Arc of Gunfire

At 2330 hours on July 30, on the outskirts of Shepetovka.

A sudden shout came from the darkness: "Stop, don't move!"

Immediately afterwards, someone actually stood up, and the person shouted: "I am a worker from the Shepetovka Textile Factory, and I am here to contact you on behalf of the workers' factory protection team!"

The sentry stood up and turned on the flashlight. In the light, an old worker raised his hand to cover his eyes.

The sentry turned off the flashlight and shouted to the back: "Go quickly and inform the platoon leader - no, inform the company commander that an old worker is here!"

The old man hurried a few steps and came to the sentry: "Young man, judging from your accent, you are from Veshensk, right? Do you know Alyosha?"

"There are many people named Alyosha," the sentry laughed. "The nickname of our front army commander is also Alyosha. Which Alyosha are you talking about?"

"Alyosha from Veshensk!" The old worker grabbed the sentry's hand. "He was still a private when he left. He was about the same age as you. Do you know him?"

The sentry shook his head: "Old man, in the past two years, many of us have been injured and recuperated and returned to the front line. We are constantly being incorporated into different units. Sometimes the old units are eliminated, and sometimes the old units are mobilized to far away places. Fa Zai joined.

"Perhaps when we left, we were all in the regiment formed by the Vishensk people, but now we have long been dispersed to the entire army."

In fact, the sentry did not tell the most cruel possibility: that Alyosha, like thousands of Alyoshas, ​​had turned into a group of cranes and flown into the distance.

The old worker gritted his teeth and changed the subject: "You're right, kid, let's get down to business. Why don't you go into the city yet? All the Plosen people in the city ran away. At first, they went to Agsuco. The husband ran away and headed north. Now the whole Shepetovka is empty! "

Sentinel: "We stopped to rest. After all, we have been fighting for a month continuously and are unkempt. Today the Chief of Staff issued new military uniforms. Tomorrow everyone will enter the city cleanly."

Old worker: "Why do you care about this? You stopped outside the city, and everyone was surprised! After a day of waiting, rumors spread all over the sky, saying that the Plosans spread the plague, so they stopped outside the city! We spent a lot of time It took the boss’s efforts to suppress the rumors!”

Just as the sentry was about to answer, he heard someone shouting in the distance: "The company commander and battalion commander are here, and so are the chaplains accompanying the army!"

In the distance, a group of people came over with flashlights.

The battalion's chaplain stepped forward and held the old worker's hand: "Old man, were you not troubled by the Proscenians on the way here?"

"There are no more Prossens! Why don't you send a liaison team into the city!" The old man immediately complained, "At least send a priest in! Before the Prossins retreated, they were burning and killing everywhere. We are protecting the factory. The team made great sacrifices to stop them. Many people are still alive today, and they just want to take a last look at the decent priest! "

Priest: "Sorry, our field hospital hasn't arrived yet, and the health workers have just replenished the medicines. I will mobilize all the health workers and field medical clinics from the entire battalion to go to the city overnight."

The old man held the priest's hand: "That's good, that's good! By the way, Mr. Priest, your accent is from Veshensk, right?"

"No, I am a native of Agsukov, just like General Rokossov," said the priest.

"That's it." The old man lowered his gaze, "I'm old and I heard wrong. I'm sorry."

Priest: "What happened to Veshensk? If you are looking for someone, I can help you check."

"Alyosha of Veshensk, no, Alexei Vasilyevich Luptsev is my grandson. He joined the army in August 914 and retreated with the army."

The priest nodded: "Okay, I will go and check it out."

Old man: "Even if he was killed in battle, please tell me where he was killed so that I can go see him when the war is over."

At this time, a powerful voice came from the distance: "Old man, don't be too sad. Maybe he turned into a group of cranes and flew into the distance with other warriors."

Everyone looked around and saw a larger group of people coming from a distance. Perhaps for concealment, these people did not turn on their flashlights.

The leader was wearing the new military uniform that had just been adopted, with a long row of stars on the new shoulder straps.

The battalion commander reacted first: "General Rokossov!"

Everyone tensed up all of a sudden. The soldiers and officers all stood at attention, held their heads high and saluted the general.

Ant's gaze gesture requires him to raise his chin and point his nostrils to the sky, which makes him look particularly powerful.

General Rokossov walked all the way to the old man: "Old man, I want to tell you the truth. Your grandson is most likely buried somewhere in the motherland.

"In the past two years or so, we have made huge sacrifices, and even my closest adjutant was killed in battle. He was a young man who had just become a father and had never seen a child!

“After the war is over, we will build a monument in the square of Yebao, and in the middle of the base of the monument, we will light an eternal fire.

"I have thought about the inscription, 'No one knows your names, but your achievements will last forever.'"

Tears welled up from the old man's eyes: "General, my grandson's name is Alexei Vasilyevich Luptsev, and he is my daughter's first child."

General Rokossov: "I will remember it, and I assure you that unless the news of his death is indeed obtained, the Missing Soldiers Committee will not stop looking for his whereabouts for a moment."

The old man nodded repeatedly: "Okay, you are the reincarnation of Kutuzov and Ant's hero."

General Rokossov patted the old man on the shoulder, and then ordered: "Send the old man to my command car to rest, and send a liaison team into the city immediately. First arrange the funeral of the soldiers who died defending the city, and provide assistance to the wounded."

Old man: "I can take you back, I am familiar with the road! I have led the guerrillas countless times in the past two years, and have never been caught by the Proson patrol!"

General Rokossov smiled: "Old man, the Proson people have been defeated, there are no patrols, and the liaison team can go in through the main road."

"Oh! Look at my head, I am old and confused!"

General Rokossov nodded and handed the old man to the sergeant behind him: "Take the old man into my command car to rest."

The sergeant immediately helped the old man up with his strong hands and took him back.

As the old man walked, he looked back and watched General Rokossov walk up the earth slope where the secret sentry was hidden, looking towards Shepetovka sleeping in the night.

The old man suddenly said: "I thought the general was almost sixty years old, but it turns out that he is about the same age as my grandson!"

The sergeant laughed: "Yes, when the war just started, the general was still a little kid, but now he has become an old man."

The old worker turned his head and looked at the sergeant: "Are you familiar with the general?"

"I am his personal guard. In the past, I should have been a baron, a baron knight or something. Now, I am just a senior sergeant."

The old man was about to speak when he saw a huge tank lying in the darkness in front of him. Several tank soldiers were painting it with new camouflage.

Someone climbed up the rack and hung a red flag on the tank's antenna.

The old worker suddenly said: "Wait a minute! That flag! Is there anything on the flag?"

Sergeant Major: "Yes, that was the flag that the textile workers gave to the general when he left Shepetovka! He has been carrying it with him for so many years. Whenever he was about to go into battle, he would hang the flag on the tank's antenna."

The old worker stopped and couldn't help covering his mouth, crying: "Oh my God, my old friends, did you see it? The general has been carrying that flag! Misha, Protov! Did you see it? Our flag has been accompanying the general in battle!"

The old man stepped forward He took a step, lay down beside the tank, and beat the tank's skirt with his hands: "Did you see it? The general changed to a new tank and commanded the front army. He also flew the flag we made for him!"

The tank driver next to him temporarily stopped painting: "Tomorrow, the general will be the first to enter Shepetovka with this flag! The general will liberate Shepetovka with his own hands!"

"One day in the future," another voice said, "the general will drive this flag and rush into Proshenya with a tank."

The old man was a little surprised, because the voice just now was a female voice, and it was a very young girl's voice.

Although young, it was full of vicissitudes, like a rock.

He looked up and saw a little girl in a maid outfit standing on the tank, holding the antenna with her hand, and the red flag on the antenna fluttering above her head.

The sergeant introduced: "This is the general's personal maid, Ms. Nellie. Ms. Nellie, the general ordered to take this old man to his command car to rest."