On the evening of March 1st, all 23 children, big and small, filled their stomachs with thick porridge cooked with the last remaining honey and rice from Weiran.
Under the turns of inspection by Wei Ran and Ke Na, these children all put on gray and white blankets, put on Budyonni hats of different colors, and walked out of the still warm basement with their few personal belongings.
In the cold cement house, under the command of Alexander and other older children, they sat on three sledges.
In the basement, Wei Yan used mud mixed with plant ash, coal ash and pine needles to carefully block the ventilation window. He and Kona worked together to fasten the surrounding baffles and used the brought in shelves as supports.
After Wei Ran lit the carbide lamp, Kona touched the locked wooden box on the shelf, then touched the snare drum left by her father and the bayan belonging to Shostakovich, and finally took the
She picked up her own bayanqin and handed it to Wei Ran behind her, "Take this bayanqin with you. You can accompany the children when they sing."
After taking the bayangqin and hanging it around his neck, Wei Ran took out the harmonica from his pocket and handed it to the other party. "In that case, I give you this harmonica as a souvenir."
"I'm so sorry." Kena took the harmonica and shook it. "When the war is over, I will exchange the harmonica for my bayan."
"No problem, but you have to stay alive."
"Of course!" Kena promised confidently and put the harmonica into her pocket.
"Take this, too," Wei Ran said, bending down and pulling out a sack from the bottom of the shelf and handing it to the other party.
"What's this?"
Kena opened the sack curiously, only to find that it contained not only the Gemstone oil stove that was looted from a German pilot, but also a German kettle that Weihan had picked up from the wreckage of a long-crashed bomber a few days ago.
, and a vodka bottle with a wooden stopper blocking the mouth of the bottle. In addition, the bag also contained Weiran's portable flask and an unbranded tin can.
“It’s very cold where you work”
Wei Ran leaned into Ke Na's ear and whispered, "The kettles and wine bottles are filled with the kerosene I saved. Although it's not much, it's enough to burn the stove for a long time. There's also the German guy's oil stove."
, I also filled up the oil.
Finally, there is my wine jug and can. The jug contains the last bit of honey left, and the can contains condensed milk. The children will not need these after they move into the air raid shelter, and I also have a can of condensed milk for emergencies.
So Kona, take these things, you will definitely need them. Kona, if you survive, you must survive."
"Thanks"
Ke Na stood on tiptoes and hugged Wei Ran, buried her head on his shoulder and took a deep breath, "Thank you, Victor, thank you."
"let's go"
Wei Ran patted the girl's back gently. Even though there were several layers of clothes and gloves, he could still clearly feel the girl's spine, which was tightly wrapped in skin.
"Take good care of your brothers and sisters"
Ke Na said, letting go of Wei Ran, slinging the sack bag prepared for her on her shoulders, and was the first to walk out of the basement.
"Four days left..."
Wei Ran muttered secretly, glanced at the still burning stove, reached out and extinguished the carbide lamp, put away the previously extinguished American oil stove in the dark, turned around and walked out of the basement.
With the help of Kona, Alexander and Alyosha, the entrance and exit cover of the basement was fastened again, and the two iron cabinets were pushed up to cover them tightly.
Finally, she locked the covers of the surrounding windows one by one and blocked them with shelves. Kona took the backpack Wei Ran had just given her, along with a kerosene lamp and the set of two "War" books that Wei Ran had found more than half a month ago.
and Peace" were all put into the airdrop box and dragged away from this cold, dark cement house by hand.
Behind her, Alexander glanced at the flag he had fixed on the wall with his own hands, took it off on tiptoes, carefully folded it and stuffed it into his arms.
When Wei Ran also walked out of the room, Alexander locked the door himself, turned around and worked with Alyosha to pick up a rope tied to the sledge. The girl named Lesia also helped Kona drag it
Holding the airdrop box.
In the gloomy night, three sledges filled with children and an airdrop box with a sled, led by Kona, walked towards the north of the city in the dark and against the wind.
After walking around for more than an hour, Kona finally stopped at the entrance of an air-raid shelter. Next to the entrance of the air-raid shelter, the political commissar named Iliuch had been waiting for a long time.
"I'll send you here"
Ke Na finally hugged Wei Ran gently and whispered into his ear, "We must survive." Then, before Wei Ran responded, she let go and hugged Alexander.
He whispered something into his ear, and then helped him straighten the hat on his head.
Saying a final farewell to each child with a big hug, Kona followed the political commissar and walked in the direction they came from, and in a short time, she was completely swallowed by the darkness.
Looking away, Wei Ran nodded to a Soviet female soldier waiting at the door of the air raid shelter, and then waved to the children standing by the sledge, "Okay, let's go in too."
"When can we see Kona again?" A little girl named Kaliuzhina raised her head and looked at Wei Ran eagerly and asked - even though they had just separated from Kona.
"Soon, we will meet her again soon."
Wei Ran helped the little guy straighten the hat on his head, "Okay, let's go in!"
Under the leadership of the thin female soldier, Wei Ran and the children walked into the warm and dim air-raid shelter with their few luggage.
To Wei Ran's expectation, there was actually an electricity supply here, and there were far more people living here, especially children, wounded, women, and the elderly than he had imagined.
According to the introduction of the female soldier, this is not only a rear hospital, but also a school, and a transfer station for transfers to the rear. In other words, the residents in this air raid shelter may be arranged to be evacuated to a safer rear at any time.
Life.
Under the introduction of the female soldier, the children were assigned to different classes according to age and school age and were assigned to different teachers.
In addition to attending classes, these relatively older children are also assigned some work within their capabilities.
Older children like Alexander would go to the hospital to help the wounded write letters, read newspapers, or do other tasks such as cleaning.
And those like the former child king Andre mainly focus on companionship. These little guys only need to chat with the wounded after class.
On the contrary, baby Galina, Anastasia and Bogdan, who were not yet old enough to go to school, the three youngest, were assigned to the nursery in this air-raid shelter together with Wei Ran.
The three little guys naturally need to be taken care of, but Wei Ran has a job - he is responsible for taking care of the injured children in the nursery, and by the way, he plays the bayan or harmonica for the injured children every day.
But what kind of group of children are they? Even the least injured ones have their little arms wrapped with thick gauze. Even some of the seriously injured ones have large areas of burns on their bodies, or their eyes are wrapped in gauze.
, or the limbs are all missing.
According to the introductions of his colleagues in the nursery who were too young, these children all survived the German bombings and shelling. Those poor little guys had never seen any Germans with their own eyes, but they
Those who were injured by them were completely injured.
This time, Wei Ran, who is known as a veterinarian, was extremely attentive and even cautious in carrying out the operation - even though he was only responsible for the most basic and daily dressing changes.
After it was determined that he was qualified enough for the job, he was also assigned a small bed of his own in a room in the air-raid shelter, and also received a day off and a dinner of only black bread, plus a few daily necessities.
Film in a sealed tube.
Taking advantage of the little time before going to bed to remember where the children were, Wei Ran finally lay down on his little bed and relaxed a little from the tense nerves he had been feeling for the past month.
At six o'clock in the morning the next day, when "Holy War" came from the loudspeaker of the All-Soviet Broadcasting System to wake up everyone in the air-raid shelter, Wei Ran immediately got up, holding a camera and a lit carbide lamp, and gave the air-raid shelter
The adults, children, and guardians of the city living there took photos one after another.
Few of the people frozen in the silver salt films are truly healthy. Most of them are wrapped in bandages, or so thin that the skeletons of their bodies can be seen.
But these people are determined and optimistic. In this slightly crowded air-raid shelter, they are not just huddled in one place to endure time and hunger.
The adults are working to the best of their ability, and the children are studying seriously in the classrooms assigned to them. Even the wounded who can't do anything will gather together and listen carefully to the frontline news coming from the radio.
This crowded air-raid shelter is like a scarred machine. Every part inside the machine has defects of one kind or another, but they are all working hard.
Under the supplementary light provided by the brightly emitting carbide lamp, Wei Ran, who was on vacation, pressed the shutter again and again, taking pictures of the wounded, doctors, soldiers, children and even incomplete families.
The group photos also recorded again and again the seeds called "hope" in this besieged city.
Towards evening, in the room belonging to the patient in the nursery, Wei Ran held the bayan that belonged to Ke Na and played the accompaniment of the "Warrior Song" that the children used to sing in the basement.
When the music came out of the ward, the young girls who also worked in the nursery couldn't help but hum along with the war song, and even their steps became lighter.
When the music reached the wards of the injured soldiers next door, the soldiers who were trying to secretly drink medical alcohol also raised the bullet casings that served as wine glasses and sang the song for them sonorously.
The singing spreads along with the music, and more and more people hum along softly, and more and more people have smiles full of confidence appearing on their faces involuntarily.
Just after the song was sung, a soldier with a cane, one leg missing, one hand wrapped in gauze, and his head wrapped in gauze limped over and gently knocked on the half-open door.
.
"Comrade," the soldier struggled to raise his bandaged hand and saluted Wei Ran.
"What's the matter?" Wei Ran stood up and subconsciously responded with a military salute before asking.
"I am Vitaly Yarmolenko of the military band." The thin soldier on crutches tried to straighten his chest. "You play the bayan very well."
"Thank you for your compliment." Wei Ran responded humbly, and at the same time looked at the other person with questioning eyes, "I am Victor, the childcare worker who just came yesterday."
The soldier said straightforwardly and straightforwardly, "Comrade Victor, all the military band I am in have gone to the front line. Counting me, there are four of us who have returned alive. We are all in the ward next door. Can you use Bayan?"
Will Qin accompany us? We intend to give everyone some encouragement."
"What song?" Wei Ran had already walked to the door as he spoke, "Let's go to your ward."
"How about trying Holy War first?" Vitali asked as he walked back on crutches, "the song that wakes us up in the morning."
"Holy war..."
He lowered his head and looked at the bayan in his arms, and inexplicably remembered the soldier Tonya who had the title of artist on the battlefield in Rzhev. That guy's voice was enough to join the orchestra or choir.
"Let me try!" Wei Ran muttered and followed him into the ward.
There were thirty or forty people lying on the beds next to each other in this room, and not far from the door, there were already three people with varying degrees of injuries waiting.
Among these three people, one of them had both legs missing from the knees and could only sit on the hospital bed. The gauze wrapped around the wound was stained with bright red blood. There was another person who had wounds on his chest and back.
There were large burns with thick ointment smeared on them. And the last one was missing an arm.
There was no introduction at all. The man who lost his legs moved to a chair with difficulty, and the companion who had burns on his upper body, the one with only one arm, and Wei Ran, who had all four limbs, carried him to the corridor outside the room.
inside.
"Let's get started" Vitaly and the four of them said in unison against the wall of the corridor.
"Then let's get started"
Wei Ran nodded and, driven by the inexplicable muscle memory, played the bayan. The four soldiers from the military band also sang "Holy War" that could be heard on the all-Soviet radio every morning.
》.
This was much more real than the radio. The singing and music were passed along the corridor and spread again. At some point, Alexander and other children who were in class also heard the loud singing and couldn't help but follow.
