Burning Moscow

17 So that’s it

The morning meeting was held in the battalion headquarters of the high ground under my presidency. The location was the room where I reported to the captain and the others when I first went to the high ground. I remember that when I came in last time, I felt that the room was quite narrow. I didn’t expect a dozen people to sit here for a meeting now, but they didn’t seem crowded at all.

Among those attending the meeting, except for Pastukhov who is the rank of captain, the rest of the company platoon-level officers, including me, are all the ranks of lieutenant or second lieutenant. If an unsuspecting outsider comes in at this time, they will definitely He is regarded as the supreme commander here.

The topic of the meeting was to discuss the construction of fortifications on high ground. Before the meeting, a lieutenant of the sailing company tentatively asked me if I could smoke, and I nodded in agreement without thinking. Unexpectedly, when he took the lead, the other participants were unwilling to lag behind and took out their cigarettes one after another. In less than five minutes, the little shelter was shrouded in smoke, choking me coughing again and again. Because I started smoking with my permission, in this case, I can only eat coptis, and I managed to overcome it by myself.

Captain 　　, several experienced officers, calculated how many steel plates, T-beams, pipes, cement, and labor would be needed to build new fortifications on high ground. The result is frustrating. Under the current situation, many factories have stopped production, and even one-third of the required materials cannot be guaranteed. Moreover, at least four to five hundred experienced people are needed to build fortifications, and the total number of people in my highland is less than three hundred.

I couldn’t talk about the topic they were talking about, so I chose to be silent very interestingly. As the highest commander, the only thing I can do is to wait for them to find the final result and exercise my decision-making power.

In the middle of the meeting, suddenly the phone rang, and the entire shelter suddenly fell silent. The captain grabbed the phone and said in a loud voice: “Hey, I’m Captain Pastukhov.”

I was very close to the phone, and I could clearly hear the voice coming from the receiver: “Comrade Captain, Sergeant Luzhkov from the forward observation post is reporting to you that a German army is coming to our position with a white flag.”

“What?!” The captain was visibly stunned by the news. He suddenly got up from his seat and shouted into the microphone: “Sergeant, do you know what you are talking about? It’s impossible!”

After saying this, he sat on his seat again, and for a moment of silence, he immediately said in an irrefutable tone: “Nonsense! Either you were dazzled, or the spies secretly gave you this kind of news.”

I heard what the other party said, and I was surprised and wondered: What is the German army under the mountain going to do? Although their offensives have been repelled many times by us, at this stage, compared with us, they still have an absolute advantage in terms of technical equipment and the number of soldiers. There will be no such force that will take the initiative to compare. It is too illogical to surrender his weak opponent. If it is to persuade us to surrender, just send two people. There is no need to open a team. That would be too much fanfare. Even if anyone wanted to surrender, they were scared back.

I interrupted what the captain wanted to say, and took the call from him, and said to the other party in a calm tone: “I am Lieutenant Oshanina, you re-report what you saw.” The chairman taught us: No investigation, no right to speak. Without knowing the specifics of the matter, I will not give orders casually.

“Comrade Lieutenant,” the opponent may have been frightened by the captain just now, and replied in a flustered tone: “A German army is coming to our position with a white flag.”

“How many people does the opponent have, what kind of equipment, and where are they currently?” I still asked calmly.

“There were forty people without any weapons. They walked to a place fifty meters away from the forward position and stopped. Now they have not moved on.”

“Okay,” I heard him say this, and I was sure that this German army was not here to surrender, and not to persuade to surrender, but with other purposes. “Comrade sergeant, continue to be vigilant, I’ll pass right away.”

I put down the phone, stood up, and said to the officers in the room with a joking tone: “Comrades, there is a special situation in the front. A group of German devils with white flags have come to our position and are now stopping. It’s fifty meters away from the front, waiting for us to review it. Let’s go and see right away, what exactly do they want to do?”

When the people in the room heard the news, they all stunned, and then burst into laughter. I put on my steel helmet and said: “Let’s go.” This sentence is like an offensive command to everyone. In an instant, whether it is standing in a crowded room or sitting on a bench, Rushed towards the door.

In a short while, I arrived at the forward position. I immediately saw a group of German soldiers parked not far ahead, neatly lined up in four rows with ten people in each row. Someone next to him whispered: “The German devils standing there are really the best targets. Not to mention sharpshooters, even ordinary soldiers who shoot at them can kill several of them.”

I frowned and turned my head to look at the person who was talking next to me, and thought to myself: Why are you so ignorant? Although the other party said it was an enemy, others came here with a white flag and shot them casually, which was morally indefensible. Seeing me staring at him seriously, the man closed his mouth obediently.

Because of the close distance, they can be seen clearly without a binoculars. These German soldiers are all jabs and do not carry any weapons. I was about to climb out of the chest-high trench. The captain beside me grabbed me and kindly reminded me: “Comrade Lieutenant, be careful of the enemy’s conspiracy.”

Intrigue? ! I looked at the standing German soldiers on the opposite side, and I couldn’t see anything wrong. Even if they want to trick all our commanders out, and then use long-range firepower to kill them, using so many people as bait, it’s a bit too illogical.

I finally climbed out of the trenches and walked towards the German army, and stopped my footsteps when I was about 20 meters away from them. There was a rush of footsteps behind him, and looking back, it was the captain who hurried over with the officers who had been in the meeting.

A German officer holding the white flag opposite, saw us walking out, he also greeted us with the white flag high, and behind him was a soldier wearing a boat cap. When they were two or three meters away from us, they stopped. The soldier stepped forward, saluted Pastukhov, and then stammered in bad Russian: “Mr. Captain, salute you.”

“I’m not a gentleman,” the captain replied coldly, and then pointed to me, “This is our commander.”

The officer looked blank when he heard the captain’s words, but the soldier was surprised, but he saluted me again and said respectfully: “Lady Lieutenant, salute you.”

I can’t help but frown when I hear it. Are there no people in the German army who are good at Russian? Why do you find such a person, what you say sounds like a standard translation, and it feels awkward how you listen.

“Do you have anything to do?” I asked blankly.

“We are ordered by Marshal von Leib, commander of the Northern Army Group, to contact you.” Although his Russian is not standard, it sounds more accustomed than before. “We want to condense the bodies of the fallen soldiers. I don’t know if you allow it.”

Oh, I wanted to condense the remains of the fallen soldiers. I thought they wanted to surrender to me. In yesterday’s battle, at least more than 500 German soldiers were killed by us in front of the battlefield. Although it is already autumn, if it does not converge, the decay of the corpse can easily cause disease. The bodies of our own fallen soldiers have been condensed. I am having a headache as to what to do with the bodies of the German soldiers. Since they want to converge, let them converge.

“OK” I agreed without hesitation, “You can converge on the corpses in front of the position first, but your people cannot cross our current position. As for the corpses of soldiers on our army positions, I will arrange for them to be sent here. Yes, and then you all take them away.”

“Thank you.” The German translator thanked me, turned around and said a lot of words to the officer holding the white flag. After the two saluted me again, they turned and walked towards the opposite team.

“Comrade Lieutenant,” the captain next to me pulled my sleeve and asked in a low voice, “Should I ask my superiors about this matter first, and then reply to them after getting their permission.”

“No,” I know too much about Lao Maozi’s habit of procrastinating. According to their efficiency, when the feedback information of various requests and reports comes back, it is estimated that the German corpses have been decayed. I am now the highest commander of Anonymous Heights, and I have the final say.

Although the German army is here to condense the corpse, the possibility of fighting again is very small, but it should not be taken lightly. The necessary precautions must be arranged. I then said to the captain: “You will immediately transfer a platoon of sailors over here and pull it here. A cordon, if a German devil crosses the line, you can shoot directly without waiting for an order.”

“Okay. I’ll make arrangements right away.” The captain heard what I said and agreed with excitement, then turned and ran back.

After the two Germans returned to the team, the officer shook the white flag from side to side. In a short while, I saw a long train of trucks slowly coming out from the direction of the German positions.