Belkin raised his hand to wipe away his tears, walked up to the girl, and first raised his hand to salute her with a solemn military salute. Then he bent down and asked: "Girl, can you tell me, what is your name, what is this flag?" Where did you get it?"
When Sokov heard the question raised by Belkin, he thought to himself: This girl has been following Seryosha here for a long time, and you don't even know her name.
Seeing a commander saluting her, the girl quickly stood up and replied: "My name is Maria. I live in a small village twenty miles south. This flag was given to me by a guerrilla." .”
"Guerrillas?" Belgin heard this and couldn't help but asked strangely: "What guerrilla? How come he has the flag of our army in his hand?"
"Comrade Commander, please listen to my explanation." Maria quickly explained to everyone: "I didn't make it clear just now. There used to be a guerrilla group operating near our village, and the members of this group were all dispersed. regular army. There were only a dozen of them at first, and then the number increased, reaching more than 200 people. They continuously attacked the German transportation line, burned countless trucks, and killed at least Hundreds of German soldiers repeatedly intercepted the grain that the Germans had snatched from the villagers and returned the grain to the villagers..."
Sokov stood aside and listened quietly to Maria describing the guerrillas' activities in this area and the many achievements they had made. He thought to himself: "Since this guerrilla has performed so well, why did our army launch a counterattack?" Why didn't they actively respond?"
Maria continued: "...the Germans feared and hated them. In order to smoothly pass through the area where they moved, they had to increase the number of troops escorting the transport teams, and even equipped each convoy with armored vehicles. But even so, Our guerrillas have successfully attacked enemy transport convoys again and again..."
Hearing this, Sokov couldn't help but ask: "Maria, I want to ask, where is this guerrilla group now?"
"No, they are all dead." Maria shook her head and replied sadly.
"All dead?" After hearing the news, Sokov couldn't help turning his head and looking at each other with Belkin. Both of them saw surprise in each other's eyes. Belkin frowned and asked: "Didn't they make the Germans frightened? How could they all die so easily?"
"That's right, Comrade Commander." Maria replied: "They used to live in the forest and their whereabouts were unpredictable. Even if the Germans wanted to clear them out, they couldn't find them. But as the weather got colder and colder, the people in the forest There was no room for them at all, so they had no choice but to find a place to stay out of the cold in nearby villages. In order to eliminate them, the Germans posted notices everywhere, saying that anyone who could provide the whereabouts of this guerrilla group would be rewarded with three thousand rubles."
When Belkin heard what Maria said, he guessed the reason for the annihilation of the guerrilla army. After snorting heavily, he said angrily: "Someone must be greedy for the German bounty, so they killed the guerrillas." His whereabouts were leaked to the Germans.”
Regarding Belkin's speculation, Maria nodded in affirmation: "Yes, that's what happened. That day the guerrillas attacked a German transport convoy during the day, killing more than twenty soldiers and burning seven Eight trucks. The guerrilla comrades were so tired that they lay down as soon as they returned to the house. It didn't take long for most of them to fall asleep. Even the sentries dozed off at their posts.
The Germans learned about the village where the guerrillas lived, and immediately dispatched two to three hundred people, as well as tanks and armored vehicles. After they surrounded the village, they bombarded it with tank artillery and machine-gunned those who escaped from the village. Many guerrillas were killed by artillery shells in their sleep. Some team members who were lucky enough to react were mowed down by machine guns as they rushed out of the village..."
"Pa!" When Belkin heard this, he couldn't help but slapped the pillar next to him hard, causing the snow on the roof to fall from the gaps in the logs, falling on everyone's heads and bodies. He cursed viciously: "Damn traitor, for the German bounty, he actually killed so many of our comrades. If I catch him, I will tear him to pieces."
Maria smiled bitterly and said: "No one knows exactly who betrayed the guerrillas. But not everyone died, there were still several guerrillas who successfully escaped from the village. The German army heard that this The guerrillas had a military flag. After occupying the village, they searched everywhere for the flag, but never found it. The Germans posted another notice, saying that whoever could find the flag and hand it over to the German command would be given the flag. to a bonus of ten thousand rubles.
The guerrillas who broke out from the village consisted of five people, one second lieutenant and four ordinary soldiers. They were active in the forest for two or three days. Because they were cold and hungry, they had to search for food near the village. Unexpectedly, they encountered an SS search force. In order to cover the second lieutenant's departure with the flag, the four soldiers in the rear were captured alive by the Germans after they ran out of bullets.
In order to get the flag they wanted, the Germans tortured the captured soldiers. The soldiers were beaten black and blue, and no one told the Germans where the flag was. The German commander came up with a vicious trick. He ordered the soldiers to be tied to pillars outside, and then in front of the villagers, he repeatedly poured cold well water on the soldiers, forcing them to reveal the whereabouts of the flag. I watched helplessly as the soldiers were frozen into ice sculptures in the cold weather..." At this point, Maria couldn't bear it anymore, she covered her face and cried loudly.
Asiya on the side quickly held her in her arms, wiping her tears while whispering to Maria, trying to calm her down.
After a long time, Maria's crying finally stopped. She did not wipe the tears on her face, but continued to tell the origin of the flag: "That night, I heard someone knocking on my door. I opened it and saw that A second lieutenant who escaped. He was worried about his comrades and came back to find out the news. Unexpectedly, his comrades had been frozen into ice sculptures by the Germans. ..."
"Maria," Sokov asked cautiously, "did the ensign give you the flag under these circumstances?"
Maria nodded and continued: "He said that he could not watch the corpses of his comrades being treated as ice sculptures by the Germans and placed outside the headquarters. Before he left, he gave me this flag and said Let me take care of this flag as I take care of my own eyes...
The second lieutenant died gloriously in the battle with the Germans. The Germans did not find the flag they wanted from him, so they sent people to conduct a large-scale search in the village. Fortunately, I wrapped the flag around myself, so I was not discovered by the Germans. …”
After hearing the origin of this flag, Belgin stepped forward and hugged Maria, saying emotionally: "Thank you, Maria! Thank you for preserving this glorious flag for my comrades. On behalf of their heroic spirits, I , thank you!”
Sokov also stepped forward and gave Maria a warm hug: "Maria, you are great! I believe that after the 24th Infantry Division is reorganized, all the commanders and fighters in this division will be forever grateful to you."
