Chapter 346

Although I was either fighting or running away, I was exhausted. But lying in a comfortable bed, I couldn't sleep. My mind was always thinking about the German officer who entered the headquarters. What was his purpose? Was he coming to persuade him to surrender? Would Vlasov agree to his terms and let the troops lay down their weapons?

It was not easy to talk about it until dawn. In my sleep, I heard someone mumbling and turning over impatiently. But my hand accidentally touched the wallboard, which made me wake up with a start. I opened my eyes, the sun had risen from the horizon, the sun through the window lit up the whole room. After a brief wash, I plan to take a chance at headquarters to see if I can meet Vlasov. When I went outside, I saw many people walking around in the street, including soldiers on patrol and local villagers.

I came outside the headquarters and saw that there were still two sentinels on duty at the gate, but they were not the two soldiers yesterday. I went over and asked one of the soldiers, "Hello, comrade soldier! May I speak to lieutenant guscip, please I have learned from yesterday's lesson. I can't directly say to find the commander, but to find the superior who is responsible for managing them. Otherwise, I may still be rejected.

The sentry heard that I was looking for lieutenant gusip. He looked at the rank on my badge and immediately said, "Comrade major, please wait a moment. I'll call the lieutenant out right away." Then he turned and entered the room.

In a short time, Lieutenant gusip followed the sentry and came out. As soon as I saw it, I ran over and asked in a low voice, "major Lida, are you looking for the commander?" I nodded and then said, "Comrade commander is still sleeping. Please come back later." I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was just five o'clock in the morning, which was a little early. In order not to embarrass gusip, I didn't ask to see Vlasov now. I just said faintly, "I'll go somewhere else and come back later."

This village is not very big. There are only 40 or 50 families. As in other places, all the young and middle-aged people in the village have joined the army. Only the old, children, women and children are left in the village. Although the rest of the soldiers were still sleeping except for those on guard and patrolling, the industrious farm workers began their busy day again.

Walking, suddenly a little boy in a ragged cap ran across from my right side. Fortunately, I stopped in time, otherwise I would knock the child over. The boy ran into the family yard on the left side of the road and hid behind the door, staring at me with his big clear eyes.

Judging from his clothes, he should be a vagrant child. I laughed at him and took out the dried bread in my pocket to amuse him. As soon as I raised the bread, I suddenly felt that my nose was sour, and then I began to cry for no reason. I feel very strange in my heart, I just want to tease this lovely boy, why is my heart so sour?

An old lady with a scarf stopped beside me and said with regret, "Comrade commander, do you like this child, too? Alas, this child's life is so hard. When he followed his grandmother to escape from Leningrad and came to this village, his grandmother died of illness, leaving only this lonely child. If we hadn't given him something to eat, he would have starved to death. " Then the old lady walked away with a sigh.

Just as I was about to call the child over, I heard lieutenant gusip's voice in the distance: "Comrade major, comrade major. So here you are. I'm looking for you everywhere. "

I couldn't take care of the boy any more, so I went to meet gusip and asked, "Lieutenant, what can I do for you?"

Gusipu came to me with no respect. He said hastily, "Comrade major, the commander wants to see you. Please follow me to the headquarters immediately."

The living room outside the headquarters was where the staff were, while general Vlasov worked in his bedroom. As soon as I entered the room, I was choked by the smoke and coughed violently. Vlasov, who used to be a tall figure, is sitting hunched by the bed, with cigarette ends piled in the ashtray made of tins on the wooden table in front of him.

When he heard me coming in, Vlasov raised his head. There was no blood on his pale face. Maybe he was worried too much. He had a lot of white hair on his head. He looked at least ten years older than before.

I immediately saluted him at attention and said aloud, "Comrade report commander, major oshanina, commander of the 327th division, has come to report to you and is waiting for your order."

He raised his right hand, pressed it down, and then said feebly, "sit down first."

I sat down opposite him. Although I wanted to ask Vlasov a lot, I didn't know how to open my mouth, so I kept silent.

It took a long time for Vlasov to ask, "Rita, do you know where we are now?"

I nodded, did not speak, or continue to remain silent.

Vlasov said to himself: "we are now in a tight encirclement of the German army. The army does not have enough ammunition and food. In this case, regardless of breaking through or sticking to the encirclement, the final result is the same - total annihilation. "

"May I ask you what your plans are? Comrade commander. " I recognized the hidden meaning in his words. He was complaining that our troops had run out of ammunition and food, and there was no way out for them to resist. That's why I asked this sentence by biting my back teeth“ Yesterday, the 38th German army sent a liaison officer. The other side said that as long as we stop resisting, lay down our arms and surrender, we will ensure the personal safety of all our commanders and fighters and give us the proper treatment as prisoners of war. " When I heard this, I was furious. I slapped the table, stood up and said in a loud voice, "Comrade commander, I didn't expect that you wanted to lead your troops to surrender to the German army. What a shame you have done!" Maybe I clapped the table so loud that I startled the people in the room outside. Immediately several staff officers rushed in and asked aloud, "Comrade commander, what's the matter? What's the matter?" Vlasov waved to them and said, "it's none of your business here. Let's go out." After everyone went out, I stood there staring at Vlasov, and Vlasov did not want to be outdone. The two of us faced each other like this, and no one spoke again. After a while, Vlasov sighed and said, "I made an agreement with the German liaison officer yesterday that their troops would come at eight o'clock, and then I would order them to lay down their arms and formally surrender to them." I took a deep breath and said slowly, "as long as I have a breath left, I will never surrender to the Germans." With that, I turned and walked out of his room. As soon as I went out, the busy staff stopped their work and turned their eyes on me. I saw a few rifles on the gun rack in the corner. I went over and grabbed one and held it in my hand. I found lieutenant gusip in the crowd. I went up to him and asked, "Comrade lieutenant, the commander is going to lead the troops to surrender. What's your plan?" When gusip heard me say this, he was stunned for a moment, and then stammered, "according to the regulations, the commander's orders are not allowed to be discussed. Since the commander has decided to surrender to the German army, I will resolutely carry out even the wrong order. "“ You...! " I didn't expect him to answer like this. I snorted heavily and walked out of the headquarters with my rifle. Out of the door, I looked at the direction, and walked south. Heart said, even if I can't find someone to fight with me, I will fight to the end. Unknowingly, I went to the place where I met the little boy just now. I couldn't help looking into the yard on the left side of the road. I didn't see the boy's shadow. I felt a little disappointed. Just then, a timid voice sounded on my right: "Hello!" I turned to see, the boy stood with his back against a house, looking up at me, his face did not show the slightest look of panic. I went up to him, squatted down and looked at the thin boy. He took the bread from his pocket and handed it to him. Instead of taking the dry bread, he asked tentatively, "are you Rita?"“ Yes, I'm Rita I feel very strange. In the village, only Vlasov and gusipu know my nickname. How could the child know it“ Is your name mushdakova oshanina“ Yeah, kid. How do you know my full name? " Now I'm really curious. This child not only knows my nickname, but also my real name and father's name. The boy's eyes suddenly spilled transparent liquid, he began to sob, dirty hands on the face to wipe, leaving a light gray trace. He cried and said, "don't you know me? I'm Alec! Your son alik! Don't you know me? Mom mom! When I heard this word, I felt like I was struck by lightning. My God, this little wandering boy is actually Rita's son alik. It's really amazing. When Alek called me mom again, the softest part of my heart was deeply hurt. I threw my rifle aside, picked up the sad Alec, wiped the tears off his face, and then got up and walked down the street. Anyone who likes to fight in this battle will fight. Anyway, I won't fight. What I want to do now is to get Alek out of here safely, but can I? At this moment, a cry was heard all around: "the Germans are coming up, everyone hurry to enter the position!"