Burning Moscow

After the conversation with Vatutin, I raised my hand to salute him, turned and walked out the door. Who knows that when I walked to the door, I suddenly heard him calling me: "Comrade Oshanina, wait a minute, please wait a minute."

I quickly stopped, turned to look at him, and asked politely: "Comrade General, do you have any instructions?"

He came to me quickly and said, "I almost forgot. The Chief of Staff Bogolyubov of the Front Army is in the next room. You should go find him and contact the reconnaissance team in Lutsk. Give it to him."

"Understood, I'm going now." After I finished speaking, I raised my hand to salute again and turned and walked out of the room.

I walked a few steps along the carpeted corridor and saw a room with an open door in which many commanders were busy nervously. I guess that was what Vatutin was talking about, so I stepped in.

When I walked into the room, I quickly scanned my eyes and saw the commanders who were busy in front of the map or on the radio, either the school officer or the lieutenant officer. These were definitely not the people I was looking for. I was trying to find someone to ask where the Chief of Staff is, and suddenly a low voice rang behind me: "Who are you, and what are you doing in my headquarters?"

I quickly turned around and saw a middle-aged commander without a military cap standing at the door, frowning and looking up and down at me. I habitually glanced at the other party’s epaulettes and saw clearly that he was the same rank as the lieutenant general. I guessed that this person must be the Chief of Staff Bogolyubov I was looking for, so I tentatively asked: "May I ask if you are Chief of Staff General Bogolyubov?"

"Are you General Oshanina?" Bogolyubov guessed his identity when he saw me, he couldn't help laughing twice, and then asked in a low voice, "It was Commander Vatutin who asked you to come to me. of?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff," I replied affirmatively, "Comrade General asked me to come to you."

Bogolyubov looked into the room, then turned his side to the outside and made an inviting gesture: "Comrade Oshanina, let's find a quiet place to talk about this matter."

I know that Bogolyubov called me to another place to talk about finding the Amber Room because this matter involves confidentiality and should not be known to too many people. You know, there are no more than five people in my headquarters who know about this.

I followed him to a small room not far away. The facilities inside were very simple, a desk and two armchairs. After we entered, he closed the door easily, then walked to the back of the desk and sat down, and made a gesture to me, and said at the same time: "Please sit down, Comrade Oshanina."

After I was seated, I asked tentatively: "Comrade Chief of Staff, due to the recent fierce fighting, I will hand over all matters concerning the treasure hunting squad to Comrade Kirilov, the military commissioner of the Group Army. I wonder if he has reported to you. What's the latest development?"

Bogolyubov shook his head and said blankly: "No, I have never contacted your military commissioner Comrade Kirilov since I took office."

I heard a hint of dissatisfaction from his tone. He may think that we had never communicated with him on the treasure hunt. Now the troops are going to retreat to the rear to rest, so he threw this matter to him. A little emotion is inevitable. In order to prevent him from wearing small shoes to Trafkin and the others in the future, I accompanied him carefully and said: "Since Comrade Kirilov has not reported this to you, I will report to you now."

Seeing that he nodded slightly in agreement, I reported the situation of the squad that I knew. While I was telling the whole thing, Bogolyubov kept burying his head in remembering. After he finished speaking, he raised his head and asked in a puzzled voice: "Why, hasn't there been any news since Ensign Gretka got into the bank?"

I thought of Gretka posing as a photographer of the German army and sneaking into the bank vault to take pictures of cultural relics. If there is any information, Kirilov will definitely report to me. Since he has never mentioned this in front of me, then It proves that Grete Card never came out of the bank. Thinking of this, I replied affirmatively: "Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, if he has come out of the bank, the reconnaissance team will report to me as soon as possible. Unfortunately, it is a pity that I have No information about this has been received."

Hearing what I said, Bogolyubov frowned, and then asked tentatively: "Comrade Oshanina, do you see this possibility? Gretka has defected, so the reconnaissance team waiting outside , We can't get the accurate situation."

"No, Comrade Chief of Staff, what you said is absolutely impossible." I heard his suspicion about Gretka, and I couldn't help standing up from my seat and pointing at him. Said loudly: "Although Gretka is a German, he has performed very well since he surrendered to our army. I think he is absolutely impossible to defect." At this point, I realized that my emotions were a bit too strong. Excited, he quickly muttered in a low voice, "If you want to betrayal, you would have betrayed in Stalingrad as early as possible. Will you have to wait until now?"

Seeing my resolute support for Gretka, Bogolyubov nodded, and then went on to say: "Comrade Oshanina, although I saw you for the first time, I believe that what you said must not be the same. It would be wrong. Since Lieutenant Gretka will not betray, then he hasn't shown up for a long time. Could it be another possibility that he has been identified by the enemy and has been imprisoned?"

"It's not possible to rule out this possibility." Thinking that Greteka might be locked up by the Germans, and Trafkin and their reconnaissance missions had already failed, I panicked. I was silent for a while, and when my emotions stabilized, I said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, I have reported everything I know to you. As for the treasure hunting team, I have officially handed over to you. , I have no right to ask what happens next."

Hearing that I had shirk the responsibility completely, Bogolyubov couldn’t help looking at me in surprise, and after a long time he said: “Well, Comrade Oshanina, since the incident of the reconnaissance squad, I have officially Take over, then I will investigate what happened in person."

"Comrade Chief of Staff." Seeing that my conversation with him was over, I asked straightforwardly: "Can I leave? I'm still going to rush back to the army to arrange the retreat of the whole army."

"I'm about to tell you about this." Bogolyubov also stood up and said to me: "When you were on your way to Kiev, after asking the commander for instructions, I ordered to stay in Fastiv. The 77th and 89th Divisions of the Guards drove to Kiev immediately. I think you can’t go far out of the city before you meet a convoy carrying troops.

I left Kiev with a company of guards and drove west for two hours. When I approached Kanivka, I saw a convoy appearing in the distance. I hurriedly ordered the driver of the armored vehicle: "Speed ​​up and go up."

Within a few minutes, I saw the convoy ahead start to decelerate and soon stopped by the side of the car. The front door of the front passenger seat of the truck opened, and then an officer jumped from the top and ran towards the armored vehicle where I was. I pushed the car door, jumped down, and stood by a snowdrift, waiting for the officers to arrive.

The officer came to me, raised his hand to salute, and respectfully reported: "Comrade Commander, Second Lieutenant Porovinsky, Deputy Company Commander of the 89th Division Guard Battalion, is reporting to you that our Ministry is under orders. Open to Kiev!"

After raising my hand in return, I asked back: "Where is Major General Xie Liujin, your teacher?"

"Behind," the second lieutenant said, shaking his head back, "I guess he knows you are here, and will report to you soon."

While talking, I saw a jeep next to the convoy parked on the side of the road and drove towards us quickly. I guessed that Xie Liujin might have come, so he stopped talking with the ensign and turned to face the coming jeep.

The jeep braked suddenly 20 meters away from us, and then the doors on both sides opened, and the two commanders jumped out of the car and ran towards me quickly. I only took a look, and I recognized Master Xie Liujin and his political commissar, Lieutenant Colonel Ye Er Moxin.

The two of them came to me, raised their hands to salute, and were about to report, but I raised my hands to stop them. I asked first: "General Xie Liujin, how many people are left in your division?"

"Comrade Reporting Commander~www.wuxiaspot.com~ Xie Liujin took a step forward and replied: "There are currently four thousand people in the division, and they can continue to fight the enemy. "

"The superior has handed over the combat task to the friendly forces." The 89th Guards Division is the reserve team I left behind. They are rarely sent to the battlefield. Now they have only half of their troops left, so the casualties of other divisions It will be more serious. I said with a heavy heart: "The reason I am stopping you here is to let you clean the battlefield and converge the corpses of the enemy and ours outside the town of Kanivka."

Xie Liujin agreed, turned around and ran back to the convoy, calling out loudly at the back.

I looked at the commanders in the carriage. Following Xie Liujin’s orders, I jumped off the truck and quickly lined up beside the car. I couldn’t help but nodded in satisfaction. After all, my heart is elite, and the speed of assembly is faster than others. Much.

Xie Liujin watched the troop forming under the car, ran back to me, and reported to me: "Comrade Commander, the troop has been assembled, please indicate the next step."

With a wave of my hand, I announced: "Give my order, all turn to the left and move towards Kanivka Town!" (To be continued.)