Chapter 698 On a High Mound, Listen to the Leader Talk About the Past

Outside the city of Loktov, next to the damaged railway tracks.

Filipov was standing on the slope looking at the distant city of Loktov with a telescope.

"Captain," the guard beside him said, "This is where you first participated in the battle, right?"

Filipov nodded: "Yes, I was still a second lieutenant at that time. A total of 3,000 people from our school were temporarily recruited and added to the Rokossov battle group."

The guard said excitedly: "Are you all so happy to know that you will fight under Rokossov?"

Filipov continued to observe the enemy and responded lightly: "He was not so famous at that time. Although the battle report said that he destroyed dozens or hundreds of Prossen tanks, at that time as long as someone could block the Prossen attack In a day or even a few hours, the battle report will say that he destroyed dozens or hundreds of Prosen tanks. "

The guard was shocked: "Really? Won't this cause a misjudgment?"

"What misjudgment? The front line doesn't tell lies. Everyone knows that we are being driven away. The purpose of arresting role models is to boost morale, which was extremely low at that time." Filipov said.

The guard continued to ask: "Then... what was the actual situation at that time? I read the battle report that the marshal personally killed many enemies -"

Filipov put down the telescope: "I don't know. Maybe my friend Vasily knows. He was caught by the marshal and sent to the headquarters to monitor the enemy's communications because he knew Plosin. I was an infantryman at that time. The chemical plant is stationed at the main position, look over there!"

After speaking, Filipov gave up his position, pulled the guard to the highest point of the earthbag, put the telescope into his hand, pointed into the distance and said: "Look! It's the chemical plant, or the cement plant, I forgot , the regiment headquarters is in a concrete building, where Commander Yegorov and Marshal Rokosov are directing the battle. The building in the back is a school in Loktov, and the battle group headquarters is inside. "

The guard held a telescope and asked while observing: "Chief of Staff - I mean Comrade Pavlov, Chief of Staff of the Front Army, is in the school to have an overview of the overall situation, right?"

"That's right. We set up a minefield outside, and Vasily came up with a bad idea. He used the lids of pickled cucumber cans to make fake landmines, mixed them with real mines, and buried them. It delayed the Prossen striker for a day."

The guard was shocked: "What?"

"Canned pickles, because of his bad idea, we ate pickles for many days, three meals a day! From then on, I didn't like pickles anymore, even if my mouth was really dry and I wanted to eat something It’s so refreshing and I definitely won’t eat pickles!”

"Does the marshal also eat pickles?" the guard asked, "or is it his maid..."

"The marshal didn't have a maid at that time, so he also ate pickles every day, but I think the marshal liked it quite a lot. But Chief of Staff Pavlov didn't show any favor to Vasily and asked him to pick up manure every day."

Guard: "Is Vasily the one who arranged the music? The one who arranged the music for Holy War?"

"Yeah, I filled in the words by the way."

The guard put down his telescope in shock and stared at Filipov: "Captain?"

Filipov patted him on the shoulder: "You kid, didn't you read the line under the song title carefully?"

The guard scratched his head.

Filipov continued: "I spent most of the time building fortifications, endlessly filling and moving sandbags. Vasily followed the marshal everywhere, and he even went on reconnaissance with the marshal."

"The marshal is conducting the investigation himself?" the guard's eyes widened.

"At that time, he was not a marshal, but just Brigadier General Rokossov. He personally inspected the buildings and villages that might be used by the Prosin people. He calculated the coordinates one by one, and then at night he opened fire on these villages, killing the people in their sleep. The enemy is sent to heaven."

Guard: "Isn't that dangerous? Commander, if you come here to investigate, the regiment staff and the chaplains will go crazy. Can General Pavlov bear it?"

Filipov laughed loudly: "Of course it is dangerous, how could it not be dangerous? According to Vasily, they encountered Prosen's motorized reconnaissance unit during the investigation and fought an ambush, and then the marshal asked him to write He took the note and planted many booby traps in the village."

The guard also laughed: "The Prosen people must have been tricked quite a lot!"

"Of course! They are rigid to begin with, but when they meet the likes of Marshal and Vasily, they are punished to death."

————

West of Loktov, in the village of Kalinovka, the forward of the 10th Guards Cavalry Brigade had just entered the village when they saw a road sign written in Plosin on the roadside.

The cavalry company commander leading the team shouted loudly: "Stop! Priest! Come to the back of the team and call the priest over!"

The cavalry that was trotting suddenly braked and stopped on the road. Then the soldiers spontaneously dispersed their formation to prevent being attacked by enemy machine guns.

The priest accompanying the army ran up quickly on horseback and asked loudly: "What's wrong?"

The company commander pointed to the street sign: "What do you think this street sign says?"

The priest took out his glasses, put them on, squinted for a second and said, "There are still 11 booby traps that have not been dug out in this village, and they are strictly prohibited from being stationed there."

At this time, an old man opened the door and came out: "Don't be nervous. Back then, Rokossov planted booby traps here, and the Prosen people still don't dare to stay in the village. They just pass by.

"The guerrillas use this as a storage base. Don't you have any guerrillas to lead the way?"

Company Commander: "A comrade from the guerrillas died. Can you point me to the guerrilla liaison in the village?"

The old man looked at the cavalrymen carefully, and after a few seconds he said: "I am. Come with me, the food and water are ready, and the information we collected about the garrison of the Prosons is also ready, all in the basement of the old telephone office."

The company commander turned over and dismounted, handed the reins to the guard: "Take me there."

The old man made a gesture of invitation.

The company commander suddenly remembered something and asked: "So there are really 11 booby traps?"

"We don't know either. When the Prosons came, most people fled, and then slowly ran back, and then this sign was hung at the entrance of the village. Anyway, two years have passed, and no one has been blown up by booby traps." The old man replied.

————

Guard: "Anything else interesting? Much more interesting than what is written in the newspaper! You finally got away unscathed, right?"

"No." Filippov's expression sank, "Most of our group died here, including my and Vasily's good friends, and many of our good friends."

The guard's smile froze on his face.

Filippov: "Do you know? The general-Marshal will remember everyone who died under his command. On the evening of the day when we first beat back the Prosens, the Marshal wrote down their names one by one in a notebook in the warehouse next to the chemical plant.

"I don't know if the Marshal will still remember it now, after all, hundreds or thousands of people died every day in the entire front, but at that time the Marshal did write down the names of his classmates.

"I remember that day there was another plane flying across the sky, announcing to us that the Ante Air Force was still fighting."

The guard's ears moved, he looked up, and then pointed to the sky and said: "It's still the same now!"

Filippov looked up and saw that the Pe-8 of an unknown heavy bomber regiment in the sky had drawn dense white lines.

He smiled: "Yes."

At this time, several people dressed as priests came to Filippov.

"Regimental Davarich, the rails have been repaired, and the armored train can be notified to pass."

Filippov saluted everyone: "Thank you for your hard work, I will notify the armored train behind to move forward."

Several priests nodded, but did not leave.

Filippov: "What's wrong?"

The leading priest said: "Many of our people died in Loktov, which is an important railway hub, and the struggle has been fierce. I hope that after you enter the city, you will not forgive those wearing dog tags - I mean the half-moon metal on the chest -"

"We know." Filippov interrupted, "After the gendarmes and the Asgard Knights are captured, they will be handed over to the inquisitor, especially those who have committed crimes in the garrison. There will be a public trial at that time. And those traitors will all be liquidated!"

The priests all showed joy on their faces, and the leader sighed to the sky: "Finally! Finally, we can settle accounts with them!"

As soon as the voice fell, a whistle sounded in the distance.

The armored train slowly drove along the rails. The fully armed carriages were piled with sandbags, and a large number of infantry sat on them, waving to the villagers who were repairing the road.

"Thank you!"

The captain hanging next to the cab saw Filippov, saluted and shouted: "We're going first!"

Filippov: "Good luck to you!"

Just then, there was a whistling sound in the air, followed by the sound of artillery shells exploding in the distant city of Loktov.

The local priests asked nervously: "Has it started?"

"Yes," Filippov couldn't help but confirm, "Have all the people in the city been evacuated?"

"Evacuated, those who stayed inside are the guerrillas and volunteer guides who are ready to lead you, and those who couldn't evacuate are all in the tunnel. We opened up the sewer and turned it into an underground kingdom, so feel free to bomb it!"

Filippov nodded, took the telescope back from the guard, and observed the effect of the bombardment himself.

The guard asked: "Besides the battle, is there anything else you remember in the city?"

Filipov was silent for a few seconds and said: "Yes, one of us fell in love with a girl from the laundry team or the cooking team. We picked a lot of baby's breath and made a bouquet for her. At that time, we all looked forward to such battlefield love.

"Because we didn't know what war was like at that time. I still believed that 'soldiers lying on the snow are like lying on velvet'. We thought that war was a combination of courage, passion and romance. "

Guard: "Then... what happened in the end?"

Filipov was silent, looking at the city with fireballs rising in the distance.

Guard: "I understand, what a pity."

Filipov patted his shoulder: "Don't be so depressed, it's almost over!"