Burning Moscow

　　 "I said, comrades commanders! What are you doing?" Rokosovsky looked at the commanders around the table and couldn't help asking.

　　 His voice is not loud, but it is enough to attract the attention of everyone at the table. Hearing his voice, the commanders turned their heads and looked at us, all with unhappy expressions on their faces, wanting to see who was so impolite, so they jumped out to disturb everyone.

　　 When I saw that the people standing next to me were Rokosovsky and I, everyone's faces showed surprise. The commanders of the two regiments of 1073 and 1075, Chistyakov, Serebryakov, and several staff members of the division went straight to me, took a glance at Rokosovsky, and then gave me Stand at attention and salute, "Hello, comrade teacher! Welcome back!"

However, Leviakin and Political Commissar Yegorov walked to Rokosovsky without squinting, raised their hands to salute him, and reported: "Comrade Commander, Major General Leviakin, Political Commissar Yegoro The husband reports to you and welcomes you to the Eighth Guards Division."

The reason why there are separate reports to two people is that among the people present, only Leviakin and Yegorov have met Rokosovsky, so they directly salute the commander of the highest rank. . The rest of the people have never seen what the commander-in-chief looks like, so even if they see that the commander I support has a much higher rank than me, they still report to me as the commander in accordance with the regulations.

I looked at the supporting Rokosovsky with a bit of embarrassment, and explained to him: "They haven't seen you, so they didn't recognize you." Before he could speak, I hurriedly ordered the people in front of me. Officer, "This is General Rokosovsky, the commander of the 16th Army. Please report to him!"

　　 Hearing my order, Kistyakov and the others quickly turned to the right, stood at attention again, raised their hands to salute Rokosovsky, and loudly reported: "Comrade Commander,..."

　　 Unexpectedly, Rokosovsky raised his hand to stop what they wanted to say later, but directly asked Leviakin in front of him: "Comrade General, what is the current situation of the Eighth Guards Division?"

"The situation is very bad, Comrade Commander." Leviakin replied solemnly, and then turned to Rokosovsky's side and gestured to Rokosovsky: "We are making the current situation map of the enemy and the enemy. Please come and have a look."

　　 I first helped Rokosovsky to sit down, and then I also sat down, and then I asked everyone to sit down and study the enemy's situation together. Although everyone agreed verbally, only Leviakin and political commissar Yegorov sat down in the end, and the chief of staff Malinin who had just entered. The rest of the commanders stood upright and stood at the table.

　　 Rokosovsky looked at the map in front of him, and was about to speak when there was a sudden rush of footsteps at the door. I turned my head and looked at it. At the same time, I was surprised to find that the voices of the communicators had disappeared. Except for the two or three soldiers on duty beside the telegraph and telephone, everyone had left, and the room became extremely quiet.

　　A group of commanders came in. Judging from their ranks, except for a captain, the rest were either lieutenant colonel or major, all school-level officers. I saw a familiar face from the crowd, the major battalion commander who escorted us back to the division.

Leviakin stood up, coughed, cleared his throat and explained to us: "Comrade commander and division commander, before you come back, we notified all the battalion-level commanders in the whole division and asked them to come to the division for a meeting. . No, it’s all here."

　　Leviakin briefly explained the situation, and said to the group of commanders who had just entered: "Now, you can report your position and rank to the commander and comrades."

　　 Hearing his order, the commanders stepped forward to report to us in turn. The first to speak was the battalion commander. He said loudly to us: "I am Major Durov, the 1st Battalion Commander of the 1077th Infantry Regiment."

　　 "The Second Battalion Commander Major Panishev of the 1077 Regiment."

　　 "The third battalion commander of the 1077 regiment, Captain Lomov."

　　 "The deputy commander of the 1073 regiment and the first battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Chernigov."

　　"Major Xie Dulin, deputy commander of the 1075 regiment and commander of the third battalion."

　　 "Major Kulesov, commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 1075 Regiment."

　　……

I looked at these commanders blankly, and walked forward one after another, reporting my name, position, rank, etc. to me and Rokosovsky, guessing in my mind that Leviakin suddenly summoned so many commanders. The intention of the member. Many years later, when I checked the history of the Eighth Guards Division, I was surprised to find that the officers who participated in the meeting today actually included all the commanders of the division from the first to the ninth. At this moment, they are only serving as ordinary battalion-level commanders.

"Now for the meeting, please come to the front of the table." It was Leviakin who was speaking. With his order, all the commanders who had just entered the door gathered around and stood around the table, listening to Levi Yakin analyzes and explains the current battle situation.

　　 When I sat down just now, I looked at the map on the table. The red square representing the defense zone of our division was cut into three irregular areas by two blue arrows representing the German army. Each area is marked with the number of the defensive unit, and the 1073 regiment sandwiched by two arrows is the 1073 regiment. From the perspective of the situation, this regiment has almost been encircled by the Germans.

　　The topics of the meeting revolved around the situation of the 1073 regiment. Leviakin said straightforwardly: "Comrades commanders, everyone knows the situation. Because the enemy's offensive is very fierce, our troops have not blocked them for the time being. The line of defense we built hastily during the retreat was not only breached by them. The entire defensive area was also divided into three unconnected combat areas. The 1073 regiment has been trapped by the enemy. Today, the battalion-level and above commanders are summoned to the division headquarters for a meeting to discuss and study how to get rid of The unfavorable situation today."

Colonel Chistyakov, head of the 1073 regiment who spoke first, said anxiously: "I think our regiment should be withdrawn from the above-mentioned areas. Once the Germans complete the encirclement, we will face the fate of being wiped out. "

"Comrade commander is right, we should organize a breakout immediately," the deputy commander, Lieutenant Colonel Chernigov, who spoke with him, pointed his finger at the map, raised his head and said to the surrounding commanders: "I think we should Withdraw the troops here, and after uniting the 1075 and 1077 regiments, build a new defense in the existing area."

The words of the two played a role in inducing others, and the rest of the commanders also spoke. Everyone’s opinions were unexpectedly unified. They all suggested that the 1073 regiment should be immediately withdrawn from the existing area and united with the 1075 and 1077 regiments to establish a new one. Line of defense.

After everyone had finished talking about their opinions, the political commissar Yegorov spoke. Instead of expressing his views directly, he turned his attention to Rokosovsky: "Comrade Commander, what's your opinion? ?"

　　 Rokosovsky stared at the map in front of him, and asked without looking up: "How many troops does the 1073 regiment have?"

　　 Hearing this question, I looked up at Colonel Kistyakov standing at the table and repeated Rokosovsky’s question: "Comrade Colonel, how many people are there in your regiment?"

　　 The colonel lowered his head and replied with some embarrassment: "The whole regiment has gone through cruel fighting and reduced its staff by two-thirds. There are currently more than 1,500 people, including more than 300 seriously wounded."

　　 I turned my gaze to Serebryakov again and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, how many troops do you have in the 1075 regiment?"

　　 "Similar to the 1073 regiment, more than a thousand people, including hundreds of wounded."

　　 "The situation in our regiment is the same. With the wounded, the total strength is no more than 1,300." My gaze just turned to Leviakin, before I could speak, he had already answered the question I wanted to ask.

　　 "Comrade Lida," Rokosovsky asked solemnly, "I want to hear what your plans are?"

I organized a vocabulary in my mind before I said: "Comrade Commander, my division has suffered heavy losses in the continuous battle, and the army has lost more than two-thirds. With this strength, it is necessary to defend such a large area. Very difficult. According to what everyone just said, it would be a relatively safe way to temporarily retreat troops and combine the forces of the three regiments to conduct a joint defense. But..."

　　 "But what?" Rokosovsky frowned when he heard me say to retreat. When I heard that I still had something to say, he quickly asked, "Do you have any good ideas?"

"If the 1073 regiment retreats and merges with the 1075 and 1077 regiments, on the surface our army's defense strength will be strengthened, but the entire line of defense has been forced to retreat." I stood up and pointed to the defense zone of the 1073 regiment on the map. "If the German forces occupy here, they will assemble here and use it as a forward base. Then they can launch a continuous offensive against our army. Everyone feels that with our existing forces, they can stop them from round and round. A round of offensive? Under their fierce offensive, we will have to retreat again so that it won’t be long before they are approaching Moscow." After listening to my words, there was a sound of cold air around me, look. Come to my analysis to let everyone see the unfavorable consequences caused by the retreat. I continued to add: "In view of the current situation, I intend to let the 1073 Regiment continue to hold on to its original position and contain the German troops, so that they dare not rush to the rear of our army unscrupulously."

　　 "But where should I supplement my troops? You know, I don't have a reserve team at the moment!" Rokosovsky was afraid that I would ask him for a reserve team, so he made a statement first.

　　 I know what he said is true. The group army headquarters has completely interrupted the communication with other troops during the retreat. Don’t talk about the reserve team. The only unit that can be directly commanded is probably only me, the Eighth Guards Division.

　　 "Comrade Commander," Ma Linin said softly beside him, "May I make a suggestion?"

　　 "My comrade chief of staff, just say anything. Time is running out, don't hesitate."

"I think there are two things we need to do at the moment: one is to get in touch with the headquarters of the front army immediately, to ask for instructions on the next task and to request more reserve teams to be sent to us; the other is to send people to take shelter and retreat from Klin and Sun Mountain City. The troops that came down, put them into the battle sequence of the Eighth Guards Division. What do you think?"

"Great!" Rokosovsky patted Malinen on the shoulder excitedly, and said loudly, "My comrade chief of staff, your idea is really great. What are you waiting for? Go and talk to the commander of the front army. Department contact."

　　 "Yes!" Ma Lining agreed, and hurriedly ran to the telegraph machine to send the report.

　　 The topic of discussion has already come to fruition. I looked around and saw the commanders present. Because I had heard the dialogue between the commander and the chief of staff just now, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the frizzy eyebrows were stretched out. Especially during my absence, Leviakin, who has been acting as a teacher, even showed a rare smile on his face.

"Comrades commanders~www.wuxiaspot.com~ I cleared my throat and gave them my first order after returning to the division: "The task has been clarified, that is, to continue to stay on the original position and hold on. Don't go back! As long as there is one person, the enemy must not be allowed to move forward. have you understood? "

　　 "Understood!" The commanders who participated in the meeting agreed neatly.

Let me add another sentence: “The gap between the enemy’s weapons and equipment cannot be changed in the short term, so after everyone returns, we must immediately organize the soldiers to carry out civil work, dig more bomb craters and air-raid shelters, and be prepared for big and bad battles. Now that you have finished speaking, go back to your respective teams!"

　　 "Yes!" After the commanders agreed neatly, they saluted us and left one after another.

　　 I sat down again and watched Rokosovsky and Yegorov’s political commissars study where to set up shelters, accommodate the troops that have withdrawn from the city, and how to reorganize them.

　　 "Comrade Commander, there is a call from the front army." Ma Lining stood beside us with a telegram and reported.

　　 "What did the front army say?" When asked this, Rokosovsky still had a smile on his face.

"The telegram was personally replied by Sokolovsky, the new chief of staff of the front army. He conveyed to us the order of Comrade Zhukov, commander of the front army, to order the 16th Army to immediately integrate the troops under its jurisdiction. On November 27, that is, Tomorrow, launch a counterattack against Sun Mountain City!"

　　 "What? Counterattack Sun Mountain City tomorrow?!" This abrupt order stunned everyone in the house.