—— Red Army Sniper ——194‘Here it is! Only the letter arrived without an envelope.’ And
Zagid Rakhmatullin handed over a newspaper folded in four.
In the first column of the newspaper For the Motherland I read
the headline: ‘Hit them harder, son!’ and in small print at the side:
Letter to renowned sniper of our front, Y. Nikolaev, from his
mother in Tambov.
My dear Yevgeni! I am proud of you, of your success in
battle, when you despatched 104 Nazi ratbags in three
days. Go after them, son! As long as your heart beats in
your breast and your hands can hold a rifle. Avenge all
the sisters, brothers, and children who have perished at
the hands of those bloodthirsty reptiles. I am waiting
for you, son, to come home after victory! All our family
send you greetings and best wishes for success in
battle. Love and kisses! Your mother. Greetings to your
comrades in arms.‘How did she find out? I didn’t write anything to her,’ I said,
surprised.
‘From the newspapers. You don’t think she doesn’t read them,
do you?’ Ivan Karpov suggested. ‘Well, let’s get back to our stations,
lads; the meeting’s over. Let’s carry on with our work – we need to
justify what we said and promised today!’
And he was the first to set off through the trenches to his
platoon. The others followed him, stubbing out their rollyour
own cigarettes.