Burning Moscow

　　 In the evening, the group army headquarters moved to the village church.

　　 I was sitting alone in the porter, took off the blood and grease-stained camouflage clothes on my body, and threw it on the ground, and then through the window, I watched the commanders and soldiers coming in and out busily. The death of the female soldier just now made me feel uneasy for a long time. If she didn't just hand me the meal and stood in front of me, then the sniper would not kill me but her. She had accidentally become my surrogate. The thought of this made me feel particularly uncomfortable.

　　 Suddenly, I saw Colonel Orel, the deputy chief of staff, running by the porter’s window, looking very anxious. Did something happen? Thinking of this, I couldn't sit still anymore, hurriedly chased out of the small room, and asked nervously, "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, what happened?"

Orel would not say, "It's nothing serious. Comrade Commander asked me to bring a commander to the headquarters. There was a problem with the line to his unit, and the phone couldn't get through." He was sitting. Entered the sidecar of a motorcycle and greeted the soldiers and drove away.

　　 The commander was so anxious to summon Katukov to the headquarters. Could it be that something serious happened? But logically not, the tank brigade under the command of Katukov performed exceptionally well today. In addition to Skirmanovo, it also cooperated with infantry and cavalry to regain the other three villages in one fell swoop.

　　 "Comrade Oshanina." I was thinking about it, and suddenly I heard someone calling me behind me. When I looked back, it turned out that it was political commissar Lobachev. Seeing me turning around, he said to me in a negotiating tone: "Are you busy now? If you are not busy, go to the kitchen to see when dinner can be prepared?"

　　 "Yes!" I agreed, saluted him and turned away. After walking a few steps, I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten to ask where the kitchen was. Looking back, the political commissar had re-entered the church. In this case, I was too embarrassed to go back and ask, so I had to figure out a solution by myself. I stopped and looked around. Most of the surrounding buildings had collapsed. Only one house in the southeast looked relatively intact, and white smoke came out of the chimney on the roof. It seemed that the kitchen where the food was prepared for the headquarters was there, so I walked towards the smoking house.

　　 Before I reached the door, I smelled a strong smell of meat. It seemed that I had chosen the right direction. So I walked a few steps quickly, went to the front of the house, opened the door and walked in.

　　 Entering the room, I saw a group of people busy nervously, choosing vegetables, washing vegetables, cutting vegetables, etc., all busy. Seeing me push the door in, they stopped what they were doing, looked up at me for a few moments, and then lowered their heads to get busy again. Except for one or two elderly men in the house, the rest are young girls. Where did these people come from? Why did I never see them when I was in the headquarters before? When I was wondering, a female soldier with four triangles on the collar came over and asked curiously: "What's the matter with you? Comrade Commander!" In a very ordinary tone, not in accordance with the regulations. Report to me.

　　 "Oh," I was surprised to see a room of female soldiers here suddenly. When someone asked me, I couldn't help being a little flustered: "Comrade political comrades asked me to ask, when can dinner be prepared?"

　　 "It's almost done, when this red vegetable soup is ready, it can be sent to the headquarters."

　　 "Yeah, I see." I nodded, and then introduced myself to her: "My name is Oshanina, I am a special officer of the front army. How do I call you?"

　　 "I am Chief Secretary Ina."

"Старшина?" I couldn't help but froze for a moment, repeating the word "Star Asra" in my mouth, thinking that Vaskov, who was in 171, had four triangles on the collar, but he was a warrant officer. Why is this female soldier a big soldier?

　　 "What are you thinking about? Commander Oshanina!" Maybe it was seeing me standing in place, muttering to herself non-stop, Ina asked curiously.

　　 "Nothing!" I coughed, then changed the subject and asked, "Where did you come from? I have never seen you here before in the group army headquarters."

　　 "Report to Comrade Commander, we were originally from the 7th Mechanized Army. Not long ago, along with the former Chief of Staff Colonel Ma Lining, we were placed under the 16th Army."

　　 "Can you take me to see how to make red cabbage soup?" Although I have drunk red cabbage soup many times, I still don't know how this soup is made, so I want to know more when I am curious.

"Yes!" Ina took me to the stove, pointed to a pile of vegetables on the cutting board, and said: "These are the ingredients for making red cabbage soup, including potatoes, tomatoes, onions, sliced ​​radishes, and celery. Cut it into sections.” Then he pointed to the steaming aluminum pot on the stove without a lid, and continued to explain to me the method of red cabbage soup: “The pot is cooked with beef shank, wait for the meat. When it is boiled to the extent of looseness, fish out the meat and set aside. Then put the potatoes, onions, and celery in the pot and cook for ten minutes, then add the cabbage and tomatoes. After they are all cooked, Put the ketchup and salt and it's ready to be out of the pot."

　　 It can be seen that Ina has been in the kitchen for a long time, and she has a lot of experience in cooking. Speaking of cooking, she talked endlessly, and she barely stopped until the red cabbage soup got ready.

　　 When I returned from the kitchen to the entrance to the headquarters, Orel’s motorcycle also happened to be back, followed by a tank of our army. I was thinking: Who is this? It's so arrogant to report to the headquarters of a job and even drive a tank. So I stopped and wanted to see what happened.

　　 Under my paying attention, the tank stopped beside the church. Orel in front got off the motorcycle first, walked to the side of the tank, and waited patiently for the passengers inside. The hatch opened with a bang, and a tall tank soldier climbed out of the cockpit. The black tank suit was tightly tied with a belt and a pistol was attached to the belt. It turned out to be an officer. I looked at the officer and felt familiar. I seemed to have seen him during the meeting yesterday, but I couldn't remember his name for a while.

　　 "What are you looking at? Comrade Oshanina!" Suddenly someone next to me was talking, and I was taken aback. Looking back, it turned out that it was Chief of Staff Ma Lining.

　　I quickly explained to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you see a tank is parked at the door. I want to see who is driving it, so I stop and have a look."

　　 "Isn't that Colonel Katukov, the commander of the 4th Tank Brigade? Didn't the commander introduce it during the meeting yesterday? Don't you know it?"

While talking, Orel and Katukov have come to us. Katukov saluted Malinin and said loudly, "Comrade Chief of Staff, hello!" Malinin returned a salute. , And then reached out to shake hands with him. While the two were shaking hands, I quickly saluted the new colonel.

　　 "Hello, comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Katukov did not respond, but gave me a bear hug directly. His strength is so great that I can hardly breathe with his arms. But I am not very angry. After all, hugging is a Russian custom, and the intensity of the hugging represents the degree of friendship. But I murmured in my heart: I also saw him in a meeting yesterday, and they are not so familiar with each other yet, so I shouldn't hold them so tightly.

　　 "Okay, Comrade Katukov, don't always hug our lieutenant colonel, the commander is still waiting for you." Malinin greeted the tank soldier colonel, and promptly relieved me.

　　I followed the three of them and walked into Rokosowski’s headquarters. Seeing us going in, Rokosovsky got up from his seat, greeted Katukov and stretched out his hand, saying, "Welcome, Major General Katukov."

　　 As soon as I said this, not only Katukoff, but also I was stunned, thinking: Isn't he a colonel? When will he become a general? Isn't it because Comrade Commander has been tired and confused recently?

　　Sure enough, Katukov also corrected the commander's statement: "Comrade Commander, I am a colonel, not a general."

　　 "It can't be wrong, Comrade Katukov, I can't make a mistake about this." Then he turned to the political commissar and said, "Comrade Lobachev, announce it."

The political commissar who originally stood behind Rokosovsky took a step forward, holding a piece of paper and chanting loudly: "In recognition of Comrade Mikhail Yefimovich Katukov and his leadership The 4th Tank Brigade, in the battle to defend our great capital Moscow, demonstrated bravery and tenacity, and achieved brilliant results, the Supreme Soviet decided to grant the commander the rank of major general, and at the same time awarded the brigade's'guards 1 Tank Brigade’s glorious title. November 11, 1941."

After the order was announced, Rokosovsky smiled and shook Katukov's hand, and said: "Congratulations, you have won the rank of general, and your army is also the first armored guard of our army to be awarded the title of guard Troops. In the next battle, I hope your troop can achieve more brilliant results."

　　 People in the command post came forward to shake hands with Katukov to congratulate him, and I was no exception. When shaking his hand, I said: "Comrade General, congratulations on your higher rank."

　　 "Thank you, while thanking you for congratulating me, I also express my gratitude to you!" As soon as Katukov said this, the room suddenly became quiet, and everyone looked at me. I asked in a puzzled manner: "Comrade General, why do you want to thank me?"

"Remember the tactics you put forward at the meeting yesterday?" Katukov saw everyone watching me, and quickly explained to everyone: "Today's battle can be so smooth, all related to the tactics proposed by Comrade Oshanina ."

"Listen to it, what's going on?" Rokosovsky asked curiously, then waved his hand to the table and said to everyone: "Don't stand in the house~www.novelmt.com~ Sit down and talk slowly, the food will be delivered right away, and we can talk while eating."

I sat down next to Rokosovsky, Katukov sat opposite me, and then continued: "In our offensives in the past, cavalry or infantry used to charge after the artillery preparation was over, and so on. When approaching the enemy trenches, the tanks will attack again. According to this style of play, if the enemy’s firepower is too strong and the attacking troops can’t be moved on the ground, the tank’s attack channel will be blocked. Once our tanks have to Stopped on the battlefield, it will become the target of enemy shooting. Their artillery or air force can easily destroy us. This time, the tanks attack first, and the infantry and cavalry cooperate in the back. During the attack, those enemy firepower points The anti-tank fighters who were easily knocked out by our tanks were eliminated in time by the infantry who followed. To be honest, I did not expect this kind of cooperation between the arms to win the battle. It was so easy, and the casualties were far below what I expected. That’s why I said that I would like to express my gratitude to Comrade Oshanina for giving us such good tactical suggestions.

　　 It turned out to be like this. After listening to his explanation, I figured out why he tried so hard when he hugged me just now. The commanders present listened to his words and began to whisper and talk.

　　 "Can you come in? Comrade Commander!" Ina's voice came from the door. I turned my head and saw that she and a few female soldiers were standing at the door with trays full of dishes.

　　 "Come in," Rokosovs got up, greeted her very politely, and then said to everyone: "The food is here. Let's eat first. After eating, we will continue to discuss the tactics proposed by Comrade Oshanina."