Yumashev did not immediately agree. Instead, he looked down at khrushev. Seeing that he nodded slightly, he immediately and loudly said to the officer, "that's no use saying. Please bring in the American pilot immediately." As the officer turned to leave, he yelled at the back, "by the way, has the interpreter come?"
The officer stopped and replied with a smile, "of course, the interpreter and the American pilot are waiting outside the door."
"Then what are you doing standing here?" Yumashev waved to the officer with a smile and urged, "hurry up and invite our American guests in."
"Yes The officer agreed with a smile, turned and walked out of the room.
When the U.S. pilot in a brown shaggy jacket and a boat hat appeared at the door, khluliev immediately stood up and headed for the pilot. When I got up, I took a look at the teacup in front of me and took a big drink. I didn't expect the entrance. Yumashev walked around the two men, went to the door and whispered a few words to someone outside. Then I came back and stood beside khrushiev, smiling at his warm embrace with the American pilot.
After the pilot and khrushev separated, the translator introduced the identity of yumashev to him. So he also saluted yumashev and hugged him, which made him very intimate. "My friend, in recognition of your bravery and tenacity in today's air combat, we have decided to award you a medal for bravery," he said triumphantly
After hearing this, the pilot nodded to him with a smile and said politely, "thank you, thank you, sir!"
When he came to me, the translator just wanted to introduce me to him, but he raised his hand to interrupt the translator's words. After a salute, he said in stiff Russian: "Hello, general oshanina, I'm glad to meet you here!"
Although the pilot's Russian sounds awkward, I didn't pay attention to these details. I wonder why he can name me and my rank. When I was at the Alaska airport, I didn't meet him.
When I was puzzled, the American pilot said again: "Sir, you may be very strange, why we have never met before, but as soon as I see you, can I accurately call your name and rank?"
After listening, I nodded and looked at the tall and handsome American man in front of me, hoping to hear his reply.
There was a smile on the pilot's face. Instead of passing the interpreter, he said to me directly in broken Russian, "Sir, my name is Warren. Warren Henry!"
When I heard the name Henry, a familiar name popped into my mind: Victor Henry. Thinking of this, I asked tentatively, "Warren, what's your relationship with colonel Victor Henry?"
"Father," Warren replied faintly“ My father
"So it is!" I was overjoyed to hear that the American pilot who saved his life in front of me was actually the son of Captain Henry, a U.S. naval officer. I quickly took his hand and asked with concern, "have you and Captain Henry not seen each other for a long time?"
"Yes, sir, we haven't seen each other for nearly half a year."
"Thank you for saving us today, lieutenant." When khrushiev heard that the pilot was the son of Colonel Henry, he hurried to our side and said to Warren, "maybe I can ask the comrades who are still in Washington to find a way to give you the holiday of visiting relatives and go home to see your father."
Warren didn't look happy after listening, but said in a smooth voice: "thank you, sir! No, no trouble at all. When thousands of officers and soldiers don't have such a chance, I don't think I can accept such a holiday. Maybe my father will not be happy when he sees me. On the contrary, he will be disappointed because of my selfish attitude. "
"Your father is good. He has a good education for you." Khrushiev came to this conclusion with a smile.
I remember that Henry once said that his two sons, one of whom was a submarine pilot and the other was a carrier based pilot on the Bumblebee, could not help but ask curiously, "Lieutenant Warren, I heard your father say that you were a carrier based pilot on the bumblebee. How did you go to the air force base in Alaska again?"
"Comrade oshanina, I think I can explain this to you." Without waiting for Warren to answer, yumashev interjected: "the Bumblebee was torpedoed by the Japanese in the Santa Cruz naval battle last October, and it has sunk to the bottom of the sea."
"Yes, sir." "During the naval battle, the Bumblebee was struck by three bombs and two torpedoes, while two Japanese planes crashed into the deck," Warren added. As the ship's aviation gasoline depot was ignited, causing a fire, and the bridge and deck were seriously damaged, the engine could not run.
The fleet commander ordered Northampton to take the hornet off the battlefield, but due to technical problems such as broken cables, the towing did not begin until a few hours later. On the way back, the maintenance personnel successfully repaired the engine, but they were also found by the Japanese fleet. The Northampton immediately cut off the cable to avoid the attack of the enemy aircraft. In the following attack, the hornet was hit by another torpedo and two bombs. Although it was unable to move forward due to engine damage again, it never sank.
In order to prevent the hornet from being captured by the Japanese, after the captain gave the order to abandon the ship, the two destroyers received the order to sink the hornet. However, the ship was hit by nine torpedoes and more than 400 five inch shells and still failed to accelerate its sinking.
When our army left the battlefield, the following Japanese fleet sent two destroyers to try to drag the hornet away. But because of the wasp's large displacement, the two Japanese destroyers couldn't move at all, so they sent four torpedoes to the wasp again, making the wasp sink to the bottom of the sea.
Some of us, the Bumblebee pilots, were assigned to other carriers, others to the naval air force, and I was assigned to the Alaskan air force base
Warren had just finished talking about the fate of the Bumblebee when I saw deputy commander frollov at the door with two delicate boxes in his hand. From the appearance, I recognized the box that was specially used to hold medals.
Khrushiev took a box from frollov's hand, opened it, took out a shining medal for bravery from it, and hung it on Warren's uniform. Then he reached out to Warren and congratulated him on his Soviet medal.
Warren and khrushiev shook hands and immediately let go. Then he said in a low voice: "Sir, my companion has a share in this medal. Unfortunately, his whereabouts are unknown now. It seems that he is more or less in danger. Otherwise, he can enjoy the same honor. "
"Don't worry, lieutenant." Looking at the American pilot in front of him, khrushiev said affably, "in addition to this medal, your partner also has a share. By the way, I wanted to tell you something later, but now it's OK. Your companion is not dead. Our sailors have found him at sea and will soon send him here to meet you. "
"What, sir, what did you say?" On hearing the good news, Warren seized khrushiev's arm excitedly, shook it vigorously and asked, "do you think Lieutenant guy is still alive, not dead?"
"Yes, Captain Warren." He said to him with a smile: "our sailors found him on a reef in the sea, but they didn't get hurt. They were freezing. After our sailors carried him to the speedboat, they wiped him with vodka for at least half an hour before he recovered. Don't worry. He'll be here in a little while
Warren nodded, leaned to me and said, "Sir, maybe you don't know. Lt. guy is lucky. As early as in the battle of Midway Island, the hornet took off 15 Avenger torpedo bombers to form a formation to attack the Japanese fleet. Because there were no fighters to escort them, and their fuel was about to run out, they were shot down by Zero Fighters and anti-aircraft fire during the attack, and all the 30 pilots except Lieutenant guy were killed. "
After listening to Warren's words, khrushev and yumashev could not help but feel deeply. They said that the second lieutenant guy was really lucky. He survived the last time he escaped from Midway Island and was shot down by a Japanese plane. I really don't know whether he was lucky or not.
After khrushev and yumashev did not speak, frolov went to ask for instructions: "minister, commander, the remains of two American pilots and the rescued pilot, we plan to transport them back to Alaska tomorrow by transport plane, OK?"
"No problem, general frollov." In front of yumashev, khrushev replied, "find two good coffins, settle the remains of the American pilot, and send the rescued pilot back to Alaska." At this point, he turned to Warren and said, "Lieutenant Warren, I'll have to trouble you to fly back together."
"I don't have any ammunition or fuel on my plane. Can you give me some more?" Warren waited for khrushiev to finish and asked cautiously, "otherwise, I won't be able to come back to the base in Alaska."
"Aviation Ammunition may not be matched, there is no way to supplement it." He was answered by deputy commander florov: "but there's no problem with the fuel. I'll have your plane refueled after maintenance."
"Thank you, thank you, sir." Warren politely thanks frollov.
While everyone was waiting for the chance of lieutenant guy's arrival, I said hello to khrushiev and called Warren aside to talk with him about his family. I asked tentatively, "Warren, is your brother's wife Natalie?"
"Yes, sir." Warren replied positively, and then he told me what he had learned: "Natalie, with her two children and her uncle, wanted to return to the United States via Palestine, but she was detained when she left Italy. Their whereabouts are unknown. According to people familiar with the matter, they may have been sent to the concentration camp. "
"Have you ever heard of the concentration camp of * *" I don't know how much he knows about the death camp, so he asked very politely, "do you know that their safety in the camp can be guaranteed?"
Warren was puzzled by my question. He looked at me blankly and said, "Natalie, they are not prisoners of war, they are just civilians. If there is any crime, it can't be because they are Jews. And her uncle is a famous Jewish writer. I believe that even if he is put in a concentration camp, he will not be embarrassed. "
Seeing that he knew nothing about the concentration camp, I didn't want to add obstacles to him. I could only vaguely say, "if that's the case, it would be better."“ Report There was a familiar voice at the door. I quickly turned to look in the direction of the voice. I saw captain smore, who had sent khrushiev and me to the headquarters, standing at the door. I could see some people standing behind him“ Come in, comrade captain "We've been waiting for you for a long time. Bring our American friends in quickly," frolov said Captain smoley agreed, and with his back against the open door, he waved his head out. Then, I saw two sailors in brimless streamer hats, supporting a man in a Soviet coat“ Dear Lieutenant guy, is that you? " When Warren saw this man, he screamed and quickly stepped forward. At the same time, he said, "do I see you or your ghost?" Lieutenant guy, who was supported by the sailors, said with a bitter smile, "of course it's me. Don't forget, my life is great. Even if you die, God won't accept me." After the embrace of the two comrades who had gone through life and death, khrushiev said to lieutenant guy with a smile, "Mr. lieutenant, in order to thank you for your bravery and tenacity in today's air battle, I have decided to award you and lieutenant Warren a medal for bravery, not only to show your achievements, but also to thank you for saving our lives."