Red Moscow

  Chapter 12 We are not here to make soy sauce

  The soldiers packed up their luggage and lined up in three neat rows in the open space of the church hall. Andre walked up to Lin Hua and asked him for instructions: "Comrade platoon leader, shall we go out now?"

Lin Hua shook his head and said, "It's cold outside, let's wait for the car here." Seeing what Andre wanted to say, he added, "Send a soldier to the clock tower and see the car Let me know when you come." Andre promised, and immediately ordered a soldier to go up the bell tower.

Although Major Kavelin, the adjutant of the Garrison Command, said that the car would arrive soon, it took two hours for the soldiers on duty on the clock tower to come down and report that they saw three covered trucks heading towards In the direction of the church.

But when the soldiers lined up and left the church in file, Andre gave Lin Hua a thumbs up and said, "Comrade platoon leader, fortunately, you have the foresight to let the brothers stay in the church, otherwise in such a cold day, Standing outside for two hours, they are all frozen into ice sculptures." Lin Hua just smiled lightly at Andre's flattery, and then followed the soldiers out of the church.

  Three trucks lined up in the open space outside the church. A captain was leaning against the hood of the truck, looking at his watch. Seeing Lin Hua coming out of the church, the captain stood up straight and said with some displeasure, "Comrade Sergeant, why are you moving so slowly? Don't you know that there is a war ahead?"

Faced with the captain's accusation, Lin Hua still kept a smile on his face. He looked at his subordinates, who had already lined up beside him, then walked up to the captain, raised his hand in salute, and said politely: "Comrade captain, The platoon leader Sergeant Sokov reports to you that the garrison platoon in Khimki town has all assembled and can board the vehicle at any time!"

Seeing that Lin Hua was so respectful to him, the captain couldn't be more critical, but shook his head and said, "Okay, Comrade Sergeant, let your subordinates get in the car, we must rush to the front line immediately. "

  After Lin Hua and other troops boarded the car, they wanted to sit in the cab of the second car, but they had just walked two steps, but the captain stopped him: "Comrade Sergeant, you and I sit in the front car together."

  The captain and Lin Hua got into the cab of the first car one after the other, and the captain told the driver: "Drive, comrade driver."

  After the car started, Lin Hua asked the captain curiously: "Comrade captain, are we going to Sun Mountain City?"

  The captain had an unexpected expression on his face when he heard Lin Hua's question. He asked in surprise, "Aren't you assigned to the command of the 16th Army? What are you doing in Sun Mountain City?"

  Lin Hua was confused by the captain's question. He said in a daze, "Aren't the troops of the 16th Army launching a counterattack against Sun Mountain City?"

"That's right, the troops of the 16th Army are indeed attacking Sun Mountain City." After listening to Lin Hua's words, the captain finally figured out what was going on. Handed over to General Vlasov's 20th Army. Our destination is Kryukovo."

   "Kryukovo?" Lin Hua was familiar with the place name, but couldn't remember where he had heard it before, so he couldn't help asking curiously, "How long can we get there?"

Before the captain could answer, the driver had already said, "Kryukovo is 38 kilometers away from Khimki. In other seasons, it would take less than an hour. But look at the bad road conditions. It will take two hours to reach the destination."

On the road to Kryukovo, there is still a beautiful snow-capped winter scene everywhere, but the further you go, the more traces of war you can see: dark bomb craters on the edge of the road, destroyed tanks on the edge of the forest, The cannons, as well as the corpses that had not been taken away in all directions, belonged to both German and Soviet troops. ,

Seeing this scene, Lin Hua couldn't help thinking to himself: "If the destroyed tanks, artillery, and killed soldiers were all from the German side, how wonderful it would be? It's a pity that there are still many Soviet tanks and artillery. It was destroyed by the German army; countless Soviet commanders and fighters fell on this land they loved."

   When the convoy was approaching a village, it was blocked by a temporary checkpoint. A second lieutenant with a submachine gun walked to the car, glanced into the car, and asked, "Which part do you belong to?"

The captain sitting between the driver and Lin Hua quickly replied, "I'm from the Garrison Command, and I'm ordered to send reinforcements to you." Then he patted Lin Hua's shoulder with his hand and ordered, "Come on!" Comrade Shi, let your people get out of the car and assemble!"

  When the soldiers of the garrison platoon lined up on the side of the road, the three trucks that sent them completed a U-turn on the spot. The captain poked his head out of the car window and said to Lin Hua who was standing in front of the queue: "Comrade Sergeant, I wish you good luck!" Afterwards, he retracted his body and told the driver, "Drive!"

   "Comrade Sergeant," the second lieutenant in the checkpoint waited for the car to drive away, and said to Lin Hua expressionlessly: "Take your people and follow me!"

   Soldiers can be seen everywhere in the village, and the commanders at all levels kept yelling loudly at their troops, asking their soldiers to rush to the designated assembly point immediately. Andre approached Lin Hua and asked in a low voice, "Comrade platoon leader, which unit are we in?"

   Regarding Andre's question, Lin Hua smiled wryly and shook his head, indicating that he didn't know. It's not like he's playing tricks, and he really doesn't know. He only knew that this small unit now belonged to the 16th Army's combat order, but he really didn't know which division or regiment it belonged to.

  Andre saw that Lin Hua couldn't get the answer he wanted here, so he leaned over to the second lieutenant and asked, "Comrade second lieutenant, I want to ask, what is the designation number of your unit?"

  The second lieutenant gave Andre a strange look: "Why, you don't even know the number of the unit when you join our division?"

   "Yes, yes," Andre said with a smile: "The superior only notified us that the troops were placed under the command of the 16th Army, but they didn't say which troops it was."

   "We are the Panfilov Division named by the Supreme Command," the second lieutenant said proudly, "The official designation is the Eighth Guards Infantry Division!"

The second lieutenant's understatement of the designation, to everyone in the garrison platoon, the famous saying "Russia is big, but we have no way out, because behind is Moscow" is the first-level instructor of the division Klochkov said it. Knowing that he is now a member of this glorious group, every soldier in the platoon was extremely excited, with their heads held higher and their steps even bigger when they walked.

   Walking near a wooden house with a sentry standing guard, the second lieutenant stopped, turned around and politely said to Lin Hua: "Comrade Sergeant, let your soldiers wait here, and you yourself come with me!"

  The second lieutenant led Lin Hua to the entrance, and said to a sentry: "Please go in and report, the garrison platoon from Khimki Town is here."

  Not long after the sentry entered, he came out and said to Lin Hua: "Please come in, Comrade Sergeant. After you enter the door, walk forward along the corridor, the second room on the right, the division commander and political commissar are waiting for you inside."

  Hearing that the division commander and the political commissar were waiting for him in the headquarters, Lin Hua felt a little flattered. He was just a petty sergeant, not even an officer, yet he could enjoy such treatment. What was going on? After thanking the sentinel, he walked into the headquarters under the envious eyes of everyone.

  Lin Hua walked into the division commander's room and saw two commanders standing by the wall with their backs to the door, looking up at a large map hanging above.

"Report to the commander and comrades of the political commissar." Seeing that the two of them hadn't noticed his arrival at all, Lin Hua quickly raised his hand to his forehead and said loudly at the same time: "Sergeant Sokov, the garrison platoon leader of Khimki Town, has been ordered to come. arrive!"

  The two turned around abruptly, and carefully looked at Lin Hua who was standing at the door. After a while, the commander with two gold stars on the diamond-shaped collar patch said: "Comrade Sergeant, welcome. Let me introduce myself first. I am Major General Levyagin, commander of the Eighth Guards Division. And This," he said to the commander next to him who was wearing the military rank of a political worker, "this is Comrade Yegorov, the political commissar of the division."

  Lin Hua waited for Levyagin to finish speaking, and immediately asked: "Comrade commander, please allow me to ask, what is the task of our platoon?"

"Come here, come here on the map." When Levyagin waited for Lin Hua to stand in front of the map, he said blankly: "I heard that the commander, General Rokossovsky, mentioned you, and he thought you He is a warrior with great fighting spirit, but I can't see it at all." He picked up a explaining stick and tapped on the map, "To the east of the Kryukovo city we are attacking, there is a A small village called Kryukovo, the task of your platoon is to defend it."

After receiving the combat mission, Lin Hua was just happy when he suddenly realized that something was wrong. He found that there were many army numbers between the village and the city where he was going to be stationed, so he couldn't help pointing at the map and asked curiously: " Comrade division commander, there seem to be quite a few of our troops between the village and the city, how should our platoon cooperate with them in fighting?"

After hearing Lin Hua's question, Leviagin shook his head and said, "Comrade Sergeant, since you are the garrison platoon, my task for you is to defend the village of Kryukovo. As for the liberation of Kryukovo For the battle in the city, your platoon will not participate, and you should leave the opportunity to those troops with offensive experience."

Hearing that Leviagin had arranged for him to be a defensive mission, Lin Hua became depressed, and he murmured, "We are here to participate in the battle, not to play soy sauce. "

  Lin Hua's voice was low, but Levyagin heard him. He turned to Yegorov and asked, "Comrade Commissar, do you know what soy sauce is?"

   "Soy sauce?!" Yegorov repeated the unfamiliar word, shook his head with a smile, and asked Lin Hua politely, "Comrade Corporal, what are you talking about?"

  Levyakin's words shocked Lin Hua into a cold sweat. He suddenly remembered that there is no such thing as soy sauce in Russia. It is normal for the two of them not to know what it is. He hastily said in a perfunctory way: "Comrade political commissar, soy sauce is a condiment from my hometown, you may not have seen it before."

"Okay, Comrade Sergeant," Levyagin was not interested in what soy sauce is, he waved at Lin Hua, and said, "Don't worry about soy sauce, you take your platoon immediately and hurry Arm yourself in the village of Kryukovo."

  (end of this chapter)