Tatiana and Alexander: A Novel(105)

"Did you start out with a significant amount, Lieutenant?"

Ouspensky crouched in front of Alexander. "Sir, I must tell you that I'm never one to second-guess my commanding officer, but I feel I'm not speaking out of turn if I say, what happened there--what you let happen there--was f*cking lunacy."

"You're second-guessing me, Lieutenant."

"Sir--"

"Lieutenant!" Alexander stood up. His wound was oozing blood out of the bandage. "We had nowhere else to go." He paused. "And we crossed the river, didn't we?"

"Sir, that's not the point. Konev's 29th armored division is supposed to be a day behind us. We could have waited. Yet we went into the water, into direct fire, we did not wait, we did not recon, we did not try to knock them out of position first, we just f*cking went! And more to the point--youjust went.You! The only thing between all of us and instant death, you led us into the mouth of the Germans and lost nearly all of our men, and now you're sitting on the ground, half dead yourself, pretending you don't know why I'm raging!"

Alexander pressed his hand into the bandage and said, "You can rage all you want, Lieutenant, but don't do it in my presence. I wasn't going to sit and wait for Konev's men. He takes days to get here, there is no element of surprise, the Germans reinforce even more, and in the end, we get sent in first anyway. Except the Germans have more time to build up their defenses. We had to move out. Now we'll regroup, but we're in the woods. And we've cleared this path for Soviet reinforcements, Soviet armies. They'll thank us in their own ungrateful, grudging way." He smiled. "I guarantee you, we're the first Soviet men across the Vistula."

Ouspensky glared at him incredulously.

"We didn't do so badly. We didn't do great. We've lost men before, Lieutenant. Do you remember last April in Minsk? We lost thirty men de-mining one f*cking field, not getting across a crucial river in Poland."

"Sir, you sent us into their rockets with nary a bullet!"

"I told you to hold your weapon above your head as you crossed."

"We have forty men left!"

"Are you counting the twenty NKGB?"

"Forty men and twenty pussies!"

"Yes, but we pushed the Germans away from the river bank. They've retreated into the woods. When we proceed into the woods, we will proceed with reinforcements."

Ouspensky shook his head. "We can't fight in the woods. I will not fight in the woods. It's completely different warfare in the woods. You can't see dick."

"No, you can't. I'm sorry I can't make war more palatable for you." Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

"We lost our tank. The only thing that protectedyou. "

"Me."

"Oh, Mother of Christ!" Ouspensky exploded. "You act as if you are f*cking immortal, but you are not--"

"Do not," Alexander said loudly, "raise your voice to me, Ouspensky, do you understand? I don't give a shit what kind of liberties I allow you, I will not allow you this one. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, sir," Ouspensky said, quieter and stepping away. "You are still not f*cking immortal, sir. And your mencertainly aren't, but I don't give a shit about the men. It's you we can't replace. And I'm supposed to be here to protect you. How can you engage in hand-to-hand combat in the water when you are supposed to be in the rear? What do you think you are made of, Captain? Until just now when I saw you bleed red blood like the rest of us, I wasn't sure."

"It's not my blood," Alexander said.

"What?"

But Alexander shook his head.

"What's going to happen to us in the woods?"

"We are going to go into the mountains of Holy Cross. There's a good chance we will run out of ammunition because the Germans are better supplied. Konev will order us to fight until we die. That's what the penal battalion means. That's what being a Soviet officer means."

Ouspensky stared blankly at Alexander. "And coming here--this is your winds of f*cking destiny blowing at your back?"

"Yes. Because there is just one thing, Lieutenant, that the Red Army overlooked."

"What's that, sir?"

"I," said Alexander, "have no intention of dying."

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Barrington, August 1944

"WHERE ARE WE GOING?" Vikki said. "Andwhy ? I don't want to take the train to Massachusetts. I don't want to go so far. What is it with you and these train trips? You just came back from Arizona, isn't that enough? It's raining, it's miserable, and I worked a double shift yesterday and I work another double on Monday. Can't I just stay home? Grammy is making her lasagna. I have to do my nails and iron my dress and my hair, and did you hear, women are shaving their legs and under-arms now. It's all the rage. I was going to try. They told me that at Lady Be Beautiful, where by the way you promised me Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

you were going to come with me. Why do we have to go anywhere? Couldn't I just stay home and have a bath?"

"No. We have to go," said Tatiana, pushing Anthony in the carriage, and pushing Vikki in the back.