Chapter 65 Speechless
In the empty basement, Yuri sat in front of the window with his head down. The cigarette in his hand was about to burn out. Inch-long ash fell loosely on the cigarette butt. No flame could be seen, only wisps of green smoke rising intermittently.
Demel's behavior may really be harmless. It can be seen as a gesture of goodwill, or even as a sign of some kind of surrender. He was valued by Comrade Khrushchev, made great military achievements, and was personally commended and entertained by Comrade Stalin. This is the rhythm of a promising future. Although I am only a battalion-level military commissar, I also have higher aspirations. Now I am optimistic about you and plan to follow you, so I am ready to help you solve some problems. Olga is a woman, you can just play with her, there is no need to be serious. She has a bad family background. Now we are promoting her brother as a hero, which is also a way for you to compensate her. You can be obsessed with her body and maintain a relationship with her before you get tired of her, but you can never want to marry her, because it will affect your future, and affecting your future is equivalent to affecting my future, and I can't agree. This is Demel's idea. Although he didn't express it clearly, Yuri believed that this was the case.
In fact, Yuri himself had never considered whether to marry Olga, and he did not think that he and Olga had any deep feelings for each other. Therefore, he was not very resistant to Demel's suggestion.
Now, what really made Yuri depressed was the word "combat hero", and the feeling of dejection that instantly collapsed in his soul.
Of the 120 Soviet soldiers responsible for the raid, only one survived. Now, Moscow is ready to award the brave soldiers who commanded and participated in this battle with enough honors, but who among these people can enjoy it? Not to mention the dead, even the only remaining survivor was excluded from the halo of honor because of his mental breakdown, which was inconsistent with the image of a fearless hero.
Who the hell stipulated that heroes are fearless? Who the hell stipulated that heroes must be ready to die? Shouldn't the standard for judging whether a soldier is qualified be his behavior?
Well, putting aside these unrealistic high-sounding words, Yuri believed that he should be responsible for his soldiers. He sent them to the battlefield and put them to death, so he had to ensure that they were given enough fairness and justice. But now, he obviously couldn't do this because he was worried, afraid, and concerned about too many things in his heart.
Perhaps, I should not have been a soldier, but a despicable and dirty politician.
The cigarette butt was already hot. Yuri frowned and took a last puff, then threw it on the ground and stepped on it with his leather boots, crushing it hard.
“Boom boom!”
A dull knock on the door happened at this moment. Yuri let out a long sigh, stood up, walked out of the bedroom, and said, "Come in."
"Paulenka," Demel pushed the door open and came in. He walked quickly and asked impatiently as soon as he entered the room, "Have you changed your clothes?"
"It's ready." Yuri calmed down in the shortest possible time, stretched out his arms, showed the other party his new military uniform, and smiled, "Are you ready to set off?"
"No, no, no, you have to change your clothes now," Demel walked over quickly and handed Yuri a dirty old military uniform. He said, "Comrade Khrushchev called and told me that you must not wear new military uniforms to Moscow. Also, you can't take a shower. Try to make your clothes as dirty as possible."
Yuri opened his mouth in surprise, not knowing what to say .
"Hurry up, hurry up, change into it," Demel threw his military uniform on the sofa and urged, "Comrade Khrushchev has already reported to Comrade Stalin that when we received the notice, we were still commanding the battle on the front line of the Berezna battlefield. Only in this way can we reflect the hardship of our front-line battles."
Yuri then discovered that Demel was wearing a dirty military uniform, and there were even a few bloodstains on the front.
No matter how much he felt wronged or angry, Yuri didn't dare to go against Khrushchev. Since the political commissar had specifically instructed him to do so, he had to follow his instructions. Besides, it was just a change of clothes and a show. Everyone has to act in life.
Yuri put on the old military uniform that Demel had brought, and as Demel said, put a layer of dirt on his face until he looked like a groundhog that had just crawled out of the soil. Only then did Yuri leave the basement with Demel.
At the parking lot, Yuri saw Vasily. The young man was also in a dishevel, with a piece of gauze wrapped around his face. Bright red blood was seeping out of the gauze, looking a bit scary.
Vasily was obviously knocked unconscious by this pie that fell from the sky. He was dazed and the uninjured side of his face was red. He stayed alone, muttering to himself, probably reciting some words that Demel asked him to remember.
It was already late and no one dared to delay, so they immediately got on the bus and headed straight for Kiev.
They arrived at the Kiev military airport at nearly seven o'clock. The military plane that would take them to Moscow was already ready. In addition to Khrushchev, Timoshenko and Budyonny were also preparing to fly to Moscow. This was the first time that Yuri had seen real Soviet marshals since his rebirth, and he had seen two of them at once.
Under Khrushchev's introduction, Yuri had a brief conversation with Timoshenko and Budyonny, and then the group boarded the military plane and officially headed for Moscow.
At 9 o'clock that evening, the plane landed at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport. Afterwards, the group took a specially prepared car and headed non-stop to Moscow and the Kremlin.
It was almost 10 o'clock when the convoy entered the Kremlin from the Kutafya Tower. After walking around for nearly 10 minutes, it stopped in front of a white four-story building.
A captain in an Internal Guard uniform opened the car door for Yuri and his companions, asked them to get out of the car expressionlessly, and asked them to enter the four-story building for inspection.
He had been to Moscow several times before, but this was his first time entering the Kremlin. Even as a reborn person, Yuri was very nervous, mainly because this white four-story building itself gave people a solemn and dignified feeling.
Yuri, Demel and Vasily were led into the building by the captain and separated in the lobby . Yuri was led by a female soldier who was also wearing the uniform of the Internal Guards and went directly to the second floor and was taken to a room next to the stairwell.
"Comrade Major, please change your clothes here," the female soldier pointed to the only table in the room and said, "There is a bathroom inside. You have 15 minutes to take a simple shower. We have prepared new uniforms for you. You can change into them after you take a shower."
"Here?" Yuri looked at the table and hesitated.
"Yes, here," said the female soldier.
"Then you..." Yuri looked at the other party and hesitated.
"I'm very sorry, according to the regulations, I have to stay here." The female soldier still said expressionlessly, "Of course, you can also ask for someone else to replace me."
Yuri was speechless and at the same time, he felt extremely annoyed. It was obvious that this was a regulation of the Internal Security Department of the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs, and the targets could only be low-level officials like himself. Otherwise, why didn't he see Khrushchev and others enjoying such treatment?
However, no matter how annoyed he was, he still had to obey the rules. Otherwise, Yuri believed that he would never get any advantage. Don't think that being a combat hero is important. From Vasily's experience, we can see that the bigwigs only care about this victory, not the person who led this victory. In the final analysis, merits and deeds are all bullshit. Position is the most important thing.
Without any expression of dissatisfaction, Yuri stripped himself naked in front of the female soldier, then walked into the bathroom and took a shower in the shortest time possible. When he came out again, a pile of brand new military uniforms was already on the table, and even leather boots, belts, socks and other things were ready.
Yuri put on the new uniforms in front of the female soldiers. He couldn't help but sigh. Comrade Khrushchev's kindness was wasted. However, he thought again that his image had already been passed on to Stalin through the mouths of these internal security personnel, so Comrade Khrushchev's goal had been achieved.
Yuri, looking refreshed, went back downstairs under the guidance of the female soldier, while Demel and Vasily were already waiting in the hall.
The three men left the building again, got into a black Volga sedan, and continued to drive into the Kremlin.
Ulen Palace was the administrative hall of the Tsar in the past. Since the success of the revolution, especially since Comrade Stalin came to power, this place has been the place for holding large banquets or receiving important foreign guests.
The Volga sedan stopped in the parking lot outside the Uleng Palace. A second lieutenant of the Internal Guard opened the door and led Yuri and the others up the steps in front of the palace. Finally, they stopped at the entrance of the palace.
"Comrade Major, the People's Commissar is waiting for you in the lounge," the lieutenant led the three people into the Uleng Palace, through the entrance hall, and directly into a corridor on the side. Finally, they stopped in front of a double-leaf golden door and said, "Please follow me, both of you."
"People's Commissar? What People's Commissar? Which People's Commissar?" Yuri stopped at the door and watched the lieutenant leading Demel and Vasily away, but he was confused.
After hesitating for a moment, Yuri raised his hand and knocked on the door. Soon, the door on the right was opened from the inside, and a man in casual clothes, short in stature but with a big forehead and a pair of black plastic-framed glasses on his face appeared in front of Yuri.
Looking at the guy in front of him with a kind face and two thick black eyebrows that trembled when he smiled, Yuri felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, and cold chills ran down his body.
