Regarding my question, Kirillov remained silent for a long time, and finally said: "I will ask someone to post notices in a food store or a bakery, so that residents who have not received a rationing certificate can go to the City Defense Command to collect it with valid documents."

"City Defense Command?" When I heard Kirilov say this, I couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, feeling that I didn't set up any city defense commands in the two cities. Thinking of this, I asked curiously: "When was the city defense command established, why don't I know?"

"I decided this. I asked the two guard commanders to place theirs in the city and serve as the commander of the city defense." Kirillov explained to me: "The commander of Moziri is Sivakov; and Karinkovic is the commander of the city defense by Major General Tavalt Kiraze."

After listening to his explanation, I nodded and said, "It's good that this is the case. The two cities have city defense headquarters, which makes it more convenient to manage the city."

"By the way, there is another thing that I forgot to ask you just now." Kirillov asked curiously: "Last night, I saw the troops in the city suddenly entered the first-level combat readiness. What's going on? Are the Germans ready to launch a counterattack?"

I shook my head and replied, "Last night, the Chief of Staff received a reconnaissance report, saying that a large number of trucks suddenly appeared in the enemy's defense zone in the north, and the enemy's station seemed particularly busy. He felt that the German army had such a situation, perhaps because he wanted to launch a sudden attack on us, so he tried his best to convince me to let all the troops enter a state of preparation."

"But the whole night was very calm. Could it be that the Chief of Staff made a mistake?"

"That's right. It turns out that the Chief of Staff made a mistake. Yesterday was the German Christmas Eve. The trucks that suddenly appeared might be a convoy that transported holiday supplies to the officers and soldiers; and the station seemed busy, maybe the enemy was preparing for the holidays." After explaining the whole thing to Kirillov, I did not forget to defend Bezikov: "It's not wrong for the Chief of Staff to do this. Although the Germans were defeated by us, they were definitely unwilling to accept the failure they suffered and could fight back at any time, so I agreed to him to let the troops enter a state of combat readiness."

"The New Year is coming soon, and the supplies that our superiors have delivered to us are coming soon." Kirillov said thoughtfully: "I have something very headache now."

"What's the matter, Comrade Military Commissioner?" I quickly asked after seeing his frowning look.

"You once said that during the New Year, we should give chocolate and dumplings to every citizen." Kirillov looked at me and said, "Now there are nearly 40,000 residents in the two cities. It's okay to say that chocolate is fine, but it's okay to have two pieces of chocolate for one person, but that dumpling is a troublesome. Think about it, when the flour and beef and pork given to us by our superiors arrive, we have to make dumplings by ourselves. Eliminate tens of thousands of us, even if a citizen gets ten dumplings, it's still 400,000 dumplings. Our commanders and soldiers are busy with too much work every day, so how can they have so much time to make dumplings?"

"This is a problem." When I said that when I distributed chocolate and dumplings to residents, I really didn't consider the problem that Kirillov mentioned. Although my ability to manage internal affairs is not as good as Kirillov, the problem that made him a headache was not a problem for me. I thought for a little while and said to him: "Comrade Military Commissioner, this matter is easy to handle. We summoned some elderly women to make dumplings for us. As for the work of chopping meat filling, it is handed over to experienced workers to complete it. You must know that the main industry here is the meat and poultry processing plant."

After hearing what I said, Kirillov laughed, gave me a thumbs up and said, "Lida, you have many ideas. Let's call people from the citizens to complete the dumplings."

"Try to summon more people, at least one or two thousand people. Because with our army, we have to make at least one million dumplings, and we can't be busy if there are fewer people." In order to improve the efficiency of making dumplings, I also specifically emphasized to Kirillov: "Comrades in the military, we cannot let these people do it in vain. They can get 500 grams of bread every day when they participate in this work."

Although money is something that everyone likes, in troubled times, there is a bite of food that is better than anything else. When Kirillov heard me that the people who came to make dumplings were not allowed to do it for nothing, and he could still receive bread every day, he nodded and said, "I agree with your opinion, so I will do it. After I arrive at the City Defense Command later, I will convey this order."

The jeep stopped at the entrance of the city defense commander's office in Sivakov. After getting off the car, I looked around and saw that the building where the city defense command was located was relatively complete, and the bricks and rubble on the surrounding streets had been almost cleaned up.

The officer on duty standing at the door saw Kirillov and I come out of the car, and hurried over to salute me and told me politely that the commander and several division commanders were having a meeting in the conference room on the second floor.

After thanking the officer on duty, I walked into the building. Then I went up the stairs, followed the long corridor to the door of the conference room at the end of the corridor, and raised my hand and pushed open the door.

The commanders who were in the meeting inside heard someone pushing the door open, turned around and looked at the door. Seeing that Kirillov and I were standing at the door, they quickly stood up and raised their hands to salute us.

While returning the salute, I walked towards the location of Shivakov and asked loudly: "Dear commanders, what are you discussing?"

Shivakov asked Kirillov and I to sit down in a chair next to me, and then reported to me with a frown: "Comrade Commander, we are discussing how to clear the German spies in the city!"

"German spy?" When I heard Shivakov say this, I was stunned at first, and then I felt relieved. After all, this is a city that has just been liberated, and it is normal to have several remnants of the German army. I asked casually: "Are you spy lurking in the city?"

"I think so." Shivakov said cautiously: "Last night we received an order from the Chief of Staff, and the whole army entered combat readiness. At about one o'clock in the morning, our radio operator intercepted a mysterious telegram in the city..."

"Mysterious telegram!" Before he could finish speaking, I couldn't wait to interrupt him, because I remembered that when I was in Smolensk, the German radio signal also appeared in the city. I didn't expect to meet him here, so I asked quickly: "Have you locked the German newspaper's location?"

"No, Comrade Commander." Shivakov shook his head and said regretfully: "The enemy's report is too short, and before we can trace it, the signal disappears."

"Did the enemy's telegram content be intercepted?" I asked again.

"Yes," said Shivakov, and winked at a staff officer next to him. The staff officer hurriedly stepped forward, took out a piece of paper from the official folder, and placed it in front of Shivakov. Shivakov pushed the piece of paper in front of me and Kirillov, and said: "The above content is very simple. It means that our troops have entered the first-level combat readiness and seem to have some military operations."

I heard that the content on the telegram was so simple, and I felt relieved in my heart. I pushed the telegram to Kirillov, looked at Shivakov and asked, "Comrade General, how do you plan to deal with the German spies hidden in the city?"

"Comrade Commander," said Shivakov firmly: "I think a city-wide search should be carried out to capture the German spies hidden among the residents."

"How to catch it?" After reading the intercepted telegram, Kirillov threw it on the table and asked Shivakov coldly: "Comrade General, tell me, how do you plan to find one or two lurking German spies in the city?"

"You once said that during the New Year, we should give chocolate and dumplings to every citizen." Kirillov looked at me and said, "Now there are nearly 40,000 residents in the two cities. It's okay to say that chocolate is fine, but it's okay to have two pieces of chocolate for one person, but that dumpling is a troublesome. Think about it, when the flour and beef and pork given to us by our superiors arrive, we have to make dumplings by ourselves. Eliminate tens of thousands of us, even if a citizen gets ten dumplings, it's still 400,000 dumplings. Our commanders and soldiers are busy with too much work every day, so how can they have so much time to make dumplings?"

"This is a problem." When I said that when I distributed chocolate and dumplings to residents, I really didn't consider the problem that Kirillov mentioned. Although my ability to manage internal affairs is not as good as Kirillov, the problem that made him a headache was not a problem for me. I thought for a little while and said to him: "Comrade Military Commissioner, this matter is easy to handle. We summoned some elderly women to make dumplings for us. As for the work of chopping meat filling, it is handed over to experienced workers to complete it. You must know that the main industry here is the meat and poultry processing plant."

After hearing what I said, Kirillov laughed, gave me a thumbs up and said, "Lida, you have many ideas. Let's call people from the citizens to complete the dumplings."

"Try to summon more people, at least one or two thousand people. Because with our army, we have to make at least one million dumplings, and we can't be busy if there are fewer people." In order to improve the efficiency of making dumplings, I also specifically emphasized to Kirillov: "Comrades in the military, we cannot let these people do it in vain. They can get 500 grams of bread every day when they participate in this work."

Although money is something that everyone likes, in troubled times, there is a bite of food that is better than anything else. When Kirillov heard me that the people who came to make dumplings were not allowed to do it for nothing, and he could still receive bread every day, he nodded and said, "I agree with your opinion, so I will do it. After I arrive at the City Defense Command later, I will convey this order."

The jeep stopped at the entrance of the city defense commander's office in Sivakov. After getting off the car, I looked around and saw that the building where the city defense command was located was relatively complete, and the bricks and rubble on the surrounding streets had been almost cleaned up.

The officer on duty standing at the door saw Kirillov and I come out of the car, and hurried over to salute me and told me politely that the commander and several division commanders were having a meeting in the conference room on the second floor.

After thanking the officer on duty, I walked into the building. Then I went up the stairs, followed the long corridor to the door of the conference room at the end of the corridor, and raised my hand and pushed open the door.

The commanders who were in the meeting inside heard someone pushing the door open, turned around and looked at the door. Seeing that Kirillov and I were standing at the door, they quickly stood up and raised their hands to salute us.

While returning the salute, I walked towards the location of Shivakov and asked loudly: "Dear commanders, what are you discussing?"

Shivakov asked Kirillov and I to sit down in a chair next to me, and then reported to me with a frown: "Comrade Commander, we are discussing how to clear the German spies in the city!"

"German spy?" When I heard Shivakov say this, I was stunned at first, and then I felt relieved. After all, this is a city that has just been liberated, and it is normal to have several remnants of the German army. I asked casually: "Are you spy lurking in the city?"

"I think so." Shivakov said cautiously: "Last night we received an order from the Chief of Staff, and the whole army entered combat readiness. At about one o'clock in the morning, our radio operator intercepted a mysterious telegram in the city..."

"Mysterious telegram!" Before he could finish speaking, I couldn't wait to interrupt him, because I remembered that when I was in Smolensk, the German radio signal also appeared in the city. I didn't expect to meet him here, so I asked quickly: "Have you locked the German newspaper's location?"

"No, Comrade Commander." Shivakov shook his head and said regretfully: "The enemy's report is too short, and before we can trace it, the signal disappears."

"Did the enemy's telegram content be intercepted?" I asked again.

"Yes," said Shivakov, and winked at a staff officer next to him. The staff officer hurriedly stepped forward, took out a piece of paper from the official folder, and placed it in front of Shivakov. Shivakov pushed the piece of paper in front of me and Kirillov, and said: "The above content is very simple. It means that our troops have entered the first-level combat readiness and seem to have some military operations."

I heard that the content on the telegram was so simple, and I felt relieved in my heart. I pushed the telegram to Kirillov, looked at Shivakov and asked, "Comrade General, how do you plan to deal with the German spies hidden in the city?"

"Comrade Commander," said Shivakov firmly: "I think a city-wide search should be carried out to capture the German spies hidden among the residents."

"How to catch it?" After reading the intercepted message, Kirillov threw it on the table and asked Shivakov coldly: "Comrade General, tell me, how do you plan to find one or two lurking German spies in the city?" (To be continued.)
Chapter completed!