When I was sitting on the special plane to Seattle provided by the US side, I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes, thinking about the reason why Stalin urged us to return home.
At present, the rebarko department in Kiev is in a precarious situation. If the Supreme Command wants to rescue the garrison from danger, it must provide them with air cover, necessary combat materials and a large number of reinforcements.
It's Fair for Stalin to ask khrushiev to go back. After all, he is the Minister of the logistics department. It's impossible to leave him for the supplies to Kiev. And why do you ask me to come back with you, which makes me puzzled. To provide the garrison with air support and supplies, you can go to commander Novikov, deputy national defense people's commissar and commander in chief of the air force; And the reinforcements on the ground, rokosovsky's central front army, are enough.
I was worried, which was noticed by khrushiev. But when I was on the plane, I was afraid that there were too many people on the left and right. He didn't say anything, just like me. He leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes.
Five or six hours after the flight, the plane landed at a military airport in Seattle. When the plane was refuelling, khrushiev and I did not stay in the cabin, but got off the plane to move our hands and feet. Seeing that the accompanying staff were far away from us and could not hear our conversation clearly, khrushiev suddenly asked, "o'shanina, I think you are worried all the way. Are you still worried about being called back to China?"
When I heard khrushiev's question, I nodded and told khrushiev what I had been thinking about on the way without concealing anything. At last, I asked him in bewilderment: "Comrade minister, I really can't think of any reason for me to go back. Can you analyze it for me? "
As for the question I was worried about, khrushiev seemed to have considered it carefully for a long time. Hearing my question, he said slowly, "o'shanina, to tell you the truth, when I saw the telegram at first, I was quite puzzled. As you have just analyzed, I am responsible for providing logistics for the garrison; With air support and transportation, there is commander in chief of the air force, commander Novikov; It is necessary to send troops from the ground for reinforcement, and the central front army assembled in Kursk can accomplish such a mission.
However, from my understanding of the Supreme Commander himself, he will never give a meaningless order. He must have some deeper consideration. After much deliberation, I finally figured out the reason why the Supreme Command gave this order. "
When I heard khrushiev say that he knew why Stalin wanted to invite me back to China, he immediately couldn't wait to ask, "Comrade minister, since you know the reason, please tell us. You don't want me to be depressed because of this problem in the next few days? "
He pointed at me with his hand and said with a smile, "o'shanina, you are also a general. How can you act like a little girl?"
"Coquettish?" When I heard that he used this word to evaluate me, I was stunned and said that even if I just spoke in a slightly soft tone, it was quite different from being coquettish. When he was about to speak for himself, he said solemnly, "o'shanina, I can tell you responsibly that this time I invite you back, it may have something to do with the imminent fall of Kiev."
"Even if I go back, can it be of any use?" I asked, puzzled.
My reply made khrushiev a little embarrassed. He shook his head with a wry smile and said, "oshanina, maybe the superior thinks that the current unfavorable situation is due to the improper tactics used by general rebalko. If you are sent, maybe it will be another scene."
When khrushiev talked about tactics, many scenes appeared in my mind like a movie: hundreds of our army commanders and fighters, in dense formation, rushed to the enemy's position along the narrow street. At the other end of the street, the German soldiers hiding in the fortifications fired at the crowd with machine guns, submachine guns, rifles and even handguns.
The vast majority of the officers and men were shot and fell even at the chance of firing a single shot, but before they got the order to stop the attack, the people behind them still rushed forward one after another and continued to fall under the dense fire of the enemy. When everything was calm again, the bodies of our army officers and soldiers were all over the street, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood and smoke.
"What are you thinking, o'shanina?" Khrushiev's voice interrupted my meditation. Maybe he saw that my face was not very good, and asked with concern: "your face is very ugly, isn't it uncomfortable, or you'd better go back to the cabin and have a rest?"
"No, no," I said, shaking my hands in a hurry, "Comrade minister, I'm ok. I just thought of the scene of fierce fighting in Kiev. I'm a little distracted." At this point, I turned my head and looked around. Seeing that the entourage were all seven or eight meters away, I could not hear our conversation. So I lowered my voice and continued to ask khrushiev, "do you know the specific situation in Kiev?"
I thought khrushiev would tell me some inside information. However, he shook his head and said decisively, "I'm sorry, oshanina, although I also want to provide you with some useful information so that you can analyze it. But it's a pity that I know as much as you. I know that the German army has entered Kiev, and our troops are still fighting tenaciously with the enemy in the city. And the supreme command is studying what measures should be taken to help the troops besieged in the city, so as to prevent the fall of Kiev again. "
Just then, a pilot in the distance was shouting: "comrades, the plane has been refueled and can take off at any time." He turned to look at the pilot in the distance, then turned to me and said, "OK, o'shanina, let's go back to the cabin first. If there's anything, we'll wait until we get to Alaska. "“ All right I made a brief promise and followed him to the plane. Because we were in a hurry, after landing at the military airport in Alaska, our plane just added fuel and took off again. Not long after flying out, I suddenly found that there were two fighters outside our plane, which made me sweat. After I saw the U.S. Air Force mark on the plane, I was relieved. I pointed to the friendly fighters outside and said to khrushiev, "Comrade minister, look outside, the US allies have sent us two fighters to escort us." After looking out, khrushiev said casually, "they are worried that there will be Japanese fighters on this route, so they will send them to escort. But I think the Americans are making a fuss. Japan is far away from this route. Their wooden planes can't fly here. " I looked outside and found that khrushiev made a lot of sense. When we came here, we took this route. There was no fighter escort, and there was nothing wrong. How could we be so unlucky that we met Japanese planes when we went back? However, since the US Air Force has sent escort fighters, it's not good for us to brush other people's good intentions. Let them go. Thinking of this, I began to close my eyes after leaning back like khrushiev. After sleeping for a while, I suddenly felt the plane bumping violently. I suddenly opened my eyes and found that khrushiev, who was next to me, had come to his senses. He was asking an attendant to go to the cockpit and ask the pilot what happened. The attendant just walked a few steps, and a pilot rushed over from the cockpit. When he came to khrushiev, he said nervously: "Comrade minister, our plane was intercepted by Japanese planes." When I heard the pilot say that our plane was intercepted by Japanese planes, my brain exploded and my heart said, "what's the matter? How do Japanese pirates know the time our plane will pass and send fighters to intercept us?" Khrushiev was obviously much calmer than me. He only looked out of the window, and then told the pilot, "contact us warplanes immediately, and let them intercept Japanese warplanes." The pilot didn't wait for him to finish, then he broke in and said, "Comrade minister, the US aircraft are fighting with Japanese aircraft. We plan to lower our altitude, quickly leave this airspace and approach our military base in the Far East."“ Comrade pilot, go back to the cockpit and get in touch with the Pacific Fleet. " Khrushiev continued to command the pilot with an air of dignity: "let the Navy send out fighters to reinforce immediately."“ Yes, comrade minister, I'll get in touch with the fleet immediately. " With a loud promise, the pilot turned and headed for the cockpit. When the pilot left, I found that khrushiev's hand on the armrest of the seat was shaking slightly, and immediately realized that his calm was just trying to pretend. However, it is understandable that as the highest level commander of the whole aircraft, if he also panics, it is bound to make everyone panic. I looked out of the window and saw two escorted fighters fighting in the air with four or five enemy planes. The bullets and shells fired by the plane are shining out of the window. Seeing this, I can't help feeling very upset. If we are attacked by the enemy on land, we still have room to fight back. But now, in the sealed cabin, we have to leave our fate to God to decide. The pilot ran out of the cockpit again, stumbled to khrushiev, and reported to him in a loud voice: "Comrade minister, I have contacted the Fleet Command, and they will immediately send fighters to support."“ How long will it take? " Asked khrushiev, without expression“ Ten minutes, comrade minister. " "It will take at least ten minutes for the Navy plane to get to our area from take-off," the pilot yelled Ten minutes later, when I heard the pilot say that, I felt a shiver in my heart. An air battle usually ends in a few minutes. Maybe our navy plane has arrived, and our unarmed airliner has been shot down by Japanese planes.