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| - The power of words |
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The power of wordsAfter many days of a non-stop offensive, there finally came a morning when we didn't have to launch an attack or make a forced march. We just rested in a township captured the night before and waited for reinforcements. That morning, we, the few scouts still alive in the platoon, had been sleeping almost until noon when our platoon commander woke us up and told us that HQ had given the platoon a medal and an Order of the Red Banner. [Not unlike the Silver Star - Transl.] - Leonid, I'm probably going to have to give the Red Banner order to you, - said our commander. He took out a form from his notepad and started writing down the details of some recent episode. Meanwhile, I took a stroll through the yard of the house where we were staying - suddenly, the head of Nikolaj Mahachkalinskij, a member of our platoon who'd made himself scarce at the start of the offensive, poked out from behind a shed. Calling me over and looking around in alarm he queried: - So, did they miss me? Anyone mention me? - Nah, it's cool. Where's the anti-tank rifle? - I asked. Kolja just swore and shook his head. There was a whole story behind this particular anti-tank rifle, from before I arrived at the battalion. According to a few old-timers, during one attack the German tanks penetrated all the way to the battalion HQ. The battalion CO personally took up an anti-tank rifle and knocked out one or two tanks (at least, so they say) and repelled the attack. He was made Hero of the Soviet Union, while our scout platoon got to safeguard his anti-tank rifle. Naturally, Nikolaj, as the platoon's newest member, got to be the one to lug it around, and, after a few forced marches, came to absolutely hate it. Besides that, Nikolaj didn't exactly volunteer to be a scout. As I've already mentioned, the previous platoon commander selected new recruits by marching up to a row of replacements and barking out: "Anyone brave, two steps forward!" That's how I got to be a scout. The new platoon commander, Vanja, instead liked to personally pick out replacements rather than ask for volunteers, and that's how Kolja was chosen. Besides being fairly tall, his main distinctions were the ability to craft elaborate tall tales and to "camouflage" himself - i.e. conveniently disappear whenever things got dangerous. When Vanja saw Nikolaj this time, he almost tore his head off: "Where were you?!" Here, Nikolaj proved to be at the top of his game and fired off the following "explanation": - Well, back on the morning when the German attack started, I was in the trenches of a neighboring unit. The Germans got real close, see, I tossed a couple of grenades at them but the other soldiers there were pretty raw, didn't know how to work the grenades and were afraid to throw them. So they tossed them to me, and I kept chucking them at the Germans, and finally beat the attack back. - And where's the anti-tank rifle? - Well you see, Vanja, during their next attack the Germans had us practically surrounded, and I just knew I couldn't get out with the anti-tank rifle. So I took the lock out and dumped it in a ditch and somehow managed to make it back. And then afterward, their company commander just asked me to stay by him until the action died down - and that's where I've been all this time, see. Of course, in telling his tale Nikolaj managed to throw in many elaborate details of his exploits, most of which I don't even remember at this point. Vanja was buying it hook, line and sinker. By the end of the story, he looked at Nikolaj in amazement, turned to me and said: - Hey, we should probably give Nikolaj the Red Banner. I nodded, hesitantly. We went back into the house, Vanja sat down, tore up my commendation form and began to fill out a new one for Nikolaj.
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