Chapter 285
After several days of sunny weather, just when everyone thought that the July 14 military parade would also be held grandly on a sunny day, a thick dark cloud covered the entire Moscow on the night before.
It was early in the morning. When the grandfather clock in the bedroom rang, Yuri woke up from his deep sleep. He opened his eyes and saw that the light in the bedroom was a little dim. Last night, he had the last rehearsal of the reviewing parade troops, which made it a little late. He still felt a little sleepy and lazy, and didn't want to get up much.
However, suddenly remembering the military parade, Yuri sat up from the bed and glanced at the floor clock in the corner of the bedroom. It was already six o'clock.
He quickly got out of bed, washed up as quickly as possible, put on the military uniform that had been prepared last night, and Yuri opened the bedroom door and walked out.
This was not Yuri's residence, but the duty room on the side of the armory in the Kremlin. Today was the day of the official military parade. In order not to be late, he did not go back to his residence, but chose to rest in the duty room for a night.
It's really bad weather. It was gloomy last night and it started raining today. Fortunately, the rain was not heavy, just a drizzle. It's good like this, at least the weather is not so hot.
In the square in front of the armory, a large number of Internal Guard soldiers were lining up. They would be responsible for today's security and defense work, and no mistakes could be made.
The military uniform was a bit heavy to wear, after all, he had to wear all the medals and honorary weapons he had won before. In fact, Yuri did not like the position of the parade commander-in-chief, he did not like the limelight, but there was nothing he could do, Comrade Stalin personally selected the candidate, he had no ability to make any changes.
After getting in his car, Yuri went to Comrade Stalin's office first. At this time, the members of the Presidium who participated in today's military parade had gathered in Stalin's office, and Zhukov was making his final report.
Today Stalin did not wear his favorite navy uniform, but a uniform of a combined arms commander. The uniform did not have shoulder straps showing rank, nor did it wear any honorary items such as medals. It was just a simple uniform, but he looked very energetic.
Zhukov's report did not last too long, only about ten minutes, and Stalin announced that the parade ceremony had entered the official preparation time. Afterwards, Zhukov handed the saber, which symbolized the command of the parade, to Yuri, who saluted Stalin and Zhukov and walked out of the office.
Downstairs in the office, Yuri got on the special military vehicle that had been prepared long ago and rushed to the Spassky Gate.
At this time, a temporary stable was built under the Spassky Gate Tower, with more than a dozen war horses tied in it. They were prepared for the parade. There were a total of 12 horses, but only 4 would be used, which would be ridden by Zhukov, Yuri and their deputies respectively, and the rest were spare.
Don't underestimate these 12 horses. They were carefully selected. No matter whether they are white or black, there is not a single stray hair on their bodies. They are also very docile. Only in this way can we ensure that there will be no accidents during the military parade.
According to the arrangement of the military parade, the white horses were ridden by Zhukov and his deputies, while the black horses were ridden by Yuri, the commander-in-chief of the military parade, and his deputies.
Yuri hung his command saber on his waist and glanced at his watch. It was exactly six forty-five, a quarter before seven.
Even though he had commanded battles for so many years, Yuri still There was no way, because attending today's celebration were not only the reviewing troops, Stalin and his staff, but also dignitaries, diplomats, observers, journalists, etc. from nearly a hundred countries around the world, as well as a large number of combat heroes from the Soviet Army and workers from various hero factories in Moscow and the Urals.
As far as Yuri knew, not only did the United States, Britain, France and other countries send military representatives, but observers from China and Japan also came.
Standing at the entrance of the stable and smoking a cigarette, Yuri rode on a black warhorse led by the orderly at 6:55, holding the reins in his left hand and the knife in his right hand with the tip of the knife facing down, and rushed out of the Spassky Gate Tower.
At this time, the entire Red Square was already filled with people. Dozens of squares were neatly arranged on the east side of the square, which was facing the Kremlin and close to the GUM Department Store. Under the Kremlin walls, on both sides of Lenin's Mausoleum, representatives from various countries, observers, and representatives of Soviet soldiers, workers, and farmers gathered to watch the ceremony.
Starting from the exit of the Spassky Gate Tower, from south to north, from the Cathedral of Vasily Brazen to the Historical Museum, a passage was sprinkled with flowers. On the front wall of the GUM Department Store, there were huge flags of various republics, and in the center were huge portraits of Comrades Lenin and Stalin.
As Yuri's horseback figure appeared outside the Spassky Gate Tower, the originally noisy Red Square quickly quieted down.
Yuri rode his warhorse and galloped through the passage in front of the tower. When he turned onto the flower-paved passage, he swung the saber in his hand, then held the tip of the saber upright in front of his chest, looking at the parade formation on the right side of the road, and slowly ran north.
The layout of the squares was arranged according to the marching order of today's military parade. First in line was the military band square composed of the Red Banner Song and Dance Troupe's military band, followed by the Karelian Front Mixed Regiment led by Meretskov. The mixed regiment square included the flag columns of the front's subordinate armies and honorary units, columns of army commanders, and the main square composed of 1,000 heroic soldiers and grassroots commanders.
After that, there are the Leningrad Front Mixed Regiment, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Baltic Front Mixed Regiments, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Belarusian Front Mixed Regiments, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Ukrainian Front Mixed Regiments, the Navy Mixed Regiment, the Moscow Military District Air Defense Mixed Regiment, the Military Academy Square, and so on.
Next are the weapons and equipment formations, such as artillery formations, anti-aircraft artillery formations, armored vehicle formations, cavalry formations, tank formations, self-propelled artillery formations, and so on.
Among these phalanxes, the artillery phalanx is undoubtedly the largest. As commented by the Western media, the Soviet Union today has the most outstanding artillery forces in the world. No country can match the Soviet Union in this branch of the army.
He rode his horse all the way, inspected all the troops, passed the History Museum, and arrived at the bank of the Moscow River. Yuri inspected the salute position on the bank of the Moscow River, then reined in his horse and finally stopped at the flower bed less than 20 meters away from Lenin's Mausoleum. He had to wait here until ten o'clock, and then meet up with Zhukov, the commander-in-chief of the military parade, to complete the rest of the process of the entire military parade.
The drizzle kept falling, and the military uniform on his body had long been soaked. The warhorse under his crotch snorted from time to time, and sometimes kicked a few times impatiently on the spot, and then shook his huge head vigorously.
After much difficulty, it was almost half past nine when a group of important officials including Stalin, consuls from various countries, and representatives of the Supreme Soviet appeared in front of the flower bed below Lenin's Mausoleum. By the time these people climbed up to Lenin's Mausoleum one after another and appeared on the stands, the clock had already struck ten o'clock.
He kicked the horse hard with his spurred military boots, driving the warhorse towards Lenin's Mausoleum.
At this moment, there was not a sound in the entire Red Square, even among the crowd who were invited to visit there was complete silence.
Yuri met Zhukov on a white horse in front of Lenin's Mausoleum. He waved his saber, saluted, and said loudly: "Comrade Marshal of the Soviet Union, the troops participating in the parade of active troops, naval troops and Moscow garrison troops have been formed. Please review them!"
Although it was raining and water was dripping down his face, Zhukov's face was still rosy today, and it was obvious that he was very excited. This was not difficult to understand, after all, this military parade was different from any previous military parade in the Soviet Union. This military parade was of great significance, as it was a celebration of the victory of the anti-fascist war and was destined to be remembered by history.
Then, it was Zhukov's turn to review the troops. As the commander-in-chief of the parade, Yuri needed to ride a horse and follow behind him, listening to his greetings to all the participating troops, while the participating troops responded with "Comrade Marshal, I wish you health" and the earth-shaking "Ura" shouts.
When Zhukov's review was completed, Yuri just returned to the front of the military band . The next process was that Zhukov went to the reviewing stand to give a speech, which was over in a short time. Then he announced the official start of the parade.
Yuri rode at the front of the team and was the first to pass Lenin's Mausoleum. When he turned to look at the viewing stand at Lenin's Mausoleum, he could see Comrade Stalin standing with Budyonny, Voroshilov and Kalinin from afar. He was leaning sideways and looking in the direction the team was coming, but Yuri always felt that he was looking at Zhukov on the reviewing stand. That expressionless face gave people a heart-wrenching feeling.
Even though he doesn't get along with Zhukov, Yuri really doesn't want that arrogant guy to get into trouble. However, how should I put it? Political sensitivity varies from person to person, and Zhukov's political sensitivity is obviously inversely proportional to his military achievements.
