Heroes of the Anti-Japanese War

Chapter 530 Rzhev's Othello XIV

At five o'clock in the afternoon, the woman packed up her things and walked out of Mantie Hospital.

A young man pulled a rickshaw and ran in front of her. The woman boarded the rickshaw without hesitation, and the young man pulled the rickshaw and ran.

The rickshaw turned left and right from Yizhou Street and ran until it stopped at Ashhe Street. The woman walked through the alley to another street and got another rickshaw waiting there.

The rickshaw pulled the woman all the way to Dongguan before she got off the rickshaw.

But now the woman's clothes have changed, the nurse's clothes are gone, replaced by a cotton cheongsam, and a pair of fashionable leather shoes on her feet.

The woman walked to a small shoe repair shop, and a lame man in his 50s was sitting at the door nailing the soles of his shoes.

The woman looked left and right, walked past the cripple, and went straight into the house.

In the outer room stood a middle-aged man looking at the woman who came in.

"Go out and close the door." A hoarse voice came from the back room and said in Russian.

The middle-aged man walked out of the house and closed the door behind him.

The woman walked into the back room, where an oil lamp was lit, and an old man with white hair and beard could be vaguely seen looking at her against the fire wall on the adobe kang.

"Teacher, I'm back." The woman said in Russian.

"Don't call me teacher here, just call me by my name!" The old man reprimanded severely.

"Yes" the woman replied hastily.

"You have been working in the Manchurian Hospital for ten days, what have you found?" asked the old man.

Only by looking carefully under the dim light of the oil lamp can one see clearly that the old man's eyes are obviously different, and one eye that is dull and does not move is actually a prosthetic eye.

"No one was monitoring the Schultz couple in and around the hospital. It seems that his injuries are real. I have carefully observed and read the medical records." The woman replied.

The old man closed his eyes, but the real gray eye was closed and the fake eye was still slightly open.

"How old is their child?" the old man asked again.

"Not yet a year old, it's cute to be a girl." The woman replied.

"When do you work the night shift?" the old man asked again.

"The day after tomorrow" the woman replied.

"Okay, I'll go to see Schultz the night after tomorrow. You should check carefully in the Manchuria Hospital beforehand. If any suspicious person appears, you should immediately issue a warning at the entrance of the hospital." The old man ordered.

"I think it should be observed for a period of time. Schultz should be discharged from the hospital after half a month." The woman suggested.

"No, time is urgent, and if we stay here for one more day, it will increase the danger." The old man said.

Schultz, who was injured these days, is calm and composed, while Hannah, who takes care of him, is anxious and tense.

Hannah suggested to Schultz several times to listen to possible telegrams from her superiors in the ward late at night, but Schultz stopped them.

"If I'm not wrong, the superior will come to meet with me soon." Schultz said.

Some things can't be explained clearly by short telegrams.Finding the source of information is related to the lives of hundreds of thousands or even millions of Red Army soldiers, and the superiors are more anxious than anyone else.

And the superior should also hope to use this meeting to inspect the two of them.

Those soldiers who could not find the source of information made unnecessary sacrifices, but they had to sacrifice in order to stop the Germans.

Now Hannah believes and relies on Schultz's judgment.Now she hopes that the superior will send someone to meet them, but she is also faintly afraid of meeting the person sent by the superior.

These days, Schultz's work and rest are abnormal. Every night, he lies on the bed and looks at the ceiling quietly. He closes his eyes and sleeps for a while until dawn.

On the third night, Schultz was still lying quietly with his eyes open, and Hannah fell asleep on the small bed next to her with the baby in her arms.

There was a light knock on the door at one o'clock in the morning, and a woman outside the door asked, "Mr. Schultz, I heard the bell ring. What do you want?"

"Yes, I am thirsty, but there is no water in the ward." Schultz replied calmly.

Hannah had already woken up, and she sat up reflexively.

"Hannah, don't be afraid to turn on the light and open the door," Schultz said softly.

Hannah turned on the light first, then unplugged the latch and gently opened the door of the ward.But she didn't dare to look outside the door and quickly retreated to Schultz's side.

Only Schultz can give her strength and courage at this time.

At the door, a skinny old man with white beard and hair slowly walked into the ward.As soon as he walked in, the door closed again quickly.

Schultz, who was lying on the hospital bed, looked at the old man.

Suddenly Schultz propped his hands on the bed like a ghost and sat up.

"Petrogin, it's you!" Schultz exclaimed.Schultz, who had already been fully prepared in his heart, opened his eyes and looked at the old man in disbelief.

"You finally recognized it, it's me." The old man replied softly.

"Why are you so old? You, aren't you dead?" Schultz asked.

At this time, Schultz completely lost his usual calmness.

The old man walked slowly to Schultz's bed and sat down but did not answer.

Schultz came to his senses and turned to Hannah and said, "You go out with the baby first.

Hannah's curiosity was suppressed by Schultz, and she hurriedly left the ward with the child in her arms.

Schultz stretched out his hand and held it tightly with the old man's.

"We haven't seen each other for almost 20 years since I was sent to Northeast China in [-]. But why are you so old? You are one year younger than me." Schultz said.

"You have been lurking in Manchuria these years, and I have experienced too many things." Petrokin replied.

"After you left, I first went to teach at the University of Eastern Laborers and then followed Comrade Berzin to Spain to fight against the damned Spanish gangs. Many of our comrades died there." Petrokin continued.

"Three years ago, Liushikov defected to Manchuria, and I had to leave here to report the situation in Moscow. At that time, I asked about you to my superiors, and the leading comrades in the organization said that you had died." Schultz said.

Petrokin's snow-white hair and beard were particularly dazzling under the light with his head lowered.

"By the way, just now you said that you went to Spain with Comrade Belgin, and I haven't seen him for almost 20 years. Comrade Bergin must be at the front now, right?" Schultz continued to ask.

Petrokin raised his head slowly and looked directly at him with his only eye.

"Schultz, when I was a young man like you, I went to the great northern country with great ideals. At that time, we were determined to dedicate ourselves to the most noble cause of mankind, no matter what setbacks, sacrifices or even grievances we suffered. Will you change your ideals?" Petrokin asked.

"Of course, my ideals have never wavered since I joined the organization after listening to Liebkneshin's speech at the University of Berlin!" Schulz replied firmly.

(End of this chapter)