Red Moscow

Vasily knew very well in his heart that although he had killed more than 400 German officers and soldiers, as well as the German sniper king Konings, there were still snipers with better records than himself.

He looked at Lapko and asked tentatively, "Comrade Major, who is the other sniper? Ivansid Salenko, or Nikolai Yakrivich Ilyin?"

"It's not them," Lapko said, shaking his head, "It's a female sniper who met you this time."

"A female sniper?!" Vasily asked back in surprise, "Isn't Nikolay Yakrivich Ilyin a female sniper?"

"It's not her, but another female sniper." Lapko said with a smile: "Comrade Vasily, I can't tell you too much. When you meet the real person, you will know who your new partner is." .”

Lapko picked up the phone on the table, dialed a number, and said respectfully: "Report to the general, Comrade Vasily is in my office. Do you think we should send him there now, or wait until tomorrow?...Understood, Understood! I will send him there immediately."

After putting down the phone, Lapko said apologetically: "Comrade Vasily, I know that you are very tired after a day and a night of driving, and you should take a good rest. But no, comrade, now the higher-ups are in a hurry to send you away." And another sniper sent to the front line, so I can only wrong you."

"I understand, Comrade Major." Vasily said reasonably: "Since time is short, let's set off now."

After the two had left the building, Vasily looked left and right to see what vehicle he was going to take next to the General Staff.

Before he could figure it out, he heard Lapko calling him: "Comrade Vasily, what are you still standing there for? Come here quickly, we are running out of time."

Seeing Lapko standing by a wooden door, Vasily ran over quickly. He asked curiously: "Comrade Major, didn't you say that we are going to the General Staff by car? What are you doing here?"

"Don't talk, just follow me." Saying that, he opened the heavy wooden door and walked in.

Vasily followed behind Lapko, entered the wooden door, and found that this was a long corridor. At the top of the corridor, there was an incandescent lamp every seven or eight meters, so that the corridor would not look too dark.

Seeing this situation, Vasily immediately remembered a legend he heard before, saying that there are many secret passages underground in Moscow, all of which can directly lead to the Kremlin. At first I thought it was just a legend, but now it seems that it might be true.

The two came to the end of the corridor and were blocked by two closed wooden doors. But Lapko seems to be very familiar with this place. He stretched out his hand and pressed twice on an inconspicuous place on the wall. Vasily, who has keen hearing, immediately heard the faint ringing of the bell from the door. It seems that Lapko just now It's ringing the doorbell.

Soon, a small window opened on a wooden door, and an officer wearing a blue hat poked his head out. He didn't speak, but just looked outside.

And Lapko immediately took out his ID and handed it over, and said with a smile: "I was ordered to send this comrade to the General Staff, and this is our ID."

After the officer took the certificate, he didn't say anything, but closed the small window with a bang.

Although Vasily is full of curiosity about this place, he understands the confidentiality treaty and doesn't ask about things that shouldn't be asked. Neither of them spoke, and in the empty corridor, only the sound of their breathing could be heard.

Fortunately, after waiting for a long time, there was another sound from the position of the door, and one of the two originally closed doors opened, and the officer just walked out from inside. He came to Lapko, handed back the certificate to the other party, and then stepped aside, making a gesture of invitation, indicating that the two can go in.

Vasili walked into the wooden door, and saw a sentry box on the right side of the door, and there were two officers wearing big-brimmed hats sitting inside, looking at him with vigilant eyes. After walking a certain distance, it was the downward steps. Vasily followed behind Lapko without saying anything, and went down the steps.

After walking down the steps, there is another long corridor. Vasily began to wonder in his heart, is there a closed door at the end of this corridor?

However, at the end of the corridor this time, there is no wooden door, but another downward step. After walking all the steps this time, Vasily found himself on the platform of a subway station without knowing it.

There are many heavily armed soldiers patrolling this apparently unfinished subway station. Seeing the two people appearing on the platform, one of the officers came over to check their IDs.

Not long after the documents were retrieved, a car with only one carriage drove in and stopped on the platform.

"Comrade Vasily," Lapko pushed him behind Vasily: "Don't be dazed, get in the car!"

After running for a few minutes, the subway stopped. Lapko stood up and said to Vasily: "Comrade Vasily, we are here, get out of the car!"

Walking out of the subway car, Vasily saw a general standing on the platform, and there were seven or eight soldiers around him, vaguely forming a vigilant formation.

When Lapko saw the general, he quickly stepped forward and raised his hand to salute: "Hi, General Ivanov, I have been ordered to bring Comrade Vasily here."

"Thank you, Major Lapko." General Ivanov extended his hand to Lapko: "Your mission has been completed, you can go back to work."

Lapko agreed loudly, raised his hand again to salute, turned and walked back to the carriage.

"Comrade Vasily, let me introduce myself." Ivanov waited for Lapko to leave, and said to Vasily with a smile: "I am Ivanov, deputy chief of the general staff. Comrade husband's order, come here to pick you up."

Hearing that the person who came to pick him up was actually the deputy chief of staff, Vasili couldn't help but feel a little flustered: "Comrade General, how dare you ask you to come pick me up?"

"Let's go, Comrade Vasily." Ivanov said to Vasily in a friendly tone: "The chief of the general staff should be waiting impatiently."

In this way, Vasily, who had just got off the car, followed Ivanov up the steps, through the long corridor, and came from the ground to the General Staff Headquarters on Frunze Street.

Ivanov took Vasily to a small conference room, had someone bring him tea, and then said to him: "Comrade Vasily, you are here to rest for a while, I will go to Comrade Antonov."

But it took Ivanov more than half an hour to leave. Vasily was the only one in the small conference room, and he couldn't find anyone to talk to.

Fortunately, his long career as a sniper has enabled him to develop a calm personality. When I was trying to kill an important target, I used to lie on the ground for two days and two nights without moving. Now that it has been half an hour, there is nothing I can't hold back.

Just as Vasily closed his eyes to rest, he suddenly heard someone open the door from the outside. Thinking it was Antonov coming, he opened his eyes, but what he saw was a female officer.

Before Vasily figured out why there was a female officer here, the other party had already asked, "Excuse me, are you Vasily Zaitsev?"

"Yes, I'm Vasily." Hearing the other person asking himself, Vasily stood up quickly, straightened his back and replied, "Hello, Comrade Major."

The female officer walked up to Vasily, stretched out her hand to him, and said enthusiastically, "Hello, Comrade Vasily, let me introduce myself. My name is Lyudmila. From today onwards, we will be partners."

"Partner?!" After repeating the word with a puzzled face, Vasily suddenly thought of a possibility, and asked in surprise, "Major Lyudmila, are you the woman Major Lapko mentioned?" Sniper?"

"Yes, I became a sniper when the battlefield broke out." Lyudmila asked curiously after answering Vasily's question: "Who is Lapko?"

"It's an officer in the military service office." Vasily shrugged his shoulders, and said rather helplessly: "It was originally arranged for me to major in a metallurgical plant in Kuibyshev. Who knows that I just completed the entry procedures yesterday. But suddenly I received a call from the military service office, telling me to return to Moscow immediately.

No, as soon as I returned to Moscow today, Major Lapko from the military service office told me that the superiors planned to send me and another sniper to the front line as sniper instructors. He only told me that the sniper was a lesbian, but it was you, Comrade Major. "

Lyudmila smiled lightly and said: "Comrade Vasily, I have heard about you. You not only killed more than 200 German officers and soldiers in Stalingrad, but also led a small number of troops to hold on to the famous Vasily Building. And under the strong attack of the Germans, it held for two full months until the enemy finally surrendered."

Although Lyudmila had heard of Vasily, Vasily didn't know the female sniper in front of him. After the other party finished speaking, he tentatively asked: "Comrade major, can you tell me where you were before?" Are you serving?"

"I am a sniper of the 25th Infantry Division. I fought in Odessa first, and then the sleeping troops retreated to Sevastopol." Lyudmila saw Vasily's expression from his conversation. In order to be polite and alienated, he realized that he might not know his identity, so he took the initiative to introduce: "From the day I joined the army, I have killed 309 enemies, including 36 snipers."

Vasily was shocked by Lyudmila's record. He didn't expect that the weak-looking woman in front of him would actually kill so many German soldiers. "So that's the case. No wonder General Sokov asked you to be an instructor by name."

"General Sokov?" Hearing Vasily mentioning Sokov's name, Lyudmila asked tentatively, "Is that the general who stood by Mamayev Post?"

"That's right, it's him."

The two were talking, when suddenly the door was pushed open again, and this time it was a general who walked in.

Seeing this person's appearance, Lyudmila quickly stood at attention and raised her hand to salute him: "Hello, Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff."

"Hello, Comrade Lyudmila." The visitor reached out to shake hands with Lyudmila, and then looked at Vasily and asked, "Is this Vasily who commanded the troops in the Vasily Building for two months?"

"Yes, Comrade General, that's me."

"I am General Shtemenko, Deputy Chief of the General Staff and Minister of Operations," he said to Vasily and Lyudmila after the visitor identified himself, "I have called you two here today because of an important task. The combat mission will be entrusted to you. Tonight, I will arrange a plane to send the two of you to the 53rd Army on the front line of Uman to assist them in training snipers."

When Vasily heard what Shtemenko said, he couldn't help being taken aback, and then asked: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, didn't you say that General Sokov asked me to return to the army? Why did you arrange us to go to the 53rd Army?"

"You're right, Comrade Vasily." Shtemenko nodded and said, "It was indeed Comrade Sokov who called you two, that's why I sent you to the 53rd Army. Because now The commander of the group army is the General Sokov you are familiar with."

After learning that the 53rd Army he was about to go to was the unit commanded by Sokov, Vasily became extremely excited. He never dreamed that one day he would be able to return to Sokov's command. However, there was still a question in his mind: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, isn't General Sokov the commander of the 27th Army? When did he become the commander of the 53rd Army?"

"Comrade Vasily, you do not know that last October Comrade Sokov was withdrawn from combat due to wounds and was sent to a military hospital in Moscow for treatment. After he left the army, he was replaced by someone else. After being discharged from the hospital, he was appointed by the Supreme Command as the commander of the 53rd Army."

"Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff," Lyudmila asked curiously, "Why did General Sokov call us two to train snipers at his place?"

"The reason is very simple." Shtemenko pointed to Vasily and said, "He is General Sokov's old subordinate, and Sokov is naturally aware of his abilities. So he is invited to be a sniper. Hand instructor, is also a reasonable thing."

"As for you," Shtemenko organized the vocabulary in his mind, and said cautiously: "Maybe Sokov heard about your deeds and thought you were suitable for training snipers, so he named you and Comrade Vasily. Go be an instructor."

Although Stemenko's explanation was blunt, it sounded somewhat believable. After waiting for Shtemenko to finish speaking this time, Vasily couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, can you help me find a military uniform? I can't wear civilian clothes. I will take up my post in the 53rd Army."

"Comrade Vasily, what was your military rank when you retired?"

"It's the captain, Comrade Deputy Chief of the General Staff," Vasily replied loudly.

After hearing this, Shtemenko glanced at Lyudmila who was standing next to him, and began to mutter in his heart: "There are two snipers, a man and a woman. The woman is a major and the man is a captain. It's too incongruous." Bar?"

"Comrade Vasily," Shtemenko made a bold decision after thinking for a long time: "From now on, you will be promoted to the rank of major, responsible for serving the 53rd Army together with Major Lyudmila. Train a sufficient number of snipers."

Vasily never dreamed that he would be promoted from captain to major directly after taking off his military uniform for only a few days. He hurriedly stepped forward, stood at attention, straightened his body and said loudly: "Serve the Soviet motherland!"

"Do well, Major Vasily." Shtemenko nodded at Vasily, and said in an encouraging tone: "I believe that the rank of major is not the pinnacle of your job, as long as you train your students well, I believe you will be able to obtain higher rank."