Steel Soviet Union

"I have never heard of a story like yours, Comrade Karachev. Is there anyone like you coming back from America?"

It was the first time for Kalachev to see Malashenko in person. Before that, Kalachev only knew about Malashenko from other people's descriptions and propaganda materials such as newspapers.

Kalachev was a little surprised by Malashenko's approachability and smiling attitude without any pretensions. Before this, he had been looked at strangely and even ostracized by others because of his American identity. However, Malashenko is obviously not such a person.

Facing the question raised by Malashenko, Kalachev thought for a moment while continuing to move forward slowly, and then answered with a little regret.

"As far as I know, I'm probably the only one in the entire state of Maryland."

"There are still a few people in the small town where my home is located who moved to the United States after the fall of Tsarist Russia, but almost without exception they are all very um, you know what I want to express, comrade leader."

It was inconvenient to say that word directly, and Karachev, who looked a little embarrassed, hinted at the final answer to Malashenko next to him with his eyes and expressions.

Malashenko naturally knew what Karachev wanted to express, but this way of talking and communicating was too lame, and some words were indeed inconvenient for the dense crowd in the field hospital to hear.

"Since you're American, why don't we talk in English? My English may be a little broken, if you don't mind."

The words Malashenko blurted out immediately made Karachev look surprised for a moment.

Because the language spoken by Malashenko was not the Russian native to this land, but American English with a New York accent!

"It's unbelievable! Comrade leader, you can still speak English? Where did you learn it?"

In the later generations when nine-year compulsory education has been universalized, no matter how bad the Chinese students are, they can still speak simple English such as "Hello", "How are you?", and "Are you OK?".

As a strong person whose score in the college entrance examination exceeded 600 points, Malashenko should be said to be Lin Jie's English proficiency. In the mock test before the college entrance examination, Malashenko was once among the top ten in the whole grade.

Although this was because Lin Jie wanted to understand the meaning of MJ’s lyrics when he was singing and made himself shake all over. He took the initiative to learn English out of interest. Later, he even practiced speaking to imitate MJ’s singing. It is not just mechanical application and rote memorization in the classroom.

But all in all, Malashenko’s current English level also benefits from this and is not too bad.

Facing Karachev's look of disbelief, Malashenko just smiled and quickly gave a natural reply.

"The process is not important, Comrade Karachev, what is important is the result. I can speak English now, and you are an American. I think it is more appropriate for us to communicate in this way."

There was no trace of hypocrisy on Malashenko's face, and every word he spoke could be said to be sincere. This made Karachev, who read the meaning from it, feel a little touched for a moment.

"Before, many people questioned me because of my identity, saying that I was a spy sent by the Americans to destroy the motherland and spy on intelligence. To be honest, this makes me sad, Comrade Leader, although I grew up in the United States. Big, but I know my country is Russia, my mother taught me this since I was a child, and I never thought of myself as an American through and through.”

Karachev, who was a little excited because of the recent personal experiences, felt that his emotions were a little too much in the end, and could not help but lower his head quietly.

"I'm still too impulsive, comrade leader. But I'm very grateful that you can call me comrade. I'm rarely called like this by others. More often, they call me by my name or call me doctor."

Malashenko can understand the glare and criticism that Karachev has incurred because of his special status. This is a normal thing in Malashenko's view, but it does not mean that the same is true for Malashenko himself. .

"Nationality is not important, Comrade Karachev, all communists in the world are one family, a group of people who work together for the same ideals throughout their lives."

"Maybe there are some differences in beliefs between you and me, but you can return to the motherland at this time to dedicate your strength and stand under the frontline artillery fire to save the motherland in danger. This alone is enough for me to call you As a comrade, it is also worthy of me to express my respect to you.”

The United States, which has never been affected by war since the Civil War, is undoubtedly a peaceful and peaceful place, especially when compared with the Soviet Union, which is in the midst of the Great Patriotic War, the gap is even more obvious.

With his diploma, Kalachev could have had a good job, a stable income, and a life that would make his peers envious. However, under such circumstances, he gave up his favorable situation in the United States and chose Crossing the ocean and returning to the motherland, he devoted himself to the front line where artillery fire was flying to contribute his own strength.

Malashenko doesn’t know what kind of family education Kalachev has and what he has experienced, but these are not important to Malashenko.

The final choice made by Kalachev is enough to prove everything. Such a person deserves respect no matter when, even a time traveler like Malashenko is no exception.

The time passed quickly while walking and chatting along the way. It didn't take long for Malashenko to arrive at the seriously injured area under the leadership of Karachev.

The vast majority of people treated here are soldiers who were seriously injured in battle and required amputation or large-area wounds to be sutured. Performing emergency surgeries on these seriously injured soldiers is a task that consumes extremely physical and energy.

Before this, several elderly military doctors had collapsed in front of the operating table from exhaustion, but Karachev, who was young and strong and had superb surgical skills, took the initiative to bear all this. At least in the eyes of the nurses working with him around the operating table, Dr. Karachev, an American, is indeed a respectable person.

"The beds here are for soldiers who have had their limbs amputated, that is, soldiers who were injured by high-power bullets and had large areas of wounds sutured. We have unified the classification of the wounded to facilitate management and related nursing work, Political Commissar Petrov When I came here this morning, I said it was a good job, what do you think?"

With Karachev's soft words echoing in his ears, Malashenko seemed a little absent-minded. He raised his head and looked upward with his eyes staring at the water tank-sized hole in the ceiling.