red moscow

Chapter 2858

Romanchenko left the meeting room without waiting for the meeting to end. In order to obtain the list of personnel in the Kremlin Armory, the matter must be reported to Beria. Only after receiving the other party's help can the investigation of the Armory continue.

After Romanchenko left, Sokov asked, "I have a basic understanding of the attack. Does anyone have anything to add?"

After Sokov finished speaking, Alina, who was sitting not far away, raised her hand, indicating that she had something to say.

"Lieutenant Alina, please tell me."

Except for Gerchikov and Zhegarin, everyone else in the conference room was surprised. They didn't expect Sokov to call out Alina's name so easily.

Alina stood up and said, "Comrade Major, during the day, a patrol team exchanged fire with German agents. According to the surviving soldiers, their bullets clearly hit the enemy's body, but they could not penetrate the enemy's clothes..."

"Wait a minute, Lieutenant Alina." Sokov heard this and raised his hand to interrupt Alina's next words: "You mean, when the patrol soldiers exchanged fire with the enemy, the bullets hit their bodies but could not penetrate the clothes they were wearing. So what clothes were they wearing, bulletproof vests?"

"Bulletproof vest?!" There was no such word in this era, so Alina's expression froze after hearing it, and then she came to her senses and continued, "Comrade Major, the name you chose is quite accurate. According to the soldiers, the clothes on the enemy are similar to medieval chain mail. Bullets can only splash sparks but cannot penetrate them."

"The bulletproof vests they wear," Sokov continued, "are they only wearing the upper body, or are they covering their entire bodies?"

"They only wore bulletproof vests on their upper bodies," Alina said. "They were a little slow when they ran away, which means the vests are a bit heavy. If their entire bodies were wrapped in bulletproof vests, I'm afraid they wouldn't be able to move at all."

One member, who was apparently unaware of this, could not help but complain: "Since the action was so slow, why didn't our soldiers catch them?"

Alina glanced at the other party and said coldly: "Although the German agents were slowed down by wearing special bulletproof vests, they were equipped with submachine guns, while our patrol soldiers were equipped with rifles, which put them at a disadvantage in firepower. In a patrol team of 20, only five or six people survived."

"What about the enemy?" But the man asked unwillingly: "How many people are there?"

"Three people." Perhaps worried that the other party would not believe her, Alina added, "They are all equipped with submachine guns."

"What, only three people? Twenty of us can't keep three people from the other side?"

Sokov frowned, feeling very dissatisfied. The entire team had only a few people, and some people didn't know about the encounter between the patrol team and the German agents during the day. This showed that the communication within the task force was not enough, and information could not be shared. How could the case be solved?

He slapped his hands on the table twice and said sternly, "Quiet, everyone, be quiet!"

After the meeting room became quiet again, Sokov turned his head and looked at Gerchikov, saying unhappily, "Comrade Major, can you explain to me why there are still people in the task force who don't know about what happened between the patrol and the German agents during the day? There are not many people in the task force. If the information obtained during the investigation cannot be made known to everyone in a timely manner, I can hardly imagine how you have the confidence that you can solve the case within the specified time limit?"

Facing Sokov's accusation, Gerchikov's face turned red, and he explained awkwardly: "Major Sokov, you don't know that the members of the task force come from different departments, are not familiar with each other, are responsible for different investigation directions, and work in different areas, so after obtaining clues, they cannot inform other members immediately."

"Let me give you an example." Sokov pursed his lips and said, "Lieutenant Alina and I were responsible for finding the hiding place of the German agents. After we got the clues, we did not inform you immediately, but worked directly based on the clues we had. The other members of the team did not know that we already had the clues, and they might even repeat the reconnaissance based on the clues we had. This not only wasted a lot of manpower and material resources, but also had low work efficiency."

"Major Sokov, I understand what you mean." Gerchikov understood what Sokov meant and quickly defended himself, "In the future, I will ask the team members to report their findings in a timely manner to ensure that every team member is aware of the progress of the case."

Seeing that Gerchikov understood his intention, Sokov smiled and nodded, saying, "That's right, Comrade Major, that's what we should do. Only in this way can we hope to eliminate the German agents who have infiltrated Moscow in the shortest possible time. Of course, in order not to affect the results of the investigation, we only need to hold a summary meeting at noon and evening every day, so that everyone can summarize the intelligence they have, so that everyone in the group can understand the progress of the case. That's enough."

While Sokov and Gerchikov were still discussing how to deploy personnel and start a new investigation, Romanchenko walked in quickly from outside and handed a piece of paper to Sokov: "Here, this is the personnel list of the Kremlin Armory. Usually, an armory as large as this one has a normal staff of two to five people, but the nature of this armory in the Kremlin is different, so the staff is adjusted to eight people, and the person in charge is a major."

"There are eight people in the organization, and the person in charge is actually a major?" After hearing what Romanchenko said, Regarin, who had just approached Sokov, was full of disbelief on his face: "If there are a few more people, wouldn't it be a lieutenant colonel?"

Romanchenko turned his head and glanced at Regarin, shaking his head and said, "Lieutenant Regarin, you may not know that there are regulations for the military ranks corresponding to various organizations. For example, in this armory, whether the staff is eight or eighty people, the highest rank of the person in charge will not exceed major."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Regalin added, "Will the head of the armory have the opportunity to be transferred to other places in the future?"

Romanchenko shook his head again and gave Zhegarin a negative answer: "The head of the armory cannot leave this position unless he retires or has some special reasons. Of course, this rule only applies to the head of the armory. His deputies and ordinary administrators are not subject to this restriction."

Sokov took the paper Romanchenko had given him and carefully checked the names on it. The first person on the list was Babushkin, the head of the armory, with the rank of major. Next were his three deputies, with the ranks of captain, lieutenant and lieutenant, and four ordinary administrators with the rank of corporal.

Seeing that Sokov had been staring at the list and even frowned, Romanchenko couldn't help but ask curiously, "Major Sokov, do you think there are any suspicious people on the list?"

At this moment, Sokov was thinking about a novel he read later in life, which mentioned a major in the Kremlin Armory who was bribed by the Germans and volunteered to act as an insider for the Germans. He not only provided weapons and equipment for the German agents who sneaked into Moscow, but also opened a side door of the Kremlin and let the German agents in, making it easier for them to assassinate Stalin.

He remembered that the man's rank was major, but he couldn't remember his name clearly. After all, he hadn't come to Moscow at that time and was unfamiliar with Soviet Russia, so he couldn't remember the long and difficult name. But it was useless to remember it. The names of the characters in the novel were probably made up. If he arrested someone by the name in the novel, he would definitely not know him.

When he heard Romanchenko asking him a question, he quickly pointed to the name of the person in charge on the list and said, "Comrade Director, I think this Major Babushkin is very suspicious. Do you think it would be possible for Comrade Beria to send someone from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to investigate his background?"

He thought that his request would make Romanchenko feel embarrassed, after all, the person to be investigated was an insider of the Kremlin. But as soon as he finished speaking, Romanchenko waved Alina to him and said, "Lieutenant Alina, Comrade Beria asked you to join the special investigation team so that when we were investigating and involved personnel from the Ministry of Internal Affairs or personnel from key departments, you would negotiate with the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Now that Major Sokov wants to investigate this major, how about you take charge?"

Alina did not shirk Romanchenko's arrangement, but nodded and agreed readily: "Okay, Comrade Director, I will immediately investigate this major in the armory. I can put his information on your desk by noon tomorrow at the latest."

But Romanchenko smiled and said, "Lieutenant Alina, you are wrong. I will not read your investigation report. After all, I am not responsible for this matter. When you have the results, you can hand them over directly to Major Sokov or Major Gerchikov. After all, they are your leaders now."

"Okay, Comrade Director." Alina followed suit. She turned to Sokov and said, "Comrade Major, I will report to you as soon as I get Major Babushkin's information."

Sokov nodded and told her, "Alina, I have a feeling that this Major Babushkin may be a very important mission. Whether we can eliminate the German agents who have infiltrated the city may be closely related to him."

If under normal circumstances, anyone dared to question whether a soldier in the Kremlin had problems, especially the person in charge of an indispensable and key position like the armory, and whether he might have colluded with the Germans in private, then he would be thrown into a cell in the Lubyanka by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and subjected to severe interrogation to see what purpose he had in daring to raise such questions.

But now it was wartime, and German agents had infiltrated Moscow and were trying to threaten Comrade Stalin's safety. In this case, it made sense to conduct a secret investigation on someone.

So when Alina heard what Sokov said, she quickly expressed her opinion to him: "Comrade Major, I will start an investigation immediately. I will report the results to you as soon as possible."

Although Alina had just promised Romanchenko that she would get the complete information by tomorrow noon at the latest, in order to find out whether Babushkin was the German's spy as soon as possible, Sokov still reminded Alina: "Alina, remember, I want to see all the information about Major Babushkin by tomorrow noon at the latest."

"Okay, Comrade Major, you will be able to see the detailed information by noon tomorrow at the latest."

After the meeting, the members of the task force left the meeting room one after another, leaving only Romanchenko, Sokov and Gerchikov.

Romanchenko handed Sokov a cigarette and asked curiously: "Comrade Major, do you really think that there are people in the Kremlin armory who are colluding with German agents?"

"Yes." Sokov lit a match, first helped Romanchenko light his cigarette, then lit his own. After taking a deep breath, he said, "I just said at the meeting that the enemy has a limited amount of ammunition, and we have exchanged fire twice. I guess the remaining ammunition is not enough to support their next assassination. Therefore, they must find a way to get new weapons and equipment, and the Kremlin armory is undoubtedly the most suitable location."

Hearing Sokov's confident words, Romanchenko's expression became serious. "Major Sokov, if there are really people in the armory who are colluding with German agents, then Comrade Stalin's safety will be difficult to guarantee. Do you think we should report this to Comrade Stalin through Comrade Beria and have him move to another place first?"

"Comrade Director, you should know that although Moscow has carried out a large-scale evacuation and some important institutions have been moved to Kuibyshev, Comrade Stalin has stayed behind." Sokov analyzed to Romanchenko: "Now even if we tell the Supreme Commander himself through Comrade Beria that German agents may sneak into the Kremlin and assassinate him, and ask him to move to a safe place, I think he probably won't agree."

When Romanchenko lowered his head to smoke, Gerchikov, who had remained silent beside him, suddenly asked: "Comrade Major, I want to ask a question. Is that okay?"

"Of course." Sokov nodded to Gerchikov and said, "If you have any questions, just ask."

"Major Sokov, why do you only suspect the person in charge of the armory and not the ordinary armory administrators?" Gerchikov looked at Sokov and asked, "In addition to Major Babushkin, his deputies and subordinates may also be colluding with German agents."

Sokov did not expect Gerchikov to suddenly ask such a question. He thought for a moment and replied, "Comrade Major, what you said is possible. But Director Romanchenko also said that except for retirement and some special reasons, the head of the armory cannot leave his post. His deputies and subordinates are not subject to this restriction.

If you were a German agent and wanted to obtain supplies from the armory, or even sneak into the Kremlin, who would you bribe? The person in charge of the armory, his deputy, or an ordinary administrator?

Gerchikov was silent for a long time, and finally answered in a hoarse voice: "Of course it is the head of the armory, because his position will not change."

(End of this chapter)