Burning Moscow

Because Pugachev’s Second Regiment had a bitter lesson of being defeated by German shelling, Pugachev, whom I blamed, has always had high standards and strict requirements for the construction of fortifications since that failure. Upon hearing I order them to build fortifications on the hillside, they immediately replied without hesitation: "Yes, comrade teacher, I immediately arrange for manpower to build fortifications on the hillside."

I raised my hand and looked at my watch, and asked casually, "Captain Pugachev, have you seen my jeep?"

Since I don't know where the driver has driven the jeep after being ordered to send the ensign of the engineer, and Pugachev, who came later, I don't have to meet it, so I just ask it casually.

Unexpectedly, Pugachev immediately replied: "I saw it. When our group first arrived at the foot of the mountain, your driver happened to be driving from the direction of the city. He showed me the road up the mountain."

Hearing that the jeep was under the hillside, I urged Razumeyeva: "Let’s go, Comrade Ensign, come with me. I hope Colonel Dubyansky has not gone far." After speaking, I turned around. Go, just two steps out of the shelter, I stopped again, opened the curtain and told Pugachev: "Captain Pugachev, we must hurry up on the fortifications. The Germans will not give us too much. Time to deploy the defense, it's impossible to say when their offense will begin."

As I walked down the hill, I saw that the jeep was parked near the checkpoint. Due to the retreat of the 35th Guards Division and the group army headquarters, this checkpoint was also empty at the moment, and the roadblock that was in the middle of the road was also empty. Was moved to the side of the road. The driver had not received a new order from me, so he had to smoke a cigarette beside the car alone.

Seeing Razumeyeva and I walking down the hillside, he quickly threw the cigarette **** to the ground, ran it a few times with his toes, and then ran towards us. He stood in front of us. He smiled and asked, "Comrade teacher, where are you going, do you need a car?"

I nodded first. Then he asked: "I'm going to find Colonel Dubyansky, the commander of the 35th Guards Division. Have you seen him on the way?"

The driver frowned and thought for a while. Then he shook his head and replied, "I'm sorry, comrade commander, I don't know Colonel Dubyansky, nor have I seen him. But on the way back, I saw a few jeeps. Maybe you are looking for the commander. Right in the car."

Although I think the jeeps that the driver saw on the road may all belong to the command of the group army. But if you want to keep the women's communication class of the Guards Division right now, you can only try your luck. So I shook my head at the driver and said, "Come on, Comrade Driver, take us to chase the jeeps and see which car we are looking for Colonel Dubyansky."

As the guards and the direct units of the group army are retreating, the roads leading to the city are full of walking commanders. The drivers have to keep honking their horns. The commanders and fighters walking on the road heard the horns of the cars. Give to the side of the road. Give our jeep a barely passable road.

Due to the crowded roads, our jeep drove for at least ten minutes, but I felt that it was less than two kilometers ahead. I felt suffocated in the car. He pushed open the door and asked loudly at the soldiers who were carrying anti-tank guns next to him: "Hey, I said, comrades, which part of you are you?"

The soldiers on the side of the road turned their heads and glanced at me, ignored me, and continued to walk forward in silence. Seeing no one answered me, I smiled awkwardly, and closed the car door just after I was about to retract. At this moment, a political worker walked to my car door. He saluted me as he walked. Asked politely: "Comrade Commander, which part do you belong to?"

I glanced at the military rank on the collar of the political worker. He replied: "Comrade Political Instructor, I am Colonel Oshanina, the teacher of the Independent Division, which part of you are you?"

After hearing my identity, the political instructor quickly replied to me: "Report to Comrade Colonel that we belong to the 101st Guards Infantry Regiment, and I am the political instructor of the anti-tank company Gerasimov."

"Do you know where your teacher is?"

Gerasimov looked around and asked, "Comrade Colonel, I don’t know which division commander you are talking about? The original division commander, General Gorazkov, died in the morning battle. It was the deputy who took over his command position. Commander Colonel Dubyansky."

"Of course I'm looking for Colonel Dubyansky."

Instructor Gerasimov looked around, then pointed to the front and said affirmatively: "I saw the commander a few minutes ago. He should be not far in front now."

I looked forward and didn't see the shadow of the jeep. I couldn't help but said disappointedly: "I didn't see a car in front. Maybe his car has already entered the city."

Gerasimov glanced at me with a strange look, and then said in surprise: "No, Colonel Dubyansky walks like us, not in a car."

Hearing that Colonel Dubyansky was walking instead of riding in a car, I was immediately delighted. After thanking Gerasimov, I closed the car door and urged the driver: "Comrade driver, drive faster, we The Colonel Dubyanski I was looking for was right ahead."

Although the driver agreed very readily, it is not easy to speed up on a road full of marching troops. The driver slammed the horn and our speed was only slightly faster than walking.

Fortunately, I quickly saw Dubyansky in the crowd. I patted the driver on the shoulder and told him: "Comrade driver, stop here."

Before the car stopped, I pushed the door and jumped down. Although the speed of the car was very slow, the inertia still made me stagger forward involuntarily and directly hit a soldier on the side of the road. The soldier who was hit by me turned around angrily and waved his fist to teach me. When he saw the rank on my collar, he put down his fist in shock, mumbled a word, and continued to walk forward. .

I saw Dubyanski just seven or eight meters away, and quickly squeezed toward him, and at the same time shouted loudly: "Colonel Dubyanski, Colonel Dubyanski."

Hearing my shout, Colonel Dubyansky and the soldiers around him stopped and stood in place. Soldiers on the march. Seeing that his path was blocked by his teacher, they all walked around from both sides one after another. Dubyansky looked at me blankly, without any expression on his face.

I squeezed hard in front of him. After a long sigh of relief, he said, "Thank God, Comrade Colonel. I finally caught up with you."

Dubyansky looked at me suspiciously, and asked faintly: "Colonel Oshanina, the change of defense for our two divisions has ended. You came after you deliberately. Is there anything wrong?"

"That's it, Comrade Colonel." I said to him with a bright smile: "Did you not leave a women's communication class in the ravine behind the high ground? And my independent teacher, you know better than you It’s a newly established unit, and there is a shortage of manpower in all aspects. Now our division has accepted the task of holding on to the high ground. If the division’s communications company is not manpowered enough, it will not be able to ensure smooth communication between the division’s headquarters and the forward positions. I specifically came to you this time because I wanted to make a request to you to include this communication class in the organizational system of our teacher. I don't know what your intentions are?"

When I said this, I was mentally prepared to be rejected by Dubyansky. If he disagrees, I will go to Trikov or Gurov and ask them to go out to coordinate the matter. Unexpectedly, Dubyansky just thought about it for a moment. So he smiled and said, "Colonel Oshanina, depending on what you said, you and I are all friendly forces. In order to ensure that you stick to the high ground. Don't talk about a female communication class, even if you want me to be a battalion, I will not Hesitate to support you."

I was overjoyed when I heard that Dubyansky agreed to keep the women's communication class. I grabbed the colonel's hand and shook it vigorously, thanking him again and again: "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Colonel Dubyansky." When letting go of his hand. I suddenly remembered that Corporal Stukalova, the communications team leader, needed a written order, so I said embarrassedly: "But Comrade Colonel. You may have to give me a written order before I can officially accept the women’s communications class."

my words. It made Dubyansky very strange, he asked inexplicably: "Colonel Oshanina, what is going on?"

"When I came, Corporal Stukalova, the squad leader of the Women's Communication Division, said in person that a written order must be signed personally by the commander of the 35th Division of the Guards so as not to violate the regulations."

Dubyansky laughed heartily, "I didn't expect a corporal to dare to embarrass the commander of the independent division. Colonel Oshanina, don't worry, I will write you a written order immediately." He took out the memo pad and pencil from the briefcase, and after writing half a page in a dashing manner, he signed his name at the bottom right, tore off the page and handed it to me, smiling and saying, "Okay, Oshanin Colonel Na, you only need to take this order back to Corporal Stukalova, then the communications squad will officially be under the command of the Independent Division."

After thanking Dubyansky again, I turned and returned to the jeep. As soon as I got into the car, Razumeyeva, who was sitting in the car, couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade Commander, how is it? Have you got the written order?"

I stretched out my finger and flicked the written command in my hand, and said proudly to Razumeyeva: "Of course, as long as I come forward, there is really nothing that can't be done."

Razumeyeva took the written order and read it carefully, and smiled excitedly and said: "Comrade Teacher, it is great. With this written order, the women's communication class will naturally become a member of our independent teacher. In this way, the strength of my communications company can be strengthened."

After our jeep returned to the foot of the hillside, when I got off the car, I specifically told the driver: "Comrade driver, find a way to hide the jeep, otherwise if it is discovered by the German plane, they can only be placed outside and let them play as a target. "After that, I waved my head to Razumeyeva and said coolly: "Let's go, Comrade Lieutenant, let's go back to the headquarters."

As we walked up the southern slope, we saw soldiers from the Second Regiment digging fortifications on the slope. Razumeyeva asked curiously: "Comrade Master, our positions are all on the northern slope, why do we need to dig fortifications on the southern slope?"

I pointed to the hillside with bushes and thorny plants and said to Razumeyeva, "Lat. Lazumeyeva, look. The whole high ground is full of bushes and low plants. There is nothing to do. The woods for troop concealment hug so many troops on the high ground. The German reconnaissance plane pilot is not blind. As long as he reports the intelligence of the reconnaissance, the overwhelming planes will bomb Mamayev Hill. At that time, we The division’s strength is no matter how large it is. Under the saturated bombing of the German army, it will also be lost, so it is necessary to find a way to hide the troops. This way, the enemy will not be discovered. It can also be used when the forward force is tight. To carry out reinforcements in a timely manner."

While talking, we both came outside the headquarters unknowingly. Three enemy planes passed over the high ground and flew to the northeast. I shook my head and looked at the enemy planes in the sky. I suddenly felt a little uneasy. I quickly took out the orders in my briefcase and handed them to Razumeyeva. , And at the same time instructed her: "Comrade Lieutenant. You immediately give the order to Corporal Stukalova, and at the same time ask the girls to seize the time to dig air-raid shelters nearby to prevent possible German air strikes." Razumeeva agreed. He took the paper order in my hand and ran into the ravine.

After Razumeyeva left, I raised my telescope and looked at the Volga River in the northeast. I saw a wharf by the river next to Mamayevgang, crowded with civilians fleeing, squeezing toward a steamship just near the shore.

After the enemy plane flew over the pier, it dropped its height and swooped down toward the crowd gathered at the pier. At the same time, they started shooting and dropping bombs. Thousands of civilians crowded on the small dock. Except for those close to the ship who could squeeze onto the ship, the rest of the crowd had nowhere to hide. There was nowhere to flee, except to stand there as a target for German aircraft shooting. After the three planes were pulled up one after another, the crowds had been plowed out of three fleshy alleys by dense machine gun bullets.

When the enemy hovered in the air and was about to dive again, the anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine gun positions on the pier opened fire for the first time. Our air defense fighters prepared to use intensive firepower to knock down all the three invading enemy planes.

However, in ground-to-air combat, the side defending on the ground is always at a disadvantage. Because the anti-aircraft gun positions and the anti-aircraft machine gun positions are fighting separately. After the pouring of countless ammunition, the enemy plane was undamaged. It also destroyed several air defense positions of our army one after another. An artillery shell on an anti-aircraft artillery position destroyed by a bomb was smashed, and the shrapnel flying horizontally knocked down many nearby civilians.

Seeing that the dock became a **** on earth under the bombardment of enemy planes. My heart squeezed, and my throat seemed to be blocked by a mass of bitter things. Although I was gritted with anger, I couldn't do anything about what happened on the dock.

However, the sacrifice of air defense positions bought precious time for civilians to avoid. The steamship on the pier didn't wait for it to be full of passengers, and braved the enemy's strafe and bombardment, it hurriedly left the pier and headed for the east bank. Those civilians who were not able to board the ship also hid disappointedly in the bomb ditch, crater and bunker where they had been hiding.

The three enemy planes hovered over the dock for two more days after throwing the bombs and lighting up the bullets before flying away. Seeing the enemy plane flying away, the people at the dock walked out of their hiding place again, looking for their dead or injured relatives and friends. For a while, the dock fell into chaos again.

"Comrade Commander, what happened on the dock?" Razumeyeva asked curiously, not knowing when to walk back to me.

"Let's take a look, Comrade Lieutenant." I put the telescope into her hand angrily, and gritted my teeth, "Remember the heinous crimes the fascist bandits committed against our country and people. Sooner or later, one day, We want them to pay their debts."

Razumeyeva raised her binoculars and looked at it within two minutes. Three more enemy planes appeared in the sky, still passing over the high ground and flying towards the pier in the northeast. These **** Germans did not wait for us to treat the dead and injured civilians. Their second wave of planes came again. The three new planes, like the previous batch of enemy planes, once arrived at the wound on the pier, they bombed and fired mercilessly on the crowds moving on the pier.

But this time our air defense forces were well prepared. Their continuous shooting finally achieved results. An enemy plane was cut off by the shrapnel of anti-aircraft shells and one side of its wings was cut off, and it rolled and planted to the Volga River. Soon a white umbrella bloomed in the sky, and it seemed that the pilot jumped in time.

Seeing the downed German plane, I couldn't help but throw a fist in excitement. And the remaining two planes, after their colleagues were shot down, did not dare to dive unscrupulously, they could only hover in the air for a while, then turned around and flew away griefly.

I saw the enemy planes far away, and I thought to myself that the German planes had been dispatched twice in a row in order to bomb the civilians on the pier. They would not come again for the third time. Just thinking of this, the roar of aircraft motors came from the sky, and then several black spots appeared in my field of vision. Seeing this scene, I almost gave myself a mouth. It's really a crow's mouth to scold myself secretly. I just thought that the enemy plane was coming, but I didn't expect them to come.

Saw the enemy plane getting closer and closer to the high ground. Razumeyeva and I were still standing there, and I had clearly seen that there were six planes in the sky this time. I don't know how much casualties it will cause to civilians on the dock.

As I was thinking, the plane flying over Mamayev Hill did not fly towards the pier, but dived towards us. At this moment, I was surprised to find that this wave of enemy planes did not go to the pier at all, but came to bomb Mamayev Hill. I hurriedly raised my throat and shouted at the commanders who were busy on the hillside: "Air raid alert, air raid alert, hide away!"

But my order was obscured by the loud explosion of the bomb. Then I was slammed to the ground by a man. I was lying on the ground, listening to the explosions one after another, feeling the slightly trembling ground, and I couldn't help but panic. The German airstrike came too suddenly. Their planes flew high above the ground twice, turning a blind eye to the busy commanders full of mountains and valleys, but went to attack the pier on the Volga River, letting our commanders and fighters unknowingly relax. In order to be vigilant, I thought that the target of the German air raid was only the pier, not the Mamayev Hill. So when the commanders and fighters attacked by an enemy plane. Still busy on the hillside, I didn't even think of hiding, after the bombing. I don’t know how many people will be injured or killed in my first regiment and second regiment.

I tentatively raised my head to look at the situation nearby, but my sight was blocked by the billowing black smoke. I couldn't see farther, and I couldn't even know what happened to the nearby soldiers who were digging fortifications.

The enemy plane's bombing and shooting of the high ground lasted for ten minutes, but to me, it was as long as ten days. After the enemy plane finished throwing bombs and hitting the airborne machine gun bullets, fanning its wings and flying away, the man who was pressing on me stood up. He reached out and pulled me up from the ground. I looked up and saw that it was Lieutenant Razumeeva who had just overwhelmed me. At this moment, her face was black and white with the smoke, I nodded to her quickly. Turn around and run into the command post. I want to find out about the losses in this air strike.

When I opened the curtain and rushed into the headquarters, I found that Pugachev and another soldier standing inside had become natives. The explosion of the bomb shook the soil on the roof and fell all of them. I grabbed the phone on the desk and shook the handle twice. I was about to call, only to find that there was no sound inside.

Pugachev shook his head, and said regretfully: "Comrade Commander, after the airstrike started, the phone couldn't get through. Maybe the line was blown up."

I hurriedly asked, "Have someone been sent to check the line?"

Pugachev shook his head again and replied, "No, the communications soldiers who followed us were called away by Lieutenant Razumeeva. I don't know where they are now."

When I heard Razumeyeva’s name, I remembered the female soldiers I met outside the tent of the women’s communication class, and quickly said: “I know that they are all in the tent in the ravine. Meyeva told them to check the line and resume communications between the division headquarters and the frontier as soon as possible."

Having said this, I suddenly thought of what I wanted to know the most, and hurriedly asked: "During the air strike just now, how about the casualties of your regiment?"

Pugachev said with a weeping face: "I don't think it is too small. The German airstrike came so suddenly, and the troops did not prepare at all. Moreover, most of the commanders and fighters are repairing fortifications on the hillside, which is the best target for attack. The regiment’s casualties are at least one-third."

"Comrade Commander, Comrade Commander." Before I could speak, Razumeyeva suddenly ran in crying outside, grabbed my arm and went out, crying as she walked and said, "It's over, it's all over, my All the girls’ communication classes are over."

I was confused by Razumeyeva and came to the top of the hillside. I followed the direction of her finger and looked into the ravine. There were two military green tents. There were only a few large pits in the pit. Fragments of burning tent cloth and parts of broken communication equipment, there were many **** stumps and broken arms in the crater with blue smoke nearby.

Seeing this scene, I fully understood in my heart that my women's communication class was all over. This **** German, as soon as I arrived at Mamayev Hill, I gave me a slaying war. If I don't retaliate, I will swear that I will not be a man. Thinking of this, I only felt that my throat was sweet, and a mouthful of blood came out suddenly. (To be continued)

ps: My sincere thanks to book friends yaya18 and btmm children's shoes for their voting support!