Chapter 3

After falling, it took me a long time to recall what happened next.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying on a makeshift stretcher, being carried through a dense forest by several male soldiers. Platoon leader Kiriyanova was walking closely beside the stretcher, secretly wiping away her tears.

"Kiriyanova," I called out weakly. She bent down and grabbed my right hand, asking with concern, "Lida, how are you feeling?"

"I won’t die. If I die, who will take care of my mother and my son Alik?" Although that wasn’t what I wanted to say, I couldn’t help but blurt it out. It seemed that Lida’s body wasn’t entirely under my control at the moment.

Kiriyanova nodded and wiped away her tears, comforting me, "Lida, no, no, you won’t die. Just hold on a little longer, we’ll be back at the base soon."

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In the dawn forest, birds were singing, and a thin mist was rising. Seeing my son Alik always made me feel very happy. As I walked, I noticed that my boots were wet from the dew. I immediately remembered that the mud on my boots had once exposed my whereabouts, so I sat down, took off my boots, and slung them over my shoulder.

I walked barefoot, making a pattering sound, with the two boots swinging behind me. I needed to hurry now; I had lingered on the road for too long. If I returned late and was discovered by Lieutenant Vaskov, it would be troublesome.

At that moment, I heard some sounds, and someone was carefully pushing aside the branches in front of them.

"Could it be a patrol team?!" My heart rate suddenly increased. I had no identification, and if they caught me, I would definitely be sent to Lieutenant Vaskov, and he would surely put me in solitary confinement.

Suddenly, I heard voices—some incomprehensible words and laughter...

"What are they saying? Why can’t I understand?" I thought, puzzled. Suddenly, I was struck with a chilling realization: these were German soldiers! They were speaking German!

I slipped into the bushes, held my breath, and peered through the sparse leaves at the road ahead. The first one to appear was a tall man, wearing a camouflage jacket, carrying a tightly strapped rectangular package in his right hand, and a German submachine gun slung across his chest. He looked back, and after a moment, another man in similar attire emerged from the forest, carrying a similar package but shorter in stature. I couldn’t help but move, causing the bushes to sway and the dew to sprinkle on me.

The two strangers looked around cautiously, and I didn’t dare move again. I pulled off my boat-shaped cap and pressed it against my mouth to prevent any sound from escaping, and I just stared at the two strangers. Yes, they were German soldiers. They were talking in low voices and slowly approaching my hiding place.

At first, I was terrified, realizing my isolation and helplessness. I thought the Germans were about to discover me, and I was completely desperate... I understood that everything was over, my fate was sealed, and I would never see my comrades, my mother, or Alik again. In a few minutes, I would no longer exist in this world, and everything would be gone for me.

Fortunately, the two German soldiers muttered a few words and continued on their way. I stayed hidden in the bushes, watching the German soldiers disappear into the forest, and then carefully observed the direction they had come from. Apart from the birds’ chirping, no one else appeared.

Then I sprang out of the bushes and rushed to the stream. I didn’t care about the density of the bushes or the depth of the stream; I ran forward recklessly until I reached the 171st billet, where I reported to Vaskov and Kiriyanova about the German soldiers I had seen in the forest.

We then organized a small team to capture the two German soldiers. The team was led by Lieutenant Vaskov, and it included me, the soldiers Galka and Liza, the German-speaking Sonia, and the platoon’s sharpshooter Zhenya.

We initially thought that six of us dealing with two German soldiers would be an easy task, and everyone was quite relaxed. Zhenya kept teasing Vaskov, who always said, "According to the regulations..." while Liza, who had a crush on the lieutenant, kept defending him.

Under Vaskov’s lead, we crossed the swamp and set up an ambush on the path the German soldiers would take, following the regulations, preparing to intercept and capture one of them. However, when I saw through the binoculars that the German soldiers emerging from the forest were not just the two I had seen but sixteen, I was stunned.

Facing sixteen heavily armed German soldiers, we, one man and five women, were clearly at a disadvantage. They had sixteen powerful submachine guns, while we only had one pistol and five rifles. Not only were we outnumbered, but our weapons were also inferior. It was questionable whether we could even survive, let alone eliminate them.

Vaskov sent Liza back to report and bring the main force for support. The remaining five of us used every method to delay the German soldiers.

However, despite our efforts, the German soldiers were delayed for a day and a night, but the main force still hadn’t arrived. The inevitable confrontation with the German soldiers occurred. Galka and Sonia were killed in the battle.

Vaskov led me and Zhenya to set up a new ambush on the path. When the remaining German soldiers entered the effective range, Vaskov shouted, "Fire!" and fired first, taking down the lead German soldier. I fired short bursts, taking down four German soldiers in a row. Zhenya, hiding behind the bushes, calmly shot a German soldier who was about to throw a grenade, and when the grenade landed and exploded, it also killed another German soldier.

Seeing Vaskov being pinned down by the German fire, I stood up from my hiding spot behind the rock and fired at the enemy to try to relieve the pressure on him. Unexpectedly, a grenade, which I didn’t know where it came from, exploded not far in front of me. I felt a jolt in my abdomen, and then a wet, sticky liquid started to flow out. My submachine gun slipped from my hands, and I clutched my abdomen, bending over and leaning against the rock.

Seeing that I was wounded, Vaskov and Zhenya rushed over, and I forced a weak smile, my lips dry and cracked.

"What hit you?" Vaskov asked with concern.

"A grenade."

Vaskov tried to pull my hands away to examine the wound, but I endured the pain and said shyly, "There’s nothing to see."

Vaskov ignored my words and loudly ordered Zhenya, "Get the bandages!" As he spoke, he had already pulled open my uniform and took the bandages from Zhenya to carefully dress my wound.

At that moment, the enemy’s gunfire intensified, and a burst of bullets hit the rock. We all knew our position had been discovered. To protect us, Zhenya leaped out to draw the enemy away, and her submachine gun fired.

*********************************************

The intense pain in my abdomen was excruciatingly real and clear. I opened my eyes and realized that everything that had happened was just a dream. I tried to move slightly, but my body felt as if it were broken, and I couldn’t help but groan.

"Lida! Lida!! Lida!!!" Familiar voices called out, and I knew I had returned to the 171st billet, where the female soldiers who had been with me were gathered around my stretcher.

I vaguely heard snippets of conversation, and someone was cutting my clothes. Then I lost consciousness again. When I came to, my abdomen and head were already bandaged.

At that moment, I heard the voice of the major outside the door, "The ambulance from the city has arrived. Hurry up and load Lida and the lieutenant onto the vehicle and take them to the rear hospital."

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