Perhaps because Zhukov personally greeted him, the new military uniform was quickly delivered. The person who came to deliver the uniforms was actually Lieutenant Colonel Kudrin, the head of the logistics department.

He walked in with a set of khaki men's winter military uniforms in his hands, stood in front of Zhukov and saluted, and then respectfully reported: "Comrade General, I have already brought the military uniform you wanted. ”

"Give it to Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, the uniform is for her." Zhukov said without raising his head.

"Yes." Kudrin looked at me standing by with some surprise, but handed me the new uniform as ordered, and then saluted Zhukov and left.

Kudrin walked for a while, and I still stood there stupidly in my military uniform, not knowing whether I should find a place to change my clothes; I'd better wait here and see if Zhukov has any orders for me. Probably sensing that there was no sound in the room, Zhukov raised his head and looked around, and found that I was still standing like a stake, so he couldn't help but smile and said to me: "Silly girl, what are you still standing there stupidly for?" Hurry up and find a place to change into your new uniform, you look awkward in your current outfit. ”

"Yes." I quickly said yes, and then walked out of the room with my clothes in my arms.

When I got to the room, I asked the second lieutenant on duty at the door, "Is there any place to change clothes?" ”

He stood up and pushed open the door of a nearby room and said to me, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, this is our lounge, where you can change your clothes. Please come in! I nodded gratefully at him, pushed the door open and walked in.

The furnishings in the lounge were simple, except for a small wooden bed for the officers on duty to sleep, and there were no tables or chairs. I closed the door, took off my old military uniform, and put on the new military uniform I had just gotten. Although it is men's, it still fits well when you wear it. From the bottom of my heart, among the military uniforms of World War II, my favorite is still the uniforms of the German army, especially the uniforms of the SS, which are even more beautiful.

Dressed in a brand new uniform without rank, I stood in front of Zhukov again. He looked me up and down carefully for a long time, and finally shook his head and said, "I don't look good in a skirt, it seems that female soldiers should still wear skirts." ”

I did not answer his question directly, but asked rhetorically: "Comrade General, I am the commissioner you sent to the 16th Group Army, and now that I have been discharged from the hospital, should I go back there directly to report for duty?" ”

"No hurry, no hurry." Zhukov raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said: "It's now past five o'clock in the afternoon, I will give you half a day's vacation to have a good rest, and then report to the 16th Army early tomorrow morning." ”

"Yes." I said yes very dryly, then paused for a moment and asked, "Where do I live today?" Also, is there a military service nearby? I need to buy some personal groceries. ”

"Of course, I still live in the old place, and I have always kept your room for you. As for the military service club, there should be, I'll find someone to take you there. As he spoke, he picked up the phone again, dialed a number, first reported his name, and then said to the other party, "Do you have any rest there today?" If it's good, let her accompany Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina to buy some daily necessities. Also, prepare 20 rubles in cash, all of which have a denomination of one ruble. ”

Putting down the phone, he said to me again, "I've arranged it." You go back to your room and put your things away, and then go to the gate of the headquarters, where a female warrior named Nina will be waiting for you. ”

"Understood, Comrade General." I saluted him with great gratitude and walked out of the room with my changed uniform.

I put my things away and went to the gate of the headquarters and saw a truck with a tarp parked outside. I looked around to see where the female warrior waiting for me was. Suddenly, I heard a timid voice behind me asking, "Excuse me, are you Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina?" ”

I looked back and saw behind me a young black-haired female warrior, dressed in a men's uniform that was noticeably several sizes larger, looking at me nervously. I hastened to reply: "Yes, I am Oshanina." You're Nina, aren't you? ”

"Hello, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." She saluted me and replied respectfully, "I am Nina, and I have been ordered to accompany you to the shopping for daily necessities." Then he took out a stack of bills from his jacket pocket and handed it over, "This is cash for you, please click on it." ”

I took the banknote, didn't even click it, just put it in my pocket, and then took her hand and asked, "Do you know where there is a military service club near here?" ”

"Zhilu Dao, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." She replied with restraint.

"Don't be so nervous," I comforted her, "don't call me Lieutenant Colonel all the time, call me by my nickname Lida." ”

"Yes."

"Alright, then, it's time to take me there to buy groceries."

"Leda," Nina suggested, "there's nothing to sell at the military service, so if you want to buy something, go to the city and buy it." ”

"To the city?" Hearing her say this, I couldn't help but hesitate, this place is so far from the city, and there is no bus, how to get there. And now it was during the war, and even though there used to be a bus line to get here, it is estimated that it is no longer in service.

Hearing me express her concerns, she comforted me and said, "You don't have to worry about transportation, we can take a ride to the city." Then he took me by the hand and walked out to the truck outside the door.

Seeing us approaching, the driver's door opened, and a tall, baby-faced male sergeant jumped out of it, and said to us impatiently: "Hey, I said two young ladies, can you hurry up, if it's too late, it's dark in the city." ”

"Zhilu said, talkative fellow." Nina replied and pulled me into the cab.

The car started, and the driver looked at me and asked Nina, "Who is this girl?" I haven't seen it before, is it your new female colleague? ”

"Yes, my name is Leda and I'm Nina's new colleague." I saw that Nina was trying to introduce my identity to him, so I hurriedly answered first, and secretly grabbed her hand and shook it gently, signaling not to tell the driver my true identity.

"Well, yes, she's here today." Nina was very cooperative in helping me lie.

"Is it also a newspaper operator?" The driver then asked again. When he said this, I realized that Daunina was a telegraph operator in the headquarters. I had only heard of female operators in the front headquarters before, but I had never seen them because they had been working in the underground communications room, and I had not had the opportunity to enter such a critical area.

"It's a military secret, don't tell you." Nina's tone has a coquettish component, which makes people guess that the two are lovers at a glance.

The driver held the steering wheel with one hand, and with the other hand reached out to me, he took the initiative to introduce himself to me: "My name is Aqiv, a native of Moscow, and it is a pleasure to meet you. I politely reached out and shook his hand lightly and let go.

On the rest of the journey, the two have been flirting. My light bulb is very interesting, I looked at the two people who were not around, smiled, then tilted my head to the side, and began to close my eyes to recuperate, but I didn't expect to fall asleep unconsciously after a while.

I don't know how long it took, but the car stopped, and Nina woke me up and got to the place. I asked in a daze, "What is this place?" ”

"This is Yugazabatnaya."

"Yuga Zabatnaya?" When I heard this familiar place name, I was stunned, didn't I say that I was going shopping in the city, even if I didn't go to Arbat Street, there was also a makeshift near Pushkin Square, how could I run to the terminal of the Red Line subway? You must know that even in later generations, this place can only be regarded as the edge of the city, not to mention that it is still in the early forties.

Reluctantly, I pushed the door open and got out of the car first. As Nina got out of the car, Aqifu shouted at her, "I'll go to the warehouse to get supplies first, and I'll wait for you here in two hours." ”

"I know the way, I know the way. When did you become so verbose, go get supplies. Nina waved at him, then came over and took my hand and said, "Let's go, I'll accompany you to buy groceries." ”

The snow on the ground is thick, and several cleaners are shoveling the snow under the street trees, and tall snowdrifts separate the motorway from the sidewalk. The two of us walked slowly along the sidewalk, chatting as we went.

"Nina, where are you from?"

"I'm from Kyiv."

"Kyiv?!" I was surprised and said, "So you're Ukrainian!" Kyiv has already been occupied by the German devils, is your family still there? ”

"Yes, my parents, and a younger brother, have stayed in that city, and I don't know when we will be able to fight back." Speaking of this, Nina couldn't help but look gloomy.

Seeing that Nina's tears were about to fall, I regretted a little that I shouldn't have asked her about her family, so I quickly patted her on the shoulder and comforted her: "Nina, don't worry, your family will be safe." I promise you, in two years at most we will drive the German devils out of our borders. ”

"Well, Leda, you're the commander, and I believe what you say." Nina wiped away her tears, sniffled loudly, and suddenly asked, "What daily necessities are you going to buy?" ”

I was stunned for a moment, but then I came back to my senses and quickly said, "I want to buy toothpaste, toothbrushes, towels, soap, and needles and threads." ”

"Nowadays, Moscow is short of materials, and there are some in-demand goods that cannot be bought even if you have money. But now that we're here, we'll have to try our luck. ”

We walked along the freshly shoveled sidewalk, keeping an eye on the shops on the side of the road. Along the way, most of the shops had closed doors and sandbags piled up on the windows, some full and some half exposed. When I finally saw a store that was still open, Nina pushed the door and walked in, and I quickly followed suit.

The store is quite large, with more than 100 square meters, and half of the counters for daily necessities and groceries are sold. There were a lot of people shopping inside, and there were long queues on both sides.

Nina looked at the wall clock on the wall and said to me, "Lida, it's not early, the store is almost closed." Let's go to one side of the other, otherwise we won't be able to buy anything. ”

"Well, that's good." I thought for a moment and said, "I'm queuing up at the food court, and you go to the grocery store." ”

"Understood," she agreed, and ran to the back of the line in the department store. I was honestly on the side of the food section, behind a short old lady.

After waiting in line for a while, I suddenly heard Nina whispering to me from behind, and quickly turned my head to look at her. She asked me in a low voice, "What brand of toothpaste do you buy?" ”

"Just buy Colgate." I answered her without thinking.

"What?!" She unconsciously raised her voice, and immediately met the eyes of several old ladies around her, so she lowered her voice and asked me, "What did you just say?" I didn't hear clearly, please repeat it again. ”

I almost broke out in a cold sweat, and Colgate, although it could be bought in all the stores and convenience stores in Moscow in the future, was not yet available at this time. So I quickly covered it up and said, "Any brand, or buy toothpaste from the 'Muscovites' brand." ”

The line to buy food slowly moved forward, and after two more people it was my turn, and I felt a sense of relief to see that the target was in sight. The salesman began to greet the old lady in front of me, and she asked with a blank and mechanical face, "What do you need?" ”

The old lady really didn't treat the salesman as an outsider, but actually muttered a lot of things, such as 100 grams of bread, 50 grams of sausages, and 20 grams of butter. The saleswoman was so patient that she took the things she asked for out of the counter, cut off a section, weighed the same amount of food on a scale, put it in a paper bag, and handed it to the old lady.

After sending the old lady away, it was finally my turn to stand at the counter and buy something. When the salesman asked me with the same expression, I immediately replied, "I want a packet of rusks, two hundred grams of sausages, two eggs, and four tomatoes." ”

The salesman quickly put what I was going to buy into a paper bag, then put it on the counter and made a dry offer to me: "Thirty-five kopecks in total." I handed her a piece of paper that I had already held in my hand. Seeing that she was about to receive the banknotes, she didn't expect the electric bell in the store to ring at this time.

As soon as the electric bell rang, the salesperson made a gesture that I did not expect at all, she picked up the paper bag on the counter, put it under the counter, and then said to me in a cold tone: "Comrade soldier, I'm sorry, we are off duty." After saying that, she turned around and went back to the back room to change her clothes.

I was stunned with a ruble note, and cursed in my heart: It's not too late for you to get off work after you take my money. However, watching the people in line behind me disperse without complaint, I didn't argue with the salesperson in my own right, because I knew that Lao Maozi was too dull and so rigid in everything he did, and it was not the first time I had encountered such a situation, and I was somewhat experienced.

But fortunately, Nina bought all the daily necessities I needed, which can be regarded as a great luck in misfortune.

We came out of the store and walked back the way we came. Two young men were hugging and kissing in the corner of the street, and I couldn't help but look back a few more times as I passed them. I remember when I first arrived in Moscow in 02, in public, you can see young couples kissing everywhere, which can be regarded as a street scene. Unexpectedly, in 03, Russia introduced a law declaring kissing in public an illegal offense, and overnight, such footage disappeared from public places such as streets, stations, and shopping malls.

Maybe it was because I looked back too many times, which aroused Nina's curiosity, and she also looked back, and then asked me, "Leda, what do you keep looking back at, do you look at the posters posted on the wall?" ”

Posters on the wall?! I took a closer look, but on the wall behind the young couple, there was a huge propaganda poster with a female militiaman armed with a rifle and a black lettering: "Fight on both sides to win!" Go to the rear of the enemy and drive the enemy out of the country! ”

Aren't these the words I used to say when I spoke to the partisans, how can they be found in propaganda posters? Nina looked at this poster and said with great feeling: "These two sentences are so good, they are so level, and people feel a feeling of blood boiling when they listen to them." ”

"Nina!" There was a shout in the distance, and we followed the sound to see Azif's truck parked across the road, who opened the cab door and leaned out to greet us.

Nina and I stepped on the snowdrift from the sidewalk to the motorway, and as we were about to cross the street, a small black car quickly drove in the distance. I pulled Nina to a stop, ready to wait for the car to pass before crossing the street. Unexpectedly, the car braked and stopped five or six steps away from us, and the driver in military uniform was gesturing to us inside, signaling us to pass first.

I waved gratefully to the driver and pulled Nina to the other side of the road. Nina opened the cab door and climbed up, and as I waited for her, I looked at the black car again. The car passed by our truck, and I stumbled upon a bearded man in a gray coat sitting in the back seat, and although I only saw one side, I had a very familiar feeling, and I couldn't remember who it was.

The car started and drove in the direction of the Front headquarters outside the city. I frowned and pondered, thinking back to who the person I had just seen was, and why it was so familiar. At this time, the laughter of Nina and Aqifu was suddenly heard, and the two of them shouted there: "...... For the Motherland! For Stalin! Advance!!! ”

Stalin! When I heard the name, I suddenly remembered who I had just seen was. That's right, that man is Stalin!