Burning Moscow

44 Cruel Battle (5)

From the headquarters to the position of the 230th regiment, it was only five or six hundred meters away, but there was no traffic to get there directly, so I had to walk on the open ground most of the time.

Although the German offensive was temporarily stopped, they still kept firing at our position. During the journey, as soon as I heard the sharp whistling sound of the shells, I hurriedly lay down and waited for the explosion to get up and move on.

just stop and go, by the time of the 230 defense line, nearly half an hour had passed. The tanks lined up behind the trenches were still firing at the enemy, but I observed that only five were intact. The others were either destroyed or their tracks were interrupted. It seemed that they could not participate in offensive operations.

I saw a few tank soldiers sitting on the back of a tank whose tracks had been blown off, and they were wounded. They walked over and asked them loudly, “Comrade soldiers, where is your commander?”

They looked up at me when they heard the sound, and then someone pointed to a tank that was firing a gun not far away and said: “There, Lieutenant Gusev is directing the battle.” I nodded my head and thanked him quickly. The tank walked. Behind him came a muttering voice of a soldier: “Are all the men dead? I actually sent a woman to the front!”

Hearing this, I didn’t turn my head to pay him any attention. I walked straight to the tank and knocked the shell of the turret with the butt. Seeing that there was no movement inside, I made a few more vigorous knocks. This time there was an immediate response. The hatch opened with a bang. A tank lieutenant leaned forward, looked at me, and asked loudly, “What’s the matter with you? Comrade Sergeant.”

Sergeant? ! Who is he calling? I looked around and didn’t see anyone else. Then I pointed my finger at myself and asked him hesitantly, “Are you calling me? Comrade Lieutenant.”

“Of course. Look, is there anyone besides you here?” He replied dissatisfied.

I looked at the soldier’s army coat on my body and felt relieved. Since I arrived in Moscow, I have been wearing a soldier’s uniform. Although I had the opportunity to change to an officer’s uniform, I didn’t change it. I don’t want to wear a brand new coat on the battlefield and become a target for German snipers.

“I’m Major Oshanina, Special Commissioner of the Front Army.” I quickly declared my identity to him.

“I’m sorry! Comrade Major, I did not see your rank clearly, I am Lieutenant Gusev.” The lieutenant hurriedly saluted me and apologized, and then asked me what I was coming from: “Do you have any instructions?”

“It’s like this. In a few minutes, I will lead my troops to launch a counterattack against the enemy. I hope you can lead the remaining tanks and open the way for the infantry in front. Are there any difficulties?”

“No problem, Comrade Major.” Lieutenant Gusev replied excitedly: “Just look at it. As long as you give an order, I will personally kill the Germans.”

“Well, our army will launch another salvo on the German Devils later. As soon as the artillery stops, you will immediately lead the remaining tanks to charge the enemy and open up an offensive path for us. Understand?”

“Very well, Comrade Major.”

After I explained the task with Lieutenant Gusev, I jumped into the trench more than half a man and walked along the traffic trench to the shelter of the regiment. As I walked, I was blocked by a crowd of people in front of me. I was a little dissatisfied and said: “Comrades, please give in, I want to go to the regiment headquarters.”

The few people in front immediately put their bodies against the side of the trench and gave me a way out, allowing me to see the situation clearly. It turned out that a young man was crying holding the body of an old man, and he stood behind him. The few people who are still wiping their eyes.

“What’s the matter?” I whispered to a soldier standing next to me.

“This is the Pavlov father and son of our regiment,” the elderly soldier screamed at the crying young man, and then said: “The young man is Pavlov the young man. He just jumped out of the trench and bombed the German tank. , His father found that a German devil wanted to shoot coldly, so he didn’t hesitate to jump out to block the bullet for his son.”

Hearing what he said, I also remembered the pair of Pavlov and his son. I saw them the last time we inspected the position with Zhukov. At that time Zhukov also promised the old man that he would be promoted to a sergeant when the battle was over. He didn’t expect that he would die so soon. Seeing Pavlov young’s sadness, my emotions were affected, tears rolled in my eyes, and they might flow down my cheeks at any time.

But I thought about it again. I was about to launch an attack on the enemy. If Pavlov continued to grieve like this, it would affect morale. So I wiped my eyes, walked to Pavlov, and said loudly to him: “Comrade Pavlov, now is not the sad time, wipe away my tears and stand up.”

Pavlov was taken aback by my voice, looked up at me blankly, let go of his father’s body, stood up mechanically, and looked at me for a while before saying in a hoarse voice: “I know you, Comrade Commander. Last time, you and Comrade General came to inspect the position.” When speaking, there was not the attitude that the subordinate should have towards the superior, and the few people standing around looked at it with unfriendly eyes. Hold me.

I know that it is very impolite that I interrupt other people’s grief abruptly, and it is inevitable to arouse people’s resentment. I felt that an invisible wall appeared between me and the others to alienate each other. I want to get through this wall and tear down this wall as soon as possible. So I pointed to the front of the battlefield and said loudly: “Tears are of no avail. The German devils who killed our relatives are on the opposite side. They picked up the guns in their hands and went to fight with them. The blood debts must be paid with blood, and let them pay with their lives. I owe this blood debt to us.”

A few short sentences are enough to reconcile me with those who originally disliked me.

“Comrade Major.” The head of the 230 regiment didn’t know when he squeezed in front of me, “Your fighting mobilization is so unique. Don’t worry, we will beat the German devils to the ground later.”

At this moment, a new round of rockets whizzed past our heads and disappeared into the enemy’s attacking queue again. After the earth-shattering explosion, everything fell into silence.

I jumped out of the trenches, raised the submachine gun in my hand, and shouted loudly: “Spread out in a skirmish formation, for the motherland! Qian in ! Revenge for the sacrificed comrades! Qian in !” I was yelling loudly, but the sound in my ears was very small, probably because the explosion just now made my hearing impaired.

Our army’s tanks rushed past the trenches and launched a charge. Then the soldiers also jumped out of the trenches, armed with bayonet rifles, followed the tank in a skirmish formation, and attacked forward. I followed a tank closely, because this is a safe zone. As long as the enemy doesn’t fire, the cold gun can’t hit here.

After two rounds of our army’s rocket launchers, the German offensive forces had suffered heavy losses. They were retreating in a panic. Our army’s sudden counterattack made the chaos even greater. Our air force also flew over the battlefield at this time. Although there were only nine planes, after they bombed the German tanks violently, the Germans lost the magic weapon they were relying on, and their morale was even lower. After being rushed by our army, the army was suddenly defeated.

Originally, our skirmish line followed the tank and walked forward in large strides. I don’t know who took the lead in the trot first. Then the whole team changed from walking to trotting, and soon it evolved into fast running. Most of the German troops were running desperately, only a few diehards hiding behind the bunker and shooting at us. The soldiers rushed over, and the German soldiers were either shot to death or stabbed to death by bayonets. This sporadic resistance immediately fell apart.

In less than an hour, our counterattack force reached a commanding height in the Polokino Plain. I saw a monument tower on the high ground, in the shape of an octagonal prism, with an eagle sculpture at the top, and densely engraved with Russian at the bottom of the tower. I grabbed a soldier next to me and asked, “What kind of monument is this?”

“Comrade Commander, you don’t even know this?” The soldier looked at me with a surprised look: “This is the Russian Army Memorial Tower in Pologno. The following text records the history of the Battle of Pologno.” Seeing my dazed look, he added: “This place was the main position of the Russian army back then. The Russian 7th Army under the command of General Laevsky was guarded. In the entire battle, the competition here was the fiercest. , The casualties were the heaviest. It is said that tens of thousands of people died on both sides in this place alone.” After speaking, he ran away to capture the German soldiers who had fled.

“Comrade Commander,” Pavlov called me when I was looking at the memorial tower in a trance. I turned my head and saw that he was holding a bayonet rifle, and several dejected prisoners came over. He walked up to me and reported: “I think these German devils are very strange. They don’t speak German.”

“Which one of you understands Russian?” I asked several prisoners.

Several prisoners looked at me blankly, without any reaction.

“I know German,” Pavlov added, “I asked them just now, but they didn’t understand it.”

If they don’t understand German or Russian, then they will certainly not be the puppet army of the captured Soviet army. Since they are not a puppet army, what kind of army will they be? I frowned and thought for a long time, but I couldn’t think of a result.

At this time, a soldier ran over and reported to me: “Comrade Major, the troops of the Fourth Tank Brigade and our division have joined forces, and their commander is looking for you.”

I nodded and said, “Okay, I’ll go over immediately.”

I just walked a few steps, there was a sudden insight in my mind, stopped, returned to the front of several prisoners, and asked in English: “Who are you? Which unit are you from?”

“We are French.” One of the prisoners understood my question and quickly answered me in English. Although the Hundred Years’ War broke out in Britain and France, there are as many French-speaking French as there are English-speaking French. After all, knowing foreign languages ​​is a fashion in their country. He went on to say: “We are a French legion composed of French volunteers.”

“French legion of volunteers, hum!” I sneered and told Pavlov: “You take a few soldiers and send them to the headquarters of the front army. These are not German devils, but a group of Frenchmen. If they try If you run away, don’t talk nonsense and kill them all.”

“Yes!” Pavlov happily agreed, and escorted the group of prisoners away.

On my way to the Fourth Tank Brigade, I saw a tank that was destroyed by the Germans when I attacked the high ground just now. Next to the burnt out tank, there lay the charred remains of several sacrificed tankers. I immediately recognized one of them: this was Lieutenant Gusev.

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