This extremely short but fast-paced and efficient counter-assault battle ended with the final victory of the Soviet army. But for Malashenko, who was both the regiment leader and the vehicle commander, there was something worth worrying about.
It's far from over here.
"Kiril! Look at me, hey, look at me, Kirill! Keep breathing, stay awake! Don't faint! Don't close your eyes! Hey, hey!"
After loading the 24th shell, Kirill, who was dizzy and out of breath, finally fell down on his post, hugging the breechblock in front of him like a disabled person who had lost his crutches.
He was about to collapse to the ground.
Fortunately, after the 24th artillery fire, the Germans were the first to retreat. After taking care of the most troublesome task at hand, Malashenko was finally able to spare some time to look after Kirill's situation.
Kirill, who had been carried out of the car by Malashenko and Iushkin, was lying flat on the ground. Although his chest was still rising and falling, it was obvious that he was confused due to insufficient blood oxygen supply due to difficulty breathing.
In a hurry, Iushkin ran to the tank to get a kettle, thinking that Kirill's suffocating state could be improved by just gulping down two sips of water.
Malashenko, who was guarding Kirill in a half-crouched position, kept slapping Kirill's face, harder and harder every time for fear that Kirill would faint and die.
Seeing that Kirill was still breathing poorly while lying on his back, Seryosha, who was watching over him with a try attitude, immediately helped Kirill into his arms and made him sit in a semi-sitting position.
Iushkin, who stumbled over with a kettle in his hand, handed the kettle to Kirill. Perhaps Kirill was really thirsty and stretched out his hand to pick up the kettle with a trembling hand.
Seeing this, Malashenko snatched the kettle from Iushkin's hand without saying a word, unscrewed the spout and handed it directly to Kirill's mouth.
Gudong——
Gudong——
Tons tons tons——
Compared to the suffocating and difficult-to-breath appearance, Kirill, who was drinking a lot of water, looked the same as usual. He was holding the water bottle and pouring it down. It was obvious that he had been drinking water for a long time.
Already very thirsty.
"Drink slowly! Be careful of choking, pay attention to your breathing, keep breathing! Kirill!"
I don’t know if it was the pot of water that really had an effect or if Kirill simply resisted with his own strong will.
All in all, when Kirill drank a full pot of water without even a drop left, his life, which seemed to be in danger just now, has now returned to normal.
"Okay...I'm much better, comrade leader, I'm fine now, I'm fine..."
At least on the surface, Kirill did not lie.
Although the slightly ups and downs of breathing still appeared to be hasty, it was obviously much better than when he couldn't even breathe just now. Even his face, which was originally a little purple from holding back, had basically returned to normal and was much rosy.
"You almost scared everyone in the car to death, Kirill! What happened? Why did you suddenly become like that? You seemed to be fine before."
Iushkin only knew that Kirill's lungs had some problems left over from the last gunshot wound, but he had no idea that the situation would be so serious. The state in which Kirill was almost suffocated just now was indeed a very honest look.
Iushkin was frightened.
"I...I'm fine. It's just that I suddenly couldn't breathe at that moment. Maybe my tongue blocked my throat. Who knows?"
Kirill was still holding on at this moment, but Karachev, a professional who had already heard the news and came over, didn't think so.
"It's up to him whether you have anything to say, Kirill. Now lie down and undergo examination. This is an order."
If it hadn't been for the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, perhaps Kirill, who had just stepped out of school, would still be a good baby who listened to his mother.
But in the army, in this tank with a body of steel, he had to obey the orders of his comrade commander before he could listen to anything else. This was the case at all times.
Malashenko was picked up by Karamov on his front foot, followed by Karamov who came out of the air raid shelter and panicked when he couldn't see the leader.
When he went to the regiment headquarters to report on Malashenko's situation a few days ago, Karachev, who was not too road-crazy, at least wrote down the basic route to the regiment headquarters.
Although I don’t know what kind of courage it took to support the obviously timid Karachev, who braved the fierce air battle above his head and rushed to the regiment headquarters on foot, but all in all, he arrived in time. It was Malashenko’s last
When he is needed to take action.
Kalachev brought many treasures with him from the United States. In addition to the small suitcase full of cigarettes, there are also some basic American-made medical equipment and tools, such as the one he is holding in his hand at this moment.
A stethoscope listening to Kirill's chest.
Hold the receiver with one hand and put the other hand to your mouth in a gesture of asking for silence.
Malashenko, who understood Kalachev's meaning, immediately waved his hand to signal the people around him to quiet down. The quiet atmosphere where you could hear a needle drop was not broken until Kalachev took the initiative to take off the stethoscope from his ear.
"How's it going? How's the situation?"
Malashenko was the first to speak, seemingly eager to ask questions first.
"The respiratory rate is significantly higher than that of normal people, and the lung sounds are noisy and intermittent."
"But in general, Kirill's performance is better than I expected. When I was in college, I had clinical contact with a veteran whose lung lobe was penetrated by a bullet but survived. His condition was much more serious than Kirill's, but still
I just kept holding on and survived."
"Kirill's performance is somewhat similar to that of the veteran, but his breathing rhythm recovers much faster, so I guess it shouldn't be a big problem! After all, the veteran was almost fifty years old at the time, and Kirill was much younger than him.
There’s no reason why your body should recover any worse.”
Malashenko is not a professional medical graduate, and he doesn’t even understand anything related to medicine. When it comes to Kirill’s life and safety, he can only turn to Karachev, a professional.
, but the "possible" answer given by the other party never made Malashenko feel at ease.
"Why are you still doing this at this time? Karachev, if you do this a few more times, Kirill may even die, do you know that?"
Malashenko's tone was a little irritable, but Karachev's tone, which followed him up, was not much better.
Whenever it comes to issues involving human life or his own work, Karachev has always been meticulous and serious and never made any mistakes.