When I got back to the hotel, it was already about ten o'clock in the evening.

As Korolev and I passed through the lobby of the hotel and were about to go to the dining room to see if there was still dinner, Ensign Lyuda on duty at the front desk stopped me.

"Comrade Oshanina." She trotted all the way up to me and said, "The hotel has arranged a new room for you, which is a single room on the second floor, number 16. You don't have any luggage and can go straight to your new room to see if we are happy with your arrangements. ”

"Are you telling me?" I asked, a little confused, "The private room is for the generals, I'm just a lieutenant, can't you be mistaken?" ”

"I don't know what to do, I don't know what to do, this is a decision made by the political commissar of the hotel." She handed me the key, smiling meaningfully, as if to show me that there was more to her than she had said now.

Korolev put his arm around my shoulders, smiled and said, "Things couldn't have been better arranged!" Alright, Leda, let's go, and show me your new home. ”

"Why should the hotel be arranged like this?" With such doubts in mind, I walked with Korolev to my new room, and he took the key from my hand and opened the door. It was a small room, but it was furnished with a lot of furniture: a desk against the wall with a black dial-up telephone, two hoop chairs in front of it, a bed covered with dark blue printed sheets, and a small round table in the center of the room, facing an electric lamp hanging from the ceiling and covered with a sky-blue cloth shade. The bathroom door is ajar, and when you look through the door, the interior is much better than in the dormitory.

"Why would you suddenly arrange a private room for me?" I looked at everything in the room at a loss, and asked Korolev with some trepidation, "Uncle Pavel, did they make a mistake?" ”

"No," he said with a smile, "don't worry, the political commissar of the inn will not be mistaken." Let's talk while we eat. With that, he walked to the desk, picked up the phone on the table, dialed a number, and said into the microphone, "Hey, the restaurant?" I'm here on the second floor, number 16, give me ......"

In a short time, Aksala brought Korolev's dinner on a large tray, which was a sumptuous meal for Lao Maozi: roast beef with potatoes in a metal basin, herring lined with pointed shallots, roast meat with shredded onions and tomato sauce, a bottle of Georgian red wine, and two tall glasses. Aksala put them on the table, then handed me a cotton military hat to go with her coat, declined our request to stay with her for dinner, and turned away.

"Now let's take our seats, my dear." Korolev moved the two hoop chairs to the small round table and made a gesture to me. "Okay, come on, come on! Let's start eating. ”

He corked the wine with a corkscrew, filled the two goblets in front of us, held them up and handed them to me, and said, "There is no doubt that the political commissar of the hotel arranged this way because he knew your performance on the Kremlin podium and gave you such special treatment." Tell me, how did you get the courage to step up to the podium? When I think back to it now, it feels like a dream. ”

I took the wine glass, put it on the table in front of me, and said with some embarrassment: "I just heard the dispute between Marshal Shaposhnikov and Admiral Konev, and felt that Comrade General was very reasonable, and I should support him, so I handed a slip to the rostrum." I don't even believe that the slip can be handed over...... That's how it happened. ”

He looked at me, shook his head in disbelief, and smiled. "Honey, you said, you handed a note. A few words were written on it, and that's it? Seeing that I didn't squeak, he kept asking. No matter what your status, do you still write a note? Perhaps, people think of you as a general, right? By the way, military rank, did you name your military rank? ”

"There is no doubt about it, I wrote my name and rank." At this point, I quickly diverted the subject, "How about we have a drink, Uncle Pavel?" As he spoke, he picked up the tall glass in front of him.

"No, wait a minute!" Korolev exclaimed excitedly, quickly reaching over and covering the goblet in my hand with his broad palm. "I'm just trying to figure it out. If anyone tells me that Lida Musdakova Oshanina is leading her warriors to a charge, I am convinced. He personally shot down the planes of the German devils and destroyed the tanks...... I guess that's entirely possible, too. But now it's ...... It's weird! You must know that there was Stalin in the hall at that time! People's Commissar! Marshals! I'm surrounded by generals, too. Suddenly, Comrade Marshal announced: Comrade Oshanina speaks, Leningrad Front! I was confused at first: I seemed to know all the leaders of the Front, so why did an Oshanina come out of nowhere? , and it's a woman. I looked up and was startled, oh my god! It's Leda, you're walking down the aisle. Listen to me, I assure you, if I had been standing instead of sitting there, I would have been so frightened of your business that my legs would have gone limp! ”

I just smiled and didn't speak.

Korolev put his hands in one hand again, then shook his head vigorously, and said, "Come on." Let's have a drink. I congratulate you! No, wait! He suddenly remembered, and covered my tall glass with his palm. Let's start with one of the most important things. What did Comrade Stalin say to you at the end of the day? ”

"Didn't you hear me? I can get a higher rank, he said. I asked, a little puzzled, that when Stalin and I were in front of the microphone, everything I said should have been clearly heard by the audience.

"I heard, I heard! However, it was precisely because I heard it with my own ears that I felt a little incredible. You must know that in the establishment of our army, the highest rank of female soldiers is only lieutenant, and you have already obtained this rank, and it is unlikely that you will rise further. ”

"It's something the Supreme Commander thinks about, it's not our turn to worry about it, we're still drinking the bar, Uncle Pavel."

We clinked glasses and drank them all. Korolev filled his glass with more wine, then forked a small piece of roast meat with a fork, dipped it in the tomato sauce on the plate, chewed on the onion, and continued: "Of course, if he says so from the podium, then you can be promoted to captain tomorrow." Although the highest rank in the past was lieutenant, it is possible that this time it will be because of you that he personally ordered the removal of the rank restriction on female soldiers. All in all, you're in good luck! Having you speak at such a meeting attracts his attention. When he said this, he emphasized the word "his" in a particularly strong tone, "You see, how obvious the effect is, the political commissar of the hotel has arranged it really well!" He picked up his glass and looked around the room. The colonels were still crammed into a room with two men. But you do have the privilege of a private room for now. Come on, for your good luck, let's have another drink! ”

So we drank it all again.

Korolev emptied the bottle, just in time to fill two glasses for the third time. I looked at him pouring wine like this, and secretly felt sorry for it, it was a waste to drink such a good wine to accompany a meal in such a cow way. According to the drinking method of petty bourgeoisie in later generations, it should be poured half a glass, then gently shake the wine glass, close to the mouth of the glass to smell the aroma of the wine, gently inhale a sip of wine, and taste it carefully, instead of drinking it all at once like us, so that the wine does not stay in the mouth for a long time, it passes through the throat and reaches the stomach directly.

I picked up a piece of beef and asked Korolev, who was leaning over to eat herring: "Uncle Pavel, when are we going back to Leningrad?" ”

"Tomorrow night." He was eating in his mouth and replied to me with some slurred speech.

"Are you going back by train?" At the train station in Moscow, in Gonzamoniskaya, if I want to take the train, I can go to Katya's family and inform them of her death.

"No, we don't take the train." He swallowed the fish, wiped his mouth with a cloth, and said with a serious expression: "The situation in front of us is very serious, Leningrad is besieged by the Germans, land communication with other places has been completely cut off, and railway communication with Moscow has also been cut off. We had to fly back. ”