As soon as Skotnowsky returned to the camp, he received an order to assemble urgently, and the commander of the anti-aircraft artillery brigade had already left here to go to the city hall, and it was said that the Central Army issued an order to hold Leningrad to the death, and it seemed that the Sutton River defense area was over, but even the rumors in the city had been exaggerated to the point that none of the officers and soldiers of the anti-aircraft artillery brigade showed panic, but stood quietly in the training ground and waited for the brigade commander's return...

...

An hour later, their brigade commander finally returned, with a disastrous expression on his face, Skotnowski immediately realized that the situation at the front may have deteriorated, and it is by no means possible for manpower to recover, otherwise he would not be this dejected appearance, the combat effectiveness of the Guards is not comparable to the ordinary local army, the veterans who have fought have been absorbed by them, although the recruits also account for more than half, but after all, it is the division of tigers and wolves, others are incomparable, and this psychological quality alone will overwhelm others, Although this anti-aircraft artillery brigade is not a serious front-line unit, the battles they have fought and participated in have all been recorded in history, not to mention their brigade commanders, and it is by no means idle to be able to mix in this position, but now even he is not optimistic about the situation on the front line, so this Sutton River may really be finished

"Brothers of the 2nd Anti-aircraft Artillery Brigade of the 19th Army, I... Knesin... It is all because of your support and dedication to me that I have today's glory, I... Thank you very much. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info" He bowed deeply to the more than 5,000 soldiers in the camp, and the soldiers below began to talk a lot, Knesin straightened up and continued: "I'm afraid, most of you have heard about the situation at the front, right? You probably only know that there are nearly 600,000 people besieged there, but you don't know what's going on, right? Then I'll tell you the truth today, after all, we have to face it next. As he spoke, he reached out and pulled a copy of paper out of his pocket, and Skotnowski stared at his mouth tightly

"On January 23rd, the last telegram from the Sutton River said that they had been attacked by a non-human enemy, who had a mobile artillery like a creature that had reached the other side of the river, and blew up the river bank with flesh and blood, and the defenders were then bombarded by a large number of 76mm rocket artillery, and the soldiers who had narrowly escaped the first round of bombardment were then forced to engage in hand-to-hand combat with those who had long swords similar to Western swordsmen, and now they were almost breaking through to the rear of the line, and our soldiers were being slaughtered, The line of defense is now in jeopardy, may the gods bless us... Oh my God, it's been five days since this telegram was sent, and the Sutton River has not responded to it so far, and just now Moscow suddenly ordered us to hold on... Leningrad ..."

More than 5,000 people did not speak, looking at their brigade commander quietly, Knesin nodded and said: "But the commander-in-chief of the Northwest Army disagreed, he decided to launch a counterattack against the Sutton River line the day after tomorrow, he will organize the remaining 210,000 people of the entire Northwest Army to cooperate with the 330,000 Southwest Army to attack, and we will also participate in the rear fire support of them, of course, not everyone is going to go, some of you will stay behind and be responsible for cooperating with the 60,000 defenders in the city to defend the city..."

"Sir, let's go!" The soldiers below waved their fists and shouted

"No, I've already made a decision, let the Second Regiment and the Military Band stay, and the others will prepare to leave the day after tomorrow." The brigade commander left without looking back, and the commander of the second regiment, which was less than 800 people, stomped his feet angrily, and all kinds of ugly words burst out on his lips, and he couldn't even go to the battlefield, so what face did he have to stay here? But as the bodyguard of the national military band, Skotnowski accepted the news very happily, and was assigned here because he was incapable, otherwise he was also a front-line soldier

...

Skotnowski came to the door of Katyusha's house, stretched out his hand and stopped in the air, struggled for a moment and then took it back

"I really don't know how to face her..."Skotnowski turned around and was about to leave, when suddenly the door behind him was opened, and Katyusha was surprised to see him with a basin of hot water and quickly stopped

"What's wrong Pecki? Your face is not very good, is it sick? She reached out and touched his forehead, but he dodged him

"Katyusha I... I'm really incompetent, I can't participate in this operation, I can only stay in the rear, I can only stay here all day and pour vodka but can't do anything, this is not my choice to join the army in the first place, if this is the case, I would rather be an ordinary front-line soldier to die than stay in the rear and be an officer who does nothing..."

"Don't say it..."Katyusha dragged him into the house, closed the door and leaned against the door and asked, "Peiji, do you still love me?"

"What?"

"I know you've always liked me since your school days, actually... I'm the same, but what I like more is your bravery and the strength to not admit defeat, and now it's the same, if you love me, make a show instead of coming to me, you're very smart, I don't want to see you get depressed, so please remember that when you give up, you give up on me at the same time, I don't want to see you like that. ”

"Katyusha..."Skotnowsky's eyes were moist, for Russians, the most sincere confession of the two people in person is the most unforgettable, they don't like to twist and pinch, Skotnowsky hugged Katyusha and kissed it passionately, the two forgot everything, no matter whether he was a world war or the end, it couldn't stop the two from falling in love, this was their first time, and I'm afraid it was the last time they lingered

...

Urban tunnels

A group of ragged and bloody Russian soldiers appeared in the sight of the sentry soldiers, the searchlights on the two sentry towers fell on their bodies, and several tattered T72Bs appeared in the crowd, one even broke a large cannon barrel, and slowly drove in the center of the crowd with a crooked turret, at this time a sentry soldier shouted excitedly: "Open the door quickly, it's the brothers who have withdrawn from the Sutton River!"

...

Tuzonev was sitting at his desk to give a task to a subordinate, when suddenly the phone on the desk rang, and he quickly picked it up and put it to his ear

"Hello?"

"Hey! Is it Colonel Tuzonev? Come to the station on the west side, the brethren on the Sutton have withdrawn. ”

"What did you say?" Tuzonev hurriedly hung up the phone, picked up his hat and said to the subordinate: "In this way, you should now hurry up and call the Moscow side, and say that Marshal Drev is determined to attack the Sutton River, let them quickly give an order to stop him, go!" With that, Tuzonev rushed out in a hurry

...

Skotnowsky, who had just stopped, lay on the quilt with Katyusha in his arms, sniffing the fragrance of her hair, and the national anthem sounded in his ears, the trumpet of a military band

"Katyusha, did you hear someone singing the national anthem?" He sat up and listened attentively, the trumpet outside the window became louder and louder, and the two of them hurriedly got up and hurriedly ran barefoot to the window to look out, only to see their military band standing on both sides of the road, escorting a group of soldiers who had just come down from the front line to the camp

"God..."Skotnowski hurriedly put on his clothes, didn't even put on his socks and coat and ran downstairs and rushed out, he was stunned by the scene in front of him, tens of thousands of soldiers walked listlessly in the center of the crowd with heavy steps, the streets were lined with tearful citizens, some put wreaths on them, some stuffed a piece of bread for each of them, and some followed them side by side, defeated, really defeated, nearly 600,000 people were beaten less than a tenth, Many people are either missing a leg or arm or half of their faces, and even a few tanks are intact, it is as if they have been ravaged by someone, and this is indeed the case, 61,522 people were withdrawn from the front line, of which 43,763 were seriously wounded, and less than 4,000 were combat-ready, and 29 tanks and 192 artillery pieces of various types were dragged back, and even 44 cars were left. It is difficult to regain strength in a short period of time ...

...

Skotnowsky rushed to the Brigadier Knesin, who lit a cigarette and handed it to him, he hurriedly waved his hand and said: "No sir, I don't smoke." So Knesin put it in his mouth and took a sharp sip, spit out a puff of white smoke for a long time, and said coldly: "Comrade Skotnovsky, do you think you will be afraid of letting you sacrifice your life for the country?"

"No!" He replied

"Do you think you'll be able to play your part by assigning you to a combat company?"

"Yes!"

Knesin turned back to him and said solemnly: "Well, from today onwards, the fighters of the military band will be officially reorganized into the 2nd Assault Regiment, if I remember correctly, you should have one hundred and seventy people, right?" The national band, which was transferred from Moscow, I think they should have stayed in the city and not gone out to die. ”

Skotnowski was suddenly very excited and said: "It's Mr. Brigade Commander!" I will definitely live up to your expectations of us! ”

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