Burning Moscow

When I left the command room, I also specifically instructed Bezikov: "Chief of Staff, inform several army commanders and divisional commanders to come here for a meeting tomorrow morning.|"

"Where is General Sivakov?" Bezikov asked cautiously: "He has not healed from his injuries. Do you need to notify him?"

I thought about it, and felt that since Sivakov had a car accident on the way to the base, it has almost become a decoration, and the combat missions are directly assigned to the divisions below him. Now his injury has improved significantly. It is obviously inappropriate to let him do nothing. So I nodded and said to Bezikov: "Chief of Staff, don't forget to inform him."

I just walked out of the room and was wondering whether I should go back to my room to sleep in. Kirilov chased it out: "Lida, wait a minute."

I stopped, turned my head to look at Kirilov, and asked politely: "Comrade Military Commissioner, do you have anything else to do?"

"Lida, if you don't have anything like it now, I want you to accompany me to go outside for a while." After Kirilov finished speaking, he specifically asked for my opinion: "I don't know if you want it?"

I thought that after I arrived in Smolensk, I hadn't seen the city carefully, so after a little thought, I readily agreed: "Well, Comrade Military Commissioner, since you have such an interest, then I will accompany you. Go!" After that, I called Bukov, who had been standing by the door, and told him, "Major, prepare a car for us, and Comrade Military Commissioner and I are going to go shopping in the city."

"Do you need to bring the guards along?" Bukov asked respectfully immediately after hearing this, "I am worried that there will still be remnants of pro-German forces in the city, so the necessary precautions should still be taken."

"No need." Considering that the trip between myself and Kirilov is more similar to a private visit on a microservice. If you take a guard company and drive seven or eight cars on the street, it will definitely attract the attention of passers-by. Then maybe we will I can't see many things I want to see, so I resolutely said: "You can take a few soldiers in another car and follow behind us."

After Kirilov and I got into the jeep, the driver turned his head and asked, "Comrade commander and military commissioner, where are you going to go?"

"Just drive along the highway." When I said this, I kept looking at Kirilov. "We want to see this city casually."

"Understood!" The driver turned around and started the car. As soon as he stepped on the accelerator, the jeep started to move forward.

Looking at the collapsed buildings on both sides of the street, and the soldiers and residents who are clearing the ruins inside, Kirilov said with emotion: "What a great city, it's a pity that it has been ruined by the Germans. It’s impossible to restore a beautiful city to its pre-war appearance without three or five years."

I stared at the people who were busy in the ruins through the car window, and thoughtfully said to Kirilov: "Comrade Military Commissioner, I think everyone has their heads buried like this and cleans up the ruins without saying a word. I estimate the efficiency. Isn't it too high?"

Kirilov glanced outside, then turned his head and said to me: "Cleaning up the ruins is an extraordinarily boring thing, but I believe everyone is conscious. Regarding this kind of voluntary labor, no matter how hard it is, no matter how tired it is, I believe that everyone is conscious. They won’t even complain."

"People who complained or were passively sabotaged were sent to the Gulag concentration camp." After a secret mutter in my heart, I looked at Kirilov sideways and said, "Comrade Military Commissioner, I have an idea, yes. It’s not possible to install tweeters on all the main streets of the city and play some exciting songs when people are working. I believe that people’s labor efficiency will be improved amid the intense rhythm of singing."

After I finished speaking, I suddenly found that Kirilov had an incredible expression on his face. Thinking that I was wrong, I quickly asked with a guilty conscience: "Comrade Military Commissioner, is there anything I said wrong?"

"No no, Lida, you said very well." Kirilov said excitedly: "I originally asked you to go out for a walk, just looking for a chance to talk to you about installing tweeters in the city. I didn't expect you But I thought about it first. When I go back later, I will arrange for the comrades below to start the installation."

I saw a light blue square building in front of me, with a few onions on the roof, silently telling people that this is a church. Seeing that the church building is still intact, I can’t help but say to Kirilov somewhat unexpectedly: “Comrade Military Commissioner, hurry up and see, the building of the church in front of you is actually complete. miracle."

Kirilov heard me say this, just a little bit, then leaned forward slightly, raised his hand and patted the driver on the shoulder, and told him: "Comrade driver, drive the car to the Kremlin."

Kremlin? ! I heard Kirilov say this, and three black lines suddenly appeared on his head. I said that there are hundreds of kilometers from here to Moscow. Even if the road is not cracked by the Germans, it may not be possible to reach the destination by dark. Thinking of this, I quickly reminded Kirilov: "Comrade Military Commissioner, we can't go back to Moscow without getting the order of the superior."

"Back to Moscow?" Kirilov was taken aback when I said that, then burst into laughter, "Lida, you thought I was asking the driver to drive the car to the Kremlin in Moscow."

"Yes, apart from Moscow's Kremlin, is there a Kremlin in other cities?" I asked inexplicably.

"I thought you knew everything. It seems that there are still a lot of things you don't understand." After joking about me, Kirilov began to popularize with me: "The Kremlin refers to the fortress in the center of the city. The word is derived from the Greek, meaning'fortress' or'cliff'. In addition to the well-known Moscow Kremlin, there are the Novgorod Kremlin, the Kazan Kremlin, the Suzdal Kremlin, and the Kremlin in Moscow. The Strahan Kremlin, the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin, and the Kremlin in the city where we are today."

I always thought that the Moscow Kremlin was unique in the world. If Kirilov was not popular today, I really don't know that there are so many Kremlins in Russia.

The jeep followed the already cleared street and came to the red palace wall of the Kremlin. A dozen soldiers stood guard at the gate of the palace. Seeing that we were driving towards the palace gate, a lieutenant officer immediately greeted us and waved at us from a long distance away, shouting loudly: "Stop!"

The driver quickly looked back at me. Although he did not speak, I knew in my heart that he was asking me whether to stop. After thinking about it, I told him: "Comrade driver, drive the car to the commander and stop."

After my car stopped, the officer quickly walked to the car door. We bent over and said to the car door, "This is not open to the public, please..." He stopped abruptly before he finished his words.

Knowing that he must have recognized Kirilov and me, I asked through the window: "Comrade Lieutenant, who is not allowed to enter the palace, who gave the order?"

"Yes... yes... I... our... division commander." The lieutenant replied in a flustered expression: "It is General Xie Liujin, commander of the 89th Guards Division."

"Can I go in?" I guessed that Xie Liujin gave such an order because he was afraid that someone would take advantage of the fire after entering the palace and looting the precious cultural relics in the palace, so I asked the lieutenant politely, "Or you can call him, Ask him if he can make an exception and let comrades and me come in and have a look?"

"No, Comrade Commander, there is no need to call." The lieutenant said respectfully: "You can go in anytime." After saying that, he stood up straight, turned and rushed towards the palace gate and shouted, "Open the door!"

Our jeep drove into the Kremlin through the open gate of the palace. As soon as the car entered the open space in front of the palace, Kirilov told the driver: "Just park the car here. Comrade commander and I want to walk around."

I stood by the car and looked around the Kremlin, and found that there were very few buildings inside the palace walls. Except for the light blue church that I just saw in the distance, and a few low yellow buildings next to it, there is a palace that looks very simple in the distance.

Kirilov took me along the stairs, up the palace wall, and walked forward along the palace wall. And Bukov hurriedly followed up the city wall with a few guards, following us far behind.

The palace wall is very spacious, even if four horses are parallel, it will not appear crowded. Since it has been snowing recently, the gardens in the palace are covered by snow. Two big trees that have been uprooted fall down in the white of the garden, which is particularly dazzling. I pointed to the fallen tree and said to Kirilov with lingering fear: "Comrade Military Commissioner, look, those two trees should have been blown down by our army’s siege artillery fire. Fortunately, The shells hit the garden, and if churches and palaces were destroyed, the damage caused would be incalculable."

Regarding my statement, Kirilov immediately agreed: "It seems that our commanders, when attacking the city, were carefully planned in advance. Except for the two big trees that were blown down in the entire palace, the palace , Churches and palaces are all intact."

Walking a further distance, Kirilov suddenly stopped. He walked to the wall, holding the battlement with one hand, and pointing to the outside and said to me: "Lida, look, that's the Dnieper. ."

I hurried to his side and looked outside. A few hundred meters away, I saw the surging Dnieper River, probably because the weather was not too cold, and there was no ice on the river.

"Smolensk City is located in the Smolensk Heights in the western part of the Smolensk-Moscow Heights, on the banks of the Dnieper River. It is located on the main road connecting Moscow and Belarus, the Baltic Sea region, and Central and Western European countries. Superior." Kirilov was both talking to himself and introducing me to the city: "Smolensk is one of the oldest cities in Russia. The earliest mention of Smolensk in Russian chronicles It was in the 9th century. It entered the territory of the Kievan Rus State since 882 and actively participated in the trade and military expeditions of the Rus State. Smolensk prospered in the 12th century and was once the main strategic center of Russia. 1404-1514 It has experienced the invasion of Lithuanians and Poles in 1611. It was occupied by Poland in 1611 and returned to Russia in 1667. In the Patriotic War of 1812, the Battle of Smolensk from August 4 to 5. Napoleon’s plan to destroy the Russian team went bankrupt...."

When the two of us were wandering on the palace wall, Xie Liujin, who was waiting for the news, hurried over. He ran to us, and after raising his hand to salute, he reported breathlessly: "Commander, military commissar, Major General Xie Liujin, Commander of the 89th Division of Guards, report to you, I..."

Before he could finish speaking, Kirilov raised his hand to interrupt the words behind him, and said, "Comrade Xie Liujin, I was just walking around with the commander today, so I didn't intend to disturb too many people. Since you are here, , Just walk around with us."

After the three of us formed a triangle formation and walked silently along the palace wall for a while, I suddenly remembered that since the Kremlin is now guarded by Xie Liujin, he must be no stranger to the situation here. So I slowed down and asked Xie Liujin, "Comrade Commander, when did you enter the Kremlin?"

"Last night." After answering my question, Xie Liujin might feel that his words were not comprehensive enough, and quickly added: "In order to prevent saboteurs from entering the palace and stealing precious cultural relics, I sent two companies to station. , One company is responsible for guarding the palace gate, while the other company is responsible for patrolling the palace." He said, pointing to the distance, and said, "Look, that's our patrol team."

I looked in the direction of his finger and saw a ten-man patrol team walking beside the palace. Regarding Xie Liujin’s arrangement, I secretly nodded, UU reading www. uukanshu.com then asked: "Did the damage to the palace be serious when the Germans evacuated?"

Xie Liujin shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "I went to the palace to see it, and the hundreds of oil paintings on the wall were gone. All the valuable furniture that could be moved was moved away. They were all smashed. Some gilded door handles were also pried away by the **** German...."

"What about the church?" Kirilov asked unexpectedly.

Seryukin quickly turned to Kirilov, gritted his teeth and replied: "The copper coffins of the archbishops stored in the church were all pried open, the bones were thrown on the ground, and the funeral items in the coffin were looted.

"Damn German." After listening to Serikin's report, Kirilov said uneasily: "I will remember the heinous crimes they committed, and when I hit their nest in the future, I will definitely let They doubled it."

I originally wanted to go to the palace or the church after turning around the palace wall for a while, but hearing Xie Liujin's words like this, I suddenly lost interest. I stopped and said to Kirilov: "Comrade Military Commissioner, it's getting late, let's go back to the headquarters!"

...