Burning Moscow

Regarding Pantai Leyev's proposal, I just smiled faintly and said nothing, and continued to hold the binoculars to watch the three troops rushing to the top of the mountain in droves.

Seeing that I hadn't responded for a long time, Pantai Leyev was a little anxious, "Hey, hello, comrade teacher, can you hear me?"

I put down my binoculars, looked at him with a wry smile, and said helplessly: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I don’t know what you want to hear from me? Do you really remove Lieutenant Colonel Corsca from his post and let Captain Nicholas serve as the commander of the third regiment? Have you ever thought about what would happen to the three regiments that were originally demoralized and unstable?"

Pantai Leyev obviously did not expect that I would answer him this way, and was speechless by my series of questions. I struck while the iron was hot and said: "Comrade deputy commander, you may not know that when the independent division was still part of the 64th Group Army, it used to serve as a rear guard to cover the main retreat of the Group Army. The third regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Corsica was in the blocking battle. The fight was quite structured, not only successfully completed the blocking mission, but also achieved considerable results. Although the three regiments' feint actions were not executed decisively when the battle started, after seeing our tanks passing by, Kosca Didn’t the lieutenant colonel take his guard company personally and rushed up first? The reason why he could not control the troops well was because he had been lying in the hospital for nearly two months due to his injuries, and the soldiers in the troops and him I’m not familiar with it, so it’s understandable that there will be poor command. Okay, that’s the end of this matter, and I won’t mention it again in the future."

I saw through the telescope that whether it was the Sherebrian Inner Battalion attacking the main position, or the Nicholas Battalion and the Second Battalion of the Third Regiment which pretended to attack the east and west hills, they all swiftly crossed the mountainside position and climbed to the top of the hill.

Seeing that the victory is set. I can’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. I wanted to talk to Pantaiyev about Corsca again, and let him completely dispel the idea of ​​letting Captain Nicholas take over as the commander of the third regiment. His idea was completely unrealistic. Let alone whether Nicholas is capable of serving as the head of the regiment. Even his status just recently anyway will cause the Ministry of Internal Affairs to be vigilant.

I just called Bantai Leyev. Before I could say anything else, the security guard Zhukhovitzki ran in and reported to me nervously: "Comrade Commander, can you come out?"

Saw the guard soldiers who appeared suddenly. I couldn't help but stunned. I raised my binoculars and looked at the high ground ahead. I saw that our troops were progressing smoothly and no accidents happened. What would happen to this Zhukhovitzki asking me? I put down the telescope. Turning around and curiously asked Zhukhovitzki: "Comrade Corporal, what's the matter?" Because he has performed well recently, Basmanov promoted both him and Mikhailov to corporal after asking me for instructions. .

The expression on Zhukhovitzki's face was a little flustered, and he hurriedly said: "Comrade Commander, can you come to the communication room? Comrade telegraph operator received a strange call."

"Received a strange call?" After listening to Zhukhovitzki's report, I turned my head and looked at Pantai Lev, seeing him also look blank. Knowing that he was as ignorant as I was, he shook his head at Zhukhovitzki and said, "Let's go. Comrade Corporal, let's go and see what strange call the operator received."

Long before the attack was launched, the commanders responsible for building the observation post for us built a simple communication room half buried in the ground not far from the side and moved the radio in. Because the distance is not far. In less than a minute, I appeared at the door of the communication room. At the same time, he asked the operator seriously: "What's the matter, what kind of call did you receive?"

The radio operator handed me the headset without saying a word. As soon as I put it on my head, I heard a young and hurried female voice in the headphones: "Don, Don, I am the red star; Don, Don, I am the red star..."

I looked down and saw that the microphone was still on the table, so I asked the operator in a low voice, "What the **** is going on?"

The telegraph operator also carefully told me: "Reporter Commander, I received this strange call a few minutes ago. Judging from his call code, it should be a scout sent by the Don Front."

"If we respond to them, will plain language calls leak?" I asked cautiously.

The operator nodded and replied: "Yes, plain language calls are easily eavesdropped by the Germans. According to the regulations, we should respond to them with coded words. But..." At this point, the operator closed his mouth in embarrassment.

He said so hesitantly, I was really anxious. I urged him: "But what is it, Comrade Telegraph? Keep talking."

The operator who got my permission then continued: “For the sake of confidentiality, the codewords used by the various fronts are different. I am worried that the codewords used in response will be wrong, which will cause their misunderstanding.”

"Since the secret language is not good, let's talk in plain language." I heard the female soldier shouting hurriedly. There should be something urgent to report to my superiors, so I didn't care whether it would leak the secret, and grabbed the person on the table. The microphone came to his lips.

As soon as I was about to speak, I couldn't help but hesitate again. The other party kept calling "Don", but what code should I use to respond to her? Just when I was thinking about it, Pantai Leyev also came to the small communication room. He saw me wearing a headset and holding a microphone, standing beside the radio in a daze, so he pulled the radio operator aside and asked the other party quietly. What happened.

When he asked clearly what was going on and turned his attention to me again, I saw that he seemed to have something to say, so I removed the microphone from his mouth, pulled the headset aside, and asked in a low voice. : "Comrade deputy commander, you understand the situation, do you have any good ideas now?"

"Yes, comrade commander." Bantai Leyev said understandingly: "I guess you are worrying about the code to respond to the other party? Since the other party is calling the Don, it obviously refers to the Don front army. And you can use the'Volga River' as your code, so that if the opponent is not too stupid, you can guess that it is an ally."

"Good idea!" I gave a thumbs up to the Pantai Leyev, then put on the headphones and moved the microphone to my mouth again, calling out loudly: "Hey, Red Star. Red Star, I am Volga, listen. Please answer! Red Star, Red Star, I am Volga River. Please answer when you hear!"

As soon as I called the second time, the calling sound in the headset suddenly stopped. I thought it was because the other party’s communication equipment was malfunctioning, but I could listen carefully, and found that in addition to the sound of various guns and grenade explosions, there seemed to be people whispering. I guess the other party was intimidated by my sudden response and was trying to figure out what was going on. So I also stopped calling and waited patiently for the other party's response again.

After a while, the voice of speaking again came through the earphones, but it was no longer the female voice just now, but replaced by a man's voice: "Hey. Are you a comrade from the Stalingrad Front?"

"Yes." I was hesitant to identify myself, but in order to gain the trust of the other party more quickly and figure out what happened, I decisively declared my identity: "I am an independent division of the Stalingrad Front Army. Major General Oshanina, please tell me briefly, who are you, where are you now, and what dangers are you encountering?"

Maybe it's the identity I indicated. Let the other party give up the suspicion in his heart, and honestly answered my question: "I am Lieutenant Trafkin, the reconnaissance platoon commander of the 99th Division of the 66th Army Infantry Division of the Don Front Army. Reconnaissance. We successfully captured a German officer and was spotted by the enemy on the way back. We have been around for a whole day. Not only did we not get rid of the enemy, but we were trapped on a small hill about seven kilometers away from Khonkayi. There are about a hundred Germans on the hillside and three armored vehicles. The soldiers of our reconnaissance platoon are fighting stubbornly with the enemy."

Hear the friendly forces being besieged. And at the risk of being annihilated at any time, I hurriedly asked: "Where are you?"

"We are in the northwest of Kongjiayi City. It is about seven kilometers away from the city. Just now I heard gunfire on the high ground in the southeast, as if the Germans were fighting our troops."

Trafkin has just finished speaking. I have roughly inferred their position, so I said loudly to him: "Comrade Lieutenant, I know where you are. I order you to stand firm and reinforcements will arrive soon!" After that, I didn’t wait for Travkin to say anything, so I took off the headset and threw the microphone together with the telegraph to the operator, and then shouted at the door: "Captain Basmanoff!"

As I shouted, someone ran in from outside. I fixed my eyes and saw that it was not Captain Basmanov, but Corporal Zhukhovitzki. He saw my face full of anger, and quickly explained: "Report to the commander, the battalion commander will take the tank troops to reinforce the third regiment. , Haven't come back yet?"

"Where is Corporal Mikhailov?" Since Basmanov is not there, I asked a familiar person.

Corporal Zhukhovitzki still shook his head and said, "He only executed the order and has not returned."

In order to rescue Lieutenant Travkin and them as soon as possible, I no longer waited for Basmanov to return, but directly ordered Zhukhovitzki: "Comrade Corporal, you immediately find a platoon of fighters, and take five armored vehicles around. After passing the high ground in front, continue to the northwest, about three or four kilometers further, you will find a hillside on the side of the road, a small part of ours is besieged there by hundreds of Germans, the task I give you is Rescue them."

Upon hearing the assignment, Corporal Zhukhovitzi said in a bit embarrassed: "Comrade Commander, since the enemy has hundreds of people, and we only have one platoon, even if there are armored vehicles to assist in the battle, it might not be easy to repel the enemy? "

"Why are you so stupid!" Bantai Leyev pointed to Corporal Zhukhovitzki's nose and cursed: "We can't beat the Germans with armored vehicles, but we still have tanks. When you go, take them with you. A tank, even if it encounters an enemy's armored vehicle, without a word, it will be bombarded. I don't believe that the enemy's armored vehicle can be a threat to you?"

Hearing that tank support could be mobilized, Corporal Zhukhovitzi became excited. After he raised his hand to salute me and Pantai Lev, he turned and ran out of the communication room to execute the order I gave.

I stood in the trenches outside the communication room, watching the armored vehicles full of Corporal Zhukhovitzki and the rest of the guard company and soldiers leave in file, and I secretly prayed that they would arrive in time to remove the scouts trapped on the hillside. We rescued.

Pantai Leyev also came to my side, and said with some worry: "Comrade Commander, is it time? You know that there are hundreds of enemies besieging the hillside, and there are three armored vehicles to help. I'm just worried that our reinforcements will return. Before arriving, the reconnaissance squad was wiped out."

Originally, I was still worried about the fate of the reconnaissance unit, but when I heard Bantai Leyev say this, my heart became more at ease. I comforted him and said, "Don't worry. The reinforcements will start from here and rush to the area where the friendly forces are trapped. It will only take a few minutes at most. I believe our soldiers will be able to survive the enemy's siege until the end."

Since the tank was parked on the only way for the armored vehicle, Corporal Zhukhovitzki and the others passed there. After a short pause, two tanks followed them along the road to the northwest.

Seeing this scene, Pantai Leyev said dumbfounded: "Comrade Commander, this Corporal Zhukhovitz is really bold enough. You only let him take a tank. But he actually took it all at once. Two tanks left."

I raised my binoculars and looked at the three hills on the high ground in front. I saw that the battle was nearing its end, that is to say, with or without artillery support, we won the final victory. Therefore, I disapproved and said, "Comrade deputy commander, don’t worry. Anyway, those tanks will not serve any purpose if they are parked at the foot of the mountain. Take one more and one more. In this way, our reinforcements will win. Hold it more."

When the tanks and armored vehicles disappeared from our sight, I went back to the communication room, put on the earphones and picked up the microphone again. Asked loudly: "Hey, Lieutenant Trafkin, I'm General Oshanina, what's the situation with you?"

"The enemy is rushing up the hillside from all directions. The soldiers under me have suffered a lot of casualties and are still able to fight. Including the wounded, there are only five people..." Just said that. His voice suddenly stopped, and then I heard the female communicator screaming next to me. I quickly asked, "Hey, hello, Comrade Lieutenant, what else is it?"

After a while, Trafkin’s voice reappeared in the headset. At this moment, his voice became very slow: "Comrade General, it’s okay. I was shot by a German sniper in the arm. The injury is not serious. Comrade Nasja, the telegraph operator, has bandaged it up for me."

"Lieutenant, tell the soldiers next to you, stand up, and stand firm!" I'm afraid that this friendly reconnaissance unit will be wiped out before the reinforcements arrive, so I said in a more serious tone: "I have already sent. Reinforcement soldiers can be there in just a few minutes. So I order you to stick to the last five minutes, the last five minutes!" After shouting this, I suddenly felt uncomfortable all over, the few words I just yelled. , It is clearly the lines of the villain in the film and television works.

Lieutenant Trafkin smiled bitterly, and said to me in a weak voice: "Thank you, Comrade General, thank you for your kindness. But it's too late. Apart from the enemy at the foot of the mountain, I saw the enemy's reinforcements. Farewell, My comrades-in-arms, don't forget us, remember that we sacrificed heroically to defend the motherland..." Before his last words were finished, there was an earth-shattering explosion in the headset, and then the other party's communication was interrupted.

It was over. Lieutenant Trafkin died. This was my first reaction after hearing the explosion. Just as I was devastated by the annihilation of the Trafkin squadron, Trafkin’s surprised voice came from the earphones unexpectedly: "Damn it, how did this German tank fire on my own?" Gang Having said that, there was another violent explosion in the earphones.

Hearing these explosions one after another, I felt relieved. I smiled and said to the microphone: "Comrade Lieutenant, you are so pessimistic. From the sound of the explosion, I can guess that it must be the reinforcements I sent. You and your people are staying on the hillside. Don't move, those Germans who besieged you, let my soldiers destroy them."

When I said this, Lieutenant Trafkin immediately understood. He was surprised and said: "Comrade General, among the German tanks and armored vehicles in the distance, aren't they what you call reinforcements?"

"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant." I said triumphantly: "These are the spoils we seized from the city of Kong Nieyi. Now we will use them to teach the **** Germans."

The telegraph operator Nastya's surprised voice came from the headset: "Comrade Lieutenant, it's great. In this way, we don't have to die here."

"Yes, yes, UU reading www.uukanshu.com dear Nastya." Lieutenant Trafkin also said excitedly: "Our reinforcements are here, and it will be the Germans' turn to be wiped out by us in a moment." He opened his throat and shouted to the surroundings: "Comrades, our reinforcements are coming up. We must drag the enemy. We must not let them run away easily. Let these **** German devils go to hell."

"Master, where is the teacher?" Basmanov's loud shout suddenly came from outside.

I quickly took off the headset and returned it to the operator. I walked out of the communication room and asked Basmanov, who came in a hurry, "Comrade Captain, you are yelling here, what's the matter? ?"

Basmanov hurriedly came to stand at attention and reported to me in a proper manner: "Report to Comrade Commander, Corporal Zhukhovitzi just said that to execute your reinforcement order, a tank needs to be deployed. I am worried that only With a tank, there would be insufficient artillery fire during the attack, so another one was dispatched to him, and now he is here to report this incident to you."

"Comrade Captain, you have done a good job!" I nodded with satisfaction to Basmanov's advocacy, and praised: "It is because of your self-assertion that our rescue operation is particularly smooth. I want to be Those friendly commanders and fighters who have been rescued will be grateful to you when they know this." (To be continued)