"Also, Comrade Khrushchev, we have one more bad news to inform you." The general organized the vocabulary and began with a nervous report.

"The bad news? Well, if you don't say it, I know what you're going to say! It's nothing more than that there is another shortage of ammunition! Right? Khrushchev sneered, and then asked rhetorically.

The general was stunned for a moment, then shook his head indifferently and denied Khrushchev's speculation.

This time it was Khrushchev's turn to be surprised, since it was not a matter of insufficient ammunition, what kind of unfortunate would it be?

But after the general shook his head, he nodded again and said: "Of course, ammunition is also a problem, our ammunition reserves are declining rapidly, and the rate of depletion is too fast, and there is no way to talk about replenishment." ”

"Damn it!" Khrushchev really wanted to slap him in the face, so that the general could learn how to report well, so that his boss could feel better.

After complaining, Khrushchev forced his composure and continued to guess: "That's the southern front!" What about Rokossovsky's unauthorized retreat? Where has he been? Tula? Or has it already been defeated to Ryazan? ”

"It's not General Rokossovsky, although his troops are also retreating, and Tula is on the verge of dying, but the news is not from their side." The general shook his head again and dismissed Khrushchev's speculation.

"Then speak quickly! Are you challenging my patience? Khrushchev, who didn't even guess twice, was a little annoyed and angry, and scolded hatefully.

"I'm sorry! Comrade Khrushchev! It's about the ...... of the northern front," the officer continued to report worriedly.

He paused, seeing that Khrushchev was showing signs of an outbreak, and quickly added: "The Germans have advanced to the vicinity of the Ivankov reservoir!" This has just been confirmed! ”

"What? He...... Ivankov reservoir? This, what the hell is going on? They, the Germans...... It's all at our doorstep, and I'm unexpectedly, I just got this news? Hearing the news, Khrushchev spoke in shock with some stammering.

He knew better than anyone that although the Soviets had more than two million troops deployed near Moscow, most of these troops were concentrated on the front and south sides.

Originally, this deployment was understandable, because there were 400,000 troops in Leningrad in the north to contain the main force of the German Army Group North.

Now Khrushchev, who had been worried, but had been pretending that he did not know the unclear problem, finally surfaced.

In the past few days, he has been anesthetizing himself, unwilling to think about the affairs of the northern defense.

He no longer had so many troops in his hands, and while intercepting the German Army Group Center, he would go to trouble the German Army Group North.

He is the only one who knows that the Soviet army in the northeast, counting the remnants of the defeated army, has a total of less than 200,000 troops and 15 divisions.

These forces were scattered over a considerable stretch of defense, and could not form effective resistance at all. It was only a matter of time before the German army drove straight in, Khrushchev knew about this a few days ago.

So these days, Khrushchev has been fantasizing about the fact that the German army will not launch a large-scale offensive operation in the north because of poor supplies and other reasons.

Now, it seems, his illusions were shattered, and the Germans not only began to attack, but were already not far from Moscow.

"We have informed General Konev to reinforce the line between Dubna and Kimre, hoping to hold out for about ten days." When the general had finished speaking, he closed his mouth.

"Ten days? If they can hold out for five days, I'll let them retreat! "Khrushchev saw through that relying on one or two divisions could not stop the German offensive.

He has suffered this loss countless times, as long as a few German armored divisions take action, the ones that can stop them will only be more than ten times the number of troops, or a bad weather.

"Let Konev figure out a way and transfer 5 divisions! Head north to support the line between Dubna and Kimre! Make sure they can hold on for a while! Finally, Khrushchev thought for a moment and said.

As he spoke, a huge, thick-walled building in the distance collapsed, and under the raging fire, it was reduced to rubble.

"Comrade Khrushchev. For your safety, we should go down to the anti-aircraft bunkers. The captain of Khrushchev's guard came over and spoke persuasively.

"Alright, I got it! Didn't the Germans bomb it? What's the hurry? Khrushchev waved his hand disapprovingly, and continued to instruct the generals around him: "Go! Call Konev to meet me! ”

"That...... Comrade Khrushchev! Because of the bombing, there may be a widespread power outage in several neighborhoods tonight, should we be prepared for this earlier? An official came over tremblingly and reminded Khrushchev.

At this time, Khrushchev remembered that the electricity and water supply in the entire Moscow city seemed to have been stagnant because of the bombing.

If this supply is not restored as soon as possible, then more than half of the residents of Moscow will not even be able to clean their own toilets. Without water, life, especially modern life, cannot continue.

"Find a way to restore the water supply, and if it doesn't work, mobilize the citizens to go to the neighborhood next door with water to get their own water!" Khrushchev, who was anxious, said this helplessly.

"Then, the civilians who died in battle, do you want to offer condolences?" The government official struck while the iron was hot and raised another matter that required Khrushchev's ruling.

Khrushchev wanted to turn around and go back to his basement. However, he was not willing to blatantly evade the problems of his subordinates, because it would hurt his command authority too much.

After thinking about it, he finally used the procrastination trick: "In the afternoon, let Comrade Konev, the commander of the city defense, go and condole with you!" I still have a lot of work to take care of! ”

"Comrade Khrushchev...... There is one more thing......" Seeing that Khrushchev answered several of his questions, as if grasping at a life-saving straw, the desperate government official asked again.

"Enough! There are some things that you need to deal with yourself! Not me! It's you! Do you understand? Khrushchev interrupted him, waved his hand, and after saying a word impatiently, turned and left.

He took his own guard, and did not look at the officials of the relevant departments standing behind him, as well as other officers and guards, and fled in a hurry.