Date 19th August 1942

time 06.XX

The morning sunlight of Stalingrad starts to approach through the clouded sky. the winter led the coldness in the form of the steam on the black car glass, running on the road that was surrounded by ruins Stalingrad city, there only left by the damage from the countless bombs of German bombers. The war sound isn't far away from here. the gunfire sound echoes in the sky, the shouting soldiers are fighting in the war field, and the fire artillery sounds louder periodically. there will be the biggest bloodshed either soldier blood or even citizen blood.

"It isn't far away anymore. it is much worse than I thought " a black-haired woman with ushanka speaks while watching the view.

"What isn't far away anymore, Maria Olegovna?" a blonde-haired woman asks, turning her head to look at the calm major.

"The filthy German army" the major is writing something down in the notebook before leading her face up to look at the blonde woman in uniform driving the car.

"Watch the road, Sasha. or we going to have a car crash" The major peek at the road and back to flustered Sasha.

"Apologise, Maria Olegovna"Sasha apologises with a shivering voice and then eyes back on the road.

"How many times have I said that it's unnecessary to call me by my surname with the patronymic name while there are only two of us or in our battalion? you can call Maria." Maria speaks with a more soothing sound.

"I'm still not used to it. I...I mean your rank is higher than mine. and it's my honour that I had to work with you. so I didn't want to call you by that name"Sasha had a little smile on her shy face.

"you can call me that, whenever you ready" Maria sighed a little.

"Yes. Maria Olegovna"Sasha answered back.

the car is driving into the military barrack, which has a lot of soldiers and citizens walking around. the guard soldiers salute to welcome Maria. Maria salutes back to them. Sasha drives to the front of the big camp in the barrack.

"park the car at the parking lot. wait for me around here for 3 hours. you can do whatever you want but come here on time. and take care of my hat too" Maria said goodbye and led her hat to Sasha then got out of the car. Maria held some documents in her hand walking to the camp. there are a few commanders here. Maria walks to the closest one and shakes their hand to say hi.

"Hello, comrade" The major said.

"Hello, comrade. we didn't see each other for so long after invading Poland campaign. I'm glad to work with you again" Maria taking her hand back from the handshake.

"Oh, you can remember? we just worked together a few times. you did great work in Poland. it's me that has to be glad" The major was a little surprised.

"I'm just doing my best. but thank you for the compliment" Maria smiles a little bit.

"I don't feel similar with the faces around here. I guess I'm staying in the north a little bit too long" Maria watching the new coming of the commanders

"If you don't mind, can I introduce you to my comrades before the meeting starts?" The major asks Maria.

"Yes, of course" Maria accepts with a smile.

the major introduces her to other commanders. Even Maria is the only woman here. but she has a talking skill and a reasonable thought to get close to other commanders there. some people already know her. maria is quite surprised. She didn't expect that her name would go this far even in the city that she's a stranger here. time passes, the host of the meeting comes in. Everyone walks inside the meeting room.

Maria sits on her seat. She is with her notebook and pen. the meeting starts with an explanation of the Stalingrad situation which is seriously bad. The Red Army keep retreating. Now looks like some of the German army that was in the South Caucasus mountain transferred to associate with the German army at Stalingrad, like it is the pressure with the manpower to conquer the Stalingrad. they need reinforcement to be able to fight with Germans.

the reinforces now have a problem with the delays coming from a long journey. For now, there is only the north army had arrived. 1 of them is Maria's battalion which sends 2 companies here. The other 2 companies are still in the north. because her battalion has good quality and is important in many ways with the war. the main problem now is the east reinforcement hasn't arrived yet. forasmuch, as Russia had a war with Japan before, there was an army to protect the east. The main purpose of this meeting is to find a way to withstand the German army to extend the time until the arrival of the east reinforcement.

it might seem easy but in this situation, it's very tough. wherewith, Stalingrad has a big river 'Volga' that crosses the city, which makes retreating no longer possible. The loss of this city not only makes the citizens that live there die but it makes every populace lose hope. This makes many commanders have to come here to plan the strategy. a lot of commanders present their ideas.

Maria sits there in silence lecturing about the idea that she finds interesting in her notebook. She listens and comments a lot, but sometimes her ideas are rejected. she doesn't mind at that point at all. She is thinking and trying to find a strategy to solve this problem until she figures it out then writes it in her notebook, before she raises her hand to present her idea.

"you may speak" the host speaks.

"thank you, comrade generals" Maria walks to the planning table. a lot of eyes looking at her. She grabs the chalk and draws on the blackboard.

"I have a strategy idea that want to present. the problem that we face and I think it shouldn't be overlooked is the bomber problem, Germany sends a lot of bombers and many times it makes us lose a lot of soldiers and resources. but I want us to try the point that we know the area more than Germans. I think we should place a temporary camp within 50 meters of the enemy front by placing it under the damaged building and-"There is a voice that interrupts her.

"Are you going to make all of us dead?!" one loud voice came from the group of sitting men. maria stare at him with an unsatisfied look but she chose to stay calm

"Are you done talking?"Maria speaks with a calm voice but meanwhile, looks rough.

"You think you are going to take us to death? by taking us that contiguous with the German army, it's too risky. didn't you understand that it looks like you send people to die?" he speaks with a low sound in a deep tone.

"What did I don't understand? You're the one who doesn't understand because I didn't finish the explanation. so please calm down and let me finish explaining first" Maria asks him back but there is no answer. She turns back to draw again.

"as I present, we will be away from the German army only 50 meters. the reason is bombers have a length to focus at 100 - 300 meters to drop the bomb. so we will make this point to be their weakness by making it harder for the bomber to predict the area of the bomb will drop, or even they can predict it. they still have to worry about whether the bomb will affect their army or not. this is making it difficult for the pilot to work and it will make us have a low chance of being bombed too" Maria explained to everyone with a loud voice full of determination to look confident in her plan but still keep the calm looks. she draws something between the war and the camp.

"in this area; I want it to be the ambush and observe area away from the germa front 30 - 40 meters by ambush in the building and have a radio to contact back to the camp for start to retreat or counter back on time. when the german are coming, the ambush group can intercept the tank with anti-tank guns or put an obstacle on the street to delay the tank to make the soldier in the camp to be ready to fight and counter back"

"the plan that I present, I want the group that goes to ambush and observe to have a radio, anti-tank gun and the soldier that is the citizen that lives there at least 1 person in every group, for the area information with detailed and precise. this person has to be trusted to lead the group to attack the Germans and during emergencies to escape safely. This is all I think. Does anyone have a question?" Maria finishes the explanation while looking around, and there is one commander who raises his hand.

"You may speak" Maria looks at him.

"If the communication has cut? There might be damage from something. During this time, the Germans are going to attack. Does this mean the camp that is away from the German front 50 meters couldn't run or be ready for that, and this could make us lose all the soldiers and the resources in that camp? Do you think how to protect or solve this problem?"The commander asks.

"That is a really good question. I think there will be the soldier in the rear that is away from the camp 50 - 100 meters for being another defence line. In the front line, I don't have a clear answer now about how to directly solve this problem, I have an idea to observe soldiers have to run to warn them. but it's still too risky. I need more time to think about it, and I will be able to give you a clear answer. if there anyone has an idea, you can tell me about it" Maria speaks confidently. even though she has no clear answer for now, she won't show any of her weaknesses.

"So what you said is you will use the soldier as a human shield in many layers to delay the time right?" a voice speaks. It's the same person who had interrupted her

"No, I do that to be able to 'defence' and 'attack' too. If we can get our area back. the soldier in the camp can move to protect the front line on time. this makes us get our land back and have a low chance that when they counter and get the land back, we will have to retreat again. I think you're misunderstood about my strategy" Maria answered back with a cold face.

"I still disagree with that" he says it clearly.

"Can you elaborate on why you disagree with me please?" Maria understands that it's impossible to make everyone agree with her. but she was ready to listen.

"I understand that you have thought that you want to protect this country but it is too risky, and I think you aren't fit for this job as I judge you from listening to the plan" He directly says it. Maria is quite surprised that she got depreciated.

"Thank you for informing me that. but this is my job. I can confirm that I have enough talent to stand beside everyone here to fight the Germans who are invading our motherland, and I will do my best even if you think I'm not fit for this job. but there is always a reason that I am sent here to be 1 of the reinforcement from the north" Maria answered back positively.

"I understand that you have a talent but I think if you use a 'woman' managed talent for the benefit of managing the provision and weapon transportation. this thing would fit you more. about planning the strategy, let us 'man' that is good at handling it" he speaks coldly. Maria is stunning for a while before smiling trying not to laugh.

"thank you for your offer but I think I'm fit for this more than that. so let's do something in a 'man' way. let's bet" Maria offer him.

"bet what?" He raises his eyebrows.

"I will use the strategy that I present in the fight of my battalion. if it gets a bad result, I will humble myself and manage the provision and weapon. but if the result turns out good, You will have to humble yourself and manage the provision and weapon. do you want to accept my bet? you don't have to do anything Just wait for the result" Maria said confidently and stared at him with determined eyes.

"accept" he laughed while slowly shaking his head.

After the debate has ended, Maria goes back to sit at her seat and listens to another commander presenting their idea. the planning had been gone for 3 hours. Maria walked out of the meeting room. some commander walks up to talk with her. they like that she is brave enough to stand her ground. but there is still someone who thinks Maria is a self-opinionated woman

but Maria doesn't care a bit. She has sufficient confidence in herself and the abilities of her battalion.  the only thing she can do now is to prove it. Maria glances at Sasha who is at the front of the camp. Maria says goodbye to the commander that she talks to and walks towards Sasha.

"assistant Sasha" Maria calls Sasha.

"yes, Maria Olegovna. Are you going to go now? I will take the car here" Sasha smiled at Maria for greeting.

"No, I want to examine this area and meet with the citizens here. give them a little hope is always important for the war" Maria seriously speaks.

"yes, major. Can I follow you around?" Sasha asks Maria with shiny eyes.

"Of course. why not? follow me" Maria immediately answers.

Sasha smiles widely and walks following Maria. Maria walks into the soldier camp and asks for 1 soldier who is a Stalingrad citizen to show her around. he guides them into the city. here isn't the war zone yet. a moment later, Maria walked in there, a lot of eyes caught on her with amazed looks that there was a woman of major rank here.

"Are you Maria Mikhailov?" a little voice speaks behind Maria.

Maria turns her head to see the little girl.

"yes" Maria crouched down on the same level as her. The girl smiled with her cheeks swelling up and her eyes full of shining bright.

"Really? You're so cool" the girl is jumping around excitingly

"Mom, Maria Mikhailov is here!" The girl calling her mom, makes Maria laugh a little bit.

The girl shouted out loud, calling everyone's attention around here. Everyone around there looks at Maria with a curious look. The middle-aged woman walks fast to the girl. Maria slowly stood up.

"Apologies, my daughter acted disrespectfully. She didn't mean to disturb you from your work" Mother of the girl apologised.

"It's okay. She didn't disturb me anything. You can call me Maria; I don't mind. When I'm not in uniform, I'm a normal woman like you" Maria speaks in a friendly tone.

"And your daughter is cute. How old is she?" Maria is petting the girl.

"Thank you, this year she is 9 years old" the mother of the girl is calmer.

"Can I be like you?" The girl asks.

"Yes, of course. If you have determined every dream will always come true"  The girl smiles widely with that answer.

"What are you doing here? If you not here to work" the mother of the girl asks curiously.

"I'm here to examine the area and I want to find a time to meet you, all of you, and thank you for believing in us all along, And I'm sorry that you are in trouble because of us.  I will do my best" Maria's face turned to a serious one. Her word makes the woman surprise.

"No No No, we're the ones that have to thank you. We didn't do anything" The mother of the girl nervously said.

"I'm so glad that you all believe in us. I think I will meet you all here in 2 days around 4 pm. Now I have something that I need to do" Maria holding her hands together.

"So what's your name, kid?" Maria looks at the girl.

"my name is Katya" The girl answered

"See you again, Katya" Maria petted the girl with a smile before saying goodbye and walking away.