Age of Rebirth

In Moscow in the first ten days of April, the air could already vaguely smell the breath of spring. One winter, the snow that covered the entire city turned into puddles of stagnant water under the sunlight during the day. The city seems to be waking up from the extreme cold of winter. In a month or so, the girls in Moscow will put on colorful dresses. Every spring is the expectation of Moscow citizens , and this year is no exception.

However, the citizens of Moscow don't know that a war has broken out on the western border thousands of kilometers away from the capital. More than 600 million German troops have poured in like hogs, and Moscow can't smell gunpowder. , life in the city, everything is as usual, no one thought that a few hours later, a nightmarish news would spread like wings in every corner of the city.

Not only the ordinary citizens of Moscow, but also the top leadership of the Soviet Union, also learned of this amazing news from the report of the Chief of General Staff Marshal Petroshilov after nine o'clock in the morning on April [-]. .

The Politburo meeting, which originally discussed the war in the Eastern battlefield, and after the occupation of Manchuria and China's Inner Mongolia region, related to personnel arrangements and military deployment, was a blast out of thin air, and all the members of the Politburo of the CPSU participating in the meeting were immediately petrified , At this time, nearly four hours have passed since the German army attacked the Soviet Union.

The first person to receive the telegram was Marshal Petroshilov, Chief of the Soviet Army's General Staff. Prior to this, Comrade Marshal, as usual, had a leisurely and hearty breakfast in his villa, and then sat on a seat sent by the General Staff. car, go to work. [

In the spacious and full-bodied office, Chief of General Staff Petroshilov first looked at the briefing on the battle situation in the Eastern Battlefield that was routinely sent by the War Department. , It can be explained in four words that the progress is going well. The Kwantung Army fell within a week. The troops of Tang Qiuli, who were huddled in the southern part of Outer Mongolia, were about to be attacked by General Vasilevsky. Troop attack.

The news from the eastern battlefield is all gratifying. Zhukov has done a very good job. He can encircle more than 180 million Japanese Kwantung Army troops, which is much stronger than that Vasilevsky. For these two armed forces In the heart of Comrade Chief of Staff, he still admires Zhukov. However, Vasilevsky has slight flaws, which does not affect his appreciation.

The point is that Comrade Stalin likes Vasilevsky, and the attitude of others is very important, so there is no need for him to be a villain. Therefore, this morning, Marshal Petroshilov was in a very good mood, drinking a fragrant Coffee to start the day's routine.

At [-]:[-] in the morning, Comrade Chief of Staff's secretary knocked on the door and came in, "Comrade Chief of Staff will follow today's schedule, at ten o'clock in the morning, you will go to the Kremlin, Comrade Stalin's office to report on the situation on the Eastern battlefield! "

Marshal Petroshilov said "Hmm!" without raising his head, and the secretary withdrew knowingly, and continued to work.

Five minutes later, at 5:[-] in the morning, "Bang bang bang!" There was a loud knock, and the door of the office was knocked heavily. Petroshilov, who was conceiving the content of the report to Comrade Stalin, was in his mind. The marshal's train of thought was completely interrupted by a rough knock on the door.

Marshal Petroshilov raised his head angrily, feeling very uncomfortable when his thoughts were interrupted. To use a vulgar analogy, it was as if he was working on a young girl until the most critical moment when he was suddenly photographed. Putting your shoulders down and letting yourself down is as annoying as it can be!

"Come in!" Marshal Petroshilov shouted in a rough voice, and he was going to give this rude guy a severe reprimand, no rules?

"Huh!" The door was opened vigorously, and a senior officer with a lieutenant general's epaulettes rushed in with the wind, Marshal Petroshilov's light yellow eyebrows were raised at that time, "Hill Comrade Ponoski, what kind of person is he? As a senior officer of the Red Army, he should have the demeanor of a soldier. If he is so fraught and rude, he is not afraid that the officers of other departments will see and laugh at the generals of our general staff. They are all rude elders?"

Lieutenant General Hirponoski, the head of the combat department of the actual General Staff, his direct subordinate, so Marshal Petroshilov dared to reprimand him harshly, and he was very angry. Lieutenant General Erbonoski is a subordinate he is very optimistic about. He plans to take up the post of Deputy Chief of Staff of the General Staff Department in charge of operations at the Politburo meeting. He has strict requirements on him, who comrade is responsible!

Lieutenant General Sirbonoski, of course, saw the displeased face of his boss. Normally, he would never make such a low-level mistake, especially when he was about to be promoted to the chief of the general staff. But today, the report received was too appalling and shocking! --too. . . . . . !Can't express it in words!

"Comrade General and Chief of Staff, the Operations Department received a telegram from the Western Border Military District 5 minutes ago. At dawn today, a large number of German troops launched a surprise attack on our border guards. The Germans are attacking us!" Lieutenant General Sirbonowski even apologized, and with sweat beads the size of soybeans on his forehead, he directly reported the emergency situation, and his tone was so nervous that he stammered a bit!

"What?" Marshal Petroshilov jumped up from the high-backed chair as if his body had been scalded by a red-hot iron, and knocked over a bottle of ink on the table, soaking a pile of ink. Sub-file, his first reaction was to not believe it, it was really hard to believe, Beria's assurance that his intelligence department can confirm that the German army is in a stalemate with the US and British allied forces in the British Isles?How could it suddenly attack the Soviet Union?

"Nonsense, how is it possible? Are you sure you are not mistaken? Maybe some areas on the western border have sporadic frictions between our soldiers and German patrols. Have you checked it out? Comrade Hipponoski, I solemnly I warn you, if your report causes the General Staff to make a wrong judgment, you know the consequences!" Marshal Petroshilov's roar echoed in the office.

As an old man who has been in the General Staff for many years, Lieutenant General Shirbonowski certainly knew the consequences, and he was unwilling to believe it was true, but—the urgent telegrams that flew in like snowflakes, without any confirmation Knowing this, the Germans attacked the Soviet Union, and the war had broken out in full swing.

Silponoski swallowed hard, and in his light blue eyes, covered with six gods, he said with difficulty: "Comrade Chief of Staff, within just 5 minutes, the Operations Department has received the western border line one after another. Emergency telegrams from the Leningrad Military District, the Baltic Special Military District, the Western Special Military District, the Kiev Special Military District, and the Odessa Military District, and, in the telegrams, the military district commanders also reported that the headquarters of their military districts had been attacked. To the bombing of the German bombers!"

"The wired communication between the various military regions leading to the troops in the border areas has all been interrupted. At present, the front line is in chaos. They don't know where the Germans are attacking, what the situation of the frontline troops is, and how much they have lost. We I also learned from it, Comrade Chief of the General Staff, I suggest that you immediately report to the Politburo that the German attack on us is definitely a fact!"

Marshal Petroshilov still couldn't believe it, the veins on his neck throbbed violently, and shouted: "No—! This is not true, I will call each military region to confirm it myself!" As he spoke, he picked up the A red confidential phone number.

Lieutenant General Sirbonowski said with a wry smile: "It's useless, Comrade Chief of Staff, after receiving the telegram, I immediately called the headquarters of the various military regions, but all telephone connections have been interrupted and I can't get through. !” [

"So, the Germans really attacked the Soviet Union? The war really broke out?" Marshal Petroshilov slumped back on his chair, and muttered in pain, "Why did this happen? Why didn't there be any advance warning?" Omen?"

"Comrade Shirbonovsky, take these telegrams and come with me immediately to Comrade Stalin's place in the Kremlin, hurry up!" Petroshilov suddenly jumped up and said hastily, but before the two of them Walking out of the office, follow-up telegrams from various military regions in the western border area came one after another.

The content of the telegram was almost the same, "The General Staff Headquarters transferred to Comrade Stalin, the war broke out, and the Germans attacked very violently. At the headquarters of our department, we can already see soldiers who have retreated from the front line. After verification, they are all border guards. Under the attack of the German army, we have retreated to this point, and the situation is extremely critical. Please send reinforcements as soon as possible to the General Staff, otherwise, with our current strength and equipment, it will be difficult to resist the attack of the German army!"

Among them, especially the telegram from the Kiev Special Military District in Ukraine, Marshal Petroshilov was struck by lightning, "After being bombed by German planes, the headquarters of our military district was raided by German tank units. , Fierce fighting broke out in the city, and the military headquarters has withdrawn from the area and moved inland."

Oh, God!Kiev is an important strategic town on the road leading to Moscow. It can be called the bridgehead of Moscow. The Kiev Military District has at least 10,000+ troops stationed in that direction. Now, it has been beaten into the city by the German army. Moreover, Kiev is far from the border , It was more than 200 kilometers, that is to say, nearly four hours after the outbreak of the war, the German army had already penetrated more than [-] kilometers into the Soviet Union.

At [-]:[-] a.m. on April [-]th, Marshal Petroshilov stuffed the urgent telegrams from various military districts on the western border into a file package, and brought Lieutenant General Sirponoski, the chief of the General Staff Department of Operations, , jumped into the car in a hurry, and rushed to the Kremlin like crazy.

((To be continued.)