Three Hundred and Seventy-Two Tragic Life

During the month of each year, the weather in Europe is still very cold. And for such a cold weather, for those who have lost their houses, the cold process is even more penetrating.

John, his wife and two children lost their house when the German strategic bomber group bombed London last time. Although the building did not completely collapse, it was already a real dangerous building and could no longer live. So now the family of four had to live in the refugee camp prepared in the air-raid shelter. The empty air-raid shelter was still very gloomy and cold, and there were a few families not far away. Everyone was familiar with it, but they all huddled together at this time. , shivering with cold.

John went out to sell his wedding ring during the day, and exchanged for some moldy bread and a bag of flour. John felt that once Germany bombed London again, at least the price of food would rise again, so he gritted his teeth and hoarded some , lest the whole family go hungry from time to time.

But to John's expectation, not long after he brought the food back to his new home in the air-raid shelter, there were some rich gentlemen in the air-raid shelter. They brought folding beds, some simple furniture, and some even Bringing radios and chairs, John didn't know why so many people suddenly rushed into the dark air-raid shelter to live.

After asking, I found out that it was the disastrous defeat of the British Navy. The German heavy strategic bombers attacked Manchester on a larger scale, causing nearly 10,000 casualties and destroying large areas of urban buildings. Yesterday's air raid on the industrial city of Edinburgh caused another serious blow to the British industrial system.

The continuous air raids and bombings made the wealthy people in London realize that the war was approaching, and they finally knew how dangerous their area was. A wise man is always a wise man. Instead of waiting for the German bombers to pay attention to London again, and then fleeing into the overcrowded air-raid shelter with their families, it is better to live in it now and find a better place.

So driven by this kind of thinking, many dignitaries began to draw their own chassis in the deepest and strongest air-raid shelter, and sent butlers or servants to come down first to occupy a place. As a result, the originally cold air-raid shelter miraculously became more popular.

It is a little pity that the expected large-scale bombing did not come, which made John, who was temporarily mobilized as a firefighter's assistant, lose his job. Therefore, the life of John's family who has no source of income is not good now, and they can even To describe it as miserable.

He looked at his watch and the probably new leather bag in the corner, thinking helplessly whether he should find a place to sell these two things tomorrow. Before there is any chaos, stock up some more food for the family to prepare for emergencies.

But the next day when he sold all his valuable belongings and stood at the grain selling place holding banknotes, he really couldn't laugh or cry. Because what he saw was ten times the grain price of the previous two days, and there were long endless crowds of people buying grain.

The strangle attack of German submarines on the transportation line caused a short-term gap in the already stretched food supply in the UK, which was the direct cause of the increase in food prices. However, the defeat of the navy shook the hearts of the people of the whole country. People hoarded food by themselves in order to prepare for emergencies, and dug another big hole for the British national food reserves.

As a result, the price of food has risen again and again. If it weren't for the fear of running out of food, John would even have an urge to go home and sell the bag of flour. It is estimated that he can at least get his wedding ring back and buy two more. return.

The scene at the conscription office next to it was also extremely hot. On the one hand, the patriotic enthusiasm of the British people is truly rare in the world. When they heard that the country was in trouble, they consciously came to line up and enlisted in the army. In almost a few days, the British mainland's troops expanded from less than 100,000 to 300,000, which Montgomery was very satisfied with.

Although most of the 300,000 troops have not undergone formal training, after all, the number is there, which is much better than the original estimate. This also relieved the battered Churchill a lot.

On the side of the enlistment office is the sailor's enrolment office, and there are only a lot more people there than in the enlistment office. Britain is an island country, so there are not a few people who work as sailors in the country. Many people have been sailors for generations, and there are even many experienced "old captains" among the older generation.

It is difficult for the motherland to make these gentlemen who usually walk on crutches stand up again. These people are either the main force of the British Navy during World War I, or they are white stripes in the waves who have gone to sea for generations. Terrifying, most of the North Atlantic routes have the threat of "going and never returning". They vowed to serve the motherland without hesitation, and became a strong reserve force for sailing on the sea.

Although the bravery and perseverance of these patriots made the British government and the Royal Navy a little less worried about the shortage of crew, the loss of warships and ships is truly irreparable, just in this terrible consumption of less than 25 days Here, Britain's almost astronomical tonnage of ships was abruptly cut off by one-tenth.

Only a few people in the know understand how heavy the weight of the Oak Leaf Knight's Iron Cross hanging around the necks of the German Navy Lütjens and Doenitz is equivalent to the tonnage of tens of thousands of British shipwrecks. So Raeder has frequently appeared in the Grossdeutsche Zeitung these days, and even the marshal's scepter is dazzlingly blue.

Of course, all of this is too far for John. He is just one of the ordinary citizens standing in line in front of the food sales point, and he is holding a few tickets in exchange for selling watches and purses. banknote.

What he had in mind was not the fate of the fleet of the British Empire in the cold North Atlantic, or the life or death of tens of thousands of British soldiers on the French mainland. He was just wondering if there was any food left when the team arrived at him, and whether his wife and child would hug each other in the cold in the dark and cold basement.

After finally getting to the front of the line, he could vaguely see the window selling grain, but he also saw an even more desperate scene. Under the protection of two soldiers, a clerk raised the price of flour written on the blackboard at the door by 30 pence per 100 grams of flour.

The price increase aroused the dissatisfaction of countless citizens queuing behind. Seeing that there was going to be a commotion, the two soldiers were so frightened that they quickly took off their rifles, pulled the bolts and loaded the bullets into the chambers.

As the roar of the people grew louder, an officer walked out of the grain sales point. He cleared his throat to the crowd and shouted loudly: "Because the 7,000-ton grain ship Ban Yuemei is in the North Atlantic Sunk by a German submarine, this batch of grain can only be sold at a price increase. If you can wait, the price will naturally drop when a new grain transport ship docks next week! Please don’t get excited!”

Some people in the crowd waved their arms excitedly, shook the coins in their hands, and cursed loudly, denouncing the injustice and despicability of the price increase. John didn't dare to stand out at such a time, not to mention that he just made friends with an officer a few days ago, so naturally he would not fight against the army here, so he had to avoid the man in front of him waving his arms and cursing loudly, and hid to the side two steps.

"Boom!" A gunshot rang out. The officer was holding a pistol, and the muzzle was smoking, while the most yelling man in front of John fell on his back.

"Whoever gathers everyone, incites emotions, and makes troubles openly will be regarded as German spies, and they will be killed on the spot without interrogation!" The officer warned sharply. Following his gunshot, two soldiers at the door picked up their rifles, and two more soldiers with submachine guns walked out of the grain shop with cold faces.

Two one-pound notes floated down, with two drops of blood on them. Hit John's face, along the chest to John's hand. He looked at the corpse at his feet, holding the banknotes in his hand, neither daring to put them away nor throwing them away.

...

Behind him, another woman in the line stared at the banknote in his hand, after all, she still didn't speak, bent down and picked up the two ten-pound banknotes on the dead body of the man under her feet, and mixed them with her own money.

No more yelling, no more breaking the rules. In the atmosphere of Duan Silence, some people left the long line and stayed away from this place of right and wrong, while more people chose to stay and buy those extremely precious flour mixed with impurities.

When John rushed home with two big bags of flour, his two children were jumping in the open space not far from the floor, and his wife was standing by a low table, waiting for his man to come back to eat together. dinner.

"I'm lucky today." John put down the flour and said, "I was lucky and got two bags of food. The food price has increased again, otherwise there will be more."

"Don't go to dangerous places next time, dear." John's wife said to her husband with a worried expression on her face.

"I... didn't do anything dangerous." John thought of the man who fell on the ground, and the unwilling and distorted pale cheek, and explained stutteringly.

"There is still a small drop of blood on your face that hasn't been wiped clean." John's wife thought that her husband had done something crazy, and persuaded with some worry.

"God! This damn life, this miserable life!" John quickly explained to his wife: "I didn't do anything strange! I just picked up some money from a dead body..."

"Huh..." My wife breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this, and smiled apologetically: "When will this kind of life end?"