—— Red Army Sniper ——136of conifer needles, boiled a brew from them and got the whole
battalion to drink it. This was a saviour from scurvy. He also did
everything possible – and impossible – to reduce infections and
stomach ailments to zero.
One day something went amiss with my stomach and I had
to resort to Ivan for help. He told me to get to the medical section
immediately. And so I was hoofing it to Avtovo, deep in our
rear, where the medical base was located, ‘for submission of all
specimens and confinement in an isolation ward’. Along the way
I was overtaken by a horsedrawn ambulance. The driver was a
fellowtownsman of mine who had been relegated to transport
duties following a serious wound. He was carting three wounded
soldiers.
‘Where are you heading, sniper? Hop in, I’ll give you a lift!’
I got up next to him on the hard seat.
The rumour that Nikolaev had been seen among the wounded
found its way, with what seemed like great exaggeration, to the
battalion front line. At any rate news of my funeral spread from
some zealous scribe to my mother in Tambov. Twice, during the
war, she received such sorrowful tidings about me...
After a spell in the medical centre I returned to the regiment
within the allotted time. Healthy and in a good mood, I wandered
round the communication routes. All around was the usual
picture. All clear, all familiar, everything in its place. The fact that
there were more shell holes and fewer trees in the nearby grove was
nothing special. And then suddenly I heard music – somewhere the
waltz ‘The Torrents of the Amur’ was playing loudly on the radio.
This was followed by Klavdia Shulzhenko singing her renowned
number ‘The Blue Headscarf ’. The sounds spread over the whole
front line. ‘Odd!’ I thought.
And suddenly an announcer with a revoltingly screeching
voice said: ‘Achtung, Achtung! Attention! This is German radio.
Soldiers and officers of the 14th Regiment of NKVD forces, listen!
Your sniper Nikolaev has been killed by our gallant soldiers. We
are now also going to play ‘Parting’!’