Red Moscow

"Put down, put down the guns!" Lyonka still raised Balshak's hand high, and shouted at the red-eyed fighters of the annihilation battalion: "Who gave you the right to kill Kill these enemies who put down their weapons? Put down their guns for me."

Hearing Lyonka's shout, the fighters of the extermination battalion became hesitant. Although most of the fighters' guns were still aimed at the enemies who raised their hands, a few fighters lowered their guns. The soldiers of the guard company rushed forward without waiting for Lyonka's orders, and stood in front of the prisoners of war, lest the soldiers of the annihilation battalion shoot at the prisoners on the spur of the moment.

Seeing that his subordinates blocked the fighters of the destroyer battalion, Lyonka let go of Borshak's hand and said to him with a serious expression: "Comrade major, I understand your feelings, but these enemies have already surrendered. These captives cannot be killed casually."

"Comrade Captain," even though Balshak was a major, he knew very well in his heart that his major was much less valuable than Lyonka's captain. Instead of accusing him condescendingly, he turned around and pointed backwards. He said sadly and angrily: "Look, how many comrades we have sacrificed in order to eliminate this enemy."

Lyonka looked in the direction of his finger, and saw that the road from the hidden place of the destroyer battalion to here was covered with the remains of soldiers who died in various postures, and the seventy or eighty soldiers who survived were almost All of them were wounded, and even their faces were blackened by the gunpowder smoke.

Seeing this scene, Lyonka immediately understood why Balshak's emotions were so out of control. He raised his hand and patted the other party's shoulder twice, and said understandingly: "Comrade major, I understand your mood at the moment, but discipline is discipline. The superior orders us not to kill prisoners of war, even if there is another relationship between us and them." Even if you have deep hatred, you can't do anything to them."

"Did my people just die in vain?" Hearing Lyonka's words, Balshak couldn't help the blood rushing to his head, and he shouted at the opponent: "As soon as the enemy puts down his weapons and surrenders, they Can the crimes committed against our country and people be let go?"

"Comrade Major," Lyonka said with some embarrassment seeing that Balshak's emotions were so out of control, "How to deal with these prisoners is a matter for the superiors. Send them to the prisoner-of-war camp. In my opinion, we should hand over the defense. You know, in order to eliminate this enemy, the division commander specially sent our guard company to perform this task. Now the division headquarters does not have many troops. Once it is attacked by the German army ,The consequences could be disastrous."

The first company and the second company of the destroyer battalion were almost wiped out in the battle, and the two company commanders also sacrificed heroically. The remaining commanders in the battalion, besides Borshak, also had a third company commander. He saw that the atmosphere was so Embarrassed, he quickly stepped forward and tugged on Rabalshak's sleeve, and reminded him in a low voice: "Comrade Major, maybe the Germans will fight again soon, so let's set up defenses as soon as possible."

Lyonka glanced at the third company commander gratefully, and continued to say to Balshak: "Comrade major, we must rush back to the division headquarters as soon as possible, and the defense here will be officially handed over to you. Of course, these German soldiers are ours. prisoners, we will take them all away.”

Balshak nodded helplessly, and said to Lyonka: "Comrade Captain, leave the defense here to us. As long as one of us is alive, we will definitely not take half a step back."

Shortly after Lyonka and the soldiers of the guard company escorted the prisoners away, Balshak reported the situation of the battle to the factory director Peter by phone. When he learned that the annihilation battalion had suffered more than 300 casualties in the just-concluded battle, and now there was only an incomplete third company left, Peter was stunned.

After a while, Peter, who came to his senses, asked angrily: "Major Balshak, your destroyer battalion has more than 400 people, while the enemy is only three tanks and less than 200 soldiers. With the help of the guard company, more than 70 of them were eliminated and captured, how did you fight the battle?"

Peter's criticism made Balshak feel ashamed. He murmured, "Comrade director, it's all my fault. I'm willing to accept any punishment."

"Punish you, those sacrificed soldiers, can they come back to life?" Thinking of those sacrificed soldiers, Peter became inexplicably angry, and the more he said, he became more and more excited: "I will not only dismiss you and punish you, but I will also remove you from your post and put you in the same position." You are sent to a military court for trial..."

"Comrade factory director," the deputy factory director who was sitting on the side waiting for the news, seeing Peter so excited, quickly dissuaded him: "Whether you are dismissed or go to a court-martial, these things will be discussed later. Come in through that gap."

"That's right, you're right, our priority right now is to guard that gap, lest the enemy rush in from there again." Peter said loudly into the microphone after recovering: "Major Balshak, How to deal with your affairs will be discussed later, what you have to do now is to hurry up and build fortifications to prevent the Germans from rushing in again."

"However, Comrade Factory Manager," Balshak said with some embarrassment, "I only have seventy or eighty people under my command. To guard such a wide area, I need additional manpower."

When Peter was on the phone with Bolshak, the deputy factory manager tilted his head and leaned closer to the microphone, and heard what Bolshak said in time. He quickly interrupted and said: "Comrade factory director, you can order the nearby workshop to transfer workers, To reinforce Major Bolshak's strike battalion."

"Major, did you hear what the deputy factory manager said?" Peter continued to say to Balshak: "You immediately send someone to the nearby production workshop to get in touch with the workshop director and ask him to send someone to support you .”

Hearing what the factory manager said, Balshak not only showed no joy on his face, but said with a look of embarrassment: "Comrade factory manager, the rest of the workshop are middle-aged and elderly people in their 40s and 50s. It's not appropriate to let them participate in the battle, right?"

"Don't you know, Borshak, that most of them, during the Civil War, under the command of Comrade Stalin, were here to defend Tsaritsyn with the Cossacks commanded by General Krasnov White Guards, have you fought tenaciously?" After Peter finished complaining, he immediately urged: "Stop talking nonsense, and send someone to make contact immediately."

After Peter put down the phone, the deputy factory director suggested to him: "Comrade factory director, since the German army can break through the wall from the north of the factory area, they may also rush in from other directions. We must take countermeasures early. "

"Comrade deputy factory director," Peter said awkwardly about the deputy factory director's proposal, "you should know that our factory area is equivalent to a small and medium-sized city. I can't let the workers stand behind the fence to defend the factory. ?”

"Comrade factory manager, I have an immature idea." The deputy factory manager pointed to the schematic diagram of the factory area and said to Peter: "The factory buildings of our several production workshops are only five or six hundred meters away from the wall. See if you can set up machine guns facing the wall to block the enemy's way forward. In addition, organize several worker detachments and be ready for battle at any time. Once a battle occurs in any direction, we will quickly transport them to that direction by truck .”

Peter quickly wrote down what the deputy factory manager said in his notebook, and asked impatiently, "Is there any more?"

"Although in order to defend the factory, every worker in the factory can give his life without hesitation." The deputy factory manager advocated to stick to the factory with the help of the guards, but he was worried that Peter would lose face if he died. To live and suffer, he said euphemistically: "But we lack the necessary training and combat experience, and there are no experienced non-commissioned officers and officers in the team, so the combat effectiveness cannot be compared with the Germans..."

Peter was not a fool either. When the deputy factory manager said this, he immediately guessed what he wanted to express, and said bluntly: "Comrade deputy factory manager, are you trying to persuade me to ask the guards for help?" Seeing that the deputy factory manager nodded in affirmation, he sighed softly, and continued, "It is because I think too much that Balshak's destroyer battalion suffered so many casualties. , maybe our casualties will be much smaller."

Seeing that Peter had realized his mistake, the deputy factory manager breathed a sigh of relief, and continued: "I think more difficult battles are yet to come, so we must ask the Guards for help and ask them to send commanders with rich combat experience. In order to increase the combat effectiveness of the troops, we will enrich our newly formed worker detachment with more members and combat backbones.”

Peter agreed with the deputy factory manager's statement. He nodded and said, "I'll call General Guriyev right now and ask them for help."

When Peter picked up the phone and was about to call Guriyev, he suddenly remembered the suggestion made by the deputy factory manager just now, and said to him: "Comrade deputy factory manager, please call the workshop director below and ask them to use the workshop to make a call." Armed the factory building to prevent the Germans from rushing into the factory area from other areas."

After the deputy factory manager left, Peter connected to the division headquarters of the 39th Guards Division. Guriyev heard that it was Peter who was calling, so he waved at the chief of staff who answered the phone, signaling to the other party that he was not there. The chief of staff said into the microphone understandingly: "I'm sorry, Director Peter, our division commander went to the front for inspection and hasn't come back yet."

Knowing that Guriyev was not there, Peter couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, but he still asked unwillingly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, since General Guriyev is not here, it's the same for me to find you..."

Unexpectedly, before he finished speaking, the chief of staff hurriedly said: "I'm sorry, Factory Manager Peter, I'm very busy here, and I have to continue directing the battle. I'll talk to you another day." After finishing speaking, he was ready to hang up The phone call, but was stopped by the division political commissar Chernyshov.

Chernyshov said to the chief of staff: "Comrade chief of staff, give me the microphone." When he said this, he deliberately turned his head and glanced at Guriyev who was sitting next to him smoking a cigarette. After taking the microphone, he said politely: "Hello, Director Peter, I'm Chernyshov, the political commissar of the division, what can I do for you?"

"Comrade Commissar, first of all, on behalf of all the workers of the Red October Tractor Factory, I would like to express my gratitude to you." Although Peter could not find Guriyev, he was very satisfied to have Chernyshov answer the phone. He said respectfully: "If it weren't for your selfless help, we probably haven't driven the enemy out of the factory area yet."

"So that's the matter," Chernyshov replied calmly, "Comrade factory director, we are allies. To help you is to help ourselves. There is no need to be so polite."

Seeing that Chernyshev was so eloquent, Peter said while the iron was hot: "Comrade Comrade Commissar, I have one more unfeeling request, and I hope you can agree to it."

Hearing what Peter said, Chernyshov couldn't help but frowned slightly, thinking that it was no wonder the teacher didn't want to answer his call, because he was afraid that he would make some unreasonable requests. But Chernyshov was well-mannered, and he tried to ask in a calm tone: "Comrade director, what can we do for you?"

"That's right, Comrade Political Commissar." Peter had already figured it out very clearly at this moment. Without the help of the guards, it would be almost impossible to rely solely on the strength of the workers' armed forces to defend the factory, so he continued: "In order to stick to the factory better, I decided to temporarily form several worker teams, ready to send them to the most critical place at any time." Speaking of this, he slowed down and said cautiously, "But, you also know, our Most of the workers have not received military training and have little combat experience. Even if such a force is pulled to the battlefield, it will not be of much use. Therefore, I would like to ask you to send us some grassroots officers and combat backbones to enrich our strength. to these workers' detachments to increase their combat effectiveness."

Regarding Peter's request, Chernyshev did not dare to make decisions without authorization, so he could only cover the microphone with his hands, quickly repeated Peter's words to Guriyev who was sitting next to him, and finally asked for instructions: "Comrade commander, I How should I answer him?"

Guriyev frowned and thought for a while, then reached out to Chernyshov: "Comrade political commissar, give me the phone, and I will talk to director Peter personally."

Guriyev took the microphone in Chernyshov's hand and whispered in his ear: "Peter, I agree with your request. I will send you five officers and twenty soldiers before dark." Non-commissioned officers, and thirty combat cadres, to enrich your newly formed worker detachment."

Peter thought that his request would be rejected by Guriyev, but Guriyev agreed so readily that he couldn't help being overjoyed, and said repeatedly: "Thank you, Comrade General. With your sent This group of officers and combat backbones, I believe that these newly formed worker detachments will soon be able to form combat effectiveness."

Recently, several readers and friends asked me whether I wrote a certain book in private. I will give a unified reply here: The only books I wrote on Soviet Russia are "Burning Moscow", "Moscow 1941" and this "Red Moscow". "Three volumes. The book "My Great Patriotic War" that you are asking about is not written by me, and I am not familiar with the author. The reason why I recommended this book two years ago is simply because everyone wrote about the same subject. , the right to support it, that's all.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to thank all readers and friends who have been supporting me!