Burning Moscow

I set up my temporary headquarters in the middle of the rubble next to the traffic trench, where I can observe the German positions in the distance, and even if there is any danger, I can use the traffic trench to quickly evacuate to a safe area.

Just as the artillery battalion commander Major Koloming reported to me that all the artillery was in place and ready to shoot, I caught a glimpse of a famous soldier in a bullet-proof suit walking quickly to Yushchenko’s side and whispered to him. what.

Seeing Yushchenko's face showing embarrassment after listening to the soldier's report, I was worried about what might have happened, and hurriedly asked him: "Captain Yushchenko, what happened?"

"That's it, Comrade Commander." Yushchenko said as he walked to my side and reported to me: "The soldiers of the guard company came to report that there are comrades from the Anti-Fascist League and the 150th Division who want to see you. It is said that , They intend to persuade you not to fire on the German positions for the time being."

"The Anti-Fascist League and the 150th Division?" Hearing this combination, I couldn't help frowning, and wondered how Bantai Leyev's subordinates got involved with the Germans in the Anti-Fascist League. In order to find out what happened, I told Yushchenko: "Captain, go and bring them here!"

But when the person Yushchenko brought back appeared in front of me, I couldn’t help being happy, because I knew all the people behind him. One was Ulbricht, who I met some time ago, and the other It is the second Lieutenant Gretka I am familiar with ∞■.

When the two came to me, I took the initiative to stretch out my hand to Ulbricht, and at the same time smiled and asked: "Hello, Comrade Ulbricht. I am glad to see you again here. May I ask you See me. Anything?"

Ulbricht shook hands with me. He said excitedly: "Comrade Oshanina, I am glad to see you again. I heard that you plan to order the artillery to bombard the German positions on the opposite side, so it is specifically to stop you."

Hearing what he said, I reduced the smile on my face, and after retracting my hand, I asked seriously: "Comrade Ulbricht, can I ask why?"

"That's it, Comrade Oshanina." Ulbricht did not notice the change in the expression on my face. Self-consciously said: "We have carried out anti-war propaganda on the German forces in front of us for almost three days. From the perspective of the effect, if we do not fight them, in two or three days, someone should surrender to us. If we are lucky Well, it is even possible to surrender in an institutional way."

Seeing Ulbricht’s confident expression, I asked coldly: "Comrade Ulbricht, I want to ask, on what basis do you judge that the enemy will surrender to you in two or three days?"

Ulbricht finally noticed the abnormality on my face. I guess he didn't understand what would change my face so quickly, and he was dumbfounded and speechless. Greetka, who was next to him, saw Ulbricht's embarrassed expression. He quickly came out to relieve him: "Report to Comrade Commander, this is the case. When we shouted at the opposite position for the first two days, the soldiers there still fired at our position. Since yesterday, they have not fired at us again. Fired, but patiently listened to what we said. It seems that our propaganda has achieved a certain effect. If they shell their positions now, then our efforts in the past few days will be all spent."

Greetka’s words made me understand one thing. Maybe the German troops that attacked Vasilyev were lurking here. They originally wanted to kill the anti-war propaganda team Ubrich and the others. I didn’t expect Vasilyev and the others. But he broke into the German ambush ring by accident and sacrificed his life in vain. Thinking of this, I couldn't help but snorted heavily.

Seeing my frosty expression, Ulbricht seemed to be aware of something. He raised his hand to stop Gretka, who was about to continue speaking, and asked with concern: "Comrade Oshanina, what happened? ?"

I raised my chin in the direction where the remains of Vasilyev and the guard platoon soldiers were placed, and said with a deep heart: "Comrade Ulbricht, look there. My political commissar, Comrade Vasilyev and The remains of dozens of soldiers were there. They were all killed by the Germans on the opposite position more than an hour ago."

Ulbricht was taken aback by what I said, and he didn't care whether his actions were rude or not, so he rushed to Vasilyev's body in a few steps, turned his back to me and lifted the old military uniform on the head of the political commissar. . After watching for a while, I heard him let out a long sigh, re-covered the political commissar with a military uniform, stood up slowly, turned and walked back in front of me. Perhaps he was irritated, and his face was pale, with no blood at all. After a moment of silence, he gritted his teeth and said: "Comrade Oshanina, your decision is correct. The blood debt is to be paid back in blood. Since these German soldiers don't know what's good or bad, let them be severely taught. "

I was very pleased with the change in Ulbricht’s attitude, so I ordered Kolomin, who was standing by and waiting next to him,: "Comrade Major, use your cannon to teach these Germans severely and let them taste the cannonballs. The taste."

After Major Kolomin left, I said to Bere and Gorokhov separately: "Colonel Bere, when the shelling is over, immediately order the tank unit to attack the enemy's position. And you, Goroho. Colonel Fu, sent infantry to follow our tanks to launch an offensive. After seizing the position, we must seize the time to repair the fortifications to consolidate the position and prevent the German countercharge."

"What about the captive?" Gorokhov glanced at Ulbricht, who was standing not far away, and asked in a low voice.

Regarding the idiotic question he raised, I said impatiently: "Comrade Colonel, look at Comrade Vasilyev, the political commissar who is still lying there, don't you still know what to do?"

"I see, comrade commander." Gorokhov said with his heart, "I will pass your instructions to every commander and fighter who participates in the war."

After the German position was bombarded for ten minutes, before the surviving officers and soldiers who had been dizzy by the bomb came back to their senses, under the cover of the tank detachment, the infantry of the 171st Division rushed towards the enemy like a tiger. The battle for the position was over after only a few minutes. The more than one hundred German officers and soldiers who stood by this small position were completely wiped out, with no survivors.

I originally planned Vasiliev's funeral the next morning. The result did not wait for the funeral to begin. He received a call from Rokosovsky himself. He said in a commanding tone on the phone: "Lida. I have an important task to give you. You immediately find a commander who is proficient in German, and when the dispatched car arrives, you will set off together."

I don’t know what task Rokosovsky is going to give me, so as soon as he finishes speaking, I immediately ask carefully: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I don’t know what important task you have to hand over. I?"

"Lida, it's like this." Judging from Rokosowski's voice, he seemed a little hesitant. But in the end they said what I wanted to know: "Before the'Battle of the Rings' started, I plan to make one last effort and send someone to persuade Paulus to surrender. I thought about it for a long time and felt that you are the most suitable for this. It's a task. So I'll leave it to you to submit the surrender letter to Paulus. Any comments?"

Oh my God, when I heard Rokosovsky's arrangement, I really felt like crying without tears. Just send a second lieutenant to this kind of thing. Do I need to send an infantry corps to a horse? It's really an anti-aircraft gun to fight mosquitoes-overkill. But since Rokosovsky has given the order, I can only bite the bullet and promise: "I obey your orders."

When I put down the phone. Vitkov, who was next to him, walked over and asked with concern: "Comrade Commander, I don't know what order Comrade Commander of the Front Army gave you?"

I smiled bitterly and said to him: "Comrade chief of staff. The commander of the front army intends to make another effort to persuade Paulus to surrender before launching the battle. He gave me the task of sending the letter of persuasion to surrender."

Vitkov was shocked by what I said. He said nervously: "Comrade Commander, you are the commander of an army. How can you do this kind of messenger work? No, no, this is definitely not possible, I This is to call the commander of the front army and ask him to take back this absurd order." As he said, he reached out to grab the phone on the table.

I pressed the palm of my hand on the hand where he was holding the phone and shook my head at him and said, "Chief of Staff, you have not been in the army for a day or two. Don’t you know that according to the regulations, orders from higher authorities are not allowed to be discussed? , Can it only be carried out? Since the commander of the front army has issued such an order, even if there is a sea of ​​blazing fires ahead, I will walk over it without hesitation." At this point, I smiled at him in order to relieve the tension in the room. "Don't worry, Paulus will not kill me. I can definitely come back safely."

"Do you need me to send a special guard company to accompany you?" Since Vasiliev died yesterday, Vitkov was particularly worried about my safety. If I had another accident, the 79th Infantry Corps would fall into a group of dragons without a leader. status.

I shook my head again and said with a smile: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I am going to send Paulus a letter of persuasion to surrender, and I am not going to attack his position. There is no need to bring a security company. What role can people play, can they protect me from the hundreds of thousands of German troops?"

Hearing what I said, Vitkov knew that it would be useless to persuade him, but he still asked unwillingly: "Comrade Commander, if you go to the enemy this time, don't you bring them alone?"

When Vitkov said this, he reminded me that I had to go to Paulus to submit a letter of persuasion. My German level is not good, and I have to bring a commander who understands German. Who should I take? I first thought of Captain Mikhayev, the commander of the engineering battalion, but I dismissed this idea when he thought that he was leading the troops on the Volga River to maintain the ice transportation line. After going through all the commanders and fighters of the original military division, I found that the most suitable candidate was only Lieutenant Gretka I met yesterday, so he told Vitkov: "Comrade Colonel, please give the commander of the 150th Division. Teleyev called and asked him to send Lieutenant Gretka from the guard battalion to the army headquarters immediately."

Greetka, who was notified, had just arrived at the headquarters, and the officer Rokosovsky sent to pick me up on the mission also arrived. The visitor was a captain. He walked into the command post and saw me. He immediately raised his hand to salute me and said loudly: "Comrade General, I am the staff captain Sarnia of the front army command. Order, go to the German headquarters with you to submit a letter of persuasion to surrender."

We came to the door and saw a jeep parked on the street outside with only one driver in the car. I turned my head and told Gretka: "Second lieutenant, take the seat of the co-pilot." After that, I opened the door and got into the car. Unexpectedly, Captain Sarnia stopped Gretka, "Second Lieutenant. You should accompany the general in the back row. I want to show the driver the way in front."

Captain Sarnia is a taciturn man. He didn't take the initiative to turn around and talked to me along the way, it was all I asked, and he turned around and answered briefly.

When we were approaching the German position, Sarnia asked the driver to stop the car. He stretched out a white flag that had been prepared from the car window and swayed back and forth regularly.

Seeing the white flag that was constantly shaking, although I knew that this was done, it was to prevent German officers and soldiers who didn't know the truth from firing at us. But I still feel particularly uncomfortable.

After a while, a German tricycle drove out of their position and drove towards us. After the motorcycle stopped in front of us, a German officer jumped out of the sidecar. He walked quickly to the jeep, bent over and looked into the car, and then said a few words in German.

I was about to ask Greteka to respond, but I didn't expect that Sarnia had pushed the car door and walked down, and communicated with the other party in fluent German. Greetka whispered to me and translated for me: "Comrade Commander, Captain Sarnia is showing our identity and purpose to the other party. The German commander said that he can't control this matter. He needs to send someone back to ask for instructions. "

When Gerritka arrived here, the German officer turned and walked to the tricycle. I told the motorcyclist a few words. The other party nodded, and then drove the motorcycle to turn its head, and drove to the place where it came from.

The German officer returned to Sarnia again after the motorcycle left, and continued to talk with him. Perhaps seeing the hope of survival, the officer kept a pleasing smile on his face throughout the conversation.

I looked at the officer outside the car who was talking with Sarnia, and asked Gretka: "Second Lieutenant, we are going to the German headquarters later, are you nervous?"

After a moment of hesitation, Greteka shook his head and said insincerely: "Don't be nervous, Comrade Commander, I'm not nervous at all." He said he was not nervous, but his voice became hoarse because of nervousness.

I didn’t reveal him, but smiled and said, “I feel very nervous when I think of seeing this well-known General Paulus soon. Lieutenant, it’s okay to be nervous now, as long as I see Paulus later. It’s fine if you don’t get nervous."

We waited for about ten minutes, and drove out of the German position four three-wheeled motorcycles, each with two soldiers. Seeing the motorcycles approaching us, the officer who was talking with Sarnia stopped and greeted the motorcycles. After a brief exchange with his subordinates, he walked back to Sarnia again and said a few words.

After hearing this, Sarnia nodded at him, then walked back to the car, opened the car door and reached half of his body to report to me: "Comrade General, the German officer said that we can only go to three people and ride their motorcycles. Go in the car, and you must be blindfolded. I wonder what you mean?"

I knew in my heart that the Germans might be afraid that we would take a peek at their defensive positions, so they wanted to blindfold us all. Just because I wanted to understand this, I said to Sarnia very cooperatively: "Yes, Comrade Captain, just do what they said." After that, I opened the door of the car next to me and walked on.

The officer saw a female general suddenly coming out of the jeep. He was taken aback for a moment, then walked to my side, raised his hand to salute, and asked tentatively: "Are you General Oshanina?"

Hearing this question from the military officer, I couldn't help but be stunned again, wondering if I am so famous now, as long as the Germans who deal with me know me? But out of politeness, I replied in bad German: "Yes, I am Oshanina."

After the officer confirmed my identity, he said a bunch of things to me with a smile on his face. After speaking, he tilted his head at Greteka next to me and motioned for him to translate for me. Greetka immediately translated the officer's original words to me: "General Oshanina, hello! I am very glad to see you here. I have long admired your name, and it is my honor to be able to serve you. But according to Rules, you and your subordinates must be blindfolded to go to our headquarters. I hope you don’t mind.”

After being covered with black cloth by the Germans, Sarnia and Greteka got into the sidecar of a three-wheeled motorcycle. After I heard the officer yell, the motorcycle adjusted its head on the spot and drove forward quickly.

After more than ten minutes, I felt the motorcycle I was riding stopped. Then a hand stretched out and helped me out of the sidecar. After hearing a series of German army commands, the black cloth covering my eyes was also untied. This way I can see everything in front of me.

Appeared in front of me. It is a tall marble building. This should be the famous Central Department Store. On the platform at the door, there are sandbag bunkers on the left and right sides of the door, and machine guns are mounted on them. A higher-ranking German officer stood on the platform and saw that our blindfolds were all untied, then walked down the marble steps, and raised his hand in front of me to salute me, and said politely "I am Colonel Adam, the adjutant of General Paulus. I am on the order of the commander. I came out to greet you."

I put my hands behind my back and said to the German adjutant in front of me without humility: "Hello, Mr. Colonel, please take me to see General Paulus. I have important things and I need to see him immediately."

Colonel Adam said with a smile: "The commander is waiting for you in the command post, please come with me." After that, he turned around and walked up the steps first.

After we entered the building, under the leadership of Colonel Adam, we walked into the basement along the long stairs. After passing through the huge iron gate. A sour smell came toward him, and he saw German soldiers sitting or lying on both sides of the wide corridor. I guess it might be because there are too many people here and the air circulation is not good, so this strange smell will appear.

When our group walked inside, among the German soldiers on both sides, except for a few whose eyes moved with our movements, most of the others sat in a daze, staring at the front with no focus.

When we walked into the headquarters where Paulus was located, under the dim candlelight, I saw a German officer in a military coat sitting on a leather chair opposite the long conference table, even though it was far away. I can't see the other person's face, but I guess this guy is Paulus.

In addition to Paulus, there were a lot of officers sitting on the left and right sides of the table. They all looked at us when they saw us entering the door. But since Paulus didn't speak, these officers didn't speak either, just staring at us in silence.

I walked to the table and stood still, and said loudly to the opposite Paulus: "General Paulus, I am here today, on the order of the commander of the Don Front Army, General Rokosovsky, to submit to you for surrender. Book." After I finished speaking, I turned my head and whispered to Sarnia who was standing behind: "Captain, give them the surrender letter."

Sarnia took out a document bag from his briefcase and handed it to Colonel Adam who was standing next to us. Adam took the bag of documents and walked quickly to the other end of the table. Walking to Paulus's side, he respectfully handed the bag of documents into Paulus's hand.

And Paulus took the file bag, did not even open it, and threw it directly on the table, and said to me in a disdainful tone: "Madam, please indicate your identity so that I can also know how to send it to me. Who is the person who came from the document?" Paulus's voice just fell, and the officers around him suddenly laughed.

To the ridicule of the officers~www.wuxiaspot.com~ I still remain calm. After they laughed, they looked away from me and began to whisper. My gaze swept across the officers at the table, and I said to myself: Don't be proud, the officers present will be counted as one, and it won't be long before they will all be our prisoners. After looking back, I calmly said: "Your Excellency Paulus, I am Major General Oshanina, the new commander of the 79th Infantry Corps of the 62nd Army of the Don Front Army. Although you don't know me, I treat you. Very familiar, because since the Don River Basin, my troops have been fighting with your troops."

As soon as I finished speaking about my identity, the original whispers stopped, and the officers turned their eyes away from me again. After a brief silence, an officer stood up and asked in a trembling voice: "Is it Oshanina, the commander of the Soviet Army's military division who is sticking to Mamayev Hill?"

"Yes, it's me." I saw his rank clearly. It turned out to be a major general, so I said politely: "Mr. General, I used to be the commander of the military division, now the commander of the 79th Infantry Corps. "

After listening, the major general straightened his body quickly, raised his hand to salute me, and said: "Hello, General Oshanina, I am glad to see you here. I am your defeated general. Major General Otto Kofis, commander of the 295th Infantry Division." (To be continued.)

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