Ch 4 Defending A Stranger

It was raining the whole day till evening when they returned to their campsite from the front. The setting sun finally revealed itself in the same old spot behind the white birch forest.

It was October 19, 1941. In the outskirt of Moscow, armies at the Vyazma front as well as Bryansk front were surrounded by German army and suffered tremendous losses. The Mozhaysk front where Wang Yao's unit was at became a major viable force in that period of time.

Continuous raining brought waves of cold air. Dusty roads to the front had become incredibly muddy and almost completely paralyzed the German tanks, forcing them to stop the offence on all fronts. This gained precious times for the Soviet army. The cavalry where Ivan belonged to had made full use of their unique advantage. They rode back and forth on the roads where tanks could hardly move on, stabbing into German army's rear area from time to time, attacking their supply lines.

The infantry reconnaissance boys, however, could only rely on their two legs; sometimes on all four to climb through the battle line. This October, they dug many tombs in the muddy field of Moscow for the soldiers who sacrificed their lives. One of the squad's nurses, a sweet girl with curly hair, was shot on the temple by shell splinter from a sudden bombing attack. Soldiers put a few more bunches of wild flowers in front of her tomb. She was a girl after all.

"I heard they will send us new nurse in a day or two." As soldiers gathered together around the campfire, a blond young man said, "It's directly sent from Moscow!"

Everybody started chatting.

"I heard there were a few German bombers took off to Moscow the other day."

"My family is from Moscow. My mom wrote that the neighbor's kid was killed from the bombing!"

"Those barbarians! What the hell are the artilleries doing?"

"They are working pretty hard already. Those bombers were lucky and got away."

"We can ask the new nurse about things in the city…"

"You think the nurses would care about those things? My dear?" A harsh voice rose up from the crowd. It was the squad leader who provoked Wang Yao the other day—Kulikov. When soldiers just got back to the camp base, completely drained and exhausted, he, however, looked as if having well rested for a long time. This unpopular guy turned the pipe in his hand, waggling his head, "They are just some silly girls with nothing but pretty dresses and dolls in their mind. Guys, women are good for nothing. The battlefield depends on us men."

"You should respect the ladies, sir." Wang Yao couldn't help but to barge in. "Many of us were saved by them! They could've stay at the back, wearing their pretty dresses…"

Kulikov glared at him with irresistible distaste and continued, "They are just a bunch of silly girls day-dreaming of adventure! The men all went to the army and they get bored at the back. You wait and see. Once they get to the front, they'll start screwing around with our soldiers. Let's take that Natasha we met in Moscow reorganization for an example. Don't let that cold poker face fool ya. She probably got a dozen boyfriends at her disposal…"

"Natasha is not that kind of girl! Please take back your word, sir!"

Everyone's eyes were on Toris. He blushed, fists clenched and those previously tender-looking eyes were now full of anger. This quiet Lithuanian young man never got into an argument with anyone, as they could recall.

"Folks! Our little Toris is in love! He's in love with a freaking queen!" Kulikov yelled jauntily and grabbed Toris' collar, "She got so many fellas! How could she remember you little puppy dog! Would you like a kiss or a trip to her bed…"

Kulikov couldn't finish the sentence before a forceful blow from the left smashed right into him. "Very well." He wiped his bleeding nose and returned the "favor" back onto Toris' face. Soon, the two tussled into a dogfight in the dirty mud road.

"Damn it! I want you to apologize to her!"

The soldiers cheered and shouted, trying to separate them. The two wrestled with no mercy, as if the other one was a Nazi German in bayonet combat.

The grave voice of the company commander ended the whole chaos.

"Get up! Well done, both of you! The Germans didn't kill you so you decide to fight each other! Kulikov and Lorinaitis, three days confinement for each of you."

"Lorinaiti started it." said the squad leader with his head kept low.

"But sir, Kulikov provoked him first…" everybody all started talking at once.

"You all shut your mouths. We will investigate into it. Unfortunately, the division commander came here today for inspection and then saw your childish act." The company commander raised his face pointing to the other way where a high rank officer stood in a distance. "Shame for the entire unit! You two better prepare yourself. You might end up in the military court in a few days."

The two men with bruised noses and swollen faces exchanged furious glances, and then followed the company commander walking away without a word. Wang Yao watched his friend with apprehension. He knew about this shy and proud young man. Would Toris tell them that what he did was for a girl whom he met only for a few times?

At the thought of this girl Natasha, Wang Yao had to admit that Toris had good taste. Several months ago when they were still as new recruits reorganizing in Moscow, they were located next to the nurse class. Among all the girls, Natasha was especially outstanding. She was very beautiful, with a bow neatly tied onto her light blond hair. In front of hordes of her pursuers, she always put on a cold aloof face. The soldiers gave her a nickname "Queen of Spade".

It seemed that squad leader Kulikov was among the pursuers.

"Sasha!" Wang Yao called on to a soldier, "Do you want to go with me as Toris' witness?"

Three days later, Wang Yao met Toris who just came out of the confinement. Thanks to Wang Yao and Sasha's testimony, Toris was released from the investigation after only a reprimand. The squad leader Kulikov, however, was found to have been consistently leaving early from duty (such as the day of the fight), and was sent away for penalty.

"Why do you still look so beat-up?" Wang Yao didn't know if he should laugh.

Toris smiled shyly, "Kulikov really got me. The doctor said the swelling will go down in a week."

"Gosh!" Wang Yao sighed, half-worriedly, half-jokingly, "If it wasn't me and Sasha who went to explain for you, you would be the one sent off for penalty. You fool! Why didn't you say something? You just sat there listening to Kulikov fabricating story out of thin air!"

"I didn't want to drag her into this…" His bruised face blushed a little, looking particularly comical. "If people knew she was the cause of the fight, I don't know how far they would stretch the story…"

"Well, if Natasha knows, maybe she would be touched."

"I don't expect her to know… I didn't even speak to her before, and I don't know where she would be assigned to. Maybe I will never see her but…I just want to do something for her, even if she never knows."

They were soon in front of the bunker. Wang Yao halted his steps and tried his best not to laugh. "Judging from that 'handsome' look of yours, you'd better not go in there…..."

"But I want to have a rest." The poor guy who was still immersed in his own infatuation didn't give much thought, went ahead and lift the curtain.

What awaited him inside was total silence, followed by an explosion of laughter, clapping and whistling. A pretty girl with a bow tied to her blonde hair was curiously looking at him up and down, especially that beat-up face not yet achieved full recovery and that dirty ripped coat covered in mud from the fight three days ago.

"Our knight return in full glory! He returned for his queen!" A soldier gloated, "Hey Toris! Where's that hand-kissing to our new nurse Natasha!"

Toris' voice of despair entered into Wang Yao's ears. "Perhaps I'd be better off getting a few more punches from Kulikov…..."

"I think so, too." Wang Yao's face lightened up to a witty grin. "But you never listen to me."

-TBC