Feeling the cold wind blowing past my ears, I was silent for a long time, looking at the bonfire that was jumping and rolling in front of me, a sudden word broke the tranquility at this moment.
"Comrade Captain, will you... feel afraid and frightened in today's battle?"
He did not answer immediately but turned his head to look in the direction of the sound. What appeared in Malashenko's field of vision immediately after was the crew of the only two T34 tanks in his company.
One of the captains.
Looking at this tank commander who was only about 24 or 25 years old and who looked more like a singer and dancer than a veteran soldier, Malashenko thought for a moment and then looked at him with determination in his eyes.
He answered slowly.
"If I remember correctly, your name should be Iushkin, right? The second lieutenant commander of the No. 208 T34 tank."
I was slightly surprised and doubly surprised when I heard Malashenko accurately pronounce his name. You must know that the young Iushkin and his crew were only caught by the enemy when they started preparing for the attack last night.
The superiors temporarily transferred him to Malashenko's command.
The second lieutenant, who had just experienced a brutal life-and-death battle in the day's battle, had no idea that Malashenko, who was two ranks higher than him, could accurately call his temporary subordinate by name.
In his excitement, he straightened up from the lawn with one hand on the ground and raised his hand in salute. A joyful feeling of being recognized immediately arose in the heart of the young Lieutenant Iushkin.
"Comrade Captain, Iushkin, the second lieutenant commander of car No. 208, is reporting to you. I wish you good health!"
Looking at the excited and extremely excited young lieutenant in front of me, I recalled that I had once been like Lieutenant Iushkin and felt extremely excited under the recognition of the unit leaders whether intentionally or unintentionally. I couldn't help but sigh in my heart.
Malashenko, who had undergone a wonderful transformation, then gently waved his hand downwards at Iushkin.
"Sit down, Second Lieutenant Iushkin. There are no superiors or superiors tonight. We are all good brothers on the same line of life and death!"
Some simple but sincere words with true feelings boosted the morale and atmosphere of the surrounding area that was originally in a sluggish state. As Second Lieutenant Iushkin sat on the floor again, the words had already reached his lips.
Malashenko, who had prepared relevant answers, immediately spoke again.
"Brothers, just now Lieutenant Iushkin asked me if I was scared during today's daytime battle. I will leave this question in suspense for now, and I also want to ask everyone. Do all of you here dare to stand up with your chests patted?
I said that I didn’t feel scared at all during today’s daytime battle. If so, I can stand up and let everyone know my brave self.”
As Malashenko's words filled the ears of everyone present, the Red Army soldiers who were looking at each other in silence kept saying "You look at me, I look at you," and even a full minute passed.
Even if one person dares to take the initiative to stand up and admit his fearlessness as Malashenko requires.
When the cruel and fierce armored strangulation progressed to this point, any surviving Red Army soldier who once boasted of his bravery no longer had the "fearlessness" of the "ignorant" situation at that time.
The screaming Stuka Death fell from the sky and spread death to every corner of the battlefield. The roaring 88 gun was like a combine harvester, slaughtering one Soviet tank after another. The ammunition exploded accompanied by the turret.
The former comrades who soared into the sky and even their bodies disappeared in the flames completely disappeared, which made all the surviving Soviet tank crew members present extremely vividly feel that death was so close to them.
After looking around and seeing that no one stood up to answer his words, Malashenko, realizing that his goal had been achieved, immediately straightened up and began to tell the tank crews around him what he had already prepared in his heart.
Discourse.
"Comrades and brothers, what I want to tell you here today is that after experiencing so many cruel and fierce battles, in fact, each of us has some feelings in our hearts because of calming down after the war.
More or less fear and fear. Even me, your commander, Captain Malashenko, is no exception."
"These fears and fears originate from the fear of death that each of us has, especially after we have witnessed with our own eyes the extremely fragile lives of our former comrades disappearing in the explosion of tanks. This fear and
The fear becomes more real."
After finishing his sentence, he paused for a moment, and then began to switch his tone to a more firm tone. Malashenko then began to lead the topic to the whole.
"But because of this, there is one more thing I want to emphasize to everyone! That is that the fear and fear in our hearts come from human beings' instinct to fear death and the desire to survive, and are not against the German Nazi invaders themselves.
of fear!"
"These hateful Nazi invaders burned our houses, trampled on our homes, completely shattered everything that each of us once valued, trampled under their feet, ravaged and plundered wantonly, just to make us Red Army soldiers
Be afraid of them! In an attempt to force us to consciously lay down our weapons and raise our hands in surrender, in an attempt to package these abominable invaders into a terrifying existence that is as invincible as death through hypocritical appearance!"
The increasingly excited words were like a shot of stimulant, making Malashenko's body no longer able to hold it in. Malashenko stood up from the grass and immediately waved his fist to say the last bold words in his mouth.
blurted out.
"But fortunately, our Red Army soldiers are Soviet soldiers supported by firm beliefs. The content of the oath sworn under the party's flag is not just empty talk! For our motherland, for our relatives, and for our homeland
!Because some things are worth protecting with our lives! Comrades!"
At Malashenko's loud words that resounded in the night sky, they were all stunned. Their immature and smoky faces were reflected red by the bonfire jumping. Never had they heard such ambitious and inspiring words.
The words of people's hearts, even during Commissar Petrov's pre-war mobilization, these voices were never heard that could resound into the heart.
"While pear blossoms are blooming all over the world, soft gauze floats on the river. Katyusha stands on the steep bank, singing like the bright spring light."
In the dark night, I don’t know if it was the soldier sitting around the campfire who started this whisper. Soon, almost all the Red Army soldiers sitting around the campfire began to hum along with the melodious melody of the accordion.
Sing this heartfelt song.
"The girl is singing beautiful songs, she is singing about the eagle on the grassland; she is singing about her beloved, and she is also hiding her lover's letters. She is singing about her beloved, and she is also hiding her lover's letters...