Chapter 5 Qualifications
Yuri doesn't like Leningrad. He doesn't even like any city with the word "Gler" in its name, such as Leningrad, Stalingrad, and Xilingrad. Oh, there is also a league here.
The train crossed the Neva River at Mga and did not enter the city of Leningrad. Instead, it took a military branch line around the city and finally stopped at the station in Pskov, the headquarters of the Leningrad Military District.
The entire Pskov railway station seemed extremely busy. The open platform was crowded with Soviet soldiers carrying weapons. Unlike the situation in the Ninth Army, these soldiers were in high spirits and wore thick winter clothes.
When following Colonel Dmitry out of the station, Yuri saw the battle flag of the 10th Infantry Division. Based on some memories of his previous life, he knew that this should be the 13th Army preparing to go to the Karelian Pass for battle.
Counting the days, today is already mid-January. The first wave of Soviet offensive against the Finns has proven to be a failure, so in order to achieve the original war goal, the organization of the second wave of offensive is bound to be put on the agenda. This time, the main attack direction changed to the Karelian Narrows. The Ninth Army and the Thirteenth Army, which were originally responsible for the main attack in this area, were combined into the Northwestern Front, with Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshenko as the commander and Andrei Alexandrovich Zhdanov as the member of the Military Committee of the Front.
This time, Colonel Dmitry brought Yuri to Pskov with the purpose of meeting Zhdanov. According to the colonel, Comrade Zhdanov was very interested in Yuri's heroic image. It happened that the 13th Army was about to go to the Khotokka area to engage in battle in the near future. Comrade Zhdanov hoped to promote this heroic image throughout the 13th Army to boost the morale of the entire army.
On the way here, Yuri secretly thought that as the current Minister of Propaganda and Agitation of the Soviet Union, Zhdanov was undoubtedly good at propaganda work, but he was an idiot in military command. This seemed to be similar to the current overall situation of the Soviet Army. There were many talented people in the military commissar system, but there were very few military commanders. However, Yuri did not think that this had anything to do with him. He just wanted to stay away from the battlefield. If possible, being a military commissar seemed to be a good idea.
The military district also arranged a car to welcome Yuri's arrival, but Yuri knew himself well. The car was nominally there to pick him up, but in fact it was there to pick up Colonel Dmitry.
The driver was a young sergeant. He took Yuri and the other man directly to the military district's reception center - the Holy Trinity Church.
Pskov is an old city with a long history. It used to be the residence of the Orthodox Archbishop. The Holy Trinity Cathedral here is comparable in size to the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Moscow. However, the Soviet regime is materialistic, and idealistic things like religion must be overthrown. Therefore, the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Pskov was requisitioned by the military district and turned into a reception center.
Colonel Dmitri settled Yuri in the reception, told him to take a shower, and then left in a hurry. He probably wanted to report to the military district first, or at least meet with Zhdanov first.
The room prepared by the military district reception office was very nice. It was a large suite with a bathroom, toilet and a small living room. The interior decoration was not very luxurious, but it had everything it needed. The most important thing was that the window of the suite faced the snow-covered Maly Pskov River, and the scenery was very nice.
Following Colonel Dmitri's instructions, Yuri filled a bathtub with hot water as soon as he moved into the suite and took a comfortable hot bath. While taking a hot bath in the bathtub, Yuri was still thinking about the situation during this period.
Perhaps it is true that heroes are everywhere. However, the value of the title of hero does not lie in how great a deed the hero has done, but in how much the world, or more precisely, the ruling class's propaganda machine, needs the hero.
Yuri knew very well how great his contribution was. He just escaped from the enemy's encirclement and picked up a sniper's weapon. That was all. He did not kill the Finnish sniper. I believe Colonel Dmitri was also very clear about this. But so what? Colonel Dmitri needed to create a highlight in his work; the Ninth Army needed to cover up the previous defeat; the Leningrad Military District needed to reduce some of the pressure caused by the unfavorable war situation. All of this came together, and the most direct consequence was that Yuri, the "hero", had to do something.
“Knock, knock.”
The rapid knock on the door woke Yuri who was still soaking in the bathtub. Before he could react, he heard someone outside the bathroom door saying, "Comrade Captain Yuri Arkhipovich?"
It was a woman's voice, clear and pleasant. Without even looking, one could tell that the owner of the voice must be very young.
"I'm Yuri, who's outside?" Yuri asked subconsciously, and then he remembered that the person outside the door seemed to have misunderstood his address, "Captain?" He is not a captain.
"I am Eliza," the voice from the other side of the door answered, " Sergeant Eliza Artemyevna, I have brought you a new uniform, Comrade Captain."
"Oh?" Yuri wiped the water off his face, stood up from the bathtub with a splash, grabbed the bathrobe hanging on the side, wrapped it around himself and said, "Please leave it outside, thank you."
There was the sound of footsteps outside the door, which gradually faded away and finally disappeared.
"Huh," Yuri exhaled, opened the bathroom door and walked out.
There was no one in the living room outside the bathroom, but on the small table next to the sofa, there was a neatly folded new military uniform. The person who sent the uniform had obviously considered everything. She not only sent a brand new winter military jacket, but also brand new underwear, shirts, and even boots, socks, belts, etc.
Everything is brand new. When you pick it up and smell it, you can even smell the unique scent of new clothes.
Turning his head, he saw that the door of the living room was closed. Yuri tore off his bathrobe, shook out the pure white lined vest on the side, and put it on.
“Bang.”
Just as he lifted one leg and was about to put on his boxer briefs, the originally closed door was suddenly pushed open from the outside. Almost at the same time, Colonel Dmitri's slightly hoarse voice came in.
"Hey, my Paulenka, guess what good news I have for you?" The colonel's voice was filled with obvious excitement, and as the voice came, he had already walked quickly into the room.
Yuri had just put one leg into his shorts when he was startled by the sudden noise and almost fell to the ground.
"Haha, you really killed that Marty Levisto," Colonel Dmitri didn't notice Yuri's embarrassment at all. He walked in with a cigarette in his mouth and said quickly, "Our insider sent a message that the Finns have found this guy's body in the Saviki Forest. This proves that your deeds are true and your contribution is real."
Yuri didn't listen to what the guy said at all. While the colonel was talking nonstop, he managed to put on his shorts.
"Oh, and," Colonel Dmitri glared at Yuri with some resentment, and continued, "Paulenka, there is one thing I must criticize you seriously. You concealed a very important thing from me. It was precisely this thing that caused me to be embarrassed in front of Commissioner Andrei Alexandrovich (Zhdanov). I am ."
"I'm sorry, Comrade Colonel Dmitri," Yuri was shocked. Although he didn't know what the colonel was referring to, he apologized immediately. "Although I don't know what you mean, I can assure you that I definitely didn't mean to hide it from you."
Colonel Dmitri looked at him, pointed at him with his finger, and then said, "Colonel Arkhip Bogdanovich Kulyokov, this name should be familiar to you, right?"
"Oh, of course, that's my father," Yuri's heart finally settled down. He heaved a sigh of relief and answered as calmly as possible, "But he died in 1921 while fighting against Wrangel's bandit army. Yes, he died in the battle of Perekop."
"That's right, you hid this from me, my Baolenka, do you know how important this is to you?" Colonel Dmitri waved his hand excitedly and said, "Your father is a hero, and a hero from the First Cavalry Army, which is the most loyal to Comrade Stalin and the Soviet regime. This is a history worth writing about, and it is also your qualification. You should know that when your father was the commander of the 31st Regiment of the First Cavalry Army, Comrade Semyon Konstantinovich (Timushenko) happened to be the commander of the First Cavalry Division. He still remembers your father and praises him as a trustworthy commander of the cavalry regiment. If it weren't for Comrade Andrei Alexandrovich, a member of the Commissioner's team, who checked your file, I wouldn't even know about all this. What a big omission and regret it would be?"
"I'm sorry , Comrade Major Dmitri," Yuri licked his lips, thinking that it seemed that he could still get some benefits from that cheap old man. "I didn't mean to hide it from you. I just felt that, well, I just felt that I couldn't live in the glory left by my father, so I must admit that my father is a hero. But what I need to do now is not to show off his achievements everywhere, but to inherit his will and do my best for the Soviet revolution and for our Soviet motherland. Do my best."
"Good, very good!" Colonel Dmitri's eyes lit up, he clapped his hands and said loudly, "This kind of ideological awareness is a shining point, yes, yes, yes, I think, I think this part should be included in the report materials I prepared for you, yes, this part must be included!"
