Chapter 14: gunshots in the middle of the night

  Chapter 14 Gunshots in the middle of the night

   When the two returned from outside the village, Vasili pointed to the village entrance and said to Lin Hua: "Comrade Sergeant, arrange a sentry post here later, and we can find out in time if there is any situation."

"There are too few guard posts." Although according to the various information obtained by Lin Hua, the Germans will not and will not be able to launch an attack on Kryukovo Village, but considering that the German army is only a few kilometers away, he feels that I still need to be vigilant enough, so I pointed at the ruins of the wooden house next to me, "I plan to arrange another secret sentry here."

"Comrade Sergeant, you are too cautious." After hearing Lin Hua's plan, Vasily said with a smile: "In the west of us, the 8th Guards Division, reinforced with a tank battalion, is attached to two cannon artillery regiments. The 17th Infantry Brigade and the 44th Cavalry Division of the two rocket artillery battalions are launching the final attack on the enemy in Kryukovo. I don’t think the German army can still spare its troops to attack the village of Kryukovo under such circumstances Attack."

   "Comrade Second Lieutenant," Lin Hua quickly reminded Vasily, seeing Vasily's casual look, "This is a time of war, and anything can happen. We have to be vigilant enough."

   "Okay, Comrade Sergeant." Regarding Lin Hua's reminder, Vasili said disapprovingly: "Let me remind you that vigilance is necessary, but being nervous is harmful and useless."

   The two were talking, and they came to the barn without knowing it. I don't know what happened there, and a lot of people surrounded it. Seeing this situation, Vasily muttered: "What happened, why are they all around the barn door." After speaking, he left Lin Hua and wanted to go over to see what happened.

  Lin Hua saw Grisa, the squad leader, standing not far away, so he waved to him. After Griza came in front of him, Lin Hua asked, "Comrade Corporal, what happened? Why are there so many people gathered around the barn door?"

  Grisa glanced at the barn, and replied with a smile, "It's the women of the village, gathered around the door of the barn, looking at our soldiers."

Lin Hua was only thinking about how to strengthen the village's defenses, and he didn't think about what these women were doing with the soldiers. He directly told Griza: "Comrade Corporal, there are only two entrances to this village. Later, you send two A soldier went to the west entrance of the village to watch, remember: not two posts, but one is a clear post, and the other is a secret post. Do you understand?"

  Although Grisa didn't understand why Lin Hua arranged for the secret sentry, he still readily agreed: "Understood, Comrade Platoon Leader, I'll arrange it right away."

Just as he was about to leave, Lin Hua stopped him again, pointed to a burnt wooden house not far from the barn, and said to him: "Comrade Corporal, I remember that there is a machine gun in your squad, let the machine gunner Put the machine gun there, and take cover."

   As soon as Grisa left after receiving the order, Vasily came over with Andre. Vasily said to Lin Hua with a smile on his face: "Comrade Sokov, I just asked the villagers, and they said they wanted to have a party with your soldiers, and they are welcome to come to this village to garrison."

  Hearing what Vasily said, Lin Hua noticed that the villagers around the barn were almost all young women, and there was no man in sight. Seeing this situation, he tentatively asked Vasily: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, there seems to be no men in this village, right?"

"That's right, except for five or six-year-old children and elderly people, there is no man," Vasily's expression became dim: "As soon as the war broke out, the men in the village joined the army. Fighting against Japanese invaders in many places."

From Vasily's reaction, Lin Hua guessed that the men who joined the army in the village were either sacrificed or disappeared or were captured. He glanced at the group of women wearing turbans and asked cautiously: "So, they are all members of the army. ..."

   "No, Comrade Sergeant." As soon as Lin Hua's voice fell, Vasily corrected him and said, "It's widows. Their husbands died on the battlefield. They are now a group of widows."

  Lin Hua was unwilling to argue with Vasily over such a trivial matter. After the other party finished speaking, he added: "These female villagers want to have a sorority with our soldiers?"

"Yes, that's exactly what it is." Vasily nodded and said, "They suggested holding a party. They wanted to invite the soldiers to taste the fine wine they brewed by themselves, the bread they baked, dance with the soldiers, listen to the Let's tell battle stories..."

"Okay, Second Lieutenant Vasili, you don't need to say anything." Lin Hua knew that his troops would be stationed in the village, and it was inevitable to interact with the villagers like this, but he didn't want to be on the first day of stationing in the village. Let the soldiers and these military members have fun, so he said to Vasily tactfully: "Our soldiers are too tired, they need to rest. As for the party, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future."

Seeing that Lin Hua did not want to hold the party that day, Vasily felt a little disappointed, but he still said verbally: "Comrade Sokov, you are right to do this. Our task is to hold on to Kryukovo village. Instead of having a party with the women in the village."

  The female villagers gathered around the barn were disappointed when they heard that the party could not be held today. When two fat women passed by Vasily and Lin Hua, they said loudly: "Comrade Vasily, these soldiers came from a long way to defend our village. How can we not thank them and invite them to drink and dance?" Woolen cloth?"

   "Enough," Vasily yelled at the fat woman: "I want to drink and dance, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future, don't you see that our soldiers are busy? Well, go home quickly."

  After blasting away the two fat women, Vasily smiled and said to Lin Hua: "Comrade Sokov, if you are done with your work, you should go to bed early. We will talk about it tomorrow if we have anything to do."

The soldiers living in the barn, when they heard that tonight's party was canceled due to Lin Hua's objection, their reactions were quite different. The soldiers from the first squad and the original defense squad didn't care; Big, thought that they finally had a good opportunity to meet women and drink, but they were all given up by the platoon leader, so their hearts were full of resentment.

Although the rest of the people lay down early except for the sentinels on duty outside, until midnight, most of the soldiers in the second squad were still tossing and turning. Women talk about life. But when they saw Lin Hua lying at the door of the barn, they gave up this idea again, because no matter how lightly their movements were, as long as they opened the door, Lin Hua would be alarmed.

   Just when they felt extremely regretful, there was a sudden burst of gunfire outside. Lin Hua, who was sleeping at the door, sat up suddenly. He tilted his head and listened for a while, and then he heard that it was a Popov submachine gun that was firing, but its firing sound was soon overwhelmed by the sound of German rifles and MP40 submachine guns. down.

  Hearing this sound, Lin Hua didn't understand what happened. He jumped up and shouted loudly: "Battle alarm, battle alarm!"

  Following his shout, the sleeping soldiers lying in the barn also sat up one after another, dressed in a hurry, and then prepared to rush outside with their weapons.

  (end of this chapter)