Chapter 155 Story
The military train was moving fast on the Kursk Plain. Sitting in the carriage, one could see that the villages and towns along the way had almost become barracks. Since the battle plan was finalized, the Supreme Command had continuously sent additional troops to the Kursk region. Rokossovsky's Central Front and Golikov's Voronezh Front were greatly strengthened in a short period of time. So far, the two fronts have more than 1.1 million troops, and in the rear, more than 200,000 troops are being urgently deployed here. In other words, the two fronts deployed by the Soviet Army on the Kursk salient have as many as 1.3 million troops.
Behind the Kursk salient, the Steppe Front under the command of Konev was also gathering secretly and rapidly. The number of troops in the front determined by the Supreme Command was nearly 600,000. This means that the total number of troops planned by the Soviet army for the entire Kursk Battle was as high as 2 million.
This is a real decisive battle, a battle of life and death. Both the Soviet and German armies cannot afford to lose in this battle. It is for this reason that Yuri has been so serious in recent times because he is under a lot of pressure.
However, pressure is something that cannot be carried on one's shoulders all the time. If there is a chance, Yuri will relax. For example, talking to two young and beautiful girls is also a way to relieve stress.
Yuri was quite experienced in seducing young girls. After a simple conversation, he broke the two girls' reservedness. His occasional humorous remarks made the girls laugh continuously.
"My name is Kaya, Kaya Ivalovna," the bolder girl took the initiative to introduce herself after the initial awkwardness. "This is my comrade-in-arms and my sister, Ophiya Ivalovna. Comrade commander, can you tell us your name?"
"Yuri, my name is Yuri, Yuri Arkhipovich." Yuri smiled, "Are you sisters? Why don't you look alike at all?"
"Half-brother," Kaya said with a smile. Then, she tilted her head and thought for a moment, then asked, "Yuri Arkhipovich? This name sounds familiar."
"Really? I'm not a celebrity." Yuri smiled and covered it up.
Arseni, who was sitting on the other side of the aisle, rolled his eyes and thought, this guy is not a celebrity? It is estimated that in the current Red Army, any commander above the rank of lieutenant can recognize him at a glance.
"I remember you," this time it was the more introverted Ophia who spoke. She looked at Yuri and said, "You were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, I think it was during the Battle of Moscow."
At this point, she bit her finger and thought for a while, then confirmed, "Yes, I remember it correctly."
Yuri didn't say anything, just smiled and nodded in acknowledgment.
"So you're actually a hero," Kaya looked Yuri up and down, eyes full of envy, "and you're still so young."
We have to admit that in the current Soviet Union, a Soviet Hero is a very eye-catching honor. For those who have won this title, it often means a change in destiny - that is a true hero.
Arseny, who was sitting across the aisle, curled his lips inadvertently, thinking that he was not only a young Soviet hero, but also the youngest general.
"Just good luck," Yuri said with a restrained smile.
"But why aren't you wearing your medal?" Olya asked curiously. In her impression, those who were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union seemed to wear their medals on their chests at all times.
"Well, that's too inconvenient." Yuri also imitated them, tilted his head and thought about it, then said.
This answer was a little unbelievable, and the two girls looked surprised.
"A war is about to break out here, and it will be inconvenient to fight with medals," Yuri said with a smile.
"Oh, war," Kaya thought she understood, and said with a look of enlightenment, "a cruel war."
"A cruel war? It's like you've actually been to a war." Olya rolled her eyes at her and teased her.
Kaya obviously had never participated in a war. After hearing this, she blushed and then said unconvincedly: "If the instructor had not approved my petition, I would have been on the front line a long time ago... Really!"
Seeing Kaya's indignant look, Yuri just smiled knowingly and said nothing.
Young people are always full of vigor and vitality, fearless in spirit, impulsive and willful. They do not know what war is, nor do they understand the cruelty of war. Just like Kaya, she longs to go to the front line and participate in the real war because she is inspired by a heroic sentiment. They hope to show their own value in the war, gain their own honor, and make themselves stand out.
But in reality, there are only a handful of people who can truly achieve these goals, and most of them are buried on the battlefield as cannon fodder with no one remembering them.
"Comrade Yuri, tell us about the wars you participated in, such as the Battle of Moscow." Kaya was angry for a while, but quickly adjusted her mood. She leaned forward and looked at Yuri and said.
Yuri smiled, and his mind flashed back to the time when he first appeared in Lutsk and commanded the 209th Battalion. Although a long time had passed, at this moment, the scenes that had happened at that time, the faces that were once vivid but now faded, all appeared before his eyes - Lieutenant Anastasia died in battle, died silently; Lieutenant Anjip, who took over the 209th Battalion, died in battle outside the city of Kiev, with the rank of major; the once heroic Lieutenant Nikita also died, she was killed by a bomb dropped by a German fighter plane in the Caucasus Campaign... One by one, the vivid faces just disappeared with the wind, and lost their color forever - and this is war.
"…It was Lutsk in 1941. The 209th Infantry Battalion under my command was stationed there. Our mission was to guard a local radar station." The smile gradually froze on Yuri's face. His eyes swept across the two young and beautiful faces in front of him, and finally fell on the dusty car window. "Initially, the enemy we had to deal with was a group of Panjela members, that is, the rebels…"
The train moved forward quickly with violent bumps and equally violent clanging sounds, and Yuri began to describe in plain language some of the battles he had experienced.
The two girls listened very carefully, sometimes nervous, sometimes relaxed, and felt their mood always ups and downs with Yuri's story. In their eyes, the young commander opposite them, who looked not much older than them, became more and more charming.
On the other side of the aisle, Arseni also listened carefully. He had not been with Yuri for a long time, and he knew nothing about many of the battles Yuri had experienced, and Yuri never talked about these things in front of him. Now, he was fortunate enough to hear these things, and Arseni felt that he should remember every detail, and if there was a chance in the future, he might be able to write a novel.
The train traveled smoothly all the way and did not encounter any German air raids along the way. At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, it arrived safely in Smolodnoye.
"Yuri, can you tell me your address in Moscow?" Before getting off the bus, the outgoing Kaya looked at Yuri who was getting up and preparing to get off the bus and asked anxiously, "You should have an address in Moscow, right?"
Yuri looked at the still somewhat childish girl in front of him, hesitated for a moment, and finally told her his current address in Moscow - for him, the address in Moscow is still uncertain, and perhaps after a while, the General Staff will change his residence.
Kaya obviously had a crush on Yuri, and the girl did not hide it at all. She took out a small notebook and carefully wrote down the address Yuri told her.
"Well, now let's say goodbye, Comrade Katerina and Comrade Olya Ivalovna," Yuri said with a smile, holding out his hand to the two little girls.
"We live at 346 Yaroslavl Street, right next to the Severyanin subway station," Kaya said quickly, holding Yuri's hand, "Room 1043 on the third floor. If you go back to Moscow, you can come find us... There are only two of us living there."
Kaya has the passionate and unrestrained personality of a Russian girl, and shyness is obviously not her type.
Yuri smiled and nodded, taking note of it.
Without delaying on the train, he saw Malinin, Rokossovsky's chief of staff, walking towards the carriage with a few people.
After bidding farewell to the two girls, Yuri took Arseni and the guards off the train, and Malinin had already approached them. The two were old acquaintances, so when they saw each other, they couldn't help but smile, and then there was a solid hug.
"This Yuri is probably a general?" Kaya said in surprise, looking at Yuri hugging Malinin outside the car window.
Olya pursed her lips and said nothing. There were many things she would not say to her half-sister. For example, she had recognized Yuri a long time ago. She even knew that Yuri's full name was Yuri Arkhipovich Kulyokov. She also knew that Yuri had been featured in military newspapers for countless military achievements. She also knew that Yuri had been promoted to major general after the Battle of Moscow. She also knew...
However, knowing does not mean you have to say it out loud. Sometimes, pretending not to know something you know may lead to unexpected gains.
