Burning Moscow

Stalin didn't answer right away, but after taking a sip of the pipe in his mouth, he said slowly: "Because Lida is only temporarily working with you, there is no need to arrange any specific duties. Let her be assigned as a special assignment. As an officer, he went to the defense areas of Rokosovsky and Vatutin to supervise and inspect the construction of the fortifications. We don’t know when the Germans will launch a sudden attack on us, so the construction of the fortifications is The current priority."

"Yes, Comrade Stalin." Zhukov replied quickly. "I will officially announce this to Rokosovsky and the others in a moment."

Stalin nodded slowly, looked at me, and asked, "Lida, you have no objection to this arrangement, right?"

objection? ! I dare to disagree with his old man's arrangements. I quickly pretended to be ecstatic and replied: "No objection, Comrade Stalin, I resolutely obey your arrangements!"

Stalin was very satisfied with my respectful attitude. He turned his head to look at Khrulev and said to him: "Comrade Minister of Logistics, you must make a plan for the distribution of US aid materials as soon as possible."

Khrulev nodded and agreed, suddenly remembering something, and quickly stood up and said: "Comrade Stalin, there is another important thing, I want to reflect to you."

"What's the important thing?" Stalin asked in a puzzled way: "Did you not inform me in the telegram beforehand?"

"No, Comrade Stalin." Khrulev answered truthfully: "What I said has something to do with the Pacific Fleet."

"Pacific Fleet?" Zhukov frowned upon hearing Khrulev's words, and asked dissatisfiedly: "Comrade Minister of Logistics, I don't know what kind of complaints the Fleet Commander General Yumashev has sent to you?"

"Comrade Zhukov," Khrulev heard Zhukov speak, and quickly turned his gaze away from Stalin. He looked at the other side and said: "General Yumashev did not complain to me, but mentioned some of the difficulties faced by the Pacific Fleet." Then, he put us in Vladivostok. Everything he had learned was reported to Stalin and Zhukov in detail.

After listening to Ustinov as an observer. Surprisingly said: "General Khrulev, is what you said is true? The Pacific Fleet will lose most of its combat effectiveness due to lack of supplies?"

"Yes, Comrade People's Committee, what I said is the truth." Khrulev answered Ustinov's question with certainty: "When our plane was shot down by a Japanese fighter plane, we came to rescue us. The Marine Corps is considered to be one of the elite of the Pacific Fleet. But it refers to the old-fashioned weapons used by the soldiers in World War I. It can be used to deter White Russia in the Far East. The enemy can't stop the onslaught."

Hearing the seriousness of the matter, Ustinov’s face became particularly ugly. He turned to look at Stalin and said, “Comrade Stalin, if this is the case, we must make corresponding plans for the distribution of weapons and ammunition. Adjustment. We cannot reduce the supply they deserve just because the troops in the Far East are strategic reserves."

"Comrade Ustinov. You make a lot of sense. Our current war with the Germans has entered a critical moment. There is absolutely no problem with the Far East. By the way, the Ambassador of Japan visited me last night. , And expressed their formal apologies to us for the incident that they mistakenly hit your landline."

"What, our landline was finally shot down by a Japanese fighter plane. They actually wanted to use a simple apology and just let it go." If Stalin didn't say the previous words, maybe Khrulev would be furious, but that's the case. His tone was also full of gunpowder. "Does that mean that after our bombers went to bomb the Wa country mainland. I apologized to them, saying that the pilot was drunk. If you throw the bomb in the wrong place, you can stop it?"

"Comrade Khrulev, don't be so angry. We currently have a friendly treaty with the Japanese country. We can't easily tear our faces so as not to fall into the danger of fighting on the two fronts. But don't worry, I remember this matter in my heart. We will settle the account with them sooner or later." After Stalin consoled Khrulev, he turned to Zhukov and said, "Comrade Zhukov, there is nothing wrong here. You can take Lida back to your headquarters first. If your guess is correct, Rokosovsky and Vatutin should still be there waiting for you."

Zhukov took me out of the Kremlin and came to his headquarters. As Stalin had guessed, the commanders of the two fronts, Rokosovsky and Vatutin, were sitting in their offices and drinking tea with the two generals. Seeing Zhukov entering the door, the two quickly stood up, straightened their backs and greeted Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, you are back."

"Are you all still there?!" Zhukov said to the two of them while taking off their military coats: "I happen to have something to do to you. Since you are all there, there is no need to call you specifically.

I took the coat that Zhukov took off and hung it on the coat rack. I heard Rokosovsky asking Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, do you have any important instructions?"

"No," Zhukov said with a slap on my side, who had just hung up the clothes, "Comrade Stalin appointed Lida as the special agent of the base camp to go to the defensive zone of your two fronts to supervise and inspect the construction of your fortifications. ."

"Welcome, it's really welcome!" Rokosovsky heard Zhukov's words, and said with a smile of joy: "Lida and many commanders of our Central Army know each other. I believe she will not What obstacles will be encountered."

"Comrade Marshal, the situation of our Voronezh front is the same." Vatutin continued: "You must know that General Oshanina's original 79th Infantry Corps was under my command before. When she visited our front military area, I must let the commanders below provide her with enough convenience."

Zhukov stood in front of the map hanging on the wall, turned around and beckoned to me, "Lida, come to me and tell us how you think about it."

I stood in front of the map and quickly checked the names of many places near Kursk. Looking at the familiar place names one by one. The vague memory of the Battle of Kursk in my mind gradually became clear.

Perhaps seeing the smile on my face, Zhukov asked first: "Lida. I look at you so happy, have you already thought of what location should be the defensive focus?"

"Yes. Comrade Marshal." After I answered Zhukov politely, I spotted the place where the largest tank battle broke out, and said confidently: "Here, Prokhorovka."

"What, Prokhorovka?!" Before Zhukov or Rokosovsky could speak, Vatutin said first: "Comrade Oshanina, the place you are talking about is in the defensive zone of the Voronezh Front. ."

"Yes. Comrade General." I smiled and said to Vatutin: "According to my judgment, if the German army is to launch a new offensive against our defense line, then the Prokhorovka area will become the German army's primary target. "

After hearing what I said, let alone Vatutin's confusion, even Rokosovsky frowned and couldn't help asking: "Leda, I think you might have made a mistake this time. South It is Manstein’s troops. After repeated battles with our army, they have been greatly weakened. I think it is unlikely that they will attack first. On the contrary, they are west of our Central Front. They are entrenched in Orel. The German Central Army Group might take the lead in attacking us."

"Comrade Vatutin," Zhukov put his hands on his chest. Staring at the map in front of him, he said dryly to Vatutin: "Tell Lida about the situation in the Prokhorovka area."

Vatutin nodded, and then introduced me to Prokhorovka: "Prokhorovka is a combination of mountains, plains and forests. The front of our defense zone is 30 kilometers wide and 35 kilometers deep. It is not convenient for us to maneuver with firepower. There are railways and roads in the middle, which cannot form a complete defensive position, and it is easy to be surrounded by the German defense system and detour."

After Vatutin finished speaking, Zhukov continued: "Yes. The terrain of Prokhorovka is an open hilly area, divided into two by an important railway. It is not conducive to our construction of a complete defense system, it may become The main target of the German army. Comrade Vatutin. I think Lida is completely correct. Once the battle begins, this will become the main attack point of the German army." After saying this, he turned around and asked me, "What do you have? Is it a good idea?"

"Comrade Marshal," although I had a plan for defensive deployment in my mind, I did not immediately say it at this moment, but said carefully: "The specific defensive deployment will wait until I get to Prokhorovka. Only after careful survey of the local topography can it be worked out in a targeted manner."

"Well, tomorrow morning, you and General Vatutin will return to the headquarters of the Voronezh Front to complete the survey of the Prokhorovka area as soon as possible and work out the corresponding defensive deployment." Finish these words to me. After speaking, he said to Vatutin: "Comrade Vatutin, you still have a lot of things to deal with in the headquarters. The matter of accompanying Lida to survey Prokhorovka will be handed over to the Chief of Staff or others. Let the staff do it."

"Comrade Marshal," Vatutin said to Zhukov with a smile, "I think it is inappropriate to send only one or a few staff officers to accompany General Oshanina to survey the Prokhorovka area. I am. I plan to send the deputy commander, General Apanashenko, to accompany her. After he gets acquainted with the terrain, it will be of great help to command the troops in the future."

"Yes, that's right," Zhukov said as soon as Vatutin said: "Comrade Stalin raised General Apanashenko from the position of commander of the Far East Front and served as the deputy commander of the Voronezh Front because he wanted him to be the deputy commander of the Voronezh Front. Get acquainted with the environment on the Western Front as soon as possible so that you can entrust him with important tasks in the future."

"Yes, yes, General Apanashenko was already a general before the war broke out." Vatutin continued with a smile on his face: "And I won the general rank in just one or two months. Time. Let me serve as the superior of such a veteran general, I feel a lot of pressure. So I also hope that he can continue to be familiar with the environment here, and our current combat methods, so that he can be alone at an early date."

"Do you still have any difficulties?" Zhukov waited for Vatutin to finish, then raised his head and asked the two of them.

Rokosovsky thought for a while and replied: "Comrade Marshal, the roads are currently muddy and our transportation is very inconvenient. If the roads are not repaired as soon as possible, the speed of our army assembly and the accumulation of weapons and ammunition will be affected. influences."

I am deeply concerned about what Rokosovsky said, let alone now, even 60 or 70 years later, many roads on the outskirts of Moscow are still sunny and muddy and muddy. In some areas, the roads will become difficult to pass through after days of heavy rain.

After listening to Rokosovsky's words, Zhukov frowned. After a while, he said to Rokosovsky: "Comrade Rokosovsky, I can't help you with the road. But when you return to the army, you can organize manpower to cut down trees and lay timber roads in difficult-to-pass areas."

"Oh my God, Comrade Marshal." Rokosovsky showed a tearless expression on Zhukov's proposal. He cried and said: "Such a wide area, if I want to mobilize troops to pave the way, There is no guarantee that there will be enough manpower to build fortifications."

Seeing that Zhukov was helpless with this difficulty, Vatutin turned his eyes on me for help. He asked in a kind tone, "Comrade Oshanina, I have heard Marshal Zhukov say that you can always be resourceful and resourceful. Is there any good way to solve this problem for us?"

After Zhukov and the others heard Vatutin say this, they turned their attention to me, making me feel Alexander. I scratched the back of my head. When I was about to push this problem back to Rokosovsky and the others, I accidentally saw the heating stove in the corner of the office. A staff officer squatted in front of the stove and put the coal in the basket. It was stuffed into the furnace mouth one after another.

Seeing this, I immediately thought of a good way. I pointed at the stove and asked Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, do you use coal for heating in the city?"

Zhukov looked back at the staff member who was adding coal to the stove, nodded, and said, "Yes, all the heating in the city uses coal. The leftover cinder is the most troublesome, and it is difficult to find a suitable place to stack it. The leaders of Moscow’s municipal department need new places to deal with these nasty cinders every winter...Huh?! Cinders, cinders?"

When he said this, he stopped abruptly, looked at me and asked: "Lida~www.NovelMTL.com~ do you want to make a fuss on this cinder?"

"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Seeing Zhukov guessed my intentions, I said with a smile: "Instead of making comrades in the municipal department worry about stacking these cinders, it is better to use waste and use these cinders to pave roads. I estimate that the manpower used must be less than the manpower required to cut trees, and the cinder road is definitely more suitable for the passage of tanks and trucks than the timber road."

"Genius, genius!" After hearing this, Vatutin patted his thigh, gave me a thumbs up, and even praised: "Comrade Oshanina, you are a genius. In this way, not only the municipal department The problem is solved, and the road conditions in our defense zone can also be greatly improved."

Having said this, he turned his head and said to Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, I plan to take General Oshanina back to the front headquarters overnight, and strive to complete the survey of the Prokhorovka area as soon as possible, okay?"

"I agree with your proposal." Zhukov agreed with Vatutin's proposal with a big wave, and then announced to me: "Lida, you will take office now, and General Vatutin has just arrived on the Voronezh front overnight. "

"Yes, Comrade Marshal." I replied loudly. (To be continued.)