1199 Last Order

When Stalin woke up again, it was already the next morning. After the chaos of last night, the guns of the German army were only a little over 1 kilometer away from the outer wall of the Moscow Kremlin. . )

Because they captured several nearby buildings, the German army did not stop their attack at night as usual. Instead, they used special forces to carry out targeted assaults on several important and strong buildings around them. The Soviet soldiers were caught off guard, and without any decent resistance at all, they lost control of those important buildings.

Now the only thing that can stop the advance of the German army is the National Library of the Soviet Union, where the Soviet defenders have deployed a whole regiment of real elites, with sufficient ammunition and high fighting spirit. Although this regiment is still made up of two original main force regiments, it is very different from other Soviet troops made up of dozens of troops.

At least this regiment has several anti-tank guns deployed on both sides of the street. There are even two Stalin tanks to protect these anti-tank guns. There are also a lot more machine guns. Lack of troops anymore.

At dawn, the German army launched an attack on the library. Because it was just a routine test, it did not launch a strong attack regardless of losses. The battle lasted for a full 30 minutes. The German army was finally repulsed by the Soviet Red Army, and the defense lines of both sides stabilized temporarily.

"Comrade Stalin! I must solemnly tell you that just this morning, the German army has already launched an attack on our army's position near the State Library of the Soviet Union..." Zaitsev stood in front of Stalin's bed in a haggard form, Obviously, during the time when Stalin passed out, the captain of the guard stayed by Stalin's side every step of the way.

He didn't close his eyes all night, because all kinds of battle situations were directly reported here. After all, this side is closer to the front line than Zhukov's headquarters. Obviously the situation is not very optimistic. The German soldiers are getting closer and closer to where they are. As long as they climb out of the underground bunker, they can hear the sound of dense machine gun fire outside the collapsed palace wall of the Kremlin.

Although Zaitsev had fantasized about what he would look like in his last days countless times, he still hadn't guessed that he could be so downcast. Since Vatutin died on the battlefield, he has seen Stalin approve a thick list of officers killed in battle every day. Some of these men had been wounded long ago and died only recently, and some died in the defensive positions with the last troops under command.

As the Soviet defenses were increasingly compressed by the Germans and reserves were eventually exhausted, the number of officer deaths began to skyrocket. Many people know that there is no way for them to retreat. They can only choose to fall on the road of charge or die in the cold trenches. Not everyone has a good choice, at least these officers who followed Stalin to the end, There is no option for decent surrender.

"Comrade Zaitsev ... General Konev called,

He hopes to shrink the line of defense and build a new line of defense between the Savilovsky Railway Station and the Pravda office..." Looking at Stalin who was lying on the bed and just opened his eyes, the officer who came to ask for instructions turned his gaze Shifted to Zaitsev. It is more unrealistic to expect Stalin to give tactical orders than to ask him to play strategy. At least in this situation, asking the sober Zaitsev is more in line with the normal person's reaction.

"Let him retreat along Tverskaya Street! There is nothing worth defending there! Order him to send a regiment... no, 1,000 soldiers, to reinforce the National Library line! If there is another breakthrough there, we will only We can use the outer wall of the Kremlin as a line of defense!" Zaitsev glanced at Stalin, who was pale and weak, and quickly explained the task with rapid speech, and then waved his hand to let the officer back out.

Then he looked at Stalin who was struggling to get up, supported his arm with his hand, and finally put a soft pillow for Stalin considerately, and then stood up straight beside the bed and waited for Stalin's order.

"I'm hungry, Comrade Zaitsev... Order the kitchen to prepare food." Stalin seemed not to have heard the news that the German army had arrived at the National Library, as if the war outside had nothing to do with him, and spoke to Stalin in a peaceful tone. Itsev ordered: "How long have I been in a coma? Before I opened my eyes, I seemed to have struggled in the dark for a century..."

"Okay! The great leader, Comrade Stalin!" Zaitsev nodded, then walked to the door, called the waiter, and told the news that Stalin woke up and wanted to eat.

Stalin leaned on the soft pillow, and waited for Zaitsev to turn around and walked to his bedside before continuing to speak, asking about the battle outside: "Have the Germans hit the National Library? I have been there , I remember the rows and rows of bookshelves inside...It's a pity...Knowledge is a treasure of mankind, and it should not be affected by war. If we rebuild there, many books that are treasured may not be found. This is the loss of human civilization ,What a pity."

What he said made Zaitsev dumbfounded. Now the entire city of Moscow is raging with war, and every building seems to have left the mark of war. Not to mention a small library, even the Kremlin, the symbol of the entire Soviet Union, can only be seen in its original appearance from photos.

Soon, Zaitsev had time to take a break, because Stalin's lunch had been delivered, and he was slowly cutting beef and vegetables at his desk with a knife and fork, as well as a very delicate-looking Fried eggs, because his mouth was gagged, so Zaitsev had to help Stalin issue two more orders to mobilize defensive forces and abandon some positions.

Unexpectedly, Stalin raised his hand to signal Zaitsev to issue these orders. He ate with great interest while listening to his subordinates assign tasks. Finally, during the interval of eating, he also sent out a heartfelt compliment: "Zaytsev Comrade Itsev, you have a great talent for command! You can even command an army of troops to fight!"

After he praised Zaitsev and made the other party blush, he became whimsical again: "I lost the battle and completely lost everything here... I really want to meet the person who brought me to where I am today." The Führer of Germany."

When talking about this, Stalin looked at Zaitsev, and then asked him curiously: "You said, if I send him a telegram inviting him to have a dinner here, will he come? ?”

Will the head of the Third Reich named Akado come to the ruins of Moscow and have a dinner in the enemy camp? Zaitsev felt that the other party might not do such a stupid thing. If the head of state would do such a crazy thing in order to show his aura or kingly demeanor, presumably the other party would not go to today and lead Germany to such a brilliant 's victory.

So Zaitsev shook his head regretfully, and replied to Stalin: "I don't think he will come here to have dinner with you. Germans are afraid of death, and their head of state must be no exception."

"Hahaha..." Stalin laughed heartily. After eating a lot, the Soviet leader has now recovered some energy. He pointed at Zaitsev with a fork and said with great interest: "You It really makes me happy... The German Führer is a coward, haha, it is really possible. We have high positions and powers, and we don’t take risks with our lives. Strictly speaking, we are all cowards, right?"

Knowing that Zaitsev could not get an answer at all, Stalin did not intend to listen to Zaitsev's answer. He put down the fork in his hand, then gently pushed the plate away, picked up the wine glass and drank a little. Qingshui suddenly felt lonely for a moment. Although he had been in a relaxed and comfortable state just now, and even had the mood to make a joke that he hadn't talked about for a year, but this did not represent the sadness that penetrated into his bones at this moment.

"Zaytsev...Thank you for accompanying me to the end." Stalin looked at the leftovers on the plate, leaned back on the back of his chair, and looked at Zaitsev who was standing there in a daze across the table. . He didn't call him comrade, but directly called him by his name.

Before Zaitsev could speak, he continued to speak, staring at the trace of Lenin's portrait on the wall and said: "I must give an explanation to the Soviet people, and I must also give an explanation to my mentor...so I am selfish. Keeping you with me till now. I talked to my personal doctor the other day and talked a lot with him about ending my life, he is a very good doctor and gave me a lot of sound advice...  "

"Comrade Stalin..." Zaitsev leaned up, trying to persuade Stalin to give up this terrible idea. But the other party stretched out his arm to prevent him from continuing to speak downwards, so he had to keep his half-standing posture with a bowed body.

"As the supreme leader of the Soviet Union, I, Stalin. To you, Comrade Zaitsev, I issue one last order." Stalin looked into the eyes of the terrified Zaitsev, and said word by word the last words of his life. One of the orders: "Please hold your ground to the last soldier, and properly arrange my body, burn it and bury it deep, whatever you want, in short...don't let the Germans get or use my body. You...can do Are you there?"