USSR 1991

In the corner of the suicide note blown away by the wind, there was only one sentence in it.

"I hope you can live a good life, mom. Your son is honored to die for the country."

His eyelids became heavier and heavier, he slowly closed his eyes and stopped breathing.Before he died, he held a letter from his mother in his other hand.

"I will, son." Valentin put away the suicide note, covered his face with a white cloth, stood up and walked out of the bunker silently.The winter cold dilutes the smell of blood in his nostrils, and the appearance of the soldier sleeping peacefully hits his nerves.

"The motherland will never forget us, and the armored troops will definitely arrive." Valentin gritted his teeth and repeated what he had said many times.

In fact, the base's communication system is currently unable to contact the outside world. They have no way to report the situation here to the headquarters, and it is impossible for the headquarters to know the tragedy of the war.The military base is like a small stronghold surrounded by Chechen militants, waiting for the arrival of troops.They just hope that the armored troops will show up behind them sooner, and someone will pat their tired shoulders and say you rest, and then leave it to us.

"Political commissar." The soldier with gauze wrapped around his arm walked into the bunker, glanced at the surrounding patients, and said to the political commissar regardless of the burning pain of the wound, "Political commissar, let's go, the front line still needs you."

"Okay." After a simple answer, Valentin didn't say a word, he picked up his gun and walked to the front line, where a group of soldiers were waiting for him.For the remaining Soviet army, Valentin is their spiritual pillar. As long as the political commissar is still there, these immature young people will not fall down.

Ivanov's face was smeared with blood and mud, and it merged with the surrounding soldiers who had been bombarded for a long time. He could no longer see that delicate and immature face and his sad expression.

Valentin walked to him and sat down against the wall of the bunker. He turned his head and said to Ivanov, "Young man, sing us another song, morale is very low now, they need to be encouraged. "

Hearing the words of Valentin's political commissar, these young people who were facing a breakdown all looked at Valentin with pleading eyes, begging him to sing a song for everyone, the last song.

Ivanov nodded. He took out the most cherished harmonica from his pocket and said to them, "Then I will play the last song for everyone. This song was played in the A middle-aged man met by the Moscow River sang a song in Chinese. At my repeated requests, he translated the lyrics into Russian and taught me to sing the song "Birch Forest."

Later, when Ivanov saw the man who taught him to sing on TV, it was Vice President Yanayev who looked serious on the Moscow TV station during the August [-]th incident.

Ivanov pointed the harmonica to his lips, and slowly played the sad tune "Birch Forest".Everyone became very quiet, because they knew that this might be the last time they heard such singing in the fire of battle.

"The quiet village is covered with white snow, and pigeons are flying under the cloudy sky. Those two names are engraved on the birch tree, and they swear to love each other for the rest of their lives."

Some people held back tears rolling in their eyes, some silently wiped the dirt on their rifles, some clenched the photos and family letters in their hands, knowing that there were many things that they would not be able to go back in time.The cigarette in Commissar Valentin's hand was about to burn out, but he was still reluctant to throw it away because it was the last cigarette in his pocket.

"One day the flames of war raged to my hometown, and the young man picked up his gun and went to the frontier. Sweetheart, don't worry about me, just wait for me to come back in that birch forest."

Not far away, there was a series of crackling sounds from thick boots stepping on the snow. Ivanov's song was interrupted by this sound before he finished playing.He put down his harmonica and turned his head. He saw the soldiers in charge of the investigation running over. He panted and said to Comrade Valentin, "Political commissar, the political commissar is not good. The Chechens are about to attack again."

Comrade Valentin stood up abruptly, pulled the bolt of the Kalashnikov, and said to the surrounding soldiers, "Boys, cheer up. After this battle, we can all go home .”

Everyone raised their guns silently, not as excited as before, but everyone's eyes gradually became calm and resolute.

Going home, such a simple idea, became unattainable in the eyes of the soldiers at this moment.

The snow fell quietly, as if cleaning the battlefield, laying a soft white curtain for the next round of fighting. The snowflakes fell on the ground, drowning those young faces that had turned into ice sculptures, and those who were equally Fresh life.

Chapter 1 Katyusha and Birch Forest (5)

At 04:30 in the morning, as expected by the political commissar, the Chechens chose to launch an attack at this time.

This time the Chechens used three fully-armed pickup trucks. From the barbed wire on the glass to the steel skin on the front, they converted the fragile pickup trucks into a sturdy light armored vehicle. As for what is inside the armored vehicle, everyone has no idea It was so clear that I didn't even dare to think about it.Inside, there must be enough car bombs to send everyone to hell.

"Concentrate on the pickup and don't stop shooting." The political commissar issued the final decisive battle instructions to everyone. The pickup broke through the last direction, and they could go to see the communist mentor Marx.

Everyone seems to have forgotten the pain and fear, and the only thing left in their heads is killing and standing firm. The stray bullets formed a firepower network and surrounded the pickup truck. In the dark night, the RPG also seemed to lose its aim. Dodge right to avoid the curving pickup truck.

At the most critical and tense moment, the sniper on the observation deck pierced the driver's head with a bullet, and the first pickup truck extinguished the fire.The dead driver released the button, and a huge ball of fire exploded from the cockpit. The three-to-four-meter-high fireball formed a magnificent appearance.

Just as the sniper was about to move his position, he was shot down directly from the watchtower by a bullet from the enemy sniper.The guarding Soviet troops lost their last sniper, and now they can only rely on their rifles and general-purpose machine guns to stop the enemy's attack.

"Don't stop, keep shooting." Valentin aimed his gun at the other two vehicles, and the soldier loaded the last RPG rocket launcher and aimed it at the red pickup.He roughly calculated the advancing law of the car bomb, and then aimed at a distance of five meters in front of the car.

An RPG rocket was launched and directly hit the front of the pickup truck. Under the huge blast, the entire vehicle was overturned to the ground, and the attack of the second car bomb was also defeated.

Only the last pickup truck that rammed wildly was left, and it was also the one with the thickest armor. He escaped all the bullets and rocket attacks, and he was farther away from the not-so-high concrete wall covered with barbed wire. getting closer.

"Everyone evacuate quickly!" Valentin dragged Ivanov and a few boys around him, and jumped from the bunker over two meters high. Ivanov fell to the ground, and the harmonica in his arms fell off. It came out, and I don't know where it fell.

"My harmonica." Ivanov wanted to crawl back to get his things back, but Valentin grabbed hold of him and ran back vigorously. Before he could run ten meters away, an earth-shattering explosion came from behind. Soon, Valentin's political commissar fell on Ivanov's body, and the huge air wave generated by the explosion set off thick snow, burying Ivanov and Valentin under the snow.

Ivanov's hearing seemed to be stripped of the sound by a sponge. He patted his ears with his hands, and mud and sand mixed with blood flowed out.Ivanov turned sideways, pushed the political commissar aside and got up, turning around to see a terrifying scene that he would never forget in his life.

Burning soldiers rolled in the snow, hot car wreckage splashed everywhere, some soldiers were blown off to only half of their bodies, but they still crawled forward, dragging out a long bloodstain, they wanted to He picked up the rifle and continued to fight, only to die when his finger hooked the trigger.

"Political commissar!" Ivanov remembered Valentin who had been protecting him all the time, and hurriedly checked the other party's situation.A steel bar pierced through his abdomen, and blood was continuously gushing from the wound, soaking his white camouflage uniform.

Ivanov tried to pull the steel rod out of his abdomen, but Valentin stopped him, coughed, and said, "Hey, boy, I want to live a few more years. You just want me Die? Bastard, don’t pull it out, my blood will bleed faster.”

"But if you continue like this, you will die!" Ivanov held back his tears, picked up Valentin, and walked towards the last intact building regardless of the explosion of shells around him.The armed forces of the Chechens have been strengthened. Unlike the initial bomb charge, they have grenadiers and mortars dedicated to guerrilla warfare.

The remaining Soviet soldiers did not retreat, they continued to resist the Chechen militants, throwing grenades when they ran out of bullets, and picked up bayonets and prepared for hand-to-hand combat when they ran out of grenades.

The remaining [-] surviving soldiers gathered behind the construction works, their faces were stained by the flames of war, but they still looked forward with firm eyes.Valentin looked at them, forced a smile, and said, "As expected of the soldiers I brought out, none of you chose to retreat."

"This is the final battle. Do you choose to sacrifice your life for your country, or to surrender to Chechnya?" Valentin's political commissar added to himself, "It's just a matter of choosing to die a decent death or a useless death. .”

"We will not abandon the political commissar." One of them pulled out the bayonet at his waist from its sheath and hung it on the muzzle of his gun. "Even if there is only one person left, we will not abandon our position."

"Very good." The political commissar smiled at the end, and he stretched out his finger to point forward, "for the Soviet, go forward, comrades!"

The enemy's gunshots gradually approached, and every soldier hiding behind the wall was preparing for the final sneak attack and attack. The enemy's footsteps were getting closer and closer, and Ivanov's hand holding the handguard trembled a little.

"Three, two, one, go!" Ivanov gritted his teeth and stood up. The enemy was just ten meters away, and the firelight reflected on their faces, making them look extraordinarily ferocious.The moment everyone ran out of the bunker, there were deafening noises from the sky behind them, and the militants seemed to see ghosts staring at their backs, and their guns shot towards the sky indiscriminately.

Ivanov was about to turn around when two Hind helicopters flew low above their heads, blowing their beige military uniforms.

The 12.7mm airborne machine gun vented its anger at the group of militants without hesitation, and the enemies who rushed to the front were immediately reduced to bloody pieces of flesh.

"Sorry guys, we're late, let's take a break and leave it to us." A helicopter member said to the surviving soldiers through a loudspeaker, and he said to another pilot, " Destroy their mortar positions."

"Happy to help." Another helicopter flew to the left, where the enemy still had no idea what happened on the front line, but the Hind's rockets would teach them how to behave, just like the order from the superiors, no one will be left alive, Thoroughly address the root causes of the turmoil.

The flames and explosions formed a gorgeous night scene, piercing the sky before dawn.As the light from the last explosion dissipated, Ivanov raised his head, and the eastern sky had begun to turn white.

"The guys in the Air Force, you said that you will arrive at dawn when it is dawn? Can't you be earlier if you are so punctual? Really." The political commissar who witnessed everything laughed and cursed, leaning against the wall to cover his burning wound and talking to himself Said, "This time, I can really go home."

Perhaps it was hallucinations caused by excessive blood loss. The political commissar saw all the dead young soldiers standing around him and staring at him. Valentin raised his hand, trying to grab one of them, but his cold fingertips touched There was a hint of warmth.

It was the first ray of sunlight entering the room at dawn.The old political commissar smiled. He covered his wound and closed his eyes, slowly thinking, well, the war is over, let me sleep first, I am too tired.

The Chechens began to retreat in a panic. After the Hind helicopter, which had full control of the air, cleaned up the remaining armed personnel, the armored forces finally entered the military base at dawn.Looking at the fallen corpses, one of the soldiers said in surprise, "The battle last night must have been intense."

"Yes, but we held here and no one retreated." The young soldier stuck his rifle face down in the snow, took a deep breath of the icy air, and lamented the surviving life after the bloody battle.

The war is finally over.

The wounded were all sent to the rear for treatment and bandaging. Valentin was lifted out of the bunker and sent to the rear for emergency treatment. He still had a happy smile on his face before he fell into a coma.The follow-up troops began to clean up the battlefield, carrying out the corpses continuously, and covered them with white cloth after tidying up.

Different from the happy survivors, Ivanov was alone and looked around on the battlefield. Anxiously, he wanted to find his beloved harmonica. Someone advised him to bandage the wound first, but Ivanov Strongly refused, people shook their heads, thinking that the soldier had gone crazy after being stimulated.

Ivanov knew that he was not crazy, and finally, after digging blood dripping with his ten fingers, he pulled out the last piece of black mud, and finally found the harmonica buried underneath.