Chapter 64 Silence
In Berezna, in the field hospital of the 34th Brigade on the south bank of the Desna River, Khrushchev, who had rushed over from Kiev, looked in amazement at the young soldier on the bed who was wolfing down black bread and smearing butter all over his face. After a long moment, he turned to Yuri who was accompanying him and said, "Is this the only soldier left from the two squads?"
"Yes, Comrade Political Commissar," Demel, who was standing next to Yuri, answered first, "His spirit was stimulated, oh, so..."
"Is there any way to recover?" Khrushchev turned his inquiring gaze to Demel's face and continued, "I mean in the short term, such as today."
"That's probably not possible, Comrade Political Commissar," Demel glanced at the two nurses beside the bed, licked his lips and said, "But there are no very good doctors here, so I can't say for sure."
Khrushchev was silent for a long time before he looked up again, looked at Yuri and said, "Comrade Stalin is very concerned about the heroic comrades who played an important role in this battle. He has issued an order to the theater command to send the personnel who planned and carried out the attack to Moscow as soon as possible by plane. Comrade Stalin is going to arrange a banquet at the Ulen Palace to celebrate this."
After he finished speaking, Yuri still didn't respond. Judging from his expression, he was obviously distracted.
"Comrade Major Yuri, are you listening to me?" Khrushchev said in a deep voice, a little unhappy.
"Oh, of course, Comrade Political Commissar," Yuri said hastily, waking up from his wild thoughts, "But I'm very sorry, I'm a little nervous now, so..."
Hearing him say this, Khrushchev laughed again. He had a very rare tolerance towards Yuri, which was a manifestation of absolute trust.
In fact, before the news of the victory in Shaws came back last night, Khrushchev was already very satisfied with Yuri, because Khrushchev did not find his name in the report on the failure of the 34th Brigade's raid, and Yuri attributed the failure of the raid to himself. Khrushchev liked people who did not blame others for the problems.
As for the subsequent victory at Shaws, Khrushchev was overjoyed. This was a huge achievement. Just think about it, even Comrade Stalin personally asked about it and came out to receive the hero of this battle. What a great honor it was! It was a pity that the battle plan that Yuri submitted to him before had been burned by the secretary who was quick-handed. But it didn't matter. Khrushchev believed that Yuri was a smart man and he would never forget to mention this matter in front of Stalin.
Khrushchev was very fond of a commander who would take the blame himself but share the credit with his superiors, and who was a young commander who was good at fighting and had luck. What's more, this young commander was obviously in the same camp as him.
Waving his hand, Khrushchev said kindly: "It's okay, this is understandable. However, after arriving in Moscow and entering the Kremlin, especially after meeting Comrade Stalin, you should pay more attention to some etiquette issues. Of course, you don't have to worry too much, I will go with you, and I will remind you when the time comes."
"Thank you very much, Comrade Political Commissar," Yuri thanked hurriedly.
"Okay, let's talk about these things later," Khrushchev said with a smile, "Now, the problem we need to solve urgently is how to determine the candidate for this combat hero."
Having said that, he glanced at the two nurses guarding the bedside, feeling that it was inconvenient to talk here, and motioned for Yuri and Demel to go out and talk.
"Comrade Stalin hopes to meet with the brave soldiers who participated in this battle," Khrushchev continued after coming out of the ruins of the dilapidated hospital. "There will definitely be reporters interviewing him, and there will be comrades from the Politburo and maybe some foreign guests. So, we must not send a patient there, and a mental patient at that. What do you think?"
"Comrade Political Commissar has thought very carefully," Demel immediately said, "If that were the case, it would be a joke."
Of course Yuri understood what they meant. Although he was reluctant, he wisely chose to keep silent at this time.
"Then how do we solve this problem?" Khrushchev looked at Demel with encouragement and appreciation, motioning him to come up with an idea.
"We can arrange for other soldiers to take over temporarily," Demel said quickly. "Of course, we must also give Comrade Borodinov corresponding honors and rewards. It is only because of the actual situation and his health problems that we have to take this measure."
Yuri glanced at Demel with some pity. This plan, which was eager to show off, had unknowingly been blamed. What was even more tragic was that since he had been blamed, he, the brigade commander, could not escape either.
Think about it, one day in the future, if this incident causes trouble, Comrade Khrushchev will definitely blame it, claiming that he knew nothing about it and was deceived. At that time, it seems that the only unlucky people will be himself and Demel.
"This method..." Khrushchev frowned, but his eyes stopped on Yuri's face. It was obvious that he was waiting for him to express his opinion.
"I also think this method is feasible," Yuri gritted his teeth and said, "However, I think we can modify the report slightly and say that there are two survivors, but one of them is seriously injured and cannot rush to Moscow for the time being."
"Well, this method can be considered," Khrushchev nodded, agreeing with Yuri's proposal. He thought about it and then asked, "Do you have any good candidates?"
Yuri didn't say anything. He really didn't want to get involved too much in things like this.
"I do have a candidate," Demel said.
"Oh, tell me about it." Khrushchev said with interest.
"This man is an orderly from our brigade," Demel said. "He was injured last night during the German artillery bombardment. His injury is not serious, but there is a cut on the left side of his face from shrapnel."
Hearing what Demel said, Yuri shuddered and the hairs on his body stood up.
He looked at Demel suddenly, but saw that there was no abnormality on the other's face.
"What is this man's name?" Khrushchev asked.
"Vassily, Vasily? Vlasovich Liangbov," Demel said immediately, as expected, "my hometown is Irkutsk."
After saying this, he added: "However, his family background is not very good. He is from a rich peasant family."
"From a rich peasant family?" Khrushchev raised his short and thick eyebrows slightly, glanced at Yuri casually, and then said, "This person is a good candidate. You go and confirm it, do his job well, and don't make any mistakes at that time."
"Don't worry, Comrade Political Commissar, I will do everything well." Demel saluted and answered loudly.
"Okay, go make arrangements. I have to rush back to Kiev immediately," Khrushchev had no intention of staying in Berezna for too long. He took the initiative to shake hands with Yuri and Demel and said, "You have two hours to prepare. Um, six o'clock, you must rush to Kiev before six o'clock. I will wait for you at the airport."
Watching Khrushchev's motorcade leave, Yuri began to become absent-minded again. He believed that Demel's recommendation of Vasily was definitely not unintentional. These people who work in politics are very cunning. If he said that he didn't know about the ambiguous relationship between him and Olga, it would be pure nonsense.
"Comrade Major, I'm going to have a good talk with Vasily and do his job. Do you have anything else to tell me?" After Khrushchev's motorcade was completely out of sight, Demel turned around and asked calmly.
"Oh, no," Yuri replied. He couldn't figure out what Demel was thinking, and of course he couldn't ask more questions.
"Then I'll go first. I'll come back to find you in an hour and we'll set off together." Demel said with a smile.
"Okay, I'll go over the previous reports and check if there are any mistakes or omissions." Yuri nodded.
Demel nodded, turned and walked towards the west street, but he stopped after only two steps, turned around, and returned to Yuri.
"Comrade Major, as the political commissar of the 34th Brigade, and also your work partner, I am very satisfied with my work in recent times. In fact, in my opinion, we should have a friendship," Demel said, staring at Yuri. "What do you think?"
" Of course , I've always thought so." Yuri said with a forced smile.
"Well, Baolianka, now, as a friend, I remind you," Demel said with a straight face, "In the previous battles, you have proved your talent . I think that with this, your future will never be limited to the present, so you should have higher aspirations. As for a qualified commander, in addition to the ability to command, you should also have a more sensitive political sense. Unfortunately, I think you are not doing well in this regard."
The smile on Yuri's face froze. He knew what Demel was going to say.
"I don't want to comment too much on your private life," Demel continued, "but for a promising young commander like you, Comrade Olga Vlasovna Liangbova is definitely not your best choice for marriage. From a political perspective, you need a woman with a better family background. As for Olga, she is only suitable to be a lover. This is my opinion. Of course, I believe Comrade Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev will also think so."
