red moscow

Chapter 2861

That evening, a team of officers and soldiers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs suddenly arrived at the Kremlin armory.

Since Babushkin had been secretly taken away, a captain named Kudzhov was now in charge. He was sleeping soundly when the light in the room suddenly came on. He was awakened from his sleep and was about to explode when he heard a stern voice: "We are from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Everyone, gather outside immediately."

As soon as Kuzhov opened his eyes, he was dragged down from his bed by two soldiers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They urged him, "Hurry up, get dressed and gather outside."

A few minutes later, Kudzhov put on his clothes and boots and walked out of his room under the escort of the Ministry of Internal Affairs soldiers.

When he came outside, he saw five armory managers standing in the open space outside, and they were surrounded by soldiers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs who were armed with live ammunition.

Seeing this scene, Kuzhuov's heart beat faster and his mind couldn't help but recall the terrifying time a few years ago.

He turned to the soldier who was escorting him and asked, "Where is your commander? I have something to say to him."

The soldier didn't waste any words and directly pulled him aside, where there were several people who looked like officers, one of whom was a captain, and next to the captain stood a young female second lieutenant.

"Comrade Captain," Kuzhov said. Although he and the other party were both captains, the other party was from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and had a higher status than himself, so he spoke with a bit of caution. "I am one of the persons in charge of the armory. I want to ask, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?"

"When the time is right, I will tell you the reason." The captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs looked at the armory managers not far away and asked the female lieutenant beside him: "Are all the armory staff here?"

"The staff of the armory is eight people," the female lieutenant replied. "Except for Major Babushkin and Nai, the person in charge, the rest of them are here."

The captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs nodded and ordered, "Search for me!"

As the order was issued, the Ministry of Internal Affairs soldiers standing nearby immediately dispersed. Some went to search the residence of the armory manager, while others went directly to the warehouse where weapons and ammunition were stored.

Seeing someone trying to open the door of the ammunition depot, Kuzhov immediately became anxious: "Stop, stop it! That is the armory. No one is allowed to open it without the order from the superiors."

But the captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs showed an order and said confidently: "We searched the armory on the orders of Comrade Beria."

Upon learning that it was Beria who ordered the search of the armory, Kudzhov had no choice but to shut up. He was just a small captain and had no right to question the orders issued by the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs.

The soldier who had finished searching the administrator's dormitory quickly came over to report to the captain: "Comrade Captain, we have searched the dormitory, and there is nothing inside that we want to take away."

When the captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs nodded and asked the soldiers to stand aside, Kuzhuov asked in confusion: "Comrade Captain, what are you looking for?"

The captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs still did not give an answer, but said coldly: "When you try what you should know, you will naturally know." After that, he no longer paid attention to Kuzhuov, but turned his attention to the location of the armory.

Not long after, several soldiers walked out of the armory, one of them holding something in his hand.

They came to the captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, raised their hands to salute, and excitedly reported: "Comrade Captain, we found a radio and a code book in the armory."

The captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs took the code book, flipped through it twice, and handed it to the female lieutenant next to him. At the same time, he said excitedly: "Lieutenant Alina, it seems that the major you mentioned made a very accurate judgment. They did hide a radio in the armory."

"Yes," Lieutenant Alina nodded and agreed, "I have dealt with Major Sokov several times and know that his judgment is very accurate. That's why I suggested searching the armory overnight to prevent the accomplices who have escaped from the net from noticing and secretly moving the radio station."

"I don't quite understand." The captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs stared at the radio in the soldier's hand and asked puzzledly: "Since they have a radio, why do they use the stupid method of sending people to get intelligence? You know, doing so is not only slow, but also has the risk of exposing their identities."

"The reason is simple," Alina explained. "Although sending a telegram is the fastest way, don't forget that the Kremlin's telecommunications monitoring is also the most stringent. If any unknown radio signals are found, they will definitely be thoroughly investigated. In this way, the lurking enemy is in danger of being exposed, so they can only send people to deliver messages to keep in touch with people outside."

"So that's how it is." The captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs turned to look at the armory managers who were being guarded by the soldiers and asked, "How are they going to deal with it?"

"It is possible that there may be accomplices of spies among them." Alina said, "Lock them up first and let others take over their duties. As for how to deal with them, I will go back and ask Major Sokov."

Seeing that the soldiers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs were about to take him away, Kudzhov suddenly became anxious. He shouted to the captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs: "Comrade Captain, why are you taking us away? You must give us a legitimate reason."

The captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs walked up to him and said indifferently: "Since you want to know the answer so much, I can tell you. Someone in the armory colluded with German agents and planned to secretly put them into the Kremlin, provide them with weapons, and sabotage the palace. All of you are suspects, so you will be taken back for investigation."

"Comrade Captain, are you mistaken? How could someone in the armory collude with the German agents outside?" Kudzhov said unconvincedly, "Besides, the head of the armory, Major Babushkin, is not here. If he comes back and finds that we are gone, how are you going to explain to him?"

"If you don't want to see Major Babushkin, then follow us." The captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs sneered and said, "You can meet your superior Major Babushkin in the Lubyanka prison. He has been imprisoned by us a long time ago."

"What? Major Babushkin was arrested by the Ministry of Internal Affairs?" Kudzhov broke out in a cold sweat and asked in a panic, "When did this happen?"

"If you have any questions, you can ask your major in person when you get to the prison." The captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said, and waved his hand, ordering his subordinates: "Come, take them all away." After Kuzhuov and others were taken away, Alina said to the captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs: "Comrade Captain, I have to go back to participate in the interrogation. I will leave it to you to send someone to take over the armory."

"Don't worry, Lieutenant Alina." Although his rank was three levels higher than Alina's, the captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was very respectful because he had received news that Lieutenant Alina had carried out a secret mission some time ago and was praised by the Supreme Commander himself. Maybe in a while, she will be rewarded and not only receive a medal, but also a promotion in rank. There is absolutely no harm in getting along with her as soon as possible: "I will arrange everything."

……

Sokov, who was resting in the office, was awakened by a rapid knock on the door.

He sat up from the bed on the floor, rubbed his face, and was about to get up to open the door when Gerchikov, who was sleeping not far away, had already stood up, walked over and opened the door.

The person standing outside the door was Lieutenant Alina. After she saw that it was Gerchikov who opened the door for her, she immediately asked, "Comrade Major, is Major Sokov here?"

"Lieutenant Alina, I'm here." When Sokov stood up, he looked out the window and saw that it was still dark outside. He walked up to Alina and asked curiously, "Why are you here to see us at this time? Is there something important?"

"Yes, Comrade Major, I do have something important to report to you immediately." Alina said excitedly: "Babushkin has confessed."

"Oh, Babushkin confessed?" Sokov and Gerchikov were delighted to learn that Babushkin had given in. This meant that they could get a more detailed picture of the German agents' movements. But Sokov was still very curious. How could Babushkin, who was so strong and unyielding a few hours ago, confess so honestly? Was there some inside story? He asked tentatively, "Didn't he grit his teeth and firmly refuse to admit that he had colluded with the German agents?"

"Yes, he was indeed very stubborn," Alina said proudly, "but when we put the radio and code book we found in front of him and told him that everyone in the armory was imprisoned in the Lubyanka prison, he immediately became obedient. Without waiting for us to ask any more questions, he told us what we wanted to know."

"Great, this is really great." Gerchikov urged Alina: "Comrade Lieutenant, please tell us quickly, what did he say?"

"Here, this is his confession. Take your time to read it." Alina stuffed Babushkin's confession into Sokov's hands.

Sokov hurried to his desk, turned on the desk lamp, sat down, and read Major Babushkin's confession.

The confession detailed how he planned to cooperate with German agents to assassinate Stalin when he went to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to pay tribute the next day at noon. What shocked Sokov the most was that Babushkin also planned to provide mortars to the German agents so that they could bombard the area where the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was located from a distance.

Sokov was shocked when he saw this. If a gunfight broke out near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the Kremlin guards could still eliminate the German agents who had infiltrated the Kremlin with their numbers and equipment. But if the German agents had mortars, then no matter how many guards there were in the Kremlin, they would be nothing more than sitting ducks in front of the German agents.

After reading the confession, Sokov handed it to Gerchikov, who was standing beside him and craning his neck to read it together. He said, "This damn Major Babushkin is so crazy. He actually wants to wait until the German agents are let in and provide them with mortars so that we can cover the location of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier with long-range artillery fire. In this way, even if we deploy more people nearby, they are just sitting ducks and we have no chance of catching the German agents who have infiltrated."

After reading the confession, Gerchikov said to Sokov: "Major Sokov, we have already controlled the armory in the Kremlin. After we let the enemy in, we can completely stop providing them with mortars, so that they will not be able to carry out artillery attacks on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from a long distance."

"I'm afraid that won't work." Before Sokov could say anything, Alina said, "Major Babushkin asked Nai to send the intelligence two days ago, which mentioned what kind of weapons we would provide them. If the German agents enter the Kremlin tomorrow and find that there are no mortars among the weapons we provide them, it will definitely arouse their suspicion."

Hearing what Alina said, Gerchikov seemed very flustered. He didn't look like a senior criminal policeman at all, but more like a trainee criminal policeman who had just joined the police station. He asked nervously: "Major Sokov, what should we do?"

"Lieutenant Alina, do you have a weapons list?"

"Yes." Alina nodded, took out a piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to Sokov: "This is the list of weapons that Major Babushkin intends to provide to the Germans."

After reading the list, Sokov sneered and said, "Major Babushkin is quite generous. He plans to provide the German agents with two mortars, two rotary machine guns and fifteen submachine guns. It's really a big deal."

After hearing this, Gerchikov couldn't help but take a deep breath: "Major Sokov, if the German agents really got such weapons, even if they are at a disadvantage in numbers, they will have an advantage in equipment. If the guards in the Kremlin want to eliminate them, they will definitely pay a heavy price."

"Don't worry, Comrade Major, please stay calm." Sokov comforted Gerchikov with such an expression.

"I can't calm down." Gerchikov said anxiously, "If this kind of equipment is used in a battle, it may not be very useful. But if it is used to sabotage the Kremlin, it will cause huge losses."

"Comrade Major, calm down." Seeing Gerchikov so emotional, Sokov could only explain to him: "We can provide the weapons that Babushkin promised them, but whether they can use the weapons they get is another matter."

Hearing what Sokov said, Alina showed a surprised expression on her face: "Major Sokov, have you come up with a good idea?"

Gerchikov asked with a puzzled look on his face: "Comrade Major, have you come up with any solution? Can you tell me about it?"

Sokov nodded and said to the two men, "We can destroy these weapons, for example, by removing the firing pins of guns and mortars. In this way, even if the Germans get these weapons, they won't be able to use them."

"Major Sokov, this is a really good idea." Alina nodded vigorously and said excitedly, "After those German agents entered the Kremlin, they must have wanted to win a quick victory, so they had no time to check the weapons we provided. I really want to know what their expressions would be when they were about to use these weapons and found that they were all broken."

(End of this chapter)