red moscow

Chapter 2875 Special Mission

Rokossovsky thought about Lobachev's proposal for a while, and then said: "Misha is not only young, but also has been in the army for too short a time. Although he has made many military achievements, if he is promoted directly to colonel, I am afraid that many people will raise objections. I think this way, promote him to lieutenant colonel first, and then let him get a higher rank when there is an opportunity in the future. Comrade Military Commissar, what do you think?"

"I think so." Lobachev nodded and agreed, "Then promote him to lieutenant colonel as soon as possible."

Rokossovsky raised his hand to check the time, then said, "After today's battle is over, we will officially announce his promotion to military rank."

As the two were talking, a staff officer came over and reported, "Comrade Commander, there is a lieutenant from the Ministry of Internal Affairs outside who wants to see you about something important."

When Rokossovsky heard from his staff officer that an officer from the Ministry of Internal Affairs wanted to see him, he was slightly startled. He wondered what the Ministry of Internal Affairs wanted to see him for. He tried to remain calm and said to his staff officer, "Comrade Staff Officer, go and bring over that lieutenant from the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

Soon, the staff officer came over with an officer from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

When Lobachev saw the person clearly, he showed a look of astonishment on his face: "Lieutenant Alina, why is it you?" After a moment, he added, "No, from now on, I should call you Lieutenant Alina!"

"Hello, Comrade Lobachev!" Alina raised her hand and saluted Lobachev: "We meet again!"

The last time Alina led a special agent team to carry out the mission of rescuing Yakov, she had come to the 16th Army Headquarters, so Rokossovsky knew her. While she was shaking hands with Lobachev, he asked, "Comrade Lieutenant, I wonder if you came to my headquarters today with any special mission?"

"Hello, Comrade General!" After shaking hands with Lobachev, Alina saluted Rokossovsky and then said, "I am here with a special mission."

"Tell me, what is the mission?"

Alina looked around and saw that besides Rokossovsky and Lobachev, there was only Chief of Staff Malinin at the table. The rest of the staff and communications personnel were more than ten meters away. Even if they said something, those people might not be able to hear it. After confirming that the surroundings were safe, Alina said, "I came here this time on the orders of Comrade Beria to cover several German prisoners of war to escape from our defense zone and return to the German-occupied area."

Upon hearing this, Rokossovsky immediately connected Alina's mission with what Zhukov said on the phone: "Lieutenant Alina, before you came, General Zhukov had told me to let several German prisoners of war escape from my army's defense zone tonight and let them return to the German-occupied area safely. One of them was disguised by our comrade. I wonder if your visit is related to this mission?"

"That's right, Comrade General, you are right. I came here for this mission." Alina explained to Rokossovsky and others, "During their escape, they must create some illusions of pursuit to make their escape seem more real. But considering that there may be some mistakes in the execution of this mission, my superiors sent me with a team to supervise the execution of this mission."

"Comrade Lieutenant," Rokossovsky said impatiently after Alina finished speaking, "According to the instructions of the superiors, let those prisoners escape from our army's defense zone tonight. The general escape route has been planned, which is to enter the German-occupied area from the location of Major Sokov's infantry brigade."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Alina heard the dissatisfaction in Rokossovsky's tone, so she took the initiative to say, "My car is outside, and I'm going to the infantry brigade's base right now. Please send someone to act as a guide for me."

Hearing Alina say this, Lobachev asked curiously: "Lieutenant Alina, didn't you say that you brought a special team? Are they all outside?"

Alina shook her head. "I drove here alone. The rest of the special team was out on a mission. They left secret signals for their own prisoners of war, asking them to escape along the pre-planned route to avoid getting lost."

After figuring out what was going on, Lobachev called a staff officer and said, "Comrade Staff Officer, please act as a guide for Lieutenant Alina and take her to the infantry brigade."

"Yes, Comrade Military Commissioner," the staff officer replied loudly, "I promise to take her to her destination safely."

…………

The German attack on the 4th Battalion was repelled.

In order to repel the German attack, the 4th Battalion, which had been replenished, fought tenaciously, and the two artillery battalions deployed in the rear also used half of their artillery shells. As the Germans retreated, only burning tanks and armored vehicles, as well as German corpses lying around the craters, were left in front of the 4th Battalion's position.

When Sokov was checking the results reported by the Fourth Battalion, a voice came from outside: "Major Sokov, are you in there?"

Hearing the shouting outside, Sokov was stunned and thought that the voice sounded a bit like Lieutenant Alina's. How could she appear here?

Without even putting down the battle report in his hand, he hurried to the door of the tent, lifted the curtain and took a look. Sure enough, he saw Alina standing outside.

"Lieutenant Alina!" Sokov had just finished speaking when he realized that Alina standing in front of him looked a little different. Not only was her rank changed to lieutenant on her collar, but she also had two brand new medals on her chest. "Why are you here?"

Alina came to the door of the tent, looked inside, and then said, "Comrade Major, can I come in?"

"Of course, of course." Sokov said, stepped aside, and continued to lift the curtain and said: "Lieutenant Alina, please come in quickly."

After Alina came in, Sokov immediately told Romanov: "Romanov, bring Alina a cup of tea."

While Romanov was pouring water, Sokov asked curiously, "Alina, why are you here suddenly?"

"I'm here to carry out a mission." As Alina spoke, she glanced at the people in the tent, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

Seeing this, Sokov quickly said to him, "Alina, there are only five people in the tent, including you. They are all absolutely reliable. Just say whatever you want to say."

After hearing what Sokov said, Alina hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke: "Comrade Major, the situation is like this. In order to allow one of our comrades to infiltrate the German army, the relevant superior departments organized a fake prisoner escape incident, allowing the comrade to escape from the prisoner-of-war camp among several German prisoners of war. Now, we have to find a way to get these people back to the German-occupied area. I came here for this matter."

Hearing this, Karsokov couldn't help but interrupt and ask, "Comrade Lieutenant, I wonder which prisoner-of-war camp these prisoners of war escaped from? How can we get them through our army's defense line and return to the German-occupied area smoothly?" "I brought a special team with me this time." Alina said, "They will leave secret codes along the way to guide our comrades and the German prisoners of war to successfully pass through our army's control area and return to the German-occupied area."

Sokov tapped his fingers lightly on the table, wondering, if they were to send personnel to infiltrate the German army, why would they deliberately create a fake prison break in a prisoner-of-war camp? Moreover, the more people involved in such a top-secret mission, the easier it would be to be exposed.

"Comrade Major!" Seeing Sokov's silence, Alina asked curiously, "What are you thinking about?"

"Lieutenant Alina, I don't understand why our superiors made such an arrangement." Sokov said puzzledly: "If we want our people to infiltrate the German army, there are many ways. Why do we have to make things so complicated?"

When Alina heard what Sokov said, the corners of her mouth twitched violently. She seemed to want to say something, but when the words came to her lips, she didn't say it.

Sokov saw Alina's concerns and took the initiative to say, "Lieutenant Alina, is there something you can't say? If you can't say it, don't say it."

"Comrade Major, this matter may need to be kept secret from others, but it is not necessary for you." Alina said in shock: "Comrade Beria once personally explained that if he needs your cooperation, he can tell you the truth."

After saying this, Alina's eyes moved around the tent again, as if she felt that there were people around and some things were inconvenient to say.

"Lieutenant Alina," Sokov stood up and said, "The chief of staff is still directing the battle and cannot leave here. If you have anything to say, let's go outside and talk."

"Okay then, let's talk outside."

The two walked out of the tent and walked about 20 to 30 meters towards an empty place. Then Sokov stopped and turned to Alina and said, "Alina, if you have anything to say, just talk here. There's no one around, so you don't have to worry about the secrets being leaked."

Even so, Alina still looked around and saw that there was indeed no one nearby. Then she said to Sokov, "Misha! The reason why the superiors want to create a fake prison break is because the identity of the comrade who is carrying out the mission is very special."

"A very special identity?" Sokov asked puzzledly, "How special? You're not going to tell me that the person who carried out the mission is Yakov, right?"

"How is this possible?" Alina shook her head and said, "Yakov is Comrade Stalin's eldest son. How could he carry out such a dangerous mission?"

"Then what about the special status of the comrades carrying out the mission?"

"It's like this. The comrade who carried out the mission was called Kutsenko." Alina explained to Sokov, "Soon after the outbreak of the war, with the help of an agent, he replaced the identity of a German major who was killed by our army and entered the German headquarters. He used his identity to steal a lot of intelligence and sent it to us continuously. This valuable intelligence provided very useful reference value for our army to formulate combat plans."

Sokov felt strange. Since Kutsenko had infiltrated the German army at the beginning of the war, how could he appear in the Soviet POW camp? Could it be that he did not take the initiative to reveal his identity after being captured by our army? However, he did not interrupt Alina's story. He knew that she would tell him the answer soon.

Sure enough, Alina soon talked about what Sokov was concerned about: "...Originally he was lurking inside the German army and did not arouse any suspicion. But until one day, his wife came to the front line, which led to his identity being exposed."

"How was it exposed?" Although Sokov guessed the answer, he still couldn't help asking.

"How else could he be exposed? Of course, he was exposed when the couple was alone together." Alina explained with a blushing face: "Although he looked exactly like the German major who was killed by our army, the German officers who were with him day and night did not notice any flaws. But after the major's wife spent one night with Kutsenko, she became suspicious of his identity and secretly reported to the local Gestapo, saying that this man was not her husband, but an imposter."

When Sokov heard this, he couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise, thinking that this was so exciting. He was hiding well, but his identity was exposed because of the German major's wife. He couldn't help but ask, "Since he was exposed, how did he escape later?"

"When the Gestapo went to arrest him, other comrades at the front noticed something was wrong and warned him in advance. After receiving the notice, he immediately drove away from the headquarters and escaped the Gestapo's pursuit."

"So where do you plan to let him hide this time when he returns to the German-occupied area?"

"Of course it's the original headquarters." Alina said, "He is familiar with the environment there, which is conducive to the development of work."

When Sokov heard this, he broke out in a cold sweat. "Alina, are the intelligence officers crazy? Comrade Kutsenko originally escaped from the German-occupied area because his identity was exposed. Now you let him return, aren't you letting him walk into a trap?"

"Misha, things are not what you think." Alina shook her head and said, "Comrade Kutsenko returned this time as the German major who was shot. The reason he created a prisoner-of-war camp escape was to let the prisoners who returned to the German-occupied area with him confirm his identity to the relevant parties. Prove that he is the German major and has been detained in the prisoner-of-war camp with them."

Alina's explanation made Sokov laugh and cry. He thought that a Soviet agent pretending to be a German major had escaped back to the Soviet side because his identity was exposed. However, within a few months, the escaped agent returned with the name of a German major. Do you really think that all Germans are idiots?

Seeing Sokov shaking his head repeatedly, Alina asked curiously: "Misha, why do you keep shaking your head?"

"Alina, there are only two of us here. I want to hear your honest answer." Sokov looked at Alina and asked seriously, "Do you think the Germans will not doubt Comrade Kutsenko's identity after he arrives in the German-occupied area?"

"There will definitely be suspicion." Alina also said thoughtfully: "If the Germans find the German major's wife again to distinguish the truth from the false and let the two get along for a while, I'm afraid Kutsenko's identity will be exposed."

"Since you also think that Comrade Kutsenko has a high chance of being exposed after arriving in the German-occupied area, why do you want to let him die?"

Hearing what Sokov said, Alina sighed softly and said helplessly: "Misha, this is not something you and I should consider. You just need to cooperate with me and let Comrade Kutsenko and the German prisoners of war pass through your defense line."

(End of this chapter)