Burning Moscow

Serving as this deputy commander is both an opportunity and a challenge. If I cannot achieve impressive results, it is estimated that my future will stop at the commander of the group army. Like Cui Kefu, at the end of the war, I can only command one group army. .

After Zhukov finished the phone call, he called the colonel at the door again and told him: "You go find a staff officer, but the deputy commander has familiarized himself with the environment."

"Comrade Deputy Commander?" When the colonel heard Zhukov say this, his face was confused, and he asked confusedly: "Comrade Marshal, I don't know which deputy commander you are talking about?"

Zhukov narrowed his mouth, shook his head at where I was, and said impatiently: "Who else can it be? Didn't you see, here are me and General Oshanina."

The colonel is also a clever man. Hearing Zhukov’s words, he immediately understood his heart and said: "I understand, Comrade Marshal." Then he walked up to me, stretched out his hand in a gesture of invitation, and said politely, Comrade Commander, please come to me. I will find someone to take you to familiarize yourself with the environment."

After coming out of Zhukov’s office, the colonel said to me politely: "Comrade Deputy Commander, please wait here for a while. I will find a staff officer and let him walk around with you."

I raised my hand and looked at my watch. I saw that almost an hour had passed, while Bukov and the others were still waiting for me, so they said to the colonel: "Comrade Colonel, let's just do this. We are divided into two groups. You Go and find the staff for me. I will go to my subordinates at the door. We will meet at the door later. What do you think?"

Regarding my proposal, the colonel agreed without hesitation: "Yes, Comrade Deputy Commander. In five minutes, I will take someone to the door to find you."

As I walked toward the door along the corridor, I saw two generals approaching. My eyes are sharp, and I can see clearly that the current commander of the 38th Army, Lieutenant General Moskalenko, is walking in front, while the general behind looks like a freshman.

I quickly stopped, stood still and raised my hand to my forehead, and saluted Moskalenko. At the same time, I smiled and said, "Hello, General Moskalenko!"

Moskalenko heard someone calling his name, he was shocked for a moment, but quickly recognized me, quickly speeded up his pace, walked up to shook hands with me, and said friendlyly: "So it's you, Osha Comrade Ning Na. Haven't you been transferred to the Belarusian Front. Today, you are thinking of coming to visit us?"

Although I have no interest in Moskalenko, after all, I have fought side by side in several places, so I still showed enough politeness: "Comrade General, I was summoned here by Marshal Zhukov." I finished this sentence. After speaking, he turned to look at the general beside him and asked, "I don't know who this general is?"

The round-faced Lieutenant General saw me and asked him about him. He took a step forward and proactively extended his hand to me and introduced himself: "Hello, General Oshanina! I will introduce myself. My name is Ri. Machenko, after General Moskalenko was transferred to the 38th Army as commander, I succeeded him as the commander of the 40th Army."

"Hello, General Zimachenko." After I shook hands with Zimachenko, we turned to Moskalenko and said, "Comrade General, are you here to find the marshal? He is in the office at the moment."

"Thank you." Moskalenko thanked me first, and then asked: "How long can you stay here? If you can stay for two more days, I would like to call some old friends and you Get together well."

"Don't worry, I will stay here for a while." Instead of telling him about my upcoming appointment as deputy commander of the front, I said vaguely: "At that time, there will be opportunities to get together."

Moskalenko didn't realize my indifference to him, and still asked enthusiastically: "Where are you going now?"

"I don't know how long I will stay in Zhytomyr," I answered politely to his question: "The soldiers who escorted me to Zhytomyr are waiting outside. I'll go They settled well."

"Then you go and settle them quickly," Moskalenko urged: "We will have a good chat after I see Comrade Marshal come out later."

When I walked out of the door of the building, the oncoming cold wind made me shiver. Only then did I realize that I didn't know when it started to snow. I stood on the high steps and looked around, looking for Bukov and them. I soon found Bukov and seven or eight soldiers standing by a broken wall across the road, covered with snow. Become a group of snowmen.

I walked quickly to them and asked in a reproachful tone: "Major, why don't you find a place to avoid such a heavy snow outside? You see, all of you have become snowman."

Bukov and the soldiers looked at each other for a few moments, then smiled and said to me: "Comrade Commander, I am worried that you will not find us when you come out, so I stand here waiting for you." He paused for a moment. Later, he asked me tentatively, "Are we going back to the group army headquarters now?"

"Why are there only a few of you, how about the others?" I didn't answer his question immediately, but looked around. I didn't see the tanks and armored vehicles and trucks that came with me, so I asked with concern: "They where?"

Bukov raised his hand and pointed to the side, and said: "There is a square over there. Comrades from the Garrison Command told us to park the convoy there, and the guards rest there." After he reported the location of the convoy. , Then asked me: "Comrade Commander, shall we go back to Mozili now?"

"We won't go back to Mozili for the time being." Facing Bukov who was back home, I shook my head and said to him: "From the current situation, we may stay here for a while."

"Don't return to Mozi?" My words surprised Bukov. After a moment of shock, he asked carefully: "Comrade Commander, is there something wrong that prevents you from returning to Mozi in the short term? Inside?"

Although I did not tell the truth to Moskalenko just now, in front of my most trusted subordinates, I did not hide: "Comrade Marshal intends to let me serve as the deputy commander of the front army, so in the short term, I will not return. Moziri."

"Fang... Front Army... Deputy... Commander... Commander?" Bukov stammered after hearing these words of mine: "Is this true?"

"Yes," I nodded vigorously, and then told Bukov: "Major, you go to the people from the Garrison Headquarters and ask them to arrange a place for you. You can live here first."

"Yes!" Bukov promised and wanted to leave with someone, but within two steps, he stopped again, stretched out his hand to me, and said respectfully: "Comrade Commander, I congratulate you on your appointment. High position."

"Thank you," I shook his hand gently, then let go, and told him: "Okay, go and execute the order."

…………

The meeting hosted by Zhukov was held on time in the afternoon.

Zhukov is sitting at the main seat of the conference table. The Chief of Staff and I are sitting on his right hand side, and sitting on his left hand are the two soldiers.

Committee members: Lieutenant General Khrushchev and Major General Krenyukov. The two military commissioners appeared because after the recapture of Kiev, Khrushchev was appointed chairman of the Ukrainian People’s Committee and concurrently served as the first book of the Ukrainian Central Committee. Because he was not in the army for a long time, and the political propaganda work could not be stopped, the superiors appointed Kreinyukov to assist him in the work of the army.

Seeing me sitting next to Zhukov, Moskalenko, who was sitting not far away, showed a surprised expression on his face. Just when he was about to ask questions, Zhukov announced the beginning of the meeting.

Zhukov stood up, put his hands on the edge of the conference table, leaned forward slightly, and said to the commanders present: "Comrades, everybody knows that Comrade Vatutin was seriously injured in an ambush by the enemy yesterday. , Temporarily unable to command the troops, so the base camp asked me to temporarily take over the position of commander of his front. The deputy commander of the front, General Kurochkin, was also transferred some time ago. In order to make the work of the front work normally, I After reporting to the Supreme Commander for his consent, it was decided to appoint Comrade Oshanina to the position of deputy commander of the front."

After Zhukov finished speaking, the whole room fell into silence.

Seeing this situation, my heart felt like fifteen buckets fetching water up and down, and I thought to myself: "Is it really like I guessed, everybody treats me as deputy commander, even if it’s temporary? Yes, because my qualifications are too low, I am unwilling to accept it?"

Just when I was uneasy, a middle-aged general sitting diagonally across from me stood up and said to Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, my troops used to fight alongside General Oshanina’s troops. Regarding her ability, I agree very much. I think the decision of her superiors to appoint her as the deputy commander of the front is very correct."

After staring at the opponent for a while, I immediately recognized the bald general as Lieutenant General Pukhov, the commander of the 13th Army. He had indeed fought alongside him before. I felt my heart for him to support me. Smiled at him gratefully. Pukhov glanced at me, nodded, and then sat down again.

Seeing that a colleague had expressed his own views, Moskalenko stood up unwillingly and made remarks similar to Pukhov's. Then the 27th Army Commander Trofimenko, the 40th Army Commander Zimachenko, the 60th Army Commander, the Guards Tank 3rd Army Commander Rebarko, and the Air Force 2nd Army Commander, also served as me. The position of deputy commander was recognized.

Seeing no one objected to my position as deputy commander, I finally let go of the heart hanging in my throat. Next, when discussing other tasks, the atmosphere in the meeting room became much more harmonious.

The meeting lasted for a full hour. Zhukov, who had explained all the tasks, turned his head and asked Khrushchev on the left: "Comrade Military Commissioner, do you have anything to add?"

"No," Khrushchev shook his head and said in a positive tone: "I have nothing to add."

Zhukov nodded, then turned his gaze to me, and asked the same question: "What about you, Lida, is there anything I need to explain to the commanders?"

"No, Comrade Marshal." I also shook my head and replied, "I will spend a few days familiarizing myself with the environment before I start my work formally."

"I'll give you two days." Zhukov said to me in an unquestionable tone: "In a few days, we will start a new battle with the Second Front Army, so you must become familiar with the internal affairs of the Front Army as soon as possible." He said After finishing these few sentences, I paused for a moment. After I nodded to confirm, I announced loudly: "This is the end of today's meeting, the meeting is adjourned!"

Several commanders of the group army stood up one after another and walked out slowly through the open door. After we said hello to Zhukov, I got up and walked towards the door, intending to have a few words with this old friend Rebarko.

Who knew that as soon as I reached the door, I saw a young lieutenant trotting down the corridor. After looking at the commanders who came out of the conference room for a while, he walked towards Moskalenko decisively.

Moskalenko clearly knew the lieutenant. He stopped and moved close to the wall, waiting for the lieutenant who came towards him. I saw the lieutenant walk up to him, press his ears, and whispered a few words.

After hearing what the lieutenant said, Moskalenko showed a panic expression on his face. He turned around and walked quickly towards the meeting room. He passed by me, walked into the conference room, and said to Zhukov who was still packing things in a panic: "Comrade Marshal, it's okay. Is Ada injured?"

"What, Ada was injured?" Hearing this news, not only Zhukov was shocked, but even Khrushchev who was sitting next to him was shocked and jumped from his seat.

Seeing both of them approaching the door in a panic, I couldn't help but muttered in my heart: I don’t know who Moskalenko said Ada was, so I can make the two big men in the army so gaffe. .

While I was thinking about it, Zhukov rushed in front of Moskalenko, raised his hand to grab his arm, and asked anxiously: "How did she get injured?" Before Moskalenko could say why, Zhukov has repeatedly urged: "Where is she? Hurry up and take us there. In the specific situation, we will walk while walking."

Seeing Zhukov and Moskalenko passing by me like a gust of wind, Khrushchev patted me on the shoulder gently and asked strangely: " Lida~www.wuxiaspot.com~ won't you go?"

Listening to Khrushchev’s tone, I was going to let me go to see the injured Ada. Although it was not clear why he wanted to pull me, I replied casually: "Go, of course I am going. Since you and Comrade Marshal are going, naturally I cannot be an exception. I will be with you."

We followed Zhukov and the others. As we walked along the corridor, the commanders of the group army looked at us strangely. They didn’t know what was going on, but everyone tacitly didn’t ask them, but used them. Curious eyes stared at our back.

When there was no one around, I asked Khrushchev quietly: "Comrade Military Commissioner, can I ask, who is this Adadi? Why did you and Comrade Marshal be so nervous when they heard that she was injured? ?"

Khrushchev turned his face to me and said, "Ada, you may not know her. But you know her father very well."

When I heard that I was familiar with Ada's father, I instinctively asked, "Who?!"

"Rokosovsky," Khrushchev smiled at me and said meaningfully: "General Rokosovsky, commander of the Belarusian Front." (To be continued.)