Burning Moscow

Early the next morning, after I handed over the affairs of the army to Vitkov, I hurried to the office building of the "Red October" factory with Yushchenko and the guard platoon. ↖, ..

I thought I had arrived early, but when I got off the car outside the office building, I saw Major Gladshev standing outside the building on duty. Since he, the guard battalion commander of the group army headquarters, is here, it goes without saying that Cuikov and Gurov must have been in the building long ago.

But out of politeness, I greeted him and asked politely: "Major, are they in the building, Commander?"

"Yes, Comrade General." Perhaps because of my promotion and promotion, Gladshev now seems particularly restrained when talking to me. He respectfully replied: "Comrade Commander has ordered that as long as you When you come, please go in without reporting. He and the military comrades are in the small conference room on the fourth floor. I will be on duty. I am not afraid that you will go up. Please please!"

I left Yushchenko and them outside the building, and walked alone into the office building that we captured a few days ago. Although the wall facing the north was bombarded with holes, the wall on the south side was basically intact, and even the stairs in the building did not suffer much damage.

I walked up the stairs, and when I came to the stairway on the fourth floor, I was stopped by a few soldiers. One of the baby-faced soldiers said to me politely: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, you can't come up here casually. ."

Seeing that the soldier speaking was so young, I thought it was a corporal or a sergeant, but looking at the rank on his collar, it turned out to be a lieutenant. I can't help but sigh. For young people. The greatest benefit that war has brought to them is rapid improvement.

"General Oshanina. You are here." A familiar voice suddenly rang from behind the baby-faced lieutenant, and then Trikov’s adjutant Lieutenant Klimov walked through the crowd and walked in front of me, urging: "Hurry up. Come up, Commander, they have been waiting for you for a long time."

Seeing that Klimov knew me, the baby-faced lieutenant waved his hand under his hand and gave me a way. I politely said thank you to the baby-faced lieutenant, and then followed Klimov along the wide corridor.

After Lieutenant Liu Babyface was some distance away from his fighters, I asked Klimov in a low voice, "Comrade Lieutenant. Who are those who are guarding the stairs?"

"It's from the front army headquarters." Klimov answered my question cleanly: "The German general Seidlitz was escorted by them."

In a conference room on the fourth floor of Cui Kefu's observation room, there was a huge hole in the south wall that had been blasted, but it had been piled with chest-high sandbags. There is a long conference table with a circle of chairs around it. Cuikov and Gurov are sitting on two of them, while General Sedlitz is sitting opposite them, with an interpreter standing behind them.

I walked to the table and raised my hand to think that Cuikov and Gurov offered a salute. At the same time, I reported in a loud voice: "Comrade Commander, Commissariat Commissariat. The 79th Infantry Corps Commander Major Oshanina was ordered to report. I am waiting for your instructions!"

After a few greetings with Cui Kefu. [800] I took the initiative to say hello to Sedlitz next to me. And this German general got up from his seat as early as when I saluted Cui Koff and the others. Seeing me greet him, he also responded politely: "Hello, General Oshanina, I am glad to see you here!"

After shaking hands with Sedlitz, I sat down beside Gurov. I pretended to be very casual and tilted my body slightly towards Gurov, and then asked in a low voice: "Comrade Military Commissioner, do we really want to cooperate with General Sedlitz?"

"Exactly correct," Gurov told me in a low voice, "Commander Rokosovsky has agreed in principle to cooperate with General Sedlitz. The reason why he was sent here today was sent. , I want to use him to persuade the commander of the 11th Army to surrender Streckel, so that the fifty thousand German troops trapped in the "barricade" factory surrender."

"Five thousand German troops?" To be honest, this number shocked me. Although I knew that the "barricade" factory and dormitory area was equivalent to a medium-sized city, the fact that there were so many German troops in this area still shocked me. .

I looked around and found that besides a few of us, on the other side of the conference room, there were actually quite a few communicators. Two radios were set up, and there was a wired telephone beside the wall. It seems that whether Cui Kefu is here today to watch the battle progress, he even plans to direct the battle here.

When I entered the house, Cuikov and the others were communicating with Sedlitz. Due to my arrival, they temporarily interrupted the meeting. Now that everyone is seated again, the conversation between Trikov and Sedlitz can continue again.

Trikov smiled and asked Saidlitz: "Mr. General, how are you thinking about it?"

Although Cui Koff's question was endless, I guessed that it must have something to do with persuading surrender, so I looked at Sedlitz carefully to see how he would react. After listening to the translation, the latter said loudly: "Your Excellency Commander, I think it is very unrealistic to persuade General Streckel and his subordinates to lay down their weapons. You must know that his subordinates still have at least With fifty thousand troops and strong fortifications, it is quite difficult for you to eat him in one bite."

Trikov asked with a smile on his face: "General Seidlitz, how long do you think we can eliminate the troops trapped in the area of ​​the ‘barricade’ factory if we launch an offensive?"

When Seidlitz heard this question from Trikov, he frowned and thought for a moment, and replied resolutely: "Your Excellency Commander, based on my understanding of the combat effectiveness of the two armies, if you want to completely eliminate General Streckel’s The troops, even with the support of artillery and air force, will take at least a week. This is already a very optimistic estimate, and the time cannot be shorter."

After Cuikov and Gurov looked at each other, they smiled and said: "General Sedlitz, we don't have that long time. The superiors ask us to end the battle as soon as possible. In other words, we only have two days at most. ."

"What, two days?" Saidlitz heard Trikov say. Almost jumped up from the seat. "Your Excellency, Commander. With all due respect, this is simply impossible."

"Nothing is impossible, General Sedlitz." Cui Koff waved his hand and said confidently: "In order to eliminate the German troops entrenched in the'barricade' factory area and dormitory area, today our army is participating in the offensive. Shney Division, Sokolov Division, Guriyev Division, Rodimtsev Division, and Stegori Brigade, the friendly forces will also have the same number of divisions or brigades, and attack from the west and northwest at the same time. In addition to getting In addition to the support of the air force, we have also concentrated a large number of artillery units. The number of artillery units has reached an unprecedented 338 per kilometer."

After hearing Trikov's words, Seidlitz was in a state of shock. Seeing his expression, Gurov said while the iron was hot: "Your Excellency, in order to avoid unnecessary sacrifices of your compatriots, I suggest that you still call Lieutenant General Streckel, commander of the 11th Army. Right."

Seidlitz lowered his head to think for a long time, and finally nodded helplessly, and said: "Well, I will call General Streckel, hoping that he can listen to my persuasion and let the troops lay down their weapons to the Soviet army. Surrender. Don't let the German boys make unnecessary sacrifices."

Cui Kefu immediately ordered the communications soldiers to connect to the telephone of the command of the Eleventh Army of the besieged German Army. When Sedlitz was calling his former colleague. Gurov asked me in a low voice, "Comrade Oshanina, have the attacks on the tractor factory been arranged?"

I nodded and said confidently: "Please put down the military commissar. After yesterday's battle, the remaining German troops in the tractor factory have been compressed to several workshops in the west of the factory. The offensive troops are led by Chief of Staff Vitkov. The colonel is in charge of the command. If there is no accident, the remaining two thousand German army remnants can be solved before noon."

After I reported the situation in the army, I saw that Seidlitz was still on the phone and asked Gurov in a low voice: "Comrade Military Commissioner, I don’t know how the commander of the front army intends to deal with this captured German army. General."

After Gurov glanced at Saidlitz who was calling on the other side, he replied in a low voice: "Commander Rokosovsky said that after we have wiped out all the enemies surrounded by the'barricade' factory area, He will come here in person. At that time, he will take Seidlitz to the newly established prisoner-of-war camp and select suitable soldiers from them to form a special force. The chief military officer at all levels will be ours, and the German army The officers in the prisoners can only serve as deputies."

Before I could comment on the upcoming German prisoner-of-war force, Sedlitz had finished the phone call. I saw him spread his hands, shrugged his shoulders, and said unwillingly: "Your Excellency Commander, I regret to tell you that my request to persuade General Strekel to lay down his arms was rejected. He said it was for Germany. The honor of a soldier, he will lead the troops to fight to the last minute."

Although the outcome of this failure to persuade surrender was already in our expectation, when Seidlitz confirmed it personally, everyone was still a little bit disappointed.

"Since the enemy does not surrender, then we will completely destroy them!" After Cuikov said this, he turned to his adjutant and told his adjutant: "Captain Klimov, call Comrade Ubrich of the Anti-Fascist League. He took people to the front line to carry out broadcast propaganda." At this point, he raised his hand to look at his watch, and then said: "The broadcast propaganda to the enemy, no matter how effective it is, should end at 11:50."

What Cui Kefu discussed with us next was actually where the prisoners should be placed after annihilating the enemy. He said with a contemptuous expression: "... The prisoner camp should be located on the east bank of the Volga River, so that the captured soldiers and officers should advance toward the Volga River, which they have been trying to break through for nearly six months, and pass through the knots. The icy surface goes to the other bank of the river."

"I agree with you." As Cuikov's good partner, Gurov immediately and unconditionally expressed support for this plan: "Since they have not given up their attempts to reach the East Bank for a long time, then we will now satisfy their wishes. Send them all to the captive camp on the other side."

When it was almost twelve o'clock, Cui Kefu called us to the big hole, stood in front of the chest-high sandbag fortification, and raised the binoculars to watch the battle that was about to begin. In order to let General Seidlitz see how the remaining German troops were destroyed, Trikov deliberately chose a high-power telescope for him.

When the needle was pointing at twelve o'clock, thousands of cannons deployed around the "barricade" factory area opened fire at the same time.

I saw through the telescope that the entire factory area suddenly turned into a sea of ​​fire. Above the fire, a thick black smoke rose, making the clear sky dimmed. Although the conference room we were in was far away from the bombarded area, my ears were still sore by the earth-shaking explosions, and the shock waves of dust waves on the walls and ceiling couldn't help falling.

When the shelling ceased, while the enemy was still holding his head in the ruins of the smoke, our army units already ready to go launched an offensive, and the infantry unit launched an attack on the enemy's position under the cover of tanks.

Although the preparation time for artillery fire was very short, the enemy's fortifications were severely damaged. In the ruins of the frontline fortifications, we saw only sporadic resistance from our troops rushing up. Due to weak resistance, our troops quickly occupied a line of positions.

At this time, the German troops on the second line of defense slowed down ~www.wuxiaspot.com~ and bravely launched a counterattack, attempting to drive our troops out of their first line. Facing the German troops leaving the strong defensive positions, our aviation formations that just appeared in the sky immediately dived down from the air, dropped bombs and strafed them, plus the artillery deployed on the starting positions fired again, between the two positions. An insurmountable wall of fire was formed, and the German soldiers who attacked were instantly wiped out.

By the time the battle lasted three o'clock in the afternoon, the offensive troops of our army had successfully occupied most of the factory area and joined the friendly forces rushing from the west and northwest to compress the remaining German forces in a narrow area.

Facing the continuous attacks launched by our army, the German army finally couldn't stand it anymore, and at the same time, countless white flags were raised in the range of my vision.

Seeing this, Cui Koff put down the telescope and let out a sigh of relief. He turned his head and said to Seidlitz who was standing next to him: "Mr. General, have you seen it? Although there are still 50,000 officers and men under General Streckel, we They couldn’t resist the powerful strike force of ”. You see, didn’t they surrender their weapons obediently?”

After saying this, he turned around and walked quickly to the radio next to the wall, and instructed the correspondent: "Telegrapher, immediately contact all the division commanders and brigade commanders who participated in the battle, so that they will report to me after the battle is over. To be continued.)