Burning Moscow

Section 19 In the days in Moscow (1)

The plane we took flew in the air for two and a half hours to three hours, arrived in Moscow in the evening, and landed safely in a military airport.

The plane stopped steadily, and after the roar of the engine ceased, the cabin suddenly became silent. I saw the driver open the door of the cockpit and walked out. He came to Zhukov who was sitting in the front window and said: “We are here, Comrade General!” Then he opened the door nose and kicked the door open with a bang. Put down the short iron ladder, straightened up, took a step to the side, and asked Zhukov to get off the plane.

Although no one shouted the password, as Zhukov got up, all the people in the cabin stood up, their hands down, their eyes fixed on him. Zhukov walked to the open door and stood for a while, then walked down the gangway calmly. His adjutant carried a leather bag in one hand, and a gray coat with a green star on the field collar in the other hand, and followed him.

After Zhukov left, everyone immediately got busy, packed their luggage, and filed out of the cabin. I didn’t bring any luggage at all, so there was nothing to pack, and I followed everyone out.

As soon as I walked to the door of the cabin, a damp and cold autumn breeze blowing from my face made me start a cold war. When I got off the gangway, I couldn’t help but shook my head and smiled bitterly. I have been in Moscow for five or six years, and I know that the temperature in this city in October is very low sooner or later, but now I’m wearing a summer combat uniform. It’s only strange that the skirts that are longer than the knees don’t feel cold. Looking at the others, they all wore thick military coats, and they seemed to have come prepared.

Zhukov stood in front of a long black car twenty meters away, shaking hands with a man in military uniform. He was wearing a leather jacket, and his military coat was being held by the adjutant standing behind him. I thought to myself, if he could lend me the coat to wear. Of course, you can only think about it. If you know that others are big shots, how can the future deputy commander pay attention to a small person like me.

Just when I was shivering with the cold, a coat was draped over my body, and my covered shoulders immediately felt warm. Looking back, it turned out that it was Colonel Korolev. He was also wearing a thin summer uniform. It is estimated that he put his military coat on me because I was freezing enough. I wrapped my coat tightly and said to him gratefully: “Thank you, Uncle Pavel.”

In the history that I know, during the war, the commanders of the Leningrad Front Army kept changing like a lantern. On the contrary, the commanders at all levels within the military district rarely changed. If I want to find a stable backer in this era, Korolev is undoubtedly the best candidate. Besides, his daughter and I are still good friends.

I looked around the empty airport. Only two fighter jets were parked in the distance. It should be the plane escorting us to Moscow. The two pilots who got off the plane stood next to the “T”-shaped landing sign and were talking to an officer on duty holding a white flag and a red flag in his hands. Apart from this, there was no one on the airport.

After Zhukov got on the stretch sedan and left, a passenger car drove up to us. After the door was opened, a captain got out of the car. Instead of saluting, he said directly to everyone: “Get in the car, comrades commanders.” Although everyone present except me, everyone has a higher rank than him. , But no one said a word about his almost unreasonable attitude. Since people with high ranks don’t speak, my little lieutenant should just shut up.

The thick curtains were drawn on the bus, and when the lights on the bus were turned off, it was suddenly dark. I found a back seat, sat down and started to close my eyes and rest. I couldn’t see the street scene outside anyway, so I might as well go to bed early. But before I fell asleep, I was still thinking that before leaving the high ground today, the underwear I washed was only half dried, and I don’t know if anyone helped me to dry it, and if anyone helped me collect it after drying. If someone helped, who would this person be? Vice platoon leader Karenina, first squad leader Jeanna, or the lovely Lena.

When the car was awakened by Colonel Korolev, the car had stopped in front of the hotel. This hotel should be directly under the jurisdiction of the military. Except for the sentry on duty at the door, even the attendants inside are also wearing military uniforms.

In the lobby, she was responsible for receiving the female second lieutenant, and arranged the rooms according to our rank and position. The general has a single room for one person, the colonel has a room for two people, and the lieutenant colonel and major have a room for four people. When it was my turn, she obviously felt a little embarrassed. After all, I was the only one. I was divided into a single room. I was not at a level. When I was divided into other rooms, they were all men. After thinking about it for a long time, she decided to put me in the female dormitory of the hotel.

There are four beds in the dormitory. When she led me in, there was a female soldier in the room. She was wearing a white shirt to her upper body and was sitting on the bed reading a book. When she saw us coming in, she immediately stood up and looked at me up and down, probably hesitating whether to salute me. The second lieutenant greeted the other party and said, “Akshala, I brought a commander here. She will stay here temporarily for a few days. You must be responsible for receiving her well.”

The female soldier called Aksala responded in a panic, walked over, trying to help me with my luggage, and found that I was empty-handed, she was slightly shocked, and said to me: “Comrade Commander, please take off your coat. , There is heating in this room.” Then she took the coat I took off and hung it on the coat hook on the wall.

Second Lieutenant said to me again: “My name is Liu Da, you can directly find me if you have anything to do.” Then he saluted me, turned and left, and closed the door.

I saw Aksala standing in front of me feeling helpless, so I smiled and asked her, “Which bed should I sleep?” She looked around, then pointed to the bed near the radiator and said: “Just go to sleep there, sleep warm at night.”

I sat on the bed and didn’t feel sleepy at all, but I felt so hungry. Apart from eating something in the morning, I have been hungry until now. I hesitated again and again, and finally asked Aksala: “My dear, can I find something to eat at this time?”

“No problem.” She answered me very readily: “We are a military institution here. UU Reading www.uukanshu.com has food available 24 hours a day, but it is during the war, so there are fewer varieties. You want to eat. What to order? I’ll bring it for you in the restaurant.”

“Let’s have a box of instant noodles.” I replied without thinking.

“What?! What is it?” Aksala asked in surprise, “Please say it again.”

“Instant noodles.” I think I said it very clearly, but I repeated it again.

“Huh?!” She looked at me blankly.

Is it because my development is not accurate, so I read it again and again: “Best is Labusa.” This time I read very slowly, trying to pronounce every sound to a very standard.

But what I saw on Aksala’s face was still a dazed expression. I’m a little speechless. Isn’t she a Russian and doesn’t understand Russian? I have said so clearly, she still can’t understand? ! But I was patient and spelled the word instant noodles to her letter by letter.

“Instant noodles,” she repeated the word very hard, still with a strange and dazed expression on her face: “I don’t know what it is. There must be none in our restaurant.”

I suddenly came back to my senses, what am I talking about, you must know that instant noodles only came out in 58 years, so why do I always make such common sense mistakes? So he quickly explained to her: “I forgot, this is just a snack in our hometown, Moscow shouldn’t have it. You’d better get me some bread and soup.”

“Okay.” She agreed, put on her military jacket, opened the door and ran out.