Burning Moscow

　　 I was sitting in the sedan out of town, cursing Krochkov from the Ministry of Internal Affairs in my heart. The other day, I didn't pay attention to me, as if I didn't exist. I just came out for a walk today and wanted to relax, but I actually sent someone to find me again. It was an acquaintance who led the team, the major who drove me to the hotel last time. As soon as he found me, he took me into the black car parked outside the gate of Vuitton Khan. After getting in the car, without even returning to the hotel, he drove directly to the battlefield in the southwest direction.

　　 On the way out, I secretly asked Aksala, how did you bring the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to Wieden Khan? Aksala hurriedly explained that as soon as you left the house with your front foot, they came in with the back foot, saying that there were a hundred thousand urgent things looking for you, and she brought these people to Wieden Khan.

　　 As I walked towards the gate, I was still thinking: Vuitton Khan is so big, if they missed it in the park, wouldn't they just go for nothing? When I walked to the door, I realized that I was wrong. The major of the Ministry of Internal Affairs considered the problem more comprehensively than I did. Before he entered the park, he placed four soldiers at the gate and told them about my clothes. . In this way, even if you can't find me in the park, you can stop me at the door.

Major 　　 did not drive today, but took the seat of the co-pilot. I asked at the back of his head, "Comrade Major, where are you sending me up?"

　　 "There is an order to send you to the headquarters of the 16th Army in Ustinovo." Without looking back, he said dryly.

　　 "What about Aksala? The distance from here to the hotel is not close." I knew the destination I was going to, and I was worried about Aksala who was still at the gate of Wieden Khan.

　　 "You don't need to worry about this, our soldiers will send her back to the hotel safely." He still answered me in a cold tone. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, and then suddenly came out: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, just got reliable news from the guerrillas behind enemy lines. The commander of the 16th Army was injured and captured."

　　 "Huh?" I was stunned by the news, Rokosovsky was captured? ! How is this possible? If he was captured, it would be an impossible task to rescue him based on the current situation of our army. If he stayed in the German prisoner-of-war camp until the end of the war, how could he become the future marshal of the Soviet Union? Also, if I stayed with Rokosovsky, would I also be captured by the Germans?

After a while, I recovered from the shock and asked the major in a trembling voice: "Comrade Major, what did you just say, the commander of the 16th Army was injured and captured? Is it General Rokosovsky? "

　　 Hearing what I said, the major turned his head abruptly to stare at me, looked at me blankly, and asked inexplicably: "When did I say that General Rokosovsky was captured?"

　　 "Didn't you just say that the commander of the 16th Army was injured and was captured by the Germans?" Seeing that the blank expression on his face didn't look like it was pretended, I couldn't help wondering if I had a hearing voice.

"Yes, I just said that the commander of the 16th Army was captured. But it was not General Rokosovsky, but General Lukin, the old commander of the 16th Army." His explanation made me. I was relieved, as long as it wasn't for Rokosovsky, other people I didn't know were not captured, so I leaned back holding the submachine gun, leaned back in the seat and started to close my eyes.

　　 Ustinovo is not a city at the moment, but a relatively large residential area. This major seems to have been here before. From the moment he entered the residential area, he kept directing the driver to turn left and right, and finally came to a large wooden house. After the car stopped, the major turned around and said to me: "Here, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel."

　　 I thanked him, opened the door and got out of the car. "Wait a minute, Comrade Oshanina." The major said suddenly, and I stopped and looked at him in surprise. The major stretched out his hand to me across the seat and said with a smile: "Good luck!" I grabbed his warm palm and shook it vigorously, and said gratefully, "Thank you!" "And me, too," Comrade Commander." The driver, who was taciturn along the way, also reached out to me.

　　 A colonel stood at the door of the wooden house. He saw me walking by and looked at me up and down, and then asked me, "Is it Comrade Oshaninna?"

　　 "Yes." I agreed and stood up and saluted him, wondering who this person is, I have never seen it before.

　　 "I'm Colonel Ma Lining, Chief of Staff of the Group Army. Go in. The combat meeting is about to begin. Comrade Commander is waiting for you."

　　 I walked into the room and found that it was originally a conference room. The long table in the room was already full of people. Commander Rokosovsky was sitting under a large military map. Seeing me go in, he stood up, waved to me, and said loudly, "Comrade Lida, come to me." So I blushed and walked along the corner under the eyes of everyone, and then Sit down in the spot on his left that was specially reserved for me.

"Everyone is here, we are meeting now. The commanders for today's meeting come from different places and don't know each other. In order to cooperate well with each other in the upcoming battle, I will give you an introduction." He first pointed out He said to himself: "My name is Rokosovsky, I am the commander of the group army." After a while, he said in a mocking tone: "Is anyone else who doesn't know me? Please raise your hand if you don't."

　　 His words immediately caused a roar of laughter, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly became relaxed.

He pointed to the burly political worker sitting in the seat to his right and said, "This is Comrade Lobachev, the political commissar of the group army." Lobachev nodded to the commanders present and said: "Hello comrades!"

　　 "Comrade Romanov, Director of the Political Department of the Army Group." A lanky officer on Lobachev's right side stood up.

　　 "Major General Kazakov, the artillery commander of the group army." Rokosovsky turned his gaze to my side again, and the fat general on my right got up from his chair and greeted everyone.

　　 "Col. Ma Lining, Chief of Staff of the Group Army, and Comrade Orel, Deputy Chief of Staff."

Then he looked at me and solemnly introduced to the commanders present: "This is Comrade Oshanina, the only female lieutenant colonel in our army and the special commissioner of the Western Front." His voice just fell. There was a round of applause. I stood up and saluted everyone before sitting down again.

Rokosovsky then began to introduce the commanders who came to the meeting: "General Dovator, commander of the 3rd Cavalry Corps, and his subordinates, Major General Iliev, commander of the 50th Cavalry Division, and Commander of the 53rd Cavalry Colonel Melnik of the division, "The young and handsome cavalry major general I know stood up at the same time as the other two cavalry commanders.

　　 "Colon Chernenov of the 18th Infantry Division."

　　 "The front army has just equipped us with Colonel Katukov, the independent tank brigade commander."

　　 "A mixed cadet group formed on the basis of the Military Academy named by the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Federation, headed by Lieutenant Colonel Mladyntsev and Comrade Slavkin, political commissar."

　　……

"The last one introduced is Comrade Romanchenko, the chief of the Moscow civilian police. He has brought us a well-trained and well-equipped civilian police detachment." This time it was the farthest station of a police officer wearing a police uniform. Stand up and salute everyone.

"Okay, all the commanders have been introduced. Next, I invite the Chief of Staff, Comrade Malinin, to explain to you the upcoming'Battle of Skirmanowo'." When the commander said this, I glanced again. After going through the audience, I still didn't see the two of Panfilov and political commissar Yegorov. It seems that this counterattack did not arrange for the 316th Division to participate.

Malinen walked to the front of the big map, pointed with an explanation stick, and explained to everyone: "At the end of October and early November, the Germans seized several settlements on the right flank of our army, including Skirmano. Vo. Hitlers threatened the Volokolamsk-Istrian highway from the south. Not only could they shell the highway, but they could cut off the highway at any time and enter the main group of our army in this direction. In order to eliminate the threat of being surrounded by the Germans, the Front Army Command ordered us to immediately launch a battle against the Germans."

　　 Malinen paused for a moment, as if making everyone think about what he said. Then he continued: "The attacking forces are divided into two echelons. The first echelon is Ilyev’s 50th Cavalry Division, Chernenov’s 18th Infantry Division, and Katukov’s Tank Brigade. The first echelon is Ilyev’s 50th Cavalry Division, Chernenov’s 18th Infantry Division, and Katukov’s Tank Brigade. The second echelon consists of the 17th, 20th, 24th, and 44th Cavalry Divisions from Central Asia, the 58th Tank Brigade, and the 78th Infantry Division of Colonel Beloborodov from Siberia. Before the attack, the general Several artillery units and guard mortar battalions are preparing for artillery fire. In addition to our army, the 5th and 20th army will also cooperate with our offensive. The total force of our army for this battle is eleven divisions."

　　 After listening to Malinin's words, the commanders present involuntarily exclaimed. The eleven divisions, almost all of them are fresh troops. To deal with the exhausted German army, wouldn't it be the best to win.

　　Eleven divisions? Hearing this number, I immediately thought of the battle that President Lin mentioned that day, and it seemed that everything he said was true. I know from the records of later generations that although the German offensive at this moment has weakened, the combat effectiveness has definitely not decayed to the extent that it cannot stop the Soviet counterattack. Moreover, these counterattack forces were made up temporarily, and their coordination and combat effectiveness were not satisfactory. The hasty counterattack launched at this moment, in addition to slowing down the German march to Moscow, and paying unnecessary casualties, is simply not worth the gain.

The chief of staff pointed out the main attack direction to everyone, "We are here to carry out the assault." He drew a circle with the explanation stick, and the circle included Skirmanovo. "The attack will be on November 11. It will begin tomorrow. After our army’s artillery preparations, the Ilyev’s 50th Cavalry Division first launched an offensive; Chernenov’s 18th Infantry Division followed closely behind. When the infantry and cavalry tore apart the German defense line After the opening, Katukov’s tank brigade carried out an assault to expand the breakthrough...."

　　 After listening to the Chief of Staff's introduction, the Rokosovs base station got up and asked the commanders present: "Any questions?"

　　The cavalry division commander Major General Ilyev who participated in the main attack stood up and said loudly: "Comrade Commander, can I express my personal opinion?"

　　 "Go ahead! Comrade General." Rokosovsky nodded at him.

"Comrade Commander, as far as I know, the horses they ride on by the cavalry from Central Asia have not been replaced with horseshoes for winter, and near Moscow, the land has been frozen, and ice ballast has appeared in many marshes. The operation caused difficulties. And these cavalry officers and men still lacked the experience of operating in ravines and forest swamps...."

"Understood, I will arrange the relevant departments to replace the horseshoes for their horses as soon as possible. As for the lack of experience, this can only be explored slowly in the battle. Right now we have no time." Rokosowski After saying these few words, he glanced around the room again, and then asked: "Are there any other questions?"

　　 I hesitated for a moment, but I got the courage to stand up and said to him: "Comrade Commander, I want to say a few words."

　　 "Well, everyone, listen to what Comrade Oshanina has new ideas." He said that he sat back in the chair.

I took a deep breath, and then said loudly: "I think if we let the cavalry and infantry take the lead, we will make a great sacrifice." As soon as the voice fell, there was an uproar in the audience, and some people even said loudly: "To defend Great motherland, we are not afraid of sacrifice."

"Quiet! Quiet! Listen to Comrade Lieutenant Colonel finish." Rokosovsky stood up in time to relieve me, then turned his face to me: "Tell everyone about your reasons~www.novelmt.com~ As we all know, the position between our army and the German army has been frozen, causing difficulties in the movement of the horses, causing the cavalry to not move fast. At best, they are just infantry on horses. On the open plain, the infantry and cavalry are crowded together, it is the German army. Good targets for shooting, they will destroy us all like hunting. Tanks without infantry cover, even if they rush to the position, will be killed by enemy anti-tank fighters one by one...."

　　 "What should I do then?" The chief of staff questioned this time.

"Before the end of our army’s artillery fire, use the tank brigade as a guide to launch the attack. The tank slows down and maintains a triangular attack formation. At the same time, the infantry who is attacking with the vehicle are ordered not to leave the chariot with a 60-degree acute angle fan, so as to avoid casualties. When the tanks and infantry break through the enemy's position, the cavalry will attack again to expand the breakthrough...."

　　 After I finished speaking, I looked nervously at the commanders present to see how they reacted. The commanders listened to me and began to whisper. I vaguely heard someone say: "...Is it OK to start the attack before the artillery fire preparation is over? It won't cause unnecessary casualties, right?" "...Infantry attack on vehicles, this formulation is quite novel, that is I wonder if it works?"

"Quiet! Comrades, be quiet!" Rokosovsky once again stood up and said to me: "I think Comrade Oshanina's plan is very good, just do as she said. Do you have any objections? ?"

　　The commander had all spoken, who would dare to say no, so the people below replied in unison: "No!"

　　 "Well, since there is no disagreement, then the meeting will be adjourned."