Chapter 676 The Truth

"Comrade, they didn't do anything wrong, they just ran out in the middle of the night. You know, the city is now under unified management, it's not safe for them to run around with their children on the street, we just want to take them back to a safe place."

"Take them to a safe place?"

Looking at the unnatural smile of the Red Army squad leader who seemed to be trying to please him under the searchlight, Malashenko instinctively felt a little distrustful.

Although it is not right to judge people by appearance, Malashenko, who is used to fighting on the battlefield, is more likely to trust his intuition rather than common sense. There must be something hidden about the two old men and women and two children who are about to be taken away.

Malashenko is not a nosy person, but if there are some things that really happen, Malashenko will never ignore them when he should take action.

Malashenko, who was intuitively suggesting that there must be something fishy going on, jumped off the turret. The Tokarev TT33 sidearm on his belt was enough to deal with emergencies without the need to carry a main weapon.

Malashenko, who was quite puzzled, quickly walked forward after jumping off the tank, came to the two women and children, looked them up and down, and then asked.

"Tell me the truth, what kind of difficulties did you encounter? Why did you ask me to save you just now?"

The two women, one old and one young, hesitated a little when Malashenko asked them so suddenly without any warning.

From the slightly fearful look in their eyes, Malashenko could read that the source of this fear was right next to these two women.

"Okay, so that's how it is. I understand."

Malachenko, no longer anxious to ask questions, turned around, raised his right arm and snapped his fingers. Iushkin and Kirill, who stayed in the tank, heard the noise and immediately got out of the turret, carrying their rifles behind their backs, looking fully armed.

Lieutenant Igor, who was riding in the engine compartment of Malachenko's car, also jumped out of the car, accompanied by several of Lieutenant Igor's personal guards.

The appearance of nearly ten strong men walking forward with big arms and golden swords, frightened the two Red Army soldiers, and the obviously panicked expression made Malachenko more certain of his guess.

He called Iushkin to his side and whispered a few words in his ear. Iushkin, who understood, immediately whispered a few words to Lieutenant Igor.

The two who reached an agreement immediately put their arms around the two helpless Red Army soldiers and forcibly took them to one side, talking and laughing as they walked further and further away, talking about some meaningless things.

After seeing this, Malashenko, who was sure that the source of fear had disappeared, asked again.

"The person who scared you has gone to one side. Now can you tell me your name and what happened?"

Malashenko's guess was right. The two women, one old and one young, were afraid to speak just now because of the two Red Army soldiers who wanted to take them back.

In the following conversation, Malashenko learned that the younger woman was the mother of the two little girls: Valena Shemsky, and the older woman next to her was the grandmother of the two children and the mother of Valena's late husband.

Valena's husband died in the German air raid a week ago. He was a steel worker at the Red October Steel Plant. When he was killed by the German air raid, he was still cutting and processing the upper armor plate of the T34 medium tank. Even if her husband was not a soldier, he was undoubtedly a hero to Valena, and Malashenko also agreed with this view.

As for why she stopped the tank column so abruptly and asked Malashenko for help regardless of her life, Valena replied to Malashenko that her two children had not eaten enough for three days.

The adults could barely survive by relying on the pitiful bread slices distributed, but the children would be in danger of life if they were hungry for three days, and they might even die.

Even though Valena distributed almost all the bread slices of herself and her elderly mother-in-law to the two children, the situation was still a drop in the bucket and the sobbing of the two children crying in the middle of the night due to hunger still made the mother feel heartbroken.

Valena, who kept comforting her children, leaned against the wall on the second floor and heard the roar of the engine of the First Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment rumbling downstairs.

Feeling that the roar of the tanks coming from downstairs would definitely help her, Valena pulled her elderly mother-in-law and two children together and tried to escape while Alexei, the soldier guarding the stairs, went to the toilet. Unexpectedly, they ran into the squad leader who was about to go upstairs to check the situation on the way, which led to the dangerous scene just now.

After listening to all the stories, Malashenko couldn't help but sigh secretly. He knew that the city implemented personnel control and centralized dispatch and unified distribution of materials. Strictly speaking, this was a normal situation under war conditions and there was nothing wrong.

But Malashenko had hardly eaten meat in the past half month. Stars in his mouth were so bland that they could almost make birds out of their mouths. As the head of the regiment, Malashenko was not qualified to pick the tricks, let alone the food of the soldiers of the First Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment of the Guards. It was the limit to be able to have a full stomach and have the strength to fight. Nothing else could be desired.

When supplies were given priority to the front line, the 1st Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment of the Guards, which enjoyed priority supply guarantees under the name of the Guards, was still like this. Malashenko could guess what the food for these refugees in the rear city would be like without asking. It is no exaggeration to say that they could only dream of eating enough.

Malashenko, who was about to say something with his mouth half open, was suddenly interrupted by a burst of hurried footsteps.

Iushkin, who ran from the dark corner, stopped beside Malashenko and whispered to his tank commander.

"I found out that the two were just militiamen recruited on an emergency basis. The reputation of the leading squad leader seems to be not very good. I heard that he often got into trouble and fought with others after drinking. Many people were beaten half-crippled and sent to the hospital."

"The new soldier named Alexi told me that the two women and two children were probably just hungry. They begged for more food in the afternoon. But the supplies were so scarce that there was no extra food to give them. That's what Alexi said. I don't think this little guy is lying. What he thinks is written on his face."