The efficiency of the soldiers of the guard company was quite high, and it didn't take long to borrow pickaxes and shovels from the villagers' homes for digging. When they reached the position that Polina had pointed out to us, seven or eight warriors began to dig at Yushchenko's command.

After a few gouging attempts, I saw half of the rope peeking out of the floating soil. Yushchenko, who was commanding on the side, hurriedly shouted: "Wait a minute, don't dig, stop, stop!." ”

I glared at Yushchenko dissatisfied, and asked him angrily: "Comrade Captain, why did you stop the fighters?" ”

Yushchenko pointed to the exposed half of the rope and said: "Comrade division commander, please see." This pit is only covered with a layer of floating soil, and if you dig it with tools, it will easily damage the remains of the martyrs. ”

Hearing him explain this, I hesitated a little, frowned and asked for his opinion: "Then what do you say you should do?" ”

He crouched down and began to pull the floating soil where the rope was buried with his hands, and the warriors around him saw him doing so, and immediately understood his intentions, and they also squatted down and pulled the floating soil in the pit with their hands.

After a while, a female corpse emerged from the floating earth. I saw that her skin was black, and her head had been severely tilted to one side because of the long time she had been hanging from the gallows. Her hands were tied behind her back, the short blouse she was wearing was open, her petite and delicate breasts were exposed, her left breast had been cut off, and there was a huge black hole in her left breast.

The sight of the mutilated corpse immediately filled my chest with rage. I turned my head to look at Polina, who was standing next to me in a daze, and asked viciously, "Polina, can you tell me what the hell is going on?" ”

Polina looked at the female corpse that had just been excavated, and could not help but tremble with fright, and she did not hear my question at all, until I grabbed her shoulder and shook it vigorously a few times, and she came back to her senses and told me the whole thing with trepidation.

"I heard that the girl was arrested during an attempt to burn down the German stables. After she was caught, the Germans took her to Volonin's house, where a group of damned German soldiers stripped her of her warm clothes and warm boots, and ruined her. I later heard from the hostess of the house, Evdogia Petrovna Volonina, that the Germans had made her barefoot and dressed in a cold room to be interrogated by a German officer, after the Germans had abused her. ”

When I heard this, I couldn't help but grit my teeth and ask her, "Do you know the name of that damn officer?" ”

Polina thought for a moment, and then said in a tone of uncertainty that "I seem to have heard the German soldiers call him Lieutenant Colonel Leetelle, and according to my husband, this officer is a regimental commander." ”

"Do you know the name of this girl?"

Polina replied: "When the Germans interrogated her and asked her name, she replied that her name was 'Danniang'. She behaved very tenaciously during the two-hour interrogation, which lasted more than two hours, and in response to questions about her comrades, the bases of her guerrillas and their leaders, she always said: No, I don't know what to say, I won't tell you. The German lieutenant colonel was immediately annoyed and ordered the soldiers to tie her to the bench and beat her with a belt, but she remained silent and did not tell them any valuable information. ”

"And then?"

"Then she was sent to my house by the Germans, where there were 26 German soldiers, who tortured her all night like crazy...... When she woke up from her coma and wanted to drink water, my husband Kurik brought her a bowl of water, only to be knocked to the ground by the German soldiers, who put a kerosene lamp in her face and burned her. Later, when the other German soldiers went to sleep, the sentry who stood guard pulled her into the snow and walked barefoot for more than an hour......"

As Polina recounted, I bit my lip until my tongue was filled with the salty smell of blood. But I still tried to control my emotions and let Polina tell the whole story.

“…… The next day, it became clear that Danniang was brought to trial again, but the enemy still found nothing. So the German lieutenant colonel ordered a wooden sign on her chest with the words 'arsonist' written on it, and wanted her to be taken to the square to be executed. At this, Polina could not help wiping away tears, "She broke free from the two soldiers who were holding her, and calmly walked to the gallows, surrounded by German officers and soldiers, and the whole of our village was driven to watch the execution." Before the sacrifice, Danniang shouted: 'We are not just me, we have 200 million people, and the enemy cannot hang us all!' The people will avenge me! German devils, it's not too late for you to surrender, the final victory must be ours! When the rope was put around her neck, she shouted to us: 'Comrades, why are you so sorrowful, you must know that I am not afraid of death, and it is happy to die for my country and people.' Farewell, comrades, strike hard at the fascists. Stalin is coming, Stalin is with us. ......'Before she could finish shouting, the executing German soldier kicked off the ammunition box that was padding at her feet......"

"Enough, don't say any more." At this moment I already know who this girl is, Danniang is just the name of a heroine of the Civil War that she admires, and her real name is Zoya Kosmodeyyanskaya. Seeing Zoya's badly damaged body, and hearing about her tragic fate, the last trace of calm in my heart was dissipated by nameless anger!

I took off the assault rifle from my back and strode angrily towards the group of captured German soldiers, Yushchenko and a group of guards and soldiers hurriedly trotted to follow.

"Whoever has spoiled that girl, stand up for me!" I stood in front of the crouching captives and shouted loudly.

The German soldier crouching on the ground heard my shouts and looked up at me blankly, but no one spoke. Yushchenko stood beside me and carefully reminded me: "Comrade division commander, they may not understand Russian, you must calm down......"

I raised my hand to signal Yushchenko to shut up, then pointed to one of the nearest prisoners and told my men to bring it to me. As the captive, who was a head taller than me, stood trembling in front of me, I gritted my back molars and asked, "Who spoiled that girl that day?" ”

The captives looked at me nervously and muttered a word of German. MD, I didn't understand a word of what you were talking about, and I didn't talk nonsense with him, I raised my hand and shot him in the head. After the gunshot, his head exploded like a ripe watermelon, and red blood and gray-white brains splashed all over the German army.

I didn't call anyone anymore, I walked into the group of prisoners with an assault rifle, randomly selected a prisoner who was closer to me, aimed the muzzle at his head, bowed his head and asked, "Who have ruined that girl?" ”

Perhaps it was the decisiveness of the shot I had just fired, coupled with the muzzle of the black hole aimed at him at the moment, that frightened the captive, his lips trembled, and finally spat out two words: "I know how to ......"

But I didn't care what he said, and I pulled the trigger without any effect. The deterrent effect of shooting in the crowd of prisoners was excellent, and the German soldiers who were crouching around could not dodge, and they were all covered in blood splattered all over their faces. I guess no matter how accustomed to seeing people kill, they will be terrified to see me kill people like this.

After firing the second shot, I remembered that the captive seemed to be shouting in Russian. But he's been headshot by me, so he's out of luck. This time, I pointed my gun directly at a prisoner next to me, and asked impatiently, "Do you know the answer to the Dao?" ”

Seeing that the muzzle of the black hole was aimed at his head, the captive did not hesitate, and directly shouted: "I know the way, I know the way." "The Russian spoken at a life-and-death moment is actually a round word.

I lowered the muzzle of my gun and said coldly, "Then you can point out those people." ”

The captives looked left and right, then pointed to the pile of German corpses in a corner of the square and said, "Miss General, there those people have been killed by your men. ”

All dead? There are dozens of people, and they all died all at once? MD, you dare to fool me. Hearing him say this, I immediately became furious, and without hesitation, I pulled the trigger again and shot him in the head.

I was about to look for the next victim when Yushchenko and Rysdayev, who had rushed to hear the news, jumped up, took my hand from the left and right, and said: "Comrade division commander, please calm down. You are now like a mad beast, and you see, even the villagers who come to watch are frightened by you. ”

My heart was shocked, and I couldn't help but turn my head to look. In the distance, the villagers, including Polina, stared at me with their eyes flickering, lowered their heads and trembled, and in this short moment, I saw the boundless horror in their eyes!

I struggled a bit, and Yushchenko and Rysdayev held me tighter and pulled me back desperately. I let out a long breath and gave a loud order to the soldiers standing around me that I would never regret it: "All of them, aim at the fascist bandits in front of you and fire!" Kill them all, leave not a single one! ”

As soon as my order was given, the soldiers gathered around raised their rifles, submachine guns, and machine guns, and immediately opened heavy fire on the German prisoners crouching in the middle of the square. Many of the captives were shot down before they could recover from their senses. Occasionally, a few reactive captives stood up and tried to escape, but within a few steps, they were frantically convulsed and fell to the ground by the dense barrage of bullets.

In just a minute or two, the soldiers ran out of bullets from their guns, and the German prisoners who had been squatting in the middle of the square had become corpses with a fishy smell. Resolute soldiers walked in with their guns in hand, carefully examined each corpse, and if they found that there was still gas, they made up for it with a shot or a bayonet.

Seeing that things were irreparable, Yushchenko and Rysdayev reluctantly let go of me, stood there and bowed their heads and sighed. Because our attention was attracted by what was in front of us, we didn't even notice that Ehrenburg, who was supposed to be interviewing in the commissar's unit, came behind us, secretly filmed the bloody scene of the massacre with his camera, and quietly turned away.