Burning Moscow

Chapter 124



Dozens of meters away, under a tree, there are four motorcycles. Seven or eight German soldiers are relying on the motorcycles to shoot at the attacking soldiers. These enemies should be the motorcycles that Panfilov mentioned last night, who bypassed the defense line and ran to the rear of our army to sneak attack.

I once commanded the guard battalion of the 316 infantry division. I am deeply impressed by the strong fighting capacity of the unit. With their equipment and combat experience, it is easy to eliminate the rampant German soldiers on the opposite side. But now, what is fighting with the enemy is just a guard platoon temporarily composed of staff officers, clerks and political workers, which greatly reduces the combat effectiveness. In addition, almost all of their equipment was based on pistols, and occasionally a few rifles were considered heavy weapons, which was more than one grade different from the German firepower configuration. It would be suicide to let such troops attack. However, knowing that the division headquarters was under attack, these soldiers instinctively ran out from where they were and bravely charged against the enemy's intensive firepower.

Watching one soldier fall down after another, my blood surged up and I wanted to rush out with my gun. I didn't expect to be caught by Panfilov again. He grabbed my sleeve tightly and scolded me sternly: "stop! What do you want to do, rush out and be the enemy's target? " Without waiting for me to speak, he turned around and yelled, "my political commissar, have you got through?"

"Got through!" Political commissar in the following reply: "contact with the 1073 regiment, they immediately sent a company to come to the rescue."

When I heard that reinforcements would come soon, I was relieved. With difficulty, I half squatted down, put the gun on the doorframe, aimed at the German position and pulled the trigger. Submachine gun close combat effect is very good, but to accurately hit the target in the distance, it is not so easy. I shot out all the bullets in the clip at one go, but I just splashed the body shell of one of the motorcycles with sparks, not even the hair of the German soldiers.

My shooting drew the German's attention again. Almost as I ran out of bullets, several incoming bullets hit the doorframe. Fortunately, I retreated two steps, otherwise I would have been hit by a bullet.

Panfilov, who had been standing close to the wall, first bent down and drew a bullet clip from the body of the German soldier. Then he took the submachine gun from my hand and said, "Rita, don't shoot. Stay here and wait patiently for a while. Our reinforcements will be here soon. When they arrive, we'll rush out together. "

"Yes I agreed to take the gun in his hand, squatted down and listened to the outside movement. Although the gunfire outside was still ringing, it was much less than just now. Except for the sporadic gunfire of pistols and rifles, submachine guns and machine guns were rattling most of the time. Judging from the gunfire outside, most of the officers and men in the guard platoon were killed, and only a few survivors were still fighting with the German army tenaciously.

When I heard that the German army had the advantage outside, I couldn't help raising the muzzle of the gun and pointing to the entrance. I held the trigger with my fingers and prepared to shoot as soon as I found someone coming up. I absolutely couldn't let the Germans rush into the division headquarters.

I don't know how long it took, but I didn't dare to relax. Just when I was nervous, the gunfire outside suddenly gathered again. When I heard the gunshot, I became more and more flustered. I turned to look at Panfilov standing next to me, only to find that he looked happy.

"It's our reinforcements He said excitedly.

As if to confirm his judgment, there was a voice on his head: "is there anyone in it?" It's Russian that I'm familiar with, not German.

"Rita, don't shoot. It's one of your own." Panfilov lowered the muzzle of my gun with his hand, then yelled at it in a loud voice: "I'm Mr. Panfilov. What part are you

"We are from the 1073 regiment. I heard that the division headquarters was attacked by the German army and was ordered to come to the rescue." The man above answered and came in carefully from the outside. Looking at the people coming in wearing Khaki Short fur coats and cotton military caps, typical of our military dress, I can't help but sigh of relief, put away the gun and stand up straight.

It was a lieutenant who came to Panfilov, changed his pistol to his left hand, raised his hand to salute, and reported: "Comrade General, lieutenant general Ramis of 1073 regiment has come to report to you. Our company is exterminating the remnant enemy outside. Please give us your instructions! "

Heard the gunfire outside again sparse down, it is estimated that the battle is near the end. Penfilov put the pistol in the holster and said, "come on, let's go out and have a look." Then he lifted his legs and walked out.

Seeing that the lieutenant followed him out of the door, I followed him out with my submachine gun, but my finger was habitually placed at the trigger.

By the time I got to the door, the battle outside was over. The German soldiers who came to sneak attack, in addition to the soldiers who were killed, and three other prisoners, were escorted by the soldiers to come this way.

Panfilov pointed to the German soldiers who had been detained and said to Ramis, "go to find someone who knows German and interrogate these prisoners to see which army they belong to and how many people have come?"

"Yes The lieutenant agreed and ran forward with the gun.

"Dada dada!" With three shots, Panfilov standing in front of me was shocked. Then he covered his chest with his hands and fell back. With a "plop", he fell beside me.

First I was stunned, then I looked down. Next to the bodies of the two soldiers, there was a German soldier. He shot the bullets just now. Almost instinctively, I aimed my gun at him and yanked the trigger. Although the long-distance shooting effect of the submachine gun was not good, it was very easy to hit the target several meters away. The dense bullets immediately made the wounded German soldier bloody and spattering.

I understand at this time that two German soldiers attacked the division headquarters just now. One was knocked down in a fight with the guard, and the other was killed by Panfilov after throwing a grenade at the headquarters. I used up all the bullets in my clip and went forward to kick the German soldier who was beaten to the skin by me. After confirming that he could not die any more, I turned to check the injury of Panfilov.

Panfilov was lying on his back, convulsing. The blood from the wound on his chest slowly merged into a stream. The stream slowly melted into a river, then slowly penetrated into the earth, and slowly dyed the white snow red.

"My old man, what's the matter with you?" The political commissar who came out of the room saw this scene when the soldiers and I stood in a daze in front of the division commander. With a cry of sadness, we rushed forward and hugged Panfilov's body.

Seeing us all around in a daze, political commissar yegorov couldn't help but be furious: "what are you doing standing there? Why don't you come and help us to carry our teachers and comrades to the headquarters?"

When I heard that the political commissar was angry, I came back to my senses and immediately directed the people next to me to take action: "you four, help the political commissar to carry the teachers and comrades to the headquarters."

The soldiers picked up Panfilov with all hands and walked towards the headquarters. I called lieutenant Ramis again and told him, "Comrade lieutenant, take some people with you immediately and go to the military doctor. Speed up

"But Ramis said with some embarrassment, "Comrade division commander just asked me to interrogate these German soldiers."

When I heard him say this, I couldn't help but get angry. Lao maozi was dull and couldn't distinguish between priorities. Now I didn't save face for him and yelled at him: "just now, now! You didn't see how many of our comrades were killed by those German soldiers! I'll interrogate you, drag them all to the edge of the woods and shoot them. None of them will be left! "

"Comrade commander! Is it a bit... "Ramis wanted to refute me, but before he finished, I interrupted him and gave him an order directly, saying," this is my order. Do you understand me? You should resolutely carry out the orders of the superior, not question them. Hurry up and finish the task I have given you

"Yes Seeing that I was angry, Ramis agreed helplessly and turned to carry out the task.

With a few shots, the three German soldiers who had just been captured fell to the ground. After watching the process of the German soldier being shot with no expression on my face, I turned to the headquarters with my gun.

The wooden table that had just been overturned in the headquarters had been rearranged, and a steam lamp was hung on the roof again, shining the whole room. Panfilov was placed on a march bed beside the wall. The soldiers who had just carried him in stood beside him, while the political commissar was squatting on the bed, almost putting his lips to the ear of the division commander, and shouting: "Ivan vasilijevich, my dear old man, wake up

I also went to the bedside and saw that although the commissar was shouting, Panfilov didn't respond at all“ Old man, do you hear me? You have to stand up and not die. There will be more work in the future. Maybe tomorrow you will need to command the troops to carry out a counter offensive. Do you hear me

But Panfilov's eyes are still closed. Seeing this scene, I can't help sighing. After being shot in the chest, so much blood has been shed. It's estimated that the division commander is in danger.

"Report! Comrade commander, I've got the military doctor. May I come in? " There was a report coming from the door. I followed it. It turned out that it was Ramis and another officer with a small leather box.

"Come on! Come here and see what's going on with your teacher? " The commissar, as if grasping the straw, called out to the two men who had just come in.

The officer who was carrying the small suitcase came forward, squatted down beside Panfilov's bed, grabbed his wrist, took a pulse, sighed gently, moved his hand to the division commander's carotid artery, touched it, then stood up, shook his head and said, "it's too late, comrade division commander is dead!"

"Bullshit." The commissar suddenly stood up, grabbed the military doctor's collar, and roared angrily: "you must have made a mistake. The division commander is not dead. You should check again as soon as possible."

The military doctor said with a wry smile: "Comrade political commissar, I have carefully examined it just now. The division commander has really sacrificed. You see, there's no breathing. Blood came out of my mouth. Please believe me, I am a doctor with nearly 20 years of medical experience. I will never be able to tell whether a person is alive or dead. "

After listening to the military doctor's words, the political commissar stepped back two steps, sat down on the ground and murmured, "no, no, you must have made a mistake."“ Sir, I have good news for you! " As the voice rushed in, an officer, I looked back and saw that it was Levi yagin, the head of the 1077 regiment who left last night. Seeing a group of us standing in the room and not talking, leviagin came in and asked curiously, "what's the matter with you? What's the matter with you?"“ Comrades of the division have died! " I answered him in a low voice“ What, comrade teacher, did he die? " He rushed to the bed with two steps and bent down to look at Panfilov's body. When confirming that it was not a joke, the whole person was stunned and stood in front of the bed in a daze. When the room was in a state of sadness, the telephone on the desk rang untimely. Seeing the commissar sitting on the ground muttering to himself and leviagin standing in front of the body in a daze, I quickly walked towards the phone. Put the submachine gun on the table, and then grabbed the microphone: "316 division headquarters, please speak!"“ Rita! It's you. " Rokosovsky's excited voice came from the microphone: "let general Panfilov answer the phone." After taking a deep breath, I answered in a low voice, "Comrade commander, general Panfilov has died!"“ What What I said surprised rokosovsky. He raised his voice and asked, "what are you talking about? Say it again“ General Panfilov is dead! " I repeated what I had just said, and finally I burst into tears. When I heard that the other party hung up, I put down the phone and wiped the tears on my face with my hand, but soon new tears came out. When the phone rang again, I sniffed hard, then picked up the phone again and said, "I'm the headquarters of 316 Infantry Division!"“ Rita This time, it was not rokosovsky who spoke, but Zhukov, commander of the front army“ Comrade General Hearing this long lost voice, I couldn't help feeling a little excited: "general Panfilov died."“ I see, Rita. This is war, and death is inevitable. " Zhukov comforted me and said, "don't be sad. I have a message for you to convey to all the officers and men of the 316 division."“ Go ahead, senior general! " I sniffed again as I spoke“ The Supreme Soviet has just made a decision: in order to recognize the heroic performance of the 316th infantry division in the defense of Moscow and the great achievements it has made, it is hereby awarded the title of honor to the 8th division of the close guard of the division! "“ That is great! Comrade commander. I'll pass the good news on to all the officers and men of the 316 infantry division. "“ And more Zhukov continued: "are there any other commanders in the division now?"“ Yes, "I looked at the political commissar and the general next to me and replied," in addition to the political commissar, comrade yegorov, there is also general leviyagin, the head of the 1077 regiment. "“ I command you to take over the command of the division immediately! " Ordered Zhukov“ But, "I looked at the general standing next to me again, and said in embarrassment," major general leviagin is the highest rank here. I think it is more appropriate for him to command the guard division than me. "“ I order you to take over the command! Do you understand? " Said Zhukov with a firm command“ Yes! Comrade commander. " I understood Zhukov's temper and knew that his orders were inviolable, so I agreed to take over the division's command“ I'll pass on this appointment to rokosovsky, and you should quickly arrange the division's defense. If you have any questions, you can call me directly. " With that, there was no sound in the microphone.