Fragment

Leningrad Front City Defense Plan (continued):

...In order to strengthen the defense, the whole city is divided into 6 defensive areas. In these areas, a total of about 100 battalion defense areas are planned to be established, and strong positions based on them...It is necessary to set up roadblocks throughout the city. Digging anti-tank trenches in front, making the worst plan for street fighting...

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When Lieutenant General Huo Jin was about to leave his office, the operator called in: "Comrade dean of the Military and Political College is looking for you."

"I'm going to a meeting at headquarters; ask him to wait for me at the landing."

When he reached the stairs, Zhulin was already waiting there. They exchanged a simple military salute, and the lieutenant general made a gesture and said, "Sorry, but I'm in a hurry, do you mind talking on the way?"

They got into the army jeep together, and the driver started the car.

Zhulin said: "There is an instructor in the academy who once served in the Far East. This time I would like to ask you to approve him to go to the field army."

Lieutenant General Huo Jin looked at him suspiciously and said, "Excuse me, why did you bring this up?"

"This request has nothing to do with him personally, he is my student and I have always admired him."

The lieutenant general thought for a while and said, "If he has the corresponding talent, it's not a problem; but I have to look at his file first."

"This is exactly what I want to tell you," Zhilin opened the paper bag at hand and took out a document; Huo Jin read the name on the cover of the file bag: "Alexander Abt?" He went on to look at the document in his hand, In the blank space in the upper left corner of the page, there is a signature of a person: Alexander Zhulin, he was about to read the title of the document, but heard Zhulin say: "He has not had a military post since 1940."

The car bumped a bit, Lieutenant General Huo Jin's tone was a little unhappy: "What's going on? What mistakes did he make?"

"This is a document I wrote in 1940 to show the lack of evidence for the allegations that Abt was a member of the coup cabal during his time at Frunze; at the same time to show that the claims that he was a German spy were nonsense. To the end No one knows where those charges came from. Honestly, he was going to be shot—he was lucky, but he left the army because of it."

"It's not surprising. Anonymous letters were flying all over the place in those years. There were too many such things..." Huo Jin scanned the text and said to himself, and finally he said, "I will let someone arrange this matter."

Several years later, the adult Makerabt asked his father: "But did the old Zhulin ever think about the possibility that you don't want to go back to the battlefield at all?"

The old man smiled, as he always did: "Have you ever seen waterfowls living in the wetlands not wanting to go back to the sky? The so-called not wanting to go back—this was a question that didn't need to be discussed at that time."

A few days later, Zhulin received a formal transfer order, and Abt was seconded to the 42nd Army's defense force in the direction of Pulkovo; apart from the intriguing word "seconded", his duties were rather vague and subtle: "... Served as the staff officer of the regiment, but since the head of the regiment has been dismissed, Comrade abt will temporarily handle military issues..."

In fact, Pulkovo was the most stressed defensive area at the time, the point of the main German assault.Marshal von Loeb believed that his tanks and infantry could attack Leningrad head-on from here; Zhukov's confidence came from the terrain of this area: due to the dense buildings and forests in the suburbs, the German attack had to rely on roads, As long as the fire blockade is carried out along this line and solid fortifications are built, the German attack can be blocked to the greatest extent.

At this moment, the women of Leningrad—those mothers, wives, daughters—stand up and defend their city with shovel and pick.

On the morning of the 12th, when Kulik checked the situation of the construction of the troops under his command, he heard someone singing "Katyusha" in the position: the girls who were resting after shifts were sitting on the mound and singing, they were from the Kirov Theater. Ballerina.This simple love song of farewell to lovers spread among the Soviet Red Army almost overnight, and many recruits rushed to the battlefield with an uncertain future in this song.

Kulik first heard the name "Katyusha" in Smolensk.The soldiers called the newly manufactured rocket with the word "K" engraved on the shell "Katyusha", and the tone was really like talking about a distant lover.These rockets exploded and burned on the ground, making the sky red with blood.

"What's this?" He asked, stroking several large wooden boxes stacked together; the old woman who was resting on these wooden boxes said, "This is a box for costumes and props in the troupe. Let's empty it out." Send it in for repairs."

She turned her head while talking, and when she saw the face of the interrogator, she couldn't help raising her voice: "Ilia, is it you?"

Kulik adjusted his collar subconsciously: "Hello, Tatiana Tarasova."

Of course he remembered that the woman in front of him had been an opponent of his marriage to Katia; as his wife's first ballet teacher and the godmother of his wife's ex-husband, Tarasova seemed fully qualified to oppose Katia's remarriage.When she heard the news, she even rushed from Leningrad to Moscow. Facing the officer of the General Staff whom she met for the first time, she said bluntly: "Don't be blindfolded by impulse—maybe you will find that the current choice is not worth it. You pay so much for each other."

The atmosphere at that meeting was very dull, and Kulik's response was to hold Katia's hand in silence; finally Katia stood up and said: "I think I have made a decision, Tatiana, please bless me."

Kulik was the first to break the silence. He said politely, "I say hello to you on behalf of Katia. I really didn't expect to meet you here."

What he didn't expect at the moment was that his unexpected encounter in Leningrad would not be the only one.

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Telegram from Field Marshal von Loeb to the German General Staff, September 1941, 9:

...We hope that the head of state will allow a delay of 4-5 days before handing over the armored corps to the Central Army Group... If the permission is granted, it will greatly facilitate the capture of the city, and we are fully confident that we will capture Leningrad in the next few days...

On the same day, the German General Staff and Chief of the General Staff Halder replied:

Permission to postpone the established date (September 9) by 15 days... The future of certain events and persons will be determined by these 4 days.

Later generations will have no way of knowing the mood of the parties who sent and received this telegram at that moment—of course they are also included in the "several people".

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As early as September 9, Hitler proposed in Instruction No. 6 that he would launch the Battle of Moscow on October 35, code-named "Typhoon".Therefore, the German army attacking Leningrad was eager to quickly establish contact with the Finnish army, encircle and destroy the Soviet Army Group in Leningrad to the greatest extent; because according to the plan of the head of state, no later than September 10, the Northern Army Group The 2th Armored Corps and part of the Air Force will be transferred to the Central Army Group to participate in the Battle of Moscow. By then, the capture of Leningrad will become more difficult.

The balance of war has been tipping quietly inadvertently.

In the early morning of September 9, after a brief and intense artillery preparation, the 14th Soviet Infantry Division launched an assault.The 10th Infantry Division was the last reserve of the Soviet army in Leningrad. Behind this desperate risky behavior was Zhukov's strong determination to reverse the situation: there was no other way.As a result of this tense battle, the German army was forced to abandon Sosnovka and Koinovo in Finland, and the southern defense line returned to its original posture.

Zhukov reported his deployment to the defense of Leningrad to Marshal Shaposhnikov, Chief of Staff of the Soviet Army. He planned to organize artillery barrages on the southern front, and make full use of the firepower of the Baltic Fleet ships and coastal artillery to coordinate infantry operations. .

According to the previous plan, the urban area was divided into 99 defense areas, and each division-level combat unit was assigned a very specific defense task.At the end of the telegram sent to the various ministries, the City Defense Command pointed out in a stern tone: "At the moment of the war, military discipline should be tightened."

The area marked by the red line on the map in front of Kulik is his defense zone, and he has been contemplating it for an hour, until the communicator reported loudly: "The commanders are here."

Kulik grabbed the map on the table and walked out of the bunker. In fact, there is no fixed headquarters or office here. This important combat deployment can only be carried out in an infantry trench dug not long ago.

More than 20 years later, on the anniversary of Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War in 1965, makerabt accompanied his father to come here again. It was spring, and the outskirts of Leningrad were covered with green grass; they stood on a high ground near the site of the battlefield and could clearly see He clearly saw that the vegetation in some rows was more lush than the ones next to them, and the old Abt pointed to those rows and said, "That is the trench of that year, and many soldiers who were too late to bury were buried in it."

Maker looked at his father's side face with slightly narrowed eyes facing the breeze, he pondered for a while and said, "Tell me about Liza's father, we are getting married soon, but we don't know much about our future father-in-law."

"Ilia..." Old Abt said lightly in a reminiscent tone, "From the first time we met, I felt that Ilia was like a clear spring, clear and thorough; however, no matter how close you were to him, you still couldn't tell the truth. He understands, just as you never see those waves beneath the surface of calm water..."

Sasha can't quite remember what he thought for a moment when the man strode into the infantry trench: he just felt that he didn't seem to have changed much, his expression was still serious and reserved, the same as the last time they met ——At the group army's celebration dinner after the Battle of Nomenkan, Major Kulik was enviably introduced to the commander, and had a "drink" with the general, but his expression was neither humble nor overbearing, even a bit high-minded.

At this moment, after quickly looking around at the people in front of him, Kulik came up and shook hands with the group leaders politely. Sasha even wondered if he didn't recognize him at the time—because even when his mechanically extended hand was held, Sasha didn't feel that the other party's emotions were obviously fluctuating; however, without warning, he heard Kulik ask in a low voice: "Are you Alexander Abt?" Then he called in a deeper voice: "Sasha?"

The noon sun shines brightly, making people feel slightly dizzy.Still wearing a civilian military uniform, the acting head smiled and said, "Yes, you did not admit your mistake."

Sasha clearly felt that his right hand was suddenly clenched, and the force was so strong that it was about to crush his palm; their palms were pressed tightly together, and the pain spread all the way down his arm to his chest, and he couldn't help but constrict his throat unexpectedly. Nose sour.

Kulik was so busy that day that he didn't even have time to stop for a sip of water—or rather, he didn't want to stop, to give himself time to reflect on the shocking fact that Sasha was still alive.

It was funny—he should have been pleasantly surprised by this, but a more complicated emotion pervaded him and seized him more quickly: it turned out that it was a tragic and terrible misunderstanding, and the direction of his fate was thus Completely changed into another appearance.

And now everything is impossible to turn back.

One day, half a year after he arrived at the General Staff Headquarters, he was stopped when he was passing by the Translation and Electronics Department: "Ilia, are you going back to the Operations Department? By the way, take this to the Military Affairs Department."

Kulik looked at the copied telegram and asked, "Is this appropriate?"

"Ah, it's okay. This is a public-level telegram, and it's a list of the dismissed school officers of the First Independent Army in the Far East."

That was the unit he used to be in. Kulik took the telegram, he hesitated for a moment but finally didn't ask—what does it mean to log off?

It was a rare failure of his mighty self-control: he ducked his head for what appeared to be a casual glance.

He saw the name of Alexander Abt.

That night, Ovsyannikov, the political commissar of the communications team on duty at the Communications Department of the Far East Army, was startled when he heard the voice on the phone: "Ilia? Why are you?"

"Oleg, what happened to Sasha?"

"Are you crazy, why are you asking this... This is the military line!"

"So, please hurry up and say..."

Ovsyannikov was silent for two seconds, then said coldly: "He was executed for espionage." After speaking, he hung up the phone.

Kulik handed the microphone back to the night shift messenger, and mechanically said, "Thank you, please—"

The young communications soldier hung up the receiver and said cleverly: "It's nothing, I won't tell others." He looked up at the lieutenant colonel's staff and forced a smile at him, his face pale like snow outside the window.

That long winter has not yet passed, and Kulik walked in the dark night, but he seemed to see the cruel truth revealed by the melting of the snow: those letters that were sent without reply, the greetings that he did not wait for in the New Year-everything to him The vague uneasiness and doubts seem to have been completely answered with good reasons.

He was choked by the cold air that was sucked into his lungs, and he coughed loudly, and the white air he exhaled became a blur in front of his eyes. When he finally calmed down, the tips of his hair and eyelashes were covered with hoarfrost.

Zaitsev, political commissar of the Independence League, is not young anymore.Although his performance in the army can only be regarded as quite satisfactory, as an old Bolshevik with a serious and serious belief all his life, his behavior is always beyond reproach; younger officers occasionally find him a bit eccentric, especially his solemn exclamation " A time when young people are less and less like soldiers."

Zaitsev also looked at Sasha with this kind of eyes at first, but he soon discovered that there was something very hard in the heart of this new acting commander who always had a smile on his face: after the combat deployment, he quietly After listening to several battalion commanders complaining bitterly about the current difficulties, I stood up and said, "I don't think we need to talk about conditions here: if we are not winners, we are losers. This is a battle that determines our own destiny."

He took a step toward the door, then turned around and said, "I hope you can make sure that every soldier understands this."

"But..." The oldest battalion commander wanted to say something more, but Zaitsev interrupted him sternly: "What more questions do you want to ask? If you can't complete the set tasks, we will replace you!"

The young man who walked to the door gave him a grateful smile, and then said in a still gentle tone: "I want to go to the camp now and see if there are any solutions to these difficulties."

"Well, we will have a happy cooperation." Old Zaitsev muttered in his heart.

On the night of September 9th.

The city defense command has basically completed the deployment and adjustment of the Ligovo-Pulkovo Heights-Kolpino line. A large number of artillery have been concentrated and coordinated with the infantry deployed in the defense area. The echelon defense in the deep area is also on schedule. Establish.

The three divisions of the 42nd Army participated in the frontal defense of the Pulkovo Heights, and the task of the division under Kulik was to defend the higher-lying area 2 on the side of Pulkovo.Here, even at night, you can see the positions of the brother troops slightly behind on both sides without binoculars. The positions of the three divisions of the 42nd Army just formed a pointed cone, and in the low-lying areas they guarded, hundreds of artillery pieces were concealed.

Kulik knew he was facing a reality that he couldn't escape no matter what - the man stationed on the cone was Sasha.He is aware of the painful price to be paid to keep this position, but he has no reason to change this arrangement: most of the soldiers in the basic unit of the first division are miners and are good at blasting techniques, but they are relatively inexperienced in urban defensive position warfare; The independent regiment that came in was once a unit trained in the distant years when Tukhachevsky was the commander of the Leningrad Military Region. It has good military traditions and tactical accomplishments. It is undoubtedly the most ideal choice to build the first line of defense with them.

When he went to the headquarters of the independent regiment a few days ago, the political commissar Zaitsev told him: "The regiment commander has just been dismissed by the army group, and the person who takes over has not yet arrived."

Kulik said: "I know, but it doesn't matter - it doesn't matter who comes."

Unfortunately, or should I say fortunately, kulik thought later, at that time he had no idea who the head of the independent regiment would be.

At this moment, he looked down and could see the scene of soldiers digging fortifications on the independent regiment's position in the gentle and low position in front of the high ground; and within a few kilometers behind them were the dim lights of Leningrad city.

There is no doubt that they have no way out.

The author has something to say: Zhukov is really a very tough person who never fails.