Bright sunshine enveloped Position 19 on the Don River. Except for sporadic cold shots and swooping bombers overhead, both sides of the battlefield fell into rare peace and tranquility.
In the smelly trenches, Soviet Red Army soldiers scattered around each received two pages of letter paper from Wei Ran, and quietly wrote lies to reassure their families, and then wrapped a few medals in them and added them. Or the ring that had been delivered, so he reluctantly folded it into a triangle, wrote the address on it, and handed it back to Wei Ran.
Of course, there are also a few people who directly tear the letter paper into long strips and use it as cigarette paper or simply stick it on the wound to act as gauze. After all, these letter papers may be the entire Position 19 is relatively the cleanest thing.
Around noon, veterinarian Cyril and six children delivered some cooked potatoes from the rear area, as well as two large buckets of red cabbage soup mixed with unknown things, which made almost everyone feel special. Excitingly, they also brought two bottles of vodka.
Under the supervision of the Aleutian company commander, one bottle was sent to No. 18 position next door by the youngest child, and the other bottle was poured into a soup bucket, mixed with water, and then given to everyone. Everyone shared a generous spoonful.
"Company Commander, we have bad news." Cyril, the veterinarian, approached Aleutian with his own water bottle.
The latter glanced at Wei Ran, who was sitting next to him, raised the water bottle and took a sip before nodding, "Tell me."
Veterinarian Cyril bent down and lowered his head. The voice said, "Just now, the Germans broke through the right-wing defense line of the 62nd Army, and two divisions were surrounded by the Germans."
"What did you say?! Where did you get the news?"< /p>
The Aleut Captain frowned immediately after hearing this, and Vanya, who was sitting on the other side of him, said bluntly, "It seems we don't have much time left."
p>"A signal soldier told me." Cyril, the veterinarian, was afraid that the Aleutians would not believe it, so he continued to whisper, "This news is absolutely true. The signal soldier and I are from the same town."
"Organize everyone to move ammunition immediately!" Aleutian stood up immediately, "Vanya, go to the headquarters and find a way to get more people over!"
"No need"
p>Vet Cyril sighed, pointed to the plane overhead and said, "Due to the German bombing blockade, it has been difficult to transport supplies and additional troops from the east coast. I'm afraid we have to wait until night."< /p>
"The Germans on the other side will probably be even crazier at night." Captain Aleutian said with a stern face, "They are feigning an attack. I'm afraid it will be our turn after they finish off the 62nd Army..."< /p>
Wei Ran, who was silent on the side, nodded secretly. The facts were indeed as the Aleutian Captain guessed. On July 25, 1942, that is, two days later, the German army would attack the right wing of the 64th Group Army. Launch an attack.
On July 29, the two sides only fought for four days and lost support.The 64th Group Army, which needed reinforcements and supplies, had to retreat to the east bank of the Don River. For this reason, Stalin even dismissed Timoshenko as commander in disappointment and replaced him with Lieutenant General Gordorf.
Now Weiran just hopes that the people in Position 19 can follow the large forces of the 64th Group Army to withdraw to the east bank of the Don River before the 29th. Otherwise, the only solution they face is to be destined to forcibly cross the Don River. The Germans were reduced to mud in the trenches.
The Aleut Captain thought for a moment and raised his head and said, "Cyril, find the youngest child to come over, and ask the other children to return to the rear of the position immediately."
"Okay, Okay!" Upon hearing this, the veterinarian Cyril quickly ran along the trench and disappeared.
"Victor, have everyone's letters been written?" Captain Aleutian asked Wei Ran.
"Most of it is written, and there is still some..."
"I know, don't worry about them."
Aleut Captain Wei Ran waved his hand before he finished speaking, "Victor, what we need now is not a postman, but a soldier with combat effectiveness. Do you understand what I mean?"
"I understand!" Wei Ran Gritting his teeth and nodding, holding on to position 19 was originally one of his return missions, so even if he knew the meaning of Captain Aleutian's words, Wei Ran had no choice at all.
"Just understand"
After a moment of silence, Captain Aleut asked in a low voice, "Can the letter... be... sent to the correction camp?"< /p>
Wei Ran opened his mouth, and finally shook his head with a hard heart, but he didn't know what to say.
"Then...can it be sent to Tula?" The Aleutian captain's voice was so low that it was almost completely covered up by the explosions of aerial bombs that sounded from time to time in the direction of the Don River.
"Maybe it's possible not to go to the field post office." Wei Ran paused, and then added, "But the time may be a bit slow."
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter if it's slower." Aleutian breathed a sigh of relief, looked at Vanya excitedly next to him, and whispered in a trembling voice, "Can...can you...give it to me..."
" Okay!"
Wei Ran immediately understood what the other party meant, and immediately opened the messenger bag, found the remaining dozen pieces of letter paper, a pen and a pencil and stuffed them into Aleutian's hands.
"Thank you"
Vanya muttered something inaudible, and before the veterinarian Cyril came back with the child, he handed over the letter paper and pencil stuffer that Aleut gave to him. Into the arms.
"Captain Aleut, he is Nikolai, the youngest child here." Cyril, the veterinarian, pushed a little boy with a tiger-like head in front of him and introduced.
Seeing the evasive look in the child named Nikolai's eyes when he looked at him, Captain Aleutian sighed, and then whispered into Wei Ran's ear, "Leave the postman's job to him. Our Nikolai, also tell him to hide near the rear command post and not come back again."
After that, the Aleutian.and Vanya stood up and left one after another, hiding in a place where no one was around.
"Your name is Nicholas? Are you also a postman?" As Wei Ran spoke, he took out the black bread he had been given in the morning and handed it to the other party.
Nikolai hesitated for a moment, but finally took the black bread mixed with sawdust, "My other companions and I used to help Grandpa Mehri deliver letters."
Wei Ran read After glancing at the veterinarian Cyril, the latter immediately took away the big hand on Nicholas's shoulder and simply turned around and left, leaving them enough space to talk.
Looking around, Wei Ran took off the messenger bag hanging on his shoulder, helped Nicholas hang it on his shoulder and whispered, "Nicholas, what is the postman's responsibility?"
p>"Deliver every letter and every parcel to the person waiting for it on time and accurately." Nicholas answered without hesitation. Since he got the postman job, such questions have never been answered. Grandpa Heli has asked them more than once.
"The letter in this parcel is very important"
Wei Ran looked around again, and finally put his mouth to the other person's ear and whispered, "According to Captain Aleutian The secret order is that you need to deliver these letters to the field post office at noon on August 1st. Remember, it must be noon on August 1st, and absolutely not before this time. You must follow the rear. Command post, you can go wherever they go, do you understand?"
"I understand!" Nikolai stood on tiptoes and whispered in Wei Ran's ear, "August 1st. Noon, absolutely not earlier!”
“Let’s go now” Wei Ran patted Nicholas on the shoulder, “On August 1st, I will go to the battlefield post office to ask if you have delivered this on time. Send the letter in the mail bag."
Nicholas saluted Wei Ran decently, covered the huge messenger bag with his raincoat, and walked around the trench with his thin body. Suddenly the shadow disappeared.