red moscow

Chapter 2775 Encountering Danger

When the jeep was driving through the forest road, two soldiers wearing blue hats suddenly appeared about thirty or forty meters ahead.

Although both of them were wearing blue-topped wide-brimmed hats, Sokov could tell at a glance that the one standing in the front was a lieutenant, and the one standing next to him holding a submachine gun was a sergeant.

The sudden appearance of two Internal Affairs Ministry soldiers made Sokov alert. He turned to Potapov who was sitting in the back row and said, "Comrade Commander, there seems to be something wrong with the Internal Affairs Ministry personnel in front." As he said that, he pulled out the pistol from his waist and held it in his hand.

The jeep stopped in front of two MILF soldiers. The driver opened the door, leaned out and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant, what can I do for you?"

The lieutenant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said with a serious expression: "Check the documents, everyone in the car get out!"

Looking at the two men in blue hats with red armbands in front of him, the driver got out of the car reluctantly, took out his ID and handed it to the lieutenant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Just as the lieutenant was checking the driver's ID, a private soldier wearing a blue hat rushed out of the forest. He quickly walked to the passenger side of the jeep and pointed his gun at the jeep.

"Comrade Commander," Sokov half turned around and said to Potapov, who was sitting in the back row, "Do you see what's wrong?"

"I see," Potapov whispered. "I'll take care of the officer who checked the driver's ID. Are you sure you can handle the other two?"

"no problem."

The lieutenant checked the driver's ID but did not return it. Instead, he shouted at Sokov and Potapov who were sitting in the car: "Everyone get out of the car and accept our inspection."

"Okay, let's get out of the car now." Sokov agreed, raised his left hand, pushed open the car door, and jumped out of the car.

While the private soldier beside the car was still in a daze, Sokov had already pulled the trigger and hit the private soldier directly in the abdomen. The sergeant standing in front of the car was stunned for two seconds when he heard the sudden gunshot, and then turned the gun towards Sokov.

But these two short seconds were enough to kill him. Sokov pulled the trigger again and hit the sergeant in the shoulder. When he was about to shoot again, the sergeant endured the pain and pulled the trigger at Sokov. Amid the crisp sound of gunfire, Sokov rolled on the spot and rolled directly into the ditch on the side of the road, causing the bullets fired from the submachine gun to hit the open space.

When the driver heard the gunshot, he immediately realized that there was something wrong with the Ministry of Internal Affairs soldier in front of him, and turned around to get his weapon in the car. But as soon as he turned around, the lieutenant raised his pistol and fired several shots at his back, knocking him down on the spot.

Potapov also took advantage of the time when the lieutenant shot at the driver, stretched out his pistol from the car window, aimed at the lieutenant and fired several shots, killing him directly. After killing the officer, Potapov opened the car door and got out of the car, bent over and ran to the hood, raised his gun and pulled the trigger at the sergeant who was half-crouching and firing at Sokov's hiding place with a submachine gun.

After the gunshot, the sergeant fell to the ground, and the shooting from the submachine gun came to an abrupt end.

Potapov held his pistol in his hand, bent down to check if several NKVD soldiers were dead, and shouted to where Sokov was hiding: "Captain Sokov, come out, I have killed all the enemies."

Sokov poked his head out of the ditch on the side of the road and looked outside. He found four bodies lying next to the car. Although the face of one of them could not be seen, judging from the position of the body, it should be the driver. He slowly climbed out of the ditch, came to Potapov, and asked with concern: "Comrade Commander, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Potapov looked at the bodies on the ground and frowned. "I never thought that the enemy would infiltrate this place."

Sokov kicked the fake lieutenant's body and said coldly, "Since August, our patrols have been equipped with Mosin-Nagant rifles, and submachine guns are used to equip the front-line troops. Didn't the Germans know about this before they disguised themselves as our army?"

Potapov looked around and said, "The terrain here is not suitable for setting up checkpoints, but more suitable for ambushes. I heard your reminder and observed the surrounding environment, and realized that there was something wrong with these Ministry of Internal Affairs soldiers."

"Comrade Commander, based on my experience," Sokov said, "if these are German infiltrators, they must have a radio station hidden nearby."

"Then let's hurry up and look for it to see if we can find their radio station."

The two men searched the forests on both sides of the road. Sokov focused on the area where the last private appeared. Sure enough, he found a huge backpack here. When he opened it, he found a radio inside.

"Comrade Commander, we found it." Sokov came to Potapov with his backpack and reported to him: "This is the German radio station."

"It seems that our guess is correct." Potapov was originally a little worried that he had killed the wrong person, but when he saw the backpack in Sokov's hand, he finally put his heart at ease: "Let's continue on our way."

Sokov looked at the bodies beside the car and asked Potapov: "Comrade Commander, what should we do with these bodies?"

"First drag them to the side of the road," Potapov said, "take away all their weapons, and we'll send someone to deal with them after we get to Mtsensk."

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of motorcycles came from the front, and it seemed that quite a few motorcycles were heading towards this direction.

Because they couldn't figure out whether the people coming were their own people or Germans disguised as Soviet soldiers, Sokov and Potapov hid in a ditch on the side of the road.

Soon, the motorcycle came closer.

Sokov, who was hiding in the ditch, heard someone outside say, "This looks like the commander's car!"

"Yes, it's the commander's car!"

"What's going on with these bodies? Did something happen to the commander?"

"What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and look around for Comrade Commander's whereabouts."

Hearing the people outside talking about the commander, Sokov immediately knew that the people outside must be his own people. He quickly whispered to Potapov: "Comrade Commander, it seems that our people have arrived. Do we need to go out and contact them now?"

"Wait a minute, Captain Sokov," Potapov reminded Sokov, "They must be in a state of high tension when they see so many bodies lying around my car. If we stand up rashly, some soldiers might shoot at us in panic."

"Then I won't show up for now and just shout a few times outside."

"Okay. Let's do it."

After the two men had discussed it, Sokov shouted outside: "Hey, comrades!"

After hearing Sokov's shout, the outside suddenly became quiet, but soon someone shouted in this direction: "Don't move, put down your weapons, and slowly come out from your hiding place." Then, there was a sound of bolts being pulled from outside. "Comrades, don't shoot, I'm coming out!"

As they watched Sokov slowly stand up from the ravine with a submachine gun in both hands, everyone pointed their guns at him.

But the next moment, a voice shouted, "Put down your guns, he is the adjutant of the commander."

After the soldiers put down their guns, a lieutenant ran up to Sokov and asked with concern: "Comrade adjutant, where is the commander?"

"I'm here." Seeing that everything was fine outside, Potapov stood up from the ditch.

The lieutenant called his men over to help Sokov and Potapov climb out of the ditch, and then asked with concern: "Comrade Commander, what happened here?"

Potapov pointed to the three bodies dressed as MVD soldiers on the ground and said, "These three were Germans in disguise, trying to ambush us here. Fortunately, Captain Sokov saw through them, and we took the initiative to kill them all. Unfortunately, my driver died in the battle."

Sokov said to the lieutenant: "Comrade Lieutenant, the commander and I have to continue on our journey. You guys take care of this."

"Okay, Comrade Adjutant," the second lieutenant agreed, "Leave it to me."

Sokov drove to the city of Mtsensk, found the headquarters of the motorized regiment, and met the regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Gu Xin.

Gu Xin saw that Sokov and Potapov's uniforms were covered with dust, and he couldn't help but ask curiously: "Comrade Commander, why are your uniforms dirty?"

"Oh, don't mention it. We encountered Germans on the road and there was a little battle."

Hearing Potapov say this, Gu Xin was immediately shocked and broke out in a cold sweat: "Comrade Commander, you are not injured, right?"

"No." Potapov shook his head and said, "Captain Sokov and I are fine. We have wiped out all the enemies. Only my driver was unfortunately shot and killed."

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Sokov waited for Potapov to finish speaking before adding, "After we eliminated the enemy, your patrol team happened to arrive there. After some communication, they are now staying there to deal with the aftermath."

"Lieutenant Colonel Gu Xin, what's the situation here?" Potapov asked Gu Xin, "Have your troops deployed?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander, our regiment has deployed to the west of the city and is currently constructing fortifications."

While Gu Xin was pointing at the map and explaining the situation to Potapov, Sokov was staring at the map on the table in a daze.

According to the history he knew, starting from the end of September, the German Army Center Group, which was composed of the 9nd, 2th, 4th Army and the 9nd and 2rd Tank Groups, launched assaults on the city of Kalinin, Vyazma and Orel and Tula from the north, west and southwest in the three areas of northeast of Smolensk, Roslavl and Shostka with one army and one tank group respectively. It attempted to first divide and annihilate the Kalinin Front in the Vyazma area and the Western Front and reserve in the Bryansk area, and then use a powerful fast group to surround and capture Moscow from the north and south.

The German Southwest Assault Group, composed of Guderian's 2nd Tank Group and Weichs' 2nd Army, broke through the defense of the Soviet Bryansk Front and its tank group advanced to the Orel area on October 10, directly endangering the safety of Tula and forming a situation of bypassing Moscow from the south. In order to block the German offensive, the Soviet High Command urgently organized the 2st Guards Infantry Army, assigned several reserve units including the 1th Independent Tank Brigade to the army, and deployed them in the Mtsensk area to build a defense line.

After finishing his report, Lieutenant Colonel Gu Xin said to Potapov with a bitter face: "Comrade Commander, now in and around Mtsensk, apart from my motorized regiment, there are only a combined force of local garrisons and militias, with a total strength of no more than 1,000 people, including less than 200 regular troops. I think with our current strength, we can't stop the Germans at all."

"You are right, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Potapov agreed with Lieutenant Colonel Gu Xin's statement: "We have too few troops to stop the powerful Germans. But don't worry, this phenomenon is only temporary. I believe that it won't be long before the reinforcements sent by our superiors will arrive continuously."

"I don't have much hope for other reinforcements," Lieutenant Colonel Gu Xin said, "but it would be good for us if the troops from the Tula Artillery School arrived earlier. As long as we can get the necessary artillery support during the battle, we will be able to stop the German attack."

"Don't worry, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel. The artillery school will arrive tonight at the latest." Potapov said, "They have enough ammunition to provide you with powerful artillery support on the battlefield."

"If that's the case, that's great."

As the two were talking, the phone on the table rang.

The nearest regimental chief of staff picked up the receiver, listened for a while, and then handed it to Potapov: "Comrade Commander, this is your call."

Potapov picked up the phone and a strange voice came from the other end: "Is that General Potapov?"

"Yes, I am Potapov."

Just when Potapov was about to ask who the other party was, the other party said first: "I am now officially informing you that the train carrying the equipment of the 4th Tank Brigade will arrive at the Mtsensk railway station at 11 o'clock tonight. Please arrange for someone to pick up the train."

Before Potapov could say anything, the other party hung up the phone.

"Comrade Commander, who is calling?" Lieutenant Colonel Gu Xin asked curiously.

Potapov turned his head and looked at Lieutenant Colonel Gu Xin, smiling and saying, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, this is good news. The 4th Tank Brigade assigned to me by my superiors will arrive at the Mtsensk railway station at 11 o'clock tonight. Let me arrange for someone to pick up the car!"

Hearing Potapov say this, Gu Xin was overjoyed: "Comrade Commander, this is really exciting news. If you don't object, I would like to go with you to the train station to see what kind of tanks the 4th Tank Brigade is equipped with."

"No problem, I'll ask you to come with me then." Potapov turned to look at Sokov: "Captain Sokov, you also follow me to the train station."

Sokov was delighted when he learned that Katukov's 4th Tank Brigade was about to arrive in Mtsensk. The Mtsensk tank battle not only successfully blocked the German offensive, but also made Katukov famous. One month later, the 4th Tank Brigade he commanded was awarded the honorary title of the 1st Guards Tank Brigade by the Supreme Command.

When Potapov asked him to follow him to the railway station to meet the 4th Tank Brigade, he immediately answered loudly, "Yes!"

"Lieutenant Colonel Guxin," Potapov told Lieutenant Colonel Guxin after arranging things for the evening, "Immediately contact the commander of the garrison in the city and ask him to come to me. I want to formally take over his troops."

(End of this chapter)