After consulting with the two of them, Korolev decided that Comrade Shikin, the political commissar, would accompany me to my post. As we walked out of the building, I saw that it was already dark outside.

While waiting for the arrival of the commissar's Jim's car, Ivanov, who had taken me to the Smolny Palace, came out of nowhere, and as soon as he saw me, he ran quickly, and from a long distance he cried out: "Comrade Major, I will wait until you come out." Well, it's your luggage. ”

I took his luggage and assault rifle, smiled at him and said, "Thank you, Lieutenant Ivanov." I'm sorry to keep you waiting outside for so long. ”

"It's okay, it's what I'm supposed to do." As he said this, he unconsciously glanced at Higgin, who was standing beside me, and said, "If it's all right, I'll take my leave." ”

I nodded, thanking him again.

He saluted me and Higgin and turned away.

Shortly after the lieutenant left, a black Em sedan slowly drove up in front of us and stopped. After the car stopped, the driver opened the door and quickly walked around the back of the car, opened the rear door, and asked the political commissar Xijin to get into the car.

I was going to put my luggage in the trunk by myself, but the driver had already taken over my luggage, opened the trunk and put it in. Originally, I wanted to sit in the passenger seat, but Higgin, who was sitting in the back seat, greeted me and said, "Comrade Oshanina, you can also sit in the back." So I stooped into the car, held the gun in my arms, and sat side by side with Higgin.

Compared to the jeep, the Em sedan was much less off-road, and the driver had to slow down repeatedly when navigating potholes on the road, so much so that the journey from Smolny Palace to the lake took nearly an hour.

Because of the special pass affixed to the window, the checkpoint along the way saw the car driving by from a distance, and raised the railing to let it go. A few dozen meters from the frozen lake, there is a checkpoint in front of it, and in the light of the headlights, the railings of the checkpoint and a raised earthen hut-like bunker covered with snow can be faintly visible. Two fighters in short fur coats and submachine guns paced up and down the bar.

I thought this checkpoint would be like the ones in front of me, with railings raised from afar to let us pass. Unexpectedly, the car drove until it stopped a meter or two in front of the railing, and the two soldiers on duty were still unmoved.

One of the fighters walked to the left side of the car, bent down and said to the driver: "There is an order, Lake Lado is closed to traffic at night. ”

"Hey, I'm talking about Comrade Sergeant." The driver said with some displeasure: "I have a task, and I want to send the new commander to the antiaircraft artillery battalion immediately." Hurry up and raise the railing. ”

The sergeant ignored him, but walked to the window where the political commissar Higgin was, bent down and gently knocked on the window, and waited for Higgin to roll down the window before saying, "Comrade commander, please show your ID." ”

"This is Comrade Hikin, the brigade's political commissar who is responsible for guarding the ice transport line." The driver said indignantly.

"Comrade Sergeant did the right thing." Commissar Higgin stopped the driver from continuing to complain, unbuttoned his short fur coat, took out his ID and handed it over.

The sergeant on duty took his ID and did not look at it immediately, but looked at me with his eyes and asked, "Comrade female commander, where is your ID?" I sighed, immediately took out my military ID card from my satchel, hesitated slightly, and handed it over.

After the sergeant took my papers, he walked to the front of the car and bent down to check our documents by the light of the headlights.

After looking through our papers, the sergeant suddenly straightened up, walked over and whispered a few words to the other soldier, then turned and walked towards the earthen hut bunker, while the remaining soldier pointed his submachine gun at us.

"What's going on, treating us like saboteurs?" The driver pushed the door and wanted to get out of the car and reason with him. Unexpectedly, the soldier pulled the bolt of the gun and shouted: "Go back to the car immediately, or I will shoot!" ”

The driver saw the muzzle of the loaded black hole pointed at him, so he had to mumble obediently and sit back in the car and close the door.

"Comrade Commissar, what the hell is going on?" I felt a little inexplicable about this accident, so I asked the political commissar Xijin sitting next to me in confusion.

Xijin shook his head and said, "I don't know either, the soldiers on duty at this checkpoint are really inexplicable, it seems that tomorrow they will call their superiors to give them a good training." ”

It didn't take much effort, but seven or eight people ran out of the earthen hut-style bunker, and they surrounded us with weapons and surrounded the car we were in the middle.

Seeing this, Higgin couldn't help but be angry, he pushed the car door and walked out, shouting, "What the hell do you want to do? Have your commander come out to me. ”

The sergeant just now lowered his gun and walked over and said to Higgin: "Comrade commander, we suspect that there are German spies in your car, so we will temporarily detain you until our superiors arrive. Now please go back to the car or we'll shoot. ”

"Inexplicable, simply inexplicable." Higgin sat in the car scolding and closed the door casually.

With an assault rifle in my arms, I looked strangely at what was happening in front of me, wondering in my heart: who could it be that there was a German spy in the car, could it be the commissar of Higgin next to me? Thinking of this, I couldn't help but quietly move my body to the side.

It didn't take much effort, and a truck full of fighters drove up behind us. The driver of the car is very skilled, and when he stops, he holds the front of the car firmly against the rear of our car in case we suddenly turn around and run away.

One by one, the soldiers jumped out of the carriage and surrounded our carriage with their weapons in their hands. When the encirclement was complete, an officer stepped out of the cab, and although the light was dim, I could see that it was a captain officer. When he saw his commander get out of the car, the sergeant immediately greeted him, handed over his papers, and pointed in our direction, as if to brief his superiors.

The captain looked at the papers for a moment, then strode towards us. He walked to the right side of the car, pulled the rear door open, and said to me in a stern tone, "Lesbian, please get out of the car." ”

I looked at the captain outside the car and asked coldly, "What is it for?" ”

Without saying a word, the captain reached out and touched the gun on his waist. How could I possibly let him get his wish, as soon as I raised my hand, the barrel of the assault rifle was against his throat. He didn't expect me to suddenly attack, and his hand, which had already touched the holster, could only stop there obediently and did not dare to move.

"Captain Kushelev," Commissar Shikin, who was sitting next to me, apparently knowing the officer, roared angrily, "can you tell me, what the hell is going on?" ”

"Commissar Higgin, is that you?!" Unexpectedly, the captain also knew the commissar, and in the face of the muzzle of the gun I pointed at him, he said with a sad face: "I received a report from my soldiers that a car carrying German spies had been stopped at the checkpoint, so I brought people to hurry over." ”

"Nonsense, where are the German spies here?" Higgin said angrily, "Tell your people to put down their guns first." ”

"Put it down, everybody put the gun down." Although the captain did not dare to make any drastic movements under my gunpoint, it did not prevent him from giving orders to his men in the slightest.

Seeing that the soldiers defending us had lowered their guns, Shiggin patted me on the shoulder and said, "Comrade Oshanina, you should also put down your guns, they are all your own people, and there may be some misunderstanding among them." With that, he pushed open the door and walked out.

Seeing that the danger had passed, I also removed the muzzle of the gun, turned off the insurance, and followed Commissar Higgin out of the car.

Shikin walked around from the front of the car, stood still in front of the captain, and asked with a serious expression: "Captain Kushelev, tell me, what is going on?" ”

The captain handed a document to Higgin and said with some excitement: "Comrade political commissar, please take a look." This ...... woman There is a bit of a problem with the female commander's ID. ”

Xijin took the papers, frowned and asked, "What's the problem?" ”

The captain glanced at me, and saw that I looked at him calmly, not as if he would suddenly attack again, and then cautiously explained to the commissar: "Comrade commissar, look. Her rank on her military ID card is Major General, but you can see that she is wearing the rank of Major now. ”

Listening to the captain's explanation, I realized that it was a misunderstanding. I knew that Lu Dao would cause misunderstanding because of the military rank, and when I was in Smolny Palace just now, I was not in a hurry to wear the military rank.

Shikin handed me back the papers, then snorted coldly and said: "Before Comrade Oshanina was transferred to Leningrad, she was the chief of staff of the 20th Army and the commander of the 8th Guards Division, and her rank of major general was personally promoted by Comrade Stalin. Later, because of some accidents, he became a major again. ”

Hearing that Comrade Stalin had personally been promoted, there was no surprise that there was a gasp around him. Originally, being promoted by the Supreme Commander was a thing worth showing off, but at this moment, I was demoted, and I could only smile bitterly again and again.

Shiggin reprimanded Captain Kushelev, who was standing in front of him: "Just because of the discrepancy between the rank and the documents, you will be regarded as a German spy, if I hadn't personally sent Major Oshanina to the air defense battalion to take up her post today, it is estimated that she will be arrested and shot by you as a spy!" For the two fighters on duty today, we must deal with them seriously, and now that there is a shortage of men on the Pulkovo Heights, send them there! ”

In response to Higgin's reprimand, the captain had no choice but to agree, not daring to have the slightest excuse.

Higgin finished scolding the captain, pulled the car door open and sat in the car again, beckoning me to sit in.

The soldiers who had surrounded us moved to both sides of the road, and the truck that was holding back against us was also a few meters back. Captain Kushelev himself ran to the railing, pressed the short end of the railing, and the railing slowly rose upward.

Seeing that the railing had been raised, the driver stepped on the accelerator and the car moved forward again.