red moscow

Chapter 2801 Going deep into the tiger’s den

"That's right!" Sokov looked past the German lieutenant and looked at the armored vehicle in the distance that was pointing its machine gun at this place. He lied without blushing or beating his heart: "I am Captain Otto of the Brandenburg Regiment. I have been ordered to carry out a special mission behind the Russians."

The German lieutenant looked at Sokov suspiciously and asked in confusion: "Why are you wearing a Russian uniform?"

Sokov sneered and said, "Since we are carrying out a mission deep behind the Russian lines, do you think it is appropriate to wear our military uniform?"

The German lieutenant was stunned by the question and was speechless for a moment, not knowing what to say.

Seeing that the other party was intimidated by him, Sokov took advantage of the situation and asked, "Are you the supreme commander of this unit?"

"No, Captain." The German lieutenant believed Sokov's fabricated identity and quickly replied: "The commander is Captain Lucas, and I am his deputy, Lieutenant Simon."

"Take me to see him." As Sokov said this, he glanced at the German soldiers around him and said coldly, "Before that, tell your men to put away their guns. I'm not used to being pointed at with guns."

Lieutenant Simon quickly ordered his men to put away their guns and was about to take Sokov to see Captain Lucas, but he did not expect the other party to come over with his men first.

From a distance, Lucas shouted, "What's going on? Why did you put your guns away?" The reason he came here in person was because he saw that his deputy, Lieutenant Simon, not only did not shoot after seeing the people coming out of the plane, but was also very respectful, as if he had met his superior, so he came here specifically to find out what was going on.

Seeing his immediate superior coming, Lieutenant Simon hurried over and reported everything to him.

However, Captain Lucas was not as easy to fool as Simon. He brought his men to Sokov and said sternly, "You said you are Captain Otto of the Brandenburg Regiment. Do you have any documents to prove your identity?"

"Captain Lucas," Sokov knew from the other party's tone that this guy was not easy to deal with. If he couldn't convince him, then his group would have no chance of escaping. Thinking of this, he snorted coldly and said, "If you were carrying out a mission behind the Russians, would you carry your real ID with you? Isn't this the same as telling the Russian patrol that we are the enemy who infiltrated."

After hearing what Sokov said, Lucas fell silent, as if he was considering whether what Sokov said was true or false.

Sokov walked to the side of the wing, pointed at the bullet holes and said, "See these bullet holes? They were caused by our anti-aircraft machine guns when we were escaping from the Russian defense zone. If we hadn't been lucky, we might have been shot down by them."

Lucas and Simon walked over to the wing and looked closely at the bullet holes.

"Captain," Simon whispered to Lucas, "These are indeed bullet holes from the 14.5mm anti-aircraft machine guns commonly used by the Russians. It seems he is not lying."

Lucas nodded, stood up straight, and then extended his hand to Sokov, trying to force a smile on his face: "Captain Otto, I'm so sorry, it's just a routine matter. I hope you don't mind."

Sokov smiled and said a few perfunctory words, then pretended to be curious and asked: "Captain Lucas, where are you planning to go?"

"There is a prisoner-of-war camp nearby that holds Russian prisoners of war. I am the person in charge there." Lucas said, "Several prisoners of war escaped from the camp last night, and I brought people here to search for them. I happened to see the plane you were on landed, so I brought people over to take a look."

"Oh, that's how it is." After hearing Lucas' explanation, Sokov immediately understood why the Germans came so quickly. It turned out that they were searching for prisoners who had escaped from the POW camp. He asked tentatively, "Did you catch them?"

"Two have been captured, and the rest are still being sought."

"Our army has advanced to the vicinity of Mozhaysk, which means that it is more than 500 kilometers away from the front line." Sokov looked at Lucas and said, "Even if a few Russian prisoners escape, they have no way to return to their own defense line. And more importantly, our army has surrounded hundreds of thousands of Russians in the Vyazma area. Maybe more prisoners will be sent here soon. If a few don't run away, how can your prisoner camp hold new prisoners?"

Lucas was stunned when he heard what Sokov said, and then he burst into laughter: "Captain Otto, you are right. Hundreds of thousands of Russians are trapped in our encirclement. I believe that more prisoners of war will be sent here soon. By then, my prisoner camp will not be able to accommodate them all."

Sokov took out a cigarette box from his pocket, took out two cigarettes and handed them to Lucas and Simon: "Have one!" He seized this pack of cigarettes from a German officer during the battle on Borodino Heights. He put it in his pocket at the time. He didn't expect that it would come in handy today.

Simon took the cigarette, looked at the label, and said in surprise, "Captain, you are smoking Blue Bird cigarettes. This kind of cigarette is rarely seen."

Lucas nodded and agreed, "Yes, we usually smoke Tabak produced in Germany. Only school-level officers are qualified to smoke Bluebird cigarettes produced in Austria." The German army has strict control over cigarettes, mainly because the Fuhrer does not smoke. He believes that smoking is harmful to health and young soldiers should not indulge in tobacco. Therefore, the German army provided very few cigarettes in World War II, only Tabak produced in Germany and Bluebird produced by Olida. Ordinary soldiers smoked, either by seizing cigarettes from the enemy or by the low-quality cigarettes produced by small cigarette factories, which were called the kind with horse manure smell by Soviet and Allied soldiers.

The slight doubt he had in his heart about Sokov completely disappeared with the appearance of this pack of rare Blue Bird cigarettes.

"Captain Otto," Lucas waited for Simon to light his cigarette and asked Sokov cautiously, "What are your plans next?"

Sokov looked at Lucas and thought to himself, he was thinking about how to enter the prisoner-of-war camp, but he didn't expect to meet the head of the prisoner-of-war camp here, it was really like someone sent a pillow when you wanted to sleep. He pretended to be embarrassed and said, "Captain Lucas, I wonder if you can let us go to your prisoner-of-war camp to rest for a while?"

"No problem." Lucas felt that anyone who could easily pull out a pack of Blue Bird cigarettes from his pocket must have a deep background, so he readily agreed to Sokov's request: "Then please bring your men and follow us to the prisoner-of-war camp."

Sokov agreed, turned back to the plane, gathered everyone together, and whispered to them: "Listen, I told the Germans that we are from the Brandenburg Regiment, and were ordered to go to the rear of the Soviet army to carry out a mission. Because our whereabouts were exposed, we fled back in a hurry. The Germans below are guards of a nearby prisoner-of-war camp. The leader is Captain Lucas, and next to him is his deputy Lieutenant Simon. We have to follow them back to the prisoner-of-war camp now..."

"Major Sokov," Basco asked before Sokov finished speaking, "Will we not reveal our true identities if we go to the German prisoner-of-war camp?"

Sokov stared at Basco and asked expressionlessly, "Sergeant Basco, do you speak German?"

Basco was stunned, then shook his head and said, "I, I can't." "Since you don't speak German, from now on, shut up and don't say a word." Sokov said in a stern tone, "Just treat yourself as a mute, and don't say a word, so as not to disrupt my action plan."

"Comrade Major," Alina began, "I speak German. Can you tell me what your plan is?"

"I told Captain Lucas that I wanted to go to his prisoner-of-war camp to rest." Sokov said to Alina, "Don't you suspect that Yakov is in this prisoner-of-war camp? I will find a way to let you check the prisoners and see if you can find Yakov among them."

"That's great." Alina was excited when she heard Sokov say that. "I hope Yakov is in this prisoner-of-war camp, so we can complete the mission smoothly."

"Even if we find Yakov, how are we going to leave here?" Basco couldn't help but interrupt.

Sokov glared at him and said coldly, "Isn't there a plane? After we rescue Yakov, we will naturally take this plane to leave here."

Just as Basco was about to ask something else, Alina said to him in dissatisfaction: "Sergeant Basco, didn't Major Sokov tell you to shut up? Why are you still talking nonstop? Do you want us to reveal our true identities?"

To Basco, although Sokov was a major, he was only a major in the combat troops, not a major in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so he could ignore what he said. But Alina was different. She was not only an officer in the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but also his immediate superior. If he went too far, even if she shot him, no one would gossip about it. Thinking of this, Basco shut his mouth obediently and dared not say anything.

"Comrade Major," Yegor approached Sokov and asked, "What should I do? Should I go to the prisoner-of-war camp with you?"

"No need." Sokov shook his head and said, "You just stay in the plane and be ready to take off at any time. Once we find the person we are looking for, we need to flee here immediately by plane."

"But if someone comes to question me, how should I answer them?" Yegor said awkwardly, "You know, I don't understand any German, I can't understand what they say, and I don't know how to answer them."

Sokov thought for a moment and replied, "That's easy. You just close the door and stay in the cockpit. I will have Captain Lucas arrange a few soldiers to guard the plane and not allow anyone to approach. This will prevent you from exposing your identity."

But before getting off the plane, Sokov remembered something. He stopped and said to Alina, "Lieutenant Alina, I want to arrange a suitable identity for you so that you won't be suspected by the enemy. What identity would be more suitable?"

"Just say I'm the accompanying radio operator, Leya." Alina tore off the collar badge with her military rank, threw her blue cap aside, took out the red cross armband worn by the medic from her pocket, put it on her arm, and continued, "As a member of the special team of the Brandenburg Regiment, my identity in the Soviet army should be a medic."

After they agreed on their statements, they got off the plane one by one.

Lucas frowned slightly when he saw Alina coming down from the plane. When he saw the cuffs on her arms, he was relieved. If this was a small team going deep into the rear of the Soviet army, then the female soldier in it would be the most suitable as a medic.

"Captain Lucas," Sokov brought Alina to Lucas and Simon and introduced them to them, "This is our radio operator, Leya. When we arrive at the prisoner-of-war camp, we hope to borrow your radio to contact our superiors and ask for instructions on the next course of action."

"No problem, no problem." Lucas agreed very readily: "When we get to the prisoner-of-war camp, you can use the radio."

"One more thing." Sokov heard the sound of the cabin door closing from behind, and pointed at the plane and said to Lucas: "Our pilot will stay on the plane and wait for us. Please send a few people to stand guard near the plane to prevent him from being attacked by the escaped prisoners of war."

Lucas agreed to Sokov's request. He called Simon over and said, "Lieutenant Simon, leave two soldiers here to guard the plane to prevent the escaped prisoners from attacking the pilot."

After arranging everything, Sokov and others followed Lucas back to the prisoner-of-war camp.

When entering the prisoner-of-war camp, Sokov carefully observed the surrounding environment.

The entire prisoner-of-war camp was surrounded by double-layer barbed wire, with sentry towers on all sides, searchlights and guards holding guns. There were several wooden houses near the entrance of the camp, which should be where the guards lived. The place where the prisoners lived was an open area, and the tents they built were their shelter.

"Captain Lucas," after Sokov and the others got off the car, he pointed at the tents and deliberately asked Laska, "Are the prisoners living in those tents?"

"That's right, Captain Otto." Lucas nodded and said, "That's where the Russian prisoners of war are staying."

"It looks like the sanitary conditions aren't very good." Sokov asked thoughtfully, "I guess a lot of people are sick, right?"

"Not only are there many sick people, but more than a dozen wounded or sick people die every day." After Lieutenant Simon said this, he did not wait for Sokov to speak and continued, "Captain Otto, you may ask, why don't we treat them?"

"Yes, why not give them treatment?"

"There is limited medicine in the prisoner-of-war camp. Even for ourselves, there is not enough medicine. How can we give these Russians extra medicine?" Simon said, "They will be eliminated in the end anyway, so let them fend for themselves."

Sokov accidentally noticed that Alina's face changed drastically, and he immediately understood that she might be worried that Yakov was really here. If he was unlucky, he might have lost his life. He was afraid that Alina was too excited and could not control her emotions for a while, causing a disaster. He quickly asked Lucas, "Captain, where is your communication room? We need to contact our superiors immediately."

(End of this chapter)