In the evening, the two of them boarded a transport plane bound for Helsing.
On the plane, Lyudmila asked Vasily curiously: "Vasily, why do we have to fly to the small city of Heysin?"
"The army headquarters should be located in Helsing."
Lyudmila is Ukrainian and is naturally more familiar with the geography of Ukraine than Vasily. After listening to Vasily’s words, she couldn’t help but frowned: “So, the next direction of attack of the 53rd Army is Moldavi.
Asia and Romania, and it will be other forces that will liberate Odessa."
"That's for sure, Comrade Lyudmila." Although Vasily didn't understand why Lyudmila said this, he truthfully expressed his true thoughts: "A unit can only be responsible for one direction of attack. Since
The 53rd Army has reached Helsing, and it is most convenient to continue attacking westward."
"What a pity." Lyudmila said with regret: "After the war broke out, I fought in Odessa for two and a half months. When I retreated, I secretly swore that as long as I am alive, I will fight in the counterattack
After we start, I will also become a member of the army that liberates the city."
After listening to Lyudmila's words, Vasily said regretfully: "It is indeed a regrettable thing not to be able to personally participate in the liberation of the city that he evacuated."
Lyudmila became silent at first. She was secretly thinking about whether she could ask General Sokov to join the troops that could liberate Odessa when she arrived at the headquarters of the 53rd Army, so as to fulfill her wish.
A wish.
As a sniper, Vasily was always a taciturn person. Seeing that Lyudmila stopped talking, he began to close his eyes and rest.
The plane landed at a simple airport. Before it came to a complete stop, Vasily saw a jeep starting outside the runway and moving with the plane.
After the two got off the plane, a lieutenant stepped out of the jeep, came to the two of them, and asked politely: "Are these two Major Vasily and Major Lyudmila from Moscow?"
"Yes, it's us." They both replied in unison.
"Hello, two majors!" The lieutenant raised his hand to salute the two men and said loudly: "I am Lieutenant Koshkin of the headquarters security force. I am here to pick you up on the order of Comrade Commander."
After hearing this, Vasily looked at the blue-top military cap worn by Koshkin and smiled: "In the past, the person responsible for protecting General Sokov was Lieutenant Samoylov, and now it is Lieutenant Koshkin, both from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
.”
Koshkin knew about Lieutenant Samoilov. When Vasily mentioned this person, he suddenly felt more favorable towards him. "Lieutenant Samoilov is still in the 27th Army, so now Commander
I am responsible for the safety of my comrades."
"It can be seen," Vasily nodded and said, "General Sokov always keeps his most trusted people by his side."
"The car is ready for you, please get in." Koshkin remembered his mission today, and after chatting with Vasily for a few words, he greeted the two of them to get in the car: "Comrade Commander is still waiting for you.
"
Ten minutes later, the jeep came to a stop outside the headquarters. Koshkin got out of the car first, then came to the back of the car, opened the door for the two of them, and respectfully asked them to get out of the car.
"Comrade Lieutenant," when Koshkin led the two people inside, Lyudmila suddenly asked: "I heard that General Sokov is very young, is it true?"
"Of course it is true, Major Lyudmila." Koshkin said with some pride: "I can tell you responsibly that there will never be a general younger than the commander in our army.
Already."
Koshkin led the two men into the headquarters, passed through the busy communication area, and came to Sokov. After raising his hands in salute, he reported loudly: "Comrade Commander, I have sent Major Vasily
Brought here with Major Lyudmila."
After Sokov thanked Koshkin, he came to the two men.
He first stretched out his hand to Vasily and said with a little excitement in his tone: "Hello, Vasily, I'm glad to see you are still alive."
"Me too, Comrade General." Vasily's face showed an expression of joy.
When Sokov shook hands with Vasily, he pulled him into his arms, gave him a warm hug, and said: "Since you are all still alive, let's live well and see with your own eyes."
Until the day when we capture Berlin and completely defeat the German invaders."
After letting go of Vasily, Sokov came to Lyudmila again, smiled and extended his hand to her, and said in a friendly manner: "Major Lyudmila, on behalf of all the commanders and soldiers of the 53rd Army, I welcome you.
s arrival!"
The moment she saw Sokov, Lyudmila was momentarily absent-minded. She knew that Sokov was very young, but according to her idea, this kind of youth is relative, and he should be at least in his thirties or almost forty years old.
age. But I never dreamed that the other party would be so young, probably about the same age as myself.
Seeing Sokov reaching out to him, he hurriedly took the other person's hand with both hands, shook it gently twice, and said nervously: "Hello, General Sokov, nice to meet you."
After Sokov greeted the two people to sit down, he did not talk around in circles, but said straightforwardly: "I specifically applied to my superiors, hoping that excellent snipers can serve as instructors in our group army and help us train qualified snipers. Superiors
Asked me if I had any suitable candidates, and I recommended you two to my superiors."
Vasily was once Sokov's subordinate, so he naturally wanted to return to Sokov's army as an instructor. Lyudmila, on the other hand, met Sokov for the first time and learned that it was him who took the initiative to report to his superiors.
He asked to be sent here, but he couldn't help but be filled with doubts.
"Comrade General," since she has not officially become a sniper instructor at this moment, Lyudmila did not call Sokov commander, but continued to call him general: "I want to ask, how could you think of letting me
Come and serve as this instructor?"
"The reason is very simple, Major Lyudmila." Sokov explained to Lyudmila: "I have read reports about you and know your situation. If you had not withdrawn prematurely because of injuries,
On the battlefield, the number of enemies killed was definitely more than just 309."
Sokov remembers seeing the ranking of the top ten snipers in later generations. The first one was Finnish sniper Simon Haye, who killed a total of 542 Soviet soldiers during the Soviet-Finnish War. The second place was the Soviet Union
Ivansid Salenko, who killed more than 500 German soldiers; the third was a female Soviet sniper, Nikolai Jakovich Ilyin, who killed 494 enemies before she died.
.Vasily ranked fourth, with more than 400 kills.
Lyudmila ranked seventh, having killed 309 enemies. If she had not left the battlefield prematurely due to injuries, she would have definitely killed more than 400 enemies. In this way, she
The ranking will rise.
After Lyudmila recovered from her injury, she applied to her superiors, hoping to return to the front line and continue to serve as a sniper, but her request was ignored by her superiors. Later, she was selected as a member of the youth delegation and went to the United States.
The visit is a unique way to persuade the United States to open a second battlefield as soon as possible.
"Comrade General," Lyudmila hesitated and asked the question she was most concerned about: "After I serve as a sniper instructor, in addition to teaching students, can I personally go to the battlefield?"
"Of course." Sokov replied without hesitation: "But for your safety, I still don't recommend that you two go to the battlefield in person."
"Why?" Vasily asked his own question.
"Both of you have won the Gold Star Medal and the honorary title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Your status is completely different from before." Sokov said with a serious expression: "Therefore, it is very necessary to ensure your life safety."
"Comrade General, your statement is wrong." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Lyudmila retorted: "Just because we have won the Gold Star Medal, we cannot not be allowed to go to the battlefield. As far as I know, there are
Many commanders who died on the battlefield also received many medals."
"Comrade Lyudmila, I want to ask you a question."
"Excuse me, Comrade General."
"If I let you go to the battlefield and only perform your best, how many enemies do you think you can kill with your sniper skills?"
Lyudmila calculated in her mind, and then replied: "I don't think we can kill hundreds of enemies in a year."
"Okay, even if you can kill a hundred enemies in one year, you can only kill more than 200 enemies in two years." Sokov knew that the war would be over in more than a year, even if Lyudmila was allowed to perform her best.
No matter how good you are, you can only kill one or two hundred enemies at best. Five hundred enemies will be enough to support you. "Am I right?"
"Yes, Comrade General." Lyudmila nodded and said, "If you give me two years, I should be able to kill another two hundred enemies."
"Comrade Lyudmila, let me settle an account for you." Sokov waited for Lyudmila to finish speaking, then continued: "For example, if you train ten snipers, each of them can kill every year.
Twenty enemies. How many enemies can be destroyed in one year?"
"Two hundred people!" Lyudmila replied without thinking.
"If there are fifty snipers, how many people can be killed in a year?"
"One thousand people!" Lyudmila quickly calculated the answer.
"Comrade Major, I think you have understood by now that no matter how strong a person's ability is, he cannot compare with the collective." Sokov said sternly: "No matter how good your marksmanship is, the number of enemies you can destroy is limited. But.
If you train a group of excellent snipers, no matter how poor their skills are, the number of enemies they will kill in a year will be a shocking number. Do you understand what I mean?"
Sokov had analyzed the problem so clearly that Lyudmila didn't understand anything. She nodded and said, "I understand, Comrade General."
"Now that you understand, then feel free to be a sniper instructor." Sokov looked at Lyudmila and said in an encouraging tone: "I hope you can bring one hundred, or even two hundred, to the 53rd Army.
You are an excellent sniper, and you will be indispensable for the results they achieve."
After finishing Lyudmila, Sokov turned to Vasily and asked: "What about you, Vasily? Are you like Lyudmila, thinking about returning to the battlefield and fighting the enemy with real swords and guns?
?”
Vasily's answer was beyond Sokov's expectation. He waved his hand and said: "Comrade Commander, I think it's better to forget it. Not only did I lose the vision in one eye, but my reaction now is not as good as before.
Otherwise, I would not have readily agreed to retire a few days ago. Because I know very well that in my current state, even if I return to the front line as a sniper, I may not be able to achieve the same brilliant results as before. So I decided to obey you.
Arrangements are made for An An to be a sniper instructor and teach more qualified snipers."
"It's getting late, you go and rest first. As for your specific work, I will arrange it for you tomorrow." After saying that, Sokov called Koshkin and told him: "Lieutenant Koshkin, you
Let’s take Vasily and Lyudmila to rest first.”
Just after seeing off Vasily and Lyudmila, a staff officer came in and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, Colonel Yakov is here."
"Yasha is here?!" Sokov has been waiting for the supplies delivered by Yakov since the troops occupied Jeplik and successfully crossed the South Bug River. At this moment, he heard that the other party was coming and grabbed the staff officer
, asked excitedly: "Where is he?"
"We're already outside the door. You'll be able to come in soon."
As soon as the staff officer finished speaking, Yakov appeared in the headquarters. Still far away, he shouted at Sokov: "Misha, can you get me and my subordinates some food? We will start at noon.
Until now, we haven’t eaten anything and we are all starving.”
"Don't worry, Yasha, how can I make you hungry? I will arrange manpower to prepare dinner for you." Sokov called the staff officer who reported the news and told him: "Comrade staff, hurry up and prepare dinner for you."
Colonel Yakov brings us some food..."
Before Sokov could finish speaking, Yakov shouted from the side: "And my subordinates, they haven't eaten for most of the day, and they are so hungry that their chests are touching their backs."
"In addition to preparing food for Colonel Yakov, we also send people to deliver some food to the comrades in the hovercraft unit. We must not let others work hard all day and not even have dinner."
The kitchen that provides meals for the headquarters is always ready with hot food. Within five minutes of leaving, the staff officer came in with bread and hot soup. When he put the items in the tray on the table,
He also took the initiative to say to Yakov: "Colonel Yakov, the comrades in the kitchen have sent food to your subordinates. Don't worry, they will never be hungry."
While Yakov was eating, Sokov read the list of supplies the other party gave him, sighed softly, and said: "Yasha, I'm afraid you need to help us make a few more trips so that every soldier can
Be able to have your own weapons."
"Misha, what's going on?" I heard Sokov say: "Aren't the weapons and ammunition I brought enough for you to arm all the commanders and combatants?"
"Two days ago, we rescued commanders and fighters who were imprisoned in open-pit mines by the enemy. There are about 10,000 soldiers ready to be incorporated into the army." Sokov explained to Yakov: "In addition to weapons and equipment, there are also
A large number of people are in poor health due to long-term torture by the Germans and are in urgent need of medicine to treat their bodies."
When Yakov heard Sokov asked him to make two more trips, he felt quite uncomfortable. After he figured out what was going on, he nodded and said: "Okay, Misha. Wait for your subordinates to take care of it."
After the supplies on the ship are unloaded, we will return to Kursk at noon tomorrow and continue to transport supplies for you."