Red Moscow

In the evening, the two boarded a transport plane to Haixin.

On the plane, Lyudmila asked Vasily curiously: "Vassily, why are we flying to the small city of Hessing?"

"It should be that the headquarters of the group army is located in Haixin."

Lyudmila is a Ukrainian, so she is more familiar with the geography of Ukraine than Vasily. After listening to Vasily, she couldn't help frowning: "So, the next attack direction of the 53rd Army is Moldavian. Asia and Romania, and Odessa will be liberated by other troops."

"That's for sure, Comrade Lyudmila." Although Vasily did not understand why Lyudmila said this, he still stated his true thoughts truthfully: "A unit can only be responsible for one direction of attack. The 53rd Army has reached Haixin, and it is most convenient to continue to attack westward."

"It's such a pity." Lyudmila said with a look of regret: "After the war broke out, I fought in Odessa for two and a half months. When I retreated, I secretly swore that as long as I was alive, I would fight back. When it starts, I will also be part of the army that liberates the city."

After listening to Lyudmila, Vasily said regretfully: "It is indeed a pity that I could not personally participate in the liberation of the city I evacuated."

Lyudmila began to remain silent. She was secretly thinking about whether she could ask General Sokov to go to the army that could liberate Odessa after arriving at the headquarters of the 53rd Army Group, so as to fulfill her wish. a wish.

As a sniper, Vasily was originally a taciturn person. Seeing that Lyudmila had stopped talking, he began to close his eyes and rest.

The plane landed at a crude airport, and before it came to a complete stop, Vasily saw a jeep start off the runway, moving with the plane.

After the two got off the plane, a lieutenant stepped out of the jeep and came to them, and asked politely: "Major Vasily and Major Lyudmila from Moscow?"

"Yes, it's us." The two replied in unison.

"Hello, two majors!" The lieutenant raised his hand to salute the two, and then said loudly, "I am Lieutenant Koshkin of the security force of the headquarters. I am here to pick you up on the order of Comrade Commander."

After hearing this, Vasily looked at the blue cap worn by Koshkin and smiled: "In the past, it was Lieutenant Samoilov who was responsible for protecting General Sokov, and now it is Lieutenant Koshkin, both from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. .”

Koshkin knew Lieutenant Samoilov, and when he heard Vasily mentioning this person, he immediately liked him two points more, "Lieutenant Samoilov is still in the 27th Army, so now the commander I am responsible for the safety of comrades.”

"It can be seen," Vasily nodded and said, "General Sokov has always kept his most trusted people by his side."

"The car is ready for you, please get in the car." Koshkin remembered his mission today, and after chatting with Vasily, he greeted them to get in the car: "Comrade Commander is still waiting for you. "

Ten minutes later, the jeep stopped outside the headquarters. Koshkin got out of the car first, then came to the back of the car, opened the door for the two, and asked them to get out of the car respectfully.

"Comrade Lieutenant," Lyudmila suddenly asked when Koshkin led the two inside, "I heard that General Sokov is very young, is it true?"

"Of course it is true, Major Lyudmila." Koshkin said somewhat proudly: "I can tell you responsibly that there is no other general in our army who is younger than the commander. gone."

Koshkin led the two into the headquarters, passed through the busy communication area, came to Sokov, raised his hands in salute, and reported loudly: "Comrade Commander, I have sent Major Vasily and Major Lyudmila brought over."

After thanking Koshkin, Sokov came to the two of them.

He first extended his hand to Vasily, and said with a slightly excited tone: "Hello, Vasily, I am glad to see that you are still alive."

"Me too, Comrade General." Vasili had a joyful expression on his face.

When Sokov shook hands with Vasily, he pulled him into his arms hard, then gave him a warm hug, and said in his mouth: "Since you are still alive, let's live well and see with your own eyes. Until the day when we capture Berlin and completely defeat the German invaders."

After releasing Vasily, Sokov came to Lyudmila again, extended his hand to her with a smile, and said in a friendly manner: "Major Lyudmila, on behalf of all commanders and fighters of the 53rd Army, I welcome you." s arrival!"

The moment she saw Sokov, Lyudmila lost her mind for a moment. She knew that Sokov was very young, but according to her thinking, this kind of youth is relative, at least he should be in his 30s or 40s age. But I never dreamed that the other party would be so young, and should be about the same age as myself.

Seeing Sokov reaching out to him, he hurriedly held the other's hand with both hands, shook it slightly, and said nervously, "Hello, General Sokov, nice to meet you."

After calling the two to sit down, Sokov didn't go around in circles, but said bluntly: "I specifically applied to my superiors, hoping to have excellent snipers to serve as instructors in our army and help us train qualified snipers. Superiors Ask me if I have a suitable candidate, and I recommend you two to my superiors."

Vasily was once one of Sokov's subordinates, so he naturally wished for him to be able to return to Sokov's troops as an instructor. Lyudmila saw Sokov for the first time, and she was full of doubts when she learned that he had asked his superiors to send her over.

"Comrade General," Lyudmila did not call Sokov the commander, but continued to call him the general, since he has not officially become a sniper instructor at this moment: "I want to ask, how did you think of letting me Come to serve as this instructor?"

"The reason is very simple, Major Lyudmila." Sokov explained to Lyudmila: "I have read the reports about you and know your situation. If you did not withdraw prematurely due to injury On the battlefield, the number of enemies killed is definitely more than just 309."

Sokov remembers seeing the ranking of the top ten snipers in later generations. The Finnish sniper Simon Heye ranked first. During the Soviet-Finnish War, he killed a total of 542 Soviet troops. The second was Ivan Sid Salenko of the Soviet Union, who killed more than 500 German soldiers; Killed 494 enemies. Vasily ranked fourth with more than 400 kills.

And Lyudmila ranked seventh, killing 309 enemies. If she hadn't left the battlefield prematurely due to injuries, she would definitely have killed more than 400 enemies. In doing so, her ranking will rise.

After recovering from her injury, Lyudmila once applied to her superiors, hoping to return to the front line and continue to serve as a sniper, but her request was directly ignored by her superiors. Later, she was selected as a member of the youth delegation to visit the United States, in a unique way, to lobby the United States to open a second battlefield as soon as possible.

"Comrade General," Lyudmila hesitated for a moment, and asked a question that he was most concerned about: "After I become a sniper instructor, besides teaching students, can I personally go to the battlefield?"

"Of course." Sokov replied without thinking, "But for your safety, I still don't recommend that you two go to the battlefield in person."

"Why?" Vasily asked his own question.

"Both of you have won the Gold Star Medal and the honorary title of Hero of the Soviet Union, and your identities are quite different from before." Sokov said with a serious expression: "Therefore, it is very necessary to ensure the safety of your lives."

"Comrade General, what you say is wrong." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Lyudmila retorted: "We cannot be prevented from going to the battlefield just because we have won the Gold Star medal. As far as I know, there are Many commanders who died on the battlefield have also won many medals."

"Comrade Lyudmila, I want to ask you a question."

"Excuse me, Comrade General."

"If I let you go to the battlefield and only play, how many enemies do you think you can kill with your sniper level?"

Lyudmila calculated silently in her heart, and then replied: "I think it is possible to kill hundreds of enemies in a year."

"Okay, even if you can kill one hundred enemies a year, you can only kill more than two hundred enemies in two years." Sokov knew that the war would end in more than a year, even if Lyudmila played well No matter how good it is, at best, it can only kill one or two hundred enemies, and five hundred enemies are as good as the sky. "Am I right?"

"Yes, Comrade General." Lyudmila nodded and said, "If you give me two years, I should be able to kill another two hundred enemies."

"Comrade Lyudmila, let me settle an account for you." Sokov waited for Lyudmila to finish speaking, and continued: "For example, if you have trained ten snipers, each of them can kill Twenty enemies. How many enemies can be eliminated in a year?"

"Two hundred!" Lyudmila replied without thinking.

"If there are fifty snipers, how many people can be eliminated in a year?"

"A thousand people!" Lyudmila quickly figured out the answer.

"Comrade Major, I think you already understand that no matter how powerful a single person is, he cannot compare with a group." Sukov said solemnly: "No matter how good your marksmanship is, the number of enemies you can destroy is limited. But If you cultivate a group of excellent snipers, no matter how poor their level is, the number of enemies eliminated in a year will be an astonishing number. Do you understand what I mean?"

Sokov had already analyzed the problem so clearly, why did Lyudmila not understand, she nodded and said, "I understand, Comrade General."

"Now that you understand, let's be a sniper instructor with peace of mind." Sokov looked at Lyudmila and said in an encouraging tone, "I hope you can bring a hundred, or even two hundred, to the 53rd Army." You are an excellent sniper, and the results they will achieve at that time will not be without your credit."

After finishing Lyudmila, Sokov turned to Vasily and asked, "What about you, Vasily? Are you also like Lyudmila, thinking of returning to the battlefield and fighting the enemy with real knives and guns?" ?”

Unexpectedly, Vasily's answer was beyond Sokov's expectation. He waved his hand and said, "Comrade Commander, I think it's better to forget it. Not only did I lose sight in one eye, but my reaction is not as good as before. Otherwise, I would not have readily agreed to retire from the army a few days ago. Because I know very well in my heart that even if I return to the front line as a sniper in my current state, I am afraid I will not be able to achieve as brilliant a record as before. So I decided to obey you Arrange, An An will be a sniper instructor with peace of mind, and teach more qualified snipers."

"It's getting late, you go to rest first. As for your specific tasks, I will arrange for you tomorrow." After finishing speaking, Sokov called Koshkin and told him: "Lieutenant Koshkin, you Take Vasily and Lyudmila to rest first."

As soon as Vasily and Lyudmila had been sent off, a staff officer came in and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, Colonel Yakov is here."

"Yasha is here?!" Sokov has been waiting for the supplies delivered by Yakov since his troops captured Japlik and successfully crossed the Nanbug River. Hearing that the other party is coming, he grabbed the staff officer , asked excitedly: "Where is he?"

"It's already outside the door, and you can come in soon."

As soon as the staff officer finished speaking, Yakov appeared in the headquarters. Still far away, he yelled at Sokov: "Misha, can you get me and my subordinates something to eat? We haven't eaten anything since noon, and everyone is starving." gone."

"Don't worry, Yasha, how can I make you hungry. I will arrange manpower to prepare dinner for you." Sokov called the staff officer who reported the news and told him: "Comrade staff, hurry up Colonel Yakov, get something to eat..."

Before Sokov finished speaking, Yakov yelled from the side: "And my subordinates, they haven't eaten for most of the day, and they are so hungry that their chests are pressed against their backs."

"In addition to preparing food for Colonel Yakov, and sending someone to deliver some food to the comrades of the hovercraft unit, we must not let others have a hard day and can't even eat dinner."

The kitchen, which feeds the headquarters, is always ready with hot food. The staff officer came in with bread and hot soup less than five minutes after he left. When he put the things in the tray on the table, he also took the initiative to say to Yakov: "Colonel Yakov, the comrades in the kitchen have already sent food to your subordinates. Don't worry, there will never be food." Make them hungry."

While Yakov was eating, Sokov finished reading the list of supplies given to him by the other party, sighed softly, and said, "Yasha, I'm afraid you still need to run a few times for us, so that every soldier can To have a weapon of my own."

"Misha, what's going on?" Sokov heard Sokov say, "Aren't the weapons and ammunition I brought in enough for you to arm all your commanders and fighters?"

"We rescued the commanders and fighters who were imprisoned in the open pit by the enemy two days ago, and there are about 10,000 soldiers who are going to be incorporated into the army." Sokov explained to Yakov: "In addition to weapons and equipment, there are also A large number of people are in poor health due to long-term torture by the Germans, and urgently need medicine to cure their bodies."

When Yakov heard that Sokov asked him to run two more times, he felt quite uncomfortable. After he figured out what was going on, he nodded and said, "Okay, Misha. Wait for your subordinates to tell you what happened. After the materials on the ship are unloaded, we will return to Kursk at noon tomorrow and continue to transport materials for you."