Red Moscow

"Ah, the casualties of the troops are so high?" Although Sokov had already told Karina that the battle to defend Stalingrad was extremely brutal. The soldiers who entered the city had a survival time of 24 hours, and the officers only had 72 hours. But she did not have a deep understanding of this. It was not until Sokov introduced the situation of the two troops that she said with shock: "Even the division commander suffered several casualties."

"Yes, Karina." Sokov said with a wry smile: "I think if I say this, you can have a profound understanding of the tragedy of the Battle of Stalingrad." He glanced at Lena and continued He said, "If you think about it, division commanders cannot escape the fate of being injured or even sacrificed. So it is self-evident how serious the casualties will be to the grassroots commanders and combatants."

"So, it is really possible that Lena's two sons were blown to pieces by the enemy's artillery fire during the battle." Karina said: "It is precisely because of this that they could not be found after the war. corpse."

"That's right." Sokov nodded and continued: "I also know a general named Lyudnikov. He was the commander of the 138th Infantry Division at the time. The troops he commanded stood at the barricade factory..."

"I know, I know." Before Sokov could finish speaking, Karina rushed to say: "The barricade factory held by General Lyudnikov's troops is located on the bank of the Volga River. In the battle report we read, Known as 'Lyudnikov's Island', the enemy launched numerous attacks here and even occupied most of the factory area. However, due to General Lyudnikov's stubborn resistance, they were never able to occupy the entire factory. "

"Yes, Lyudnikov's troops did a good job in the barricade factory." Sokov continued: "He once told me that his men suffered too many casualties. In order to prevent the remains of these soldiers from dying after they died, After being blown to pieces by the enemy's artillery fire, he specially organized the manpower to dig three large pits and bury the remains of the soldiers, with no less than a thousand commanders and soldiers buried in each pit."

"Oh my God," Karina covered her mouth and said with shock: "There are thousands of people buried in one pit, and there are not more than 3,000 people buried in those three pits. If you estimate it more pessimistically, There may be more than four thousand people."

Sokov agreed very much with Karina's statement. Lyudnikov said that there were thousands of commanders and fighters buried in each pit, but one thousand and one was thousands, and one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine There are still thousands of people. Therefore, Karina said that it is entirely possible that the remains of commanders and fighters buried in the three pits may exceed 4,000. "After the battle, Lyudnikov asked his superiors for instructions on whether to exhume the remains of the commanders and fighters buried in the Thousand Man Grave and rebury them elsewhere."

Karina knew that Sokov would not talk about this matter without reason, so she asked tentatively: "Have the remains of the buried commanders and fighters been moved to other cemeteries?"

“Of the original three pits, only one was found in the end.” Sokov said: “Lyudnikov personally led people to dig there for a week, but he was still unable to find the other two pits.”

“Where did the other two pits go?”

“I don’t know,” Sokov replied simply: “Lyudnikov Island has been bombarded by too many artillery shells. Presumably these large graves where martyrs are buried have been destroyed by artillery fire.”

"This is unlikely." Karina said tentatively: "Maybe General Lyudnikov remembered the wrong location."

"How is this possible," Sokov said: "General Lyudnikov personally selected the location for digging the pit. No matter how much the terrain changes, he cannot remember the location wrong. There is another thing, you may not We know that during the Battle of Borodino, the grave of Bagration, the great commander, who was buried on the highlands, was also destroyed by German artillery fire, and his bones were lifted out of the grave by the blast of air. Land on high ground.”

“Ah, there is such a thing.” Karina said in surprise: “Then why have I never heard of it?”

"This kind of thing has a great impact on the morale and morale of the troops." Sokov explained: "The superiors avoided talking about this matter in order to prevent it from shaking the morale of the troops and affecting morale."

After chatting for a few more words, Sokov said to Karina: "Karina, I have a general understanding of Lena's situation. Look, should we go to the civil affairs department to get an explanation for her? "

Lena, who was sitting next to her silently, heard Sokov say this, reached out and grabbed his arm, and said excitedly: "Comrade commander, do you really want to help me go to the civil affairs department to ask for an explanation?"

"Yes, Lena." Sokov raised his hand and patted the back of the other person's hand, and said: "We are going to the civil affairs department now. I must help you seek justice. I will never watch a martyr. Bleeding on the battlefield while their loved ones weep behind the scenes.”

Karina originally expressed doubts about Sokov's attitude, but after hearing what he said to Lena, she confirmed that he really wanted to help Lena solve the problem, so she helped Lena stand up and said to Sokov : "Let's go, Misha, let's go to the civil affairs department now."

The two of them helped Lena downstairs. Lyuda, who was sitting in the duty room, came out and asked curiously: "Where are you going?"

“Let’s go to the civil affairs department.” Karina said: “General Sokov said he wanted to help Lena get an explanation.”

"Great, this is really great." Liuda obviously also knew about the affairs of Lena's family. When he learned that Sokov was going to help Lena seek an explanation, he said emotionally: "This should have been done a long time ago. "

"Karina," Sokov felt that it would be difficult for Lena to walk a long distance in her current condition, so he asked Karina with some embarrassment: "In Lena's situation, it may not be convenient to go to the civil affairs department. "

“There is a wheelchair in my duty room. It belongs to Uncle Platon on the second floor.” Liuda said, “Just use the wheelchair to push Lena to the civil affairs department.”

After the two helped Lena get into the wheelchair, Sokov pushed her to the civil affairs department.

After walking along the street for a while, Karina suddenly felt that it seemed a bit inappropriate for a general to push an old lady's wheelchair, so she took the initiative and said: "Misha, I'd better push it."

"It doesn't matter." Sokov shook his head and rejected Karina's kindness: "I'll push it. I walk faster, so that we can get to the civil affairs department early and solve Lena's matter as soon as possible."

When the three of them arrived at the door of the Civil Affairs Bureau, the elderly guard said to Karina: "Karina, did you bring Lena to see the director again?"

"Yes, Uncle Bahadur." Karina nodded and asked, "Is your director here?"

"Yes, he is." The doorman known as Bahadur nodded repeatedly and said, "He is in his office, but I advise you not to see him." "I understand what you mean." Carrie Na said: "We have come so many times, and every time he sends us away with just a few words. Today's situation is different. If he doesn't give a clear explanation, I will never leave his office."

After hearing what Karina said, Bahadur shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Karina, I know you are a good girl, but even if you want to help, you can't help with this kind of thing. I advise you to still Go back early."

"I brought someone here today. If the director sees him, he will definitely agree to give Lena a satisfactory answer."

"Who is it?" Bahadur, who was sitting, stood up quickly after hearing what Karina said, trying to see clearly who was pushing the wheelchair today. When he saw Sokov clearly standing behind Lena, his eyes widened in surprise: "Oh my God! Karina, where did you find a general?"

"Uncle Bahadur, don't worry about where I got it from." Karina said with a smile: "Tell me, if I take this general to see the director, what kind of answer will he give me? ?”

After Bahadur looked Sokov up and down, a puzzled expression appeared on his face. Although the officer in front of him was wearing the uniform of a general, he was a bit too young. Thinking of this, he pulled Karina aside and asked in a low voice: "Karina, tell me the truth. Is this so-called general an actor you hired from the crew?"

Although Bahadur's voice was very low, Sokov could still hear what he said clearly and couldn't help laughing. Then he said to Bahadur: "Uncle Bahadur, you think I look like an actor, right?"

Now that Sokov had heard what he said, Bahadur did not hide it. He turned around and came to Sokov, nodded first, and then said in a worried tone: "Young man, I know you are a You mean well, but if you pretend to be a general to see the director, if your identity is discovered, I'm afraid it will cause you unnecessary trouble. I think you should go back to the set as soon as possible before anything happens."

"Uncle Bahadur, look what you are talking about." Karina hurriedly came over to introduce Bahadur: "This is General Sokov from Moscow. He is very familiar with the two directors of the crew and will meet him from time to time. Go to the set. Today they are filming in our municipal building, where I met General Sokov."

Karina has already said this, but Bahadur is still dubious. After all, this is the first time he has seen a young general like Sokov. However, he knew Karina’s purpose, so he no longer stopped her. He just reminded Karina: “Karina, I remind you, you must never do this kind of thing falsely, otherwise no one will be responsible for anything that goes wrong. Take this responsibility.”

"Don't worry, Uncle Bahadur." Karina pushed Bahadur aside, then signaled Sokov to push Lena's wheelchair in, and said to Bahadur: "If something goes wrong, I will I will be responsible and I will never involve you, so don’t worry now.”

In this way, the three of them entered the building of the Civil Affairs Bureau. Subsequently, Sokov came to the door of the director's office under the guidance of Karina.

Vladimir is a small city, and the director of the Civil Affairs Bureau is not high in rank, only equivalent to a section chief in the Moscow Civil Affairs Bureau, so there was no secretary blocking the way at the door of his office, and the three of them were able to reach the door of the office smoothly.

Just when Karina was about to raise her hand to knock on the door, Sokov suddenly felt a little urgent to urinate. Maybe he drank too much soup just now, so he said apologetically to Karina: "Karina, you know where the bathroom is. Place?"

“Go forward along the corridor.” Karina was very familiar with the environment here. She pointed forward and said to Sokov: “Turn right and you will see it.”

 After Sokov hurriedly left, Karina raised her hand and knocked on the door. Soon, a voice came from the room: "Please come in!"

Karina opened the door, pushed Lena's wheelchair in, and said to a bald middle-aged man sitting busy behind a desk: "Hello, Comrade Director! We are here to see you again!"

"Karina," seeing Karina and Lena appear in front of him, the bald director said impatiently: "Why are you here again? I have told you many times that Lena's two sons are not here." The bodies were found, so it was impossible to issue pensions as per martyrs.”

In the face of the director's dissatisfaction, Karina still said in a humble tone: "Comrade Director, I came today because I heard from a commander who participated in the battle to defend Stalingrad that the war there was tragic and many commanders and soldiers died. , their bodies were destroyed by artillery and aircraft bombings. I think the reason why the bodies of Lena’s two sons could not be found is probably the same reason.”

“Karina, where is the commander you mentioned now?” the director looked up at Karina and asked.

“He went to the bathroom,” Karina said. “It only takes a few minutes and he will be in front of you.”

"In that case, let's wait until he comes and then we can continue discussing this issue." After saying that, the director lowered his head and browsed the documents in front of him.

Carina put her hands on Lena's shoulders, leaned close to her ear and whispered: "Lena, don't worry, General Sokov will be here soon."

Lena didn’t speak, she just nodded vigorously to show that she understood.

 A few minutes later, Sokov appeared at the door. Out of politeness, he raised his hand and knocked on the open door. When the director raised his head, he smiled at the other party, then walked to the wheelchair and said to Karina and Lena, "I'm here!"

When the director saw Sokov's appearance, he was startled at first. Just as he was about to stand up, he suddenly remembered that a movie was being filmed in the city recently. He immediately contacted the young general in front of him and the crew of the film. Together. He sat up straight and asked with a straight face: "Comrade, are you an actor in the crew that came a few days ago? Tell me, did Karina invite you here?"

When he was at the door, Bahadur, the guard uncle, thought he was an actor; now that he saw the director, he thought he was the actor invited by Karina. He felt that if this misunderstanding was not eliminated first, then today's matter would not be discussed.

Sokov took out his military ID card from his pocket, walked over and placed it in front of the director, and then said: "Comrade Director, this is my military ID card. Please look at it carefully to see if it is real or forged."

The director picked up the military ID card placed on the table and opened it casually. After he saw clearly what was inside, his mouth became O-shaped and he didn't close it for a long time. He was a little stupid. The man in front of him was actually a real general, not an actor. He stood up in a hurry and stammered: "I'm sorry, General... Comrade General, I... I really don't know you are a real general. If there was any offense just now, please... Comrade General, forgive me..."