Burning Moscow

87 The Immortal Soul

The truck drove west along the river. After driving for a distance, it turned around and got on a stone bridge, and then it drove south.

The military parade in 1941 was of great significance to the Soviet Union and later Russia, and it was a major historical event worthy of a special book. As a participant in this historical event, I am sitting between the driver and Krochkov, holding the submachine gun in my arms, and closing my eyes silently.

The truck drove and stopped suddenly. I opened my eyes and asked the driver: “How did you stop?” I asked and looked out the window to see if I encountered a temporary checkpoint or something. The snow outside didn’t know when it had stopped, visibility was high, and the highway was empty, not to mention checkpoints or barricades, not even people could see one.

“The car broke down, I’ll go take a look.” The driver said, opened the door and jumped down. He walked to the front of the car, opened the front cover of the car, and checked it carefully.

I moved my body to the left, sat in the driver’s position, and went out from the half-open door to look back. Except for the car I was in and the other two trucks that came together, they stopped, and all the cars behind came to a stop. Coming down, the long convoy was out of sight. I turned my head and said to Kroshkov: “Comrade instructor, you see, our car broke down and blocked all the cars. I don’t know what’s wrong with this car, and I don’t know when it will be repaired. Are you sure? Go to the back and let those cars go first?”

“No problem, I’ll go right away.” He said, straightening the military cap on his head, then opened the door on his side, jumped down, and trot to the convoy behind.

After a short while, the cars behind drove over, passing in front of me one after another. The driver was still checking what was wrong with the car. I was bored sitting in the cab alone, so I moved my body to the right side of the car and got out of the car door opened by Krochkov.

I looked into the carriage. Although the hat, shoulders, and back of the soldier were covered with thick snow at the moment, he still sat upright and did not move. While admiring the fighters, I also have a strong opinion about the leader who sent us cars: on such a cold day, I actually sent us three open-top trucks to let the fighters sit in unobstructed carriages and drink from the northwest. wind.

There seems to be a man-made lake on the right side of the road. From a distance, except for the small area in the center of the lake, other places have frozen. Isn’t the artificial lake usually in the forest? How come one suddenly pops up by the Moskva River? With this question, I walked towards the lake.

The artificial lake is about fifty meters away from the highway, and I walked forward cautiously on the snow. Just halfway through the journey, suddenly there was an old-fashioned voice behind him: “Hey, I said that comrade commander, are you here for the October Revolutionary Day military parade?”

I looked back and saw an elderly military officer in his fifties. He was wearing a large brimmed hat with a red hat ring. The gold star on the red diamond collar indicated that he was a general. I counted it quickly, and there were four stars. I was an admiral. I hurriedly stood at attention and saluted him and reported: “Hello, Comrade Admiral! I am Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina. I was ordered to bring troops to the Red Square to participate in the review.”

“Very good!” The general nodded and said, “It’s a coincidence that you are here. We are one person short of the commander team participating in the military parade. You can just join us to make up for this position.”

Commander team? ! what happened? I was confused when I heard it, and asked in a puzzled way: “What commander phalanx? Where are the other commanders? Why didn’t I see anyone but you?”

“Is that right?” He said, pointing his hand to the lake, and I looked in the direction of his finger. Sure enough, there was a small army, following an officer holding a flag, coming towards me.

After a while, the strange team passed by us. I can see clearly that the one holding the banner is a major general, and the commanders who follow are generally of higher ranks. Except for a few political workers, there are either generals or colonels. There are very few people at my level.

“Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, act quickly, stand in the line and go to the Red Square with us. If you delay, the review should be over.” The admiral said to me in a commanding tone, and then he turned around. Follow the team forward. I followed the Admiral without thinking, walking one after another towards the Moskva River.

“Commander Kilbonos!” A shrill voice suddenly yelled from the side. The sudden voice stopped the whole team, and everyone looked in the direction where the sound came from. I saw the speaker wearing a gray military coat, a dog-skin hat, and a pair of round glasses on the bridge of his nose. He walked towards us and said in a trembling voice: “Commander Kilbonos, didn’t you die during the breakout in Kiev?” Then he turned to the major general holding the flag and said: “Tupikov Chief of Staff, didn’t you sacrifice too?” Then he pointed to a political worker with a two-handed beard and shouted, “Comrade Burmistenko, the military commissioner, I saw you were bombed by a fascist bandit with my own eyes. Bone to the bones.”

what? ! Hearing this, I couldn’t help feeling a chill in my vest. I ran a few steps aside and came to the person’s side. I asked in a trembling voice, “What the **** is going on?”

“Let me introduce to you,” he pointed to the general who had just spoken to me, and said: “This is General Kilbonos, the former commander of the Southwest Front. The one holding the banner is Chief of Staff Tupico. Major General, the military commissioner, Comrade Burmistenko, and the rest are staff officers in the headquarters of the Southwest Front Army. Apart from my successful breakthrough with Khrushchev and Budjoni, the rest of the commanders They all died heroically in the battle to defend Kiev!”

Even if a bomb explodes next to me, it is not as powerful as the information the officer with eyes told me. I couldn’t help but step back two steps, oh my god, I was dealing with a group of ghosts. Only then did I notice that they were all wearing summer clothes, and there were so many people walking just now without making a sound; after walking on the snow, they didn’t even leave a footprint. Seeing this scene, I really wanted to know if it was real or dreaming, so I put my index finger in my mouth and bit hard. The pain I felt instantly made me understand that everything that happened before me was real. And I am not in a dream.

Admiral Kilbonos looked at us, smiled sadly, and said: “Unexpectedly, we all sacrificed.” After a pause, he said: “Comrade Vlasov, the responsibility of defending Moscow is left to you and Comrades alive, you must not fail our trust!”

“Comrade Commander, don’t worry, as long as I am alive, I will definitely fight.”

“Since you said that, I’m relieved!” The admiral finished speaking, facing the commanders who stood beside silently, and said: “We have completed our vows and used our lives to defend our motherland. Now. Set off, head towards the Red Square, and go with the martyrs who have lain there, and use our souls to bless our motherland and nation.

Admiral 　　 and his team quickly disappeared from my sight, as if they had never appeared before. I chased forward a few steps, stopped, facing the place where the heroic souls disappeared, raised my hand to the sideburn, and solemnly saluted the military salute.

“Comrade Oshanina, hello!” The shrill voice rang in my ears again, and I remembered that there was another person standing next to me. I quickly put my hand down and turned to face the person behind. Seeing me turning around, he went on to say: “I am Major General Vlasov, the commander of the new 20th Army.”

Listening to his identity, I realized that I was standing in front of a major general. I quickly stood at attention and saluted and reported to him loudly: “Comrade General, hello! I am Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina. I am waiting for your instructions.”

“Do you know where this is?” He suddenly pointed to the artificial lake and asked me.

I shook my head, and said in an uncertain tone: “It might be a man-made lake or something.”

“No, this is not an artificial lake. It used to be the site of the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ. A few years ago, it was planned to build the Soviet Palace here, so the church was blown up and all the priests were exiled. But after the foundation was laid, it appeared frequently. In the construction accident, several people died, and the construction site turned into a lake overnight. Some people say that this incredible thing will happen when the gods are angry.” At this point, he looked around, and then left. Come over, put your hands on my shoulders, and whispered: “You and I can only know about the things about Commander Kilbonos just now. I don’t think I can tell the third person, otherwise it will cause unnecessary trouble. Trouble. Do you understand?”

“Understood!” Although I didn’t understand why he said that, I still agreed to him very simply.

“General Vlasov, Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, it turns out that you two are here, which made us look everywhere.” The sudden voice shocked me. I turned my head and saw that I knew the person who came. , It was the Krochkov who participated in the interrogation of Bezikov and me.

Krochkov, dressed in casual clothes, walked to my side and said dryly: “I am on the order of Comrade Boskrebeshev to come to you with General Vlasov. There are important tasks for you to perform. .”

“Okay, I’ll talk to my soldiers, and then I will go with you.”

Krochkov did not speak, but nodded in agreement.

I walked quickly towards the truck parked position, just in time to see Krochkov hurriedly with a few soldiers coming over. Seeing me, he hurriedly walked a few steps, came to my side, and asked anxiously: “Comrade lieutenant colonel, where did you go? I didn’t see you in a blink of an eye. I thought something was wrong with you, so I pushed all the soldiers out of the car and looked for you everywhere.

“Ah?!” Hearing him say this, I couldn’t help being shocked. I didn’t go too far just now, no more than 50 meters away from the truck. How could they not see me? “I didn’t go very far just by the puddle.”

“I’ve seen that there is no one everywhere, so the soldiers are looking for you.” When he said that, he approached my ear and said in a low voice: “At this moment, I saw a black car parked. A general got off the back of our truck. After walking towards the puddle for a while, he suddenly disappeared from my sight. When he reappears, I will see you with him.”

My god, what is going on? Why do I get more confused as I listen. But this matter was not clear for a while, I quickly raised my hand to stop Krochkov from continuing to say: “Okay, this is the end of the matter, don’t mention it. I came here to tell you, superior There are important tasks that I need to perform, and you will be responsible for bringing back the troops participating in the inspection, do you understand?”

“Yes!”

I walked to the front of the truck, leaned in through the opened door, and took out my clothes and submachine gun. As he was about to close the door, he saw the driver getting into the car from the door on the other side, and asked him: “Comrade driver, has the car been repaired?”

“Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, do you know? It’s really strange. I checked it just now and there was nothing wrong with it. I was thinking about how to fix it. The car’s motor turned on automatically. Do you think it’s too strange.” ”

“Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, please move faster, everyone is waiting for you!” The annoying Krochkov’s voice came from behind. I hurriedly promised loudly: “Come on, I’ll pass right away.” Then I waved to the driver, closed the door with a slam, turned around and shook hands with the instructor Krochkov, and strode away from the stop. The black car at the back quickly passed by.