Arc of Gunfire

July 20, 0800, Kalinka, the headquarters of the First Cavalry Army.

The hitching post in front of the headquarters was full of tall horses.

The village children sat on the wall of the headquarters and asked Misha, the groom who was taking care of the horses: "Misha! Why are there so many horses!"

"We are a cavalry army, so we have a lot of horses." Misha replied, "And today is the day when the commanders above the regiment come to the meeting, and we are about to attack."

The child was overjoyed: "Are we going to kill the Prosen people?"

"Yes, we are going to kill the Prosen people again!"

"Then will you go?" the child asked again.

Misha was embarrassed: "I am only fifteen years old, and they only let me be a hired worker. I asked the priest who recruited soldiers for this job. I said that my family was killed by the Prosen people, and I was the only one left. Can I go to the front line and see how they died up close.

"The priest replied: 'Nonsense, your mother is helping to wash clothes in the laundry team, I saw her yesterday. If you must go to the front, you can go to the cavalry to raise horses, brush the horses' hair and clean up the horse manure every day. This is hard work. If you are willing to do it, you can go. '"

Child: "You came?"

"Yes, I tell you, the head of the guard regiment personally taught me how to use a saber yesterday. I asked him if he could find a Prosen to chop me, but he said no, we should treat prisoners well."

The child frowned: "Why? When the Prosen occupied our village two years ago, they killed all the surrendered people. Why should we treat prisoners well?"

Misha shrugged: "I don't know, maybe you should ask the military priest."

As soon as the voice fell, the officers above the regiment who were in the meeting came out of the wooden house of the headquarters happily.

The child shouted bravely: "Hey! Is there anything good?"

The officers looked at the wall together.

Someone joked: "Why, are you a Prosen spy? Be careful that the inquisitor will catch you! ”

The child was not afraid at all: "That's impossible. The Inquisitor gave me candy a few days ago because I led them to find all the booby traps left by the Prosen people!"

"Oh, he's still a little hero!"

At this time, Admiral Kirinenko walked out of the headquarters: "What are you arguing about?"

"General, our little hero is asking what good news is there!"

"Good news?" Kirinenko pulled the cavalry cape of Budionny, "Of course there is good news. In another six hours, we will attack Orach as the vanguard of the full front army!"

"Orachi?" The child widened his eyes, "Ivan from our village ran from there."

Kirinenko: "Two years ago, many people ran from there, right?"

"No, this year." The child said.

Now it was Kirinenko's turn to widen his eyes. Not only him, but all the officers and soldiers in the yard stopped and stared at the child riding on the wall.

The child was a little scared and raised his voice: "I'm not talking nonsense! Ivan came from Orach this year! He said this himself, as if he was afraid that the yellow dog in the village at that time would hear it! "

The Proson people gave the Ante security forces they formed yellow uniforms. The residents who stayed in the occupied areas called them yellow dogs.

Kirienko was very serious: "Take us to see Ivan, and the reward is this exchange ticket."

The exchange ticket was newly launched this year. Because it is expected that a large amount of land will be recovered this year, the Ante Ministry of Finance has specially issued a ticket that can be exchanged for food and daily necessities at military stations and church material distribution centers.

When the child saw the exchange ticket, his eyes lit up, and he immediately slid down the wall, passed through a group of cavalry officers, and came to Kirinenko, snatching the ticket: "Great, I want to exchange it for candy!"

Kirienko: "That won't work. If you eat all the candy that can be exchanged for this ticket, something might happen. So take us to find Ivan quickly."

"This way! "The child ran after he finished speaking.

————

Ivan from Orachi was chopping wood in the yard. Suddenly he heard the noise outside. He stopped his axe and straightened up. He wiped his sweat and looked out of the low wall in confusion.

The low wall was only as high as an adult's chest. He could see a group of cavalry officers on the road outside walking towards the yard.

The leader might be a child. Through the low wall, he could only see his raised hand: "Here, here! This is the yard!"

The leading officer had four stars on his shoulders. He should be a general. He looked up and met Ivan's eyes.

General: "Fellow villager! Are you from Orachi?"

Ivan's face darkened, and he lowered his head to start chopping wood again.

General: "We are about to attack in the direction of Orachi. I hope you can provide us with some information! For example, how many Prosen troops are stationed in the city, the composition of the residents, and whether there are guerrilla organizations-"

"No more. "Ivan interrupted the officer, "Nothing is left. Orachi is now an empty city. There are no Prosen people, no residents, and no guerrillas."

"What?" The admiral was shocked.

Ivan stuck the axe on the stump, looked up at the sky, and sighed deeply: "It happened in February this year. At the end of February, the Prosen people suddenly surrounded the city, set up machine guns on the periphery, and then used flamethrower tanks to set fire in the upwind direction.

"We wanted to organize firefighting, but then we found that the city's water wells had been blocked by the Prosen people with cement in advance, and the sewers were also blocked. There was no place to get water in the entire city."

Admiral: "Why do you do this?"

"I don't know. There happens to be a secret passage leading outside the city in the basement of my house. I gathered the people nearby as much as possible and led them to escape from the underground. As a result, the enemy's encirclement was double-layered, and my tunnel exit was on both sides. between layers of surrounding circles.

"The Pulosans shot at women and old people, and I hid in the tunnel and dared not make a sound. In the end, the Pulosans did not dare to enter the tunnel to search, so they sealed the exit with cement. I relied on the tunnel's The air stayed until the fire was extinguished, and then emerged from the ground through the exit at the other end of the city.

"The whole city has turned into a ghost town, with charred corpses everywhere. Even the scavenging birds will not visit the city because there is no meat left to eat."

Admiral: “Would you be willing to say this again to someone from the church’s publicity department?”

Ivan stared at the admiral for a few seconds before gently nodding: "Okay. I already - I won't have nightmares anymore."

The admiral turned to the other officers and said: "Remember, if you catch Officer Plosen, ask them why they massacred the city in Aolaqi. This is very important! We need an answer, otherwise after we capture the city of Plosen, we will You can’t guarantee to keep your hands on yourself! Just tell the officers of Prosen!”

"Yes." The officers replied uniformly.

The admiral looked at Ivan again: "Is there anything else you can tell us?"

"No more. There are only a few small rivers from here to Orachi. Even in the wet season, you can cross small rivers on horseback. When I ran here in February, I didn't see anything built by the Plosans. There are not many fortifications and there are not many defenders in the village of Prosen on the road." As he spoke, Ivan took out his cigarette case and took out a cigarette.

The admiral took out the lighter, and flames burst out as soon as he opened the lid.

Ivan leaned over and lit the cigarette, took a puff and then praised: "The lighter is very beautiful."

"One of the supplies sent by the United States can be exchanged for it with an exchange ticket."

"It's so expensive," Ivan replied.

The admiral smiled, saluted, and turned to leave. Ivan suddenly said: "There is a guerrilla liaison station in Toleka Village. I don't know if it is still there. If you want a guide, you can go and have a look."

"I know." The admiral waved his hand and left with a quick stride.

Ivan smoked a cigarette and watched the officers leave.

He was almost finished smoking when he noticed a child poking his head outside the courtyard door.

Ivan: "Did you bring the general?"

"Well, he gave me an exchange ticket." The child asked curiously, "Are you a guerrilla? How do you know the location of the contact station if you are not a guerrilla?"

Ivan: "I used to be. But in February this year I was scared out of my mind. I used to think that if I was caught, I would withstand severe torture and finally die heroically without causing any harm to the organization.

"But after the massacre in February, I was scared. I knew that now that I was arrested, the enemy would not need to interrogate me, and I would tell everything I knew.

"That's why I ran away."

Ivan looked at the child: "Don't tell anyone."

Child: "You are a deserter from the guerrillas!"

Ivan: "It's better than telling the enemy information and killing my comrades! And for them, I have died in Aorachi and become a martyr. This is good, very good."

"Ivan is a pseudonym, right?" the child asked again.

Ivan placed the new firewood on the tree stump, straightened it, and picked up the ax to chop it into two pieces.

"It's a real name now," Ivan replied.

————

July 20, 1200 hours.

Kirinenko rode his "old buddy" up the high slope next to the road.

His troops were forming four columns and advancing on the road.

Kirinenko glanced at the team, raised his right hand and shouted: "Davarishi, see you in Prosonia!"

The cavalry responded in unison: "See you in Prosonia!"

As the words fell, the sound of engines came from the air.

Kirinenko raised his head and watched eight P-2 bombers passing by at low altitude.

The Pe-2 bombers are not like the IL series attack aircraft. They generally do not fly at low altitudes. Now they are passing overhead like this. Most of them are specifically to cheer up the cavalry troops.

Facts have proved that the effect is outstanding.

The cavalrymen all raised their heads, and some raised their hats and waved them at the plane.

Kirinenko muttered: "Since Rokossov can command the air force, there have been more and more such chores!"

Chief of Staff of the Group Army: "I quite like it. In the first year, I was eye-opened by the scene of Prossens and aircraft attacking together. Now we can do the same."

Kirinenko nodded: "Who doesn't like it? It's because we like it that General Rokossov does this."

As soon as he finished speaking, the messenger ran up the hill holding a small flag: "Report, the special supply convoy from the front army headquarters has arrived."

Kirinenko: "Understood, let them rest first. When we capture the next planned supply village, it will not be too late for them to set off again."

"Yes." The messenger went down the hill again holding a small flag.

Chief of Staff of the Group Army: "I suddenly thought, let's get a red flag too. I heard that the 1st Guards Heavy Breakthrough Tank Regiment got one. The excuse was that it was given by an old farmer nearby. We can also say that it was given by a local."

Kirinenko's eyes widened: "Can this be like this? A red flag... I kind of want it, but forget it, let's complete the task first, and when the summer campaign achieves a decisive victory, Rokossov won't mind if we get a red flag. ”