Chapter 59 Midnight Serenade

Feeling the cold wind blowing past my ears, I was silent for a long time, looking at the bonfire that was jumping and rolling in front of me, a sudden word broke the tranquility at this moment.

"Comrade Captain, will you feel scared and frightened in today's battle?"

He did not answer immediately but turned his head to look in the direction of the sound. What appeared in Malashenko's field of vision immediately after was the crew of the only two T34 tanks in his company. One of the commanders.

Looking at this tank commander who was only about 24 or 25 years old and who looked more like a singer and dancer than a veteran soldier, Malashenko thought for a moment and then looked at him with determination in his eyes. He answered slowly.

"If I remember correctly, your name should be Iushkin, right? The second lieutenant commander of the No. 208 T34 tank."

I was a little surprised and doubly surprised when I heard Malashenko accurately pronounce his name. You know, the young Iushkin and his crew were only called in when they started preparing for the attack last night. The superior temporarily transferred him to Malashenko's command.

The second lieutenant, who had just experienced a tragic life-and-death battle in today's daytime battle, had no idea that Malashenko, who was two ranks higher than him, could accurately call his temporary subordinate by name.

In his excitement, he straightened up from the lawn with one hand on the ground and raised his hand in salute. A sense of joy in being recognized immediately arose in the heart of the young Lieutenant Iushkin.

"Comrade Captain, Iushkin, the second lieutenant commander of car No. 208, is reporting to you. I wish you good health!"

Looking at the excited and extremely excited young second lieutenant in front of him, he recalled that he had once felt so excited like Second Lieutenant Iushkin when he was recognized intentionally or unintentionally by the leader of the unit. Malashenko, who had undergone a wonderful transformation, then gently waved downwards at Iushkin.

"Sit down, Lieutenant Iushkin. There are no superiors or superiors tonight. We are all good brothers on the same line of life and death!"

Some simple but sincere words with true feelings boosted the morale and atmosphere of the surrounding area that was originally in a sluggish state. As Second Lieutenant Iushkin sat on the floor again, the words had already reached his lips. Malashenko, who had prepared relevant answers, immediately spoke again.

"Brothers, just now Lieutenant Iushkin asked me if I was scared during today's daytime battle. I will leave this question in suspense for now, and I also want to ask everyone. Do all of you here dare to stand up with your chests patted? "I said that I didn't feel scared at all during today's battle. If so, I can stand up and let everyone know my brave self."

As Malashenko's words filled the ears of everyone present, the Red Army soldiers who were looking at each other in silence all said, "You look at me, I look at you," and even a full minute passed. Even if one person dares to come forward and admit his or her own fearlessness as Malashenko demands.

When the cruel and fierce armored strangulation progressed to this point, any surviving Red Army soldier who once boasted of his bravery no longer had the "fearlessness" of the "ignorant" situation at that time.

The screaming Stuka Death fell from the sky and spread death to every corner of the battlefield. The roaring 88 gun was like a combine harvester, slaughtering one Soviet tank after another. The ammunition exploded accompanied by the turret. The former comrades who soared straight into the sky and even their bodies disappeared in the flames and completely ceased to exist made all the surviving Soviet tank crew members present extremely vividly feel that death was so close to them.

After looking around and seeing that no one stood up to answer his words, Malashenko, realizing that his goal had been achieved, immediately straightened up and began to tell the tank crews around him what he had already prepared in his heart. Discourse.

"Comrades and brothers, what I want to tell you here today is that after experiencing so many cruel and fierce battles, in fact, each of us has some feelings in our hearts because of calming down after the war. More or less scared, even me, your commander, Captain Malashenko."

"These fears and fears stem from the fear of death that each of us has, especially after we have witnessed with our own eyes the extremely fragile lives of our former comrades disappearing in tank explosions. This fear and fear The fear becomes more real.”

After finishing the sentence, he paused for a moment, and then began to switch his tone to a more firm state. Malashenko then began to lead the topic to the whole.

"But because of this, there is one more thing I want to emphasize to everyone! That is that the fear and fear in our hearts come from human beings' instinct to fear death and the desire to survive, and are not against the German Nazi invaders themselves. The fear!”

"These abominable Nazi invaders burned our houses, trampled on our homes, completely shattered everything that each of us once cherished, trampled under their feet, ravaged and plundered wantonly, just to make us Red Army soldiers Be afraid of them! Trying to force us to consciously lay down our weapons and surrender, trying to package these abominable invaders into invincible and terrifying existences equal to death through hypocrisy!"

The increasingly excited words were like a shot of stimulant, making Malashenko's body no longer able to hold it in. Malashenko straightened up from the grass and immediately waved his fist and said the last bold words in his mouth. blurted out.

"But fortunately, our Red Army soldiers are Soviet soldiers supported by firm beliefs. The content of the oath sworn under the party's banner is not just an empty talk! For our motherland, for our relatives, and for our homeland ! Because some things are worth protecting with our lives! ”

At Malashenko's sonorous words that resounded in the night sky, they were all stunned. These young Red Army tank soldiers, whose immature and smoky faces were reddened by the bonfire jumping, had never heard such ambitious and inspiring words. The words of people's hearts were never heard even during the pre-war mobilization of Commissar Petrov, which was enough to resound into the heart.

"While pear blossoms are blooming all over the world, soft gauze floats on the river. Katyusha stands on the steep bank, singing like the bright spring light."

In the dark night, I don’t know if it was the soldier sitting around the campfire who started this whisper. Soon, almost all the Red Army soldiers sitting around the campfire began to hum along with the melodious melody of the accordion. Sing this heartfelt song.

"The girl is singing beautiful songs, she is singing about the eagle of the grassland; she is singing about her beloved, and she is also hiding her lover's letters. She is singing about her beloved, and she is also hiding her lover's letters."