Battlefield Priest's Diary

Chapter 79 The Rabbit's Tail

At the same time, at the Winter Palace.

The Governor-General of St. Petersburg, Prince Obronsky, was reporting to Nicholas II in the Tsar's bedroom.

"Your Majesty! Please do not worry. The Imperial Guard has entered the city overnight, and the military police and Cossacks are cooperating with the police. I believe that the entire riot will be quelled by tonight."

"So what do you plan to do next?" Nicholas II looked at his governor with an unfriendly expression.

"Of course, the first step is identification. Many of the arrested rioters are scum from the bottom of society. We will exile some of them to Siberia. Of course, to deter others, we will definitely select some to be executed. I personally suggest that hanging might be the most effective..."

"Damn it! I didn't ask how to hang someone!" The Tsar slammed his fist on the table and stood up, pacing back and forth in circles like a furious lion.

"I mean, when will the city's coal and other supplies be restored!"

"If you don't solve this problem, are you going to kill all the citizens?"

The governor took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his brow and said in a troubled tone, "Your Majesty, we have urgently contacted Moscow to send supplies and allocated some train capacity, but..."

"But what is it? Say it all at once, don't beat around the bush," Nicholas II reprimanded impatiently.

“Yes, Your Majesty!” Prince Obrensky bowed slightly. “However, your uncle, Grand Duke Nikolayevich, rejected one of the opinions. He stated that since a large-scale attack on Austria-Hungary is about to be launched, the supplies at the front must be guaranteed first.”

Upon hearing his uncle's name, the Tsar's eyebrows involuntarily twitched. He suppressed his anger and continued speaking.

"Try to urgently draw some more supplies from the surrounding areas, at least to stabilize the price of coal. St. Petersburg cannot afford any more chaos. Do you understand what I mean?!"

"Yes, Your Majesty! I obey the decree!" The governor reluctantly accepted this almost unreasonable order.

"Furthermore, I ordered you to send men to protect 64 Gorokhovaya Street. Did you go?! I don't want anything to happen to the people there," the Tsar instructed.

“Your Majesty, your will is an order. I sent a squad of military police this morning to protect Father Putin, but there… he…”

"What's wrong with him?!" Nicholas II immediately pressed, for if there was a problem with that security detail, then his son would be completely out of hope.

"No, Father Putin is fine. However, judging from the current situation, he probably doesn't need the protection of the military police."
-
a few hours ago.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Suddenly, bursts of gunfire came from the horizon. The residents of 64 Gorochovaya Street, who were under protection, thought another accident had occurred and panicked.

"Don't panic! It's alright!" The tall female housekeeper stepped forward.

She listened intently to the gunshots beside her, then turned to the priest in black robes. "It sounds like a Nagant M1895. The military police must have been dispatched."

Upon hearing that they were not rioters, the gathered citizens breathed a sigh of relief.

People sat around the cross flag, holding wooden bowls in their hands, eating hot wheat porridge in small bites. However, the weather was still too cold, and even though someone brought over charcoal, people were still shivering from the cold.

There's really no room left in the house besides the wounded; any more crowding would cause problems.

“Father Pugin, please think of a way. Some people won’t be able to hold on in this weather.” A little maid rushed over, her eyes full of anxiety.

Good heavens! What can I do?!

Suddenly, he remembered that in his previous life he had learned emergency training on hypothermia after a snow disaster, which included some of the methods involved.

He was trained that during moderate-intensity exercise, the body's metabolic rate can increase by 300%, the core body temperature can rise by 1-2°C, and moving the hands and feet can prevent frostbite and necrosis of the hands and feet.

Singing while exercising can help you concentrate and reduce panic, and the melody of the song can also help your body control the rhythm of the exercise.

The next second, the priest in black robes stood in the middle of the courtyard and gave orders to the citizens who had taken refuge.

"Everyone, gather together around the brazier, as close as possible!"

"Let's all get moving and sing! Sing anything! Don't be shy! Show your voice!"

Because the black-robed priest was already very popular, the citizens gathered together, jumping and stomping their feet while trying to sing.

However, a problem arose at this point: these people came from all walks of life and knew different songs.

The common people sang ditties from plays, two of the intellectuals sang in Italian, while the workers and apprentices sang folk songs that were passed down during production, which had a work chant feel to them.

The various inconsistent tunes created a chaotic mess, and eventually everyone realized that the only song they could sing was the national anthem at the time, "God Save the Tsar."

However, this song in D major is too religious in nature, and it sounds like a hymn when sung, which makes it uninspiring and unsuitable for this context.

"Stop, stop, stop!!!" The priest in black robes had no choice but to stop everyone, and after thinking for a moment, he spoke to the crowd.

"I'll hum a tune, and you can all learn it from me."

The next moment, the priest in the black robe opened his mouth and hummed a tune with no lyrics whatsoever.

The rhythm is catchy and easy to sing along to; even the locals can join in after just two repetitions.

More and more citizens were able to keep up, and their voices grew louder and louder, seemingly even drowning out the wind and snow.

The housekeeper stood there quietly listening twice, her eyebrows arching. She bent down and whispered in Qin Hao's ear, "..."

"Father, what song is this? The rhythm is so strong, it gets my blood pumping! And it also feels both solemn and sacred!"

"A friend composed it, but the lyrics haven't been written yet," Qin Hao replied casually. "It's truly an excellent piece; your friend will become a great musician someday."

"Of course, I have no doubt about it."

As the housekeeper turned around, the priest in the black robe smiled mysteriously.

How could it not feel solemn and sacred, yet also exhilarating?
Because the song is called "Unbreakable Alliance".

This is the tune that would make all of Europe tremble in later generations. Getting a few hundred of you fired up is no big deal!
The snow continued to fall, gunshots echoed in the distance, and the citizens huddled together, stamping their feet and humming upbeat tunes, gradually feeling the heat of the moment.

Soon the gunfire subsided, and the first rays of dawn began to appear on the horizon, suggesting that the difficult night was about to end.

An anxious voice suddenly broke the silence: "Is there anyone who can help? My wife is not doing well!"

"She's about to give birth!"

As the crowd gathered, Qin Hao realized that one of the citizens he was protecting was a pregnant woman.

The pregnant woman was clearly not in good condition. She leaned weakly against her husband, rubbing her stomach with one hand, looking pained. Bloodstains soaked through her trousers.

"Quick! Get him inside! Women, come help!" the black-robed priest shouted, and the people below began to move about in a flurry of activity.

A piece of removed door panel was used as a makeshift stretcher, and several people hurriedly carried the woman into the house.

"Is there a doctor here? Or someone with experience in childbirth?" the black-robed priest asked loudly, but the crowd looked at each other and all shook their heads.

This time, luck seemed to be against him; out of the hundreds of people in the line, not a single one knew how to deliver babies.

There was no other way but to force the issue.

The priest in black robes pulled over the tall female housekeeper. "Liuda, it's up to you! You're a woman who's seen blood, so you'll be better at this than others!"

"Damn it! Why me? Every woman has seen that kind of thing!" Lyudmila protested loudly.

“Someone has to try. I can’t expect those fledglings to do it.” Qin Hao pointed to the somewhat panicked maids.

"Lyuda, you can do it! You definitely can!" The black-robed priest practically dragged the other man into the house.

"Damn it! Rasputin! You bastard... I'll walk myself..."

The door was closed, and the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard coming from inside.

A moment later, the housekeeper strode out from inside and dragged the priest in the black robe inside as well.

“The mother is not in a good mental state. Aren’t you a priest? You’re responsible for talking to her and calming her down!” Lyudmila dragged the other person into the mess without any mercy.

Outside the house, the citizens who witnessed all this looked at each other, and soon the tune they had been humming started up again.

It seems that people want to use this method to pass on power to new life.

The long night is about to end.

Just as the sun was about to rise, a loud cry pierced the last darkness before dawn.

“It’s a girl. Your wife is really brave,” the priest in black robes said, patting the man who had just become a father on the shoulder.

"Thank you! Thank you! I really don't know how to thank you enough, Father! You saved the lives of my family of three!" The man was so excited that he couldn't speak coherently.

"Let's thank Ms. Lyudmila; she delivered the baby herself." The priest in the black robe pulled out the housekeeper, a tall young woman still wiping the dirt off her hands.

The housekeeper was clearly excited, but she pretended to be nonchalant and said, "Let's give the child a name. You'll see her soon."

"Of course, of course." The man nodded repeatedly, then said reverently:

"Miss, you brought my daughter into this world. Please forgive my boldness in using your name in my daughter's name as well!"

"Her name will also be Lyudmila from now on!"

Oh, so it's also going to be called Lyudmila. Naming a newborn after a close relative is in line with tradition.

However…

The priest in the black robe leaned closer and tentatively asked, "Sir, what is your name?"

“Oh, Father, my name is Pavel Pavlichenko, and my wife and I have come here from Kyiv.”

Pavel Pavlichenko?

So your daughter's name is Lyudmila Pavlichenko?
A line of epitaph suddenly flashed through Qin Hao's mind.

The pain was so persistent, moving with the patience of a snail.
Happiness is so fleeting, like a rabbit's tail skimming across an autumn meadow.

Dawn broke as the baby cried!

(End of this chapter)