Our plane, which had been in the air for two and a half to three hours, arrived in Moscow in the evening and landed safely at a military airfield.

The plane came to a steady stop, and the roar of the engines ceased, and there was silence in the cabin. I saw the driver open the cockpit door and come out, come to Zhukov, who was sitting in the front window, and say: "Here we are, Comrade General!" Then he slammed the door open, kicked it open with his foot, lowered the short iron ladder with a clatter, then straightened up, took a step to the side, and asked Zhukov to get off the plane.

Although no one shouted the command, as Zhukov got up, all the people in the cabin stood up in unison, their hands down, their eyes fixed on him. Zhukov walked to the open door and stood for a moment, then walked down the gangway unhurriedly. His lieutenant, carrying a leather bag in one hand and a gray coat with a green general on the field collar badge in the other, also walked along.

After Zhukov left, everyone immediately got busy, packed their belongings, and walked out of the cabin. I didn't have any luggage with me, so I didn't have anything to pack, so I followed everyone out.

As soon as I reached the cabin door, I shivered in the damp and cold autumn breeze blowing in my face. When I got down the ramp, I couldn't help but shake my head and smile bitterly, having been in Moscow for five or six years, and I knew that the temperature in this city was very low in the morning and evening in October, and now I was wearing a summer combat uniform, and I was still wearing the kind of skirt that was only longer than the knee, so it was strange that I didn't feel cold. Looking at the others, everyone was wearing thick military coats, and it seemed that they had come prepared.

Zhukov was standing in front of a long black sedan about twenty meters away, shaking hands with a man in military uniform. He was wearing a leather jacket, and his overcoat was being held by the adjutant standing behind him, and I thought to myself if he could lend me his coat to wear. Of course, this can only be thought about, you must know that others are big people, how can the future deputy commander pay attention to a small person like me.

Just as I shivered with cold, a coat was draped over my body, and my covered shoulders immediately felt warm. When I looked back, it turned out to be Colonel Korolev, who was also wearing a thin summer military uniform, probably because I was cold enough, so he put his military coat on me. I wrapped my coat tightly and said to him gratefully, "Thank you, Uncle Pavel. ”

In the history of the Leningrad Front, as far as I know, during the war, the commanders of the Leningrad Front were constantly changing, but the commanders of the military districts were rarely changed at all levels. If I want to find a stable backer in this era, Korolev is undoubtedly the best candidate. Besides, my daughter and I are still good friends.

I looked around at the empty airfield, and there were only two fighter planes parked in the distance, probably the plane escorting us to Moscow. The two pilots who disembarked from the plane were standing next to the "T" landing sign, talking to an officer on duty with a white flag and a red flag in his hand, but there was no one at the airport.

After Zhukov got into a stretch car and left, a passenger car drove up to us. After the car door opened, a captain got out of the car, and instead of saluting, he said directly to everyone: "Get in the car, comrades commanders." "Although everyone present except me had a higher rank than him, no one said a word about his almost unreasonable attitude. Since people with high ranks don't speak, I, the little lieutenant, should obediently shut up.

The bus was covered with thick curtains, and as soon as the lights on the bus were turned off, it was pitch black. I found a seat in the back, sat down and began to close my eyes and recuperate, I couldn't see the street outside anyway, so I might as well go to bed early. But before I fell asleep, I was still thinking that before I left the highlands today, I had only dried half of the underwear I washed, and I didn't know if anyone would help me continue to dry it, and if anyone would help me collect it after drying. If someone helps, who will this person be, is it the deputy platoon leader Karenina, the first squad leader Jeanne or the cute Lena.

When the car was woken up by Colonel Korolev, it was already parked in front of the hotel. This hotel should be under the direct jurisdiction of the military, except for the sentries standing guard at the door, even the waiters inside are wearing military uniforms.

In the hall, the female ensign who received the one arranged the rooms according to our rank and position. The general has a single room for one person, the colonel has a room for two people, and the lieutenant colonel and major have a room for four people. When it was my turn, she obviously felt a little embarrassed, after all, I was the only one who was a woman, and I was not good enough for a single room; Assigned to other rooms, they are all men. She thought about it for a long time, but decided to arrange me in the female dormitory of the hotel.

There were four beds in the dormitory, and when she led me in, there was a female soldier in the room. She was sitting on the bed reading a book in a white shirt on her upper body, and when she saw us enter the door, she immediately stood up and looked me up and down, presumably hesitating whether to salute me. The second lieutenant beckoned to him and said, "Aksala, I have brought a commander here, she is going to stay here for a few days, and you will be responsible for receiving her properly." ”

The female soldier named Aksala answered in a panic, and came over to help me with my luggage, but when she found that I was empty-handed, she flattered me a little, and beckoned to me: "Comrade commander, please take off your coat, there is heating in this room." Then she took my coat off and hung it on the coat hook on the wall.

The second lieutenant said to me again: "My name is Liuda, if you have anything, you can come to me directly." Then he saluted me, turned away, and closed the door with his hand.

When I saw Aksara standing in front of me at a loss, I smiled and asked her, "Which bed do I sleep in?" She looked left and right, then pointed to the bed near the radiator and said, "You can sleep there, sleep warm at night." ”

I sat on the bed, not sleepy at all, but I felt so hungry that I had been hungry until now, except for a little food in the morning. I hesitated, but finally asked Akshara, "Honey, can you find something to eat at this time?" ”

"No problem." She replied very cheerfully: "We are a military establishment here, and there is food in the restaurant 24 hours a day, but it is the time of the war, so the variety is relatively small." What would you like to eat? I'll bring it to you in the restaurant. ”

"Let's have a box of instant noodles." I replied without thinking.

"What?! What is it? Surprised, Akshara asked, "Say it again, please." ”

"Instant noodles." I think I'm making it clear, but I'm repeating it anyway.

"Huh?!" She looked at me blankly.

Could it be that my development was not accurate, so I read it again: "Beste Labusa." "This time I read it very slowly, trying to pronounce every note to a standard degree.

But what I saw on Aksharah's face was still a blank expression. I'm a little speechless, isn't she Russian and doesn't know Russian? I've said it so clearly, she still doesn't understand?! But I patiently pronounced the word instant noodles to her letter by letter.

"Instant noodles," she repeated with great difficulty, still with a strange and dazed expression on her face, "I don't know what this thing is, and we definitely don't have it in the restaurant here." ”

I suddenly came back to my senses, what am I talking about, you must know that Ludao instant noodles only came out in 58 years, why do I always make such common-sense mistakes. So he quickly explained to her: "I forgot, this is just a snack in our hometown, and Moscow should not have it." You might as well get me some bread and soup. ”

"It's good." She agreed, put on her military shirt, opened the door and ran out.