By night, we had done everything, except for a few sentries on duty, and the rest of us were back in the huts.

I sat around a large wooden table with two dozen female soldiers, the food and utensils were arranged, and the hot soup was served on the plate. I've only eaten a few slices of brown bread since morning, and I'm feeling so hungry that my hands and feet are weak.

Karenina poured a dark red liquid into the enamel teapot in front of everyone. When it was my turn, I quickly covered the rim of the cup with my hand, waved my hand again and again, and said, "No, no, I don't drink." ”

"Comrade Lieutenant, this is not wine, it's just juice." When I heard that it was juice, I stopped refusing, removed my hand from the mouth, and let her pour me a full glass.

"Everybody, raise your glass." Karenina began the salute: "Let's have a toast to the fact that we have repelled the Germans today, and for Lida to become a lieutenant." ”

"Cheers!" I picked up the teapot, shouted and touched the cups with everyone one by one, and then took a big sip. The juice tasted sour and slightly sweet, but I also felt a spicy taste. I secretly complained in my heart that I had been in Russia for so many years and had forgotten that they all drank alcoholic fruit wine as juice. It didn't take much time, but I felt my cheeks heat up and my whole body went limp, and I felt lethargic.

"Let's dance." Suddenly, a female soldier spoke. Everyone immediately came alive, and the house suddenly became a magpie's nest. I saw Jeanne quietly poke Karenina and motioned for her to ask me for advice.

"Everyone, who is talking about the ball?" Karenina stood up and said to the female soldiers with a serious expression: "This suggestion will not be taken without the permission of the commander. ”

Listening to her words, the girls who were still chirping just now all closed their mouths, looked at each other, and then collectively turned their eyes to me. I know that in this era of lack of entertainment, there are no televisions, computers and other things to spend boring time, and we should adopt a supportive attitude towards this kind of spontaneous entertainment of female soldiers. So, I staggered to my feet on the table and said to all the people present, "Girls, don't hang up, the dance is now on, and you all dance!" ”

The female soldiers cheered, and folded the large wooden table and moved it to the corner, and a wide area suddenly appeared in the middle of the room. Feeling weak, I sat in a chair in the corner and watched them go back and forth.

Lena - the female soldier who helped me carry the soap last night, I don't know where I conjured an accordion and played it, with the melodious sound of the piano, the room suddenly sounded a beautiful singing, I am familiar with "Cranberry Blossoms", the song of feelings is a popular song of this era.

At the end of the song, Karenina suddenly proposed to everyone: "Now please ask our lieutenant comrade to sing me a song, everyone will say okay?" ”

"Good~~~!" The female soldiers cheered in unison.

I was shocked into a cold sweat. If it were a Russian song, I would have sung "Cranberry Blossoms", "Evening on the outskirts of Moscow", "Katyusha" and so on, but unfortunately I could only sing Chinese and not Russian. The only song in Russian that I know is the once popular "If you marry someone, you will marry a man like Putin", and on this occasion, I don't dare to sing it if I have the guts. I could only wave my hands and say vaguely, "I'm sorry, girls, I'm too drunk to sing, let's talk about it another day." ”

The women didn't embarrass me, Karenina grabbed Narissa and jumped up. The female soldiers, who had long been itching, entered the rudimentary dance floor and danced to the music, and the room immediately turned into a sea of joy.

Instead of dancing, Jeanne sat next to me and stayed with me. She suddenly asked me: "Comrade Lieutenant, when I was shooting a German reconnaissance plane in the morning, I seemed to hear you shouting something, but I didn't understand it. ”

"Oh," I remembered when I heard her words, and I couldn't help but shout in Chinese. I hesitated, but made up an explanation to her: "I shouted a sentence in Chinese. ”

"Chinese?!" Curious, she asked, "What do you mean by that?" Where did you learn Chinese? ”

"In Russian, it's 'clothes are Umir,'" I explained to her because in later life there was a buddy who lived in a room with me, and he loved to talk in his dreams at night, and he usually used Chinese and Russian alternately when he spoke in his dreams. I'm afraid that when I talk in my sleep, I will also have this kind of mixed use of Chinese and Russian, and it is better to find a reason to cover up the truth as soon as possible than to arouse the suspicion of others at that time. "In the school where I used to study, there was an old school worker who cleaned up, and he was a Chinese who participated in the October Revolution. I knew him very well and learned a few words of Chinese from him. ”

"Oh." Jeanne made a look of sudden realization.

My head became more and more dizzy, the figures in front of me began to blur, and the voice of Jeanne next to me seemed to come from a distant place, and I finally fell asleep before I knew it.

By the time I woke up, it was already dawn. As soon as I walked out of the cabin, the sentry on duty last night came running up to me and reported: "Comrade lieutenant, come and see, there is a troop movement under the cliff. ”

"Is it the Germans?" I couldn't help but be taken aback, thinking that it was the Germans who had quietly gone around the back in the night.

"It's not." The sentry had a look of joy on his face: "It's our troops. ”

The road below the cliff was filled with large groups of soldiers, lined up or one-way on the road and along the road, as well as military trucks, artillery trucks, and even tanks. I watched with my telescope very calmly at what was happening below, and the troops were scattering along the forks in the road, on both sides of the road. In any case, it was a joy to see this huge contingent, artillery and tanks.

"It's exciting!" Suddenly, Karenina's voice sounded beside me, and I turned my head to see that she was standing beside me at some point, looking excitedly at the passing procession.

As I had recently practiced, I raised my eyes and looked at the sky, wondering: Would such a massive movement of troops in broad daylight be attacked by the Luftwaffe? But today's sky is overcast, thick clouds are pressed low in the sky, and the raindrops have fallen. I suspect that it was probably for this reason that Zhukov dared to take the risk of continuing to move his team in broad daylight.

What kind of team is this? As I watched, I guessed if they were transferred from other parts of the front, or from the reserves of the High Command? But one thing is beyond doubt, on the Pulkovo Line, the Soviets have concentrated their forces. Based on what I already know, it is clear to me that the attack of the Ludao army on the high ground will end in failure, and they will be met with a devastating counterattack, which will be repulsed by the Soviets and crushed.

"Look, comrade lieutenant, that's a sailor soldier!" Karenina pointed down and said to me excitedly.

I looked in the direction of her finger, and sure enough, I saw several groups of soldiers in blue and white striped shirts and a kind of black uniform, marching majestically, presumably Marines drawn from warships.

I thought about it, and although today's weather is not suitable for the take-off of the plane, it should not be taken lightly. He put down his binoculars and said to Karenina beside him: "Raise the battle alarm, inform all the fighters to enter the gun position, and we must prepare for air defense in case the Luftwaffe launches a surprise attack on the troops behind." ”

Karenina said yes and was about to walk away, when a man's voice suddenly came out behind her: "Girls, where is your commander?" ”

I turned my head to see a second lieutenant in a brand new uniform and shiny boots approaching us. When he came to us, he looked at my and Karenina's ranks, and when he saw that we were both sergeants, he whistled lightly: "Hey, beauty, where is your commander?" ”

I glanced at him contemptuously, and then asked nonchalantly: "I am Lieutenant Oshanina, the commander of the anti-aircraft machine gun company, who are you?" ”

Hearing that I had reported to myself, he quickly straightened up and saluted me, and replied in a somewhat panicked manner: "I'm sorry, Comrade Lieutenant, you are still wearing a sergeant's uniform, so I didn't expect you to be the commander." After a slight pause, he stabilized his emotions and continued: "I am Second Lieutenant Savchenko from the Air Defense Command, and I have been ordered to serve as your deputy. Two platoons of anti-aircraft artillery were also in position and ready to enter the position. ”