On this day, Shurka was busy counting the progress of the project in the private house that served as the headquarters.
This is the advantage of being promoted to a company commander. You have your own headquarters. If you have anything to do, you only need to tell your subordinates and let them complete it.
But there is also a disadvantage, that is, he has to face the deputy instructor's stinky face every day.
Sometimes, Shulka even thought that their promotion to the third company commander was intentional... to let the deputy instructor monitor him better.
The deputy instructor's attitude towards Shulka was quite good, just lukewarm and serious. Shulka even felt that the deputy instructor's attitude had changed a bit. He didn't know if it was an illusion or something. Anyway, the deputy instructor's eyes looked at him before.
The doubt seemed to disappear.
But because of his previous experience, Shurka still did not dare to talk nonsense in the headquarters, as if there were eyes staring at him all the time, which made him feel uncomfortable.
If he had known this, Shurka should have applied to serve as company commander in another company.
But this seems to be of no use, because the deputy instructor is likely to follow... This is not something Shulka can decide.
At this moment, Major Gavrilov appeared at the door, wearing a raincoat. He seemed to be in a hurry and shouted to Shulka: "Put on the raincoat, we have to go out for a few days!"
"Get out?" Shulka didn't understand what "get out" meant.
"Yes!" Major Gavrilov said: "Leave the company's affairs to the deputy company commander!"
"Yes, sir!" Pukarev raised his body towards Major Mrs. Gavrilov, and then said to Shulka: "Don't worry, comrade company commander, I will take care of everything!"
Shulka patted Pukarev on the shoulder and secretly said that it was thanks to this assistant.
After putting on his raincoat and following Major Gavrilov out to get on the barrel truck, Major Gavrilov said his destination: "We are going to Kiev, according to Comrade Kirponos' order!"
Shulka said "Oh", and then he understood what Colonel Gavrilov had just said about "getting out"... The army was full of Germans or Ukrainian rebel spies, and of course he would not say it easily if it was not necessary.
out of destination.
The barrel truck drove along the road in the rain, and drove swaying to the railway a few miles away. The two stood by the railway track and waited for a few minutes, and then a train came up along the railway track with a "whooshing" sound.
.
It was an old-fashioned train, and Shulka noticed that there were machine gunners lying on the roofs of several carriages on guard.
There was no train station nearby, but the train still stopped, apparently because it had been notified before to pick up people.
The door of a carriage about 20 meters ahead was opened with a "hula" after a burst of punches and kicks.
An officer with the rank of sergeant jumped out of the car and waved to the two of them. Colonel Gavrilov and Shulka greeted them knowingly.
"I need to see your military ID, comrade!" the master said.
"Of course!" Major Gavrilov and Shulka took out their military ID cards and handed them over.
When the sergeant saw Shulka's military ID card, his eyes became wary.
"Your military ID card doesn't have a photo, Comrade Second Lieutenant!" the chief said, "And it's brand new!"
"Yes!" Shulka replied: "Because I just got promoted. As for the photos... I didn't get them during the combat period!"
"Then how can I be sure that this document belongs to you?" The master seemed to be a rigorous person, which was rare in the Soviet army.
"I can prove it!" Major Gavrilov said: "I even believe you have heard of his name, I mean his nickname... He is the 'Escape Hero'!"
Shulka looked at Major Gavrilov in surprise.
"Don't look at me like that, Shulka!" Major Gavrilov said: "I have known your nickname for a long time! In fact, at least in our army, not many people don't know it anymore, you said
Yeah?"
The last sentence was addressed to the great master.
"Yes, Comrade Major, Comrade Second Lieutenant!" The sergeant showed some respect in his eyes, and then opened the car door.
Climbing onto the train, Shulka found that it was overcrowded inside. A car full of boxes was piled up, leaving only a few square meters of space in the middle. Then a dozen soldiers were crowded inside, and the air was extremely polluted.
At first, Shulka was puzzled by the flashlight hanging on the roof of the car, but when the door was closed again, he understood... This was a stuffy car, and it was pitch black inside.
"I'm sorry, Comrade Major, Comrade Second Lieutenant!" the chief said: "As you know, those traitors often destroy the railway and even sneak into our ranks, so I have to be more careful!"
"You did the right thing, Sergeant!" Major Gavrilov said.
The two soldiers stood up and wanted to give up their seats to Shulka and Major Gavrilov, but Major Gavrilov stopped them.
"It doesn't need to be like this, comrades!" Major Gavrilov said: "I come from a poor family just like you, and I can take care of myself!"
Major Gavrilov did not lie. He was born in a poor small village. His father was a poor man. Major Gavrilov spent his childhood in a very poor environment. This is why he can endure hardships and has a strong character.
one.
The train soon started moving again. With the help of the soldiers, Major Gavrilov and Shulka moved a few boxes to use as their own seats, and then sat down.
Major Gavrilov's approachability shortened the distance between him and the soldiers, so the group started chatting in the dark carriage:
"My name is Yakov, major!" The master introduced himself: "I am a platoon leader, responsible for the safety of this train!"
"So, you have a platoon of troops?"
"Yes!" Yakov replied: "There are thirty-two of us, divided into three parts, in the front, middle and back carriages. We are in the middle!"
"Protecting trains is dangerous, isn't it?" the major asked.
The chief shrugged and said with a smile: "Those traitors are indeed difficult to deal with. They will appear in front of us when we least expect it, but I know this is nothing compared to your battle!"
"Work hard!" Major Gavrilov said: "We will drive those invaders out of our country!"
"Major!" Yakov looked at Shulka who did not interrupt beside Major Gavrilov, and asked: "Can I introduce Comrade Second Lieutenant to my subordinates?"
"Of course!" Major Gavrilov laughed loudly, turned to Shulka and said: "Look, I knew it was like this, they are more interested in you than me!"
The soldiers looked at Yakov in confusion, they did not understand what these words meant.
"Comrades!" Yakov said: "The second lieutenant comrade in front of you is our 'escape hero' Shulka!"