Burning Moscow

In the face of the hospitality of his subordinates, General Afanasyev did not show the slightest arrogance, but smiled kindly and thanked him, took the phone in Boroda's hand, and placed it on the table. He picked up the microphone and dialed a number, and said in a low voice: "I am General Afanasiev of the 2nd Assault Army. Please pick me up with General Meretskov, commander of the Volkhov Front."

After a while, the call seemed to be connected, and he said with a bit of excitement: "Hello, Kirill Afanasyevich, this is Afanasyev. Yes, I stood out. Thank you. You sent troops to pick me up. I am currently at the division headquarters of the 378th Division, with the acting commander Major Oshanina and the acting chief of staff Lieutenant Boroda!..."

When Afanasiev was on the phone with Meletskov, I asked Boroda in a low voice: "Comrade Captain, you used to be a security guard for Comrade General."

Boroda glanced at the general who was calling, and replied in a low voice, "Yes. I stayed with the general for five years, first as a security guard, and later as a guard squad leader, until the Soviet-Finnish war. Leave before breaking out."

"He said he was very happy to see you alive. What did you mean? You told me that when you were working in the 7th Army, you were injured near Petrozavodsk, and you didn’t recover from your injuries soon. Served as the commander of the guard company of the Military Committee of the Group Army. Doesn’t General Afanasyev know all this?

In response to my questioning, Boroda patiently explained: "Comrade General did not know the injury that time. He knew it was another time."

"Oh, have you ever suffered an injury?" His words aroused my greater curiosity. It made me want to know what happened afterwards, "Let's talk about it. As a partner, I want to know more about you."

He blushed when he heard my question. I am a little embarrassed to say: "It happened at the end of 1941. Not long after I was transferred to General Meretskov, I accompanied him to inspect near Tikhvin. When we arrived, we were catching up with Koshevo. The Iraqi-commanded division’s attack on the Germans was frustrated. The troops withdrew to the starting point of the attack. General Meretskov saw this scene and decided to cheer up the soldiers, so he went to the forward troops himself. The soldiers saw the commander. After the soldiers, their morale rose immediately, and they immediately got up and threw themselves into the impact again. This time, they successfully rushed through the enemy's position. However, a fascist machine gunner hid in the woods and shot us violently. Xie Liujing, another guard and superior soldier, rushed on the general and protected him with our own body. At that time, I saw a 45mm gun next to me. So I got up and rushed to the artillery. I shot it with a direct aim. I dropped this machine gun. But I didn’t expect that after I fired the gun, I would be seriously injured by the last shot of the enemy before he died."

Heard him say so. I just understood why Meretskov would let a captain be the division leader, even though it was an acting position. But it can also be seen that Comrade Commander attaches great importance to him. And perhaps I was impressed by the performance of the second lieutenant's training team in the 52nd Army when he counterattacked the German army. This is how the acting commander was appointed.

While thinking about it, I suddenly heard the voice of General Afanasyev calling me: "Major Oshanina."

I looked up. The general was covering the microphone with his hand and calling me: "Major Oshanina, come and take the call."

I pointed my nose to my nose and asked uncertainly: "Comrade General, are you calling me?"

"Yes," he replied impatiently, "Comrade commander of the front army wants to talk to you."

I quickly stood up, took the microphone from his hand, put it in my ear, and respectfully said into the microphone: "Hello, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I am acting commander Major Oshanina, I am waiting for you. The command."

Meletskov’s voice came from the microphone: "Comrade Oshanina, I heard from General Afanasyev that you personally led the troops to rescue him. You did a good job, good job! I’m right. You are very satisfied with your performance!" The general's praise made me irritated. Although I tried my best to control my emotions, the corners of my mouth still turned up slightly. Just listen to him and continue to say: "Immediately hand over the command of the division to Captain Boroda, and you will rush to the front army headquarters with General Afanasyev immediately."

I looked at the darkened sky outside the window. I guessed it was already around ten o'clock in the evening. If there was nothing important, Meletskov would not let me go to the headquarters immediately. So I couldn't help but ask: "Comrade General, can I ask anything important?"

"Tomorrow morning, there will be a meeting at the headquarters of the Front Army. In addition to the commanders of the army groups, there will also be the commanders of the divisions. We will review some of the problems that were exposed during the breakout of the 2nd assault army, and Some arrangements for the new campaign.” Although my question was a bit abrupt, General Meretskov patiently explained it to me, which made me flattered.

I quickly replied: "Understood, Comrade Commander. After I transferred the command of the division to Captain Boroda, I immediately accompanied General Afanasyev to the front army headquarters."

When I heard the beep from the microphone, I put the microphone back on the phone. Turning his head and said solemnly to Boroda: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I have received an order from Commander Meretskov to rush to the headquarters of the Front Army with General Afanasyev to attend an important military meeting. Everything in the teacher is temporarily handed over to you."

"Comrade Master," Boroda stood up and replied politely: "You can go to the meeting with confidence, and leave it to me." After a pause, he said: "Yes, there is one more thing. I haven't had time to report to you. During the day, several regiment leaders called to report to me, saying that the troops have basically been assembled, and they can go to the new battlefield immediately after your order."

I am very satisfied with the rare and high benefits shown by these new subordinates. I nodded and said, "You let them stay in the original defense zone for a while. When will they leave, and wait for the next order in the division." Having said that, I suddenly remembered that I didn't know where the front army headquarters was, and Afa General Nasiyev did not necessarily know the new headquarters of the headquarters. I had to ask Boroda: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you deserve where the headquarters of the front is located?"

Boroda nodded vigorously and said, "I know. I set off directly from the front army headquarters with the troops to rescue the command staff of the 2nd Assault Army. I will call a soldier to be your guide. ." Finished. He raised his voice and shouted at the door: "Xie Liujing, come in."

Following his shout, a sergeant came in from outside. He walked in front of us, raised his hand in salute after standing at attention, and loudly reported: "Comrades in the report commander, Sergeant Xie Liujing was ordered to come and await your orders.

Hearing that this was the soldier who had saved General Meretskov's life with Boroda, I couldn't help but look at him a few more times. He is of medium build and has a round face. There is a long scar on the left face. I don't know whether it was wounded by shrapnel or scratched by bullets.

Boroda nodded at him. Said: "Xie Liujing, I now give you a task to guide the general and division commander. Take them to the front army headquarters."

Xie Liujing glanced at me and Afanasyev, and immediately stood up and replied loudly: "I promise to complete the task."

Because the road to the front army headquarters is not peaceful. I didn't dare to take it lightly. I didn't want to protrude from the encirclement with all the hardships, and then was ambushed by German troops on the way to the headquarters for a meeting, and ended up being captured or killed, so I deliberately strengthened the guards. So I asked Captain Gusev, the guard battalion commander, to prepare a motorcycle, a jeep, and two trucks for me. Xie Liujing and two other motorized company soldiers from the front army command led the way on motorcycles; then there was a truck with Afanasiyev's guards from the former 2nd Assault Group. Soldiers; in the truck behind the palace, two squads of guard soldiers led by the new lieutenant Vaskov were sitting. The jeep that General Afanasyev and I rode in the middle of the two trucks.

General Afanasyev and I were sitting in the back seat of the jeep. After the convoy set off, we both looked out the window and none of us spoke.

After about an hour, General Afanasyev suddenly asked, "Major Oshanina, are all what you said today is true?"

"What did you say?" I remember that since I saw the general, I seemed to have said a lot to him, and I didn't know what he was referring to when he suddenly asked, so I had to ask clearly. So I asked him politely: "Comrade General, we have talked a lot today, I don't know which one you are referring to?"

General Afanasyev said with a serious expression: "It is about General Plivalov. Are you sure what you said to me is true?"

Hearing this question, I immediately understood that he wanted to confirm whether General Privalov had committed the mistake I said, so I nodded seriously and replied: "Comrade General, what I said is true. On this point, you can ask him for confirmation after you see Colonel Zizolifu at the front army headquarters."

The general nodded his head with an expression on his face, and said: "If this is the case, when I see Commander Meretskov, I will definitely ask him to deal with this matter seriously..."

At this point, the jeep suddenly braked suddenly. I was caught off guard. I slammed forward and slammed into the back of the seat in front of me. While rubbing my sore chest, I asked the driver angrily, "What's the matter? Why did I stop suddenly?"

The driver turned his head and said aggrieved: "Report to Comrade Commander, the car in front suddenly stopped."

I turned my head and said to General Afanasiyev: "Comrade General, you stay in the car first, I will go down and see what is going on?" Seeing the general nod slightly, I opened the door and walked down.

Just a few steps forward, I saw Xie Liujing running towards him. He ran in front of me and raised his hand to salute the report and said: "Comrade teacher, there is a big tree in the middle of the road turning in front, blocking the path of the convoy, and a few more people need to move away."

A tree fell in the middle of the road? Hearing what Xie Liujing said, I suddenly became vigilant. In those film and television works, the guerrillas usually put a tree in the middle of the road before the ambush, waiting for the enemy to enter the ambush circle. When someone was sent to try to remove the tree, the fire suddenly opened. But at this moment, the Germans were ambushing on both sides, and we became the target of being ambushed.

The soldiers under General Afanasyev got out of the car. Vaskov also got out of the car with the soldiers of the guard platoon, and a large group of people surrounded the car. Seeing all this, I yelled anxiously: "What are you squeezing here for? Do you want the Germans to target you? Disperse quickly. Ten people will help Xie Liujing move the tree away, and the rest will go to the forest. Go and search. See if there are any Germans in ambush."

After being reminded by me like this, everyone immediately became alert, and all fell apart. Xie Liujing took ten soldiers to move the tree, while Vaskov left a squad of soldiers to guard around the jeep, and took the remaining men into the forest to search for possible Germans. General Afanasyev, who was sitting in the car, wanted to get out of the car and have a look. When I stopped him on the grounds of danger outside, I told him to lean down and hide in the car so as not to become a target of German snipers.

The trees blocking the road were quickly removed, and I guess the German ambush still did not appear. Seeing Xie Liujing standing in front of me and returning to life. I can't help but doubt my judgment. Did I guess wrong. Is it really just a tree that fell in the middle of the road by accident?

Perhaps hearing that nothing was going on outside, Afanasyev sat up straight and poked his head out of the car window. Ask me: "Major Oshanina, what's the matter? Where is the German you mentioned?"

My face blushed. Some embarrassing replied: "Comrade General, maybe I made a mistake."

The general said displeasedly: "Then when can we start again?"

I quickly replied: "Please wait a moment. When the warriors from the forest search come back, we will set off immediately."

The general raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said impatiently: "Hurry up and call them back, we still have a long way to go."

"Yes!" I promised and turned and told Xie Liujing: "Comrade Sergeant, you immediately call Lieutenant Vaskov in the forest back, and then we will set off."

Xie Liujing promised and turned around to leave. With a snap of the gun, Xie Liujing fell to the ground with his legs. A thought came to my mind: "No, it's a German sniper."

I fell to the ground, and just about to start warning the other soldiers, Xie Liujing already shouted loudly: "Everyone, lie down, there are German snipers in the forest."

There was a snap, and another shot. A bullet hit a place not far from me, exploding a dust, splashing pebbles hitting my face and it hurt and hurt, and I couldn’t help groaning. Screamed. Xie Liujing, who was lying not far away, asked with concern: "Comrade Commander, are you injured?"

I shook my head and said, "No, it was a splash of pebbles hitting my face."

When I was talking to Xie Liujing, all the warriors who were on guard fell to the ground, and opened them with guns in the direction where the bullets came.

Seeing the soldiers shooting out bullets without money, I was trembling with anger. I had never seen such a prodigal, before I saw what the enemy was like, hundreds of bullets were shot out. I shouted again and again: "Don't make bursts, make a few shots, make a few shots!" However, the crisp and dense gunfire made my shouts impossible for the soldiers to hear.

"Don't make bursts, use a few shots, I heard no, you **** guys!" Xie Liujing lying next to me repeated my words loudly. His voice was louder than mine. After yelling a few times, the soldiers stopped. Then I shot blindly, but shot one after another.

At this moment, I clearly saw a figure running in a zigzag pattern between the trees, concealing the figure, rushing to the depths of the forest, 70 or 80 meters away. The figure moves very quickly, and within a few seconds, it may disappear from our sight.

At this moment, a gunshot sounded in my ear, and Xie Liujing took off the rifle he was carrying, aimed at the figure and pulled the trigger. The bullet flew over the enemy's head and hit a tree. The man was taken aback and paused in the same place. Before he could move again, another bullet hit in front of him, shaking the bushes in front of him for a while.

The man was so scared that he hid behind a tree, Xie Liujing and the soldiers shot at the tree one after another, sealing all the retreats on both sides of the tree, and shielding and realizing that the enemy is heading there. They rushed to Vaskov.

Vaskov and the others moved very fast, and within two minutes they rushed to the vicinity of the tree. From a distance I saw Vaskov dived behind the tree, and then he hugged him and fell out with another person. The surrounding soldiers hurriedly stepped forward, separated the two with hands and feet, and cut the cold shot guy back to our side with his hands.

Seeing the captives coming over, I breathed a sigh of relief and got up from the ground. When he was about to walk over, he heard the voice of General Afanasyev again. He asked nervously, "Major Oshanina, how is the situation?"

I turned my head and glanced at him, and replied: "Comrade General, a German sniper, has been caught by us."

After a while, the captive was taken to me. I looked at this young soldier in a German uniform with contempt, and then asked Vaskov standing next to him with concern: "Feija, are you not injured?"

Vaskov grinned silently~www.wuxiaspot.com~ and shook his head, saying that he was not injured.

Xie Liujing, who was helped by his comrades in arms, asked me angrily: "Comrade Commander, what should I do with this prisoner."

An unexpected scene happened. The prisoner knelt in front of us and shouted loudly: "Comrade Commander, forgive me, I was forced. I am Ukrainian, my own."

Ukrainians, Ukrainians in German uniforms. I looked fiercely at the soldier kneeling in front of me, and realized that the sniper was a captured defector, so I gave Vaskov an order without mercy: "Lieutenant, you are not polite to this traitor of the motherland. In the forest-shot to death."

Vaskov agreed excitedly and let the two fighters carry the sniper into the forest.

Soon, I heard a crisp gunshot.

ps:

Thanks to the book friends: the monthly ticket support of the Tian family girl, the secret history of the golden dragon, the dead Hachi, and the reward and encouragement of the round golden egg of the book friend.