red moscow

Chapter 2587: Mine Clearance

Two days later, Sokov received a call from Zhukov and immediately rushed to the train station to meet him.

After hanging up the phone, Sokov did not dare to neglect it. He quickly found Vaserigov and said to him: "Major, gather your people immediately. We must rush to the train station. Marshal Zhukov is waiting for us there."

"To the train station?" Vaserigov said in surprise, "Comrade General, it's already dark today, what are we going to do at the train station?"

"Major, this is an order from Marshal Zhukov." Sokov said sternly, "Don't dawdle, bring your people and follow me."

While Vasherigov was gathering his men, Sokov wrote a note and put it in an envelope and handed it to the female soldier on duty at the front desk: "If Adelina comes to see me, please give this letter to her."

The female soldier took the envelope from Sokov and replied respectfully: "Okay, Comrade General, I will definitely hand the letter to Comrade Adelina in person."

After arriving at the station, the first person he saw was Zhukov's adjutant. When he saw Sokov coming, he hurriedly stepped forward and saluted: "General Sokov, Comrade Marshal is waiting for you in the carriage!"

Following the adjutant, Sokov came to the carriage specially prepared for Zhukov.

As soon as he entered the carriage, Sokov saw Zhukov sitting behind a large desk. He stepped forward and saluted: "Hello, Comrade Marshal, I am here on orders, please give me instructions!"

Zhukov stood up and shook hands with Sokov, then said, "Comrade Malenkov is here too, please say hello to him."

Sokov looked in the direction of Zhukov's finger and saw Malenkov sitting on the sofa next to him. He quickly turned around and saluted him: "Hello, Comrade Malenkov."

Malenkov stood up and walked over, shook hands with Sokov, and said with a smile: "Misha, we meet again."

"Misha," Zhukov said to him after Sokov and Malenkov exchanged greetings, "The man is locked in the second compartment of the next carriage. You must accompany him throughout the journey, and no one is allowed to meet him. Do you understand?"

Hearing Zhukov's order, Sokov seemed a little hesitant. He turned his head to look at Malenkov who was sitting on the sofa again, and wondered whether he should reply to Zhukov's order in front of Malenkov?

Zhukov noticed Sokov's hesitation and continued, "Comrade Malenkov also knows about this. Just say whatever you want to say. Don't be shy."

Sokov put aside his concerns and asked Zhukov tentatively: "Comrade Marshal, am I the only one accompanying him in the box?"

"Of course, for the sake of confidentiality, it's best for you to stay alone in the box with him." Zhukov said, "Food and water can only be delivered to you at the door, and then you come out to get it."

"I don't think this is safe." Sokov reminded Zhukov: "It takes one day and two nights to get from here to Moscow. What if I get sleepy and the other party takes the opportunity to escape? I need someone to cooperate with me and take turns watching over the other party in the box."

Worried that Zhukov would not agree to his request, Sokov added: "I think that during the process of escorting him from the headquarters building, many people must have seen him."

"That's not the case." Malenkov interrupted. "When he left the cell, he was put on a black hood. After he left the headquarters, he was stuffed into an airtight prison van. The prison van drove directly to the platform, opened the door and sent him into the box. No one could see his face clearly."

Having said that, Zhukov seemed to be somewhat moved by Sokov's proposal. He hesitated for a moment and asked, "Misha, who do you plan to let take turns with you to look after that person?"

"Major Vaserigov." Sokov said Vaserigov's name without hesitation. "Comrade Marshal, he is the person you sent to protect my safety. There is absolutely no problem with his loyalty. And from my observation, he is a tight-lipped person and will not talk nonsense. Even if he and I stay in the box and take turns to watch over one person, there will be no leaks."

Since Sokov's candidate was Vaseligov, Zhukov only thought for a moment and nodded in agreement: "Okay, Misha. With someone to assist you, you can sleep well if you are tired on the way."

In this way, Sokov accepted the task assigned by Zhukov and went to the compartment in the next carriage to look after the fake president's substitute.

When he led Vaseligov to the designated box, the latter asked curiously: "Comrade General, where are we going?"

"There is an important prisoner." Sokov said vaguely: "Because his identity is particularly important, Marshal Zhukov asked me to take care of him personally. As you know, it takes one day and two nights to take a train from Berlin to Moscow. I am worried that I don't have enough energy alone, so I asked Comrade Marshal to let you help me guard him."

When the two men arrived at the door of the box, two soldiers standing at the door blocked Sokov's way: "Comrade General, please stop. No one can enter this box without the order of Marshal Zhukov."

Sokov took out the order signed by Zhukov and handed it to the soldier.

The soldier carefully checked Zhukov's order, handed it back to Sokov, stepped aside, opened the door of the box, and said politely: "Comrade General, please come in!"

After Sokov entered the box, he saw the fake president sitting on a berth, handcuffed and wearing a black hood. "Major," Sokov turned to Vaserigov who followed him in and said, "Close the door."

After the door was closed, Sokov walked over to the fake president and sat down. After hesitating for a moment, he pulled off his hood.

The fake president closed his eyes and shook his head vigorously. Then he looked at Sokov who was sitting opposite him, smiled bitterly, and said in a mocking tone: "I really didn't expect that Marshal Zhukov would send a general to look after me personally." "Comrade General," Vasherigov came over and asked curiously, "Who is he?"

Sokov turned his head and looked at Vaserigov and said, "Major, haven't you learned the confidentiality regulations? Don't you know what to ask and what not to ask?"

"I know." After saying this, Vasherigov took two steps back and sat down on the sofa near the door.

"Sir," Sokov said to the fake president, "I cannot tell you my true identity, but you just need to know that I will be here with you until you arrive in Moscow. I will be responsible for your safety."

Unexpectedly, the other party sneered and said, "Comrade General, I'm afraid the situation is not that simple. As far as I know, there are still a considerable number of gangs in Germany, Poland, and even Ukraine. The train we are on may be attacked."

"Don't worry, we don't have to be afraid even if we are attacked." Vaseligov, who was sitting on the sofa, said, "Before I got on the train, I carefully observed that there were two flatbed cars with sandbags in the middle of the train. They were not only equipped with machine guns, but also 37mm twin anti-aircraft guns. There was an armored vehicle equipped with artillery at the front and rear of the train. If the gangs don't come, it's fine. But if they do, they will be in big trouble."

Sokov was originally worried about the incomplete security facilities of the train he was riding, but after hearing what Vaserigov said, he felt more at ease. With such powerful firepower, even if they were attacked by gangs on the road, they could easily eliminate them all.

At this moment, Vaserigov continued, "Also, I just checked the train schedule. After we leave Poland, we will not go through Ukraine but through Belarus. That route is quite safe. After all, during the war, the guerrillas active in the Belarusian region were all under the unified command of our army."

Sokov knew very well why Vaserigov emphasized that the Belarusian guerrillas were under the unified command of the Soviet army. Because during the Great Patriotic War, although many guerrillas appeared in Ukraine, they belonged to three factions: the first was the guerrillas organized by the defeated Soviet army and the local Soviets, which were completely trustworthy troops; the second was the pro-German armed forces, the leaders of these guerrillas were all Soviet traitors; the third was the guerrillas organized by Bandera elements, who had to fight against the German army and attack the Soviet army at the same time, and were forces that both the Soviet Union and Germany had to eliminate.

If the train is to return to Moscow via Ukraine, no one can guarantee that it will not encounter attacks on the way. After all, it was on this land that Vatutin was attacked by Bandera elements and was seriously injured and finally died of wound infection. However, if the train returns to Moscow from Belarus, there is basically no need to worry about safety issues.

Sokov asked the fake president tentatively: "You must be very uncomfortable wearing handcuffs. How about I ask someone to bring the key and open the handcuffs?"

Hearing Sokov's words, Vaseligov suddenly became nervous. Although there were two people guarding this man, if his handcuffs were removed, it would be troublesome if he jumped out of the car and escaped when the car slowed down.

But before Vasherigov could express his concerns, the fake president waved his hand and said, "Comrade General, there is no need to remove the handcuffs. This way you don't have to worry about me attacking you or trying to escape. Am I right?"

Sokov didn't care whether to remove the handcuffs of the fake president or not. Even if the other party wanted to resist or escape, could he beat him and Vasherigov in his current mental state? However, since the other party took the initiative to not remove the handcuffs, he didn't force it. Instead, he nodded and said, "Okay, I respect your choice."

Silent all night.

Soon after dawn the next day, Sokov heard someone knocking on the door and shouting, "Comrade General!"

Sokov nodded to Vaseligov, who was sitting on the sofa near the door, and said, "Major, go and see what's going on."

Vaseligov nodded, stood up, opened the door of the box, leaned out and asked the soldier standing at the door: "What's the matter?"

A soldier holding a tray said to Vaseligov respectfully: "Comrade Major, this is your breakfast."

Vaseligov thought about what Sokov had said before, that no one except him and himself could enter this box, so he reached out and took the tray from the soldier: "Thank you, comrade soldier, please give me everything."

Vaseligov returned to the box, first holding the tray with one hand and closing the box door with the other hand, then holding the tray with both hands and walking to the window, he placed the things on the tray one by one on the coffee table between Sokov and the fake president.

After breakfast, Vasherigov packed up his things and personally escorted them out of the box. Because the door was open for a short time, even the soldiers standing at the door could not see clearly how many people were in the box.

When the train stopped at a small station, Sokov suddenly saw a group of women in headscarves on the snow near the station. Led by several soldiers, they were bending over and looking for something in the snow.

Seeing this, the fake president couldn't help but ask curiously: "Comrade General, what are those women doing?"

Sokov squinted his eyes and looked out the window. He couldn't see clearly what the women were doing because they were too far away. He even thought that he should have brought a telescope so that he could see clearly what they were doing.

"Comrade General," Vaseligov stood up and looked out the window for a while, then said to Sokov, "These women are clearing mines!"

"Mine clearance?!" Sokov was shocked and asked, "Using inexperienced women to clear mines?" He thought that mine clearance was a highly professional job, and even if it was done by a specialized engineering unit, casualties were inevitable. Letting a group of inexperienced women to perform mine clearance tasks was like sending them to their deaths.

"Yes, Comrade General." Vaseligov shrugged his shoulders and said, "You know, in the past few years of war, the Germans, the Poles, and even our troops have buried a large number of mines in Poland. Due to the loss of the mine configuration map and the erosion of rain, many mines have deviated from their original positions. If we want to send professional engineering troops to carry out mine clearance operations, we simply do not have enough manpower. Later, someone suggested to Marshal Zhukov that local women could be responsible for mine clearance tasks. In fact, mine clearance is nothing great. With simple training, anyone can do this job."

Sokov recalled a movie he had seen in later generations, "Minefield", which tells the story of Danish officer Carl Leobold Rasmussen and a group of German prisoners of war, risking their lives to clear mines on an uninhabited coastline. The German prisoners of war dug millions of residual mines with their own hands. In the process of mine clearance, many prisoners of war were killed or disabled. Just imagine that soldiers going to clear mines will still cause considerable casualties. Letting a group of women with little experience to clear mines after a short training is undoubtedly sending them to their deaths.

Thinking of this, Sokov smiled bitterly and shook his head: "This order is a bit too absurd. They actually asked ordinary women to clear mines. This is undoubtedly asking them to die. You know, women's psychological quality is generally poor. If a mine is triggered during the mine clearance process, the other women will be frightened and run away in panic. You should know what serious consequences will be brought about by running around in a minefield."