When dealing with his comrades, unless he has no choice but to do so, Malashenko rarely puts on the airs of being an official and shows off his authority. Even when he treats the most ordinary little soldiers, he can treat them as close as brothers.
Putting arms around each other and laughing heartily.
Therefore, it is not unusual to encounter comrade brigade commander smoking cigarettes for everyone. It can only increase Malashenko's height in the hearts of the soldiers who already admire comrade brigade commander.
After the circle of smoke dissipated, the soldiers, all with smiles on their faces, quickly connected to the fire and started puffing away, murmuring their sincere gratitude to Malashenko. Give Marashenko first.
Schenko lit the fire, and then Lieutenant Shevayev, who lit his own cigarette, put away the lighter before replying to Malashenko.
"This tank is actually the command vehicle of our company commander, Comrade Brigade Commander. He...the entire crew of the tank was unable to escape. The ammunition exploded too suddenly, and the fire burned through the entire vehicle almost instantly.
We came here to see if there is anything else that can be used as relics, at least to bring them back to their families, and to collect their remains for burial."
Upon hearing this, Malashenko's brows, which were originally calm, immediately jumped twice unconsciously.
This is not to say that Malashenko cannot accept this reality, but that the bad premonition in his heart is subconsciously at work.
"...Have you found the remains?"
With a cigarette between his fingertips, Malashenko quietly asked, his tone still as flat as before, without any hint of emotion.
"Found it, comrade brigade commander, we just tried to get the body out of the tank. It's just... placed in front of the tank, ready to find a place to dig a hole and bury it later."
Too many soldiers who fought to protect their motherland and their homes died on the battlefields where they fought with their blood. But in the end, they couldn't even get a mausoleum to bury their bones and heroes' souls, and some even sacrificed their lives.
It is unclear where he is, and there are no relics left, just like Nikolai, who has been sleeping forever with his life to protect the city.
Similar situations have long been commonplace, and Malashenko no longer knows how many times he has seen the familiar scene with his own eyes.
But the sacrificed soldiers are always worthy of admiration from the bottom of the heart. Now that he is here, it is impossible for Malashenko to just leave without doing anything. That would be too impersonal, Malashenko
From the bottom of my heart, I don’t want to be such a person.
"Go and have a look..."
Malashenko spoke silently, and Lieutenant Shevaev beside him nodded and obeyed the order.
The two of them immediately walked to the front of the wreckage of the tank, and saw a scene that would make anyone who had seen this scene for the first time feel instantly queasy in their stomach.
The four "so-called" bodies, as Second Lieutenant Shevaev said, were neatly placed on the ground directly in front of the tank wreckage.
The reason why it is said to be "so-called" is because the four charred black objects in front of me look dark and do not look human at all. It is really difficult to tell that these are actually four Red Army tank soldiers.
The remains of soldiers.
The violent flames inside the tank can even scorch the steel to an extremely high temperature. For humans who are carbon-based creatures, this has already exceeded the limit that the human body can bear.
The object, which had been burned to a black carbonized color and was only slightly larger than a newborn baby, was indeed the remains of the sacrificed Red Army tank soldiers.
Without saying a word, Malashenko took off the tank cap on his head and held it in his arms. He walked forward and came to the side of the four corpses without any hesitation or avoidance. He squatted down and stared at the bodies in front of him.
of four heroes.
If there is anything on the dark, burnt, non-human-like object that can be linked to humans, Malashenko could only find what should be gums and a few teeth left on it, slightly exposed.
The same color, incompatible with the darkness around them.
Malashenko, who was speechless to describe his state of mind at the moment, lowered his head and remained silent for a few seconds facing the four bodies placed directly in front of him. Then he straightened up on the spot, still holding the tank cap in his left arm.
, resolutely raised his right arm and gave a solemn military salute to the four burned corpses in front of him.
Later war movies and film and television dramas often used various artistic techniques to describe the tragic situation of infantry soldiers dying in battle.
But few people know that the tank soldiers who were exposed to the flames of the explosion that can even burn their bodies to ashes may not even leave a human body if they die in battle.
Like all the heroic Red Army soldiers who defend their home and country, each of them is also the son of his parents, the husband of his wife, and the father of his children. If one person dies, more people will feel unbearable pain.
Dearest relatives! They are countless young people who should have enjoyed the best youthful years of their lives. Their future and destination should not have been like this, and they should not have ended up in such a miserable ending.
Malashenko knew very well that the tragic situation before him could also be his final outcome at any point in the future, but Malashenko never regretted that he had embarked on such a path.
At first, he was just involuntarily drawn into a whirlpool that had nothing to do with him, but now Malashenko has too many things that he is unwilling to let go of and cannot let go of. Some people have things, and even more.
There are responsibilities and trusts entrusted to one's shoulders by those who have died.
"After burying our comrades and comrades-in-arms, one day in the future, we will return here and build a real resting place for them on this land!"
"We will build a magnificent monument, and the comrades workers will use the most exquisite skills and materials! Let our children and future generations know that there was once a group of brave and fearless warriors who fought for the happiness and happiness that they could not enjoy at all.
They sacrificed everything for the future! They deserve to be remembered forever by all those who have red faith!"
When soldiers fighting for the interests of capitalists die, military chaplains who are devout to God will come to pray for them on their deathbed, sending these soldiers who are poor and pitiful people on their last journey. Even among those who are in the wine pool and the meat forest.
In the eyes of capitalists who are dancing and singing wildly, such a human life may not be comparable to that of their own dog that ran away today and got a bad stomach.
But there will always be people who remember that in the pocket of Prokhorovka in the Battle of Kursk in 1943, there was a Soviet tank marshal who had a profound influence on later generations. When he was still young and a colonel and brigade commander, he faced him
The solemn promises made by the soldiers under his command who died on the hell-like battlefield.
Even as time passes and the flags change colors, people staring at the tank caps embossed on the obelisk will always remember how many young soldiers many years ago sacrificed for a happiness and future that they could not enjoy at all.
everything.
No matter when or where, the soldiers who defend the future of their motherland and the people behind them are always worth remembering.
Some people say that forgetting is tantamount to betrayal, but a few years later at the inauguration ceremony of the obelisk, Marshal Malashenko, who brought his former comrades to attend the ceremony, did not say similar words.
He refined everything he wanted to say in his heart into a short sentence, which was engraved on the relief along with the tank cap. Whether good or bad is left to future generations to judge and analyze, and it is also a gift to all the people in the world who want to
Soldiers who fought with great righteousness and fought with red faith and died heroically.