Red Moscow

  Chapter 11 Go Ahead

Lin Hua, who is familiar with history, knows very well that the Kalinin Front Army under the command of Admiral Konev launched a counterattack against the German army on December 5. Since the results obtained were not great, it did not arouse the Germans' attention. vigilance. The real highlight was the full-scale counterattack launched by the Western Front under the command of Zhukov in the early morning of the 6th.

  Thinking of other troops making contributions to the front, while he could only stay as a spectator in a small town where there would be no more battles, Lin Hua felt extremely depressed. Because of his preoccupation, he tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep for a long time.

Seryozha, who was on the bed next to him, heard him turning over and over again, guessed that he must have suffered from insomnia, and hurriedly asked in a low voice, "Misha, why haven't you slept yet? Is there something on your mind?" From the soldier's mouth, he heard about Lin Hua and Asiya's shopping arm in arm, and wishfully thought that Lin Hua's insomnia was because he missed Asiya.

  Unexpectedly, when Lin Hua heard his voice, he simply sat up and asked in a low voice, "Xie Liaosha, what time is it?"

  Seryozha hurriedly took out his pocket watch from under the pillow, looked at the dim light for a moment, and replied: "Five fifty."

  Lin Hua turned over and got out of bed, while putting on his boots, he muttered softly: "It's almost time to start!"

   Seeing Lin Hua get up, Seriosha thought he was going outside to find Asiya, but unexpectedly he walked through the hall, walked into the stairwell, and walked towards the bell tower on the spiral staircase.

Grisa, the squad leader on duty on the clock tower, heard footsteps coming from the stairwell, he quickly took off the submachine gun on his shoulder, aimed at the direction of the sound, and shouted vigilantly: "Stop, password! "

  Lin Hua heard Grisa's voice, stopped immediately, and replied: "Moscow!"

   "Leningrad!" Hearing clearly that it was Lin Hua's voice, Griza quickly replied and put the submachine gun on his shoulder again. When Lin Hua entered the bell tower, he couldn't help asking curiously: "Comrade platoon leader, why did you come up?"

   "Can't sleep, come up and have a look." Lin Hua casually recited a reason, and then asked, "Is there any movement outside?"

   "No, there is no movement at all." Griza pouted his mouth in the distance and said, "In the past, I could still hear the faint sound of guns and artillery, but today I can't hear anything."

  Lin Hua concentrated his eyes and looked into the distance, trying to see if the Soviet army had any motives. It's a pity he forgot that it's December now, not March or April. At six o'clock in the morning, the sky is still dark, and apart from the outline of the forest around the town, nothing can be seen clearly.

   On the horizon in the distance, there was a red light. Griza asked strangely: "Comrade platoon leader, what is that, the sun has risen so early?"

"Comrade Grisa, the sun never rises from the north." Lin Hua knew it well and said with a smile, "That's the fire when our artillery bombarded the enemy's position and the shell exploded." His voice As soon as it landed, there was the sound of rumbling cannons in the distance, as if to make a footnote for what he just said.

The soldiers who were sleeping in the church were also awakened by the rumbling gunfire. They sat up from the bed one after another and asked their comrades curiously: "What's the matter, where is the gunfire coming from?" And Andrei, Several squad leaders, including Zelya and Seriosha, rushed to the bell tower one after another, trying to find out what happened.

  Seeing that all the platoon leaders had arrived, Lin Hua smiled and said to everyone: "Comrades, you have seen it. The flames in the distance indicate that our army is launching a major counterattack against the enemy."

  He thought that everyone would cheer after he said these words, but he didn't expect that the expressions on their faces didn't change at all. Seeing everyone's indifferent reactions, Lin Hua was taken aback for a moment, and then understood what was going on: Since the start of the war, the Soviet army has been beaten back steadily in the face of the Germans' ferocious offensive. In the end, they all ended in failure. They must have thought that this counterattack would have the same ending.

After Lin Hua figured out what was going on, he said to the crowd: "Comrades, according to my judgment, the scale of our army's counterattack this time will be unprecedentedly powerful. The German army has long been exhausted and cannot stop it at all." With our thunderbolt, I believe that our army will be able to defeat the enemy near Moscow in a short time. You see, maybe the superior will transfer us to the front line soon."

   "Comrade Platoon Leader, is Comrade Platoon Leader up there?" Not long after he finished speaking, he heard a soldier shouting from below: "I have a call for him."

  Hearing that there was a phone call looking for him, Lin Hua hurriedly took three steps at a time and rushed downstairs along the spiral staircase. He looked at the soldier calling himself and asked, "Who is calling?"

As soon as Lin Hua put the microphone close to his ear, he heard a loud voice from inside: "It's Comrade Sokov, I'm Major Kavelin from the Garrison Command, and I'm now formally notifying you that you have been assigned to the 16th Army Group Commander, tell your soldiers to hurry up and pack up, the car that will pick you up will arrive soon."

  After Lin Hua finished making the phone call, Andre and the others also came down from the bell tower, surrounded Lin Hua, and asked curiously, "Comrade platoon leader, what did the superior say on the phone?"

   "From now on, we have been officially placed under the command of the 16th Army Group," Lin Hua put on a serious look, and said to several subordinates: "Let the soldiers hurry up and pack their things, the car that will pick us up will be here soon."

   Just as the soldiers in the hall started packing their bags, Assia, who was sleeping in the corridor hut, was also alarmed. She ran in hastily, saw the busy scene in the hall, grabbed Lin Hua and asked in surprise, "Misha, why are everyone packing up? Are we going to be transferred?"

"Yes, Assia." Lin Hua grabbed Assia's hand and said to her, "I just received an order from my superiors. Our platoon is now under the command of the 16th Army, and a car will come to pick it up soon. Us, send us to the front line."

   "What, I'm going to the front line." Hearing what Lin Hua said, Assia couldn't help but tense up, and then asked in a panic, "Then will we be in danger?"

Lin Hua turned his head to glance at the soldiers who were busy, then turned his head and said to Asiya: "Asiya, as long as you go to the front line, everyone here may die, I hope you can make mental preparations in advance. "

"Don't worry, Misha. From the day I joined the army, I was ready to sacrifice." Although Asiya tried her best to maintain her composure, Lin Hua, who was holding her hands, still felt that she was dying because of fear. He kept trembling.

While the soldiers were not paying attention, Lin Hua kissed Assia on the forehead, and said softly, "Don't worry, Assia, I will try my best to protect your safety when you get to the front line. It's getting late, hurry up Pack your things, the car to pick us up will be here soon."

  (end of this chapter)