Fragment

Excerpts from Zhukov's "Memories and Reflections":

All of us who participated in the defense of Leningrad in September experienced many difficult days.But our troops finally shattered the enemy's plan... By the end of September, the intensity of the fighting in all sectors of our front had decreased significantly, and the entire front had stabilized.

On the evening of October 10, Stalin’s phone call to Zhukov:

There is a serious situation in the direction of Moscow, especially the Western Front... You hand over the Leningrad Front to Chief of Staff Khozin, and then fly to Moscow.

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General Zhukov left by plane within a few hours of receiving the Kremlin's instructions, and moved as quickly as when he flew to Leningrad; The next battlefield that determines the fate of the Soviet Union has moved to Moscow.

In times of war, the transfer of power tends to be particularly efficient and rapid, and a new order can be established quickly.

The surgeon returned to the dormitory from the front line.He didn't see anything wrong with Sasha at first; in fact he didn't know what Sasha had been up to during his absence. "Is something wrong with something in the apartment?" he even asked.

"what?"

"Did I say something broke in the building?" he said. "No effect from the bombing?"

"Oh," Sasha said with a smile, "I don't know, I just came back last night. I'm away for a while, I went to the front line."

"Are you going to the front too?" the doctor asked, taking out the contents of the backpack and stacking them on the bed. "Together with the Military and Political Academy? Do you want to go again?"

He didn't hear the slight loss in Sasha's tone: "I don't think so."

During the day yesterday, the independent regiment, which was being repaired, received a telegram from the group army about personnel arrangements.Sasha did not see the content of the telegram, but it was relayed to him by Zaitsev, to the effect that Alexander Abt returned to his original unit, and the personnel arrangement of the independent regiment will be notified later.

Sasha was obviously stunned for a moment, and then he asked: "Do I need to go through any formalities?"

Zaitsev was a little embarrassed: "No need." He paused, wondering if he should express some comfort, "That's fine, you can take a good rest for a while."

Sasha smiled and wondered if it was possible, Zaitsev sighed, he suspected that Sasha might not have heard what he said at all.

When he was called to the division headquarters this morning, Kulik's reaction was much more intense.As soon as he entered the door, he heard Kulik argue on the phone: "I don't think this arrangement is appropriate." Zaitsev then backed out the door, waited for a while, and came in again when he heard the phone hang up in the room.Their acting division commander handed him the telegram of personnel appointment and dismissal with an ugly face: "The independent regiment has changed its commander three times in a month—" He paused, and suddenly smiled self-deprecatingly, "Okay, Sasha No, he's just a transition, isn't he?"

"Do you need to call Abt to come to your place?" Zaitsev asked after reading the telegram.

Muscles in Kulik's cheeks twitched, and he whispered, "He's not coming."

When Zaitsev left, Kulik was still sitting at the table, his head bowed, his brows and eyes hidden in shadows.Unbeknownst to Zaitsev, kulik had already made his decision at this time.

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Hitler's instructions to Army Group North, October 1941:

The present object of our army is to surround the city and reduce it to the ground by bombardment and continuous aerial bombardment.Any demand for the city to be taken over will be disregarded, because the problems of the survival of the city's inhabitants and the feeding of them cannot and should not be solved by us.In a war for existence we do not want to retain even a fraction of the population of such a large city.

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The gradual transfer of the elite German troops did not solve the current situation of Leningrad being tightly besieged. The German army changed its strategy. They tried to make the city unbreakable through a long-term siege.

General Zhukov has left Leningrad, and the commander of the front army is temporarily held by the former commander of the 42nd Army, Major General Fejuninsky.The work during the transition period was quite trivial, and at this time he had to deal with some things that he thought should not have happened, which made the major general a little unhappy.

"Lieutenant Colonel Kulik," he pushed the application away from the table in front of him with two fingers, "I don't think I quite understand what you mean by this report: you don't want to go back to Moscow with Comrade Zhukov?"

Kulik stood in front of the table, and he replied curtly, "Yes."

"I remember that you came from the base camp." The major general narrowed his eyes, looked at the staff officer in front of him for a while and said, "If I remember correctly, you are a division commander who was temporarily appointed; you must know that an appointment of this nature is It cannot be counted for a long time."

The color of Kulik's cheeks turned a little red for an instant, and he urgently argued: "Of course I understand that things are not what you think - I am not trying to do anything."

Seeing such a reaction, Fejuninsky couldn't help but smiled: "Then I'm afraid I can't understand even more." He made a gesture to change the subject and continued: "I am very impressed with you and your troops. Of course, I mean the positive side," he said, suddenly leaning forward slightly, "I don't think you know, Comrade Zhukov also has the same opinion."

The major general said and sat back in his seat. He stroked the mustache on his lips and looked at the change in the expression of the young man in front of him meaningfully: "I don't know why you don't want to go back to Moscow - cowardly? Probably not. But no matter why, I hope you think carefully, as a professional soldier, there are not many opportunities to show your talents, and once you miss it..." He paused, "You can withdraw this report now, and fly back to Moscow with other accompanying staff officers tomorrow. "

Kulik gently put his hands behind his back, his fists were already clenched so tightly that their knuckles were white.He felt a hand clawing at his head, trying to tear him in two.

At last he heard himself say, "I hope you approve my application."

Fejuninsky didn't seem particularly surprised either, but he pulled the report back in front of him without looking at it: "Then please tell me your reason."

Kulik looked at the few thin pieces of paper pressed by the general's fingers from a distance, pondered for a while, and said in a low but clear voice: "Personal reasons." He lowered his head slightly to avoid the commander's gaze and said: "Although a soldier It shouldn't be like this." He subconsciously held his breath, as if waiting for a trial.

However, Fejuninsky laughed: "It's good that you know—you're not stupid enough to actually write your reason into the application." His next voice became severe: "I think you have the ability to do what you are doing now." Responsibility for what you do; well, you can go—what are you standing around for? I'm not interested in knowing what the hell your personal reasons are!"

The internal phone in Zhulin's office rang, and it was from the mail room.

"Comrade dean, someone is looking for you, the one who came two days ago, Lieutenant Colonel Kulik."

Zhulin hung up the phone, he stood up and opened the door, and then sat back in the chair behind the desk.He heard footsteps going up the stairs, and suddenly sighed slightly.

Two days ago, Kulik came to him once. Kulik was that kind of maverick when he was a student, at least Zhulin thinks so.In that orthodox military academy, this is hardly a virtue; Zhulin believes that Kulik does not have any eccentricities and is not easy to get along with, but the part of his character that is proud and arrogant because he is not willing to be popular is regrettable The ones are a little too strong.

Kulik came to ask him about Sasha.

His opening seems to imply some kind of complaint: "I heard that Sasha's going to the front line is the result of your recommendation."

"My original intention was to hope that he could return to the army because of this opportunity. But in the end, he still couldn't pass. A big problem is that ABT is still a civilian job; and the procedure to go back to the military job is much more complicated. And it also involves those old things, people will solve the problem so simply and rudely out of trouble."

"But it is still possible for him to return to the army."

"Maybe you can say that, but I'm afraid it will take a long time and a lot of effort."

The sound of Kulik's footsteps was getting closer and closer, and Zhulin felt that something must have happened in the past two days.

this night.

Kulik knocked on the door for 10 minutes that time.He knew that Sasha was inside, and he could even hear the radio in the house—of course, people with normal hearing don't need to play it so loud.

Only that day did he realize how good his patience was. He knocked and knocked, never trying to slam on the door; he didn't want to make Sasha feel any discomfort because of similar actions.

Sasha seemed a little surprised when he opened the door and saw him, but he didn't ask anything, just said, "Come in." He went in and turned off the radio, pulled up another chair by the table and said, "Sit down, Ilia. "

Sitting there, Kulik suddenly felt flustered.During the day, Zhulin said to him: "You have to know, it is very difficult to help him restore his military position, those cumbersome bureaucratic investigations, and those old things involving Frunze and the Far East era; and for many things, Sasha himself may not be willing Mention it again."

Yes, he knew it would be difficult, and even a little fanciful; but he wanted to try, at least not with regrets when he recalled it.

Despite Sasha's repeated refusals, Kulik insisted on opening the half bottle of vodka he brought: "The weather is a bit cold, I'll feel better if I drink something hot."

They each poured their drinks, and there was a brief silence after that.

"Sasha," Kulik said as if he had finally made up his mind while holding the wine glass, "I want to know, what happened in the end?"

"What are you referring to?" Sasha gently put his wine glass on the table, half of the clear liquid was rippling with a faint amber light under the light, just like his eyes at this moment.

"I've seen a list of canceled school officers with your name on it."

Sasha laughed suddenly: "Yeah, I've died once."

A warrant for his arrest was read by a military judge, and he was handcuffed; under a blinding white light, he was charged with "espionage and sabotage."

Naturally he pleaded, and demanded evidence from the judge-martial; but there was no evidence, and the reason for the arrest came only from an anonymous letter from an unknown author.The letter revealed that Alexander Abt had a close relationship with the Germans in the early 30s, and publicly spread remarks in support of Tukhachevsky in Frunze, slandering and undermining cavalry training; Conspiracy.

Subsequent allegations seemed to suggest that the conspiracy was organized, meaning that Major Abt was not alone.

Therefore, the focus of the interrogation is "Who is your accomplice?"

This is a common routine. The so-called "German spy" charge is just to make the crime look more serious and heinous, and those who have ulterior motives to inform and slander, careerists' revenge and cut off dissidents are the era. The focus of a live drama.

At first, he was shocked and confused by the vague reference in this huatou; until the name of a big name appeared in the topic.

"Major Kulik was transferred by Comrade Zhukov not long ago to be an accompanying staff officer - Major Kulik knows you very well, think about it, Comrade Abt - think about Frunze, Nomenkan, think about his transfer this time, don't you think I find this very interesting…”

Sasha didn't need to suspect that he might be wrong. In fact, he had heard some rumors a long time ago: If it weren't for his outstanding performance in the Battle of Nomenkan, Zhukov might have followed in the footsteps of Marshal Blyuchel.

Sasha doesn't feel that he is out of a noble sense of justice or responsibility. Perhaps in this prison, everyone will be induced to make a confession for a similar purpose. His behavior will not be as dramatic as described in the novel. He just thought that what happened to him was unfortunate enough, let alone accuse others.

Besides, this person is his friend.

Therefore, among those explicit hints, intimidation and threats, he chose to remain silent.So he was quickly abandoned, a criminal who was so quiet was worthless.

In the coldest months in Siberia after New Year's 1939, he received his own death sentence.

……

They stood in a row, the white snow in front of them was blindingly bright...

Sasha seemed to be stung suddenly, and he jerked away; the orange light was warm and soft, and Kulik stared at him intently, waiting for his answer.He calmed down as much as possible for a while, and finally said: "It was an empty bullet casing that hit me on the neck, and I was just stunned for a while... It was just a fake shooting, and I wanted me to say something after my mental breakdown... ..."

"But I didn't do that. I refused to admit my crime, and I didn't bite people. More importantly, I didn't commit suicide; until I had the opportunity to write a letter to Zhulin asking for help—I didn't What to expect, but I should really thank him, he said a lot of good things for me.” By the end of 1939, the purge had gradually passed, “Suddenly one day, I was told that I could go, I was released .”

"You know, it was really embarrassing at that time," his tone gradually became smoother, even with ups and downs, and it sounded like he was telling some kind of story, "The day I was released, I stepped into the sun, and my eyes were dazzled." Fat flowers, almost fell to the ground..."

Kulik didn't speak, just picked up the wine glass and slowly drank the wine in the glass.

Sasha silently thought that kulik would continue to ask, but he didn't want to mention those things anymore, the truth is often not pleasant, and telling him the whole story of those old things would not do any good except cause embarrassment.

Kulik suddenly asked: "Have you eaten? I have canned military food, beef and beans."

"...Huh?" Sasha expressed doubts vaguely, not sure if she didn't want to eat or didn't hear clearly.

Kulik said: "That means you didn't eat it? Then just eat some together and just open the lid. It's no trouble at all. Where's your roommate?"

"Zhenya—I mean my roommate, he's on duty tonight."

"So that means," Kulik pressed Sasha's hand that was about to be raised, his speech speed suddenly slowed down, and he said word by word, "We can talk slowly."

……

Sasha sat in the chair at the end of the bed, while kulik was still asleep.

Sasha believed that she was emotionally stable at this moment, and so was Ilia; they talked about a lot of things calmly last night, although Ilia was a bit out of touch with drinking afterwards.

They talked a lot about their time in the Far East, but Kulik didn’t want to reminisce about the past; he asked Sasha in great detail the names of the officers at each level at that time, and asked where they were going; Frunze's teacher or classmate?"

"Viktor Kudriavtsev is here," Sasha said after thinking for a while, "the head of our department, he retired a few years ago."

"Do you have contact with him? Perhaps Sergey Volkov can be reached through him."

"Volkov? I haven't had any contact with him since I graduated. Why are you looking for him?"

"He is your instructor, no one dares to say that he understands your performance in Frunze better than him."

Sasha asked with a little doubt: "Ilia, what do you want to do?"

Kulik paused and said, "You don't want to resume your military service?"

Sasha lowered his head to drink, and when he raised his head, he found that kulik was staring at him, his eyes were extraordinarily bright and scorching under the influence of alcohol, like a lone wolf in Siberia. "Cough...he smiled softly, and met those eyes with a soft smile, "I didn't hear clearly. "

Kulik slowly leaned back on the back of the chair, his eyes had regained his composure, and he said lightly as if talking to himself: "Well, it's okay..."

After a period of time, they didn't talk much, and they drank dull wine. Sasha felt that it was during that time that Kulik slowly became drunk.

"Where is the bathroom?" He asked as he stood up, and then his feet wobbled unsteadily.

Sasha pulled him out of the washroom, and he asked a little worriedly, "Are you okay?"

Kulik waved his hand with a smile, walked in and closed the door.

Sasha stood outside the door. After the sound of rushing water inside stopped, there was no movement for a long time. Sasha gently opened the door, but he didn't expect the people inside to fall on top of him.

"Sorry..." Kulik said inarticulately, subconsciously supporting Sasha's shoulder, as if he really wanted to stand up straight.His face was hot, but his hands were cold.

They were so close that they could even feel the beating of hearts in each other's chests; the air was filled with the sweet smell of vodka, and their breathing was a little disordered for a moment.

"Fool, stop earning." Sasha said softly, and tried her best to drag Kulik to the bedside. Kulik collapsed on the bed, his breathing seemed to be getting smoother.

"He fell asleep..." Sasha thought, and the flustered mood just now seemed to calm down a little.At this moment, Kulik suddenly heard Kulik say in a sleepy voice: "If you were not injured by accident, you were the one who was transferred to the armored division..." He opened his eyes with difficulty, and his maroon eyes were covered with a layer of mist In the middle, Sasha froze for a moment, then he raised his hand to brush Kulik's forehead and eyes: "Sleep, Ilia, don't say such silly things..."

"If there is no accidental injury..." He was sitting in the chair at the moment, recalling this sentence involuntarily in his mind, he sighed softly, "Unfortunately, there is no such thing as if..."

When Kulik sat up staggeringly, he buried his face in his palms for a while, and seemed a little embarrassed when he raised his head again: "Sorry, I seem to have drunk too much..."

"I didn't dirty anything, did I?" he added, blushing.

"No," Sasha suddenly laughed cheerfully, "don't worry, you haven't messed up anything, even your clothes are clean."

That morning, Sasha was always talking and laughing happily until he sent Kulik out the door; after the door was closed, the smile on his face was gradually replaced by a faint smile.He stood there in a daze for a long time before slowly walking back into the room.

The wind blowing in from the half-open window rattled the curtains that were still hanging there. Sasha walked over and opened the window, and the bright sun shone on his face and dazzled his eyes.When he got used to the light and looked outside inadvertently, he suddenly found that kulik was standing downstairs.

Under the sun, the young officer's face showed no haggard traces of a hangover, and the strength of determination and will seemed to have returned to him quickly.He looked up at the window, waved to Sasha slightly, then turned and left.

The author has something to say: Sasha beauty's prison disaster is almost written according to the experience of Marshal Rokossovsky.Luo Shuai was in prison, he was beaten for sure, and he was shot to death.But he is the kind who doesn't bite people indiscriminately. In addition, he was born in a cavalry and he is very popular. Temur Xinge helped him say a lot of good things.When the Soviet-Finnish war was not going well, Stalin released him.Later, Stalin asked Luo Shuai face to face if he had ever been beaten, and Luo Shuai only said, "I saw many real Bolsheviks there."When he was released from prison, he was still executed by shooting, which meant that he was required to "make meritorious deeds".Later, it was Stalin who forgot, and the death sentence was not revoked even after Luo Shuai's death.Luo Shuai is known as the most beautiful man in the Soviet Army. From the photos, he is indeed very handsome, and he is tall and has a gentle and reasonable personality that is rare among Mao Xiong.There is a saying that Zhukov, Luo Shuai, and Konev are the three carriages of the Soviet Army; but some people call them Stalin together with Vasilevsky, the commander-in-chief, and Malinovsky, who later took charge of the Far East. The "Bronze Five Little Strong".At the victory parade after the war, Zhukov was the head of the parade and rode a white horse. He was the commander in chief and rode a black horse, which shows his status in the Soviet army.There are many fans of Luo Shuai in the Western military history circle, and even commented that "he has Zhukov's advantages, but not Zhukov's shortcomings."But in fact, Luo Shuai commanded the front army alone much later than Zhukov.In terms of style, Luo Shuai emphasizes tactics, while Zhukov emphasizes strategy; and in terms of will and courage, I also think that Zhukov's role is still irreplaceable.Luo Shuai has a memoir called "The Boundary of a Soldier", which is basically a memoir of World War II.The writing is concise and clear without losing interest, especially when it praises others, it does not hesitate to praise, but does not criticize others, which makes people feel that it is indeed a well-cultivated professional soldier.