—— Brave Girls ——163after the other, and, after each one, green fragments splashed onto
the ground.
‘There you are!’ said Margarita Borisovna, putting her Tokarev
pistol away in its holster.
‘Impressive!’ I said. ‘Neatly done.’
I was convinced that Margarita Borisovna was a crack shot. But
that is not enough to be a Nazi killer. Anyone can fire at a target.
True, not everyone will hit it, but let’s assume they do. However,
the real skill lies in finding the target, tracking it down.
I decided to teach Margarita Borisovna this skill. She arrived
at our front line two weeks after that memorable encounter at the
regimental command post. I took a spare sniper’s rifle and we set
off for the front line. At first Margarita Borisovna only came along
as a partner, observed my operations and got herself acclimatised
to the environment. I specially chose the safest firing sites for her,
which she of course did not suspect. At the same time, I taught my
diligent pupil what a sniper needs to know and to be able to do:
how to operate in different environments, and how to act in any
situation. She grasped everything instantly and proved quick on
the uptake.
However, she quickly realised that I was just spoonfeeding her.
Then I decided that her period of probation was over and it was time
for my pupil to move on to practical operations. This appealing
and courageous girl wiped out thirty Nazis in my presence alone.
She now lives and works in Leningrad.