red moscow

Chapter 2567

"What? The Bayer father and son are going out?" Sokov frowned and asked, "What are they going out for?"

"He said he wanted to try his luck and see if he could run into Captain Hosenfeld's wife and children on the street."

"Nonsense, absolutely nonsense." Sokov said angrily, "In such a big city, is it so easy to find two people? What's more, they are father and son, one wearing a German police uniform and the other wearing a Wehrmacht uniform. What if they meet a US patrol outside and get caught? You know, this is not within our military's defense zone. It is not easy to rescue them."

"Misha, don't be angry." Adelina gently patted Sokov's shoulder to calm him down. Then she turned to Vaseligov and asked, "Comrade Major, as far as I know, you don't seem to understand German. How did you know that the Bayers were going out?"

"Comrade Adelina, you are right. I do not understand German," Vaseligov explained. "But among the guards I brought with me, there was a soldier who could speak German. He translated Officer Bayer's words for me."

Sokov finally understood how Vasherigov and Bayer communicated when he and Adelina were not present. It turned out that among the accompanying guards, there was a soldier who was fluent in German, ensuring that Bayer and his son could communicate with everyone smoothly.

"Comrade General," Vaserigov said to Sokov immediately after he understood what he meant, "I will go back and tell the Beyer father and son that you don't allow them to go out."

Sokov nodded and continued, "Major, you have to tell them that we entered the U.S. military's defense zone without formal notification. We were only able to arrive here smoothly under the guise of visiting General Patton. Don't make unnecessary trouble. If you really want to find someone, I think we should wait until we get to Nuremberg. Maybe there will be a greater chance of meeting Captain Hosenfeld's wife and children there."

After Vaseligov left, Adelina asked, "Misha, Leipzig is a bigger city than Nuremberg. If I were Captain Hosenfeld's wife, I would definitely choose this city. Why don't you want to let the Bayers go out and try their luck? Are you really worried, as you said, that the local American military police will cause trouble for them?"

Sokov smiled slightly, and then said, "Ajelina, I think you may remember that when we first met Officer Bayer, he once said that he personally sent Captain Hosenfeld's wife and children to the train station to take the train out of Berlin."

"I remember, of course I remember." Ajelina nodded vigorously, and then asked, "But how does this have to do with you not allowing Officer Baier and his son to go out to look for people?"

"Of course there is a connection." Sokov continued, "I clearly remember that Officer Bayer said that Captain Hosenfeld's wife and children went to Bavaria. And Leipzig, where we are now, belongs to Saxony. If you were Captain Hosenfeld's wife, would you leave Bavaria and run to Saxony?"

After Sokov's explanation, Ajelina immediately realized that she had overlooked an important issue. Since the person they were looking for was most likely in Bavaria, the chances of finding him in the city of Saxony would be too small. "Oh, so that's how it is. I understand. Misha, your decision is correct."

"According to my judgment, after we arrive in Nuremberg, we can ask Bayer and his son to go out and look for people, and the chances of success will be higher." Sokov took the initiative to explain without waiting for Ajelina to ask: "Now that the trial of German war criminals is being carried out in Nuremberg, there are probably a large number of troops stationed there to maintain order. Since there are large troops stationed there, a large number of local people will definitely be needed to provide them with various basic services. I guess that even if Captain Hosenfeld's wife was not originally in Nuremberg, she would go to Nuremberg to work as a waitress or something in order to make a living."

Adelina agreed with Sokov's analysis: "Well, Misha, you are right. No matter what Captain Hosenfeld's wife did, she basically lost her source of income after fleeing Berlin because of the war. If she wants to survive, she can only work in a city that can provide job opportunities."

……

Silent all night.

The next day, at dawn, Sokov's convoy followed Sergeant Logan's jeep and headed towards Nuremberg.

In the evening, the convoy arrived at the northern suburbs of Nuremberg, where they were once again stopped by a U.S. military checkpoint.

The person in charge of the checkpoint was a lieutenant of the military police. After listening to Sergeant Logan's report, he said coldly: "I'm sorry, I haven't received any notification that a Russian general is going to enter Nuremberg, so I can't let you in."

Seeing that Logan seemed to want to say something, he frowned and said sternly: "Sergeant, since your mission is to send these Russians here, then your mission is completed. Return to your original base immediately."

After hearing what the lieutenant said, Logan could only salute and turn to walk towards his jeep. When passing by Sokov, he apologized, "I'm sorry, Mr. General, I have tried my best. Whether you can enter Nuremberg depends on you."

After expressing his gratitude to Logan, Sokov came to the lieutenant of the military police and said, "Lieutenant, I am here in Nuremberg to listen to the trial of German war criminals. I hope you can help me contact the person in charge of our army in the city and send someone to pick us up."

Unexpectedly, the military police lieutenant ignored Sokov completely, snorted coldly, and walked aside, not wanting to talk to Sokov at all.

"Misha, what should we do?" After hearing what the lieutenant of the military police said, Adelina quickly came to Sokov's side and asked anxiously: "If he doesn't help us contact General Sokolovsky, how can we enter Nuremberg?"

Sokov thought about how he had also been harassed by the military police when he had just entered the US military control area from the Soviet defense zone. But after he brought out Patton's golden signboard, the other party let him go readily. He decided to try again to see if Patton's name would work here.

"Mr. Lieutenant!" Sokov walked a few steps towards the military police lieutenant, ready to tell him that he came here at Patton's invitation. Unexpectedly, the military police lieutenant looked as if he was facing a great enemy. He put his right hand on the holster on his waist, pointed at Sokov with his left hand, and said sternly: "Stop, don't cross the cordon, otherwise we will take severe action."

Seeing the other party's actions, Vasherigov was angry. He also put his hand on the holster on his waist. If the other party made any excessive actions, he would definitely draw his gun and shoot without hesitation. At the same time, the guards who got off the other jeeps also surrounded the checkpoint in a fan shape. Although they did not aim their guns at the soldiers at the checkpoint, they would definitely open fire at the first time if the other party made any excessive actions. "Lieutenant!" Sokov noticed the tense atmosphere here and was worried that someone on both sides would lose control of their emotions. Once the gun went off accidentally, it could cause serious consequences. He raised his hand to stop Vasherigov behind him and said to the lieutenant of the military police: "I am invited by General Patton to visit Bavaria. Is this how you treat guests?"

The lieutenant of the military police was stunned when he heard Sokov mention General Patton. Although Patton was no longer the highest military administrator of Bavaria, he was the commander of the 15th Army after all, and his guests could not be offended casually. "General," the lieutenant of the military police immediately changed his face and said with a smile, "Please wait a moment, I will contact General Patton immediately to see if he has any instructions?"

Sokov was not sure if Patton was at his headquarters at the moment. Even if he was, he might not be able to get here for a while. He had to find a way to get into the city first and meet up with Sokolovsky and others who had already arrived here. So he added, "Lieutenant, if you can't contact General Patton, please help me contact our people here and ask them to send someone to pick us up."

The military police lieutenant returned to the duty booth and used the phone inside to call General Patton's headquarters. Unfortunately, Patton was not in the headquarters. However, the staff officer who answered the phone still told the military police lieutenant: "Yes, General Patton had a very pleasant conversation with this Russian general some time ago. He personally invited him to visit Bavaria. Lieutenant, I remind you that you must not offend this Russian general. You must know that General Patton respects him very much. Once he finds out that you deliberately make things difficult for him, he will definitely settle accounts with you."

After hearing what the staff officer said, the lieutenant of the military police broke out in a cold sweat. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat off his forehead and said repeatedly: "Please rest assured, I won't make things difficult for him."

After finishing the call with the 15th Army, the military police lieutenant thought for a while, then called his superior and reported to him what had happened.

The lieutenant's superior was a major. After listening to the lieutenant's report, he said in a heavy tone: "Lieutenant, the relationship between us and the Russians is very delicate now. Although there may be military conflicts in the future, under the current circumstances, if you offend a Russian general, the consequences will be very serious. You should go back and apologize to him immediately. I will contact the Russians in the city and ask them to send someone to the checkpoint to pick you up."

After hanging up the phone, the lieutenant returned to Sokov, bowed and said, "General, I'm so sorry, it was all a misunderstanding. I have contacted General Patton. Unfortunately, he is out on an inspection and is not at the headquarters. But don't worry, I have asked my superiors to contact your personnel stationed in Nuremberg. I believe someone will come back to pick you up soon."

"Thank you, Lieutenant!"

In order to redeem the bad impression he had just left on Sokov, the lieutenant of the military police took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed it to Sokov: "Mr. General, do you smoke?"

"Oh, it's Camel brand again." Sokov took out a cigarette from the cigarette box and put it in his lips. Vaseligov behind him immediately stepped forward and struck a match to light the cigarette for him.

"General, I can't get used to German cigarettes." The lieutenant of the military police said with a smile: "It smells like horse manure."

"Oh, Lieutenant, you have the same feeling?" Sokov said in surprise, "When our army launched a full-scale counterattack against the German army in December 1941, the troops I commanded seized a batch of German cigarettes, but after smoking them, everyone was dissatisfied with the taste. Their evaluation was the same as yours, and they all felt that German cigarettes smelled like horse manure."

After waiting for about half an hour, two black cars appeared in the distance. Sokov had sharp eyes and recognized that the car behind belonged to the Soviet army because there were two small red flags of the Soviet Union on both sides of the headlights. The car in front of him had the flag of the US military.

The car stopped at the checkpoint. After the first car stopped, a military police major walked out. He came to the lieutenant, whispered a few words to him, and then came to Sokov and said politely: "General, I'm really sorry. My men have caused you trouble. I hope you don't mind."

At this time, the door of the car behind also opened, and a colonel walked out. He walked quickly to Sokov, raised his hand to salute, and said respectfully: "Hello, General Sokov, I am here to pick you up on the order of Deputy Commander Sokolovsky."

After a brief greeting, Sokov's convoy followed the car sent by Sokolovsky, passed the US military checkpoint and drove into the city.

Led by the sedan, Sokov's convoy arrived outside a stone building in the city.

After the car in front stopped, the colonel got out and ran quickly to Sokov's car, opened the door with his hand, and said respectfully: "Comrade General, we're here, please get out!"

In this building, Sokov finally met Sokolovsky whom he had not seen for a long time.

Sokov stood at attention and raised his hand to salute Sokolovsky: "Hello, Comrade Deputy Commander."

Sokolovsky shook Sokov's hand and said excitedly: "Misha, I received a special call from Marshal Zhukov yesterday, saying that you would rush to Nuremberg in a short time to listen to the trial of German war criminals. How come you are walking so slowly and arrived only today?"

"Comrade Deputy Commander," Sokov explained to Sokolovsky, "I originally wanted to take the train, but I thought that if I did so, I might not see anything along the way. So I changed my mind and came by car. Although this will take longer on the road, I can see a lot of useful things."

Sokolovsky knew exactly what Sokov was talking about, and he asked jokingly, "Did you see anything valuable along the way?"

"We saw quite a few troops, tanks and artillery positions along the way," Sokov replied, "but these positions are far away from the areas controlled by our army and have little value."

"Yes, the distribution of the US military's forces and technical equipment that we can see is deliberately shown to us by the US military, and it is indeed of no value." Sokolovsky said: "Perhaps there are a large number of troops and technical equipment hidden near the areas controlled by our army. Once the war breaks out, I am afraid that our army will suffer a great loss."