Vasily knew very well that although he had killed more than 400 German officers and soldiers, as well as the German sniper king Konings, there were still snipers with better records than him.
He looked at Lapko and asked tentatively: "Comrade Major, who is the other sniper? Ivansid Salenko, or Nikolai Jakovich Ilyin?"
"It's not them," Lapko said, shaking his head: "This time you are meeting a female sniper."
"Female sniper?!" Vasily asked in surprise: "Isn't Nikolai Jakovich Ilyin a female sniper?"
"It's not her, but another female sniper." Lapko said with a smile: "Comrade Vasily, I can't say too much to you. When you meet the real person, you will know who your new partner is.
.”
Lapko picked up the phone on the table, dialed a number, and said respectfully: "Report to the general, Comrade Vasily is in my office. Do you think you should send him there now, or wait until tomorrow?...Understood.
Understood! I will send him there immediately."
After putting down the phone, Lapko said apologetically: "Comrade Vasily, I know that you are very tired after riding for a whole day and a night, and you should have a good rest. But it can't be done, comrade, now the superiors are eager to take you
I was sent to the front line with another sniper, so I can only wrong you."
"I understand, Comrade Major." Vasily said reasonably: "Since time is pressing, let's set off now."
After the two walked out of the building, Vasily looked left and right to see which car he would take to the General Staff Headquarters next.
Before he could figure it out, he heard Lapko calling him: "Comrade Vasily, what are you still standing there for? Come here quickly, we are almost out of time."
Vasily saw Lapko standing next to a wooden door and ran over quickly. He asked curiously: "Comrade Major, didn't you say we were going to the General Staff Headquarters by car? What are we doing here?"
"Don't talk, just follow me." After saying that, he opened the heavy wooden door and walked in.
Vasily followed Lapko, and after entering the wooden door, he found that this was a long corridor. At the top of the corridor, there was an incandescent lamp every seven or eight meters, so that the corridor would not look too dark.
Seeing this situation, Vasily immediately remembered a legend he had heard before, saying that there were many secret passages underground in Moscow, all of which could lead directly to the Kremlin. At first, he thought it was just a legend, but now it seems that it may be
it is true.
The two came to the end of the corridor and were blocked by two closed wooden doors. However, Rapko seemed to be very familiar with this place. He stretched out his hand and pressed twice on an inconspicuous position on the wall. Vasily, who had a keen hearing,
, and immediately heard the faint bell ringing from the door. It seemed that Lapko had just pressed the doorbell.
Soon, a small window opened on a wooden door, and an officer wearing a blue hat with a large brim poked his head out. He didn't speak, but just looked outside.
Lapko immediately took out his ID and handed it over, saying with a smile: "I was ordered to send this comrade to the General Staff Headquarters. This is our ID."
After the officer took the certificate, he didn't say anything and just closed the small window with a bang.
Although Vasily was full of curiosity about this place, he knew the confidentiality agreement and did not ask about things that should not be asked. Neither of them spoke, and in the empty corridor, they could only hear the sound of their breathing.
Fortunately, before long, there was another sound from the door. One of the two closed doors opened, and the officer just now walked out. He came to Lapko and handed his certificate.
He handed it back to the other party, then stepped aside and made a gesture of invitation, indicating that the two of them could go in.
Vasily walked into the wooden door and saw a guard box on the right side of the door. There were two officers wearing big-brimmed hats sitting inside, looking at him with vigilant eyes. A little further forward, there was a downward direction.
Vasily said nothing and followed Lapko down the stairs.
After walking up the steps, there was another long corridor. Vasily began to wonder in his heart, would there be a closed door at the end of this corridor?
But this time, there was no wooden door at the end of the corridor, but another staircase going down. After walking all the steps this time, Vasily found that he had arrived on the platform of a subway station without even knowing it.
This obviously unfinished subway station was patrolled by many heavily armed soldiers. When they saw two people appearing on the platform, one of the officers came over to check their IDs.
Not long after retrieving the certificate, a locomotive with only one carriage drove in and stopped at the platform.
"Comrade Vasily," Lapko pushed Vasily from behind: "Don't be stunned, get in the car!"
After running for a few minutes, the subway stopped. Lapko stood up and said to Vasily: "Comrade Vasily, we are here, get off the train!"
Coming out of the subway car, Vasily saw a general standing on the platform. There were seven or eight soldiers near him, forming a vague warning formation.
When Lapko saw the general, he quickly stepped forward and raised his hand to salute: "Hello, General Ivanov, I have been ordered to bring Comrade Vasily here."
"Thank you, Major Lapko." General Ivanov stretched out his hand to Lapko: "Your mission has been completed, you can go back to work."
Lapko agreed resoundingly, raised his hand in salute again, turned around and walked back to the carriage.
"Comrade Vasily, let me introduce myself." After Ivanov waited for Lapko to leave, he said to Vasily with a smile: "I am Deputy Chief of General Staff Ivanov, by the name of Chief of General Staff Antonov.
Comrade Husband ordered me to come here to pick you up."
Hearing that the person who came to pick him up was actually the Deputy Chief of Staff, Vasily couldn't help but feel a little flustered: "Comrade General, how dare you bother to pick me up?"
"Let's go, Comrade Vasily." Ivanov said to Vasily in a friendly tone: "The Chief of General Staff must be waiting impatiently."
Just like that, Vasily, who had just gotten off the car, followed Ivanov up the steps, walked through the long corridor, and came underground to the General Staff Headquarters on Frunze Street.
Ivanov took Vasily to a small conference room, had tea brought to him, and then said to him: "Comrade Vasily, you can rest here for a while, and I will go find Comrade Antonov."
But it took more than half an hour for Ivanov to leave. Vasily was the only one in the small conference room, and he couldn't find anyone to talk to.
Fortunately, his long career as a sniper has enabled him to develop a calm character. When he was trying to kill an important target, he lay on the ground for two days and two nights without moving. Now that it had just been half an hour, what was so calm about him?
Can't help being angry.
Just when Vasily closed his eyes to rest, he suddenly heard someone opening the door from outside. He thought it was Antonov, so he opened his eyes, but what he saw was a female officer.
Before Vasily could figure out why a female officer appeared here, the other party had already taken the initiative to ask: "Are you Vasily Zaitsev?"
"Yes, I am Vasily." Vasily heard the other person asking him, stood up quickly, straightened his back and replied: "Hello, Comrade Major."
The female officer walked up to Vasily, stretched out her hand to him, and said enthusiastically: "Hello, Comrade Vasily, please introduce yourself. My name is Lyudmila. From today on, we are partners."
"Partner?!" Vasily repeated the word with confusion, then suddenly remembered a possibility, and asked in surprise: "Major Lyudmila, are you the woman Major Lapko mentioned?
Sniper?"
"Yes, I became a sniper when the battlefield broke out." After answering Vasily's question, Lyudmila asked curiously: "Who is Lapko?"
"It's an officer in the military service office." Vasily shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "I was originally assigned to work in a metallurgical factory in Kuibyshev. Who knew that I just completed the entry formalities yesterday?
But suddenly I received a call from the Military Service Office, telling me to return to Moscow immediately.
No, as soon as I returned to Moscow today, Major Lapko from the Military Service Office told me that my superiors planned to send me and another sniper to the front line to serve as sniper instructors. He only told me that the sniper was a
Lesbian, I didn’t expect it to be you, Comrade Major.”
Lyudmila smiled faintly and said: "Comrade Vasily, I have heard about you. Not only did you kill more than two hundred German officers and soldiers in Stalingrad, you also led a small number of troops to hold on to the famous Vasily Building.
And under the strong attack of the Germans, it held on for two full months until the enemy finally surrendered."
Although Lyudmila had heard of Vasily, Vasily did not know the female sniper in front of him. After waiting for the other party to finish speaking, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Major, can you tell me where you were before?"
Serve?"
"I was a sniper of the 25th Infantry Division. I first fought in Odessa, and then the troops retreated to Sevastopol." Lyudmila saw from her conversation with Vasily that the other party showed
In order to be polite and distant, I realized that he might not know his identity, so I took the initiative to introduce him: "Since the day I joined the army, I have killed 309 enemies, including 36 snipers."
Lyudmila's achievements shocked Vasily. He didn't expect that the weak-looking woman in front of him actually killed so many German soldiers. "That's it. No wonder General Sokov asked you to go there by name."
Be an instructor."
"General Sokov?" Hearing Vasily mention Sokov's name, Lyudmila asked tentatively: "Is it the general who stood firm on Mamayev Hill?"
"Yes, that's him."
As the two of them were saying this, suddenly the door was pushed open from the outside again, and this time it was a general who walked in.
Seeing this person's appearance, Lyudmila quickly stood at attention and raised her hand to salute: "Hello, Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff."
"Hello, Comrade Lyudmila." The visitor extended his hand and shook hands with Lyudmila. Then he looked at Vasily and asked, "Is this Vasily who commanded the troops in the Vasily Building for two months?"
"Yes, Comrade General, that's me."
"I am General Shtemenko, Deputy Chief of General Staff and Chief of Operations." After the person identified himself, he said to Vasily and Lyudmila: "I have called you two here today for an important matter.
The combat mission will be entrusted to you. This evening, I will arrange a plane to fly the two of you to the 53rd Group Army on the Uman front to assist them in training snipers."
Vasily was stunned when he heard what Shtemenko said, and then asked: "Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff, didn't you say that General Sokov asked me to return to the army? Why did he arrange for us to go to the 53rd Army?"
"You are right, Comrade Vasily." Shtemenko nodded and said: "The one who asked you two by name is indeed Comrade Sokov, so I sent you to the 53rd Army. Because now
The commander of the group army is the General Sokov you are familiar with."
After learning that the 53rd Army he was about to go to was the army commanded by Sokov, Vasily became extremely excited. He never dreamed that one day he would be able to return to Sokov's command. However, he still had it in his heart.
There is a question: "Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff, isn't General Sokov the commander of the 27th Army? When did he become the commander of the 53rd Army?"
"Comrade Vasily, you don't know something. Comrade Sokov was wounded and withdrew from the battle last October and was sent to a military hospital in Moscow for treatment. After he left the army, his duties were taken over by others.
After he recovered from his injuries and was discharged from the hospital, he was appointed commander of the 53rd Army by the Supreme Command."
"Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff," Lyudmila asked curiously, "Why did General Sokov name the two of us to go to his place to train snipers?"
"The reason is very simple." Shtemenko pointed at Vasily and said: "He is an old subordinate of General Sokov. Sokov naturally knows what his abilities are. So he should be hired as a sniper.
It’s a reasonable thing to use the instructor’s hand.”
"As for you," Shtemenko organized the vocabulary in his mind and said cautiously: "Maybe Sokov heard about your deeds and thought you were suitable for training snipers, so he named you and Comrade Vasily
Become an instructor."
Although Shtemenko's explanation was very blunt, it sounded somewhat credible. Vasily waited for Shtemenko to finish speaking this time, and then he couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff, can you help me find the answer?"
Do you want to put on a military uniform? I can't just wear military casual clothes and take up my post in the 53rd Group Army."
"Comrade Vasily, what was your military rank when you retired?"
"It's Captain, Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff." Vasily replied loudly.
After listening to this, Shtemenko glanced at Lyudmila who was standing next to him, and began to mutter in his mind: "There are two snipers, one male and one female. The female is a major and the male is a captain. It is too uncoordinated.
Bar?"
"Comrade Vasily," Shtemenko made a bold decision after thinking for a long time: "From now on, you will be promoted to the rank of major and will be responsible for the 53rd Army together with Major Lyudmila.
Train enough snipers."
Vasily never dreamed that after only taking off his military uniform for a few days, he would be promoted two levels in a row, directly from captain to major. He quickly took two steps forward, stood at attention, straightened his body and shouted loudly
Said: "Serve the Soviet Fatherland!"
"Do a good job, Major Vasily." Shtemenko nodded to Vasily and said in an encouraging tone: "I believe that the rank of major is not the pinnacle of your job. As long as you train the students well, I believe you will be able to get it in the future.