Steel Soviet Union

"You still have the nerve to accuse me? Don't you also come out so late at night and smoke alone?"

Malashenko, who was speechless for a moment, paused for a moment with the cigarette he had just lit in his mouth. In the end, he did not give any decent reply to Lavrinenko, and continued to look back and just smoke a cigarette of unknown flavor. Smoky.

Seeing this scene, Lavrinenko did not say anything more on the spot. He reached out to light a cigarette for Malashenko and then lit one for himself. To be honest, Lavrinenko's craving for cigarettes is much smaller than that of Malashenko on weekdays. It would take him three days to finish a pack without giving cigarettes to others, but tonight's situation was obviously a little unusual.

"I just received a letter today that Lilia is pregnant."

"Huh? Pregnant?"

Hearing Lavrinenko's sudden words next to him, he couldn't help but feel a little dazed. It took Malashenko a long time to recover, and then he realized what Lavrinenko was referring to.

"Did you take a vacation before? Why didn't I know that?"

The best thing to do to get your wife pregnant is to be there in person and do it personally. Otherwise, Malashenko can think of a new term called Soviet Laowang.

Lavrinenko, who didn't understand Malashenko's underlying joke and had a cigarette in his hand, nodded with a smile.

"Well, two days after you returned to Moscow on vacation, I applied to go back. I reported it to Comrade Political Commissar at that time. Because the army was resting and recuperating at the time, nothing major happened, so the approval process went smoothly. Comrade Political Commissar didn't tell you later? ?”

"Well"

Being asked such a sudden question by Lavrinenko, Malashenko couldn't help but couldn't answer for a while.

Malashenko really doesn’t dare to vouch for the fact that Commissar Petrov didn’t mention this to him, because it’s been too long and Malashenko really can’t remember it, but now, Malashenko can do whatever he wants. No matter what Co thought, he just couldn't recall a single trace. In the end, he could only think that Petrov, the political commissar, mentioned this matter to him.

"Okay, I remembered. How many months pregnant is Lilia?"

"Have you done well in math? Of course it's been seven months."

""

After thinking about it carefully, he found that his question seemed a bit too retarded. Malashenko scratched the back of his head to relieve the embarrassment and quickly restarted and changed the topic.

"Have you decided what to name the child?"

Lavrinenko shook his head.

"Not yet. I'm not good at naming things. I'd better leave it to Lilia to think about it herself."

After hearing this answer, Malashenko nodded slightly and turned around to continue smoking. Malashenko, who just thought it was nothing just now, suddenly remembered something. Lavrinenko was going to have a son. Doesn't that mean that his great-grandson and his best friend Rosov has also taken a step forward?

Malashenko, who was holding a cigarette in his left hand and stroking his chin beard with his right hand, thought about it the more he thought about it. If he was lucky enough to live long enough for Lavrinenko's grandson to give birth to a son, he would have to fight for his own name. Okay, just thinking about it makes me feel excited.

"What are you giggling about? Malashenko."

Malashenko, who had fallen into the mode of obscenity, suddenly came to his senses after being shouted out by Lavrinenko. Malashenko, who was still filled with endless aftertaste, could only smile slightly awkwardly.

"It's nothing, it's a trivial matter. But I would like to remind you, be careful not to die on the battlefield, otherwise you will not be able to see your precious son."

After being teased so tastelessly by Malashenko, he smiled slightly at first, but after thinking about it carefully, Lavrinenko felt that something was wrong, and then kept asking questions.

"Wait, how do you know it must be your son?"

""

"How on earth did you know?"

"Why are you asking so many questions? Can't I just guess? Are you satisfied with this answer?"

"???"

The two old men were squatting on the ground, talking to each other like a double act. If there was a third person listening, they might be amused by these two guys.

The short remaining night passed quickly. After dawn the next day, almost all the soldiers of the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment saw that their commander and deputy commander had almost the same thick dark circles under his eyes.

"What did comrade leader do last night? He doesn't seem to be in good spirits. Did he not sleep well?"

"Oh, are you a fool? Look, isn't Comrade Deputy Commander the same? I guess he must have been studying the combat plan until late at night. He is really a role model for us."

"Hey, hey, comrade leader is here, please keep your voice down."

Malashenko and Lavrinenko, who were just passing by, felt a little embarrassed after hearing these whispers around them. It seemed that the captain and deputy commander were so idle in the middle of the night that they squatted in front of the regiment department to smoke and brag. It's better not to spread the word about forcing it for a few hours.

Malashenko, who was walking side by side with Lavrinenko, was about to go see what was going on at Karamov's side. As soon as he walked to the village path and took two steps, he was grabbed by shouts from behind. pace.

"Malashenko, wait, I'm going to find you!"

Looking back, he saw Political Commissar Petrov running towards him quickly. The telegram he was waving in his hand made Malashenko's heart sink.

"I bet the Krauts are coming again."

Listening to Malashenko's unspoken words beside him, Lavrinenko tilted his head slightly but did not respond with any objection.

"Otherwise, why do you expect the news to be so urgent? Did Hitler commit suicide? It's impossible when you think about it."

The fact turned out to be just as Malashenko expected. Political Commissar Petrov, together with the telegraph newspaper waving in his hand, brought very bad news to Malashenko.

The leading troops of the German Sixth Army have already reached the Don River grassland. They are less than 30 kilometers away from Malashenko's village, and there is only an organized unit like Malashenko in the straight line distance. Closest to the Sixth Army.

Holding the telegraph newspaper in his hand that still smelled of ink, Malashenko's brows were about to twist into a twist without realizing it.

"We are the only ones holding our position and stopping the Germans from advancing? This is an entire German army!"

Some words are difficult to say openly, but it is not difficult to judge the underlying meaning just by the tone of Lavrinenko who stretched his head and glanced at the contents of the telegram: Is the person who issued this order out of his mind?

Malashenko, who almost thought so, looked at the telegram in his hand and couldn't help but think of a sentence decrypted by later generations. This was a sentence spoken by Hitler himself when he handed over the command of the Sixth Army to Paulus.

"With this force, you can take to the sky!"