Haeggenberg, the headquarters of the Second Guards Army.

The jeep that Victor was riding in slowed to a stop at the edge of the dense woodland. Just as Varenka came around to open the door for him, a tank rolled along the side of the road with muddy water covered with tracks, splashing. The muddy soup splashed the hapless Varenka all over.

Varenka, who was obviously annoyed, didn't care about swearing, so he hid to the side impatiently, because there were more than a dozen tanks galloping behind him.

This is the tank of the 2nd Guards Tank Army. They are coming from the direction of Stalgard and are advancing westward. They should be heading for Zemland. In the entire East Prussia region, there is only Zemland. There is still fighting going on on the peninsula.

In fact, at the time of Viktor's previous life, places like Stalgard and Heggen Bell did not exist at all. These were only place names when the Germans controlled East Prussia, and after World War II, the Both places have changed their names, Heggenbel is Mamolov in Kalinin Oblast, Russia, and Stalgard is the old city of Szczecin in Poland.

At present, the situation in East Prussia is very chaotic. The Soviet troops are intertwined in this small area. At the same time, some German troops have not been fundamentally cleaned up. They gathered in some remote places, still Still resisting.

Just like the 2nd Guards Tank Army, they are directly under the command of the 3rd Belarusian Front Army, and they are directly under the command of the headquarters, but they are far away from the Front Army headquarters, and they are stationed in Heggen Bell. The 2nd Army has no affiliation.

As for the 2nd Guards Army, their headquarters should not be here either, because the High Command had already issued an order a week ago to withdraw the army in the direction of Moscow, in other words, the later battle has nothing to do with the army .

According to Victor's estimation, the reason why the 2nd Guards Army was withdrawn from the later battle sequence was that Moscow wanted them to take over the defense of the Moscow region, and at the same time, the troops originally responsible for the garrison work in the Moscow region were transferred to the Far East. , in preparation for the war against Japan to be launched in a few months.

However, for such a strategic decision, the Supreme Command will definitely not discuss it with the commanders of the army level. Therefore, as the commander of the 2nd Guards Army, Lieutenant General Changqibaze is definitely not happy. Therefore, he has been dawdling here, and has not brought the troops on the train until now.

Of course, for Viktor, he didn't care about the unwillingness of his fellow volunteers to return to Moscow. He came to Haeggenberg this time because he needed to borrow an Air Force plane to send him back to Moscow as soon as possible.

In the current East Prussia region, all the airfields originally set up by the German army in the region were basically destroyed due to the tragic fighting in the past, just like the two airports around Konigsberg, which have not been blown up until now. can be repaired. The only airport that is relatively intact and can still be used is Nimedok Airport on the outskirts of Haeggenberg. This airport was not seriously damaged in the battle. After emergency repairs by engineers, it can be used. .

After waiting for the entire team of tanks to drive past the car, Varenka opened the door for Victor and welcomed him out of the car.

There is still nearly three kilometers away from Nimedok Airport, but because of the continuous rain in the past two days, the road is extremely difficult. The jeep that Victor was riding had two rear wheels stuck in the mud, so he Just had to get out of the car.

When I got out of the car, almost half of the tall military boots on both feet were sunk in the mud. With a little force on the calf, I could hear the sound of "guchiguchi" under my feet, and then the whole boot The feet will feel as if they are going to continue to sag.

Victor frowned, and with Varenka's help, he finally walked to a dry place on the side of the road. Looking back, he found that the chassis of the jeep was almost touching the water. God knows if it can be dragged up.

Looking at the group of tanks that just drove past, Victor somewhat regretted it. He knew that the car was stuck so deeply, and he should have stopped a tank just now and rushed to the airport by tank.

Turning his head and looking around, at last, Victor's eyes stopped at the edge of the woods behind him. Looking into the woods from here, he could see tents hidden in the woods. There were also some tanks hidden in them. That was the 2nd Army. The location of the temporary headquarters, Viktor considered that he could let Varenka go there to borrow a car. As for the one that got stuck in the mud, he could just throw it here.

Calling Varenka, who was still trying to figure out a way in the mud, Viktor told him what he thought, and asked him to immediately go to the temporary headquarters of the 2nd Army to pick up a car, where he was waiting.

The plane over at Nimedok Airport has been arranged, he doesn't have so much time to waste on the road, and most importantly, he must be in Moscow by this evening, which is what Comrade Stalin gave him, of course , even without this order, he had to rush back in time.

In detail, it was less than two weeks before and after Victor came to Konigsberg, and the reason why he was in such a hurry to go back this time was because something happened in Moscow, um, it should be considered a more serious matter - Schell Comrade Bakov is dead.

Comrade Alexander Sergeyevich Serbakov, he is not a little unknown person, on the contrary, he should be regarded as a relatively powerful number one in the core of power in Moscow.

As an old Bolshevik who participated in the revolution before the age of sixteen, Comrade Shcherbakov's reputation in the party was relatively high. During the war, he was not only the Deputy People's Commissar of Defense of the People's Commissariat of Defense, but at the same time, It is also the general who took over the work of the Political Department after Mehelis was dismissed. In addition, he is also the first secretary of the Moscow State Party Committee, the first secretary of the Moscow Municipal Party Committee, and a member of the Central Committee.

It should also be emphasized that he was also Comrade Zhdanov's brother-in-law and a person whom Comrade Stalin trusted extremely.

According to Viktor, the cause of death of Comrade Shcherbakov was a sudden heart attack. Yes, this obese comrade has always had a very serious heart attack. Sadly, although the doctor has been He was advised to quit smoking and drinking, but he never followed the doctor's orders. Last night, he accepted Comrade Stalin's invitation and went to a dinner party at Comrade Stalin's villa. As a result, he drank too much and suffered a heart attack on the spot. When he was sent to the Kremlin Hospital, there was no need for rescue.

Although there is no doubt about the death of Comrade Shcherbakov, he is one of the important leaders of the alliance after all. According to the usual practice, his sudden death requires some investigations by relevant departments, mainly to investigate some of his health conditions. The problem is, is there anything else involved. Of course, under normal circumstances, this kind of investigation is just a cutscene. After all, everyone knows about Comrade Shcherbakov's condition.

In addition, due to the death of Comrade Shcherbakov, the positions he held in the past were also vacant at one time, especially the position of Deputy People's Commissar of National Defense and Director of the Political Department. job.

Furthermore, it is Comrade Shcherbakov's funeral. According to Comrade Stalin's proposal, this old Bolshevik with great talents and outstanding merits must be treated as a state funeral. Therefore, Victor rushed back to Moscow to attend the funeral. of.

Seriously, Viktor didn’t deal with Shcherbakov a lot in the past, and it’s impossible to say how familiar the two are, even from a certain point of view, because Shcherbakov and Shcherbakov Zhdanov's special relationship, he even lacked favor with the secretary of the Moscow State Party Committee.

But then again, his friendship with Shcherbakov is not the factor that determines whether he will participate in the funeral this time. Even if he has a grudge against Shcherbakov, he must attend this funeral. why? Because the ability to attend such funerals is related to the position of the relevant people in the core of Moscow's power. In other words, those who are not qualified have no opportunity to participate in such funerals.

Varenka went quickly and came back quickly, and he still came back in a jeep.

Victor got into the car and asked about the specific situation. Only then did he know that his car belonged to the 22nd Guards Infantry Division. The headquarters of the 2nd Guards Army had been transferred last night. , there are only two divisions belonging to the 1st Infantry Corps under the group army, and the troops of these two divisions are also gathering here. At this time tomorrow, they will also board the train - for them, war It has ended.

Sitting in the car, watching the jungle that was gradually receding behind the car, Victor felt a bit of emotion in his heart.

Looking back, the days when he worked in Lviv seemed to be just yesterday, and the years passed in the blink of an eye.

Perhaps when the war just broke out a few years ago, many people could not have imagined that the Alliance would finally be able to win, and that the once mighty German army would be weakened to this level. Of course, in Victor's view, the most incredible thing is that he has come to this point and has become the first person in the national security work of the alliance.

Now, some troops have withdrawn from the battle one after another and have been assigned to the base camp reserve team. In the future, there will be a series of merit-based rewards.

Although he did not go to the front line to command the battle in these years, intelligence work is also an inaccessible part of the war. Therefore, Victor is very sure that once the battle of conquering Berlin is over, it is really time to judge the merits. The merits will certainly not be erased.