry was taken aback when he heard Boroda say that I was a major, and hurriedly stepped aside, nodded and invited me in.