Steel Soviet Union

Guderian, who did not wait for Colonel Horning to speak on his own initiative, naturally knew what this meant. Guderian, who knew Colonel Horning fairly well, had already guessed that Colonel Horning would probably kill him first and then tell him the story. Guderian was dealing with it. Immediately after finishing the last thing at hand, a phone call came in.

"Get closer to me immediately, Horning, take all your troops! The Russians are launching a counterattack across the board. The flanks of our Second Armored Group are in danger, and the nail in Tula is also threatening our supply lines! We must retreat and start again Establish a solid line of defense. If you fail again, all your efforts will be in vain. Take action immediately!”

After a series of words spoken very quickly, without waiting for Colonel Huoning to reply, Guderian, who was in a hurry on the other end of the phone, threw down the phone and went to do other things. Huo Liu stood in front of the phone and had not yet realized what was going on. Colonel Ning was in a mess.

The adjutant, who had been following Colonel Horning like a follower, barely heard the content of the brief phone call between him and Guderian. The adjutant, with a hint of surprise in his eyes, spoke impatiently.

"This is great, Colonel. General Guderian has ordered us to retreat. We don't have to stick to this cold place anymore!"

Not only Colonel Horning's adjutant, but also almost all the German officers in the command post looked surprised after hearing the good news. They even laughed and hugged in celebration. It didn't look like the forward position was suffering at all. War scene of fierce Soviet attack.

Colonel Horning, who saw all this in his eyes, couldn't help but feel sad. Once upon a time, the German army was invincible and could not be defeated. The millions of Soviet troops deployed on the border were wiped out in less than a month like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. , that period of time is the climax of the entire Operation Barbarossa even when I recall it now.

But who could have imagined that the German army would end up like this just a few months later. The previous celebrations for victory and the launch of the attack evolved into the excitement and joy after learning the news of the withdrawal.

This huge gap made Colonel Horning, who had a very high sense of honor in his heart, look ashen. He knew that, at least before the end of winter, the spirit of the German army and the courage to face the powerful enemies of the war had been destroyed by the bitter Russian power. It's completely frozen in winter.

Colonel Horning, whose mind was in turmoil, raised his head and looked north in the direction of Moscow. Colonel Horning, who has a strong military intuition, was almost convinced that this should be the last time in his life that he would stand under the city of Moscow and look at the Russian capital. .

Colonel Horning's indifferent and somewhat lonely and sad figure caught the attention of the adjutant with a smile on his face. The adjutant, who vaguely guessed what Colonel Horning was thinking, then stepped forward and gently stretched out his right hand. He put his arm around Colonel Horning's shoulders.

"We will definitely be able to fight back next spring. Moscow and the Kremlin will belong to us sooner or later. We are just letting the Russians survive for a few months. Don't take it too seriously, Colonel."

The comfort from the adjutant's mouth did not dispel the dark clouds floating in Colonel Horning's heart. These words, as calm as a cloud, brought back another recent memory in Colonel Horning's heart.

That was several days ago. Colonel Horning, who could no longer remember the specific date, clearly remembered that the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment captured a Soviet captain of the Tula garrison during the battle that day.

Because Soviet frontline officers with relatively high military ranks like this were rarely captured during the siege of Tula, the Soviet second lieutenant who was stunned by the shell was interrogated by Colonel Horning personally after being captured by the Germans. , but Colonel Horning, who originally planned to pry something useful out of the Soviet captain's mouth, was greatly shocked during this interrogation.

"Tell me the defense situation in the city and mark it on the map! Tell me everything you know, right away!"

The strong and round German interrogator's stern yelling did not frighten the Soviet captain, who was already torn apart and turned outwards. If he hadn't been breathing heavily through his nose and could see the slight rise and fall in his chest, Colonel Horning, who was listening by the side, almost thought that This is already a dead man.

Seeing that the Soviet captain was silent, the German interrogator was about to pick up the stick in his hand and hit him harder. Colonel Horning, who felt that if he continued to beat like this, he would definitely beat him to death, he stepped out of the shadows. , his right arm wearing a black leather glove was raised slightly and he blurted out soft words.

"Okay, stop now and let me ask him."

The dim light illuminated the mottled wounds on the dying body in front of him particularly penetratingly. He was not opposed to obtaining necessary information from the prisoners to reduce his own casualties, but he also did not support the use of this method to take action. The whole face was pure white. The Germanic face seems to be looking at an ordinary object without any extra expression.

"Tell me what you know. This will at least allow you to leave this world peacefully. Everything that happens after your death has nothing to do with you. There is no need to continue to hold on for these."

The translator following Colonel Horning translated these words into Russian and spoke slowly. The Soviet captain, who had been tied to the execution rack with his head hanging down, quietly raised his head again as if he had come back to life.

"Are you the biggest official here?"

The translator repeated, and Colonel Horning nodded.

"That's right, and I can tell you my position, Colonel Walter Horning, head of the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment of the Wehrmacht. Now it's your turn to answer my question."

After hearing Colonel Huoning's self-introduction, he opened his mouth as if he had heard some funny joke. A mouthful of bloody phlegm that had accumulated almost immediately spat out half of Colonel Huoning's face at a very fast speed.

"You want to know the answer, then I'll tell you, German. Our Soviet Red Army is not afraid of death, the soldiers fighting under the red flag are not afraid of death, and everyone living on the land of the motherland is not afraid of death!"

The sticky blood drooping from the corners of his mouth dripped onto the ground. Colonel Horning, who did not raise his hands to wipe away the blood on his face, still stood there with his hands behind his back and listened quietly.

"What about you? Germans, are you afraid of death? When the iron fist of the Red Army smashes through the gate of Berlin, the capital of Germany, the red flag is planted on the roof of your tallest building, and the muzzle of the gun is pressed against the forehead of your Nazi leader Hitler, where will Are you afraid of death?"

The words he muttered, which were somewhat indistinct due to the blood bubbles in his throat, gradually evolved into a weird smile, and the laughter gradually evolved from shallow to deep until it evolved into the final burst of laughter that shook the dome.

"We can't get what we want from him. Get rid of him now."