783 Sunset Ten of the Soviet Empire fled from Moscow

Unlike the Battle of Moscow, which was intricately complex in another time and space, the Soviet Union had actually been defeated. The Northwest Front, the last strategic main force of the Soviet Red Army, was also destroyed in late June, and on the other side, the Siberian Front was also defeated by the Russian army commanded by Blyukhel, Tomsk, Novosibirsk, Bertsk and other important Siberian towns fell one after another, and the vanguard of White Russia has even approached Kuibyshev! And the Siberian Front, which has an army of 750,000 troops, after two months of fighting, has less than 300,000 people left (not counting the 150,000 troops transferred to Moscow)! The fall of Siberia in its entirety is only a matter of time.

The Bolsheviks no longer had enough troops to maintain a long front, and could only concentrate their limited forces in a few areas, such as Moscow, the Ural Mountains, and Transcaucasia. Therefore, the important towns of Tula, Kaluga, Serpukhov, Obninsk, Mozhaisk, Volokolamsk and other important towns on the outskirts of Moscow were all abandoned, and the 600,000 defenders and 500,000 workers' Red Guards could only retreat in the first anti-tank trench of Moscow, waiting for the German attack.

The active contraction of the Soviet army, although the concentration of limited forces, made the defense of Moscow more tight, but also greatly facilitated the deployment and movement of German troops, after a series of important towns located west of Moscow without a fight, on July 1, 1938, von . The German army under the command of General Bock had already advanced the battle line directly under the city of Moscow! In the following week, 1,000,000 German troops in 20 armies (including 3 in the center**) were divided into 5 army groups and deployed from north to south. Among them, the 2nd Army commanded by Manstein was responsible for attacking Moscow from Solpinchnogorsk, northwest of Moscow; The 4th Army, commanded by Kruger, was responsible for the offensive from Istria, northwest of Moscow; Paulus's 6th Army launched an offensive from Troitsk, west of Moscow; The 7th Army under the command of Falkenhausen launched an attack from Podolsk, southwest of Moscow, while the three infantry corps of the Chinese Expeditionary Force were also placed on this route under the command of General Falkenhausen; Finally, Feng. General Tzenberg Panzer Corps commanded the 3rd Panzer Army (consisting of 1 Panzer Corps and 3 Infantry Corps) to act as the general reserve for the entire campaign, and if the battle went well, this Panzer Army would also capture Zhukovsky and Barasikha east of Moscow after a detour from the south of Moscow, completely cutting off the Soviet retreat.

Of course, while the Battle of Moscow was going on, the German army in the west and the White Russian army in the northwest would also join the campaign against the Bolshevik capital. So, failure for von. In the case of Admiral Bock, this is not possible, and all he has to think about now is to seize the city of Moscow at the smallest possible cost.

And the best way to reduce casualties is heavy shelling and air strikes!

In the early morning of July 9th, Feng. Surrounded by a large group of staff officers and the top brass of the 7th Army, General Bock personally arrived at the 18th Infantry Corps of the Chinese Wehrmacht, northeast of Podolsk, to observe the operation. The command post of the commander of the 18th Army, Lieutenant General Huang Wei, was located in the forest near Podolsk. The starting position of the 52nd Infantry Division was a trench at the edge of the forest. The sappers of the 18th Army built a fortified shelter on a high ground behind this trench. Feng. General Bock arrived at 4 o'clock in the morning and used an artillery mirror to carefully observe the forward positions of the Soviet troops opposite.

"Lieutenant General, do you know the number of the unit opposite?" Feng. Bock looked at it for a while, then turned back to a young Chinese lieutenant general next to him, and he knew that most of these Chinese generals had been trained by German instructors, so they were all proficient in German, so they did not bring an interpreter, but directly communicated with each other in German.

"Your Excellency General, Lieutenant General Huang Wei, commander of the 18th Infantry Army of the Chinese National Defense Forces." Huang Wei gave a military salute and introduced himself again. Bock met more than once, but the other party was always unable to recognize him among the crowd of Chinese generals. Huang Wei then said: "On the opposite side is the 157th Special Army of the Soviet Red Army, which has 3 infantry divisions with a total strength of about 28,000 people. In addition, there were no tanks, and the artillery also had only one corps artillery regiment and three divisional artillery battalions, about 72 guns, of which there were 12 152mm heavy guns and 12 105mm howitzers, and each gun had only 5 base ...... ammunition"

Huang Wei gushed in fluent German about the situation of the 157th Special Army of the Soviet Army on the other side. Bock and the German generals who arrived with him were greatly surprised.

Probably seeing the Germans' doubts, Huang Wei then explained: "The morale of this army is very low, and the people's morale is fluctuating greatly. The headquarters has already written a report and submitted it to the command of the army group. ”

"Oh, I see." Feng. Bock didn't seem to have seen the report from the 7th Army, perhaps forgetting it after reading it. He nodded and smiled: "Very good, the morale of the enemy is low, this is a good sign, by the way, did they mention Stalin?" Is Stalin still in the city of Moscow? ”

Huang Wei shrugged his shoulders and said with a smile: "It is difficult to see Stalin in the status of these people, so they don't know where to stay or not, but according to the news conveyed by their superiors, Stalin is still in Moscow, and he will lead the battle of Moscow and use these panicked troops to resist us!" ”

Feng. Bock grinned as well, then lifted his watch to look at the time. "Well, it's almost 4:55, and the shelling can start at 5 o'clock." As he spoke, he looked at the Soviet position again, gritted his teeth and ordered: "Tell the artillery command that the shelling will last for 6 hours, and the opponent's forward position must be completely wiped out!" At 11 o'clock sharp, the infantry attack began! With that, he strode out of the bunker.

At this time, in the rear, about 5 kilometers from the forward positions of the German army, 80 artillery regiments were already in their respective positions. More than 2,000 150mm howitzers, nearly 3,000 105mm howitzers, and thousands of regimental and battalion light artillery and heavy mortars have been lined up.

On each artillery position, the artillery commanders have assigned the targets and various parameters of the artillery to their artillery regiments, and then these data will be sent down to the gunners who are specifically responsible for commanding the cannons, and the gunners will order the gunners to adjust the elevation angle and distance of the guns and correct the firing posture of the guns according to these parameters......

At 5 o'clock, as red flares rose into the sky, a red light flashed on the German artillery positions at the same time, followed by a trembling earth and a deafening roar. The 200-kilometer front was as bright as daylight in just a moment, and countless projectiles with flashing light flew over the German positions and accurately landed on the Soviet positions on the opposite side. Thousands of fireballs rose at the same time on the Soviet defense line, raising rows of columns of smoke, and before the first wave of fireballs disappeared, thousands of fireballs rose at the same time, enveloping the Soviet positions in a sea of fire.

From the artillery mirror, Huang Wei clearly saw that the Soviet position opposite him was ploughed over and over again by rows of rising smoke pillars and firelight, and one after another civil fortifications and deer stakes were lifted into the air, and there were faint human stumps and broken arms. After watching for about half an hour, Huang Wei no longer wanted to enjoy this terrible scene, he walked out of the shelter and walked towards the rear of his position, where there was a larger and more comfortable bullet shelter, where Huang Wei planned to rest for a few hours, because the shelling would last for 6 hours! When the time comes, the Soviet defensive positions on the opposite side will only become as desolate as the surface of the moon, right? Huang Wei thought when he left.

……

As soon as the overwhelming German artillery fire came over, Yagoda, who was working in the NKVD building at Lubyanka Square No. 2, knew that the most dangerous moment had come! Because Moscow could fall at any time. But Stalin, Molotov, Kalinin and some other members of the Politburo have not yet had time to retreat! And this work, in turn, is precisely the duty of the NKVD. He hurriedly put down his work, got into a Guise car, and braved the bombing of German planes and headed straight for the Kremlin.

Yagoda's car quickly passed through the layers of sentry posts to one of the palaces in the Kremlin, where he got out of the car and entered an entrance to an underground bunker. In Stalin's office in the underground bunker, he saw Molotov, Kalinin, and the head of the General Political Department of the Soviet Army, the king of small reports, General Mekhlis, sitting at a long table. Stalin stood at his desk, casually looking at a document. Seeing Yagoda coming in, he smiled and nodded at him, saying, "It seems that my friend Adolf. Hitler couldn't wait to come to Moscow to sleep, just like the French emperor. ”

As soon as the joke came out, several people in the office seemed to forget their troubles for a while and laughed happily. Yagoda also laughed a few times in response, and said: "Comrade Stalin, this time the German offensive is very fast, it is very dangerous for you to stay in Moscow, it is time to go to Tbilisi, where your wise leadership is more needed." ”

As soon as Yagoda's words fell, Molotov echoed in a loud voice: "Comrade Yagoda's words are very reasonable, Comrade Stalin, please leave Moscow quickly for the sake of the country and for the overall situation of the world anti-fascist war!" ”

"Leaving Moscow? Now? Stalin was stunned, a look of horror flashed in his eyes, his eyes narrowed, his eyebrows furrowed, "Now the fascist bandits have just begun to attack...... Could it be that our Red Army soldiers could not withstand it? I've inspected the fortifications on the outskirts of Moscow, the strongest I've ever seen, and we have 1.1 million troops and 800 cannons, so maybe Hitler will suffer under Moscow! ”

"But...... But ......" Yagoda hesitated, he was not a professional military strategist, he did not know much about military affairs, but he felt sensitive, and his intuition told him that Moscow could fall at any time! If you don't leave now, you may never be able to leave. Thinking of this, Yagoda walked up to Stalin, solemnly gave a military salute, and said loudly: "Comrade Stalin, Moscow is in extreme danger at the moment!" The intelligence officers of the NKVD found an armored army in the fascist army outside the city! This Panzer Army can make a detour from the south of Moscow and cut off our retreat, and then we can only retreat by plane, which is very dangerous! ”

Hearing that the German Panzer Army had arrived outside Moscow, Stalin finally felt that the situation was extremely critical. According to the plan, he would leave Moscow by special train, make a detour to Stalingrad, which has not yet been attacked, and then head south into Transcaucasia. However, if the German armored cluster came to outflank it, it would completely cut off Moscow's ground communication with the outside world, and Stalin would have to leave by plane...... But the question is, will the thousands of German planes hovering in the sky allow a single Ford transport plane to leave safely?

"Joseph. Vissarionovich (Stalin), Comrade Yagoda was right in his advice, for the sake of the future, you should leave Moscow immediately. Kalinin, chairman of the Supreme Soviet, was also a little anxious, Stalin refused to leave, and his old man had to come to accompany the gentleman with his life, and when he saw the Germans, he came in! And here came the Germans! Not the kind-hearted empress...... The Germans caught the Bolsheviks, but they were going to shoot them!

"Comrade Mehlis, you are the director of the Political Department of the Red Army, what do you think of the current situation?" Stalin took out his cigarette case, picked up a pinch of tobacco, and slowly stuffed it into his carved pipe, with a relaxed and calm appearance, very like a great leader.

Thinking of those fascist special firing squads, Mehris, the king of small reports, was already in disarray, and he stammered: "Comrade Stalin...... Now you need to lead in Transcaucasia, and only you in Tbilisi can guarantee that there will be no problems there! In case you are temporarily trapped in Moscow, no one can guarantee ......"

The king of the little report did not say any more, but Stalin had already understood, and the other party was telling him that power must be in his hands at all times! You can't fake others, otherwise it is possible to create a new authority, and even if you get out of Moscow safely, Tbilisi will not necessarily recognize him as the boss anymore! Although the words were heartfelt, Stalin felt that they made a lot of sense when he heard them. Didn't he take advantage of Lenin's assassination and serious illness to usurp power? Later, Lenin left a will against him, but there was nothing he could do to help Trotsky bring him down...... The same thing, Voroshilov can do it again, right?

Suddenly, the door to the office was pushed open, and Marshal Budyonny burst in in a panic without being informed, which was a very unusual phenomenon, and it seemed that something big had happened!

"Joseph. Vissarionovic, why are you still here! The old Cossack walked up to Stalin in three steps and two steps, grabbed the half-crippled arm of the great leader, and took him out. As he walked, he shouted: "Now is not the time for a Politburo meeting to discuss whether you want to leave Moscow, because there is no time to spare." You have to go right away, I've ordered the door to open the secret passage, and the car is ready. ”

Since the success of the revolution, secret passages have been built under Moscow for the great leader to escape if necessary, and various works continue to this day. One of the secret passages that has been built is from under the Kremlin to the railway station in the small city of Leutov, east of Moscow, where a special train is on standby 24 hours a day for Stalin.

"Semyon. Mikhailovich. Stalin shouted Budyonny's name as he and the old marshal walked in the direction of the secret passage. A few people in the office also hurriedly followed, and even Kalinin, who looked a little old and faint, was on his feet. Stalin asked: "If I leave Moscow, will the city be able to hold out?" ”

"No problem, Comrade Stalin." Budyonny replied with confidence. "The key to holding Moscow is not that you are not in Moscow, but that the vast number of Red Army soldiers and the revolutionary working class can see the hope of the victory of the revolution, as long as you leave Moscow safely and can continue to lead us in the struggle against the fascist bandits, then the revolution will be victorious sooner or later, and everyone's sacrifice will be worthwhile!"

The people who can survive round after round of purges in history, and finally keep their wealth and prosperity for a long time, are basically foxes who are old enough to become fine. The old Cossack Budyonny is naturally no exception, and the one who said this has a level! Stalin listened so comfortably that even his steps became lighter.

"Semyon. Mikhailovich. The great leader, who seemed to be moved, said to Budyonny in a gentle tone: "You must also pay attention to safety, the future revolutionary struggle will be indispensable to the cavalry, you are the best cavalry commander in the world, so I order you in the name of the Supreme Commander of the Soviet Armed Forces, you must leave Moscow safely!" As soon as the fascist army enters the city, you leave immediately. So saying, he turned to the king of the little report and said: "Comrade Mekhlis, please stay in Moscow and assist Comrade Budyonny, and if things change, you will be responsible for keeping him safe and out of Moscow!" Make no mistake! ”

"Ah......" The king of the little report was dumbfounded and stayed in Moscow...... And to ensure Budyonny's safety, but who will ensure their own safety? However, Mekhlis did not dare to say a word, he squeezed out a smile, nodded and said: "Please rest assured, Comrade Stalin, I assure you that Marshal Budyonny will be brought safely to Tbilisi." ”

……