Knowing that Sokov was going to inspect the north side of the fortress, Samoilov, who was serving as a guard, did not dare to neglect and set up a warning circle around Sokov and Lunev. All the soldiers were alert and observed. of the surrounding environment.
When Sokov came to the river where the female soldiers died, more than half an hour had passed. Seeing a lot of commanders and fighters gathered around the river, Samoilov called two soldiers and prepared to ask them to evacuate the crowd, but Sokov stopped them: "Comrade Lieutenant, don't be nervous, the enemy's sniper attack The hand has been eliminated and this place should be safe at the moment.”
Among the onlookers, someone shouted: "Comrade Commander and Comrade Military Commissar are here!"
Following the shout, everyone's eyes turned to the direction Sokov came from. Soon, the crowd left a passage, and division commander Khokhlov and political commissar Shepilov walked out of the passage.
Since a sniper incident had just occurred, the two came to Sokov and Lunev. Instead of raising their hands in salute, they straightened their bodies and reported: "Comrade Commander, Comrade Military Commissar, Commander of the 182nd Infantry Division." (Political Commissar) Colonel Khokhlov (Sepilov) reports to you that the troops have just completed the mission of annihilating German snipers, please give instructions!"
"There is nothing to instruct." Sokov felt a little unhappy when he saw so many commanders and fighters gathered by the river: "Where are the bodies of the four female soldiers?"
"Just by the river." Khokhlov replied: "Please come with me."
Khokhlov led Sokov and Lunev through the crowd and came to the river.
Sokov saw four bodies lying on the grass by the river, all covered with white cloths. He walked forward quickly and bent down to remove the white cloth covering the body, but was stopped by Lunev who arrived shortly after: "Comrade Commander, please wait a moment."
When he heard Lunev calling him, Sokov turned his head and looked at Lunev in surprise, not knowing what the other party was going to say to him.
"Comrade Commander," Lunev whispered to Sokov: "There are too many people around. Let them disperse first, and then you can check the bodies of the female soldiers."
After Lunev reminded him, Sokov felt it was very reasonable, so he stood up and said to Khokhlov: "Comrade Major, there are too many people around. You should evacuate immediately."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Khokhlov agreed and called a staff officer to evacuate the crowd so that Sokov could view the bodies of the female soldiers.
While the crowd was being evacuated, Sokov asked Khokhlov in confusion: "Comrade Colonel, are these female soldiers from the division's communications battalion?"
"Yes, they are all from the Division Communications Battalion."
"Then can you tell me why they came to the river to bathe?"
"This is because there is no dedicated women's bathhouse in the division. If they want to take a bath, they can't find a place, so they can only come to the river." Khokhlov pointed to the other side of the river with his hand: "Look, there is a forest on the other side of the river. There are also grass and shrubs on our side, which provides a certain degree of privacy, so they choose to come here to bathe.”
After Lunev waited for Khokhlov to finish speaking, he turned to look at the ruins of the fortress dozens of meters away, shook his head with a wry smile, and said solemnly: "Colonel Khokhlov, that is, if they can find a bath place, they would not choose to come to the river, and they would not lose their lives in vain like now."
"Yes, Comrade Military Commissar." Shepilov waited for Lunev to finish and then quickly added: "We will learn from this lesson and strive to prepare a bathhouse for female soldiers as soon as possible."
The staff quickly evacuated the onlookers, leaving only the guard platoon led by Samoilov, but they all turned their backs to Sokov and others and stood on guard more than ten meters away.
Sokov once again came to the bodies of the female soldiers and squatted down. He gently opened the white cloth covering their bodies and found that they were all wearing only white underwear, and the bullet points were all on their foreheads or temples. The soldiers who gathered their bodies wiped away the blood on their faces, making them look like they were sleeping.
When Sokov covered them with white cloth, he moved very gently, as if he was worried about surprising these sleeping female soldiers. As soon as he stood up straight, he accidentally saw a mass of black flesh and blood beside the bushes not far away. This mass of flesh and blood had lost its hands, and it was no longer possible to identify where it was minced meat and where it was cloth.
"Colonel Khokhlov," Sokov pouted at the mass of flesh and blood and asked with disgust, "What is that thing? Why does it look so disgusting?"
"Comrade Commander, what you saw," as soon as Sokov finished speaking, Shepilov stepped forward and reported: "It is the German sniper."
"What, a German sniper?" Sokov looked at the disgusting mass of flesh and blood and asked in surprise: "How did he become like this?"
"When the First Battalion of the 546th Regiment was searching for him, five more soldiers fell under his gunfire." Khoklov gritted his teeth and said: "Because the location where he was hiding is very dangerous, if we carry out a strong attack, There was bound to be a heavier price to pay. Therefore, Captain Zheliya, commander of the second company of the first battalion, called in an anti-tank team and used rocket launchers to destroy the sniper's hiding place."
When Runev heard what Khokhlov said, he asked in surprise: "Did he be blown up like this by a rocket launcher?"
"After being attacked by a rocket launcher, his hands were blown off and he even lost one eye." Khoklov then explained: "When Zheliya ordered people to arrest him, the soldiers thought of the sacrifice. The female soldier and her comrades could no longer control the anger in their hearts and stabbed them randomly with bayonets, which turned them into what they are now."
After listening to the explanation, Sokov finally understood what was going on: "So that's it."
"What do we do with his body?"
"Just stay here." Sokov thought of the most common bird in Russia, the crow. If you leave the sniper's mutilated body here, I believe it won't take long before it will be eaten clean by crows flying from all directions: "Leave it to the Russian crows to deal with it."
After saying this, Sokov stared at the bodies of the four young female soldiers covered under white cloth and told Shepilov: "Comrade Political Commissar, please find four coffins and bury these female soldiers properly. Bar."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Shepilov patted his chest and said, "I will immediately arrange manpower to bury them."
"And you, Colonel Khokhlov." Sokov turned to face Khokhlov and said, "I am going to give you a special order now."
"Special order?" Khokhlov quickly straightened his body and replied: "Comrade Commander, please give the order. I will not let you down."
"I'll give you one hour." Sokov stretched out a finger and said to Khokhlov: "Within one hour, build a new bathhouse for the female soldiers so that all female soldiers in the division can bathe. Take a hot bath.”
"One hour?" After hearing Sokov's special order, Khokhlov couldn't help showing a troubled expression on his face: "Comrade Commander, this time is too short."
Sokov remembered that in "The Dawns Here Are Quiet", Warrant Officer Vaskov only spent a few hours building a bathroom for female soldiers to take a bath. But now the 182nd Division has thousands of people, and there are many houses in the fortress that can be converted into bathhouses, so Khokhlov was only given one hour.
"What, Comrade Colonel, are you unable to complete this task?" Seeing Khokhlov's delay in speaking, Sokov showed an unhappy expression on his face: "If you really cannot complete it, you can just say it, I Just arrange additional manpower.”
"No, there is no need to arrange other people." Hearing Sokov said that he was going to arrange other people, Khokhlov quickly waved his hands desperately and said with great emotion: "Comrade Commander, please don't worry, I will definitely do it." Complete the construction of the female soldiers’ bathhouse within the specified time.”
Seeing that Khokhlov agreed reluctantly, Sokov stopped talking nonsense and just said to him: "Comrade Colonel, I will call you in an hour. I hope to hear a satisfactory answer then."
After Sokov left, Khokhlov stamped his feet anxiously and said repeatedly to Shepilov: "Comrade political commissar, isn't the commander making things difficult for me? Is it so easy to build a bathhouse? Don't say that I’m afraid it won’t be completed in an hour, or even in a day.”
"Comrade division commander, don't be anxious." Seeing that Khokhlov was a little confused because of such a trivial matter, Shepilov quickly comforted him and said: "Aren't there many bathhouses in the area controlled by the division now? As long as we Wouldn't it solve the problem to choose one of them as a bathhouse exclusively for female soldiers?" Knowing that Sokov was going to inspect the north side of the fortress, Samoilov, who was serving as a guard, did not dare to neglect. A warning circle was set up around Lu Nev, and all the soldiers were on alert and observing the surrounding environment.
When Sokov came to the river where the female soldiers died, more than half an hour had passed. Seeing a lot of commanders and fighters gathered around the river, Samoilov called two soldiers and prepared to ask them to evacuate the crowd, but Sokov stopped them: "Comrade Lieutenant, don't be nervous, the enemy's sniper attack The hand has been eliminated and this place should be safe at the moment.”
Among the onlookers, someone shouted: "Comrade Commander and Comrade Military Commissar are here!"
Following the shout, everyone's eyes turned to the direction Sokov came from. Soon, the crowd left a passage, and division commander Khokhlov and political commissar Shepilov walked out of the passage.
Since a sniper incident had just occurred, the two came to Sokov and Lunev. Instead of raising their hands in salute, they straightened their bodies and reported: "Comrade Commander, Comrade Military Commissar, Commander of the 182nd Infantry Division." (Political Commissar) Colonel Khokhlov (Shepilov) reports to you that the troops have just completed the mission of annihilating German snipers, please give instructions!"
"There is nothing to instruct." Sokov felt a little unhappy when he saw so many commanders and fighters gathered by the river: "Where are the bodies of the four female soldiers?"
"Just by the river." Khokhlov replied: "Please come with me."
Khokhlov led Sokov and Lunev through the crowd and came to the river.
Sokov saw four bodies lying on the grass by the river, all covered with white cloths. He walked forward quickly and bent down to remove the white cloth covering the body, but was stopped by Lunev who arrived shortly after: "Comrade Commander, please wait a moment."
When he heard Lunev calling him, Sokov turned his head and looked at Lunev in surprise, not knowing what the other party was going to say to him.
"Comrade Commander," Lunev whispered to Sokov: "There are too many people around. Let them disperse first, and then you can check the bodies of the female soldiers."
After Lunev reminded him, Sokov felt it was very reasonable, so he stood up and said to Khokhlov: "Comrade Major, there are too many people around. You should evacuate immediately."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Khokhlov agreed and called a staff officer to evacuate the crowd so that Sokov could view the bodies of the female soldiers.
While the crowd was being evacuated, Sokov asked Khokhlov in confusion: "Comrade Colonel, are these female soldiers from the division's communications battalion?"
"Yes, they are all from the Division Communications Battalion."
"Then can you tell me why they came to the river to bathe?"
"This is because there is no dedicated women's bathhouse in the division. If they want to take a bath, they can't find a place, so they can only come to the river." Khokhlov pointed to the other side of the river with his hand: "Look, there is a forest on the other side of the river. There are also grass and shrubs on our side, which provides a certain degree of privacy, so they choose to come here to bathe.”
After Lunev waited for Khokhlov to finish speaking, he turned to look at the ruins of the fortress dozens of meters away, shook his head with a wry smile, and said solemnly: "Colonel Khokhlov, that is, if they can find a bath place, they would not choose to come to the river, and they would not lose their lives in vain like now."
"Yes, Comrade Military Commissar." Shepilov waited for Lunev to finish and then quickly added: "We will learn from this lesson and strive to prepare a bathhouse for female soldiers as soon as possible."
The staff quickly evacuated the onlookers, leaving only the guard platoon led by Samoilov, but they all turned their backs to Sokov and others and stood on guard more than ten meters away.
Sokov once again came to the bodies of the female soldiers and squatted down, gently lifted the white cloth covering their bodies, and found that they were all wearing only white underwear, and the bullet points were all on their foreheads or temples. The soldiers who gathered their bodies wiped the blood off their faces, making them look like they were sleeping.
When Sokov covered them with white cloth, he moved very gently, as if he was worried about surprising these sleeping female soldiers. As soon as he stood up straight, he accidentally saw a mass of black flesh and blood beside the bushes not far away. This mass of flesh and blood had lost its hands, and it was no longer possible to identify where it was minced meat and where it was cloth.
"Colonel Khokhlov," Sokov pouted at the mass of flesh and blood and asked with disgust, "What is that thing? Why does it look so disgusting?"
"When the 1st Battalion of the 546th Regiment was searching for him, five more soldiers fell under his gunfire." Khoklov said through gritted teeth: "Because the location where he was hiding is very dangerous, if we launch a force attack, There was bound to be a heavier price to pay. Therefore, Captain Zheliya, commander of the second company of the first battalion, called in an anti-tank team and used rocket launchers to destroy the sniper's hiding place."
