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Who wrote the dawns here is a quiet story. The history of the film "The Dawns Here Are Quiet..." (22 photos). Further developments

Plot

The main storyline of the story is the reconnaissance campaign of the heroes of the work. It is during the campaign that the characters of the characters are known to each other, heroism and love feelings are manifested.

Characters

Fedot Vaskov

Screen adaptations

The story was filmed in 1972, 2005 and 2008:

"" - a film directed by Stanislav Rostotsky (USSR, 1972).
"" - a film directed by Mao Weining (China, Russia, 2005).
"The Dawns Here Are Quiet" - TV series (Russia, 2008).

Theatrical performances

In addition, the story was staged in the theater:

Moscow Taganka Theatre, director Yuri Lyubimov (USSR, 1971);
"The Dawns Here Are Quiet" - opera by Kirill Molchanov (USSR, 1973).
"The Dawns Here Are Quiet" - a performance by the Borisoglebsk Drama Theater. N. G. Chernyshevsky (Russia, 2012).

Editions

Boris Vasiliev"And the dawns here are quiet..." - Karelia, 1975. - 112 p. - 90,000 copies.

Boris Vasiliev"And the dawns here are quiet..." - DOSAAF, Moscow, 1977.

Boris Vasiliev"And the dawns here are quiet..." - Pravda, 1979. - 496 p. - 200,000 copies.

Boris Vasiliev"And the dawns here are quiet..." - Soviet writer. Moscow, 1977. - 144 p. - 200,000 copies.

Boris Vasiliev"And the dawns here are quiet..." - Daguchpedgiz, 1985. - 104 p. - 100,000 copies.

Georgy Berezko, Boris Vasiliev"Night of the commander", "And the dawns here are quiet ...". - Pravda, 1991. - 500000 p. - ISBN 5-253-00231-6

Boris Vasiliev"And the dawns here are quiet..." - 2010. - ISBN 978-5-17-063439-2

Boris Vasiliev"And the dawns here are quiet..." - Eksmo, 2011. - 768 p. - 3000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-699-48101-9

Boris Vasiliev"And the dawns here are quiet..." - Astrel, 2011. - 576 p. - 2500 copies. - ISBN 978-5-17-067279-0

Boris Vasiliev"And the dawns here are quiet..." - AST, 2011. - 576 p. - 2500 copies. - ISBN 978-5-271-28118-1

Links

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010 .

See what "The dawns here are quiet (story)" in other dictionaries:

- “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” story by Boris Vasiliev (1969). The Dawns Here Are Quiet, an opera by Kirill Molchanov (1973). "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" film (USSR, 1972) directed by Stanislav Rostotsky. “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” film (China, 2005) ... ... Wikipedia

- “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” story by Boris Vasiliev (USSR, 1969), as well as: Screen adaptation of “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” directed by Stanislav Rostotsky (USSR, 1972). "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" film directed by Mao Weining (China, Russia, 2005). "Ah ... ... Wikipedia

This term has other meanings, see And the dawns here are quiet. And the dawns here are quiet ... Wikipedia

The Dawns Here Are Quiet (film, 1972) This term has other meanings, see The Dawns Here Are Quiet (meanings). And the dawns here are quiet ... Wikipedia

AND THE DAWNS HERE ARE QUIET, USSR, Film Studio. M. Gorky, 1972, color + b/w, 188 min. Military drama based on the story of the same name by Boris Vasiliev. Front-line soldier Stanislav Rostotsky filmed Boris Vasiliev's story "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" with light sadness about ... ... Cinema Encyclopedia

Jarg. school Shuttle. The story of B. Vasiliev "The dawns here are quiet." BSPYA, 2000 ... Big Dictionary Russian sayings

Wikipedia has articles about other people with that surname, see Vasiliev. Wikipedia has articles about other people named Vasiliev, Boris. Boris Vasilyev Birth name: Boris Lvovich Vasilyev Date of birth: May 21, 1924 (1924 05 21) ... ... Wikipedia

Literature Multinational Soviet literature represents a qualitatively new stage in the development of literature. As a certain artistic whole, united by a single social and ideological orientation, commonality ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

“The Dawns Here Are Quiet” is a dramatic work that takes the reader back to the time of the Great Patriotic War. It introduces the courage and strength of ordinary Russian soldiers, among whom fate entrusted to be not only men, but also very young girls. The dedication and strength of mind of five young people, led by a young commander, arouse admiration and pride in the reader, mixed with deep sorrow and sadness. This is a novel in which not all heroes are destined to survive in the war, protecting their mothers, children and homeland. "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" by Boris Vasilyev can be downloaded for free in fb2 format or read online.

The history of the creation of the work

The book "The Dawns Here Are Quiet", which you can download from our website, was first published in 1969 in the Soviet magazine "Youth". The story aroused great reader interest and was on the bestseller list for 10 years. Performances on Taganka were repeatedly played on it and feature films were made, receiving sincere reviews from the touched spectators about the work. The events of the Great Patriotic War stirred the hearts, and the still warm memory of past troubles made Boris Vasiliev's story especially dramatic.

According to the author, the book was based on the heroic story of seven Soviet soldiers who served at one of the key stations of the Kirov railway and were able to neutralize German army saboteurs who wanted to undermine an important section of the tracks. Only the sergeant who commanded the group survived, who later received a military award. The writer immediately starts working on the plot, but after writing seven pages, he realizes that there are no fundamentally new storylines in the story, and decides to make changes.

He recalls the women who happened to fight and admits that few people write about their exploits, unfairly forgetting the strength and courage they showed in the war. The author decides to make fragile young girls subordinate to the hero and easily builds an action-packed story line, closely intertwining the destinies different people. “The Dawns Here Are Quiet” is a genre of military drama, its text is written with piercing pain and a feeling of boundless love for the Motherland, helping the soldiers not to give up and go into battle again.

The tragic plot of the work leaves a deep mark on the soul of the reader, who, together with the characters, plunges into the hardships of war, finds himself alone in the face of death, when he has to find the strength to move on. Almost every book review is a reader's confession of empathy and tears. A review written by one reader will certainly find a repetition in another review text, since the emotions about the book are unanimous.

"The Dawns Here Are Quiet": plot description

The main characters are 6 extraordinary, brave personalities with different life stories and social status, who were destined to meet and, despite the circumstances, go forward together to win. Among them:

Fedot Vaskov - foreman of a group of anti-aircraft gunners.
Liza Brichkina is a young 19-year-old daughter of a forester, who until the height of the war lived in one of the military cordons in the middle of the Bryansk forests.
Sonya Gurvich is a young, intelligent girl from a family of doctors who, after two semesters of the university, went to the front.
Zhenya Komelkova is a 19-year-old girl whose family was shot by German soldiers in front of her eyes.
Rita Osyanina - the girl married early, her border guard husband dies at the very beginning of the war, leaving an heir. Rita gives the child to her mother and goes to the front.
Galya Chetvertak is a dreamy girl from an orphanage who went to war deeply convinced of the romanticism of her act.

The story opens in 1942, where the reader is shown the life of the 171st railway siding, located in the epicenter of hostilities, with a couple of barely surviving yards. The relatively calm, quiet rhythm of life in this area allowed the soldiers to abuse alcohol, as well as to be tempted by the attention of the female half. The commandant of the junction, Vaskov, regularly wrote reports with a request to send non-drinking soldiers to the unit, but with enviable constancy, history repeated itself again until the male anti-aircraft gunners were replaced by women.

With the arrival of the girls, life at the junction became very calm and cheerful at the same time, despite the hardships of the time. Young ladies often made fun of Vaskov, who felt awkward in the company of new anti-aircraft gunners and was a little embarrassed by his lack of education, since he graduated from only 4 grades of school. Sometimes the foreman was indignant at the behavior of the girls, who, in his perception, worked "not according to the charter."

Rita is appointed commander of the anti-aircraft gunners. After the loss of her husband, her temper became severe, and her nature closed. She treated her comrades-in-arms quite strictly, but Zhenya Komelkova managed to soften her character, who survived the loss of all her loved ones, but managed to remain open and cheerful person. Secretly from everyone at night, Rita goes to visit her mother and child, who live near the junction.

A friendship develops between Rita and Zhenya, to which Galya joins, reputed to be an ugly girl. Komelkova finds her a tunic, fixes her hair, and the unsightly girl is noticeably transformed.

One day, Rita went into the forest without permission. Upon returning, she notices two people in camouflage gear who are armed and carrying some kind of packages. Osyanina immediately reports what he saw to Vaskov. The commander concludes that she met with the saboteurs of the German army, who were moving towards the railway junction, and decides to intercept the enemy.

Vaskov receives 5 anti-aircraft gunners in command and they are sent to carry out an interception plan. On the way, Vaskov tries to be optimistic, often joking, wanting to cheer up his female fighters. The characters decide to take the German soldiers at Vop-lake, to which they go by the shortest route through forests and swamps. Passing through the swamp, Galya Chetvertak stumbles, finding herself up to her neck in water.

The company successfully reaches its destination. The commander, knowing about the numerical superiority of his group, counts on a quick reprisal against the enemies, but decides to play it safe and chooses a path for a possible retreat. Waiting for the Germans to appear, the girls manage to have lunch, after which Vaskov gives a combat order to detain the saboteurs and the heroes take up combat positions.

Galya catches a cold after falling into a swamp, she is covered with chills. The team spends the whole night waiting for the saboteurs. Toward morning, the Germans appear, but contrary to expectations, instead of two people, they number sixteen. Vaskov decides to send Liza on a road trip to tell about what happened and bring help. Brichkina loses her bearings and loses a conspicuous pine tree, which means the right turn to pass the swamp. Moving through the swamp, she stumbles and, getting stuck in a quagmire, dies.

Meanwhile, the commander and anti-aircraft gunners, wanting to scare off the German soldiers and force them to take a detour, play a scene. Vaskov and the girls give the impression that lumberjacks are working in the forest. They begin to conduct a loud roll call, burning fires. Fedot cuts down trees, and the resourceful Zhenya goes for a swim, pretending not to notice the presence of enemies. The unsuspecting Germans leave.

The commander understands that the hidden enemy can turn out to be cunning and does not exclude the threat of an attack on his squad. Together with Osyanina, he goes to reconnaissance. Having found out that the saboteurs settled down for a halt, Vaskov decides to change the location of the team and sends Rita for the girls. Fedot remembers that he forgot his pouch and gets upset. Noticing his mood, Sonya decides to return for the loss.

The commander did not have time to stop Gurevich, who had run away for the pouch. Shots are fired. Sonya dies from the bullets of two German soldiers. The upset group buries the girl. Vaskov takes off her boots and gives them to Galya, who lost hers in the swamp, noting that he must take care of the living.

Saying goodbye to Sonya, the commander and anti-aircraft gunners begin a furious pursuit of the Germans, wanting to avenge the death of a comrade-in-arms. They overtake the enemy and, stealthily sneaking up, Vaskov kills one of them, but he has no strength for the second. At this moment, Zhenya is nearby and, having killed the saboteur with a butt, saves the life of the commander. The Germans are retreating. Realizing the perfect deed, Komelkova is tormented by oppressive thoughts for what she has done. The foreman tries to justify her decisive step by talking about the inhumanity and ruthlessness of the enemy.

Shocked by Sonya's death, the dreamy Galya throws her rifle aside during the oncoming battle and falls to the ground. The girls begin to accuse her of cowardice, but Vaskov justifies Chetvertak with inexperience and confusion. For educational purposes, the foreman takes Galya with him for reconnaissance.

Inspecting the surroundings of the forest, the scouts notice the corpses of the Germans. It was estimated that there were still 12 German soldiers left. The foreman and Galya hide in ambush, ready to shoot at the approaching saboteurs. Unexpectedly, Chetvertak leaves the hiding place and, mad with horror, betrays himself, receiving a machine-gun burst from the Germans.

Vaskov decides to take the enemy away from the place where Zhenya and Rita remained. Until the very night, he tried to create noise in the forest, shot at enemy figures flashing between the trees, shouted and tried to lure saboteurs closer to the marshy place. Having been wounded in the arm, he takes refuge in the swamp until the morning.

At dawn, the wounded commander gets out on land and notices on the water a black skirt worn by Lisa Brichkina. Vaskov realizes that the girl has died, and the last hopes for help turn to dust. Dejected by heavy thoughts about the lost "his war", Vaskov goes in search of German soldiers.

In the forest, he meets an abandoned hut, which turned out to be a refuge for saboteurs. Hidden, the foreman watched the Germans, who hid the explosives. Then the whole group leaves for reconnaissance, leaving one soldier to guard the hut. Fedot kills the enemy, takes the weapon and goes to the bank of the river where they once played a scene in front of the saboteurs. There he tells the remaining anti-aircraft gunners about the death of Galya and Lisa, saying that soon they will have to accept their last, probably, battle.

Saboteurs appear on the shore, a terrible battle ensues. Vaskov fought relentlessly, defending his homeland and not allowing the enemy detachment to cross the river. Rita receives a severe shrapnel wound in the stomach. The wounded Zhenya continues to shoot back, leading the Germans behind her and not noticing the wounds received. The girl shot to the last bullet, sparing no effort and hitting the enemy with her courage. The Germans shoot the unarmed Komelkova point-blank.

The dying Osyanina tells the foreman about her son Albert and asks to take care of the baby. Vaskov, tormented by thoughts of the loss of the entire team, shares with Rita his feelings about what happened and asks himself: was the death of young girls worth giving her away for trying to block the road to the Germans? Rita replies that they defended their homeland and did everything right. How could they do otherwise and allow the enemy to undermine the road? No.

Vaskov rises and follows the Germans again. He hears a shot and returns to Rita, who shot herself, not wanting to torture herself or the foreman. Having buried both girls, with the last of his strength, Fedot moved forward, where the German hut was located. He bursts inside, where he kills one of the saboteurs and takes four more prisoners. In a semi-delirious state, wounded and exhausted, he leads the Germans to the siding line. Realizing that he reached the place, the foreman loses consciousness.

In the epilogue of the book, the author talks about a letter from a tourist written many years after the war. It tells about a gray-haired old man who came to the lake, who did not have an arm, and a rocket captain named Albert Fedotych. On the shore they installed a marble slab. The tourist says that together with the arrivals he goes in search of the graves of the anti-aircraft gunners who once died here. And he notes how "the dawns here are quiet."

Description of the book "The Dawns Here Are Quiet..."

"And the dawns here are quiet..." Many of them just finished school yesterday. They loved poetry and dreamed of love ... But the war came, and fragile girls took up arms. May 1942 In the Karelian forests, five anti-aircraft gunners under the command of foreman Vaskov are forced to confront a detachment of German saboteurs. Sixteen well-trained professionals - against five girls ... And they will not pass. "He was not on the lists" On June 21, 1941, Lieutenant Pluzhnikov arrived at the duty station. And at dawn, the Brest Fortress was the first to take the blow of the fascist invaders ... They fought to the end. And Pluzhnikov, the only surviving fighter, for nine months alone led an underground struggle against the Nazis. The last defender of the unconquered fortress... He can be killed. But you can't win. "Encounter battle" After the victory, dying is especially insulting. It is terrible to see the death of comrades when the whole world is already rejoicing... On that day the war ended. And the tank corps took its ...

“And the dawns here are quiet…” - plot

May 1942 Countryside in Russia. There is a war with Nazi Germany. The 171st railway siding is commanded by foreman Fedot Evgrafych Vaskov. He is thirty two years old. He has only four grades. Vaskov was married, but his wife ran away with the regimental veterinarian, and his son soon died.

It's quiet on the road. Soldiers arrive here, look around, and then begin to "drink and walk." Vaskov stubbornly writes reports, and, in the end, he is sent a platoon of “non-drinking” fighters - anti-aircraft gunners. At first, the girls laugh at Vaskov, but he does not know how to deal with them. Rita Osyanina is in command of the first squad of the platoon. Rita's husband died on the second day of the war. She sent her son Albert to her parents. Soon Rita got into the regimental anti-aircraft school. With her husband's death, she learned to hate the Germans "quietly and mercilessly" and was harsh with the girls in her squad.

The Germans kill the carrier, instead they send Zhenya Komelkova, a slender red-haired beauty. In front of Zhenya a year ago, the Germans shot her loved ones. After their death, Zhenya crossed the front. She was picked up, protected "and not that he took advantage of defenselessness - Colonel Luzhin stuck to himself." He was a family man, and the military authorities, having found out about this, the colonel "took into circulation", and sent Zhenya "to a good team." Despite everything, Zhenya is "sociable and mischievous." Her fate immediately "crosses out Rita's exclusivity." Zhenya and Rita converge, and the latter "thaws".

When it comes to transferring from the front line to the patrol, Rita is inspired and asks to send her squad. The junction is located near the city where her mother and son live. At night, Rita secretly runs into the city, carries her products. One day, returning at dawn, Rita sees two Germans in the forest. She wakes up Vaskov. He receives an order from the authorities to "catch" the Germans. Vaskov calculates that the route of the Germans lies on the Kirov railway. The foreman decides to go a short way through the swamps to the Sinyukhina ridge, stretching between two lakes, along which you can only get to the railway, and wait for the Germans there - they will certainly go by the roundabout. Vaskov takes Rita, Zhenya, Lisa Brichkina, Sonya Gurvich and Galya Chetvertak with him.

Lisa is from Bryansk, she is the daughter of a forester. For five years, she took care of her terminally ill mother, because of this she could not finish school. A visiting hunter, who awakened her first love in Liza, promised to help her enter a technical school. But the war began, Liza got into the anti-aircraft unit. Liza likes Sergeant Major Vaskov.

Sonya Gurvich from Minsk. Her father was a local doctor, they had a large and Friendly family. She herself studied for a year at Moscow University, knows German. A neighbor from lectures, Sonya's first love, with whom they spent only one unforgettable evening in the park of culture, volunteered for the front.

Galya Chetvertak grew up in orphanage. It was there that she met her first love. After the orphanage, Galya got into the library technical school. The war caught her in her third year.

The path to Lake Vop lies through the swamps. Vaskov leads the girls along a path well known to him, on both sides of which there is a quagmire. The fighters safely reach the lake and, hiding on the Sinyukhina ridge, are waiting for the Germans. Those appear on the shore of the lake only the next morning. There are not two of them, but sixteen. While the Germans have about three hours left to go to Vaskov and the girls, the foreman sends Lisa Brichkin back to the siding - to report on a change in the situation. But Lisa, crossing the swamp, stumbles and drowns. No one knows about this, and everyone is waiting for help. Until then, the girls decide to mislead the Germans. They portray lumberjacks, shouting loudly, Vaskov felling trees.

The Germans retreat to Lake Legontov, not daring to go along the Sinyukhin ridge, on which, as they think, someone is cutting down the forest. Vaskov with the girls moves to a new place. He left his pouch in the same place, and Sonya Gurvich volunteers to bring it. Hurrying, she stumbles upon two Germans who kill her. Vaskov and Zhenya are killing these Germans. Sonya is buried.

Soon the fighters see the rest of the Germans approaching them. Hiding behind bushes and boulders, they shoot first, the Germans retreat, fearing an invisible enemy. Zhenya and Rita accuse Galya of cowardice, but Vaskov defends her and takes her on reconnaissance for "educational purposes". But Vaskov does not suspect what mark Sonya's death left in Gali's soul. She is terrified and gives herself away at the most crucial moment, and the Germans kill her.

Fedot Evgrafych takes the Germans on himself to lead them away from Zhenya and Rita. He is wounded in the arm. But he manages to get away and get to the island in the swamp. In the water, he notices Lisa's skirt and realizes that help will not come. Vaskov finds the place where the Germans stopped to rest, kills one of them and goes to look for the girls. They are preparing to take the final stand. The Germans appear. In an unequal battle, Vaskov and the girls kill several Germans. Rita is mortally wounded, and while Vaskov is dragging her to safety, the Germans kill Zhenya. Rita asks Vaskov to take care of her son and shoots herself in the temple. Vaskov buries Zhenya and Rita. After that, he goes to the forest hut, where the five remaining Germans sleep. Vaskov kills one of them on the spot, and takes four prisoners. They themselves tie each other with belts, because they do not believe that Vaskov is "all alone for many miles." He loses consciousness from pain only when his own, Russians, are already coming towards him.

Many years later, a gray-haired, stocky old man without an arm and a rocket captain, whose name is Albert Fedotovich, will bring a marble slab to Rita's grave.

History

According to the author, the story is based on a real episode of the war, when seven soldiers who, after being wounded, served at one of the junction stations of the Kirov railway, did not allow a German sabotage group to blow up the railway in this section. After the battle, only a sergeant survived, the commander of a group of Soviet fighters, who after the war was awarded the medal "For Military Merit". “And I thought: this is it! A situation when a person himself, without any order, decides: I won’t let him in! They have nothing to do here! I started working with this plot, I have already written seven pages. And suddenly I realized that nothing would come of it. It will just be a special case in the war. There was nothing fundamentally new in this story. Work is up. And then it suddenly came up - let my hero have not men, but young girls as subordinates. And that's it - the story immediately lined up. Women have the hardest time in war. There were 300 thousand of them at the front! And then no one wrote about them.”

Boris Vasiliev

And the dawns here are quiet...

At junction 171, twelve yards survived, a fire shed and a squat long warehouse built at the beginning of the century from fitted boulders. During the last bombing, the water tower collapsed, and the trains stopped stopping here, the Germans stopped the raids, but circled over the siding every day, and the command, just in case, kept two anti-aircraft quads there.

It was May 1942. In the west (on wet nights the heavy rumble of artillery came from there), both sides, having dug into the ground two meters, finally got stuck in a positional war; in the east, the Germans bombed the canal and the Murmansk road day and night; in the north there was a fierce struggle for sea routes; in the south, besieged Leningrad continued a stubborn struggle.

And here was the resort. From silence and idleness, the soldiers were thrilled, as in a steam room, and in twelve yards there were still quite a few young people and widows who knew how to get moonshine almost from a mosquito squeak. For three days the soldiers slept and watched; on the fourth, someone's name day began, and the sticky smell of the local pervach no longer vanished over the junction.

The commandant of the patrol, the gloomy foreman Vaskov, wrote reports on command. When their number reached ten, the authorities rolled another reprimand to Vaskov and replaced the half-platoon swollen with fun. For a week after that, the commandant somehow managed on his own, and then everything was repeated at first so exactly that the foreman eventually got around to rewriting the previous reports, changing only numbers and names in them.

You're doing bullshit! - thundered the major who arrived according to the latest reports. - The scribble was divorced! Not a commandant, but some kind of writer! ..

Send the non-drinkers, - Vaskov stubbornly repeated: he was afraid of any loud-voiced boss, but he babbled his own, like a sexton. - Non-drinkers and this ... That, then, about the female.

Eunuchs, right?

You know better, - the foreman said cautiously ..

Okay, Vaskov! ... - inflamed by his own severity, the major said. - There will be non-drinkers for you. And about women, too, will be as expected. But look, sergeant major, if you can't even deal with them...

That's right, - the commandant agreed woodenly.

The major took away the anti-aircraft gunners who could not stand the temptation, promising Vaskov once again in parting that he would send those who would turn their noses up more lively from skirts and moonshine than the foreman himself. However, fulfilling this promise was not easy, since not a single person arrived for three days.

The question is complicated, - the foreman explained to his mistress Maria Nikiforovna. - Two departments - that's almost twenty people who do not drink. Shake the front, and then - I doubt ...

His fears, however, turned out to be unfounded, since already in the morning the hostess announced that the anti-aircraft gunners had arrived. Something harmful sounded in her tone, but the foreman did not understand from sleep, but asked about what was disturbing:

Did you arrive with the commander?

It doesn't look like it, Fedot Evgrafych.

God bless! - The foreman was jealous of his commandant position. - The power to share is worse than that.

Wait a minute to rejoice, - the hostess smiled enigmatically.

We will rejoice after the war, ”Fedot Evgrafych said reasonably, put on his cap and went out.

And he was dumbfounded: two lines of sleepy girls stood in front of the house. The sergeant-major thought that he was half asleep, blinked, but the tunics on the soldiers still briskly stuck out in places not provided for by the soldier's charter, and curls of all colors and styles impudently climbed out from under the caps.

Comrade foreman, the first and second squads of the third platoon of the fifth company of a separate anti-aircraft machine-gun battalion have arrived at your disposal to guard the facility, - the elder reported in a dull voice. - Sergeant Kiryanova reports to the platoon commander.

Ta-ak, - the commandant said not at all in a statutory way. - Found, then, non-drinkers ...

All day long he pounded with an ax: he built bunks in the fire shed, since the anti-aircraft gunners did not agree to stay with the hostesses. The girls dragged boards, held them where they ordered, and crackled like magpies. The foreman gloomily remained silent: he was afraid for his authority.

Not a foot from the location without my word, ”he announced when everything was ready.

Even for berries? the redhead asked briskly. Vaskov had already noticed her for a long time.

There are no berries yet,” he said.

Can sorrel be collected? Kiryanova asked. - It is difficult for us without welding, comrade foreman, - we are emaciated.

Fedot Evgrafych looked doubtfully at the tightly pulled tunics, but permitted:

Grace came at the junction, but this did not make the commandant feel better. The anti-aircraft gunners turned out to be noisy and cocky girls, and the foreman felt every second that he was a guest in his own house: he was afraid to blurt out the wrong thing, do it wrong, let alone enter where without knocking, there could now be no question, and if when he forgot about it, the signal screech immediately threw him back to his previous positions. Most of all, Fedot Evgrafych was afraid of hints and jokes about possible courtship, and therefore he always walked about, staring at the ground, as if he had lost his allowance for the last month.

Yes, don’t be afraid, Fedot Evgrafych, ”said the hostess, observing his communication with subordinates. “They call you an old man among themselves, so look at them accordingly.

Fedot Evgrafych turned thirty-two this spring, and he did not agree to consider himself an old man. On reflection, he came to the conclusion that all this was the measures taken by the hostess to strengthen her own positions: she did melt the ice of the commandant's heart on one of the spring nights and now, naturally, sought to strengthen herself on the conquered lines.

At night, anti-aircraft gunners recklessly thrashed German planes with all eight barrels, and during the day they made endless laundry: some of their rags were always drying around the fire shed. The foreman considered such decorations inappropriate and briefly informed Sergeant Kiryanova about this:

Unmasks.

And there is an order, - she said without hesitation.

What order?

Corresponding. It says that female military personnel are allowed to dry clothes on all fronts.

The commandant said nothing: well, these girls, to hell with them! Just get in touch: they will giggle until autumn ...

The days were warm and windless, and there were so many mosquitoes that you couldn't take a step without a twig. But a twig is still nothing, it is still quite acceptable for a military man, but the fact that soon the commandant began to wheeze and cackle at every corner, as if he really was an old man - that was absolutely useless.

And it all started with the fact that on a hot May day he turned behind a warehouse and froze: his eyes splashed so violently white, so tight and even eight times multiplied by the body that Vaskov was already thrown into a fever: the entire first squad, led by the commander, junior sergeant Osyanina, was on fire on a government tarpaulin in what the mother gave birth. And even if they squealed, or something, for decency, but no: they buried their noses in the tarpaulin, hid, and Fedot Evgrafych had to back away like a boy from someone else's garden. From that day on, he began to cough at every corner, like whooping cough.

And he singled out this Osyanina even earlier: strict. He never laughs, he just moves his lips a little, but his eyes remain serious as before. Osyanina was strange, and therefore Fedot Evgrafych carefully made inquiries through his mistress, although he understood that this assignment was not at all for joy.

She is a widow,” Maria Nikiforovna reported, pursing her lips a day later. - So it is completely in the female rank: you can flirt with games.

The foreman said nothing: you still can’t prove it to a woman. He took an ax, went into the yard: there is no better time for thoughts, how to chop wood. A lot of thoughts have accumulated, and it was necessary to bring them into line.

Boris Vasiliev, inspired by the experience of his fellow front-line writers, wanted, as he himself admitted in an interview, to write something of his own. A work that would reflect precisely his war, “forest”. A war without rears and front lines, artillery and air support. War, where one on one with the enemy, in the forest, and the detachment (group, subunit) must independently decide how to act in a fight with the enemy, build a strategy and tactics, not relying on an ambulance from outside.
The writer recalled that he had long nurtured the “foggy” (its wording) idea for the future work, until he read a small note in the Izvestia newspaper about the defense of the nodal railway station on the direction of Petrozavodsk-Murmansk. Petrozavodsk itself was occupied by Finnish units. The note said that German sabotage groups sought to blow up the rocade used by Soviet troops to transfer manpower, equipment and ammunition. Our special forces destroyed most of the saboteurs, but one detachment still managed to infiltrate. By coincidence, this happened on the defense sector of that same sergeant.
The forces were definitely unequal, this story was somewhat similar to the plot of Bondarchuk's "9th company", only the reality turned out to be tougher - ours had seven wounded soldiers, including a sergeant, and only one machine gun. The sergeant was the only one left alive; he, who was firing from a machine gun, was riddled with bullets and shrapnel. But before the reinforcements approached, a small group of Soviet Fritz fighters did not let them near the railway track.
The article in Izvestia, judging by the interview with Boris Vasiliev, came out after the war. It briefly reported that the sergeant, whose name the writer did not remember, survived and was even awarded the medal "For Military Merit". By the way, it was very honorable in the soldier's environment - for "be ze" in that war "for no reason" was not awarded.