Burning Moscow

Section 20 In the days in Moscow (2)

There is no dream all night.

In the early morning, although no one disturbed me, I still habitually woke up early. I sat up and looked around. The quilts on the other three beds were neatly folded. Aksala was not there, and I was the only one in the room. Lifting the thin quilt covering my body, I rolled over and got out of the bed and went straight to the bathroom. I secretly sighed that it was a hotel for important people. The heating in the room was really enough. Although I was only wearing underwear, I could not feel the bitter cold of Moscow in the morning.

After I finished washing, I came out of the bathroom and saw that there was still no one in the room. I took the military uniform on the bedside and put it on. When I was ready, I went to the dining room for breakfast and then asked Colonel Korolev. , What is our purpose in Moscow? We must know that it is during the war and the situation in Leningrad is still very serious, and so many officers have been transferred to Moscow at once, there must be something important to do.

When she was wearing clothes, Aksala slammed the door open with her back, holding a plate in both hands, and stepped back into the room. Seeing me wearing clothes, she said in surprise: “Comrade Commander, you are already up. I’m just about to call you.”

“Yes, Aksala.” I called her name and responded politely with a smile on my face: “I just got up too, and I am going to the restaurant outside for breakfast.”

“No trouble, Comrade Commander. I’ve brought breakfast for you.” She put the plate in her hand on the table, and I could see that there were two plates of mashed potatoes, four slices of black bread, and one on the tray. A pot of tea and two small crystal glasses, a small plate of sugar cubes, a knife and fork, napkins and so on.

“Thank you dear.”

The breakfast portion is too small. I ate the mashed potatoes on the plate in a few bites, and then I picked up a piece of bread and ate it. The brown bread is not fresh anymore, it feels sour and hard to eat, it is really hard to swallow. I picked up the teapot, poured tea into two glasses, and asked her politely: “How many lumps of sugar do you put in, one or two?”

“Two, I like sweeter.” She was eating mashed potatoes, and when I asked her, she quickly swallowed the food in her mouth and answered me nervously.

I put two cubes of sugar in her cup and stirred it with a small spoon gently. After seeing the sugar completely melted, I handed the cup to her.

“Thank you.” She picked up the cup, raised her head and took a big sip, then buried her head to wipe out the food in front of her.

I took a piece of sugar cube from the saucer, did not put it in the teacup, but held it in my mouth, and then took a sip of tea, leisurely enjoying the sweet feeling of the sugar cube melting in my mouth.

“Comrade Commander.” Aksala called me. “Can I ask you a question?”

I looked at her, smiled and nodded, and said, “Yes, you can ask.”

“Your husband is the man named Oshanin. Where is he now?” Her words reminded me again that I am a married woman now, the one who doesn’t know what he looks like, is called Oshanin. Husband, will always be the focus of attention of people I know around me. I hesitated and felt that this incident could not be avoided completely, so I sighed and said, “He was a captain at the border post. He disappeared shortly after the war broke out.”

After hearing what I said, Aksala glanced at me apologetically and said, “Comrade Commander, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t mention your sadness.”

I gathered a few strands of hair on my side and smiled bitterly: “It’s okay, it’s time of war.” After a pause, I said: “Akshala, can you stop calling me Comrade Commander in the future? Yes? Although my military rank is higher than yours, it still feels awkward to hear you call it in private. You should call my nickname Lida just like other friends. And don’t between us. Then, when you are born, use “you” to call each other.”

“Okay, Lida!” She agreed very simply.

I looked up and suddenly saw the military coat hanging on the wall. The colonel’s collar badge on it was very eye-catching. I just remembered that I came to Moscow empty-handed and didn’t even have a piece of clothing to protect me from the cold. Korolev’s military coat, it doesn’t matter if I wear it temporarily at night, but it would be a bit too arrogant if I wore this uniform to sway the market during the day. So I hesitated, and then asked a little embarrassed: “Aksala, do you have a military coat here?”

“Military coat?!” She was shocked, and then replied: “Yes, of course there are, I have two here.”

I asked her a little embarrassed: “Can you lend me one?” After hearing what I said, she was very surprised and said, “Don’t you have a military coat?”

My face was flushed red, and I murmured to explain to her: “I came to Moscow yesterday because I was walking in a hurry and I didn’t bring any luggage. Although it didn’t snow in Moscow in October, it was already winter, and I was I was still wearing a summer uniform and didn’t keep warm at all. If the unkind uncle colonel lent me his clothes last night, I guess I would have been frozen.”

After hearing what I said, she immediately ran to a closet on the wall, opened the door, took out a gray military coat from the inside, turned to me and said, “This is Yina’s military coat. You can take it. wear.”

I took the army coat in her hand and asked casually: “Lend Ina’s clothes to me, she won’t object.”

“No,” when she said this, her eyes suddenly reddened, “Ina has already sacrificed.”

“Ah?!” I was taken aback, and I felt like asking: “How did she sacrifice?” I feel that it is safe to work in this well-prevented hotel. How can there be casualties?

She choked and said: “A week ago, Ina’s mother was ill. Ina asked for a leave of absence from the political commissar of the hotel and went back to see her mother. When she passed by Gonchamonis Gaya, she died in an air attack. ”

Gonchamonis Gaya, upon hearing this familiar place name, I immediately thought of the seriously injured Katya who died in Leningrad Hospital I promised to bring her information. To her family. Maybe someone from the Civil Affairs Bureau notified her family about the news of her sacrifice, but I have never forgotten that I promised her. Now that I have the opportunity to come to Moscow, if I have some free time, I will definitely go to Ganchamonis Gaya, find her family, and tell her family everything.

“Oh!” She screamed suddenly, shocking me. She pointed to the wall clock on the wall and said: “When I was serving breakfast just now, I met a colonel and he asked me to tell you. Meet at the hotel entrance in ten minutes. Now that twenty-five minutes have passed, you should be late if you don’t go.”

Needless to say, this colonel is Colonel Korolev nine out of ten. He is waiting for me outside. I can’t be late. So I put two military coats on my left hand, talked to Aksala separately, opened the door and walked out quickly.

There were a lot of pedestrians in the corridor outside, and from time to time officers came to meet him. According to the regulations, those with lower ranks should salute the commanders with higher ranks. I secretly sighed that I realized that I was a junior officer only when I arrived in the capital. All of these people have higher ranks than me, so that every time I see a person, I raise my hand to salute him. In this way, on the way to the hotel gate, my right hand kept raising and lowering, mechanically repeating the salute action.

It was easy to come to the door of the hotel and saw the familiar figure of Colonel Korolev standing next to a passenger car. He suddenly felt free from the sea of ​​suffering. He trot a few steps forward and shouted: “Good morning, Uncle Pavel.”

Korolev heard my shouting, turned around and smiled and waved at me: “Lida, good morning! Get in the car quickly, and we will leave right away.”