The tram stopped. The conductor went to the door, pressed a button, opened all the doors, and said loudly to us: "The tram has arrived, comrades." Let's all get out of the car! ”

The sergeant and I got out of the car with us. Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings, I asked the sergeant next to me with some doubts: "Is this Goncha Monisgaya?" ”

"Of course not, it's two stops from Gonzamoniskaya, but there are barricades in front of it, and the tram can't get through. What is the rest of the way......" He bent down and patted his knees with both hands, and then said to me, "We can only walk on our two legs." ”

I followed the sergeant and walked down the street. As I walked, I looked at the faces of the hurried passers-by, at the narrow black paper windows of the houses, at the shop windows stacked with sandbags, and at the various posters on the walls.

The further we went, the slower we went, as we had to go around the barricades made of sandbags, logs and planks. The men guarding the barricades were dressed in civilian clothes and carrying rifles with bayonets, and they looked like improvised militia units. From time to time, they stopped passers-by to check their documents, but we passed through the barricades without hindrance, and perhaps our uniforms were the best passes for the militia on duty.

After a while, we stopped in front of a stone house. "I'm in place, comrade commander." Then the sergeant pointed ahead and said, "Continue along this road, and the fourth house on the right side of the road is where you are looking." ”

"Very good," I held out my hand to him and said, "Thank you, thank you, we'll meet later." After shaking hands with him, I walked down the road alone.

In a grove adjacent to the house, I saw a group of people digging a bunker there. There were about 20 men, men, women, old and young, all standing in chest-deep pits, digging with shovels to fill buckets of dirt, and passing them to the top one by one. The man on top took the bucket and went not far away to dump the dirt, and passed the empty bucket to the pit below.

"Comrade soldier," a voice suddenly came from the side, I turned my head to see that it was a young policeman, maybe he saw that I had been here for a long time, so he came to inquire. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

When he asked, I was a little flustered, and my fear of the police was still deep-rooted and could not be changed for the time being. After a little calm, I asked, "I want to find Building 47, but I don't know where the road is?" ”

"Building 47?" He asked rhetorically. "Here it is, comrade soldier."

"Are you the police officer in charge of this area?" I asked tentatively.

"That's nature. Is there anything I can do for you? ”

"I have a friend named Katya, and I'm here to find her family."

"I might be going to disappoint you." He said with regret on his face: "Not long ago, the District Civil Affairs Bureau came to inform you that Katya had died on the battlefield. ”

"What about her family?" Although I had guessed that Katya's family had already known about her sacrifice before I came, I should have made this trip because of her dying instructions.

"Her father went to the front when he joined the militia, and her mother and sister have been evacuated to the rear." The police saluted me and walked away.

Katya's family could not be found, and Gonzamoniskaya's trip ended sadly. I stopped a military vehicle on the side of the road, asked the driver to drop me off not far from the hotel, and then got out of the car and walked back.

When I was about to get to the hotel, I saw Korolev pacing back and forth in the doorway. When he saw me appear, he immediately gestured desperately to signal me to hurry up. "Could it be that we left early?" Thinking of this, I quickly trotted over to him.

"Hurry up, Comrade General has been waiting for you for a long time, and I'm thinking about where to find you." Korolev grabbed my arm and pulled my body and walked briskly inside.

"Comrade General?!" I was a little surprised and asked, "Which comrade general?" ”

"Who else? Of course, the former commander of our front, General Zhukov. He's been waiting for you for a long time. ”

The next minute, I honestly stood in front of Zhukov, who was wearing a black leather military uniform. Without more nonsense, he said straight to the point: "Comrade Oshanina, between your bravery in the battles on the Pulkovo Heights and your outstanding performance on the Kremlin podium, Comrade Stalin personally decided to promote you to the rank of major. Congratulations! ”

"Serve the USSR!" I already have experience with honours and promotions, and I know what to say on such occasions. Although I knew that I would get a higher rank, I guessed that it would be a captain at most, but I didn't expect that I would be born three levels in a row, and I was directly awarded the rank of major.

"Next." Zhukov waited for the accompanying officer to finish changing the epaulettes for me, and then continued: "At present, there are two appointments for you from your superiors, and you can choose one. ”

"May I ask what kind of appointment it is?" I mustered up the courage to ask boldly.

"The commander of an anti-aircraft artillery battalion in the Kremlin has been transferred today for some special reason, and there is a vacancy in the position of commander of this unit, and you can go to this position."

Yes! I was taken aback, and it seems that what Korolev said yesterday was really not a lie, because the commander in charge of air defense was punished for allowing enemy planes to invade the sky over the Kremlin and drop bombs. I wonder if Lu Dao was sent to Siberia to dig coal or was directly shot? And what about the fate of Bezkov? If I agree to take up this position, will I follow in their footsteps?

"What do you think?" Zhukov saw that I did not speak, and asked impatiently. "If you have any ideas, you can just say it."

"Comrade General," I will never be the first to be appointed, otherwise I will not know how to die in the end. I'm still more concerned about what the second appointment will be. "Can I hear what the other appointment is?"

"Absolutely." Zhukov nodded and continued: "I have become the commander of the Western Front, and I need a competent assistant to accompany me to Borodino. But let me warn you beforehand: the situation there is already very difficult. ”

I had the impression that Zhukov never seemed to encounter a dangerous situation in the war, so if I followed him, my own safety would be absolutely guaranteed, so I replied without hesitation: "I am willing to be your deputy and accompany you to Borodino." Comrade General! ”