When shaking hands with the two monitors, Lin Hua noticed the sadness in Grisa's eyes, as if something happened that made him sad not long ago. I wanted to ask what was going on, but it was very impolite to ask such a private question during this meeting. Lin Hua made an invitation gesture toward the church and said to the three of them: "Let's go to the bell tower first."
They walked through the church hall and up the narrow spiral staircase to the bell tower at the top. The structure of the bell tower is that four pillars support an onion-like dome. A rusty copper bell is hung on the top beam. The long rope that pulls the bell hangs down and sways in the wind.
The view from the bell tower is wide. Standing here, you can have a panoramic view of the entire Khimki town. Lin Hua pointed to the town below with his hand and said to Andre: "Comrade deputy platoon leader, you saw it, this is the town of Khimki. In order to prevent the Germans from carrying out sneak attacks again, we must strengthen our vigilance. From today on Starting from the beginning, mobile sentries will be sent out in all four directions of the town, in teams of two, for non-stop patrolling."
"I understand." Andre agreed, then turned around and told Grisa: "Squad leader, your squad will be responsible for the first patrol. Four hours later, comrades from the second squad will take over."
After Grisa saluted Lin Hua and Andre, he turned around and walked down the spiral staircase down the bell tower. After his back disappeared, Lin Hua asked Andre carefully: "Comrade deputy platoon leader, what's wrong with the first squad leader? I can see in his eyes that he is quite sad."
But Andre apparently didn't notice this, and instead turned his attention to Zelia: "Zelia, you have a good relationship with Grisa. Do you know what happened?"
"Before we set off," Zheliya said with some embarrassment, "someone told him that his mother and sister were killed in the German bombing."
As soon as Zelia's words came out, everyone fell silent. After a long time, Andre said in a dry voice: "You know, many of us died. This is a war after all."
"Comrade Deputy Platoon Leader, sooner or later we will repay the blood debt owed by the Germans to them." After Lin Hua said this, he turned to Zheliya and said: "Comrade Zheliya, please tell Grisa , the best way to resolve grief is to work hard. Only by defeating the fascist invaders can we avenge our dead relatives!"
Seeing that the work had been arranged, Lin Hua was about to go downstairs when he suddenly heard Zhelia say: "Comrade Platoon Leader, I have an idea."
Lin Hua stopped and turned to ask Zheliya: "Comrade Zheliya, let us know what you think!"
Zheliya pointed to the ground and said to Lin Hua: "Comrade Platoon Leader, the view from the bell tower is broad and can take in the entire town. If we arrange a sentry here to cooperate with the mobile sentries patrolling on all sides, Presumably we can better protect this town.”
Regarding Zheliya's proposal, Lin Hua did not make an immediate decision, but asked Andre with a smile: "Comrade deputy platoon leader, do you think this is okay?"
Seeing Lin Hua actively soliciting his opinion, Andre was a little surprised. He frowned and thought for a while, then nodded and said, "Comrade Platoon Leader, I think Zhelia's suggestion is good. We should arrange a meeting here." A sentry. If any unusual situation is discovered, he can ring the bell in time to call the police, so that we can prepare for battle as soon as possible. "
Lin Hua also considered setting up sentries on the bell tower yesterday, but firstly, he had too few soldiers at the time, and he only had four people; secondly, the wind was strong on the bell tower, and the sentries could easily get frozen if they went on duty on such a cold day. bad. But now that there are new troops, there will be no problem in placing sentries on the bell tower. Thinking of this, he told Andre: "Comrade deputy platoon leader, it's too cold on the bell tower. The sentries on duty change their posts every half hour to avoid freezing. Do you understand?"
"Understood!" Andre replied quickly: "I will arrange a group of three people to take turns to be on duty."
Just as the three were about to go downstairs, Zheliya, who was walking at the end, shouted again: "Comrade platoon leader, it seems that a few people are coming towards us."
Lin Hua, who had walked a few steps down the spiral staircase, heard Zelia's voice and quickly walked back again and asked, "Where is it?"
"There!" Zheliya pointed to the east and said: "Comrade platoon leader, you see, there are five people here. Three soldiers and a policeman, and another person wearing a military coat without a rank, maybe It's the militia..."
Lin Hua looked in the direction of Zheliya's finger, and sure enough he saw several people walking slowly towards the church on the snow-covered street. He looked intently and soon saw clearly that the ordinary man walking on the far left without any rank mark on his military coat was Kochetov, the town Soviet member; the policeman walking beside him was Lieutenant Feiding, the director of the police station. . Among the other three soldiers, the one walking at the front was a commander, with three gold stars inlaid on the bright red diamond-shaped collar badge. He turned out to be a general; the two soldiers following him should be his bodyguards.
What on earth is going on? How come a lieutenant general appears here? In order to find out what was going on, Lin Hua quickly took Andre and the others down to the bell tower, called all the soldiers staying in the church outside the door, and asked everyone to line up to welcome the incoming general.
When the general accompanied by Kochetov approached, Lin Hua quickly stepped forward and raised his hand to salute: "Comrade General, Khimki Special Guard Platoon Commander Sokov is reporting to you, you are welcome to come to us. Inspection!”
The general raised his hand in return and said: "Take a break!" Then he turned to ask Kochetov, "Comrade Kochetov, since he is the leader of the garrison platoon, why is he still a corporal?"
"Comrade General," Kochetov explained with a smile: "Yesterday, the garrison commander General Artemyev personally appointed him as the platoon leader of the newly established garrison platoon and promoted him to the rank of sergeant. Due to the rush of time, He may not have had time to change his rank insignia yet."
Kochetov turned to look at Lin Hua and said to him: "Misha, you may not know this general yet. Let me introduce to you. He is Lieutenant General Rokossovsky, commander of the 16th Group Army. , I just passed by here after a meeting in Moscow. I came here specifically to see you because I heard about your deeds."
I learned that the tall, handsome middle-aged general in front of me was a famous Soviet general who stood out in the Great Patriotic War. Together with Zhukov and Konev, he was known as one of the troika of the Soviet Army. He was calm, calm, and When Rokossovsky, who remained calm despite chaos and performed extraordinary feats during adversity in the war, was hailed as the "Hero of Adversity" by later generations, Lin Hua's blood rushed to his face, and he raised his hand to salute again, using The voice was hoarse with excitement and said: "Hello, General Rokossovsky, on behalf of all the soldiers of the garrison platoon, I welcome you!"
Rokossovsky shook hands with Lin Hua and said in a friendly tone: "Hello, Comrade Sokov! I heard Kochetov mentioned your deeds, so I wanted to come here and have a look. I want to take a look. What kind of commander is it like to take a few recruits and hold off more than 20 German soldiers who are armed to the teeth?"
Lin Hua couldn't help but feel flattered when he heard Rokossovsky's praise for him. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know how to say it in a hurry, so he could only grin.
