Red Moscow

  Chapter 318 The Marriage of the Lieutenant (Part 2)

  The staff member picked up Katya's student ID card, didn't open it immediately, but looked at her and asked, "Girl, are you eighteen?"

   "Yes," Katya nodded quickly when she heard the staff's question, and said in an affirmative tone, "I just celebrated my eighteenth birthday two days ago."

  After receiving an affirmative answer, the staff opened Katya's certificate, and after reading her birthday, nodded and said, "Sure enough, she is already eighteen years old, which fully meets the standards for marriage registration."

  The words of the staff aroused Grisa's curiosity: "Why, are there any people who come to you to register for marriage, are there any people whose age does not meet the marriage registration standards?"

"Of course there is." After checking the documents of the two, the staff took out two large marriage certificates from the drawer. Before filling them out formally, he said to Griza: "Just an hour before you came, A captain brought a girl here to apply for marriage registration. But the girl was only five months away from turning eighteen, so I rejected their marriage request."

   Knowing that the marriage request of a girl and an officer was rejected, Griza asked curiously: "And then? Did they just leave?"

The staff smiled and continued: "Although the girl has not yet reached the age of marriage, it is during the war, and there can be exceptions at any time. Therefore, I made a suggestion to the two of them, asking them to go to the commander of the garrison and give They issue a marriage certificate, so even if I register their marriage for them, it is not a violation of the regulations."

   "You are really a warm-hearted person." After complimenting the other party, Griza asked tentatively: "Wouldn't this really violate the relevant regulations?"

The staff blinked at Grisa, and said with some pride: "Comrade lieutenant, the duty of soldiers is to defend our motherland. It is okay to give them some privileges appropriately. Besides, it is still during the war. I believe the superiors will not say anything."

  After the staff filled out the marriage certificate, they pushed each of them in front of the two, smiled and said to the two: "As long as you sign your two names below, you are a legal couple."

  The two signed their names on the marriage certificate in front of them, exchanged and signed again, and then pushed the marriage certificate to the staff. After checking the signatures on the two marriage certificates, the staff nodded, picked up the seal on the table, and stamped on the two marriage certificates, then pushed them together with their certificates, smiling all over their faces Said: "Congratulations, you two, from now on, you are an official husband and wife."

In order to express his gratitude to the staff, Griza took the paper bag in Sergeant Elizaveta's hand, took out two cans of canned vegetables from it, gently placed it in front of the staff, and said politely : "This is a wish from our husband and wife, please accept it."

  Although it is two cans of very common canned vegetables, it is a very expensive gift under the conditions of the rationing system. The staff did not expect Griza to be so generous. As soon as he made a move, he gave himself two cans of canned vegetables that are almost unavailable in the world, and quickly expressed his gratitude to the other party.

   Just as Griza was walking outside holding Katya's hand, suddenly a young girl broke in from the outside. As soon as she saw Katya, she yelled, "Katya, you are indeed here."

"Yes, Nina. I came here to register my marriage." Katya turned her head and looked at Griza beside her, and said with a happy face: "This is my husband, Lieutenant Griza, congratulating me Bar!"

Unexpectedly, the young girl named Nina did not congratulate her as Katya had imagined, but grabbed her arm and said excitedly: "Katya, you don't know, don't you? The classmates in the 1990s were all incorporated into the army, and asked us to rush to the school to gather in the shortest possible time. I will go to your home to inform you. I heard from your mother that you may come here for a blind date. I came specially to go through the marriage formalities."

"What, you have all been incorporated into the army?" Grisa was taken aback when he heard the news, and he asked in an unbelievable tone: "But, you are all women, a group of people who have not undergone any military experience. What role can the female students in training play in the army?"

  Hearing this question from Griza, Nina hesitated for a moment, and then said in an uncertain tone: "It is said that we are all incorporated into the air defense force."

  Grisa looked at Katya and said, "Katya, I originally wanted to go home with you and worship your parents. Now it seems that this wish cannot be fulfilled."

"I'm sorry, dear Griza." Katya looked at Grisa and said apologetically, "I didn't expect things to develop to this point. It seems that if you want to visit my parents, you have to wait until later." There is a chance to talk again."

Several people came to the street outside, and when the two parties were about to say goodbye, Grisa suddenly saw a flower house not far away, and said to Katya quickly: "Katya, wait for me here, I will be there soon." return."

  Griza trotted to the front of the flower house, and said to the middle-aged woman selling flowers inside: "Hello, please bring me a bouquet of flowers."

   "What kind of flowers do you want?"

  Grisa turned her head and glanced at Katya, who was still standing at the door of the marriage registration office, and said to the middle-aged woman with a blushing face, "Flowers for my wife."

"Understood, Comrade Commander." The middle-aged woman said with a smile, "Since it is for your wife, I suggest you buy red roses." She pointed to a few bouquets of roses in a vase behind her and asked, "There are five and seven, which one do you want?"

  Grisa thought that it was his first time to give Katya a gift, so he couldn't be too stingy, so he pointed to a bouquet of roses and said to the middle-aged woman, "Bring me a bouquet of seven."

  When Katya saw Grisa appearing in front of her holding a bouquet of flowers, two blushes flew across her face. She looked at Griza and asked with some embarrassment: "Honey, are these the flowers you gave me?"

   "Yes, Katya. I gave this bouquet of bright red roses to my beautiful wife." Griza looked at Katya and said affectionately, "I just don't know if she likes it?"

  Katya took the flowers, nodded vigorously with a blushing face, and said loudly: "I like it, I like it. As long as it is something you give me, I like it."

  Nina waited for the two to show off their affection, and urged impatiently: "Katya, it's getting late, let's go to school as soon as possible."

  Griza pulled out two paper bags from Sergeant Elizaveta's arms, stuffed them into Katya's arms, and said, "Katya, take these with you."

  ...

  After listening to Griza finish his marriage, Sokov and Belgin were silent. While envious of Griza's good fortune, the two felt sorry for his separation from his new wife. Sokov even secretly thought in his heart: "Judging from the brutality of the Stalingrad Defense War, no matter whether Grisa's wife is in the ordinary infantry unit or the air defense unit, the chance of surviving is almost zero. "

  Thinking of this, Sokov asked, "Lieutenant Grisa, do you know where Katya's home is?"

  Griza didn't expect Sokov to ask this question suddenly. After a moment of hesitation, he shook his head and replied, "I don't know."

   "Then do you know the names of her parents and how old they are?" Seeing that Griza couldn't answer his own question, Sokov asked again, "What kind of work do you do now?"

Sokov had already heard from Grisa's narration just now that he knew nothing about the woman's name, Ekaterina, and she was a tenth-grade student, so he didn't know whether he could To answer my own question, I have given up all hope. Sure enough, Griza still chose to shake his head at Sokov's new question.

Seeing that Griza asked three questions, Belkin couldn't help but feel anxious for him: "Comrade Lieutenant, you don't know where Katya is studying; you don't know where her family lives. Even you don't know her parents. I don’t know anything, and now I want to know, how will you find Katya after we have defeated the enemy attacking Stalingrad?”

  Belkin's question was rather sharp, which immediately made Griza speechless. Griza was silent for a long time, and then said: "I think, you should be able to find relevant information at the marriage registry."

"Comrade Lieutenant, you are too optimistic." Sokov felt the need to remind Griza to prepare him mentally in advance: "The upcoming defense battle in Stalingrad will be extremely cruel. , the degree of tragedy is completely beyond your imagination. Many buildings in the city will be wiped out in this battle, and maybe the marriage agency where you registered your marriage will also be wiped out. If the data is destroyed Now, where did you go to find your new wife? It’s not easy to say, you have only known each other for a few hours, and you probably didn’t leave a deep impression on each other. Maybe you won’t be able to recognize each other when you meet face to face next time. .”

  After Grisa left, Belkin suddenly asked Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, I would like to ask, will the upcoming Stalingrad defense battle really be as tragic as you said?"

   "Yes," Sokov nodded, and said in an affirmative tone, "I think it will be ten times and a hundred times more tragic than any battle we have ever experienced."

  Although Belkin disapproved of Sokov's statement in his heart, thinking that he was exaggerating, what battle would be ten times more tragic than the ones he had experienced? However, he did not argue with Sokov on this matter, but asked unexpectedly: "Comrade Brigadier, I think Assia has always been interested in you. I wonder when you will go to register for marriage?"

  Sokov was stopped by Belkin. He didn't expect his political committee to ask himself such a sensitive question at this time. He thought to himself: besides Assia, he also likes Adelina who has repeatedly penetrated into the heart of the German army. In addition, there are two female medical staff who work near his apartment, and he seems to have a good impression. If you really want to let yourself choose a marriage partner, Assia is really not the best candidate.

Seeing that Sokov was left speechless by his own question, Belkin did not continue to ask, but said to himself: "Comrade Brigadier, if the next battle is really as cruel as you said , I think you should give Asiya an explanation. In the future, no matter which of the two of you dies in the battle, there will be no regrets. Are you right?"

  Belkin's words made Sokov feel speechless. He grinned, and said boldly to Belkin: "Don't worry, Comrade Commissar, I know about this matter."

  Sokov thought to himself, when he went for a stroll in the city last time, he was sullen because of the department store, and ended up having a bad fight. Although the city leaders of Stalingrad have already issued an alarm to the people of the city, saying that the whole city has officially entered a state of war, but anyway, the battlefield is still far away from Stalingrad, so I might as well use this last I will take Asiya to the city some other day, and buy her some gifts, which will make her happy.

Having made up his mind, Sokov said to Belkin: "Comrade Commissar, I am going to take Asya to the city tomorrow. If possible, we will marry at a marriage registry. Things in the brigade , I will trouble you to take care of it.”

Hearing that Sokov planned to take Asya to the city to apply for a marriage certificate, Belkin immediately beamed with joy: "Brigade Commander, that's great, this is really great. On behalf of the commanders and fighters of the whole brigade, I would like to express my sincere thanks to you in advance." Congratulations." After speaking, he reached out and shook hands with Sokov.

  Sokov's original intention was to take Asiya for a walk in the city. The so-called marriage was just a casual mention, but Belkin took it seriously. However, he did not specifically explain to Belkin, but changed the topic in a timely manner: "Comrade political commissar, the superior has always said that we will send us a chief of staff. Why has there been no movement until now? If it doesn't work, first Let the Fourth Battalion Commander Briski temporarily act as chief of staff."

"I think it's better to wait." Belkin said to Sokov: "When I went to the city defense committee meeting with Ozor yesterday, I met the commander of the front army, General Gordolf. I told him When he mentioned the lack of commanders at all levels in the brigade, he promised at that time that he would send us a group of capable military cadres to the brigade in the shortest possible time. Comrade brigade commander, we might as well wait for two more days, Otherwise, even if Briski is hastily appointed as chief of staff, he will have to return to serve as battalion commander in a few days. Doing so will definitely dampen his enthusiasm for work.”

  Belkin's words made Sokov realize that he had considered the problem too simply. When to send the chief of staff of the brigade to himself, the superior must have an overall arrangement. If he disrupts this arrangement rashly, it may cause unnecessary trouble. So he waited for Belgin to finish speaking, nodded slightly, and said, "Okay, Comrade Political Commissar, we'll just wait a few more days."

  (end of this chapter)