Burning Moscow

　　 After Sokolovsky reported the bad news to Zhukov, the air in the room seemed to freeze in an instant, and it was so quiet that the breathing of the people in the room could be heard clearly. After a long time, Zhukov finally broke the silence. He asked in an unbelievable tone: "Comrade Sokolovsky, you confirm that what you reported is what actually happened on the battlefield, and not lurking in me. Rumors made by German spies in the army?"

"I can be sure, Comrade Marshal." Sokolovsky replied with an embarrassed expression: "This news, after repeated verifications, I can confirm that at least eight to ten divisions of German troops are discarding. After getting heavy equipment, it has entered the mountainous area."

Zhukov sat in his seat, staring at the map hanging on the wall, and did not speak for a long time. And Sokolovsky didn't dare to leave without getting his instructions, so he could only continue to stand still.

I know that it is useless to say anything now, Zhukov deployed all the mobile power that can be used to the south. If Hubei led his troops to the south, he would crash into the copper wall and iron wall made up of artillery and tanks, and finally end in smoke. But what is regrettable is that the cunning Hubei led his main force, headed into the mountains, and fled to the northwest, where our army's defenses were weak.

In order to break the dull atmosphere in the room, I stood up, walked over to stand side by side with Sokolovsky, and asked Zhukov blankly: "Comrade Marshal, since the German army has broken through the mountains in the northwest, what should we do? Measures to stop them?"

Zhukov glanced at me, although he picked up the high-frequency phone on the table, dialed a number, and said into the microphone: "Get me Marshal Konev."

The call was quickly connected, and Zhukov asked loudly, "Is Konev? This is Zhukov. How is the situation with you?"

"Comrade Marshal," Konev replied politely and respectfully on the phone: "When the Germans saw that the situation was not good, they dropped the tanks, artillery, and vehicles stuck in the mud, and walked towards The mountains in the northwest escaped."

"Good job, Comrade Konev." Zhukov said dryly: "Because our mobile forces are all deployed in the south, it is difficult to mobilize troops to intercept them in the short term. I don't know if you can send troops to chase the enemy. And continue to contain them in the Kamenets-Podolis base area to buy us time to mobilize troops?"

Regarding Zhukov’s proposal, Konev was silent for a long time, and then tactfully replied: "Comrade Marshal, you also know that the weather has been bad recently. It is either raining or snowing. The boundless muddy area makes the T-34 of our army. And new types of tanks are often stuck in the mud. It is more difficult for cars and artillery to advance and can only be propelled by manpower. In this case, troops with heavy equipment cannot catch up with the Germans."

Konev was very clever not to mention that the troops should advance lightly, because he knew that without the cooperation of tanks and artillery, even if the troops caught up with the Germans, they would not be able to destroy the enemy, so he would not do anything more.

Hearing Konev's rejection of his request, the expression on Zhukov's face did not fluctuate in the slightest. He simply sighed and said: "I see, Comrade Konev. I wish you good health!" Hang up the phone directly.

Zhukov leaned back, his back leaned against the back of the chair, his eyes were slightly closed, his fingers tapped gently on the table. Sokolovsky and I stood in place and waited patiently for him to give orders.

After a while, he opened his eyes and sat up straight, looking at me and asking: "Lida, if you are a commander of the front, what remedial measures would you take in this situation?"

In fact, when I just heard the conversation between Zhukov and Konev, I was silently thinking about how to deal with this situation. But it is a pity that the idea of ​​several schemes just came out, and I directly rejected it. Although our army has an advantage in strength, without the cooperation of tanks and artillery, even if it catches up with the fleeing German army, it is not an easy task to destroy them.

At this time, when Zhukov suddenly asked me such a question, I suddenly blurted out: "Since the muddy roads make it difficult for troops with tanks and artillery to move, let's dispatch the air force!"

"Comrade Oshanina, this is not appropriate." Before Zhukov could speak, Sokolovsky said embarrassedly: "Not only has the weather been bad recently, but it rains or snows every day. Our military field airport The runway has also become ***** Our pilots take great risks every time they take off."

"Lida," Zhukov called me, and reverted to a nickname from his last name, and he could see that his anger towards me had disappeared. He looked at me and asked, "Can we stop the German retreat by deploying the air force?"

"No." I didn't want to give him a hopeless hope, and finally affected my position in his mind, so I truthfully replied: "The terrain of the mountains is complex, and it is impossible for the Germans to huddle together and advance, so our It is simply impossible for air strikes to achieve great results."

"Since you all think that our air force cannot achieve an absolute victory in an air strike against the German army, why do you propose to let the air force be deployed?" Zhukov saw that I knew what the air force could not achieve, so he made such a proposal. , He asked curiously: "If we know that our air force takes off, we have to take a certain risk!"

"It is almost a matter of fact that the Germans escaped from our encirclement." After proposing the air strike plan, my thinking gradually became clear. "Because of the muddy roads, our armored forces cannot maneuver quickly. We just don’t have heavy weapons. The troops of China went to chase the enemy. Even if we caught up, we did not have the ability to eat them. So I think we should send planes to bomb those German troops that are passing through the mountains, delay their advancement, and win valuable resources for us to mobilize our troops. time."

After my proposal was finished, Zhukov did not immediately express his opinion, but turned his eyes to Sokolovsky and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you think?"

Sokolovsky has been dealing with Zhukov for a long time, and he knows the character of the deputy commander very well, knowing that as long as he does not immediately oppose the suggestion, he will agree with him. Therefore, he followed the flow of the boat and said: "Comrade Marshal, I think that Comrade Deputy Commander made a lot of sense. Since our troops cannot slow the retreat of the Germans, we can use air strikes to create some trouble for the Germans."

"Since you two agree," Seeing Sokolovsky also agreed with my proposal, Zhukov finally showed a little smile on his face, "Then I will notify Krasovsky and let him dispatch the air force, yes. The Germans who fled into the mountainous area carried out bombing." After speaking, he picked up the high-frequency phone on the table again and started dialing.

When Krasovsky's voice came out of the receiver, Zhukov's face returned to a calm expression: "General Krasovsky, I am Zhukov!"

"Comrade Marshal," Krasovsky seemed a little flustered when the speaker was Zhukov, "Do you have any new instructions?"

"Comrade Krasovsky, when the cunning German army saw their doomsday approaching, they dropped the heavy equipment stuck in the quagmire and fled lightly into the mountains to the northwest." Zhukov gave a brief introduction. After the situation, he began to give orders: "You immediately order the bomber formation to go to the mountainous area to bomb the fleeing German troops."

Krasovsky was taken aback by Zhukov’s words. He said in astonishment: "Comrade Marshal, don’t you know that the runways of our field airport have become ****? In this case, our The plane could not take off at all."

"Because of the muddy roads, our mechanized troops are difficult to maneuver quickly, so they cannot catch up with the fleeing enemy. After your air force is dispatched, you will carry out air strikes on the enemies in the mountains to delay their retreat speed so that we can mobilize our troops in time. , To implement front block and back block, so that they cannot escape our encirclement. Are there any difficulties?"

Krasovsky hesitated for a long time before reluctantly replied: "Comrade Marshal, we will do everything we can to drag the enemy in the mountains."

Zhukov raised his hand and looked at his watch, and then said, "Comrade Krasovsky, there are still three and a half hours before darkness. I hope your air force can take off in half an hour to bomb the retreating German troops. ."

After Zhukov issued a combat order to the Air Force, he raised his head and said to Sokolovsky: "The Chief of Staff, call Grechko, the commander of the 1st Guards Army, and ask him to order the troops to temporarily give up heavy weapons and go lightly. Pursue the German troops who fled into the mountains."

"Comrade Marshal," Sokolovsky said hesitantly after listening to Zhukov's order: "If the 1st Guards Army goes to chase the Germans with light outfits, even if they catch up, they won't be able to destroy the enemy?"

"Who said that Grechko was to destroy the enemy?" Zhukov seemed a little impatient with Sokolovsky's question: "As long as they catch up, the German troops who are retreating will definitely stay in order to escape the danger safely. The next part of the troops will serve as a deterrent mission. It may not be possible to eat the main German force in one bite, but I think there is no problem in destroying the German deterrent force. Even if we only wiped out one German division or even a regiment, it was a success. The ground consumes the effective strength of the German army, so that in the next battle, we can gain an advantage in strength."

Just when Sokolovsky turned to call and set up the task, Zhukov stood up and said to me: "Lida, accompany me to walk outside!"

Although it is already evening at the moment, Ukraine in April is the same as Russia. It gets dark later, and it will be dark until after ten o'clock. The only drawback of going for a walk at this time is that it is a bit cold. But since Zhukov offered to go for a walk, I couldn't refute his face, and could only nod immediately in agreement.

Coming out of the headquarters, I saw the road outside. Because there were a lot of vehicles rolling over and passing by countless people, and became ***** when I was embarrassed, Zhukov was already striding along the road. Walked forward. At this time, I can only walk along the scalp, step on the soft mud like a thick carpet, and follow Zhukov with one foot and one shallow. Two guards carrying submachine guns followed five or six steps away from us.

Zhukov was not so much walking as he was marching in a hurry. I walked at his speed for a while, and I felt a little panting, and started to sweat on his forehead. Zhukov may have noticed my embarrassment and slowed down a bit, so that I could barely walk with him.

"Lida, you are right." Zhukov suddenly said: "The facts have proved that your judgment is correct. I apologize to you for my behavior that day."

I know that what Zhukov said was about throwing a teacup at me that day. I waved my hands and said: "It's okay, Comrade Marshal, these are all trivial things. You don't need to take it to heart." In order to give Zhukov a step down, I He also added specifically, “I blame Hubei, the German general, for being too cunning. He commanded the troops to advance southward, giving us the illusion that they would definitely break through the south and retreat into Romania. In the end, he was just With a flick of a shot, he dropped his heavy equipment and fled to the mountains in the northwest."

After hearing what I said, Zhukov showed a bitter smile on his face: "It is estimated that the biggest result of this offensive battle of our army was the capture of hundreds of tanks and artillery that were left behind when the Germans fled in a hurry. And vehicles."

"Comrade Marshal, Comrade Marshal." At this moment, a shout suddenly came from behind. Both of us turned our heads and looked back at the same time. I saw Sokolovsky jogging all the way, as if holding a hand in his hand. A telegram.

When Zhukov took the telegram in Sokolovsky's hand and looked down ~www.wuxiaspot.com~ I looked around boredly. Suddenly, I found outside the door of a coffee shop not far away, there was an officer wearing a lieutenant's epaulette, smoking a cigarette with his back against the wall.

I was inadvertently, but after seeing this officer, my eyes focused on him. When Zhukov and I walked along the road, all the commanders encountered along the way took the initiative to yield to the side of the road and straightened up to salute us. And this lieutenant, not only did not salute, but he was still looking left and right while smoking, his expression looked a little flustered.

The officer soon discovered that I was observing him, so he threw the cigarette in his hand and walked towards us quickly.

not good! Seeing this abnormal behavior of the officer, an ominous feeling suddenly surged in my heart. I hurriedly stepped forward to block Zhukov's body, and put my hand on the holster at the same time, raised my left hand and pointed at the officer, loudly Said: "Hey, that commander, stand still and don't move!"

Before my words fell, the other party quickly pulled out the pistol and pointed the black hole at me. Almost at the same time I drew my pistol and aimed the muzzle at him, I could see that his finger pulled the trigger.

But fortunately, I heard a soft "click" from the opposite side, which seemed to be stuck. I caught the moment when the opponent was stunned and pulled the trigger decisively.

The bullet unbiasedly hit the lieutenant's right shoulder, and his huge inertia made him involuntarily leaned back and fell into the mud with a puff.

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