And this time Andrei was ordered to come to Smolensk in the rear, in addition to assisting in the escort of supplies, Andrei suddenly remembered that there was an important person here, Yakov with the same name as himself, the eldest son of the steel leader was captured by the Germans in this battle in history, "Eh, wouldn't it be a great achievement if I successfully protected Yakov?" Although Comrade Iron is cold-blooded, he is by no means a ruthless person, after all, this is also a son! "How can I forget that I am really dizzy to myself, Yakov also recalled carefully in the 16th Army, Andrei, the information: "Yakov's full name is Yakov?" Josefovich? Dzhugashvili, whose biological mother was Stalin's first wife, Ekaterina Svanidze. In 1907, Catherine died of an unfortunate illness, Stalin rushed from prison to mourn, and the father and son met for the first time in Kutaisi, Georgia, when Yakov was not yet a year old. For the next 13 years, Stalin spent time in prison and exile, while Yakov was raised by his aunt and uncle. In 1921, Yakov came from Georgia to Stalin's home in the Moscow Kremlin, in a completely unfamiliar environment: his father and stepmother Alliluyeva, his half-sister Svetlana and his infant brother Vasily. However, he quickly got used to it, and everyone got along well. The difficulty is in his studies, Yakov does not know anything about Russian, he speaks Georgian, and the difficulties in learning can be imagined. But he dominated all the chess tournaments, played football very well, and was personable, and soon became an idol for girls. In 1930, Yakov was admitted to the Faculty of Railway Transport Engineering, and after graduation, he was assigned to work at the Gil Automobile Factory; In 1937, he was admitted to the Command Department of the Artillery Academy at the advice of his father. Because of his university degree, he was allowed to jump from the first to the fourth grade, and during his school years, he worked with the ballet dancer Yulia ? Melzer tied the knot and had a daughter, Galina, nicknamed Galia.

On June 23, 1941, the day after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, Yakov went to the front. Before leaving, he did not have time to see his father, but only made a phone call, and Stalin said: "Go, fight well." ”

On his way to the front, Yakov sent a postcard to his wife from the Vyazma railway station, in which he said:

Dear Yulia. Take care of Garca and yourself. Tell her dad Yasha is fine. I'll write a longer letter when I get the chance. Don't worry about me, I'm fine. Your Yasha.

Years later, the daughter Galina heard from her neighbors that after her father left, her mother cried for a long time, like a country woman crying for her dead husband.

Yakov never sent a "long letter". On July 11, 1941, the Germans entered the city of Vitebsk. Three Soviet army groups fell into the encirclement. Among them was the 44th Howitzer Regiment of the 14th Tank Division, of which Captain Yakov was the commander of the howitzer company. In the early days of the war, the panic and confusion of the besieged troops can be imagined. At that time, the Soviet Union was unprepared for a surprise attack by Germany, and suffered heavy losses, with millions of Soviet troops killed and more than 70,000 captured in just three weeks.

The head of the troops did not forget about Yakov. They knew what would happen if Stalin's son was killed or captured. Therefore, the division commander, Colonel Vasilyev, gave the head of the special department a dead order: when retreating, it was necessary to pull Yakov into the car. According to the commander of the artillery regiment, the order had been carried out, but when the rest of the division broke out of the encirclement on the night of July 16, Yakov was nowhere to be seen, and for some reason the search was not intensified. It was not until Zhukov, who was at the base camp, ordered the immediate assigning of Captain Yakov and reported to the command of the Front, that the search began on July 20. The soldiers of the motorized units, led by Commissar Gorokhov, met the Red Army soldier Lapridze, who, according to Lapridze, broke through with Yakov on the shore of Lake Caspulia. On July 15 they changed into civilian clothes and buried their documents in the earth, and after finding out that there were no German devils nearby, Yakov decided to take a break, while Laprice kept walking and happened to meet the soldiers of the motorized unit. Commissar Gorokhov did not seem to understand who he was looking for, and went back with someone, believing that Yakov had returned.

Yakov's friend Ivan? A letter from Colonel Sapegin makes things clearer. The letter was sent on August 2, 1941, to Yakov's younger brother Vasily. The letter said:

The artillery regiment fell into the encirclement. The division commander left them alone, boarded the tank and left the battlefield. Tank from Yakov? Josifovich drove by, not even caring about the fate of Yakov, and sat in the tank himself to break out of the encirclement with the commander of the artillery division.

Yakov, like hundreds of thousands of his compatriots, has not been heard from since. With the exception of Laprice, there is no one else who can explain Yakov's mysterious disappearance.

On August 13, 1943, German planes dropped leaflets from the sky with a picture of a bearded man dressed in a Red Army overcoat surrounded by German soldiers, with the text reading: "This is Yakov? Dzhugashvili, Stalin's eldest son and commander of the howitzer company of the 14th howitzer regiment of the 44th Tank Division, surrendered as a prisoner on July 16 along with thousands of other officers and soldiers near Vitebsk. You also follow the example of Stalin's son, surrender! ”

The news of Yakov's capture soon reached Stalin, which was undoubtedly a big blow to Stalin. Misfortune is not a one-way street, there are defeats everywhere on the battlefield, and now there are personal misfortunes. The German propaganda offensive continued unabated, and in August another leaflet appeared, which read:

Dear father, I was taken prisoner and I am in good health. Soon he was going to a prisoner of war camp for German officers. Treat me well. Wishing you good health. Hello everyone. Yasha.

The Soviet military reconnaissance agencies tried to find out Yakov's whereabouts and sent several rescue teams, but they all returned in vain. Many underground workers and scouts revealed their identities when they informed Moscow about the situation in Yakov. Deko was elated. Stalin, enraged, ordered the arrest of Yakov's wife, Yulia Melzer, on charges of spying for the Germans. Yulia spent a year and a half in prison in Kuibyshev until news of Yakov's death came. ”

Yes, yes, I can take Yakov with me when I break through! According to the time, the 16th Army could not hold out for a few days, and from July 10, 1941 to July 20, 1941, the German army broke through the defense on the right flank and center of the Western Front of the Soviet Red Army. The German Rapid Corps advanced about 200 kilometers, encircled Mogilev, and captured Orsha, Smolensk, Yelnya, and Krichev. The 19th, 16th, and 20th armies of the Soviet Red Army fell under siege of the German army in the Smolensk region. One part of the 13th Army broke through the Sozh River, and the rest of the army, having repelled several tank attacks by the German army, held Mogilev. In these days, the 21st Army of the Soviet Red Army carried out an offensive on the left flank of the Western Front in the direction of Bobruisk, liberated the cities of Rogachev and Zhilobin, and pinned down the main forces of the German 2nd Army for a long time in the area between the Dnieper and Berezina rivers.

At that time, by the time of the Battle of Vyazma, Lukin, who had been transferred to the post of commander of the 19th Army, would be captured, and the commander of the 16th Army would be Rokossovsky. Thinking about it, Andrei knew that the Soviet-German battlefield was fought by millions of troops at every turn, and being able to fight on such a battlefield was both the sorrow of a soldier and the glory of a soldier! Keep fighting no matter what!

Just when Andrei was thinking like this, their truck came smoothly to the city of Smolensk, and the checkpoints along the way saw that the people of the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not dare to make difficulties, so Andrei and they came to their destination smoothly, and Andrei contacted the logistics personnel on the one hand, and on the other hand, he also contacted the superiors, he came to the phone and talked to the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the phone, and when Andrei said Yakov, the major on the other end of the phone said: "Comrade Andrei, your idea is very reasonable, Comrade Yakov's status is very special, and if something happens, it will not look good in Comrade Stalin at that time! So be it, if the situation is unfavorable, I order you can take Comrade Yakov as soon as possible and guarantee his safety. "Yes." Andrei replied firmly.

And Andrei understands that whether he can protect Yakov next is actually an uncertain thing, so let's take one step at a time. After loading the supplies, Andrei did not choose to set off during the day, after all, Bao Buqi would encounter German bombing, and now the Soviet army has no air supremacy at all, and there may be planes to drop bombs and strafe at any time, thinking of the commanders and fighters and civilians who died under the air raid, Andrei's heart is difficult to calm down, and Andrei decided to set off at night, and the logistics officer also prepared dinner for them, there are beef patties, fried potatoes, although its appearance is not good, but the beef patty is really delicious.

There is also Simidan, which is something with Russian characteristics, a homemade snack of their own flavor.

Cialidan is a dairy product, which is the milk left after the milk is separated and dehydrated by centrifugal force, the purity of Cialidan is very high, the taste is excellent, and it is the best combination to spread it on bread. There is also wild blueberry jam, which is spread on bread for a great texture and taste.

There is also beetroot soup, this simple meal is a big meal in the conditions of the battlefield, Andrei they are a good meal, after eating, Andrei also decided to rest for a while, and while he was sleeping, suddenly Andrei found himself on the edge of a birch forest, he saw countless people in Soviet uniforms fell to the ground, he found a lot of bullet casings on the ground, it was a German-made submachine gun, damn, Nazi! Andrei suddenly woke up, it turned out to be a dream! Andrei didn't understand what the dream meant, but the content of the dream made his hair stand on end!