Chapter 1037

The second lieutenant drove his car to a crowded wharf. After parking beside a two-story building, he turned to Henry and said politely, "Colonel, this is an office on the wharf. Lt. Elman should be in it. You wait here. I'll go in and have a look. "

"Please, Lieutenant!" Henry looked at the back of the second lieutenant and said gratefully.

Looking at the second lieutenant's back disappearing from the door of the building, I couldn't help saying to Henry with some emotion: "Captain, the regulations of the US Army and our army are quite different. If we change our commander, we will never leave without permission from our superiors. But look at this Navy Lieutenant, "I said with a big mouth toward the building," if you just say hello like him and leave without permission, even if you are not confined, you will be scolded severely by the superior commander. "

Henry listened to me and just laughed but didn't speak. The interpreter in the co pilot's seat took out the cigarette from his pocket and handed it to Henry with the box, but Henry waved it down. The interpreter put the cigarette box in front of me and politely asked, "general, don't you want one?"

I also waved my hand and said to him with a smile, "sorry, I don't smoke."

When I got out of the car to smoke, Henry and I were left in the car. He took a look at the entrance of the building. Before the second lieutenant came back, he chatted with me about his family custom: "general, your name sounds like your husband's surname. But it seems that I have never heard of a general with this surname in the Soviet army. May I ask your husband, the officer o'chanin, where he is now? "

"You're right, Colonel. He's not a general. He's just an ordinary captain." From the tone of his speech, I could see that the reason why Henry asked o'shanin was that he didn't want to make the atmosphere in the car too dull, so he talked to me about home affairs. I answered truthfully: "before the war broke out, he was a captain in the frontier post. He was captured by the German army in the battle, but he soon escaped back. During the Moscow defense, he joined the dog death squads, which are specialized in dealing with German tanks. He was seriously injured in the battle and sent to the rear. Then we lost contact

"I'm sorry, general. I shouldn't have mentioned your sad past." When Henry heard me say that, he immediately apologized to me. "I'm so reckless."

I have a good feeling for this polite middle-aged naval colonel. Hearing what he said, I waved my hand and said with a smile, "it's OK, Colonel, you don't have to blame yourself so much. There must be sacrifice in war. " As I didn't know how to explain o'chanin to him next, I digged off the topic, "how many children do you have, Colonel?"

"I have two sons. They are married," he said with a smile

"You look so young that you didn't expect your two sons to be married." I didn't expect that the sons of Colonel Henry, who looked in his early 40s, were married. So I asked tentatively, "do they have any children?"

"The eldest son has a daughter, who is three years old." When I asked about my family, Colonel Henry had a smile on his face and said happily, "my second daughter-in-law is pregnant, and the baby will be born in July."

"Where do they work?" The smile on Henry's face also infected me. I was completely liberated from the bad mood of just hearing that the chief of staff refused me to go on the warship. "Do you work in a factory or in the army?"

"They're all in the Navy." Henry said happily: "the eldest son works on the submarine, and the second son is a pilot on the hornet." He may have thought that I didn't know the common sense that the same family was not allowed to serve on the same ship, and he also directed me to popularize science: "originally, their two brothers were on the Bumblebee, but after the war broke out, the president gave an order that the same family was not allowed to serve on the same ship, so his eldest son went to the submarine army."

When he wanted to say something to me, he suddenly heard the interpreter outside shouting in a low voice: "Captain, the second lieutenant is out."

The two of us looked out of the window and saw the second lieutenant come out of the building in a hurry, followed by a lieutenant. It seems that he did not find captain Elman.

Henry pushed the door open, got out of the car and stood quietly beside it. I quickly opened the door on the other side, got out of the car and went around to Henry's position, waiting with him for the second lieutenant's reply.

The second lieutenant came up to salute me and said nervously, "Colonel, this is the officer on duty of the Eldridge. He said that lieutenant general Elman has gone on board."

As soon as the second lieutenant finished, the Lieutenant with the red armband on his arm stepped forward and asked respectfully, "Captain, I'm the duty officer of the Eldridge. What can I do for you?"

Although the rank of the officer in front of him was much lower than that of himself, Colonel Henry asked politely, "Lieutenant, I have something to see Lieutenant Elman. I wonder if you can take us to the destroyer?"

The young lieutenant hesitated for a moment, then nodded and replied, "yes, captain. Please follow me With that, he made a gesture of please and then led the way in front of us.

Henry looked at the second lieutenant and the interpreter beside him and said to them, "general o'shanina and I will just board the Eldridge. You two will stay here and wait for us."

To his order, two low rank officers agreed in unison: "yes!" At the same time, he raised his hand to salute Colonel Henry.

Henry turned his head and said to me with a smile, "general, let's go." Then he said with self mockery, "the lieutenant who is leading us is really fast. If he doesn't keep up, he will be gone."

We followed the lieutenant around the building and down the steps by the river. At the end of the replacement, I saw a small motorboat stopped. There were two sailors in white uniforms and brimless streamer caps on board. They were busy.

When they got to the motorboat, the two sailors noticed our arrival and stopped their work and raised their hands to salute us. The lieutenant turned to Henry enthusiastically and said, "Captain, you can go there in this boat later." Then he told the two sailors, "you two are responsible for sending the colonel to the Eldridge. Do you understand?"

"I see." The two sailors answered in unison.

The lieutenant did not leave immediately after giving orders to his men. Instead, he watched us leave by boat. He saluted us again before turning back.

When the motorboat with us came to a steady stop by the gangway of the destroyer, Henry said thanks to the two sailors and made a sign to me to follow him up the steep gangway to the ship.

Seeing the two of us climbing up the steep gangway to the ship, a nearby officer on duty came up immediately. Without waiting for him to speak, Colonel Henry raised his hand to salute the flag hanging on the flagpole. A moment later, he saluted the officer and said, "I beg permission to board."

Ever since I stepped on the deck of the Eldridge, I have been following every move of Colonel Henry. I have seen him salute the flag and the officers on duty, as well as salute the flag and officers of the US Navy.

Although the young officer heard what Colonel Henry said, he looked at me and said in an official voice, "yes, sir!"

"My name is Victor Henry!" Captain Henry didn't beat around the Bush and said, "I have something to ask for Lieutenant Colonel Elman. Do you know where he is?"

"Yes, sir!" The officer on duty replied respectfully, "I'll send someone to inform him, sir." After these two words, he turned to the man who was busy on the deck and called, "Herald!"

With his shouts, a sergeant in a bonnet came up, raised his hand to salute the three of us, faced the officer on duty and asked, "Sir, what's your instruction?"

"Sergeant, do you see Colonel Henry next to me? He's got something important. He's looking for commander Elman The officer on duty sternly ordered the sergeant in front of him: "go to the cabin immediately to find the captain and report this to him. Do you understand? "

"I see, sir!" After receiving the order, the sergeant agreed loudly, turned around and ran away quickly along the deck.

After the sergeant left, Henry said to the officer on duty in a deliberative tone: "your captain may have to wait a while to come. I want to walk on the deck first. Do you have any suggestions?"

Hearing Henry's question, the officer on duty immediately got flustered. After a nervous look at me, he said with some embarrassment, "Sir, we can't allow outsiders to walk on the ship without permission from the superior."

Henry looked at the officer on duty and said sternly, "this general is a guest of our country. I've been ordered to take her to see the launching ceremony of the Eldridge. Do we need to ask you for instructions when we walk on the deck?"

The officer on duty was frightened by Henry's expression. He hesitated for a moment and then said cautiously, "Sir, before the captain arrives, you can only walk on the deck, but you can't enter the cabin at will. Otherwise, I can't bear the consequences."

"I see," Henry said impatiently, waving at him. "We were just walking around on the deck until commander Elman showed up." After that, he turned to look at me and said with a smile, "general, under the current circumstances, we can only walk on the deck temporarily. We can only wait until the captain comes to visit the facilities on the ship."

We walked along the front deck, carefully avoiding the sailors squatting on the ground to wipe the deck and the workers wearing blue overalls to repair the equipment.

When I got to the side of the ship, I held the railing, looked at the berth where the Eldridge had just stayed, and asked Henry curiously, "can I ask you, Captain, how many ships can your shipyard produce in a month?"

As soon as I said that, I realized that I was wrong. This is a secret of the US Navy. How can I tell an outsider at will. Just as I was annoyed, I heard Henry respond politely: "Richmond shipyard built 13 freeships in 37 days," he said smoothly, pointing to the distant berth. "These freeships, like the Eldridge today, launched in a lateral sliding way. At that time, I was also at the scene. I saw a row of ships standing on the shore, which were kicked into the sea one by one by an invisible giant. I still remember the spectacular scene

Captain Henry's answer was so clever that it didn't hurt my face or reveal the secrets of the U.S. Navy. I responded to his reply with a kind smile. Suddenly, I thought of another thing. I couldn't help asking curiously, "Captain, what is a freewheel?"“ "Freighter," Henry explained to me with a smile when he heard my naive question, "is a merchant ship of about 10000 tons. Because of its rapid construction and low price, apart from providing part of it to Britain and your country under the Leasing Act, the rest will be used to replace the merchant ships sunk by German submarines. "“ Hello, sir A strange voice came from behind us. When we turned around, we saw a stout naval commander standing in front of us, and behind him, followed by the sergeant just now. I guess the person in front of us might be commander Elman of the Eldridge. Henry raised his hand to return the salute, reached out to the other side with a smile, and said warmly, "Hello, commander Elman, we meet again. It seems that you've been doing well for more than a year. I saw you last time as a major, but now I'm a lieutenant commander. The advantage of war is that you can improve quickly. " Then he took the initiative to introduce me to the captain of the Eldridge: "general, this is lieutenant commander Elman, who used to be my subordinate and is now a captain." Then he turned to Elman and said, "this is general oshanina from the Soviet Union. She's here today to watch the launching ceremony of the Eldridge."“ Hello, sir Commander Elman saluted me. When shaking hands, he thought I didn't understand English, so he asked Henry in a low voice, "Sir, you've been to Moscow with the first" lease act "mission. Did you know this general at that time?"“ No, "he said Henry simply replied, "she came with the Soviet diplomatic corps, and I took her to Norfolk Naval Base on the order of General Marshall. By the way, she wants to visit your destroyer. You can arrange it as soon as possible. " When commander Elman heard this, he released my hand and asked Henry in a business voice, "Sir, do you have a written order from the chief of staff or the commander of the Navy?"“ No Henry said with some embarrassment: "we also decided to visit temporarily, so we didn't wait for the written authorization of the officials at all levels."“ I'm sorry, sir Elman heard Henry say so, also said in an official voice: "without the written order of the superior, I have no right to let you visit the warship." Perhaps he was afraid of his former superior's ugly face, and asked in a low voice, "without written orders, it's OK to get the oral permission of the officer."“ No, neither Henry replied with a wry smile.