Bezkov looked up at his watch, then said to me, "Leda, there's one more thing I almost forgot to tell you. Your award ceremony will take place tomorrow morning at nine o'clock, and I will pick you up at eight o'clock. ”

After thanking Bezkov again, I sent him to the door. Before I could step out of the room, he raised his hand to stop me: "Leda, just send it here." It's not early, you just came back from the front, you must be very tired, it's better to rest early. With that, he raised his hand to his forehead, saluted me, and then turned and left with his men.

The first thing I did when I returned to the house was to ask Yushchenko with concern: "Comrade Captain, where do you live?" ”

Hearing my question, Yushchenko immediately replied: "We all live in a room for eight people at the end of the east corridor on the first floor, and the rest of the fighters are resting in the room at the moment, and I am worried about what is going on with you, so I went up to take a look." Who knew that as soon as you walked to the staircase, you met Comrade Colonel who came to give you a new military uniform. ”

When Yushchenko said this, I finally figured out why he appeared at the same time as Bezkov. I nodded and asked casually, "Captain, have you had dinner?" ”

Seeing Yushchenko shake his head, I immediately turned my head to Aksala, who was still sitting at the table, and said politely: "Aksala, you see that I and my subordinates haven't had dinner yet, can you help us get something to eat?" ”

"No problem, I'll go get you something to eat right away." Aksara jumped up from her seat and quickly rushed out the door to the restaurant downstairs to fetch food for us.

As soon as Aksala left, I beckoned Yushchenko to sit down at the table and asked tentatively, "Captain, I remember that you seemed to be under the jurisdiction of Bezikov before, right?" When you returned to Moscow this time, did he give you a new order? ”

After hearing this, Yushchenko shook his head. He said: "Comrade commander, since I and my men went to Stalingrad, they have been truly assigned to your command, and there is no longer a command relationship with Colonel Bezikov. ”

"Do you or your subordinates have any relatives or friends in Moscow?" As soon as he finished speaking, I asked with concern, "If you want to visit relatives and friends." I can give you temporary vacations. ”

Yushchenko waved his hand and rejected my kindness: "Thank you, Comrade Commander. However, we did not need holidays, because almost none of our families were in Moscow, and there was one soldier who was Muscovish, but his family was evacuated to the rear shortly after the outbreak of the war. Besides, it's our responsibility to keep you safe until we get new orders from our superiors. We won't leave you casually. ”

As soon as Yushchenko finished speaking, he immediately asked: "Comrade commander, just now Colonel Bezikov said that the Supreme Command intends to let you go to the reserve front army to take up the post of chief of staff, what do you think?" ”

Hearing his question, I couldn't help but smile bitterly in my heart, and said in my heart: "I have not been systematically educated in the field of operational command of the troops, and if I didn't understand some historical processes, I guess I wouldn't even be as good as an ordinary squad leader." But these words can only be kept in the heart. But I couldn't say it, I could only say vaguely: "Captain." With my ability, I am a little unable to command an infantry corps, and now that I am asked to be the third-in-command of the front army, I feel that I am not qualified for this position. ”

As soon as I spoke, Yushchenko fell silent, knowing that he had no say in such matters. So I could only laugh twice, and then drank tea vigorously with a teacup.

Luckily, Aksara soon returned with dinner and freed the two of us from the awkward atmosphere.

Aksala sat next to Yushchenko and watched him gobble up his dinner. When Yushchenko had eaten about the same, she picked up the napkin on the table and wiped his mouth. At the same time, he said in a pleading tone: "Comrade Captain, can you tell me your battle story?" ”

Yushchenko looked at me with some surprise when he heard Aksara's request, as if asking for my opinion on whether he could tell the young waitress about his combat experience. I knew that Aksara didn't mean anything else, but simply wanted to hear the story of the battle, so I nodded at Yushchenko and said approvingly: "Captain, you can tell her about it." ”

"But what shall I say?" Seeing that I also asked him to tell a story to Aksara, Yushchenko couldn't help but panic a little, "Comrade commander, you also know that I have been by your side throughout the entire Battle of Stalingrad, and you should know what happened. ”

"Then tell me something I don't know." In order to prevent Aksala from pestering me to tell stories, I retreated this burden to Yushchenko and reminded him: "For example, some of the stories that happened on the way to Stalingrad with your troops. ”

Yushchenko's eyebrows furrowed, as if recalling what he had experienced. After a long time, he finally spoke. He said in a heavy tone: "I was ordered to lead my company to Stalingrad to be under the command of Comrade Commander. When we reached the eastern bank of the Volga, there were not enough boats, so I took two fighters and got on a ferry that was almost fully loaded.

As the ship approached the west bank, enemy planes appeared over the ferry. These German robbers not only threw bombs at the ships moored on the docks, but also swooped down towards the most crowded places, and fired wildly at our peaceful inhabitants with their machine guns.

Standing at the bow of the boat, I watched as the woman with the child in her arms, the limping old man, and the residents with their luggage, large and small, all ran down the burning street, through the raging flames, towards the Volga.

Although I have seen too many such scenes since the outbreak of war, and may see more in the future, it is not likely that there will be such a reckless bombing of the population by enemy aircraft. My heart grew heavy with rage, and I even imagined that my rifle could turn into a broom in the hand of a giant, and shoot all the damn planes in the sky.

The boat we were on docked, and before the people on board could get off the boat, the residents who were waiting on the pier swarmed up. An old man covered in blood squeezed in front of me, holding only two children in his hands, one of whom was already dead and the other was still angry, but an arm and leg had been blown off. I suspect that the old man may be the child's grandfather, who is completely mad at the moment. He cursed viciously at the enemy planes in the sky: 'You damned scoundrels. Don't you even want to let go of such a young child? ’

Then he collapsed limply on the deck, and for a moment he cried out: 'My grandson, my grandson! After a while, he hurled a vicious curse at the enemy plane: "You damned scoundrels and executioners, even if I become a ghost, I will continue to curse you." ’

Then. Two stretcher bearers carried an injured woman onto the boat. Fearing that she would be crushed in the crowd, the fighters and I put her in a relatively spacious place in the stern of the boat. I saw that she was dying, and it looked like she was dying, but she was still just holding the baby in her arms, because at the moment the enemy planes were still bombing and strafing the docks......"

When Yushchenko said this, he turned sideways and secretly wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve. And Aksara, who was listening intently to the story next to her, was already crying. In such an atmosphere, I also felt a sour nose. Hurriedly pinched his nose with his hand, lest he couldn't hold back for a while, and tears would burst out of his eyes again.

"Due to the lack of our anti-aircraft firepower, the enemy's air strikes on the pier have not stopped. I remember," Yushchenko continued, in a voice that had changed with emphasis from excitement: "A ferry full of wounded men, shortly after sailing from the shore, hit an enemy plane, and the whole ship was immediately enveloped in smoke and fire. Lying on the deck were the seriously wounded. The wounded, who did not die immediately, crawled on the deck, desperately shouting for help. Painfully a**.

Seeing that the ferry boat transporting the wounded had been hit by a bullet and caught fire, many small boats moored on the shore rowed towards them and rescued the wounded. And the brave hygienists, who put on their own hair and clothes, knew nothing more than to lift the wounded and carefully carry them to the small boats that rushed over. Thank goodness yes. At this time, two of our fighters flew over and bravely fought with German flying bandits, who were several times larger than themselves, after shooting down two and damaging one. Finally drove the enemy aircraft away from the docks on the Volga.

I stopped at the pier and waited for my troops to cross the river. It wasn't until dusk that the ferry, carrying the soldiers of our company, came into view. Just then, the damned enemy plane flew again. A wooden boat full of children who had been evacuated from the kindergarten became a target for enemy aircraft.

After the wooden ship was hit and caught fire, it sank rapidly. Our sappers and sailors on the shore rushed out of their hideouts on the cliffs and rowed their boats towards the sinking wooden boats to rescue the children who had fallen into the water. The damn enemy planes were still circling the sinking wooden boats, firing wildly with their on-board machine guns at the boats that were rowing towards them. In the face of the frantic strafing of the enemy planes, no one flinched, and everyone waved their oars and rowed forward quickly, because no one wanted to see hundreds of children die in front of them.

Seeing the little hands floating on the river stretched out to us, my heart tugged. I saw a woman who might be a kindergarten teacher, jumping from the side of the boat with a child in her arms. Lie on your back on the water and hit the water with your feet, and lift the child out of the water with both hands.

I saw that she was only fifty or sixty meters away from me, so I hurriedly put the rifle in the hands of the soldier next to me, took off the steel armor and military coat that was in the way, jumped into the water with a pop, and quickly swam towards the woman. When I saw that I was only twenty meters away from her, I shouted at her: 'Honey, work harder, work harder.' My dear, I'm here for you! Just as the distance between us had been reduced to less than ten meters, an enemy plane swooped down and a barrage of bullets shot into the river, which happened to hit the woman. The poor woman and the child in her hand sank like stones, and all that remained before me was a stream of water stained red by the blood of the donation. ”

Speaking of this, Yushchenko couldn't control his emotions and roared: "Are they still human? Even such a young child will not be spared. No wonder even Comrade Stalin called them 'fascist beasts'. That's right, they're a bunch of inhuman beasts. ……”

I never imagined that Yushchenko would go through such an unforgettable experience before reporting to my headquarters. Finally, when he finished venting, I sniffed and tried to ask in a flat tone: "Captain, what about later, how many children did our commanders and fighters on the dock rescue?" ”

Hearing my question, Yushchenko's face showed a smile that was more ugly than crying: "After the all-out rescue of our commanders and fighters, 9 of the 312 children and teachers on the ship were successfully rescued, and two of them were teachers. Speaking of this, he involuntarily increased his tone because of his excitement: "But after I joined your independent division, every time you go to the front, I follow you from side to side, because I want to one day be able to personally repay this blood debt from the Germans."

Once, in the place where you went to inspect, there was a group of captured German officers and soldiers. Although they were all bearded, dirty, and their uniforms were tattered, and some of them could not even stand up because of their injuries, a large group of people cowered in a corner, waiting for us to deal with them.

As soon as I saw them, I couldn't help but be angry when I thought of the dead on the docks. I clenched my rifle tightly every time, waiting for your order. Even if you don't speak, even if there is even a hint of a look, I will mercilessly kill all these damned fascist beasts. ”

At this, he looked up at me and said with a resolute face: "Comrade commander, I think I can now understand why you ordered the execution of all the captured German officers and soldiers when you were in the village of Petrishevo. It turns out that you did this out of your infinite love for the people of your motherland and your incomparable hatred for the fascist beast. ”

I smiled at Yushchenko's heartfelt words and did not answer him immediately. Instead, he raised his hand to wipe away the tears on Aksala's face and comforted her, saying, "Akshara, don't be sad, this is war." As long as we have completely defeated the fascist aggressors, such a tragedy will not be repeated. ”

Then I turned my head and said to the emotional Yushchenko: "Comrade Captain, don't worry, there will be more opportunities to teach the Germans in the future." When we return to the army, I will respect your choice whether you will continue to stay with me as a guard battalion commander or go to the lower unit but as a grassroots commander. ”

Hearing my promise, Yushchenko immediately got up from his seat, raised his hand and saluted, and said loudly: "Thank you, thank you, Comrade Commander." Rest assured, I will live up to your expectations. (To be continued......)