Steel Soviet Union

"Colonel, are you okay?"

"Shut up and don't talk. I'll help you move the stone. It might hurt, so bear with it!"

The young adjutant never expected that the person who awakened his consciousness at the last moment of his life was not his long-dead friends from another world, but Colonel Sternheim, whom he thought was dead long ago.

Colonel Sternheim didn't care to guess and didn't want to know what the young man who was suppressed with only a few breaths was thinking.

Mature men have the style of mature men and things that mature men should do. Talking less and doing more to save people first is the only right way.

The parts on his body are also not working together, and Colonel Sternheim has lost his left hand a long time ago. It is not easy for him to move this concrete block by himself.

The incomplete left arm is pressed against the concrete block, and the intact right hand is dragging the bottom to exert upward force.

Colonel Sternheim, who was pushing and lifting, almost used all his strength in his previous life, and finally this unbelievably heavy piece of collapsed concrete moved.

The adjutant was also very excited when he saw that hope of life was finally rekindled. Who wants to die if he can live? Just now, it was just a deliberate reassurance to comfort myself, knowing that she had to die, but the current situation was completely different.

An arm without a hand, a complete right arm, and a relatively complete left arm.

With such joint efforts, the concrete block that looked like the top of a mountain was finally moved away. It was pushed to the side with traces of bloody flesh and dripping blood, and fell heavily.

"The bad news is that your arm is probably useless. The good news is that your arm protected your chest and you came back alive. All in all, you're pretty lucky."

After wrapping it up with random rags, at least the hideous and ragged wounds were no longer exposed so abruptly. Colonel Stetheim, who had done all this silently, was a little surprised. The kid in front of him could actually hold back from the beginning to the end. Severe pain, silent.

"Perhaps I should say impressed?"

"I should be the one to say this, sir. Who would have thought that you would come to kill a dying subordinate at this time? What kind of courage and courage you have?"

""

The adjutant's unintentional words seemed to touch on some deep and deep thoughts. Colonel Stetheim, who did not speak, just supported his adjutant's body and tried to lift him up from the ground.

"Can you still walk? Can you stand?"

If you answer immediately without thinking, it will inevitably appear to be a bit too showy and deceptive.

The adjutant, who stepped on his heels and moved the soles of his feet, did not speak until he personally confirmed it.

"No problem, we can still go, but"

Looking at the broken environment that had almost become the inside of a volcano, surrounded by a sea of ​​fire above his head and scorching air waves, the adjutant found that everything familiar around him had completely changed. He really didn't know how to get out of this ghost place. Escape.

"Maybe I'm stupid, but I don't think we can get out, sir."

That is to say, the fire started in the upper part of the forehead. It is estimated that the backup generator set that supplies the upper equipment of the air defense tower and the electric drive turret on the top was destroyed, which in turn led to oil leakage and fire.

The black smoke was coming out from the top of the head instead of going down. The only thing that could be radiated to the middle and lower floors of the air defense tower was heat. It was a blessing in misfortune.

Otherwise, the adjutant estimated that he and the colonel would not be able to say their "last words" here. Poisonous bacon that had been turned into scalding hot by the highly toxic smoke would probably be the only possible outcome.

But obviously, not everyone is as pessimistic as he is, at least not his immediate boss, Colonel Sternheim.

"You're only right about one thing."

"What?"

"What I said before 'but' is correct, the rest is nonsense."

""

I really didn’t expect to receive a round-about reprimand in this situation. After all, the young adjutant blinked his eyes and before he could recover from it, Colonel Sternheim stood beside him without saying a word. Walk towards the broken and collapsed stairs ahead.

"The elevator doesn't work. After getting off this floor, continue taking the stairs. You should still be able to walk down the stairs. If you can't walk, just think of a way. Remember, don't give up. This is my last order to you. You must carry it out! "

""

The young adjutant seemed to have guessed something. He stared blankly at his immediate superior who was tying a rope to the stair railing nearby. After tying it, he tied the other end of the rope to his waist and then wrapped it around his shoulders. , what Colonel Sternheim intends to do is almost obvious to the naked eye without even thinking about it.

"Don't be stupid. You only have one arm left to use and can't hold the rope. I'll tie the guardrail here and lower you little by little. The stairs on the next floor haven't collapsed yet. Don't look back after your feet hit the ground. Go down quickly. Run! Get out of here as fast as you can! Don't think you're a deserter! This is my order, soldier!"

""

The adjutant felt as if something was blocked in his throat and could hardly speak. Even his eyes were trembling and spinning in his eye sockets. The adjutant's body was shaking. In the last moments before leaving, he could only speak in a trembling voice.

"But you only have one hand and one arm to use. You put me down. How do you get down? Who is going to help you?"

There are no emotional and tearful farewells and heartfelt confessions, but only the simplest expectations and blessings from the older generation to the younger generation.

"I am old and useless, but you are different."

"Live, don't give up no matter what you encounter, live until the end of the war! Then don't waste your time like our generation, use your head to think and do what a patriot should really do. "

"But"

"Okay, nothing more! Execute the order, soldier!"

""

The young adjutant had no choice but to carry out the orders from his superiors and fulfill his mission as a soldier just as he had solemnly sworn under the military flag.

Colonel Sternheim, who could only use one hand, firmly clamped part of the rope under the armpit of his left arm, which was missing his left hand, and then firmly grasped the front part with his right hand.

Clamp your right hand tightly, loosen the armpit of your left arm, clamp the armpit of your left arm, release your right arm, then move your right hand back to the armpit of your left arm, continue to hold the rope, release the armpit of your left arm, and repeat this process. process. Using such a clumsy but the only method that worked for him, he lowered the adjutant who was hanging in the air and falling piece by piece.

He could feel the sudden loss of the rope's gravity and breathed a sigh of relief. Colonel Sternheim, who sat on the ground to stabilize his center of gravity, completed the final task - the task assigned to him, and was finally able to rely on him as he wished. He sat in the corner and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Huh? This bastard left a cigarette for me to smoke? That's just right."

Picking up the familiar lighter and the cigarette case with the adjutant's name engraved on it from the ground, he opened it and took out one and put it in his mouth. After the click of the fire, green smoke slowly rose from the corner of his mouth.

call--

"Sir, I'm leaving! I will definitely complete the mission, I promise you! Please don't worry!"

Listening to the loud shouting coming from the lower stairs, not seeing the person, only hearing the sound.

Colonel Sternheim, who was leaning against the corner with a cigarette between his fingertips, just opened his voice and replied.

"Let's go, let's go! Execute the order!"

"yes!"

The faintly audible footsteps gradually faded away until they disappeared below where they could no longer be heard.

Colonel Sternheim, who was still leaning against the corner with a cigarette in his mouth, took out a crumpled black and white photo from the lining of his coat and looked at his wife and two grown-up men who were smiling at him in the photo. The eldest daughter's daughter spoke quietly with words that were accompanied by an expression of happiness on her face.

"I have done so much evil in other people's homes, and it's time to pay off the debts to the Russians who come to ask for help."

"I will go find you right away until our family is reunited. I have missed you for too long."

There was no sudden gunshot, only the cigarette butt in his mouth and the old black and white photo in his hand. He leaned his head against the cold wall and sat in the corner staring at the blazing fire above his head with his eyesless eyes. Skyfire, quietly waiting for the coming of the apocalyptic judgment.

When the meteor falls from the sky again, all crimes and remaining sins will end.

The penitent person will be liberated at this moment, whether he is forgiven or not.

The military life spent in blood and fire will finally come to an end at this moment.