It was only during dinner that Malashenko sat at the dining table and learned from Natalia, who seemed to have endless words to say to him...
It turned out that Natalia had gone to Stalingrad with the song and dance troupe not long ago, and performed on the front lines to cheer up the morale of the Red Army soldiers who fought bravely in desperate situations.
Judging from the time point Natalia recalled, it happened to be when she left Stalingrad on the order of Comrade Lao Zhu and went to the northern suburbs to form the newly established 1st Guards Heavy Tank Brigade.
The beautiful daughter-in-law passed by.
At that time, the situation in Stalingrad had not yet been reversed, and the Sixth Army was still trying its best to intensify its final offensive on the main city. At one point, it was almost able to penetrate the Red Army's defense line and reach the Volga River.
The condolence performance of the Red Flag Song and Dance Troupe unit of which Natalia belongs can be said to have been performed on a battlefield where artillery fire was still raging during the day.
"Comrade Leonid took us across the river at night. It was a small cargo boat. Everyone on the boat could see corpses floating on the river, and even burning wooden boards. We saw the river in the distance and even
It was burning, lighting up half of the night sky. It was not until later that I realized that it was the floating fuel oil that ignited after the oil ship was sunk by the Germans on the river."
After hearing this, Malashenko didn't care about the details that Natalya described that he had already witnessed with his own eyes.
What made the unhappy Malashenko feel a little angry was that he was fighting on the front line and even risked his life. Why did his fiancée also follow him to the front line?
Almost all human beings have a selfish side. In many cases, it’s not that they don’t exist, they just haven’t been discovered yet.
Even in the context of this special era that shines with the glory of communism, Malashenko asked himself that he was still a person qualified to enjoy privileges. With the illustrious military exploits piled up with the heads and corpses of Germans at his feet, why should he?
Can’t enjoy privileges?!
What specific privileges are they?
Malashenko only hopes that Natalia can have a peaceful life in the stable homeland that he has guarded with his life, and that she can have enough food and clothing, and have no worries about food and clothing. Just such a privilege is enough.
"Tomorrow...tomorrow I will go to Lubyanka to ask Malokov. I want to know who gave the damn order for you to go to Stalingrad! It's not enough for me to fight my whole life on the front line, why even
My love, you want to go to a place like that and risk your life!?"
Natalia couldn't remember too many scenes of Malashenko getting angry in her good memories. She even forgot the last time Malashenko got angry when they were together.
Natalia, who was slightly panicked, didn't understand why her lover suddenly got angry, and just wanted to clarify the facts quickly so that everything could be settled as soon as possible.
"I went there on my own initiative, dear, not at anyone else's request."
"I really want to see you with my own eyes, just to make sure you're okay."
"Comrade Leonid persuaded me. He said that with your status, it is not suitable and should not let me go. I am a family member of a hero who needs to be protected and taken care of."
"But in the end I insisted on going, and they couldn't persuade or stop me."
"When I actually went to Stalingrad, I found that everything was completely different from what I imagined."
"The land there is burning, the city is in ruins, and just breathing the air there makes many lesbians vomit."
"The soldiers looked at us with very tired but energetic eyes. The performance was carried out in a ruins. Everyone said that they could see hope and the hope of victory in the eyes of the soldiers. Our performance went very well.
It went well, we sang folk songs, performed popular group dances, and sang the soldiers’ favorite military songs!”
"Seeing their smiles, I think it all makes sense! My dear! Isn't this a good thing that we have done what we can?"
Looking at Natalia's eyes full of hope and longing for affirmation, Malashenko, who was still slicing the meat on the plate with a knife in his hand, stopped. Natalia undoubtedly asked a question to Malashenko.
This is the most difficult question for Rashenko to answer.
It had been a long time since the bleak cold wind blew through the closed window. Malashenko, who was sitting at the dining table and looking up at the stars in the dark night sky, finally spoke slowly.
"I don't object to you doing what you like, Natalia, but from now on, I hope you can go to the front line as little as possible, including condolence performances."
"Those Nazi fascists were cruel and ferocious, doing heinous things in the concentration camps that could bring hell to the world. I don't ask for much, I just hope that you can be at the rear
Be safe and sound, that's all I ask, that's all."
The short dinner was over, and Malashenko, who had half-full stomach, felt no hunger. Compared with everything he had endured in Stalingrad, the physical sensation was just a piece of cake.
Malashenko, who was worried about something, smoked for a long time on the balcony of the corridor, until the cigarette butts at his feet could be placed in a circle on the small dinner plate.
When Natalia walked behind Malashenko with the windbreaker that Malashenko had casually left on the bed, she gently stood on tiptoes and put it on her lover's back.
After the speechless Malashenko sighed softly, he took Natalia's hand and took his lover into his arms. He gently lowered his head and felt the soft short hair floating in the wind.
Malashenko took a breath and still didn't want to give the slightest chance of that terrible thing happening.
"Don't try to find me on the front line again. Everything I do is for you, so that you can live safely under this silent sky without being disturbed and destroyed by the flames of war."
"I will definitely do what I promised you, just like when we were kids."
"Even if there are mountains of corpses and hell of blood, I will crawl out of the puddle of blood alive and come back to you. The Germans can't build a weapon that can kill me. Look at this. This is what I'm saying."
Prove that this is the highest honor that can be obtained with the heads of those Nazi lackeys."
The mutual emotions were so close that Natalia, who was still in her arms, raised her head and saw the proof that Malashenko mentioned at a glance. It was a star-shaped medal reflecting the bright golden light in the moonlight.
.
Natalia didn't reply, she just touched the star-shaped medal that shone with golden light as if she were touching her lover's face.
Natalia, who had witnessed the hellish scene on earth with her own eyes, was no longer the little girl guarding her little world and her inner wishes. She knew the meaning behind this bright medal.
The lovers nestled by the balcony window never spoke a word again. This moment of tranquility and togetherness was truly hard-won and worth cherishing every second of slowly passing time in life.
To remember the warm temperature that we knew we could be separated at any time during the war, but no one wanted to mention or face each other again.