red moscow

Chapter 2855

Although Gerchikov knew that the myth that Regarin killed 75 German officers and soldiers by himself in extremely low visibility and complex environment was most likely true, in order to prove it, after leaving Romanchenko's office, he took Regarin to the underground shooting range of the police station to personally test his shooting skills.

After Gerchikov and Regarin left, Romanchenko picked up the phone on the table and dialed a number. When he heard a voice coming from inside, he said, "Operator, this is Romanchenko, director of the General Police Bureau. Please connect me to Comrade Beria from the Ministry of Internal Affairs!"

"Comrade Director, please wait a moment." The operator said politely, "I'll connect you right away!"

When Beria received the call from Romanchenko, his first thought was that there had been a breakthrough in the case, so he asked eagerly: "General Romanchenko, do you have any clues?"

Romanchenko was stunned at first, then replied shamefacedly: "I'm sorry, Comrade Beria, we haven't obtained any useful information yet."

"Comrade Director," Beria changed his address and asked coldly, "Then why did you call me?"

Romanchenko heard indifference and alienation in Beria's tone. He glanced at Lobachev, who was sitting in a chair next to him, and explained to Beria: "Comrade People's Commissar of Internal Affairs, Comrade Lobachev, the Military Commissar of the 16th Army, is here with me. He sent us a sharpshooter who may be helpful to the task force."

"Comrade Director, I need to remind you that we are dealing with German agents who have infiltrated the city. We are not fighting the enemy face to face. What do we need a sharpshooter for?"

"Comrade People's Commissar of Internal Affairs," Romanchenko said, "Major Gerchikov reported to me that one of our patrols encountered German agents during the day and a gunfight broke out. Because the agents were wearing special clothes, the patrol soldiers did not cause any harm to them when they shot at their bodies. Later, I discussed with Major Gerchikov that although our bullets could not cause any harm to the German agents when they hit their bodies, if the bullets hit their heads, they might be able to kill them. And this sharpshooter from the 16th Army should be able to do this."

Hearing Romanchenko say this, Beria slowed down his tone and said, "General Romanchenko, do you really think that this sharpshooter from the 16th Army can play a huge role in the next operation?"

"I have such confidence." Romanchenko said confidently: "This sharpshooter was recommended to me by General Rokossovsky. He said that during a reconnaissance operation a few days ago, he was surrounded by hundreds of German soldiers. He single-handedly eliminated 75 enemies, and every shot hit the enemy's forehead. I think there is probably no one else with such amazing marksmanship. With his help, it should not be a big problem to eliminate those German agents who have infiltrated Moscow."

"The 16th Army is a place that is prone to producing evildoers." Beria said with emotion, "In the past, there was a Sokov who captured a German armored column by himself and was awarded a Lenin Medal. I didn't expect that now there is a sharpshooter who has eliminated 75 enemies by himself. I think if the Supreme Commander knew about this, he might meet him in person. By the way, what is the sharpshooter's name?"

"His name is Zhegarin!" Romanchenko replied quickly. "He was just an ordinary soldier. After he made meritorious service, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant."

"Who promoted him?"

Romanchenko quickly covered the microphone with his hand and asked Lobachev: "Comrade Lobachev, I wonder who promoted Comrade Regarin."

"It's Major Sokov," Lobachev answered quickly. "He is now the commander of an infantry brigade, and Zhegarin is his subordinate."

After finding out who promoted Regarin, Romanchenko released his hand covering the microphone and reported to Beria: "It was Major Sokov, the commander who won the Order of Lenin you just mentioned. He is now the commander of an infantry brigade under the 16th Army, and Lieutenant Regarin was promoted by him."

"Oh, it's him." Beria smiled. "It seems I was right. The 16th Army is a place where evil people are born. Not bad, Major Sokov has a good eye to discover such an outstanding talent. General Romanchenko, you are right. The addition of this sharpshooter may help us eliminate the German agents who have infiltrated Moscow as soon as possible."

After a pause, Beria continued to ask: "Where is Lieutenant Regarin now?"

"He followed Gerchikov to the underground shooting range," Romanchenko said. "Although we all know that his record is impossible to fake, Gerchikov, as the head of the task force, still wants to see for himself how good his shooting skills are."

After Beria ended the call, he stared at the phone in front of him and thought for a while, then picked up the receiver and dialed a number.

When a voice came out of the receiver, Beria said bluntly: "Comrade Colonel, do you know where Lieutenant Alina is?"

"Comrade People's Commissar," the person on the other end of the line replied respectfully, "Lieutenant Alina is now in the joint task force. What do you want to talk to her about?"

"It's like this." Beria said into the microphone: "General Romanchenko, director of the General Police Department, received a sharpshooter from the front line today. It is said that his marksmanship is amazing. Now he is following Major Gerchikov to test his marksmanship in the underground shooting range of the General Police Department. You ask Lieutenant Alina to go over and take a look at this man's marksmanship. It seems that his marksmanship is really as amazing as they say."

"Okay, Comrade People's Commissar," the other party replied, "I will immediately contact Lieutenant Alina and ask her to rush to the underground shooting range of the General Police Bureau as soon as possible."

Alina, who was checking information in the office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, felt annoyed after receiving the order from her superior. She was already busy checking information, but she had to go to the underground shooting range of the General Police Bureau to check the marksmanship of a sharpshooter from the front line. Isn't this just looking for trouble?

Although she had many dissatisfactions in her heart, since it was an order from her superior, she could only carry it out unconditionally.

She packed her things, drove to the gate of the Police Headquarters, showed her ID to the police officer guarding the gate, and entered the compound of the headquarters.

After finding a spot to park the car, she stopped a passing policeman and asked politely, "Comrade policeman, where is your underground shooting range?"

When the police found out that the person asking for directions was actually an officer from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, they dared not neglect her and quickly took her to the entrance of the underground shooting range.

After thanking the police, Alina pushed the door and walked into the underground shooting range.

As soon as she entered the room, she heard a series of gunshots and continuous cheers. Alina looked in the direction of the sound and saw 20 to 30 police officers standing behind the design desk. The cheers were coming from them. She quickly stepped forward, grabbed a female police officer and asked, "What happened here?"

The policewoman turned around and saw that the person asking the question was Alina. She smiled and said to her, "Lieutenant Alina, there is a sharpshooter from the front line who is performing a shooting show for everyone. He fired more than 40 shots in a row, and every shot hit the ten-ring, so everyone is cheering for him."

"That's not all." Another police officer added: "He used the Mosin-Nagant rifle to produce the effect of a submachine gun."

"Are you kidding me?!" Alina couldn't help but frown after hearing this. She felt that the policeman's statement was simply too exaggerated. As she squeezed into the crowd, she muttered, "Who can make a rifle fire like a submachine gun?"

But when she squeezed to the front row and saw the scene clearly, she was stunned.

A lieutenant stood in front of the shooting range, holding a Mosin-Nagant rifle and shooting. There were several Mosin-Nagant rifles on the shooting range in front of him. After firing five rounds, he put the rifle on the range and picked up another rifle to continue shooting. The rifle he put down was immediately taken aside by a policeman to be reloaded. The half-body target in the distance was already riddled with holes.

Alina watched for a while and agreed with what the policeman said. This unknown lieutenant was not only an extremely accurate shooter, but also did not need to load bullets himself. He could just pick up the gun and shoot. He really made the rifle act like a submachine gun.

"Stop! Stop!" When the lieutenant finished firing a rifle and was about to switch to another rifle, Gerchikov, who was standing next to him, called out in time: "That's enough, no more shooting. Lieutenant Zhegarin, I think everyone should have no doubts about your shooting skills."

After hearing what Gerchikov said, Zhegarin stopped changing his gun and asked Gerchikov: "Comrade Major, what should we do next?"

"This is not the place to talk, let's go somewhere else." When Gerchikov was pulling Regarin away, he saw Alina and said to her, "Comrade Lieutenant, come with me."

A few minutes later, the three of them arrived at Gerchikov's temporary office.

Gerchikov closed the door, then turned to Regarin and said, "Lieutenant Regarin, let me introduce you to this female comrade in front of you. She is Lieutenant Alina from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. She is the deputy head of the task force. Lieutenant Alina, this is Lieutenant Regarin from the 16th Army."

"Hello, Lieutenant Regalin." Alina had seen Regalin's amazing marksmanship and was very enthusiastic about him. "Not long ago, I also worked with a very outstanding commander of the 16th Army Group. I had a good impression of that unit. I didn't expect that you were also from that unit."

Hearing Alina say this, Gerchikov couldn't help but ask curiously: "Lieutenant Alina, I wonder what is the name of the outstanding commander you mentioned, what is his rank, and what position he is in?" It was the first time he heard Alina praise other people in front of him. He felt that if he could recruit the commander that Alina valued into his special task force, then he would be more confident of clearing out the German agents who had infiltrated Moscow as soon as possible.

Alina turned to look at Gerchikov and said, "Comrade Major, the commander's name is Sokov, and he also has the rank of major. I don't know what position he holds in the 16th Army now. But if you want to transfer him to our special task force, that's impossible."

"Why is it impossible?" Gerchikov asked puzzledly, "How can you know it's impossible without trying?"

Alina smiled and continued, "Comrade Major, I know Major Sokov. Although I don't know what position he holds now, I can tell you that he has served in the 37th Army and the 16th Army. He was recently transferred to the th Army, which means he is a very sought-after commander. Do you think you have the ability to transfer him back to Moscow?"

Regarin heard the conversation between Alina and Gerchikov. He interrupted them and said, "Excuse me, both of you. I want to ask, is the Major Sokov you are talking about the commander of the 16th Army Infantry Brigade?"

Hearing Regarin's question, Alina and Gerchikov looked at each other, and saw confusion in each other's eyes.

"Lieutenant Regarin," Alina said to Regarin, "I only know that Sokov is a major, but I don't know what position he holds in the 16th Army. Do you know him?" When Alina brought Yakov back to Moscow, Sokov had not yet held any position in the 16th Army, so she had no idea whether the commander of the infantry brigade was the Sokov she knew.

"By the way, Comrade Lieutenant, what does Major Sokov, the commander of the infantry brigade you mentioned, look like?" asked Gerchikov.

"Comrade Major, do you have a pen and paper?" Zhegarin said to Gerchikov, "I can draw it for you."

"Yes, of course." Gerchikov walked quickly to the back of the desk, bent down and opened a drawer, took out a notebook and a sharpened pencil, and handed them to Regarin: "Lieutenant Regarin, please draw him."

Zhegarin nodded, took the paper and pencil and started drawing. Alina and Gerchikov stood beside him, staring at the pencil in his hand nervously.

A few minutes later, Sokov's portrait appeared on the paper.

At this point, Alina was certain that the Sokov she knew and the Sokov mentioned by Zhegarin were the same person, and she quickly said, "Yes, yes, it's him."

Gerchikov picked up Sokov's portrait, looked at it for a while, then looked up at Alina and asked, "Lieutenant Alina, you are an officer of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. How come you are carrying out a mission together with an officer at the front line?"

"Comrade Major, I cannot tell you what our specific mission is because your confidentiality level is not high enough. Please forgive me." Alina said to Gerchikov, "But I can make one thing clear. Without the assistance of Major Sokov, the action team I led would never have been able to complete this mission." She pointed to the brand new medal on her chest and added, "It would have been even more impossible for me to receive this medal."

Alina's words made Gerchikov feel itchy, and he wanted to ask his superiors to transfer Sokov to his special task force immediately to help him eliminate the German agents who had infiltrated Moscow. He put the portrait on the table, folded his hands over his chest, and said thoughtfully: "Comrade Lieutenant, if he is really as capable as you say, we should invite him to join us."

(End of this chapter)