War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 42 Deserter or Hero

In the quiet classroom, Wei Ran stared at Nicholas across the table in silence for a long time, and finally said truthfully, "I found the record, you used to be the correspondent of Don 19 position. According to this clue, I also found You attended the Suvorov Junior Military Academy and were sent to work in East Berlin after the war. But after that, your leads broke."

Nicholas nodded insignificantly, and did not continue to ask how the young man on the opposite side found him after the clue was broken. He just picked up the cup again and took a sip of the bland vodka mixed with water before continuing, " So what do you want to know?"

Wei Ran pushed the photo frame on the table towards the opponent, "The war at Don 19, and all the history you want to tell me."

Nicholas put down his glass, stood up slowly and walked to the window, looking at the yard outside the window in silence, and after a long time, he said in a voice full of regret and remorse, "I am a deserter from the 19th position. "

Wei Ran raised his head abruptly, "You"

Nicholas sighed and said tremblingly, "I was indeed a postman at Don 19. But on the morning of July 1942, 7, before the Don 28 was breached by the Germans, I left. That field."

"July 7th?!"

Wei Ran stood up suddenly, and asked tremblingly, "Mr. Nicholas, what date did you just say? July 7th? You left position 28 on July 7th? You didn't remember wrong?!"

Nicholas looked at Wei Ran strangely, then turned his back completely and leaned against the window sill and said, "Even if I forget my birthday, I will not forget this time."

Compared with the firmness in Nicholas' eyes, Wei Ran's heart was already filled with monstrous waves. In the No. 19 position he experienced, Nicholas had already been coaxed to the rear by himself on the 23rd.And on the 28th, just before the 19th position was breached, Aleutian bluntly said that he could be a deserter!
Could it be that those letters have been taken away by Nicholas?
Wei Ran's heart moved, and he was about to say something, but Nicholas lit a cigarette and continued, "But until the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, even until the end of World War II, until today, I dare not go back there, let alone Dare to recall everything that happened there.”

"Feel sorry."

Wei Ran stood up, and it was only at this time that he realized belatedly that he probably shouldn't have come to meet Nicholas, and everything about the 19th position may be just a week-long memory fragment for him.But obviously, for the aged Nicholas, that memory was definitely unforgettable but heart-piercing.

Nicholas waved his hands indifferently in the smog, and continued in an erratic tone, "I was only 13 years old at the time, and I was a field postman at the Don River Field Post Office. My job every day was to deliver letters to everyone who was still alive. In the hands of the soldiers, the letters they wrote were delivered to the field post office, and occasionally they helped to carry shells, wounded or even corpses.

Young man, you must not believe it. At that time, even though you had to run back and forth countless times in the trenches full of wounded and corpses every day.But the memories of delivering letters to those soldiers, reading letters to those soldiers who could not read, and even writing letters for them are really the most precious memories in my life. "

In Nicholas' muttering narration, the old but strong figure standing in front of the window gradually merged with the skinny little postman back then. At this time, Wei Ran was sure that this old man Nicholas was the man he was looking for.

But what makes Wei Ran worry about gains and losses is that the opponent's memories of the 19th position are quite different from his own experience.In Nicholas's memory, the field post office did support the 14th, 18th and 19th positions at the request of the Aleutian company commander at that time, but he did not mention "Postman Victor" at all.

Even the person who handed him the family letters of the soldiers at Position 19 and asked him to move with the rear was not the postman Victor, but the female reporter Zoya.

And as Nicholas mentioned at the beginning, he did not leave on July 7, but persisted until the morning of July 23, and then under the compulsion of the Aleutian company commander, he ignored the 7th order issued by Stalin that day. Command No. 28, as a postman, fled back to the rear alive from position 227 under the pretext of delivering letters.

When Nicholas finished his long memories, the classroom had become smoky.The two people in the classroom also fell silent at the same time.

After a long time, Wei Ran picked up the kettle at his feet to fill up his cup, took a sip to moisten his throat, and then asked hesitantly, "Mr. Nicholas, I want to know, you send it back Letters from the rear."

Nicholas shook his head dismally, "After I was sent to the Suvorov Junior Military Academy, I sent all those letters to the corresponding people, except for the application report for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union by Captain Aleutian."

"Why?" Wei Ran asked nervously.

"why?"

Nicholas asked strangely, and then said lonely, "At that time, the Germans had already crossed the Don River, and there was no way to verify what happened at Position 19. So what if there was the application report? The witness was just a 13 It’s nothing more than a [-]-year-old child, not to mention that the acting company commander Aleushin who submitted this report is also a prisoner from a correctional camp.”

"so."

Nikolai sighed, "Until the entire Battle of Stalingrad was over, the soldiers at Position 19 were not honored as Heroes of the Soviet Union. Since then, I have never dared to go to Position 19 on the Don, I... no To complete the task assigned to me by the Aleutian company commander, I am just a deserter who is greedy for life and afraid of death."

"But they are indeed heroes." Wei Ran picked up the wine bottle and poured a big glass for each other, "Including you too."

"hero?"

Nikolai shook his head noncommittally, picked up the enamel mug and drank it down, "Young man, this land is now called the Russian Federation. The Soviet Union that those people in the 19th position fought for has long since disappeared, so what's the point of being a hero? Meaning? Could it be that Stalin survived and awarded them a gold star medal? Forget it, it’s nothing more than a bigger regret than not being able to win the title of hero.”

"Is Suvorov a hero?" Wei Ran asked abruptly.

"Of course!" Nicholas replied without thinking, "Of course he is a hero! He will always be a hero!"

"So Tsarist Russia is still there?" Wei Ran asked with a smile, "If Tsarist Russia is gone, then Suvorov is no longer a hero?"

"this."

Nikolai who was asked was speechless, Tsarist Russia is naturally long gone, but the fact that Suvorov is a hero and even a military god in the hearts of Russians will never change.

"Mr. Nicholas"

Wei Ran pushed a piece of paper on which he wrote his phone number to the other party together with the micro-voice pistol that the other party handed him when he entered the door, then stood up and walked out of the classroom and said, "Heroes don't do it because of an authority. The standard for evaluating a hero is not the golden five-pointed star. Just like Brezhnev, even if he has enough medals on his chest to block the direct fire of anti-tank guns, I am afraid that in the eyes of you Russians He's far from a hero."

Having said that, Wei Ran stepped out of the classroom with one foot, "I have already got the history I want to know, maybe in the near future, my client will turn that ZIS-3 anti-tank gun into a commemorative 19 The monument at Position No. [-]. If you want to see it, you can call me anytime."

As the voice fell, the wooden door of the classroom was also gently closed by Wei Ran, leaving only the elderly Nicholas sitting in the classroom staring blankly at the photo frame still placed on the desk.

(End of this chapter)