Berkin raised his hand and wiped his tears, walked to the girl, first raised his hand to greet the other party with a solemn military salute, then bent down and asked, "Girl, can you tell me what your name is and where did this flag get it?"
When Sokov heard the question raised by Belkin, he thought to himself: This girl has been in with Selyosha for a long time, and you don’t even know what the other person’s name is.
Seeing a commander saluting her, the girl quickly stood up and replied, "My name is Maria. My family lives in a small village about twenty miles away to the south. This flag was handed over to me by a guerrilla."
"Guerrilla?" Belkin couldn't help but ask strangely: "What guerrilla? How could he have the flag of our army in his hand?"
"Comrade Commander, please listen to my explanation." Maria quickly explained to everyone: "I didn't make it clear just now that there was a guerrilla team near our village, and the members of this army were all broken regular troops. They had only a dozen people at the beginning, and later the number of people increased, reaching more than 200 people. They kept attacking the German transportation line, burning countless trucks, killing at least hundreds of German soldiers, and intercepting the grain that the Germans snatched from the villagers many times, and re-sending the grain to the villagers..."
Sokov stood aside and listened quietly to Maria's remarks on the many achievements made by the guerrillas in this area, thinking to himself: "Since this guerrilla team performed so well, why did they not actively support us during our army's counterattack?"
Maria continued: "...The Germans were afraid and hated to them. In order to successfully pass through the area where they were active, they had to increase the strength of the escort transport team, and even each convoy was equipped with armored vehicles. But even so, our guerrillas successfully attacked the enemy's transport team again and again..."
Hearing this, Sokov couldn't help asking, "Mariya, I want to ask, where is this guerrilla team now?"
"It's gone, it's all dead." Maria shook her head and replied with a sad expression.
"All dead?" Hearing this news, Sokov couldn't help but turn his head and look at Belkin. Both of them were surprised by each other's eyes. Belkin frowned and asked, "Didn't they beat the Germans to fear? How could they all die easily?"
"That's right, comrade commander." Maria replied: "They used to live in the forest, and their whereabouts are uncertain. Even if the Germans wanted to clear them, they could not find anyone. But as the weather became colder and they could not stay in the forest, they could only find a place to keep the cold in the nearby villages. In order to eliminate them, the Germans posted notices everywhere, saying that as long as someone could provide the whereabouts of the guerrillas, they would be rewarded with three thousand rubles."
When Belkin heard Mariya say this, he guessed the reason for the destruction of the entire guerrilla army. After snorting heavily, he said angrily: "It must be someone who is greedy for the bounty of the Germans and leaks the whereabouts of the guerrillas to the Germans."
Regarding Belkin's speculation, Maria nodded and expressed her affirmation: "Yes, this is the case. That day, the guerrillas attacked a German transport convoy during the day, killing more than 20 soldiers and burning seven or eight trucks. The comrades of the guerrillas were too tired and lay down as soon as they got back into the house. Not long after, most of the people fell asleep. Even the sentries dozed off at the sentry.
When the Germans learned about the village where the guerrillas lived, they immediately dispatched two or three hundred people, as well as the cooperation of tanks and armored vehicles. After they surrounded the village, they bombarded the village with tank guns and fired people who escaped from the village with machine guns. Many guerrillas were killed by shells in their sleep. Some of the team members who were lucky enough to react were also swept down by machine guns when they rushed out of the village..."
"Bang!" When Belkin heard this, he couldn't help but slap the pillar next to him, which made the snow on the roof fall from the gap in the log, and everyone was covered in heads. He cursed fiercely: "Damn traitor, for the sake of the German bounty, he actually killed so many of our comrades. If I were to catch him, I would tear him to pieces."
Maria smiled bitterly and said, "No one knows who betrayed the guerrillas until now. However, not everyone died, and several guerrillas successfully escaped from the village. The German army heard that the guerrillas had a military flag. After occupying the village, they searched for the flag everywhere, but they never found it. The Germans posted another notice saying that as long as anyone can find the flag and hand it over to the German command, they can receive a bonus of 10,000 rubles.
Five guerrillas broke through the village, one second lieutenant and four ordinary soldiers. They were active in the forest for two or three days, and because they were frozen and hungry, they had to look for food near the village. Unexpectedly, they encountered the SS search troops. In order to cover the lieutenant and leave with the flag, the four soldiers who broke the back were captured alive by the Germans after they were shot out.
In order to get the flag they wanted, the Germans tortured the captured soldiers. The soldiers were beaten to pieces, and no one told the Germans where the flag was going. The German commander came up with a vicious move. He ordered people to tie the soldiers to outdoor pillars, and then in front of the villagers, they kept pouring cold well water at these soldiers, forcing them to explain the whereabouts of the flag. I watched the soldiers, frozen into ice sculptures in the cold weather..." At this point, Maria could no longer hold it back. She covered her face and burst into tears.
Asia, who was standing beside her quickly held her in her arms, wiped her tears, and whispered Maria in a low voice, trying to stabilize her emotions.
After a long time, Mariya's crying finally stopped. Instead of wiping the tears from her face, she continued to tell the origin of the flag: "That night, I heard someone knocking on my door. I opened it and saw that it was the escaped lieutenant. He was worried about his comrades and came back to inquire about the news. Unexpectedly, his comrade had been frozen into an ice sculpture by the Germans... "
"Maria," Sokov asked cautiously, "Is it the lieutenant who handed the flag to you in this case?"
Maria nodded and continued, "He said he could not watch the body of his comrades, and was placed outside the command center by the Germans as an ice sculpture. Before leaving, he handed the flag to me, saying that I would love this flag like I would love my own eyes...
The second lieutenant died gloriously in the battle with the Germans. The Germans did not find the flag they wanted from him, so they sent someone to conduct a large-scale search in the village. Fortunately, I wrapped the flag on myself at that time, and luckily I was not discovered by the Germans... "
After hearing the origin of this flag, Belkin stepped forward and hugged Maria, and said emotionally: "Thank you, Maria! Thank you for saving this glorious flag for my comrades. On behalf of their heroic spirits, I would like to express my gratitude to you!"
Sokov also stepped forward and gave Maria a warm hug: "Maria, you are a good person! I believe that after reorganizing the 24th Infantry Division, all the commanders and soldiers in this division will always be grateful to you."
Thank you book friends for their hopeless rewards and support!
Chapter completed!