Chapter 119 Goodbye
The person who came was wearing a female soldier captain's uniform. She didn't wear the boat cap on her head, but instead held it in her hand. She stood at the door in a pretty manner, staring at Yuri who was standing in front of the window without blinking.
"Olga?" Yuri was very surprised. He never expected to see Olga here again.
Olga didn't say anything either, she just walked over quickly and hugged him tightly.
"I got the news that you were injured last month," Olga said after hugging Yuri quietly for a while, "I took a special leave and rushed to Moscow, hoping to come to see you, but..."
Yuri smiled bitterly. He guessed that Olga must not have been able to enter the hospital, or even if she had entered the hospital, she could not have entered his ward. Outside the ward, there was at least a platoon of soldiers guarding it. Not to mention a captain like her, even Dmitri had a hard time getting in.
"How did you get in?" Yuri asked.
"It was Comrade Commissar Demel, Comrade Commissar Demel, who brought me in," Olga said, tilting her head slightly and looking into Yuri's eyes.
"Demel?" Yuri asked in surprise.
"Hey, Yuri, remember me?" He had just finished speaking when he heard a voice coming from the direction of the door.
Yuri subconsciously looked towards the door, only to find that there was an extra person at the door. It was the military commissar Demel, with whom he had worked in the 34th Infantry Brigade.
"Demel, my old friend, when did you come?" Yuri let go of Olga in his arms, took two steps forward and said with a smile.
"I came here two days ago," Demel rushed over quickly, hugged Yuri, and said with a smile, "Originally, I wanted to come visit you as soon as I arrived in Moscow, but, as you know, it's obviously not that easy to visit you. With my level, I still need to undergo a review before I can get approval."
"This has nothing to do with me," Yuri spread his hands and said helplessly.
"Of course, I know that," Demel said with a smile. "There is a reason why the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs is so cautious. After all, the Germans have already issued a bounty for you. I heard that if you are killed, you will immediately be awarded a First Class Iron Cross."
"This reward seems a bit too cheap, doesn't it?" Yuri blinked and complained, "I think for such a great contribution, I think you should at least be given a knight's medal or something, right?"
Demel laughed and felt a little bit of admiration for Yuri's optimistic attitude .
"How are you doing recently? Are you still in the Southwestern Front?" Yuri asked casually, looking at Olga who looked a little resentful, after asking Demel to sit down on the sofa next to the bed.
"No," Demel shook his head and said, "Since the Battle of Kiev ended, I have been transferred to the southern front and serve in the Southern Front. However, there may be new transfers in the near future, and the specific direction is not known yet."
Yuri nodded. In the recent period, the main combat was in Stalingrad. To be more precise, it was in the strategic direction of preventing the German army from advancing to the Baku oil fields. In comparison, whether it was the direction of Leningrad or the area west of Moscow, or even the retreat from the Kerch Peninsula, they were not the focus.
"I see that your injuries are recovering very quickly. I estimate that you should be able to be discharged from the hospital in another month." Demel asked in return, "Have you considered where you will go after you are discharged from the hospital?"
"I haven't considered it yet." Anyway, Demel knew about his relationship with Olga, and Yuri didn't intend to hide it in front of him. Therefore, while talking, he called Olga over, asked her to sit next to him, held her hand, and said, "Besides, this matter may be completely decided by me. At that time, it depends on the arrangements of the Supreme Command and the General Staff."
Demel nodded in understanding. In fact, he had already regretted asking this question. This was not something he should have asked about. Yuri was no longer the commander of the 34th Brigade. He was a rising star in the entire Soviet Red Army commander system and an important target that attracted much attention from all parties. Let's put it this way, from where he went, we could even tell which direction the Soviet Army would strengthen its forces in the next stage. This was very important intelligence. If we asked too much, we might get into unnecessary trouble.
In fact, when he was in the 34th Brigade, especially after the Battle of Shaws, when he came to Moscow for a banquet, Demel had tried to establish a closer cooperative relationship with Yuri. Unfortunately, fate played tricks on him. After the Moscow banquet, he returned to the Southwestern Front, while Yuri was transferred to the Western Front. Although their contact was not directly interrupted, the opportunity for cooperation in terms of duties was gone.
Now, Yuri is already a colonel. Next, he will most likely be promoted to major general to command an army or even an army group. However, Demel's rank is not yet at that level, and the two cannot cooperate like they did in the 34th Brigade.
Demel actually had a purpose in visiting Yuri this time. He hoped that this old colleague could recommend him to Comrade Khrushchev, so that he would have the opportunity to leave the front-line troops and join the Military Committee of the Front.
Unlike the promotion of commanders, the fastest place for military commissioners to be promoted is not on the front line, but within the military commission, after all, it is closer to the leadership. As an ambitious and ambitious military commissioner, Demel naturally hopes to be able to enter a higher-level military commission.
After sitting in Yuri's ward for a while, chatting with him about the past, the situation on the battlefield, and telling him some interesting stories, Demel brought the topic back to the main point and put forward his own ideas in a slightly obscure way.
In fact, Demel's idea made Yuri feel embarrassed. He was indeed familiar with Khrushchev, but being familiar with him did not mean that he could make any demands on him, especially such demands. However, Demel had already implicitly explained his purpose, and it would be a bit unreasonable for him not to help.
There was no choice. Finally, after careful consideration, he used the phone in the ward to contact Khrushchev in Moscow.
When Khrushchev received Yuri's call, he had just woken up. He had been in Moscow all this time. In fact, since the defeat in Kharkov, he had not returned to Ukraine but had remained in Moscow.
Khrushchev seemed very happy when he received the call from Yuri. In fact, after the Battle of Kharkov, especially after the German army launched the second offensive against Tula, Yuri's position in the mind of the military commissar has increased a lot. There is no doubt that when asking about the counter-offensive campaign on the southern front, several predictions made by Yuri have been confirmed one after another: the German army first launched an offensive against the Soviet flank in the Kharkov direction, encircling the Southwestern Front and most of the Southern Front, and then launched a large-scale offensive in the direction of Belgorod, Kursk and even Voronezh. Especially in the offensive against the Korobka River defense line, its intention to encircle Moscow was very obvious.
Commanders with command abilities are not uncommon, but commanders with macro-strategic vision are rare. Most importantly, this commander has a close relationship with himself and can be regarded as his old subordinate. Therefore, Khrushchev's appreciation of Yuri is deepening.
Since he valued it, naturally everything could be discussed. After Yuri tactfully asked for his help, Khrushchev readily agreed. He even told Yuri directly to inform Demel to go to the Military Committee tomorrow and he would solve the problem.
Khrushchev's frankness made Yuri feel relieved, but also a little guilty. However, he quickly put this guilt aside. For a man with lofty ambitions, guilt is an emotion that should not appear.
Demel said goodbye and left happily. For him, today's trip was very fruitful. He was already thinking about what kind of position the Military Commission would assign to him.
As soon as Demel was sent away, Yuri was overwhelmed by Olga's outburst of enthusiasm. There was not much conversation between the two of them, they just demanded things from each other madly. However, Yuri's injury had not healed yet, so Olga took the initiative throughout the whole process.
I don’t know how long they stayed like that until they were both exhausted, the ward finally became truly quiet.
"...My family is doing well now. They have moved to Omsk," Olga said, curled up in Yuri's arms, "Vassily was assigned to the border guard system in Omsk as a lieutenant, and the treatment is very good..."
"Before, people from the NKVD talked to me, um, it seemed like more than a dozen times," Olga said, drawing circles on Yuri's chest with her fingers, "They repeatedly asked about our relationship, and many questions were repeated many times. The leaders of the army also talked to me and hinted that I should keep my distance from you because our identities are not commensurate."
Yuri didn't say anything. He just listened to Olga chattering on according to her own thoughts. He knew very well that this might be the last time Olga would come to him on her own initiative .
After all, the identities of people should be consistent with each other. Given Olga's background, if she continues to live with him, the pressure she will have to bear physically and mentally will be too great. At the same time, her career may be affected as a result.
Perhaps it's time to say goodbye to the past.
