Burning Moscow

After listening to Kirilov’s reminder, I immediately straightened up and reported to Vatutin: "Comrade General, we have a reconnaissance team nearby to search for the Amber Room. I suggest that they should complete it." In order to prevent it. My opinion was opposed by Vatutin or the hysterical curator. I also added specifically, "The base was discovered by this team."

After hearing what I said, Vatutin was visibly stunned, and then hesitated to ask: "I don't know who is the commander of the reconnaissance squad?"

"Telfkin, Captain Telfkin, is the deputy commander of the reconnaissance battalion." Kirilov replied first: "I planned to promote him to the rank of lieutenant a few months ago, but because other things were delayed, so He is still a captain now."

"Lida, if I'm not mistaken," Rokosovsky interrupted suddenly, "This Captain Trafkin was originally my subordinate, right? He seemed to be surrounded by superior German troops when he was on a mission. When you were on the brink of desperation, you personally brought people to rescue him and his subordinates, so they joined your independent teacher."

Rokosovsky's words aroused Vatutin's curiosity, and he hurriedly asked: "What the **** is going on?"

Kirilov, who knew the whole thing, quickly explained to Vatutin the ins and outs of how we rescued Travkin and how we let him join our troops. After listening to Vatutin, he nodded and said approvingly: "This is an excellent scout commander. I believe that if this task is entrusted to him, he will be able to complete it successfully." When he said this, he suddenly turned his head. He looked at me and said, "By the way, Comrade Oshanina, why was the promotion to the Telaf Gold rank delayed? He made such a great contribution this time. Even if he was given the rank of Captain, he would be a bit wronged. , I think so, he will be promoted directly to the rank of major and, as far as I know, your reconnaissance battalion has never had a battalion commander, so let him directly serve as the battalion commander."

In fairness, Trafkin has made such a great contribution, even if Vatutin does not promote his rank, I will be promoted to his position and rank after he returns. Now that Vatutin is in place in one step, I will follow the flow of the boat and say: "Comrade General, since you say that, then I resolutely obey your orders."

"Well, Comrade Vatutin, let's not stand here anymore." Rokosovsky waited for me to finish, and immediately urged Vatutin: "There is a war room nearby. Let's go there and discuss how Search for the whereabouts of the cultural relics."

Rokosovsky took us to the war room with ease, and everyone sat in a circle around the long wooden table next to the white table. Then Vatutin turned his head and asked a staff officer standing behind him: "Is there a map?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." The staff officer agreed, and took out a stack of square maps from his briefcase, unfolded it, and placed it in front of Vatutin.

Vatutin leaned forward slightly, stared at the map for a while, and then raised his head and asked me: "Comrade Oshanina, even if I don’t say it, you should know the significance of this base. If the Germans knew us, If you occupy this place, you will definitely send troops to fight for it desperately. Have you taken any measures?"

"Yes, Comrade General." I quickly stood up and pointed on the map with my hand. "I deployed Yersov’s 22nd Guards Regiment to the north of the base, and Lieutenant Colonel Kamela’s guards The Sixth Mobility Regiment is deployed to the south. As for the defense to the west, I plan to deploy them there after Major General Xie Liujin’s 89th Guards Division arrives. Among them, the two regiments of the division will focus on defense. To the northwest to stop German troops from Zhytomyr."

"No, Lida, you can't deploy like this." As soon as I finished speaking, Rokosovsky raised an objection. He pointed his finger at the map and looked at me with his eyes and said, "You can't just follow the map. , To deploy the defensive force, you must also consider the actual situation here. You see, the enemy's convoy transporting cultural relics, after leaving the base, first drove about two kilometers south, then turned around and went west through the forest to reach Zhitomir. If you put the focus of defense on the northwest, it would be completely wrong, because the enemy is not coming from the northwest but the southwest. Understand?"

"Understood, Comrade General." In response to Rokosovsky's reminder, I smiled politely. I just wanted to say something, but the sound of a report from outside the door interrupted me.

"Who is outside?" Vatutin turned to look at the door, and asked somewhat displeasedly.

A loud voice came from the door: "Report, Major General Xie Liujin, Commander of the Eighty-ninth Division of the Guards of the Sixth Army of Guards, has been ordered to come!"

"Come in!" Vatutin said loudly to the outside, then stood up, and when Xie Liujin walked in, he stepped forward and shook hands with him.

Vatutin may not have dreamed that Vatutin was still here, so that after Vatutin held his hand, he still stood in a daze. After releasing his hand, Vatutin pointed to the table and said, "Comrade Major General, please come here, General Rokosovsky has something to tell you."

"General Rokosovsky?!" When Seryukin heard the name, he became more cautious. He didn't expect to see the commanders of the two fronts in this room at the same time.

I watched him standing in place, and urged him quickly: "Comrade Commander, what are you still talking about there? Come here, let General Rokosovsky arrange your defense."

When Seryukin listened to Rokosovsky’s deployment, after a moment of silence, he raised this question: "The generals are the same, I don’t understand why you asked us to deploy only one battalion in the northwest direction. Knowing that it is the closest to Zhytomyr, Germans can reach us even if they walk for up to two hours."

"Comrade Major General, you have a good question." Rokosovsky explained kindly: "From the map, the distance of this line is too short. But why did we not be in this position in the first place and build until What about the roads here? Because there are swamps and peat roads along the way, they are not suitable for vehicles. So you only need to build defensive positions at some commanding heights to completely prevent German attacks."

Sitting aside, Vatutin raised his hand to look at his watch, and then muttered in a low voice: "Damn, how come the reconnaissance battalion commander hasn't come yet?" After that, he turned his eyes to me, so as not to affect Rokosov. Sky assigned the task to Seryukin. He lowered his voice and asked, "Oshanina, have you notified the reconnaissance battalion leader to come here?"

"Don't worry, Comrade General." Before we entered the war room, Kirilov told me in private that he had notified Travkin, so when I heard Vatutin's question, I immediately stood up and reported to him. : "Major Trafkin has been notified, I believe he will be here soon."

Although I told Vatutin that Travkin would be there soon. But it wasn't until an hour later, when everyone was about to lose patience, the dusty Trafkin finally arrived.

He walked into the room and saw so many big people in the room, he couldn't help but hesitate, not knowing who to report to. I coughed and said, "Comrade Trafkin, report to the commander of the front. He has important tasks to give you later."

Travkin hurriedly faced Vatutin and reported with his head raised up: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, Captain Travkin, Deputy Commander of the Sixth Guards Army Reconnaissance Battalion, report to you."

Before he could finish his words, Vatutin walked over with a smile, held his hand, and said kindly: "Comrade Trafkin, I want to correct you two points: First, you are not a captain, but a major. The position is not the deputy battalion commander, but the battalion commander."

"Comrade Commander," Although Trafkin's hand was still firmly squeezed with Vatutin, he looked sideways and asked emotionally: "Is this all true?"

"Yes, Major Trafkin." I deliberately bit the word "Major" very clearly, and smiled and said to him: "In view of the great feats you made in this reconnaissance mission, the commander of the front army was promoted personally. Your position and military rank."

After Travkin heard what I said, he let go of Vatutin's hand, took a step back, straightened up again and replied, "I would like to serve the Soviet motherland!"

"Major, come here!" Vatutin greeted Travkin before and after the table, and said to him: "A German convoy left the base this morning. According to our understanding, the car was loaded with precious cultural relics. , I hope you can immediately lead a capable team to figure out where the Germans have placed these artifacts. How about, are you confident?"

Trafkin did not answer immediately, but carefully asked, "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, allow me to ask what cultural relics are in the car?" In order to avoid making Vatutin think he is reckless, he specifically explained, " If we know what's inside, it will be easier for us to detect."

Vatutin turned to look at the curator sitting next to him, and asked his opinion with his eyes. I saw the curator frowned, and my heart was hanging up. If he firmly disagrees with telling Telfkin what is loaded on the car, then the reconnaissance team's search for the Amber Room would be tantamount to finding a needle in a haystack. Up.

But fortunately, the curator, who was a little hysterical and arrogant, acted reasonable this time. After thinking for a moment, he said to Vatutin: "Comrade Vatutin, in order for them to quickly find out the whereabouts of the cultural relics. , You can tell him what's in the car. However, in order to prevent leaks, he can only know about this in the entire reconnaissance team."

After getting permission from the curator, Vatutin turned his head to look at Trafkin and said, "Comrade Major, I wonder if you have heard of the Amber Room?"

"Not only have I heard of it, but I have seen it several times with my own eyes." Travkin said in a somewhat proud tone: "You know, I am from Leningrad. Before the war, I had to store amber almost every year. Visiting the Palace of Ekaterina” he said here, and suddenly stopped, and then there was an incredible expression on his face, “Comrade Commander of the Front Army, you won’t tell me that the car is loaded with The Amber Room?"

Vatutin turned his head to look at me and said with a smile: "Comrade Oshanina, it seems that we have chosen the right person. Your reconnaissance battalion commander is very smart. I haven't said yet, he actually guessed That’s what I’m going to say.” After finishing speaking, he turned to Trafkin again, “Yes, Comrade Major, your task is to follow the German convoy and figure out where they will stay last. So that we can take action in the future to bring back the amber room that was stolen by the Germans."

Trafkin said with a grimace: "But the Germans have been gone for a day, and I don't know where to find them."

"Don't worry, Comrade Major." Rokosovsky interrupted again: "I used to serve as the garrison commander of Zhitomir a few years ago, and I am familiar with the terrain here. The convoy leaving the base will arrive in Zhitomir. After a short stay, they will definitely drive west along the highway. I think they will pass through Voronsky New Town, Rivne, and arrive at Lutsk. There, they may find a place to store the cultural relics. , Or change trains to transport things to Germany. In other words, you must catch up with them before the German convoy reaches Lutsk and find out where the cultural relics are going."

After Rokosovsky finished speaking, Vatutin solemnly asked Travkin: "Comrade Major, how many people do you plan to take to carry out this difficult task?"

Trafkin thought for a while, and then replied, "I think five people are enough."

"Five people?!" Hearing this number, almost everyone was stunned. After a long time, Vatutin asked, "Will there be too little?"

"No, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Trafkin replied: "Five people are enough. If there are more people, it will arouse the suspicion of the Germans."

"Who are you going to take with you?" Because this matter is the most relevant, so I can't wait to ask when Trafkin finishes.

Trafkin looked at me and said, "Comrade Commander~www.wuxiaspot.com~ Since I intend to disguise the squad as a German army, I first need a German translator. The most suitable candidate is Lieutenant Gretka. "

Greetka surrendered German officers to our troops during the Battle of Stalingrad. With him, the danger of the squad being spotted would be greatly reduced. After confirming the candidate, I then asked: "Who else?"

"In addition to Lieutenant Gretka and I, we also need a telegraph operator, because we have to send the information back on the radio in a timely manner." Trafkin continued: "The other candidate is an old scout, he He has a wealth of reconnaissance experience, and if he goes there, the success rate will be greatly improved. As for the last candidate, it will be a little troublesome."

Hearing that Trafkin said this, and suddenly stopped talking, Vatutin couldn't help but asked anxiously: "Major, who else is the candidate?"

Trafkin cast his gaze on the curator who was sitting next to him, almost ignored by everyone, and then said slowly: "I also hope that an expert who understands cultural relics can join our team so that we can After the cultural relics are discovered, they can be identified in the shortest possible time whether they are genuine."

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the room turned their eyes to the curator who was sitting there in a daze. To be continued.