red moscow

Chapter 2721 The Celebrity You Don’t Want to Meet
"Of course, of course I have to smoke." Facing Sokov's kindness, the lieutenant smiled: "I've been feeling suffocated these past few days without cigarettes."

Just as Sokov helped the lieutenant light his cigarette, Andrei came over and said, "Sokov, give me a cigarette."

As the three began to smoke, Sokov looked at Andrei and asked, "Andrei, how is the captain doing now?"

"Someone has been sent to take him to the military hospital." Andre said gloomily, "But whether he can survive depends on his luck."

Sokov knew very well that the captain had suffered a concussion in the German artillery attack. If he was lucky, it would only be a mild or moderate concussion, and he could recover and be discharged from the hospital after resting in the hospital for ten days or half a month. But if it was a severe concussion, even Hua Tuo would not be able to save him if he were alive.

"Comrade soldier," the lieutenant said, although he was rescued by Sokov, he had no chance to speak on the way to Nezhin, so he didn't know Sokov's name until now. At this moment, he looked at his savior and asked humbly, "What should I call you?"

"Lieutenant, you can call me Sokov." When Sokov said this, he looked at Andrei beside him: "My friend Andrei calls me that."

"Sokov, thank you, thank you for saving me and my men." The second lieutenant said in a friendly tone: "My name is Dennis, and I am the platoon leader of the town's defense. Facing the German attack, our company only resisted for less than 20 minutes, and most of our men were killed. The rest of us and I were captured by the Germans. If you hadn't rescued us, I think we would have faced a very tragic fate."

Sokov agreed with Denis's statement. The German army captured hundreds of thousands of Soviet commanders and fighters in the Battle of Kiev. The Germans probably never dreamed that they would capture so many Soviet commanders and fighters in one battle. There were not enough prisoner-of-war camps to accommodate so many prisoners, and a considerable number of them would definitely be massacred.

"Lieutenant Dennis, you're welcome. We are all family." Sokov said with a smile, "If you saw us in danger, you would definitely lend us a helping hand and rescue us from danger."

While the few of them were chatting, Major Yosifov, who followed the lieutenant colonel into the church, met the city defense commander of Neren City.

The city defense commander was an elderly colonel. He came over, shook Iosifov's hand, and said with a smile, "Comrade Major, I have received a call from Kiev, and I know that you have escorted hundreds of wounded soldiers here. I hope you have a smooth journey."

"Report to the commander," Iosifov said respectfully, straightening his back. "When our convoy was halfway through the journey, we passed a small town and learned that it had been occupied by a German armored unit. We thought we would have to fight a fierce battle before we could pass through it smoothly. Unexpectedly, we met a soldier from a friendly army. With his wit, bravery and tenacity, he destroyed the German armored unit without any loss to our army, and seized 10 tanks and 2 assault guns."

Although the garrison commander had already known about this when he received the call from his subordinates, he was still shocked when he heard Yosifov say it himself: "Comrade Major, please tell me what happened."

Seeing that the garrison commander was very interested in destroying the German armored forces, Yosifov described the situation at that time vividly to him.

After listening to Yosifov's story, the garrison commander applauded and asked, "Comrade Major, where is the soldier you mentioned now?"

"Just outside the church." As Yosifov spoke, he fixed his eyes on the chief of staff next to him and said hesitantly, "I wanted to bring him in just now, but..."

"But what?" asked the garrison commander.

"Comrade Commander, this is all my fault." The chief of staff took the initiative to admit his mistake. "Just now the major wanted to bring a soldier in, but I stopped him. I think the person you want to see is the major, and it is obviously inappropriate to bring in an ordinary soldier."

"Comrade Chief of Staff." The garrison commander learned that his chief of staff had just stopped a hero like Sokov from entering the church. He immediately frowned and said unhappily, "We cannot judge a person's ability by his rank. Go and invite him in now."

After the chief of staff left, the garrison commander continued to ask Iosifov: "Comrade Major, what is the name of that soldier and which unit is he from?"

"Comrade Commander, his name is Sokov." Iosifov said hesitantly, "As for which unit he is from, I really don't know. I only know that his company broke out from the Uman area, and after replenishment, it restored the structure of more than 70 people."

When the garrison commander learned that Sokov's troops did not have an accurate number, he was moved. Since this unit had no superiors, why not keep them in the city to help defend the city. He believed that with such an amazing soldier, even if the city could not be defended, it would still be able to deal a heavy blow to the German army.

Soon, the lieutenant colonel brought Sokov to the church.

From a distance, the lieutenant colonel said to the garrison commander: "Comrade Commander, I have called Comrade Sokov!"

"Hello, Comrade Sokov!" The garrison commander took the initiative to extend his hand to Sokov and said with a smile: "I congratulate you on your great achievements on the battlefield. I will report your achievements to my superiors and apply for a medal for you."

Although Sokov was not very interested in medals, he also understood that if he could get a medal at this moment, it would be of great help to his future life. He quickly expressed his gratitude to the garrison commander: "Thank you, Comrade Colonel."

The garrison commander saw the blood on Sokov's body and asked in surprise: "Comrade Sokov, are you injured?"

"No." Sokov shook his head and explained, "I was wearing the uniform of a fallen soldier, so there were bloodstains on it."

"Comrade Sokov," the garrison commander continued, "I heard that the unit you are in broke out from the Uman area and was reorganized."

"Yes, Comrade Colonel," Sokov replied, "The company originally had more than 150 people, but when it broke out of Uman, there were less than 20 people left. Later, the company commander took in the defeated troops along the way and recruited civilians to restore the troops to more than 70 people."

From Sokov's answer, the garrison commander saw that he didn't seem to know much about the situation of the troops. He showed a look of approaching and asked, "Comrade Sokov, can you tell me how long you have been in the army?"

"I just joined the army yesterday."

"What, you just joined the army yesterday?" The garrison commander was shocked when he heard Sokov's answer. He turned his head to look at his chief of staff, and their eyes met. They both saw shock in each other's eyes. They had never thought that a new recruit who had just joined the army could achieve such brilliant results.

"Yes, Comrade Colonel, I just joined the army yesterday." Sokov replied, "Because I joined the army for too short a time, I am not familiar with the company's situation. After the captain was injured, he handed the unit to me for command. I happened to meet Major Yosifov passing by, so I brought the unit and followed him to Nezhin." Although Sokov said it lightly, the garrison commander was shocked. He thought that not to mention the new soldiers who had just joined the army for one day, even those who had been in the army for more than ten years would not dare to act rashly if they knew that there was a German armored unit in the town. Unexpectedly, this new soldier bravely broke into the town and successfully annihilated the enemy.

The garrison commander invited Sokov and Iosifov to sit down, poured tea for them personally, and then asked politely: "I wonder what your plans are next?"

"Comrade Commander," Iosifov quickly stood up and answered after hearing the garrison commander's question, "My escort mission has been completed. After resting here tonight, I will return to Kiev early tomorrow morning."

Sokov waited for Yosifov to finish answering, then stood up and said, "Comrade Colonel, we are just scattered soldiers, and we are willing to follow your arrangements." Sokov said this because he considered that even if he retreated to a more rear position, he would be temporarily assigned to a certain unit by his superiors. If he was unlucky and was assigned to a unit destined to be cannon fodder, he might not survive more than 24 hours on the battlefield. It would be better to stay in Nezhin City and see the situation first.

Hearing Sokov's answer, the garrison commander smiled: "Comrade Sokov, it's great to have you join our airstrike against the city's defense forces. One more person means one more force, which will inflict greater damage on the Germans."

As they were talking happily, a lieutenant suddenly came over and reported to the garrison commander: "Comrade Commander, there is a commander outside who wants to see you."

"Which part?" asked the Chief of Staff.

"I don't know," the officer replied, "but he is a general!"

Upon hearing that the visitor was actually a general, the garrison commander hurriedly took everyone to greet him.

As soon as I reached the church door, a general wearing glasses walked in. From the two gold stars inlaid on his red rhombus collar badge, I could confirm that he was a major general.

"Hello, Comrade General!" The garrison commander raised his hand to salute the other party and said, "I am the garrison commander of the city. Welcome to my headquarters."

Sokov, who was following behind, was stunned as if struck by lightning after seeing the face of the person coming clearly. It seemed as if time had stopped.

He cursed in his heart, even if the generals who came were not familiar people like Rokossovsky, at least one or two generals he didn't know should come. But the general who shook hands with the garrison commander at this moment was Vlasov, a Soviet traitor known to all Russians in later generations.

Sure enough, when the other party shook hands with the garrison commander, he took the initiative to reveal his identity: "I am Major General Vlasov, commander of the 4th Mechanized Army. I am returning to Moscow from Kiev to report on my work under the order of my superiors. I happened to pass by here, so I came here to rest."

"General Vlasov," the garrison commander said with a surprised expression, "I didn't expect to see you here. You must be very tired after such a long journey. Please sit down and I will pour you a cup of hot tea."

After Vlasov sat down, he looked at the people behind the garrison commander. When he saw Sokov, he couldn't help but show a surprised expression on his face. He was a little curious, how could an ordinary soldier stand next to several officers casually? Could this soldier have a special identity?
With such doubts, Vlasov asked the garrison commander: "Comrade Colonel, what's the matter with the soldier behind you? Doesn't he know that when the commanders are discussing things, a soldier like him who has no position should stay away from you?"

"Comrade Commander," the garrison commander explained quickly, "this is Comrade Sokov. Not long ago, in a small town in the west, he successfully destroyed a German armored unit with his wit and courage, and captured 10 tanks and 2 assault guns."

After the garrison commander reminded him, Vlasov immediately thought of everything he saw before entering the door, and asked tentatively: "Those German tanks and armored vehicles parked in the square outside the church were captured in the town?"

"That's right, Comrade Commander," the garrison commander said with a smile, "He accomplished this remarkable feat almost single-handedly."

After getting a positive answer, Vlasov stood up and walked in front of Sokov.

Vlasov looked Sokov up and down and saw several bullet holes on his uniform, surrounded by bloodstains. He asked with concern: "Comrade Sokov, there are so many bloodstains on your uniform. Are you injured?"

"No, Comrade General." Although Sokov despised Vlasov in his heart, he was a favorite of Stalin at the moment. He would be appointed as the commander of the 37th Army and commander of the Kiev garrison soon after returning to Moscow to report on his work. Even if he hated Vlasov in his heart, Sokov still maintained enough politeness on the surface: "The military uniform I am wearing is from a fallen comrade, so there are bullet holes and blood stains."

"Why don't you wear your own clothes, but the clothes of your fallen comrades?" Vlasov asked seriously.

"Comrade General, I just joined the army yesterday." Sokov reported to the other party: "This uniform was temporarily found by the company commander for me to wear."

"Oh, that's right." Vlasov nodded slightly, then turned his head to the garrison commander and said, "Comrade Colonel, can you ask someone to bring a new uniform to this soldier?"

"No problem, no problem." The garrison commander agreed readily, and then called a staff officer over and ordered: "Go to the logistics department and get a uniform for Comrade Sokov to change into."

"Okay." The staff officer agreed and turned to leave.

"Comrade Sokov," Vlasov asked Sokov with a smile, "where is your unit now?"

"Just outside the church, Comrade General."

Vlasov asked some more questions about the unit, and then suddenly asked, "Comrade Sokov, I will go to Moscow tomorrow to report on my work, but I don't have enough people with me. I want your company to serve as my guard and escort me to Moscow. Are you willing?"

When Sokov heard Vlasov's question, he shuddered all over and thought to himself, if he agreed to Vlasov's request and joined his guard force, would he be implicated after he surrendered to the Germans in the future?

(End of this chapter)