Burning Moscow

32 Attack on the way

The atmosphere in the car feels very depressing.

Zhukov sat in the front row without saying a word, and the driver was just driving attentively. I sat in the back and looked at the scenery outside through the car window boredly. The leaves on the trees in the forest were almost lost, and the grass on the ground was still green.

I fully understand Zhukov’s mood at this moment, he is feeling sorry for the students. Although he said that just now on the battlefield, he was also very clear in his heart to let those grown-up children, with crude equipment, use their young flesh and blood to hold on to such a position and resist the surging German armor. The troops were undoubtedly sent to death in vain. Faced with this reality, he can do nothing. After all, there is no our army behind them. If they don’t want to stop the Germans, they will rush to the city of Moscow unimpeded.

“Shait,” Zhukov said to the driver, “Are you from Polokino?” As soon as he spoke, the depressive atmosphere in the car was wiped out.

“Yes, Comrade General.” The driver Shait replied happily.

“Anyway, the road is boring, so tell us about the glorious history of Porokino!” Hearing what Zhukov said, my attention immediately became focused, because I still don’t know anything about this place. , I hope to learn more about the situation in this area through the driver’s narration.

“Okay.” The driver agreed and told us the story of Polokino as he drove. In June 1812, the French emperor Napoleon, who conquered most of Europe, invaded Russia with an army of 600,000. He threatened to defeat Russia completely within six months.

Because of the successive defeats of the Russian army at the beginning of the war, Tsar Alexander I believed that this was because of the incompetence of the Russian commander Prince De Toli, so he removed his post and replaced him with the old Kutuzov. After Kutuzov, supported by his subordinates, took office, according to the changes in the battlefield, he assembled a large number of troops and took the initiative to wage a decisive battle with the French army in the Porokino area in September.

Although this battle ended with the retreat of the Russian army, the French army failed to get it right, and both sides suffered heavy casualties. So shortly after occupying Moscow, Napoleon was threatened by insufficient troops and logistical supplies, and finally had to withdraw from Moscow in a desperate manner. At this time, Kutuzov took the opportunity to organize his troops to conduct a comprehensive counterattack and completely defeated the invading French army. The invincible Napoleon finally fled back to Paris with only a few hundred people.

Hearing Shayt said this, I also remembered what kind of place this is. When I was a student in the early years, when I watched Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”, I saw the book describing this history that is worthy of the pride of the Russians. The Russians and the French fought a life and death battle here that determined the fate of the country. Unexpectedly, today, one hundred and thirty years later, the Soviets will start a desperate battle with foreign invading German devils here. Fortunately, whether it was Napoleon or Hitler, they all had their heads beaten in this place called Porogino.

The silent memory in my mind revived, and I recalled all the details in the novel. I remember that Lermontov later wrote a long poem called “Polokino”. But the poem was too long to remember completely, so I asked the driver tentatively: “Do you remember the long poem “Polokino” by Lermontov?”

“Remember, of course!” The driver said excitedly, and then began to read aloud: “Uncle, you said that is serious? The raging fire burned Moscow, but it didn’t make the French cheap? Haven’t you fought several tough battles? It was so fierce, it’s no wonder that we, as a whole, Russia, remember Porokino!…”

“…Yes, all of us at that time were not like the people of our current generation. They were heroes—unlike you! We had a difficult fate and didn’t return many people from the battlefield. If it weren’t for God’s will, why Can you give up Moscow City?…” Zhukov also recited enthusiastically.

Just as the two happily recite this famous long poem at the same time, I suddenly heard a huge engine roar outside. I hurriedly looked around, searching for the source of this strange sound with all my concentration. I looked out the window, and at a glance, I saw a long cannon tube protruding from the woods in the front left, and then a birch tree crashed to the ground, and the turret of a tank appeared in my field of vision. La.

“It’s a German tank! Back up!” I interrupted the poem recitation of the two of them, and slapped the driver on the shoulder anxiously.

The car stopped abruptly, and I hurriedly opened the safety of the submachine gun, ready to roll down the window and shoot out. At this moment, an artillery shell exploded a few meters away from the car, splashing into the sky, and then slammed heavily on the car body. The glass on my side was suddenly covered by thick mud, completely blocking my view.

The driver quickly turned a corner and increased the throttle to prepare to escape the dangerous area. The machine gun on the German tank began to fire, and a long string of bullets accurately hit our body and clinked. Immediately afterwards, another shell exploded behind the car, and mud covered the glass behind the car tightly.

I felt that I should shoot outwards. I hurriedly smashed the glass of the rear window with the butt. I extended the submachine gun from the window and pointed it at the position of the enemy tank. Then I pulled the trigger. I was shooting completely instinctively. I never thought that shooting a tank with a submachine gun would have no effect. I didn’t even hear the sound of the gun. I only felt the submachine gun trembling in my hand and hurriedly directed towards the German army. The tank spit out a shuttle bullet.

“Rush into the forest.” I heard Zhukov shouting to the driver behind me.

The bullets in the disc were all gone, and I skillfully replaced it with a new magazine and continued shooting at the tank. However, due to the bumps of the car, most of the bullets I shot failed to hit the target.

Maybe it was because the road was muddy and difficult to navigate, and the German tanks moved too slowly, so they just fired at us from a distance without catching up, and we were thrown away after a while.

“Are you okay? Lida.” Zhukov asked in the front row with concern. “Isn’t it hurt?”

“Everything is normal. Georgi Konstantinovich.” Although there was no German tank behind me, my heart was still pounding. Hearing Zhukov’s question, I tried my best to make my knee no longer. Shake, let his voice become calm and composed, “The enemy has been rid of by us.”

We took a lap in the forest until the evening arrived at the Western Front Command in Pologno When I got off the car, I heard Shait counting the bullet holes in the car. He raised his head and said to us: “What a miracle! At least forty rounds of bullets were in the body, and the trunk lid was sieved, but the fuel tank and engine were still intact, so we could come back safely. With God’s blessing.”

“Okay, Shayt.” Zhukov said: “Let’s count your miracles in the future, first drive the car to the repair station and repair it.”

“Yes.” Shayite agreed and was about to open the car door when Zhukov stopped him. Zhukov stepped forward to hug him and said in a grateful tone: “Thank you, boy, you saved our life.”

“What are you talking about? Comrade General.” Said said in a bit of surprise: “Look at what you said! Don’t I want to save my life? It’s not the same thing.”

“Okay,” Zhukov said. “I won’t forget. It’s rare for you to jump back to Pologno. I wanted to give you a few days off so that you could go home and see your family. But it won’t work. The battle may start soon, Sha It’s. Maybe one day, maybe not one day, before the battle is about to start.” He paused and said, “Now, you drive the car to the pit at once, right away.”

After 　　, he turned around and said to me: “Follow me to the headquarters, brave girl.” Then he strode towards the house where the headquarters was.

I looked at his back, then walked to Shayt’s side, and watched him sincerely say: “Thank you!” Then I lifted my toes and kissed his cheek like a dragonfly, without waiting for him. If there is any indication, he immediately turned and chased Zhukov who was walking in front.