Chapter 6 College
"At that moment, I didn't think about anything, and I didn't have time to think about anything. I just wanted to lead my soldiers out of the encirclement of the Finnish Nazis. Every life of them is precious, and they are the most precious blood of the Soviet motherland. I am not afraid of death, but I am afraid that my death is meaningless and that I will not be able to fulfill my duties as a commander because of death."
"To fight against a devilish enemy is actually a battle of willpower. I know that the damn Lemonstro is hiding in the snow forest in front of me, but I don't know his exact location, so I have to wait until he voluntarily sacrifices himself. Cold and hunger are undoubtedly my enemies, but they are also Lemonstro's enemies. I believe that as long as my will is stronger than Lemonstro's, then the cold and hunger, this pair of enemies, will inevitably become my friends at a critical moment as time goes by."
"Comrade Lenin once said: 'We must pay attention to cultivating our will at all times, at all times and in all places.' I have fully understood the profound meaning of these words, because the most powerful and powerful weapon I use to defeat Lemonstrous is will."
"Wow" thunderous applause echoed on the snow-covered Velikaya River. The source of the sound was the four-cornered tweeter on the riverside road. At this moment, the entire Pskov city, and even several military camps outside the city , were echoing with this sound.
"Following an application submitted by the Military Committee of the Leningrad Military District and approved by the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR, Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich Kolyokov is now awarded the Order of the Red Star."
Krom Castle, an ancient castle with a history of nearly a thousand years, stands on the cape of the Velikaya River and is surrounded by water. It is now the headquarters of the Leningrad Military District. On the open terrace of the castle, Yuri received the award form and registration card representing the qualification for the award of the medal from the Military District Military Commissar Zhdanov.
To be honest, Yuri didn't value this medal, because in the past month alone, hundreds of these medals were awarded, and it wasn't that valuable. What Yuri really valued was the promotion in rank. In just a few days, his rank jumped from second lieutenant to captain. If there was anything regrettable, it was that he was only promoted in rank, and the promotion in position had not yet been determined.
According to the information received from Colonel Dmitry, the 13th Army assembled in the Pskov area will go to the Karelia region to fight this afternoon. That is why this propaganda activity was held this morning. The military district needs to use the role of example to boost morale, that's all.
Yuri did not think that the fate of the 13th Army had anything to do with him. As a hero, he had escaped from the battlefield full of death traps, at least temporarily. Colonel Dmitri had plans for his future. In a few days, he would be recommended by the military district to go to the Moscow Military School for a two-year training. The training course was mainly about military command.
Although Moscow is still very cold in February, the ice on the eaves is gradually melting, indicating that spring is slowly approaching.
Early in the morning, Sergiev Posad, a suburb of Moscow. Oh, no, it is no longer called Sergiev Posad, but Zagorsk, the name of a heroic Bolshevik with a strong commemorative significance.
Going back nearly twenty years, there was a very famous school in the town, which is now the Budyonny Military Communications Academy. However, it was later moved away and replaced by a much smaller military school mainly for the training of middle and lower-level commanders.
This military school is not large, with no more than 1,500 students in each term. Since the training is a two-year program, the total number of students in the school is less than 3,000. The school does not provide food and accommodation for students. All students live in hotels in the town or rent accommodation on collective farms. Anyway, all expenses are borne by the troops to which the students belong, and no one cares how much they spend.
The morning in the town is very quiet. For this picturesque town, any noise is superfluous. The life pattern of this city has continued for thousands of years, slow and comfortable, and everything seems to be neither hurried nor slow, and proceeds step by step.
Yuri rented a small suite with a bathroom in the No. 12 dormitory of the 2nd Workers' New Village through the introduction of the military school. Because it was a dormitory of the Zagorsk Candy Factory, the room was not very big, but it was very clean. The rent was also very cheap, only a symbolic 36 kopecks per month.
In front of the mirror in the bedroom, Yuri was adjusting his military uniform. After being in this world for so long, he had already gotten used to his new identity. What he was quite satisfied with was that his previous life had left him with a good appearance. The young man in the mirror, who was obviously of East Slavic descent, was a standard handsome man. He had thick blond hair, an oval face, and a pair of deep but large and bright light blue eyes under two thick eyebrows. The sunken eye sockets and the straight nose made this face with clear lines instantly become three-dimensional.
He buttoned up the top button of his military uniform collar, stretched the hem of his clothes to make it flat, and then Yuri put on his military cap properly. Then he turned around, picked up the thick book "Introduction to the Art of War" from the table beside him, and walked out leisurely.
The so-called collective dormitory is actually a five-story tube-shaped building with a long and narrow corridor connecting several houses, each of which is a family.
It was the time to get up early for work, and the corridor of the tube-shaped building was very lively, with children crying and adults yelling, as if they were at a vegetable market.
"Hey, Baolianka, good morning," Yuri walked out along the corridor. When he was about to reach the stairs, an officer in a military coat with captain's epaulettes happened to walk out the door and greeted him.
"Good morning, Ava," Yuri greeted with a smile.
The captain's name was August, August Akimovich Barshenko, a Ukrainian who belonged to the Ninth Army of the Kiev Military District. Like Yuri, he was a second lieutenant two months ago, and the reason for his promotion was because he had made military achievements in the elimination of a group of "Bandera elements" in Lviv.
"Where are we going for breakfast?" August asked, holding a newspaper in his hand. He locked the door, turned around, patted Yuri's shoulder and asked.
Over the past week, because they were both students in the same military academy, from the same class, and also lived together, they quickly became familiar with each other and always ate together.
There were no state-owned restaurants in Zagorsk. When eating, Yuri and his friends had only three choices: the workers' restaurant at the candy factory, the collective restaurant at the military school, and the restaurant at the food supply station in town. Compared with the three, the food at the food supply station was the best, but they had to pay for it themselves, so they didn't go there often.
"Let's go to school," Yuri said without hesitation . Since coming to this world, he has always lived a simple life. It's not that he is stingy, but he has to save more money for emergencies.
As they were talking, they came out of the tube building and stepped onto the snow-covered corridor in front of the building. They saw seven or eight female soldiers rushing out of Building 11 in front of them. These female soldiers were very young and lively. They came out of the building chattering and laughing, but the noise was not annoying.
"Hey, Paulenka," August was three or four years older than Yuri, but he was very coquettish. When he saw the female soldiers, his eyes widened instantly. He nudged Yuri's waist with his elbow and whispered, "Look who that is."
"Who?" Yuri followed his gaze and asked in surprise.
"Olga, Olga Vlasovna Liangbova," August said in a somewhat excited tone, "the angel of the communications squad."
"Angel?" Yuri tilted his head and muttered absentmindedly.
"Yes, angels, recognized angels, don't you think so?" August said as he stretched his neck and looked at the female soldiers.
"Maybe," Yuri didn't even concentrate on watching, but just responded with a few words.
To be honest, Yuri had never thought about the issue of men and women since he came into this world, at least not until now. All he thought about was the war that was destined to break out in a year. To put it bluntly, it would be a disaster for any young Soviet man, and the same was true for him.
"Paulenka," August, perhaps sensing his absent-mindedness, looked away, stared at him for a while, and whispered, "I found a problem with you, do you know?"
"What's the problem?" Yuri asked in surprise.
"You need to find a lover," August said seriously, "Otherwise, one day, you will lose interest in women, and you already have this tendency."
Yuri shrugged and said nothing. He just thought to himself: This guy August is from the Kiev Military District, and the Ninth Army. If nothing unexpected happens, in a year, he will either be killed by the Germans or become a prisoner of the Germans. I hope he will still be interested in finding a lover by then.
The female soldiers were obviously also going to the military academy. They walked in front of Yuri and the other man until they entered the campus.
