Burning Moscow

Chapter 30

Zhukov's black car was parked in the inner parking lot of the hotel, and they put us in the car. Before getting on the bus, Korolev hugged me, gave me a gentle kiss on the forehead, and said with concern in his father's voice, "Rita, take care! We'll see you later. "

At that time, I suddenly felt that my nose was sore and tears were about to burst out. I put my face on his chest and choked and said, "Uncle Pavel, thank you. I'll miss you. Back in Leningrad, if you see Vera, please say hello to her for me. "

"Hurry up, major oshanina." Zhukov, who was already in the car, urged me impatiently: "if you have anything to say, wait until you defeat the German devils. Now we're going to go to the front line at once. "

I opened the door, got into the back of the car, sat down next to a huge canvas bag, and waved goodbye to Korolev through the window.

The car started slowly, after leaving the parking lot, the speed gradually increased.

I looked back and saw that there was no car except our one. I was a little surprised and asked, "Comrade General, are we going to the front line?"

"Yes." Zhukov replied impolitely, "do you think we are going to the wedding?"

"But there are only you, me and the driver. Do you go to the front without a guard? "

Zhukov, sitting in the front co pilot's seat, didn't even look back and said, "there's a submachine gun in the canvas bag next to you. As far as I know, you are very familiar with firearms and good at shooting. Along the way, you are responsible for serving as my guard. "

I happily agreed, opened the canvas bag, took out the Popov submachine gun from it, pulled open the bolt, checked the ammunition, and saw that there were enough bullets in the gun, so I felt at ease. As long as you have this Popov submachine gun in your hand, you will be able to deal with a few German stragglers.

There was a checkpoint in front of us, and there were several soldiers with rifles at the intersection where the roadblocks were placed. Seeing our car passing by, one of them stood in the middle of the road and raised his right hand over his head to signal us to stop. The car came to a steady stop in front of him, and the soldier came up and stooped to look into the car. Zhukov sat up straight, turned his head and glared at him. The soldier stood up straight, stepped back two steps and raised his hand to salute us. Seeing this, the other soldiers quickly moved the obstacles on the road to one side. As soon as the driver stepped on the gas, the car looked forward again.

Out of the checkpoint, on both sides of the road appeared a large number of labor forces, most of them women, they are digging trenches around the city. I saw in the rear of the trench, in addition to building blockhouses, there was an anti-aircraft machine gun position every few hundred meters, in which the soldiers in charge of air defense were on duty.

"Comrade oshanina," I was holding a submachine gun and looking out of the window when Zhukov suddenly said, "I have a lot of questions. I want to ask you."

I was a little surprised to hear what he said. Is there anything else Zhukov needs to ask me? I sat up straight and said nervously, "Comrade General, please tell me."

"What you said on the Kremlin podium, I have read the minutes of the meeting today. It is undeniable that many of the arguments in what you said are very penetrating and original. " At this point, he turned his head to look at me and continued: "but that's where I was surprised. If you can analyze the current situation so clearly, at least you should be the chief of staff of the front army or higher. And you, only half an hour ago, got the rank of major. There are a lot of things, even the commander of the Admiral level does not have the authority to know, not to mention you are a small officer who stays at the front line every day. In the face of the fierce German attack, even the Supreme Commander himself was not confident that he could stop them under Moscow. But you, on the platform, said in a light tone that our army can not only block the enemy, but also completely powder them. When it comes to analyzing the reasons for the failure of our army's senior commanders in the early stage, it is even more to the point. There is no doubt that the person who can draw such a brilliant conclusion is a military genius. Under the current severe situation, I really want to get to know such a person, talk with him, and ask him how to deal with the current severe situation. So I particularly want to know, who put these ideas into your mind? "

For such a direct question, I was speechless. It's true that everything I said on the Kremlin podium is what I read from the history books. As for "adventurism in attack, conservatism in defense and escapism in retreat", I directly quoted the chairman's summary at the Zunyi Meeting. But how can I answer him? Can I tell the truth to the general in front of me and say, "Comrade General, I'm from the future. Everything I said on the Kremlin platform is the historical knowledge learned in later books."

In that case, I would be regarded as a spy instead of a madman. My brain was running fast, trying to figure out how to tell a lie.

"What's the matter?" Zhukov asked puzzledly, "is that man arrested? In that case, I can exercise my special right to liberate him and arrange a suitable position for him in the headquarters of the front army. " Zhukov took my silence as another hardship. In the Great Purge movement a few years ago, a large number of experienced and capable commanders were ruthlessly purged, including the Soviet military genius marshal Tukhachevsky himself. Maybe he thought I met a survivor in the cleansing movement, so he said so.