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Führer Instruction No. 1941, September 9, 6:

... It is determined that the Battle of Moscow will be launched on October 10, code-named "Typhoon"... Therefore, our army should quickly establish contact with the Finnish army and encircle the Soviet army group in Leningrad so that it will be defeated by September 2 at the latest. The 9th Armored Corps and part of the Air Force will be transferred to the Central Army Group to participate in the Battle of Moscow...

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The night of September 9 has passed, and the lights in Zhulin's office, the head of the Tolmachev Military and Political Academy, have not been turned off all night.

The academy had already suspended classes, and the students stayed at the school on standby; they were ready to be added to the front line of the city defense a long time ago, but such an order was never issued.

The complaints of Tolmachev’s radical young instructors to the decision-makers guarding Leningrad have changed from private discussions to semi-public criticisms: “They are timid, and they still dare not take decisive measures in the severe situation.” Therefore, Zhulin received an unofficial warning: "Strengthen ideological restraint, the less conniving attitudes can be adopted during the war, the Soviet soldiers should have a stronger sense of discipline."

At this time, Zhulin acquiesces to his young subordinates to express their opinions freely. It is hard to say whether it is wise, but he knows how to grasp the proportion; I feel a kind of funny and bitter luck; due to some accidental reasons, he left the army prematurely and turned to the research and education of military theory. To some extent, he lost many opportunities for further promotion in the army, but also because of this Avoided the bloody storm of brutal purges of the Red Army.

However, it is not entirely true that Zhulin escaped the catastrophe by relying on a clean and orthodox background and being far away from the military. After living for so many years in the gap between ruthless political movements and people's silent moral standards, Zhulin has his own In the fierce debates over the direction of army building, Zhulin always maintained a vague and neutral attitude. Although to some extent this was also an implicit support for "mechanized army building", he never explicitly opposed it. The "sacred cavalry" view.

Facts have proved that the history of cavalry origin can indeed be treated leniently, but not everyone is so lucky; many of his comrades in arms with similar seniority were secretly executed and even their bones are missing; In the treason case of Field Marshal Kachevsky, several of his superiors in Frunze were implicated and lost their lives.

Zhulin never expects to be a saint, as long as he can still be considered "a good guy" after putting aside those necessary tact, that's enough.

Just like treating the owner of the file he is putting in front of him now—this thick file includes a material written by Zhulin himself to prove that this comrade is politically reliable and loyal to the country. The speculative accusations are regrettable "misunderstandings". Zhulin does not deny that he will not help everyone who is in trouble and asks him for help. In the motivation for this kind of help, personal emotional factors account for a considerable proportion, but even so, at the time political Not everyone in the environment has his courage.

But that's all in the past, Zhulin thought as he rubbed his temples with his hands—or was it just the beginning?

He went to the window.His office is on the second floor of the college, and the first light of the morning sun shines directly into this room, just like Grieg's "Morning Scenery". With vigorous hope.

Maybe when people wake up in the morning, they don't feel that the new day is any different. Even though the mood is in crisis, they still stick to the city. Maybe after a day of exhaustion, they will pray before going to bed: I hope I wake up tomorrow morning , will find it all just a nightmare.

But I'm afraid this bedtime wish will not come true - this day is September 1941, 9.

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In September 1941, the Soviet Army’s Military Information Bulletin (partial) (arranging):

... As of September 9, Leningrad was surrounded on three sides, and land traffic was completely cut off. Only the side of Lake Ladoga could maintain water and air communication with the outside world.

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On September 1941, 9, people woke up from their restless sleep, but no one thought that this day would be the beginning of the 8-day siege.

In fact, for most ordinary citizens of Leningrad, at that time they did not even pay special attention to this news, which would later bring great misery to their lives; Among the various news, not everyone is aware of the seriousness of this matter.

However, as a professional soldier, Sasha certainly understands the meaning of this matter.

He said calmly: "From this moment on, we can only live and die with the city."

At that time, he was sitting in Zhulin's office, listening to the radio with their dean.

Zhulin said: "Sasha, I have always thought that among my students, you are a different person."

Sasha smiled and said, "Unfortunately, I'm not seasoned enough."

"But you value honor, and there are too few truly brave people, so I value you very much."

The arc of Sasha's mouth became even bigger: "It's not like you to say this so seriously."

"Don't pretend you don't mind anything, Alexander," Zhulin seldom had such a serious expression, "We all know what kind of dreams every Frunze graduate has had for his own future."

The smile on Sasha's face was a little cold, and he said lightly: "You should remember, I was never the kind of outstanding student."

Yes, in that world-renowned military academy, he was never the kind of student who seemed to have a bright future, and it was not because he was not good enough; He told him: "Abt, maybe you have a bright future, but if you are still so obsessed with those strange ideas, you probably won't get anything."

Kulik once said to him: "You are so blunt and yet so gentle, you are destined to be run on."

He said frankly: "Vengeance is mine, and I will repay, just like the Bible quote by Tolstoy."

Kulik looked worried and shook his head, so he smiled and told him not to worry; until a few years later, when he sat on the cold bed of his cell, he could still smile when he thought of Ilia's sad little old man; he wasn't An innocent child, how could he not understand the worry about the foreboding in Ilia's eyes.

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September 1941 Soviet Military Information Bulletin (Part):

... On the morning of September 9, the German army launched a frontal attack on Leningrad from the south, with the main attack direction being Uritsk in the southwest and Pulkovo Heights in the south.

On the same day, the decision of the headquarters of the Supreme Commander of the Soviet Union on the establishment of the Leningrad Front Army:

General Zhukov, the former commander of the Reserve Front of the base camp, served as the commander of the Leningrad Front, succeeding Marshal Voroshilov in command of the Front and the Baltic Fleet.

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The situation in Leningrad has reached its worst level since the beginning of the war.

On September 9, Zhukov, who had just successfully commanded the counter assault in Yelinia, returned to Moscow by plane.He arrived at Stalin's office in the Kremlin more than half an hour later than the appointed time; however, Stalin, who always hated his subordinates' lateness, greeted his general with a smile on his face, but his order did not make Zhukov feel uncomfortable. Easy: "Leningrad is very dangerous and I need you to turn it around."

In the early morning of September 1941, 9, as soon as General Zhukov arrived in Leningrad, he attended the ongoing city defense military meeting; at that time, the participants were discussing the aftermath of the city after it was captured.Zhukov interrupted the discussion with his famous speech:

... We should not discuss here "in case the city falls", because we must hold on to Leningrad to the last man ... It is not Leningrad that fears death, but death that fears Leningrad!

Lieutenant Colonel Ilia Kulik and other staff members of the Red Army arrived in Leningrad 10 hours after Zhukov arrived. At that time, the Leningrad Front Army had completed the handover of power in the shortest possible time. Marshal Voroshilov had just taken a plane leave.

After they arrived, the order they received was to "go and see the layout of the city defense and report the situation first-hand."

Kulik had never been to Leningrad, he had only read about the city in books.In his childhood imagination, there should be angels with white wings flying over the city, and there should be golden elves standing on every leaf of the green trees beside the road in Huangcun.

In fact, even though he had just experienced a fierce and bloody battle in Smolensk, the current situation in Leningrad could not make him feel that he could breathe a little bit-the bad situation here was worse than anything there. More than that, this was his first impression of this wonderful city in fantasy.

More worrisome than the critical battle situation was the desperation that pervaded the defenders, and Kulik was even more convinced of this when he saw a half-empty bottle of vodka on the division commander's desk.

"If you're not sure what your role is, I can call command for you to figure it out," Kulik said after several of his own questions weren't answered satisfactorily.

Comrade Commander, whose rank on the epaulets of his military uniform was several ranks higher than his, seemed ridiculous at the uninvited guest's persistence: "Please go ahead. But I just want to tell you that it is futile."

Kulik dialed the phone number of the Army Group that had just been notified to them a few hours ago. After a brief explanation, the operator told him: "Please wait for our call back."

Kulik hung up the phone and walked to the chair at the door to sit down. He stared at the ground expressionlessly, ignoring the cast of mocking and resentful gazes.In fact, on the battlefield, he never thinks too much about the so-called subjective feelings, whether it is for himself or others;

He didn't raise his eyes until the phone rang again. He saw that the teacher's face turned pale within half a minute after answering the phone, and then handed the receiver to him without saying a word. "I'm Zhukov," the voice on the other end of the phone surprised Kulik, "now you're the commander of that division, and I hope you don't need to change it anytime soon."

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The city defense plan of the Leningrad Front on September 1941, 9:

... supported the 23nd Army on the Uritsk-Pulkovo Heights with all the naval guns of the Baltic Fleet and part of the 42rd Army; withdrew part of the anti-aircraft guns from the urban air defense forces and fired directly at the German tanks; Establish echelon defense in depth in the main direction, lay mines, set up power grids...

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Zhulin stayed in his office almost all the time after the city's top military commander changed.Based on what he knew of Leningrad's new tough defenders, Zhulin was almost certain that Zhukov would not allow future soldiers to stand by in this war.

Not surprisingly, he received a phone call from Lieutenant General Khozin himself; at this point, Zhukov showed great respect for this traditional and glorious military academy, which Lieutenant General Khozin had attended in 1930. The school's one-man commander party affairs and political training class, as he himself said: "This order also contains elements of my personal feelings."

Unless there are very special circumstances, the students of the college will mix with some of the Baltic Fleet sailors who disembarked into 5-6 infantry brigades, and directly join the defense of the weak link of the city defense.

At the mobilization meeting attended by all the instructors who conveyed this order, Zhulin finally said: "Students from this college will not only be excellent organizers of ideological and political education for Soviet soldiers in the future, but also should be the heroic and tenacious struggle against the fascist invaders now." model."

Young people will be involved in the cusp of war, and their lives will be involuntary and can only be handed over to a cruel fate. However, this is their inevitable fate after embarking on this idealistic road.

Before the meeting ended, Zhulin said: "abt, please come to my office."

In the past few days, Sasha has been called here more than once, and he believes that their dean will never find a former student to catch up endlessly because he has nothing to do.

He couldn't figure out what Zhulin wanted to do.

"I want to recommend you to go to the front line." When he walked into the dean's office and closed the door behind his backhand, Zhulin who was sitting behind the desk suddenly said straight to the point.

"Of course, the teachers should be with the students. You made it very clear in the meeting just now."

"No, no, not this," Zhulin said, "I mean, I recommend you to take up a suitable combat command position."

Sasha's hand was still on the doorknob, and in an instant, he seemed to hear the sound of bugles and the sound of a charge filling up from the depths of his mind, and a voice in his chest shouted "Come on...", he couldn't help but slightly I was taken aback.

Zhulin said deliberately: "If you think it's too dangerous..."

But his excitement was interrupted by short laughter, "According to my experience, the most dangerous situation never happens on the battlefield, but," Sasha laughed at himself, "it is only your responsibility to let me go to the front line." Wish? I don’t even have a military rank now—I’m just a civilian.”

Zhulin looked at him, his former student stood there with a peaceful expression, but there was a little tremor at the end.Although he has remained indifferent and kind for many years, Zhulin understands that the state of mind of that happy young man can no longer exist in Sasha.He silently endured the suffering that should not have been imposed on him, and some pain he could not even talk about; he had reasons to resent and mock and curse, but he just hid his melancholy behind his smile.

Zhulin sighed imperceptibly, those were the experiences imposed on abt by the times, and they were powerless to resist.He nodded and said, "I will talk to Lieutenant General Huo Jin directly about this matter, and I will convince him."

The author has something to say: It is not that Leningrad is afraid of death, but death is afraid of Leningrad—this sentence is also one of the most important sentences in Maoxiong’s Great Patriotic War

In fact, the Tolmachev Military and Political Academy was withdrawn to the rear in the early days of the war. This is a bug.Little Prince Jiang studied there