For later generations of Muscovites, May Day was both a festival of labor and the beginning of spring. On such days, they usually go to their villas in the suburbs in groups and in their own cars, and after scattering the seeds of potatoes, onions, cabbage, carrots, and corn in the fertile land, they ignore them and wait for the autumn to come back to harvest.

And May 1, 1941, is destined to be a day that will go down in history. Because this was a temporary military parade after the Soviet Union won the great victory in the Battle of Stalingrad, in order to boost the morale of the military and civilians throughout the country.

Although the parade did not begin until ten o'clock, it was not yet seven o'clock when Yushchenko knocked on my door and reported to me that Colonel Bezikov was waiting for me downstairs.

By the time I hurried downstairs, Bezikov had been waiting impatiently, and as soon as he saw me, he complained: "Lida, why did you come down so late?" ”

"Colonel Bezikov, didn't the parade start at ten o'clock?" Seeing his unhappy look, I raised my hand to look at my watch, and asked puzzledly, "But it's not even seven o'clock, can we go so early?" ”

Hearing me say this, Bezkov rolled his eyes at me and said angrily: "You think you are Comrade Stalin, and you can enter the viewing platform only a few minutes before the ceremony begins." With that, he turned and opened the car door, beckoned me to sit in, and urged, "Hurry up, a little later, Gorky Avenue should be under martial law." ”

I sat in the co-pilot's seat, watched Bezikov start the car, and couldn't help but ask curiously: "Colonel, don't you have a special pass." Could it be that those martial law commanders and fighters will still stop your car? ”

"After eight o'clock. Troops participating in the review. We will enter Gorky Avenue one after another, and even if there is no martial law, our car will not be able to drive through. With that, he stepped on the gas pedal and our car drove forward.

When the car drove into Gorky Street, I saw tanks parked on the side of the road, and the camouflage net on them was uncovered, and the tank crews were nervously busy. Make the final preparations before you send it. And in the middle of the street, one square after another is marching in the direction of Red Square. At this moment, I understand that Bezikov's worries are not unnecessary, and when more troops or technical equipment are placed on this street later, our cars will not be able to drive through it at all, and in order to reach Red Square, we will have to go around in a large circle.

As he approached the red three-story historical museum, Bezikov turned right toward the Alexander Gardens and parked in a makeshift parking lot.

Look at the dense cars in the parking lot. I can imagine how many important people attended the parade. After Bezkov parked the car and came out, we walked together towards the slope on the south side of Red Square. At the bottom of the slope is a cordon. More than a dozen policemen in gray cotton uniforms, in conjunction with the fighters of the Central Guard Regiment, checked the documents of those who entered Red Square.

A young policeman walked up to me, raised his hand and saluted me, and said expressionlessly and politely: "Comrade commander, please show your ID!" ”

I shuddered at the sight of the policeman who appeared in front of me, and instinctively reached out to touch my ID. Before I could put my hand in my pocket, I heard a cold voice from Bezikov next to me: "Comrade People's Police, which bureau are you from, don't you know me?" ”

The policeman glanced at Bezkov, shook his head, and said businessmanly: "I'm sorry, Comrade Colonel, I received an order to check the documents of every person who entered Red Square. ”

"What are you talking about, comrade policeman?" When Bezikov heard the little policeman say this, he couldn't help but sneer, and then asked in a mocking tone: "If it was a marshal who came, would you check his documents?" ”

The police obviously heard the ridicule in Bezkov's tone, and couldn't help but become a little flustered, and when they didn't know how to respond, an officer of the guard regiment came from the side, and when he saw that Bezzikov was stopped by the police, he hurriedly trotted over, glared at the little policeman fiercely, raised his hand to salute Bezkov, and apologized to him on behalf of the little policeman: "I'm sorry, Comrade Colonel, this comrade policeman is here to help temporarily, I don't know you, please forgive me!" ”

After snorting heavily at the little policeman, Bezikov asked coldly: "Comrade policeman, can we go in?" ”

Seeing that the officers in charge of themselves had to salute each other, the little policeman knew that he had offended someone who should not be offended, and his face suddenly turned red with shame, and he said a little panicked: "Yes, of course you can, Comrade Colonel, please!" ”

As we crossed the cordon and walked on, Bezkov whispered an apology to me: "Lida, I'm sorry that I offended you by not being strict with my subordinates, aren't you angry?" ”

I heard Bezikov say this, and I guessed that he might have seen the trembling action I made before I took out my papers, and he didn't know that I had a "police phobia", and thought that I was trembling with anger about the fact that the little police checked the documents. I hurriedly waved my hand and replied, "Colonel, you are too worried, the little policeman has not done anything wrong, and he is also performing his duty." In order not to dwell on this boring Russian issue, I deliberately diverted the topic and asked, "By the way, where will we sit later?" ”

Bezikov pointed to the low viewing platform on the south side of Lenin's tomb and said: "No, isn't that right, let's sit on the viewing platform on the left, so that we can see the whole process of the entrance of the troops and technical equipment under review." ”

As we spoke, we arrived at the viewing platform. The viewing platform was surrounded by soldiers of the guard regiment, who surrounded the viewing platform with three steps, one step, five steps and one sentry. After nodding to one of the ensigns on duty, Bezikov led me past the two soldiers standing guard, walked a few steps along the passage of the changing sentry, and then went up the steps to the viewing platform.

There are seven rows of viewing platforms, and in addition to a passage on the left and right, there is also a passage in the middle, which evenly divides the entire viewing platform into two parts. At this time, it may be because of the early time, and there are only a few people on the stage. Bezkov took me to the first row and sat down, and at the same time said apologetically: "Lida, because this parade was decided very suddenly. So the chairs on the viewing platform have not yet had time to be installed as in previous military parades. So I can only be wronged that you sit in a cold concrete seat. ”

"It's fine. As long as there is a place to sit. "In order not to make Bezikov feel guilty, I sat down on the cement seats in the first row. Even though I was wearing a thick military coat and military pants, I still felt a chill. I stretched out my hand and patted the place next to me, squeezed out a smile on my face and said to Bezkov: "Colonel, you can sit down too!" ”

Bezikov agreed, and sat down next to me. Maybe he was thick-skinned and rough-skinned, so after sitting down, the expression on his face did not change in the slightest. Still talking and laughing with me.

We chatted for a long time, and suddenly heard a loud voice behind us: "Hey, look, who is this, why does the back look so familiar." ”

Hearing this familiar voice, I couldn't help but turn my head to see what was going on. As soon as I saw the person, I immediately jumped up from my seat and greeted him, saying excitedly, "It's you." General Lelyushenko, long time no see. How are you? ”

While shaking hands with me, Lelyushzyenka said with emotion: "Yes, Lida, it seems that we have not met since the end of the battle for Moscow. It's been more than a year in a flash, and now you're also a lieutenant general, so it seems that you're doing well. ”

I looked at the rank of lieutenant general on Lelyushka's shoulder, and I couldn't help but sigh with emotion, before the Moscow counteroffensive, he had the rank of lieutenant general, and after so long, his rank has not been promoted, so it can be seen that he is also not very happy. After shaking hands, I asked with concern: "General Lelyushonka, I don't know which unit you are commanding now?" ”

"I am now the commander of the 3rd Guards Army." "I took part in the Battle of Stalingrad within the formation of the South-Western Front," said Lelyushinka in a calm tone: "I was the main combat unit in the battle to destroy the German and Italian troops in the middle reaches of the Don and to crush the enemy for the relief of the Paulus group. By the way, a few months ago, my army group also cooperated with General Khalidonov's 6th Army in the Battle of Voroshilovgrad. ”

"Battle of Voroshilovgrad?" I didn't know anything about the battle that Lelyushmanna mentioned, so I turned my eyes for help to Bezikov, who was standing next to me.

"That's right, Leda." When Bezikov saw that I turned my gaze to him, he knew that I was asking him for help, and hastened to say: "The battle of Voroshilovgrad was like this, and the South-Western Front was ordered to carry out a surprise attack on the German army on January 30. Due to the smooth development of the offensive, the Southwestern Front quickly clustered and struck in the direction of the Red Army Village and Volnovakha on the same day. General Kharytonov's 6th Army cut off the Kharkov-Lozovaya railway on 8 February. The 1st Guards Army captured Lozovaya on the 11th. General Lelyushka's 3rd Guards Army fought hard in the vicinity of Voroshilovgrad, and the 8th Cavalry Army, which had entered the breakthrough with the 3rd Guards Army, made a detour from the south through Voroshilovgrad and advanced to the area of Debaltsevo. The German army built three defensive areas on the periphery of Voroshilovgrad. After several fierce battles, General Lelyushka's 3rd Guards Army routed and liberated Voroshilovgrad. German troops were forced to withdraw from the Severodonets River to the Mius River. After this campaign, our Southwestern Front smashed the 3rd and 30th Panzer Corps of the 1st Panzer Army of the German Army, advanced 120-250 kilometers in depth, and completely cleared the German army in the north of Donbass. ”

After listening to Bezikov's popular science, I shook Lelyushka's hand again and said from the bottom of my heart: "Commander Lelyushinka, you are really remarkable that you can achieve such brilliant results. It's a pity that I went to the 6th Army too late, otherwise I would have had the opportunity to fight side by side with you again. ”

Hearing me mention Kharytonov, the expression on Lelyushonka's face darkened, and he shook my hand vigorously, and said emotionally: "Lida, if you hadn't treated me in time when I was in Borodino, I guess I would have ended up with General Khalidonov." ”

"Comrade Oshanina, you are good!" Suddenly another voice sounded next to me, attracting my attention, and before I could recognize him, he had finished the rest of the sentence: "I have heard that you have returned to the Germans even the captured German generals in order to redeem General Khalitonov and hundreds of wounded. On behalf of the sacrificial General Khalitonov and his family, I would like to express my gratitude and high respect for this act! After saying that, the general raised his hand and saluted me with a solemn military salute.

At this moment I recognized the person as the former commander of the 62nd Army, General Kolpakchi, and now he also carried the sign of lieutenant general on his shoulder, and it seemed that his superiors no longer held him accountable for his mistakes in the Battle of Stalingrad, and let him return to the army. After I raised my hand to return the salute, I walked up to him, stretched out my hands to shake him, and said politely: "Hello, General Kolpakchi, it's been a long time, how are you doing?" ”

"Thank you for your concern, Comrade Oshanina." Korpakich also politely replied to me: "I am very good, after leaving Stalingradgrad, I have been in Moscow for about half a year, not long ago, I was just appointed commander of the 18th Army, and after today's parade, I will go back to the troops." ”

I saw a burly middle-aged man with thick eyebrows standing next to him, and although he was wearing ordinary military civilian clothes, he still had a lot of medals on his left chest. After I let go of Kolparkic's hand, I looked at the middle-aged man and asked Korpacchi curiously: "Comrade General, I don't know who this commander is......?" ”

When Korpacchi heard me say this, he immediately leaned to the side, grabbed the middle-aged man's right shoulder, pulled him closer to me, and then introduced me with a smile: "Comrade Oshanina, let me introduce you. This is Comrade Brezhnev, the military commissar of our 18th Army. ”

After listening to Kolpakchi's introduction, I immediately stretched out my hand to his military commissar and said in a friendly voice: "Hello, Brezhnev......" Before I finished speaking, I suddenly shook my body, stopped my hand stretched out in mid-air, turned my head sideways and asked in surprise: "General Korpakich, what do you say is the name of your comrade military commissar?" ”

"Brezhnev," although Korpakch did not know why I asked, he faithfully repeated Brezhnev's name, while also adding the full name of the other party: "His full name is Leonid. Ilyich. Brezhnev. ”

After getting Kolpakchi's confirmation, I felt that my legs were a little weak, and I didn't expect that another great man of history appeared in front of me, and when I saw the other party's outstretched hand, I quickly grabbed it and said nervously: "Hello, Comrade Brezhnev, it's a pleasure to meet you!" ”

While shaking my hand, Brezhnev asked curiously: "General Oshanina, you seem to be surprised to see me, have you heard of me before?" ”

"No, no." Hearing Brezhnev's question, I immediately shook my head like a rattle and denied it: "I've never heard your name, but when General Kolpakchi introduced you, I didn't hear your name clearly, so I confirmed it again." (To be continued.) )