The troops participating in the parade were almost in position, and on Red Square, facing Lenin's Tomb and the Kremlin, the parade troops were lined up in three neat rows, one for each twelve phalanxes, and Krochkov stood in the last row, with his back to the Grand Mall of Gum. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

As soon as the queue was over, the sky began to snow. It wasn't snowflakes like flocculents, but white sugar-like snow powder, which fell densely from the gray sky. Not only did the ground on Red Square cover a thick layer of snow, but even the soldiers' shoulders and hats turned snow-white.

When the bell on the bell tower began to ring, Stalin, dressed in a gray coat and a military hat, slowly walked up to the podium on Lenin's tomb, surrounded by a group of heavyweights. Crochkov's eyesight was good, and he could clearly see Kalinin, Budyonny, and other members of the Supreme High Command standing next to Stalin.

After the bell struck the ninth blow, the marching bands lined up under the palace walls blew their horns.

Amid the sound of thick military music, dozens of soldiers of the Central Guard Regiment walked to the front of Lenin's tomb with their heads held high, and opened a cordon facing the troops under review.

As soon as the horn ended, Stalin's familiar voice was heard through the loudspeaker installed on the wall of the Gum Mall: "Red Army and Red Navy soldiers, commanders and political functionaries, partisans of men and women, comrades! The whole world is watching you as a force capable of destroying the bandit armies of the German invaders. The enslaved peoples of Europe, oppressed by the German invaders, look upon you as their liberators. The great mission of liberation has fallen on your shoulders. Do not fail in this mission! The war you are waging is a war of liberation, a war of justice. ……”

Crochkov could feel that Stalin was agitated at this time, and he spoke much slower than usual on the radio. Stalin paused for a moment, took a deep breath, and then continued, in a more determined tone: "Let the heroic images of our great predecessors - Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy, Dmitry Pocharsky, Kozma Minin, Alexander Suvorov, Mikhail Kutuzov - inspire you in this war and let the banner of victory of the great Lenin guide you, under the banner of Lenin, march towards victory!" ”

As soon as his words fell, the audience suddenly erupted in cheers, and thousands of throats shouted together in a neat voice: "Ula~!" Ulla~~!! Ulla~~~!!! ”

After Stalin's speech, he turned to Budyonny, who was standing next to him, and whispered something, who raised his hand to his forehead, saluted Stalin, and then turned and walked down Lenin's tomb.

Not long after, Budyonny, accompanied by an officer, rode out of the small door of the Spasco's bell tower and rode to Lenin's tomb when he met an officer coming from the direction of the Historical Museum. The officer on the horse raised his hand to his forehead and reported loudly to Budyonny: "Comrade Marshal of the Soviet Union, the commander of the Moscow garrison reports to you: the troops under review have been assembled, please review it." ”

Budyonny nodded, then flicked the reins and rode forward, the garrison commander following closely with the officer.

After riding to the front of the Historical Museum, Budyonny turned his horse's head to the right, came to the east side of the first phalanx, looked at the commanders and fighters standing in order, nodded with satisfaction, and then said loudly: "Comrades, I wish you all a happy October Revolution!" ”

The commanders and fighters in the phalanx raised their chins high, their eyes slightly closed, and when they heard Budyonny's voice, everyone shouted in unison: "Comrade Marshal, I wish you a happy October Revolution!" ”

Budyonny rode his horse to a phalanx facing Lenin's tomb, reined in his horse again, sent a festive greeting to the warriors, and after the soldiers answered his greeting, he rode to the next phalanx.

After going around in front of the three rows of parade troops, Budyonny rode to Lenin's tomb, turned over and dismounted, handed over the horse's fart to an officer who ran over, went up the steps to Lenin's tomb, raised his hand to salute Stalin, and reported his own review. Stalin nodded, then made a gesture to indicate that a columnar review could be conducted.

The floor of Red Square is paved with stones, and many places have become uneven due to age. In order to prevent some people from hurting their feet because of uneven ground when the troops under parade pass through the square, before the military parade ceremony, the commander of the parade unit and the leaders of the traffic police force will draw a series of marching routes on the square, and even have to conduct several rehearsals. And this parade was decided very suddenly, so some preliminary preparations were not carried out.

Seeing that the first few phalanxes passing through Lenin's tomb were not bad, Budyonny's hanging heart standing on Lenin's tomb was finally put back into his stomach.

Since this was a military parade in the city, the participation was a mixed group of troops, including the Moscow garrison in gray military coats, ski units in white camouflage, troops from Central Asia or Siberia in khaki short fur coats, and even militia units in civilian clothes. Whether it was the regular army or the militia, they marched in a neat queue and walked on Red Square with their heads held high to be reviewed by Stalin.

When Krochkov approached Lenin's tomb with his phalanx, his heart couldn't help but beat faster. He stared intently at Stalin, who was standing above, and saw the Supreme Commander-in-Chief himself on it, waving to the commanders and fighters who passed by Lenin's tomb. At this time, his mood suddenly became calmer, and his steps seemed more and more powerful.

It was only after walking down the Vasily slope that Krochkov put his hand down and breathed a sigh of relief. He and Major Shedurin led their troops to the Moscow River. Immediately, officers from the garrison command approached and directed them to find the trucks that belonged to them.

……

Rokossovsky and the entire commander of the 16th Army listened to the parade on Red Square via radio broadcasts. But when everyone heard the march of the parade and the sound of neat steps, coming out of the radio, they immediately cheered, and everyone shouted "Ula!" Ulla!! "The sound almost tore off the roof of the headquarters.

When everyone's cheers ended, Lobachev was a little worried and said: "Comrade commander, did you say that the Germans would send planes to Moscow to bomb them?" ”

"Comrade Military Commissar, how is this possible?" After hearing this, the artillery chief Kazakov pouted and said disapprerovingly: "You see the weather outside, but it is snowing heavily, and it is not suitable for the air force to dispatch at all, how can the German planes be dispatched in such weather?" ”

"You don't have to worry." Rokossovsky smiled and said to them: "I think that since Comrade Stalin is going to hold such a starving military parade, he must have made a thorough arrangement. If the German air force is not dispatched, it is enough, and even if it is dispatched, it should not be tried to curry favor. ”

……

Hitler, who was far away in Berlin, had not yet come to his senses when he heard the Soviet parade march and the orderly pace on the radio, and he never dreamed that Stalin would hold a military parade ceremony as usual while the German troops were approaching the city. It wasn't until he heard the deafening sound of "ulla" on the radio that he figured out what was going on.

He rushed to the telephone, answered the phone of Army Group Center Headquarters, and yelled at Field Marshal von Bock, who answered the phone: "Von Bock, what are you doing?" Didn't you hear that the Russians were holding a military parade right under your nose? What actions you took. ”

In response to Hitler's series of questions, Marshal Bock was a little embarrassed and said: "My Führer, it is snowing heavily in Moscow and its suburbs, and in this weather our planes cannot take off at all. ”

"Immediately give an order to the commander of the 2nd Air Force." Hitler involuntarily ordered: "I give you an hour, you must order the Air Force to blow up the parade site in Moscow and turn me into a sea of fire." ”

Hearing Hitler's rage, Marshal Bock had no choice but to order the bombers of the 2nd Air Force to take off urgently in the blizzard to bomb Red Square, where the military parade was being held.

……

When a swarm of bombers flew over the 16th Army, Lobachev couldn't even scream, he grabbed Rokossovsky and said nervously: "Comrade commander, did you hear me?" The roar of aircraft engines in the air, this must be the German bombers preparing to bomb Moscow. We need to report the situation to our superiors immediately. ”

Although Rokossovsky knew that Moscow was ready for battle, in order to reassure Lobachev, he still dialed Zhukov's telephone and reported to the other party: "Comrade General, a large number of enemy planes are flying over the defense area of our army group, and it is estimated that they are preparing to fly to Moscow. ”

"Needless to say, Comrade Rokossovsky." Zhukov said in a contemptuous tone: "The Germans probably never dreamed that we would be holding a military parade to celebrate the October Festival as usual under their noses. I guess Hitler was so angry that he ordered their air force to take off in such a big snowstorm. ”

Although Rokossovsky already knew that the German planes would not be able to enter Moscow, he instinctively asked: "Comrade General, can our air defense forces hold back the enemy's bomber formations?" ”

"Don't worry," Zhukov said confidently: "In addition to the anti-aircraft artillery units on the ground, we still have so many fighter formations in Moscow, and the enemy cannot get close to Moscow." ”

Seeing Rokossovsky put down the phone, Lobachev, who was highly nervous, asked: "Comrade commander, what did Senior General Zhukov say?" ”

"Comrade Military Commissar, don't worry." Rokossovsky smiled and said to Lobachev: "Comrade General said that not only Moscow's ground antiaircraft artillery units are ready for battle, but even many fighter formations are waiting for battle. The German bombers rushed over, and they only hit their heads and bleed. ”

When Lobachev heard Rokossovsky say this, his heart finally felt a little more steady. At this time, Malinin, who had been listening to the radio, curiously asked Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, is it a little too risky for us to hold such a military parade at such a time?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff, it is very risky to do so. But in the current situation, this risk is not necessary. In order for everyone to understand what he meant, Rokossovsky continued: "Comrade commanders, you must not underestimate this military parade. For the broad masses of the Soviet people, this parade was certainly unexpected, but at the same time exciting. Although this is a traditional military parade, the meaning it represents is very different. It showed the contempt of the Soviet people for the fascist invaders. Although victory is still far away, it has given the whole people the dawn of victory. And for the fascists, it was a bolt from the blue, making them realize that the Soviet people were invincible. ”

After listening to Rokossovsky's words, the people around him were silent, all recalling the meaning of his words. After a long time, Lobachev smiled and said: "Comrade commander, although you are a military cadre, I think you will also be very good if you become a political work cadre." What you just said is really what I thought in my heart, but I didn't say it. ”

Rokossovsky only smiled at Lobachev's praise, and then instructed Malinin, who had just finished listening to the military parade: "Chief of Staff, contact the commanders of the front-line units and ask them to be vigilant and prevent the Germans from launching a surprise attack on us while the snow is falling." ”

"Understood, I'm going to call." Malinin finished speaking and ran away.

Lobachev and Malinin were enlightened by Rokossovsky and put aside the German air raid on Moscow, while Kazakov, who had just thought that the Luftwaffe could not be dispatched on a snowy day, asked Rokossovsky worriedly: "Comrade commander, is it really impossible for German bombers to break into Moscow?" ”

Hearing what Kazakov said, Rokossovsky did not answer him directly, but smiled and said: "Comrade Artillery Chief, don't be in a hurry, be patient, I think in a maximum of another hour, we will get a battle report from the Air Defense Command." Then you'll know what happened to the Luftwaffe that bombed Moscow. ”

Just after noon, the headquarters of the 16th Army received a battle report forwarded by the command of the Western Front: The German bombers bombing Moscow were fiercely intercepted by Soviet fighters and antiaircraft artillery units when they approached the sky over Moscow. As a result, after a fierce battle, 25 German bombers were shot down, and the remaining group fled back to the airfield in disgrace, and not a single German bomber could fly over Red Square. (To be continued.) )