Burning Moscow

I originally thought that a commander at the level of Apanashenko should bring at least a platoon of guards when traveling, divided into trucks and jeeps, to protect his safety. Who knew that after getting in the car, I discovered that there was only one jeep, with the driver and Kazakov sitting in the front, and me and him in the back, without even a guard.

After our car drove for a certain distance, Apanasenko suddenly leaned forward, patted the shoulder of the driver in front of him, and ordered: "Stop!"

As he suddenly issued the order without warning, the driver who was driving was nervous and immediately slammed the brakes. I was caught off guard and slammed into the front. If I didn't hold the back of the chair in time, I would be hit with a black nose and swollen face. After the thrills passed, I nervously asked Apanashenko: "Comrade Deputy Commander, what happened."

"What's the matter with the truck behind?" Apanashchenko asked, looking at Kazakov in the front row.

Kazakov glanced back, then shook his head and said, "Comrade General, I don't know. Perhaps the person in the car is the guard sent by Comrade Commander."

"It's just a nonsense." Hearing Kazakov's words, Apanashenko said angrily: "We are not behind the enemy lines. Where can we need someone to protect us." After he complained, he ordered Kazakov, "General Kazakov, you go and inform the commander in the car behind and let them go back, saying that we can protect ourselves."

When I heard Apanashenko say this, I couldn't help but look back curiously, just to see a commander in the cab of a truck parked not far behind. I fixed my eyes, and turned out to be my "guard squad leader" Captain Yushchenko, so he quickly stopped Kazakov who was about to get out of the car by opening the door: "General Kazakov, please wait a moment."

"Comrade Oshaninna. Do you have anything to do?" Seeing that Kazakov was still sitting in his seat after listening to me, Apanasenko asked curiously: "Why don't you let Kazhakov Where will General Zakov get out of the car?"

I raised my finger to the truck behind. And Yushchenko, who was walking towards us, explained to Apanashenko: "Comrade Deputy Commander. On that truck is my guard squad." Seeing an expression of displeasure on his face, Quickly added another sentence, "Marshal Zhukov sent it out to protect my safety."

Hearing what I said, Apanashchenko couldn't get angry anymore, so he waved his hand and said helplessly: "Since Marshal Zhukov sent you the guard squad, let them follow."

I nodded. Turning around and pushing the car door, leaning out half of his body, he said to Yushchenko who had just walked to the side of the car: "Captain, you and your people are following behind and are responsible for protecting our safety. Do you understand?"

"Understood." Yushchenko originally planned to ask me why I stopped. Hearing me say something so thoughtless, he glanced into the car with a puzzled face, and after a resounding promise, he turned to the back. The truck goes.

The car continued to drive forward. I was slanderous at Apanashenko's carefree character. Although the area we were driving was part of our military's defense zone, we did not bring any guards. It's a bit too big. Not to mention the attack like the last time, even if there are three or five stragglers who throw a grenade at us, they may all be reimbursed.

Thinking of this, I tentatively asked Apanashenko: "Comrade Deputy Commander, do you not bring a guard every time you go out?"

"Guard? Why do you bring a guard?" After hearing my question, Apanashenko raised his eyebrows and asked in amazement: "Comrade Oshanina, why do you ask this suddenly?"

"Comrade Deputy Commander. This is the front line after all." I didn't expect him to ask such a question, and couldn't help but smile. Shrugging his shoulders, he replied somewhat helplessly: "Because we don't know we are on the way out. Whether we will encounter German attacks, we should still bring a few guards."

"Comrade Oshanina, you are wrong." As soon as I finished speaking, Apanashenko retorted me unceremoniously: "Even if it is dangerous, we should not respond before and after when we go out for inspection. Take a group of fighters out. So if you are seen by the commanders below, they will think that you, the commander, is timid and afraid of death, and won't really respect you..."

Listening to Apanashenko’s tirade, although I always kept a smile on my face and pretended to listen to the teachings, I smiled bitterly in my heart. It turned out that he didn’t bring a guard every time he went out, just didn’t want the commanders below. Considering that he is a person who is greedy for life and fear of death, it is estimated that Vatutin has similar personalities, no wonder they both died young.

What happened to the German army in the 69th Army today, I think that neither Vatutin, Khrushchev or Apanashenko did it properly. Sitting at the main commander of the front army, you must at least wait for the people below to figure out the situation before deciding what to do. How can you be so sloppy like Apanashenko that you don’t even bring a guard, just hurriedly Hurry to Prokhorovka.

In addition to Apanashenko, I am also dissatisfied with Kazakov who is sitting in front. As the commander of the 69th Army, I heard that traces of German troops have been found in my jurisdiction. The first thing you need to do is to call Give your deputy or chief of staff to find out the general situation. Instead of asking nothing, just follow Apanashenko like a follower and rush back. He may have forgotten that he is the commander of the group army, and regards himself as an ordinary infantry squad leader, to see where the enemy is.

Regardless of how Apanashenko is known as the "Tsar of the Far East", he is still one of the five generals who achieved the rank of general before the war, but his combat thinking is still the same as that used during the Civil War decades ago. , Always thinks that he should take the lead and stay in the most dangerous place just like ordinary fighters. Especially since he has never dealt with Germans, if he copied the set of dealing with the Japanese, he would definitely suffer a big loss.

While thinking about my own thoughts, I looked outside through the car window. When I entered the area of ​​Prokhorovka, I found many hills on both sides of the road. The patches of bushes on the hills are simply the best place for our army to conceal anti-tank guns. From these places, it can be fierce. Ground against the flanks of enemy armored forces. But because the terrain here is very open, the anti-tank guns hidden in the bushes fired. It will be counterattacked by the enemy. If possible, the self-propelled anti-tank guns currently equipped in the military should be used as much as possible.

See here. I patted Kazakov who was sitting in front, and waited for him to look back. I pointed to the bushes on the hills outside and told him what I had just thought. After hearing this, he nodded repeatedly and agreed, and promised that I would deploy self-propelled anti-tank guns where fighting might break out.

After I finished speaking, I turned my head and looked at Apanashenko next to him, and found that he was staring at me intently, listening to my advice to Kazakov. Seeing me turning his head to look at him, he smiled and said to me kindly: "Comrade Oshanina. You are so awesome! If we really deploy our forces like this, the pressure on our frontal defense will be greatly reduced."

For his compliment, I didn't say a word, just smiled politely. Who knew my reaction made him misunderstood. He quickly explained to me: "Comrade Oshanina, please don’t be too distracted. I just say it to my heart. Don’t look at my qualifications older than Marshal Zhukov, but I don't know anything about modern warfare in the true sense. I have been in the Far East for so many years, although some people call me the "Tsar of the Far East" and say how well I manage the Far East. I am almost a complete person. To be honest, even after hearing this a lot, even I felt a little airy. I felt that if I came to the Western Front, I could easily defeat the Germans, so I asked Comrade Stalin for a transfer."

Seeing that Apanashenko opened up to me and talked about his own affairs, I quickly straightened my body, looked at the veteran general in front of me, and patiently listened to what he said next: "... After here, I discovered that everything was far from what I imagined. If nothing else, even if a tank army is handed over to me to command. I don’t know how to assign tasks to subordinates and issue combat instructions. I want to do it as soon as possible. Adapt to all of this. You have to learn from the beginning, so even if the superior appoints me to be Vatutin's deputy who is much lower than my qualifications, I have no complaints..."

At the end, he asked me again: "Comrade Oshanina, please tell me as a friend, have I done anything wrong in the way this matter is handled today?"

After hearing this, I quickly thought about whether I should tell the truth to Apanashenko. After thinking about it for a long time, I finally summoned the courage to say: "Comrade General, I think your approach today is too reckless?"

"Ah?! Comrade Oshanina, why do you say that?" Apanashenko asked inexplicably, "When we learn that there is an enemy situation in our jurisdiction, shouldn't we deal with it immediately? ?"

"Comrade General, to be honest, when there is an enemy, we definitely can't ignore it." I know that my words may offend him, but thinking that he will die soon, even if he is offended, it will have no effect on my future. If I can make him change and let him escape, maybe he will still be my resistance in the future, because I just said bluntly: "But you are the deputy commander of the front army. It is more important than dealing with the enemy. There is a lot of work. So after encountering this situation, the first thing you need to do is not to stop important military meetings and take ordinary people to the place where the enemy appears to check the situation. It is to order the person reporting the intelligence to do it. Know the enemy’s strength and equipment and report it to you, and then you can make corresponding deployments based on the situation."

As soon as I finished speaking, I saw Apanashenko patted his forehead fiercely and said with an exaggerated expression: "Oh my God, Comrade Oshaninna, you are so right, how can I? I didn't expect it. Yeah, it only takes a phone call and maybe ten minutes to figure out things. Running recklessly like me, maybe not only can't solve the problem, but it will make things worse." said After extending his hands to me, he said gratefully, "Thank you, Comrade Oshanina, thank you for your guidance. I will know how to deal with this situation in the future."

When I shook hands with him, I quickly glanced at Kazakov in the front row, and saw that his gaze was looking out the window, and I wondered if he could get a little bit after listening to what I just said. Inspired.

At this moment, Kazakov suddenly yelled: "Comrade driver, turn right at the fork in front of you later."

"Yes, Comrade General." The driver who drove the car replied angrily.

Kazakov turned around and said respectfully to Apanashchenko: "Comrade Deputy Commander, there is a regiment command post of our group army in front of us. Later we can be there and give a call to the group army headquarters. Call the chief of staff to find out how the enemy was found."

"Very well, Comrade Kazakov, you are doing the right thing." Regarding Kazakov's learning and application, Apanashenko said with satisfaction: "Let’s go to the regiment command post to learn about the enemy’s situation. , And then decide what to do next."

Our jeep drove on the uneven dirt road, passing through hordes of commanders, and finally stopped in front of a simple wooden house. Kazakov turned his head and said: "Here." Then he pushed the door and got out of the car, and went from the back to the other side. He respectfully asked Apanashchenko to open the door and asked him to get off. .

When the three of us walked into the regiment command post, the commander inside was taken aback. Seeing us coming in, a lieutenant colonel sitting on a bed by the wall drinking tea quickly jumped up, grabbed the belt on the bed and fastened it around his waist, and at the same time reported his military rank and position to us~www.NovelMTL.com~Kazako The husband did not say any nonsense, but asked straightforwardly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, can you contact the group army command here?"

"Yes, Comrade General." The lieutenant colonel replied in a flustered manner: "We have a walkie-talkie here to talk to the command of the group army."

At this time, another well-groomed major came to us. Through the report, I knew that he was the chief of staff of the regiment. Hearing that we are going to contact the group army headquarters, we immediately took Kazakov to a walkie-talkie by the wall and talked with the other party through the microphone of the phone.

After Kazakov finished speaking, he returned to us and reported to Apanashenko: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I have figured it out. It turned out that several German motorcycles appeared in the front of our army. It may be a scout. After being spotted by our officers and fighters, they fired a few shots and fled back to their defense zone. Everything should be back to normal now."

After listening to Kazakov's report, Apanashchenko turned his head and said to me: "Comrade Oshanina, you are still right. If you don't make this call, maybe we will have to go for nothing." Said to Kazakov, "Comrade General, we will rest here for a while, and then go to survey the terrain." (To be continued.)