Burning Moscow

Section 25 In the days in Moscow (7)

The evening sky was gloomy, and there were large, slow-moving dark clouds floating in the sky.

Korolev and I raised our heads and looked towards the sky. We couldn’t see the enemy plane, but could only hear the roar of the aircraft engine. Obviously, not one but several bombers were flying at extremely high altitudes.

The anti-aircraft gun deployed on the roof of the Kremlin building began to fire violently into the sky. Looking at shooting aimlessly like this, I couldn’t help but smile a bit, thinking that I didn’t even see the enemy plane, so I just slapped into the sky, what is the effect?

The personnel in the building where the security room was located, when the air raid alarm sounded, they ran out of the building, crossed the wide square, and went to the bombing room at the other end for air defense. Colonel Bezikov saw that the people in the building were almost evacuated, so he came to us and asked us in a reproachful tone: “Why haven’t you been hiding?”

Korolev did not answer his question, but instead asked: “Does Moscow often suffer from air strikes?”

“Yes, from July 22, the Luftwaffe has been conducting air raids on the city without interruption. Regrettably, our air force has too few aircraft to prevent enemy aircraft from invading our city.”

When the two were talking, I started looking around again, enjoying the scenery. I have been to the Red Square countless times, but the Kremlin has never had the opportunity to come in. I finally came in once. Naturally, I have to take the opportunity to take a good look, because I don’t know that I won’t have a chance to come in again until the year of the monkey.

I tried hard to think about the name of the square where I was standing. Is it called Sopirnaya or something else. Anyway, it is quite confusing when I read it. I seem to have never pronounced the place name accurately. The tall Ivan Bell Tower in the middle of the square is currently the tallest building in Moscow, and it is also estimated to be the best coordinates for the Luftwaffe to calibrate the Kremlin’s position. Next to the clock tower is a huge Tsarist clock, which is a famous clock king in the world. This big clock weighing two hundred tons was broken the first time it was struck, and the fragment that fell off was as high as one person. I looked at it from a distance. The internal space of the clock was quite large. If the German bombers started dropping bombs later, it should be safe for me to hide inside for air defense.

There is a huge old artillery not far away, which was built in the 16th century. It is 5.35 meters long, 40 cm in diameter and 40 tons in weight. It was placed here for the purpose of guarding the gate of the Moskva River Ferry and Spassk Clock Tower, but it never had a chance to launch. A few huge round shells are placed next to the cannon. If they were sold as scrap, they would probably be able to sell for a lot of money.

“Paratrooper! The German plane dropped the paratrooper!” Suddenly someone shouted loudly.

I looked up into the air. Before I could see the situation clearly, I felt that someone was grabbing my shoulder vigorously. Then I heard Korolev’s familiar voice asking nervously: “Paratrooper?! Where, have you seen it? ?”

An opened parachute landed from the dark clouds. I stared at the sky with wide eyes, and apart from this one, there were no other parachutes for the time being. I watched the parachute slowly descending nervously. Under the parachute, there was an oval object swaying constantly, which looked like a human from a distance.

“No, it’s not like a paratrooper. The Germans only drop one paratrooper to use as a fart?” I guessed puzzledly. “Is this the pilot who parachuted on the damaged German plane?” But I didn’t seem to see an enemy plane hit by a bullet and fall.

did not hide in the square, but the guards who were on duty rushed to the center of the square one after another, raised their rifles and submachine guns, and shot violently at the slowly falling parachute in the air.

Looking at the lower and lower parachute, I suddenly understood that this is not a paratrooper, but a blockbuster dropped by the Germans! In the military documentaries of later generations, you can often see the air force dropping such heavy bombs with parachutes. As the bombs hit the ground, the enemy’s positions turned into a sea of ​​flames.

I yelled anxiously: “Don’t shoot, hurry up, this is a bomb!” But my voice was masked by the sound of gunfire and anti-aircraft guns. Everyone was still shooting in the air desperately.

If the bomb is hit in the air and an airburst is formed, there will be no safe dead spot below, and the people present will inevitably suffer heavy casualties. I grabbed Bezikov’s arm, shook it vigorously, and shouted to him: “This is not a paratrooper. Hurry up and tell everyone to stop shooting, or the bomb will be detonated and we will be all over.”

Bezikov jumped on the table in front of the guard room, drew his pistol, fired a few shots in the sky, and shouted with all his strength: “Listen to my orders! Stop shooting, this is a bomb! All fall down!”

I grabbed Korolev and dragged him to the ground.

“Boom!” A violent explosion sounded not far away, and the earth trembled violently before returning to calm. I was lying on the ground, covering my ears, desperately enduring the unbearable pain caused by the tremor of the ground and hitting my internal organs. In contrast, the pain caused by objects that splashed and hit me during the explosion. It seems trivial.

I saw people all stand up from the ground, and tried to stand up. But as soon as I got up, I felt like the sky was spinning, nauseous and nauseous, so I slowly squatted down again. I looked down and saw on the ground in front of me, in addition to the gravel, there was actually a broken and **** wooden gun handle. It seemed that when the bomb exploded, the casualties of the guards on the scene must be not small.

Korolev next to 　　 came over and helped me. With his help, I finally got up again. I said to him, should we go to the hotel? He also said something to me, but my ears were temporarily deaf because of the explosion just now, and I could hear nothing, neither his voice nor my own voice. It wasn’t until he yelled in my ear that I understood. What he said was: “The air raid is over. We should go back to the hotel.”

I saw the Admiral Bezikov standing by the gun-smoke crater to check the situation, and the soldiers who were injured or sacrificed were being carried away on stretchers by medical staff who came in urgently. I said to Korolev: “Uncle Pavel, let’s go and take a look.” He nodded and helped me staggering towards the crater.

Bezikov stood next to the crater, staring at the bottom of the black hole in a daze, and we didn’t even notice when we walked to his side. When a soldier came to him for instructions on work, he did not respond, as if the whole person was stupid.

“Uncle Pavel,” I approached Korolev’s ear and asked him quietly, “What happened to him?”

“Shhh! Keep it quiet.” Korolev also whispered: “You don’t know, the German plane flew over the Kremlin today and dropped a bomb. The commanders in charge of air defense and security will be punished. of.”

“What kind of punishment?” I think this system is a bit too unreasonable. The enemy’s current strength is so powerful that it is temporarily difficult for my family to stop them. Only occasionally rushed to the sky above the Kremlin, and the relevant guards had to be punished. Who would dare to work here in the future?

“Usually sent to a labor camp or shot.” Korolev answered me solemnly.

“Ah?!” I was taken aback. The punishment is too heavy. No wonder Colonel Bezikov is standing in a daze in front of the crater where the gunpowder is still braving like an idiot.

“Bezikov!” A voice with a heavy Georgian accent suddenly sounded across the bullet hole. I followed the sound, but I didn’t expect to see Stalin. He was standing opposite us and was also looking at this newly formed crater. Several plain-clothed security guards were standing two or three steps behind him.

“Comrade Stalin.” Bezikov recovered from the daze, and quickly straightened his body to stand at attention.

“How is it?” Stalin frowned and asked, “Are there casualties?”

“No, Comrade Stalin.” Bezikov’s lie was almost flawless: “No one.”

Stalin nodded, turned around and walked quickly to the building not far away, and several guards immediately followed him.