Chapter 159

Stalin stood at a long table with his back to the door, leaning forward, looking at the map spread out on the table.

I quickly walked to a place two or three meters away from him, stopped to take a deep breath, then raised my right hand to the brim of my hat, saluted him and reported my arrival. Because of tension, not only the voice trembled, but also the words stammered: "report... Report! Stalin and Comrade! Commander o'shanina has been ordered to come and listen to... Your instructions! "

Stalin turned at my voice. He was wearing a grey uniform coat, breeches with wide top and narrow bottom, trousers tucked in boots, and a pipe in his fist. After looking at me up and down, he learned my tone and said, "newspaper... Report! Stalin and comrades!... "

Although he has a serious expression on his face, he has learned my tone so vividly that I can't help smiling and the indoor atmosphere becomes relaxed. He changed his pipe to his left hand, then extended his hand to me and said kindly, "Comrade Rita, welcome back to Moscow."

After shaking hands with Stalin, I should have been standing at attention with my hands drooping naturally and my fingertips sticking to the seams of my trousers. But because of the left shoulder injury is not healed, the left hand can not be completely straight, had to bend on the waist.

Stalin looked me up and down again, and then asked me anxiously, "Rita, I heard you were injured in the front line. How's the recovery going? "

I quickly held my left arm with my right hand, raised it up slightly, and answered loudly, "report to Comrade Stalin, you have recovered very well. In a short time, you will be able to take up arms and fight with the enemy as before."

"Rita, come and sit here!" Stalin pulled out a chair at the table and asked me to sit down.

I was flattered to see Stalin being so polite to me. Although he said it twice in a row, I still stood in the same place at a loss. It was not until he sat down at the other end of the long table covered with green woollen cloth that I stepped over and sat down at his designated position.

He put his pipe in his mouth, picked up the matchbox from the table, struck a match, and carefully moved the match back and forth on the cut tobacco until all the cut tobacco turned red. Lighting his pipe, he took a puff, puffed out his ring, and said to me frankly, "Rita! Some time ago, we set up a women's league from volunteers. When the Supreme Soviet discussed who should be the supreme commander of the army, comrade voroshlov recommended you. Because of your outstanding performance on the Kremlin podium at the beginning, you were recognized by everyone, so this proposal was unanimously adopted. When this appointment is conveyed to Zhukov, you will know that you have been appointed as the acting division commander of the eighth guard division. At the same time, you will get the news that you were wounded in the battle. I personally ordered Zhukov to send you back to the city to recuperate. "

After listening to what he said, I understood why the notice for me to go back to Moscow for recuperation came so suddenly, and the respectful attitude of those soldiers towards me when they passed the checkpoint on the way back to the city were all related to the supreme commander in front of me.

I just wanted to say a word of thanks to him. He has changed the topic: "you have been in the front line for so long. I want to hear your views. From the current situation, do you think we can defeat the Germans?"

This sudden question made me feel at a loss. I don't know why Stalin asked me that. For a moment, I didn't know what to say. I just looked at him in a daze.

He stood up, took his pipe from his mouth, held it in his hand, and walked slowly back and forth at the table. Seeing that I didn't speak for a long time, he stopped and asked strangely, "Comrade Rita, why don't you speak? Do you have any scruples about me?"

When I heard this, I said I don't care about you. If I say something wrong, you will drag me out and shoot me in a rage. How unjust I am! Although I thought so in my heart, I didn't dare to say so. I had to smile on my face and say, "I'm thinking about how to report to you."

"Let's just say it," Stalin continued walking around the table with his pipe in his mouth. "We chat like old friends."

Although he said that, I dare not take it lightly. I reorganized the words in my mind and said cautiously: "Comrade Stalin, although the current situation is very unfavorable to us, our defense line is still shrinking in the face of the increasingly fierce German offensive. But according to the analysis of various situations, in half a month or even less, we can not only block the German attack, but also drive them back to a place quite far away from the city. "

When Stalin heard this reply, he could not help but stop. Looking at me, his big beard cocked up slightly. He raised his hand to take off his pipe, lit it to me with his cigarette holder, and said, "talk about your reasons!"

"The war of aggression waged by the bandits is unjust, but the war of anti aggression waged by our great Soviet motherland is just. It is a war in which almost all the people fight against the bandits."

"Stop! Stop! Stop Stalin interrupted me with some displeasure and said, "I want to hear what's in your heart, not what everyone would say!"

Seeing his attitude, I knew that I could not use any more empty talk to deal with him. After considering it for a while, I went on to say: "after months of fighting, the bandits who suffered from our army's tenacious resistance have become tired, and their original crazy offensive is gradually beginning to weaken. They are far away from home and go deep into the hinterland of our country to fight. They are very dependent on logistics supplies. However, because their troops advanced too fast, they did not leave enough troops to consolidate the occupied area. Along the supply line of more than 1000 highways, our guerrillas and sabotage groups have been operating all the time. It is not easy for the enemy to transport materials from the rear to the front line. "

"Wait a minute." Stalin interrupted me again. He went to the table, looked down at the map in front of him, pointed the position of Moscow with his finger, drew a dotted line to the west, and said thoughtfully, "do you mean that the supply line of the * * bandits is actually in our hands?"

"Yes, comrade Stalin!" I replied confidently: "because of the long battle line, insufficient supplies, and excessive consumption in the campaign, the bandits did not set up defensive positions and campaign reserves, nor were they prepared to fight in winter. Once the severe cold comes, their soldiers will have a large number of non combat casualties due to the lack of winter clothing. Their tanks and other vehicles can't move because of the low temperature. "

"The analysis is very reasonable!" After listening to my analysis for nearly half an hour, Stalin stood up straight with relief, knocked his long extinguished pipe on the ashtray, and then pointed to me with his finger holding the pipe, indicating, "what can I do for you? For example, what measures can be taken to aggravate the present predicament of the bandits and accelerate their demise? "

I thought for a while, and then slowly said four words: "strong wall, clear field!"

Stalin nodded and said, "the supreme command has long considered this method and issued Order No. 0428. The order said: destroy and burn all residential areas 40-60 km deep in the front line... Immediately put in all aircraft, concentrate on artillery and mortars, use scouts, skiers and guerrillas... All residential areas must be destroyed without reservation. At the same time, it is required that the troops accepting the task be completed within 10 days from November 21 to December 1. "

He spoke slowly, but every word he said hit me like a big bomb. Although the room was warm and I was wearing a thick military coat, I couldn't help but have a cold war when he mentioned it lightly. This short order means tens of thousands of people will be homeless. Although I also understand that this is a forced action in the war, I still can't bear it. The numerous residential areas around Moscow were the natural support for the German army to hide and keep out the cold. Only this kind of inhuman command could achieve the goal of driving the German army from the warm house to the ice and snow.

"Rita! Rita Stalin's cry woke me up from my meditation. Just now, I was so lost that I didn't even hear what he said behind me. I hastened to look back at him, waiting to say the words behind him.

"What are you thinking?" Instead of raising his voice, he asked me with concern, "I called you so many times that I didn't hear you."

"Nothing, comrade Stalin!" I answered awkwardly, "I just thought of something and left for a while."

Stalin looked me in the eye and asked curiously, "what's on your mind that can distract you?"

Although there was no special expression in his eyes, I felt that the eyes were warning me: don't lie, you can't cheat me. I hesitated for a moment, stood up abruptly, coughed, and covered up my panic: "I remembered a dream I had in the morning, in which I saw general rokosovsky in danger. The car he and other commanders of the group army were in was trapped by German tanks."

Stalin laughed after listening to me. I didn't expect that he would have such a reaction. I couldn't help but be stunned. His laughter was so loud that even Percy lebeshev outside the house heard him. He opened the door and looked into the room to have a look. Stalin found him standing at the door and waved him out.

After bosklebshev went out and closed the door, Stalin stopped laughing and said to me a little seriously, "Comrade Rita, it's just a dream. Don't be distracted by these unimportant things."

"But Comrade Stalin!" I tried to defend myself: "what I saw in my dream was very real, and I had never heard of the place where the headquarters was. Although it's just a dream, it can't be taken lightly. " Then I told him what I saw in my dream.

Stalin's face sank, probably because of my unkind attitude. With his empty pipe in his mouth and his hands behind his back, he seems to be thinking about whether the dream I'm telling is believable. After a long time, he stopped, looked at me with his eyes, and asked me in a very serious tone, "are you sure that the places you see in your dreams are places you have never been to, or even heard of?"

"Yes." I answered him in the affirmative“ Then repeat the place names you heard in your dreams and the names of the officers you saw“ The name of the village is peshki, and the head of the investigation team of the front army command is general Carmela and general kurkin. " Stalin listened to the names of places and people, nodded gently, and then walked calmly and confidently to the other end of the big room. He went to the armchair by the desk, sat down, took off the earphone of a telephone, and whispered, "I'm Stalin." After a while, I heard him raise his voice slightly and say to the microphone, "Comrade Shaposhnikov, please call Comrade Zhukov of the Western Front Army immediately and ask if he has sent an investigation team to the front line today and who is the officer in charge of the team? At the same time, you should know more about peshki village, which is located to the north of Leningrad highway. Are there any troops there? I'm waiting for your reply. " Put down the microphone, Stalin did not get up in his seat, put tobacco into his pipe, lit it again, and sat there smoking. And I stood in the same place, looking at him uneasily, and regretted that I was a little too bold. It was just a dream, but I told Stalin seriously, as if it were the truth. Although it was only a few minutes, it was as long as a few hours for me. When I heard the telephone ring on the desk, my heart beat faster. I knew this call clearly, and I could confirm whether what I just said was true or a dream. Stalin picked up the receiver, did not speak, but listened quietly. Putting down the receiver, he stood up, walked up to me in no hurry and said slowly, "Rita! Just half an hour ago, Zhukov sent General Carmela and general kurkin to the front line with the temporary investigation team of the headquarters of the front army to learn about the unauthorized withdrawal of the 16th group army and the emergence of a defensive area. Their destination was peshki village. The chief of staff also reported that there were our troops and a certain number of tanks in the village. It seems that the dream you are talking about is true. " Instead of speaking, I watched Stalin nervously to see what decision he would make. He took the pipe away from his mouth, frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "if it's true, as you dream, comrade rokosovsky will be in danger. Reliable troops should be transferred from nearby to help him out of danger. "