Struggle in Soviet Russia

Berlin, Wilhelmstraße, the seat of the Reich Chancellery.

As the commander of the 3rd Assault Army, Kuznetsov stood with a pale face next to a destroyed T34 tank. This tank was obviously not destroyed recently. There were obvious burn marks on the body of the tank. The hatch of the turret has been lifted, and a burnt and charred hand sticks out from the hatch and rests on the edge of the hatch of the turret. Needless to say, it is the fighter who was burned to death in the tank compartment.

At this time, the battle to besiege the Imperial Prime Minister's Office has not ended. Although the battle here has lasted for nearly four days, the 79th Infantry Army, which is responsible for the attack, has never been able to break into the Prime Minister's Office.

Kuznetsov, the commander of the army, was also wounded in the battle the day before yesterday. An artillery shell shot from an unknown source exploded just three meters away from him. The shrapnel almost rubbed his chest and flew over, but it only made a wound less than three centimeters long on his chest, which failed to kill him.

Although the Front Command issued an order requiring him to move to the rear to recover from his injuries, how could Kuznetsov accept such an order and choose to withdraw from the battle at this critical moment. The orders issued are always aimed at the opposite side of the Imperial Prime Minister's Office. He wants to follow the soldiers in the first time the troops enter the Prime Minister's Office. For him, no, it should be said that for the whole world, this is a A historic moment that, as a soldier, he will never miss.

The building of the Prime Minister's Office, which is like a fortress, has now been bombed. The building structure of the new Prime Minister's Office is relatively solid. Therefore, although it looks broken, it is still relatively complete. The old Prime Minister's Office has been bombed in half. Now, the old Prime Minister's Office building is the main location of the Soviet army's attack.

The 79th Infantry Corps has suffered heavy losses in the fighting over the past few days, but the command of this detachment, as Kuznetsov did, refused to withdraw from the battle, but to persevere to the end, therefore, Despite the heavy casualties of the troops, the fighting morale of the soldiers was exceptionally high.

Hiding beside the wreckage of the tank, Kuznetsov gritted his teeth and stared intently at the open space that was only a few hundred meters away. The open space stretched from the intersection of William Street and Voss Street to the old Prime Minister. The entrance to the government building. On this open field with a width of less than 300 meters, there were dozens of destroyed Soviet tanks. In addition, a large number of corpses fell to the ground.

At this time, the battlefield was very calm. The Soviet army was preparing for a new round of attack, while the German army hiding in the building was preparing to repel the next round of Soviet attack. Both sides were gearing up. , are waiting for the moment to kill each other.

In the northwest direction, the deafening gunfire also continued. It was another Soviet army attacking the Reichstag. It is said that the battle there was equally brutal. The more than 1,000 German troops guarding the building seemed to be desperate. Disciples are generally unwilling to surrender until death.

"beep!"

On one side of the street filled with gunpowder smoke, a sharp and harsh whistle suddenly sounded, followed by the sound of rumbling cannons, and several metal cans flew from the other side of the street and smashed onto the dilapidated building, making a clanging sound. It was crisp, but strangely, there was no explosion at all.

Soon, the metal cans that had fallen everywhere began to emit thick smoke. When the smoke just came out, it was light gray, and even had a light green color. However, when the smoke diffused in the air, it gradually turned white, as thick and white as morning fog.

The smoke filled the open ground where a large number of tank wreckage had been abandoned, and soon the open area of ​​several hundred meters in front of the building was covered, and the cover was so tight that nothing could be seen - this was a smoke bomb fired by the Soviet army. , the purpose is to block the sight of the German army and create concealed conditions for the subsequent attack of the Soviet army.

Before this, Kuznetsov wanted to use this tactic for a long time, but unfortunately, it is not that the commander of the 79th Infantry Corps did not think of this tactic, but that the Soviet army did not have this strategy in the preparations for the attack on Berlin. Reserve this kind of smoke bomb, for which Comrade Zhukov also lost his temper.

It wasn't until this morning that the two base smoke bombs were delivered to the support artillery unit of the 79th Infantry Corps, so they can't wait to use it now.

As the smoke dissipated in the direction of the attack, the street was filled with the characteristic sound of a tank moving, a strange sound, the noise of the motor mixed with the characteristic "squeak" of steel friction, the sound of the tracks , terrifying.

Kuznetsov was always standing beside the wreckage of the tank, and he could see the Soviet soldiers with bayonets at the muzzle, under the cover of smoke, advancing behind the tank towards the old Chancellery Building - the Germans did not They would sit in the bunkers and wait to be killed. After they sensed the Soviet attack, they would rush out to fight at close range to repel the Soviet attack. This is also the best way to deal with this offensive tactic in front of them.

At this time, Kuznetsov was a little anxious. He was very clear that the battles in other directions in Berlin were relatively secondary at this time. Only the battle at the Prime Minister's Office was the most important, and the commander of the Front Army Comrade Zhukov is waiting for news here, and Moscow is also waiting for news here. Just a few hundred meters behind him, in a ruined building, Merkulov, the Acting People's Commissar of the NKVD, was waiting quietly. over there. Once they have captured the Chancellery and captured Hitler, Comrade Merkulov will send him to Moscow as soon as possible, these are all set.

In the thick smoke, a loud gunshot suddenly sounded, followed by the shouting and fighting of the soldiers, the peculiar "da-da" sound when the machine gun fired, and the loud noise of the grenade explosion, all kinds of sounds. Converging together, vibrating the eardrum.

Kuznetsov put down the binoculars in his hand, took out a pack of crumpled cigarettes from his pocket, and was about to pick one out to light on himself, when a bullet that came from nowhere suddenly hit. The gun barrel of the broken tank beside him made a crisp sound of "dang", and then, the bullet whistled with a "whoosh", and I don't know where it went.

Kuznetsov was startled, but quickly calmed down. He squeezed a cigarette out of the cigarette case and was about to put it in his mouth, when a hand suddenly reached out and took a good cigarette. Cigarettes were handed in front of him.

Looking up at the person who came, Kuznetsov hurriedly stood up straight, gave the other a military salute, and said, "Comrade Konstantin Terekin, I..."

The person who came is the current member of the Military Committee of the 1st Belorussian Front, Lieutenant General Konstantin Teretin.

Waving his hand, interrupting Kuznetsov's words, Teretin motioned for him to take the cigarette and said, "How is the situation? Can this damned battle be over before two o'clock in the afternoon?"

Kuznetsov lowered his head to look at the watch subconsciously. At this time, the glass cover of the watch in his hand had been broken, but the watch was still running. The time display was 12:37 noon. Two in the afternoon, less than an hour and a half left.

With a bitter smile, Kuznetsov shook his head.

At this time, his troops have not yet invaded the interior of the Prime Minister's Office, and according to the map, this damned Prime Minister's Office is very large. Between the old and new buildings, there is an open atrium, plus that layer by layer If you want to take down the entire Prime Minister's Office, you need to take it little by little, and such a complicated battle cannot be completed before two o'clock.

"Then tell me, how long will your troops be?" asked Lieutenant General Teretin.

"I must remind you, Comrade Kuznetsov," he continued before Kuznetsov could speak, "the representative of the Americans has come, a man named Marshall, and besides that, Comrade Antonov also came, and with them came a large number of media reporters, who were all ready to learn about Hitler's situation as soon as possible."

"I know that in the previous conversation, Comrade Zhukov's attitude was not very good, and it could even be said that there was a problem," Lieutenant General Teretin continued after a pause, "but you should also understand him, he is now facing The pressure is very great, because according to the previous plan made by the General Staff, the task of attacking the Prime Minister's Office should be carried out by the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front. We took this honor from Comrade Konev, But it failed to end the battle beautifully, so now there are many people who have views on you, us, and even the entire Front, and the Front Command must come up with a plan to deal with it."

After a pause in his tone again, he increased his tone and asked again: "Now, tell me, Comrade Kuznetsov, how long are you still going to let us, everyone, wait?"

"Hitler is not necessarily here," Kuznetsov's expression changed for a while, and suddenly complained, "but we..."

"That has nothing to do with us, Comrade Kuznetsov," Teretin interrupted him again, saying, "You are not in charge of intelligence, but of battle, and your task is to take down the damned Chancellery. , instead of considering whether Hitler was hiding in there. If it turns out later that Hitler was not there, the intelligence agencies would be responsible for it, and now the problem is that you failed to seize this place where Hitler might be hiding in time. down."

"I need six more hours," Kuznetsov finally said after a moment of silence, gritted his teeth.