Chapter 83: Chance Encounter
"Ulla..."
"Ulla..."
Square formations of soldiers marched past Lenin's Mausoleum, goose-stepping on the cobblestone road, making a rumbling sound like thunder.
Yuri's hands and feet were so frozen that he had lost feeling in them. He could only swing the sword in his hand mechanically. However, although his hands and feet were cold, his heart was burning.
What is certain is that this military parade was definitely the most embarrassing and chaotic military parade that Stalin and many people on Lenin's mausoleum had ever seen. Except for the formation of the Dzerzhinsky Division, which was slightly neater, the formation of the remaining troops was not neat at all. The troops were standing in a line. The most outrageous thing was the militia troops. They didn't even have a unified pace. Some soldiers were so excited that they even walked in the opposite direction.
However, at this time, I believe no one on the viewing stand would care about the issue of formation. What they are really concerned about is the morale of these troops. In the sky above the Red Square, this high fighting spirit is tangible and clearly visible.
The deafening sound of "Ura" was like a tide. Before one wave receded, the next wave was rising. The long, dragging sound echoed across the entire Red Square, making people's blood boil.
One after another, the participating troops marched past Lenin's Mausoleum on Red Square. Unlike previous parades, these troops would not turn back to regroup. Instead, they would head westwards and go directly to their respective battlefields.
In the skies near Moscow, the German Air Force, which had received a telegram from Hitler and his son, was rushing madly towards Moscow and the Red Square in the heavy snow. Hitler heard the "Ura" sound from the Red Square on the radio and knew that the Soviets were holding a military parade, which annoyed him greatly. Therefore, he issued an order to bomb the Red Square. However, the German fighter planes that attacked Moscow in the heavy snow were intercepted by the Soviet air defense forces and the Air Force, who were also resisting the air raid in the heavy snow. A fierce air battle broke out between the two sides in the area near the Istra Reservoir. In the battle, in order to prevent the German fighter planes from continuing to fly towards Moscow, the Soviet fighter planes even adopted a suicidal collision tactic . Until the end of the Red Square parade, the German fighter planes failed to reach the sky over Moscow.
The effect of the military parade was significant, at least for the soldiers who participated in the parade. In the following weeks, they were in a state of excitement and would be more brave and fearless on the battlefield. For the citizens of Moscow who had been uneasy before, this military parade gave them enough confidence. The previous rumors were broken, and most Muscovites began to believe that their country would win the war and Moscow would not fall.
…
The heavy snow that had lasted for a day and a night was still falling. At nightfall, on the outskirts of Moscow, on the road from the city to Minsk, Yuri's jeep was slowly crawling on the snow-covered road. Behind his car, there was another jeep of the same model, which was the car of several guards.
The snow is falling so heavily that it's already above the feet. If it continues like this, the road won't be accessible by tomorrow.
"Lieutenant Colonel, the Ruza River is ahead. After crossing the Ruza River, a few kilometers ahead is Soyabrisk. We can rest there for a night and continue our journey tomorrow," said Arseni, who was driving. In order to highlight his closeness to Yuri, he deliberately omitted the word "comrade" in his address.
Soyabrsk is a small town, a very inconspicuous place. Yuri looked at the map at hand. It is nearly 80 kilometers from here to Gzhatsk where the 16th Army Headquarters is located. In such weather, it will take at least two hours to walk. Arseni is probably worried about safety issues, so he plans to stay in Soyabrsk for one night and continue his journey the next day.
"Let's go directly to Gzhatsk," Yuri was silent for a while, then shook his head and said, "I want to learn about the deployment of the troops as soon as possible. There are too few detailed reports in Moscow."
After the morning parade, Yuri received his new appointment document, the 16th Army Operations Staff, but the report on the troops handed to him along with the document did not contain much substantive content. Now, Yuri only knew that the army headquarters was located in Gzhatsk, and that there were about three divisions in Rzhev and one division in Sychevka. As for the rest, he knew nothing.
"Then you can sleep for a while in the car, and I will wake you up when we arrive," said Arseni.
Yuri nodded. He hadn't slept the whole night before and had been cold and tired this morning. Now he was feeling a little tired.
According to Arseni, Yuri closed his eyes and prepared to take a nap in the car. But before he closed his eyelids, Arseni, who was driving in front, suddenly said, "Lieutenant Colonel, there is a car ahead, and it seems to have broken down."
"Oh?" Yuri shook his head, woke up, and tilted his head to look forward.
Sure enough, under the illumination of the car lights, there was a jeep parked only twenty meters ahead. Two people were standing next to the car, waving at Yuri's car.
"Stop and see what's going on," Yuri said.
"Okay," Arseni agreed, but did not drive the car directly over. Instead, he pulled to the side of the road and signaled to the security car following behind with his taillights.
The jeep in which the guards were riding quickly overtook from the side and stopped next to the jeep . A guard jumped out of the car first, talked to two people on the side of the road for a few words, and then walked towards Yuri's car.
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Arkhipovich," the guard walked to the side of the car and said to Yuri through the window, "Comrade Alexey Andreevich Lobachev is in front. Their car has broken down."
As the guard was speaking, Yuri saw a man get out of the car and walk straight towards where he had parked his car.
Yuri quickly pushed the door open and got out of the car, then walked over to meet him. Alexei Andreevich Lobachev, who was currently serving as the military commissar of the 16th Army.
Lobachev is not very old, not even 40 years old, but judging from his appearance, he looks rather old, which may be related to his past experiences.
Although it was the first time they met, Lobachev obviously knew Yuri and also knew that he would serve as the combat staff officer of the 16th Army. Therefore, his attitude towards Yuri seemed more enthusiastic.
The two talked for a few words on the road, and Yuri learned that the headquarters of the 16th Army had been moved. It was not in Gzhatsk, but in the Osuga area 30 kilometers south of Rzhev, right at the Osuga railway station.
Yuri felt very fortunate when he heard this. Fortunately, he met Lobachev, otherwise he would have foolishly run to Gzhatsk, and then have to run nearly a hundred kilometers back to find the army headquarters.
Yuri invited Lobachev to sit in his jeep and asked him where he was going. Lobachev told him that he was going to Soyabrsk, where the headquarters of the 3rd Cavalry Army was staying today, and he was going to find the commander of the unit, Lev Mikhailovich Dovator. In addition, the current chief of staff of the army, Mikhail Sergeyevich Malinin, was also there.
What else can I say? Yuri could only ask Arseni to drive to Soyabrsk first, and then go with him to the army headquarters after Lobachev's business was done.
"We are in a bad situation now," the car started again. Lobachev took a cigarette handed to him by Yuri, lit it, and said with a frown, "The German tank group 4 is expected to launch an offensive against Gzhatsk in the next two days, and there is also an offensive from the German tank group 3 in the direction of Sychevka. Our troops are obviously insufficient."
Yuri nodded silently. The battle on the Vyazma front caused heavy damage to the Soviet defensive forces in front of Moscow. The main reason was that the Supreme Command and the Western Front Command did not realize that the German 4th Armored Group, which was originally fighting in the Leningrad area, was quietly mobilized. In this way, the main force of the German army in front of the Western Front included the forces of three armored groups.
The direct consequence of this misjudgment of the scale of the battle was that four army groups were surrounded, and it was unknown whether Comrade Lukin, known as the "firefighter", could successfully break out of the encirclement of Vyazma.
"What's the situation in Gzhatsk?" Yuri asked after a moment of silence.
"The 18th Militia Division under the command of Comrade Peter Nikolayevich Chernyshev is organizing defense there," Lobachev waved his hand and said, "We hope they can hold out there longer so that they can receive more breakout troops."
Yuri nodded. For now, this should be the only strategy that the Western Front Command can adopt . The encircled Soviet troops commanded by Lukin are still resisting, but the Western Front no longer has more strength to launch a counterattack against the Germans to help Lukin's troops escape the encirclement. Holding on to Gzhatsk can, on the one hand, slow down the German attack on the Mozhaisk Line, and on the other hand, give the encircled Soviet troops some confidence.
But to be honest, Yuri was not optimistic about this useless decision, because Lukin's troops could not achieve the goal of breaking out, and the history of the previous life also proved this. Now, the most sensible thing to do would be to withdraw the troops in Gzatsk to the east of the Gzat River and re-arrange the defense line.
As the combat staff officer of the army group, Yuri can no longer remain silent. He must report his opinions to the army group commander Rokossovsky. Whether his opinions will be adopted is one thing, and whether he, as a combat staff officer, can put forward correct suggestions is another.
