Chapter 544

I took off the telescope hanging around my neck, put it into the hand of sergeikov and ordered him: "Comrade major, you are in charge of how many enemy planes there are in the sky." My voice trembled when I said this because I was nervous.

I grabbed operator No. 4, dragged him aside, and could not wait to tell him, "hurry up, contact the settlement immediately. I have important information to report to Colonel Ruskin."

At this time, I especially regret that I should have brought razumeyeva and the telephone when I knew I would have found the German aircraft group attacking Stalingrad. In that case, at least I could talk directly with the headquarters of the group army. Now, I can only get in touch with Raskin in the residential area through walkie talkie, and then he will report the enemy situation I reported to the group army headquarters. According to the military practice, after receiving the intelligence provided by Ruskin, the group army headquarters must go through repeated verification in order to be safe before reporting it to the front army headquarters. At that moment, it is estimated that the first wave of bombing of Stalingrad by the German fleet is over.

When I contacted Colonel Raskin, I couldn't take care of the greetings and shouted at the messenger: "Comrade chief of staff, I have important military conditions to report to you. In a hurry, please report to the command of the group immediately."

Raskin was confused by my anxious tone. He didn't know what was going on. He quickly comforted me and said, "o'shanina, what's going on? Don't worry. Speak slowly. I'm listening."

I looked up at the German fleet passing by like dark clouds and said excitedly: "Comrade chief of staff, I am in the Hungarian military camp now. I see the German bomber fleet flying towards Stalingrad. I repeat, the large-scale German bombers are flying towards Stalingrad. "

I didn't expect that when he heard this, he laughed easily and said carelessly, "o'shanina, did you hit the Hungarian camp? You are so excited. How many enemy planes do you see in the sky? "

I took the transmitter away from my mouth and asked out loud to serge reekov not far away, "Hey, major serge reekov, I asked you to count the enemy planes in the sky. Have you finished counting them? How many are there?"

Shejerikov put down his telescope, looked at me nervously, and replied loudly, "it's not finished, but I estimate that the number of enemy planes will not be less than 500."

When I got the data that chejerikov reported to me, I did not dare to neglect it at all. I quickly reported it to Raskin: "Comrade Colonel, there are at least 500 enemy planes. They are flying to Stalingrad."

Raskin snorted after hearing this, and said in a tone of disapproval, "calm down, commander o'shanina. According to our military intelligence, the number of enemy planes is less than half of what you said

Hearing this, I raised the transmitter high without saying a word, and let Raskin, who was wearing headphones, listen to the roar of the enemy's motor in the sky. After a while, I felt that he had almost heard it. Then I put down my hand and yelled at him angrily and incoherently at the transmitter: "do you hear the sound of the plane flying through the sky? Chief of staff, you can't always hear the sound of the car motor, can you? Are you deaf? Didn't you hear the roar of the enemy's motors? German bombers are flying to Stalingrad. Yes, they are flying to Stalingrad. You said the Germans couldn't get the 500 airplanes. They got them! "

"I can't believe it. It's amazing!" Raskin, who had heard the sound of the motor of the plane, became nervous. He asked cautiously, "dear comrade oshanina, where do you think the enemy's planes are going?"

"Where else? Stalingrad, of course. Didn't you hear what I said just now? " I yelled at him.

"But how can I report to my superiors? Can you tell the commander directly that a group of bombers composed of more than 500 planes has been found flying towards Stalingrad? " I thought Raskin would report the incident to commander shumilov immediately after hearing the roar of the plane. Unexpectedly, he said, "you know, it's a very important thing now. If you provide such information that has not been confirmed by the headquarters of the front army, you may be taken as a panic monger by your superiors and directly arrested by the people of the interior ministry, To court martial. Even if I believe you and report this information to the commander, he will not dare to report it to the headquarters of the front army in time. "

Raskin's words made me wake up from my excited state. It seems that he didn't mean to shirk responsibility and didn't want to report the incident, but had many scruples. I understand his difficulties very well. As early as the early days of the Moscow defense war, a similar incident happened. The military commissar of the Moscow military region, Jeremy king, received an urgent report from his subordinates, saying that during the routine reconnaissance, our reconnaissance plane found a German mechanized force composed of tanks and motorcycles, bypassing our defense line, attacking Moscow and occupying ikonov, 200 kilometers away from the capital. After receiving the information, in order to be safe, he specially sent the best pilots to check. When the intelligence was confirmed, he issued a combat alert to the podorisk infantry academy and the Lenin military academy, asking their troops to block the enemy's advance. At the same time, he also informed Stalin and marshal Shaposhnikov, the then general staff. Although he took a series of decisive measures and won the admiration of the Supreme Commander himself, he was arrested by the Ministry of internal affairs on the charge of panic soon after. Otherwise Stalin would get the news and rescue him, and the post of military commissar of Moscow military region would be replaced.

Maybe I was so preoccupied that Raskin called me several times before I came back to myself. Only his anxious voice came from the earphone: "o'shanina, do you hear me? What's the matter with you? What's going on? "

I hastily replied, "Comrade chief of staff, I'm listening." Speaking of this, I hesitated for a moment, but boldly said what I thought: "Comrade chief of staff, I beg you again, please report this important information to commander shumilov immediately. If we do not attach importance to such information, it is a crime against the motherland and the people. " When I said this, I miss trakov in my heart. If he knew the news, he would not be as indecisive as Ruskin. Instead, he would call the commander of the front army and report the information to the other side without saying a word.

At my request, Ruskin reluctantly agreed: "well, I'll try to report this information to commander shumilov. By the way, when do you think the enemy plane will fly over Stalingrad? "

I looked up again at the sky like clouds of enemy aircraft, according to their flight speed calculation, and then with a positive tone said: "about an hour later, they will arrive over Stalingrad."

"There's an hour left. It should be in time. I'll report to the commander right away. When your task is finished, hurry back to the residential area as soon as possible. Maybe there are some new tasks waiting for you. Finally, good luck to you

At the end of the conversation with Ruskin, I turned and asked Sergey reekov, who was still looking up at the sky with a telescope: "Hey, comrade major, what's the date today?"

"23, August 23." Shejerikov said today's date almost without thinking.

When I heard this name, I felt a thump in my heart. My God, today is the day when Stalingrad was bombed. If Raskin's information can't be reported to the headquarters of the front army in time, tens of thousands of civilians will die in the German air attack.

As soon as I thought of this, I was eager to return home, and I was not interested in going to the Hungarian camp. I called chejerikov to my side and told him, "Comrade major, I now order you to stay in the Hungarian camp and be responsible for counting the spoils and arranging for people to escort the prisoners to the headquarters of the group army. After all this, you will rush back to the residential area immediately. Maybe there are new tasks waiting for us. "

"How many people are you going to take to leave first, sir?" he asked cautiously

After scanning the four weeks, I found that there were a lot of aftercare matters to deal with. If too many people were taken away, it was estimated that they would be a little busy. I thought for a while and replied, "you have a lot of things to deal with here. You are too busy to deal with the shortage of manpower. Well, I'll take the crippled company back to the residential area and leave you three companies. At the same time, the artillery and tank units and the telegraph operators will stay.. Remember, when cleaning up the battlefield and counting the seizure, you should send out a warning to all sides, so as not to be suddenly attacked by the enemy. "

On the way back to the settlements in the jeep, I was particularly heavy at the thought of the German bombers flying towards Stalingrad. Although the Soviet Union officials have always avoided talking about the actual casualties caused by the German air attack on Stalingrad, as a passer-by, I have a certain understanding of this period of history because I have seen relevant reports.

At that time, the city of Stalingrad gathered hundreds of thousands of civilians who had retreated from the enemy occupied areas. Because Stalin was worried that the large-scale evacuation would cause panic, he issued an order not to allow the evacuation of the residents in the city. In this way, the evacuation work, which had been slow due to insufficient preparation and insufficient ferries, was completely stopped, Only tens of thousands of civilians crossed the Volga river safely and moved to the right bank before the order was given.

On August 23, the German army dispatched 1200 bombers and 300 fighter planes to carry out a major bombing of Stalingrad. The German air force carried out a round of indiscriminate bombing every 4 or 50 minutes, and each round lasted 10 to 15 minutes. On that day, thousands of tons of bombs were dropped in Stalingrad. During the bombing, the vast majority of residential buildings, hospitals, schools, kindergartens and other civilian facilities in the city were destroyed. Even the oil storage on the Bank of Volga was destroyed. The burning crude oil drifted along the river. From a distance, the Volga River looked like a burning river. After the German pilots returned home, they happily wrote letters to their friends and relatives, saying that Stalingrad had become a purgatory after their bombing.

As there are still 700000 civilians in Stalingrad who have not been evacuated, 70000 people were killed in the air raid on the 23rd, 140000 people were injured and maimed, and nearly 190000 civilians were killed during the defense war of Zengge Stalingrad, which is the highest death rate in the air raid during the Second World War. However, for fear that telling the truth might shake the morale of the army, the official media of the Soviet Union deliberately concealed the number of the captains, saying that from August 2 to October 10, only 3500 people died in the German air raid, and the dead were women, children and the elderly.

In order to avoid the tragedy, I try to use my knowledge to change the coming history. I even thought that as long as the headquarters of the front army in Stalingrad can get the information reported by general shumilov in the shortest time, it can issue air raid alarm as soon as possible, let the civilians in the city escape to the air raid shelter, and try to minimize the losses in the air raid.

As I was so anxious, I repeatedly urged the driver to drive faster and faster. The driver did not dare to neglect, stepped on the accelerator to the end, rushed to the residential area like a whirlwind, and soon left behind the truck carrying soldiers without a trace.

As soon as the jeep stopped outside the command post, I pushed the door open and jumped out and ran to the command post. As soon as I rushed into the command post and saw Colonel Ruskin, I asked impatiently, "what's the matter? Comrade chief of staff, have you reported the situation to commander shumilov? "

Ruskin nodded slowly. I couldn't help sighing. I sat on the stool and looked at my watch. Fifty minutes had passed. Although there was not much time left, it was enough for most civilians to hide in the air raid shelter. In this way, even if the German army bombed most of the buildings in Stalingrad, the civilian casualties could be minimized.

Just as he was secretly congratulating himself, Raskin said another startling word, which made me jump out of my seat. With a look of shame on his face, he said to me regretfully, "I'm sorry, commander oshanina. Although I truthfully reported your information to commander shumilov, he also reported it to the headquarters of the front army. However, it is a pity that neither the commander nor the military commissar believed it. They stubbornly believed that it was a rumor deliberately spread by the enemy in order to cause panic in the city. The commander has issued a strict order. Anyone who wants to report this information will be arrested as a spy immediately. "

After listening to Ruskin's words, I sat down again. Since the top commander did not believe my information, I would not have any effect even if I reported it a few more times. What should I do? What should I do? At this moment, my mind was blank. Although I saw Ruskin's mouth open and close, I couldn't hear what he was saying.

Report to the higher authorities! This word suddenly appeared in my mind. Since the commander of the front army is not willing to believe my information, I will go over him and report it to someone at a higher level, such as Zhukov. Although I know that if I report to the higher authorities, I will definitely leave a bad impression on the leaders, but now it's about the life and death of hundreds of thousands of people, what's the future of my personal honor and disgrace?

Thinking of this, I suddenly stood up, quickly walked to razumeyeva's side, and told her: "Sergeant comrade, I will give you a call code, you call immediately."

When razumeyeva began to call Zhukov's special radio station, Raskin was startled. He quickly grabbed my arm, pulled me aside, and whispered to me, "o'shanina, you are crazy. You have gone beyond the group army and the front army to report to the deputy commander in chief. If shumilov, yelimenko and Khrushchev know about it, you may be sent to the military court. "

I looked him in the eye and said, "Comrade chief of staff, if I don't report this information so that the civilians in Stalingrad can be covered up in time, there will be a river of blood and a lot of corpses in the city. As a soldier, my duty is to protect our country, not only our country, but also our people. I appreciate your kindness, but I will bear all the consequences. "

After listening to me, he silently released my arm, slowly stepped back, and hesitated to say, "commander o'shanina, maybe you are right. Then, do it according to your original intention. "

About five minutes later, razumeyeva finally contacted Zhukov. As soon as I put on the earphone, I heard Zhukov's familiar voice: "Hello, Rita!"

At the moment of hearing Zhukov's voice, a sense of intimacy and belonging came to my face. I was flustered for a moment, and said hello to him: "Hello, general Zhukov, I'm glad to hear your voice."

"In my impression, it seems that you have never used the emergency call code I left you." Zhukov said slowly: "now suddenly use this code, what happened?"

"Yes, Comrade General." At this moment, I have returned to normal. I briefly reported to Zhukov the enemy situation I had observed. Finally, I specially emphasized: "senior general, I would like to ask you to ask commander yelomienko and military commissar Khrushchev to issue air raid warning in time, so that hundreds of thousands of residents in the city can hide as soon as possible, Avoid unnecessary casualties in air strikes. "

"Are you sure what you say is true?" Zhukov did not answer me, but asked himself.

"Yes, Comrade General. It's all true. " In order to increase the credibility of the matter, I also specially stressed: "you know I used to be an antiaircraft shooter, and I can tell the enemy's aircraft model at a glance. As for the quantity, I have entrusted one of my subordinates to count it. I think there should be no mistake. "

"Well, in that case, I will immediately contact yelomenko and Khrushchev and ask them to immediately organize the civilians in the city to hide." Hearing that I was so sure, Zhukov, with his familiarity with me, no longer doubted the truth of the matter and immediately agreed to my request.

I raised my hand and looked at my watch. It was an hour earlier. I could not help adding in a flurry: "Comrade General, please hurry up. Maybe the enemy plane is approaching Stalingrad now. When the bombing really started, it was irreparable. "

"Well, I see." Perhaps I was too straightforward, causing Zhukov's dissatisfaction, his voice showed a trace of impatience, "I know how to do things, you don't have to teach me." After the call with Zhukov, razumeyeva looked up at me and asked nervously, "Sir, before the enemy planes attacked Stalingrad, do you think the civilians can be evacuated and hidden?" I shook my head and said helplessly, "I don't know. I have to leave everything to fate." When I returned to the table and sat down, I found that my back was soaked with cold sweat. Holding the edge of the table in both hands, I gasped for breath, knowing that as soon as Zhukov's call reached the headquarters of Stalingrad's front army, I would be married to yelolmenko and Khrushchev. Even if the two commanders had a lot of knowledge and didn't agree with me, they planted a thorn in their heart. As long as they are still in the position of leader of the front army for one day, then I am doomed to have no chance of promotion. Raskin didn't know when to sit down next to me, patted me on the back, comforted me and said, "o'shanina, don't worry too much. As long as facts prove that what you have said is true, the commander of the front army and comrades of the military commissar will not blame you any more. " Just then, razumeyeva suddenly turned to me and said, "Comrade division commander, there is a head of the front army who wants to talk to you." When she handed me the earphone and the transmitter, while Raskin didn't pay attention, she covered the transmitter with her hand and reminded me in a low voice: "it's comrade Khrushchev, military commissar of the front army, who wants to talk to you. You should be careful. He seems to be angry." I gave her a smile to show my thanks. When I put on the earphone, I just said a word to the transmitter: "Hello, I'm the independent division commander, Lieutenant Colonel o'shanina..." Before I finished, there was a roaring voice in the earphone: "I remind you, commander oshanina, you are just a commander of the 64th army. He is neither a lieutenant general nor the head of the front army. What right do you have to direct the decision-making of the front army? Don't think that if you move out of Zhukov, people will give you three points. I tell you, no way. No one can change the decision made by commander yelomienko and me. I am now officially informing you that from now on, you will be... "Just now, it seems that something happened in Khrushchev's office, so that he had to stop before he could say his decision. I seem to hear a faint explosion, and then heard him ask others: "what's the matter with you, why are you so flustered? And what are you doing breaking into my office with a few people? "“ Comrade military commissar, "the visitor said breathlessly," enemy planes, hundreds of them have appeared over the city and are bombing our city. Please go to the air raid shelter at once. It's too late! "“ Impossible, "Khrushchev still said stubbornly," you must be mistaken where the enemy is going to find hundreds of planes. These are all rumors released by spies in an attempt to shake the morale of our army. "“ "Come on," the man told his subordinates directly without talking nonsense to Khrushchev, "hurry up and drag the comrades of the military commissar to the basement. Move fast. It's too late." First I heard the sound of the transmitter and headphones falling on the table. Then I heard Khrushchev's hysterical cry: "what are you going to do? Let me go. I ordered you to let me go. I'm a military commissar, you can't take me away from my post... "His cry gradually faded away, but the explosion from the earphone became clearer and clearer. I took off my earphone and put it on the table. I said to razumeyeva feebly, "stop the call, sergeant." Raskin also ran over and asked with concern, "what's the situation like? What did the comrades of the military commissar say?" I looked at him and said with a bitter smile, "comrades of the military commissar have been dragged to the basement by his subordinates. Now, "I can't help sighing," it's too late. It's too late. The enemy planes are bombing Stalingrad. "