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On November 11, Leningrad Radio broadcasted:

During the October offensive of the fascist German army, the heroic resistance of Moscow soldiers and civilians made Hitler realize that he could not do whatever he wanted here...

On the same day, the German army launched a new attack on Moscow after redeploying.

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The cold current invaded Moscow silently, the sky was gloomy, and the snow on the ground was covered with soot falling from the chimney, which was dirtied by the footsteps coming and going.

In Umanov's house, the children were taking a nap, and Vika and Katia were sitting by the water-boiling stove, unpacking old sweaters.

Vika said softly: "I removed their original sweaters and added Alexei's woolen vest. There should be some surplus after weaving two new ones. I'll bring you the rest of the wool."

Katia took off the wrapped yarn from the back of the chair and threw it into the water basin at her feet, her belly could be seen bulging. "No, no," she demurred.

"Children grow up so fast at this age that they have to weave anew every year."

Katia said, "I can take Ilia's apart and give it to Daria."

"Then what will he wear when he comes back?"

Katia silently pulled out the thread and rewound it on the back of the chair.Vika stopped his hands and sighed and asked, "What's the latest news?"

"He's still in Leningrad. I don't know when he'll be back."

The women were silent for a while, and Vika smiled and said, "Let's have dinner here with Daria at night. With you here, the house seems to be more lively and warmer."

Leningrad, Mariinsky Theater.

Tarasova slapped the wall and said, "Okay, girls, let's make it here today."

In the empty practice room, six or seven skinny teenage girls hula-la ran from the mirror to the locker beside the field, their feet thumping on the polished floor.The girls waved and said "goodbye" to her, and Tarasova sat back at the piano, smiling and waving in return.

The main part of the Kirov dance troupe withdrew to the rear shortly after the war began, and tarasova stayed; the dance troupe's performances have stopped, but the actors still come to practice, and often teenagers The little girls, they come here to learn ballet, just like before the war started. "Straighten your legs and soften your upper arms; stretch, yes, stretch is very important," Tarasova said aloud, clapping her hands among the girls in black and white exercise suits, always correcting their movements; Doing this kind of work, watching those immature little girls finally become glamorous swans on the stage.

After the girls left, Tarasova took a break.Then she went back inside and took the bucket from behind the door.She checked the rope on her hand, wrapped her shawl around her head, and walked out the door.

The sky in the evening was slightly clearer than that in the daytime, and the clouds that had gathered over the city for the past few days seemed to have become thinner, and the sky showed an irregular bluish-white color.The sun has receded long ago, and the street is shrouded in a gray-blue mist, which is very air-conditioned.

Tatai walked slowly along the street, she was going to fetch water from the river.There are many old people and children like this on the road. They are dragging buckets, and the splashed water forms thin ice on the ground.

After the siege of Leningrad, the tap water system was basically destroyed; after winter, citizens could only dig through the ice of the Neva River to get water from the river.This is not an easy job, so people are often crowded by the river waiting for the ice hole to be cut, and then there will be a steady stream of people coming, like ant colonies rushing to sugar; Next to a limited ice cave, the scene is quite chaotic. "Go away, go elsewhere!" is not uncommon.

Tarasova is glad that the sense of dignity and pride of "doing everything by myself" established since her youth has not faded as she grows older, which is still earning her respect, although it also brings corresponding difficulties; in order to avoid being disgusting , she will deliberately avoid the crowded time of the peak water fetching, so that she does not have to listen to anxious people behind her yelling "Hurry up!"

She came to the ice cave, and the river water and mud and dust splashed on the pale ice surface were frozen again, like the mottled walls of an old house.Tatai moved over carefully, walking on the ice at this age, thanks to the balance ability trained many years ago.

"Let me help you," said a young man.

"Thank you," she murmured thanks, watching the young man throw the rope into the ice hole, and stepped on the handle of the bucket, there was a sound of the wooden bucket hitting the ice under the ice, and the bucket sank go down.

"It's really cold! You have to work to keep warm." The young man said while lifting the bucket up by the rope. "Why isn't vodka flowing in the Neva River?"

Ttarasova pulled the rope and walked back on the way; the bottom of the barrel rubbed against the smooth ice, making a rustling sound, and the water on the handle and the rope had frozen.The temperature at night is lower, and the sky is completely dark.

The street lights on the side of the road were not on, and the light from the house was also very weak. Tarasova walked very slowly, and she felt a little tired. "But don't stop on the road, you can only keep walking back," she thought as she crossed the road, a gust of cold wind blew in her ear, tarasova pulled the scarf around her head, suddenly a bunch of The light made her squint her eyes, and a car turned the corner in her direction.

The tires made an unpleasant braking sound on the road covered with a thin layer of ice, but the car rushed over with inertia. Tarasova panicked and slid to the ground.

The car still stopped, and Ta Tai heard someone open the car door, jump out of the car and run towards her; "Are you okay," the man asked her panting.

"Oh, it's nothing." She felt that she hadn't touched anything, so she tried to stand up, and the man quickly held her arm. Tarasova saw the military felt boots on his feet at a glance.

"Sorry, I didn't see it when I turned the corner," the officer said.

"It's nothing," Tarasova replied absent-mindedly. She was thinking about the bucket of water. It would be bad luck if she spilled it; "it's nothing." She didn't turn around until she saw the bucket standing there, and repeated it again. .

The man suddenly said, "Is that you?"

Tarasova raised her head in amazement, white air lingered between them when she spoke, the officer on the other side of the white air had a pale face, and his nose and cheeks were flushed with cold.

"Ilia," she said.

Tarasova returned to the theater in the car of the 54th Army Corps, with the bucket of river water at her feet: Kulik repeatedly insisted on sending her back.

"You come in and drink some water," they didn't speak all the way, and when the car stopped, Tarasova said, she saw Kulik's eyes blinked in the rearview mirror, with a hesitant expression, "unless you have something to leave in a hurry."

Kulik turned off the ignition and said, "Okay, thanks, I'm fine."

He followed Mrs. Ta into the troupe, Mrs. Ta led him into a room; there were tables and chairs inside, and a piano by the wall. "Who's finished playing the piano cover?" Tatai complained, and she lit a candle: "You rest here for a while, and I'll deal with my water."

Kulik was at the piano and saw that the score was still on it.

He had just driven a battle plan to the headquarters in the city. "Then you go back to rest," Fejuninsky told him.

He could feel the commander's slight dissatisfaction with him. When he made that request in the office that day, Fejuninsky looked at him inexplicably and asked, "What does this have to do with you?"

"In September, ABT was in the 42nd Army; when he defended Height 4, the troops under his command and himself paid a lot of price; and these costs should be respected and compensated."

"Are you implying that this actually has something to do with me?" the general asked with a half-smile.

He could only go on and on: "He was dismissed from the military solely because of a false accusation."

Finally, Fejuninsky said: "I don't know why you came to me, it's a complicated matter for everyone;" he paused, and suddenly said in an unusual tone: "Ilia, as a soldier, You don't follow routines; as an officer, I can't see through you; calm but impulsive?" He gestured, "I mean, very two-faced, or extreme?"

Kulik didn't answer, he was about to say something more; then he heard Fejuninsky sigh and say, "You can go and do what you have to do."

Tarasova heard the piano from a distance.She came into the house and Kulik was playing the piano.

"Borodin's mazurka," he said, "I see there is a score for it."

In "Swan Lake", in the third act when the queen chooses a bride for the prince, there is a "Mazurka" dance presented by the Polish guests to the prince. "This dance is very difficult," Tarasova said. In class, I also spend a lot of class hours practicing footwork."

Kulik made no sound, and continued to play; his fingering, apparently rusty from lack of practice, stumbled on a bar.

"Oh, forget it, stop it." Tarasova laughed.

Kulik laughed too, and he played over and over again, repeating that bar.

"Stop it," Tarasova said.

"I can't stop," he said with a smile. "We can't stop easily. If we stop, we will lose our strength."

Tarasova remembers that that night, kulik didn't say anything more, he finished playing the sheet music of that page, and left.

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On November 1941, 11, Stalin’s speech in front of Lenin’s Mausoleum in Moscow’s Red Square (excerpt):

... The whole world is looking at you as a force capable of destroying the bandit army of German invaders.The enslaved peoples of Europe under the yoke of the German invaders look to you as their liberators.The great mission of liberation has fallen on your shoulders...

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The German army encountered unprecedented difficulties in the Battle of Moscow. The autumn rain in mid-October made it difficult to dispatch their supplies, and the strong counterattack of the Russians was also unexpected.Despite the setback in the attack, Hitler was still full of hope. After redeploying, the German army launched another storm on Moscow on November 11.

The German army attacked far and deep into the hinterland of the Soviet Union. The front line was too long and the supply line was difficult to support for a long time. However, in the first half year of the war, the Soviet army had not formed a substantial containment of the German attack. Under the city of Moscow, the Russians had no Way back.

No matter who falls first, the failure of the Moscow battle will affect the entire Soviet Union and even Europe. In the winter of 1941, Stalin and Hitler faced an equal opportunity.

On November 11th, as the German troops approached the city, the suburban artillery roared, and Moscow citizens held the annual October Revolution celebration at the Mayakovsky Metro Station; on November 6th, Stalin inspected the Red Army in front of Lenin’s Mausoleum in Red Square as usual, and the Soviet Army The infantry and tank troops went directly to the battlefield after passing through the Red Square - 11 kilometers outside the city, Guderian's tank group was watching and waiting.

Office of the First Moscow Hospital, Moskvina.She heard a knock on the door, took off her glasses, put down the inspection report and said, "Come in."

Umanov walked in and said, "Hello, I'm here to get Katia's test results."

Mrs. Mo picked out a report from the stack and handed it to him: "Here, this is this—as it is often said, everything is normal."

Umanov looked down and said, "Thank you." When he folded the paper and put it in his shirt pocket, he heard Mrs. Mo say, "But I think she's not in a good mood, and she's also very nervous."

Umanov thought for a while and said, "Her husband is on the front line now."

"I know, that officer," Mrs. Mo said in a long voice.

Umanov paused and said, "Thank you, I'm leaving first." He was about to get up when Mrs. Mo asked, "How are you doing? I heard that the marshal's condition is fluctuating a bit?"

Umanov didn't think it was a wise move to discuss the health of the chief of staff, and he said lightly: "It's fine."

Marshal Shaposhnikov had another attack of lung disease in the previous period. Although it was relieved after treatment, it was not a long-term solution; and the "avoiding fatigue" and "rehabilitation" suggested by the doctors could not be truly realized.

Mrs. Mo didn't care much about Umanov's attitude: "This job is not easy to do." She muttered as if talking to herself, "If they didn't trust Protopopov, this would have been his business."

About three years ago, the old director of thoracic surgery was questioned because of his experience as a military doctor in the Tsarist army in his early years, and he soon faded out of the hospital.

Hearing Mrs. Mo's words, Umanov couldn't help feeling a little bit uneasy.He said goodbye again: "I'll go back first, my son is sick."

He walked to the door, looked back, and found that Mrs. Mo was smiling kindly at him; this made Umanov feel a little guilty for the unhappiness just now, and he sighed. way, he is hard to understand.

When Umanov returned home, Vika came up to her. Her eyes were still a little red and swollen, and her face was pale.

"What's wrong with Vasya?" Umanov had a bad feeling, he stroked his wife, and asked calmly.

"Still have a fever," Vika's voice trembled slightly, she held her husband's arm tightly, "Alexei...he's going to be fine, isn't he?"

Umanov didn't even bother to take off his coat. He gently pushed his wife away and walked to Vasya's bedside.

Andryusha stood there, with a serious look on the child's face, like a guard.He looked up at his father: "Father, will Vasya die?"

The child's face was burning red, and his little head was sunken in the pillow. Umanov knelt down and reached out to touch his son's forehead.

"Go get alcohol and mix it with half warm water," he said to Vika, standing up, taking off his coat, and stroking Andryusha's head: "Don't worry."

Umanov wiped Vasya's armpits and neck repeatedly with a wet towel until the skin was slightly red; Vasya woke up, twisted his body and cried.

Andryusha was standing beside him, and he suddenly grabbed Umanov by the sleeve: "Father, Vasya is not feeling well and is crying!"

Umanov looked at him, and his voice was gentle but seldom with unquestionable authority: "It's for his own good—Andreusha, Russian children are never fed with sugar cubes."

The author has something to say: The military parade on Red Square when Moscow's soldiers approached the city was really full of bear-style recruiting qualities.Being so proud, awe-inspiring, cool and romantic when being beaten with a headache is simply unbelievable...