red moscow

Chapter 2879

When Sokov, Zhukov and the guard platoon arrived at the defense zone of the Second Battalion, they suddenly saw a group of people in German uniforms appearing in front of them.

Zhukov, who was walking beside Sokov, was shocked when he saw the "Germans" suddenly appear in front of him. He quickly drew his pistol and blocked Sokov's way, while whispering to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, hide quickly, there are Germans ahead."

But Sokov pushed Zhukov aside and comforted him: "Comrade Lieutenant, don't worry, it's not the enemy, it's the comrades from the Second Battalion."

As soon as Sokov finished speaking, two people came out of the crowd and asked Sokov, "Is this Comrade Brigade Commander?"

Sokov recognized the voice of Captain Alexa, the commander of the second battalion, and took two steps forward: "Yes, it's me. It's Captain Alexa, right?"

"It's me, Comrade Brigade Commander."

Alexa raised her hand to salute, and then introduced the officer next to her to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, this is Captain Olga, the commander of the third company. His company will go with you to carry out the mission."

"Hello, Captain Olga." Sokov shook the other's hand and asked, "Are you ready?"

"Everything is ready, Comrade Brigade Commander," Olga replied. "All the soldiers in the company are wearing German uniforms and are ready to go."

Sokov let go of the other's hand and pointed to Zhukov and the guard platoon who followed him: "Let the people I brought with me also change into German uniforms."

While the guards were changing into German uniforms, Sokov asked Alexa, "Comrade Captain, have all the passages in the minefield been cleared?"

"Yes, it has been opened." After answering this question, Alexa asked in return: "Do you need to seal the passage again after your convoy passes through?"

"Of course, of course we have to block it." Sokov said with a serious expression: "I don't know when we can return. If the enemy launches an attack on your battalion's position before we return, the enemy may use the passage you expected and successfully pass through the minefield in front of the position."

Alexa nodded, then asked worriedly, "Comrade Brigade Commander, you can just let someone else take charge of such a dangerous operation behind enemy lines. Why take the risk?"

"The situation behind enemy lines changes rapidly, and the combat plan needs to be adjusted in a timely manner according to the actual situation at the time." Sokov replied: "I don't feel at ease to entrust such a task to others."

A few minutes later, Zhukov came to report to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, the soldiers of the guard platoon have all put on German uniforms. I wonder when they can set off?"

"Let the soldiers get on the bus." Sokov looked at Zhukov's German second lieutenant uniform and said, "Comrade Second Lieutenant, you can speak German, so you can sit in the driver's seat of the first bus. If we encounter the enemy on the road, you will negotiate with them. If the enemy asks us where we are from, you can say we are from the Seventh Armored Division and are being ordered to retreat to the rear for rest."

"The Seventh Armored Division?" Alexa, who was standing next to him, was stunned and asked, "Aren't they attacking Volokolamsk? When did they start to retreat?"

"It has rained these past two days, and many areas outside Volokolamsk have become muddy. The enemy's tanks and armored vehicles cannot launch offensives as they did in the past, so the German High Command ordered the 7th Armored Division to retreat, which gave us the opportunity to impersonate them." After briefly explaining to Alexa, Sokov urged Zhukov: "Comrade Lieutenant, don't dawdle. We must try to reach our destination before dawn."

In this way, a convoy of ten trucks drove through the defense zone of the Second Battalion and headed towards the German transfer station.

Olga, who was sitting in the same car with Sokov, asked worriedly, "Comrade Brigade Commander, isn't it too risky for us to drive into the German-occupied area in such a brazen manner?"

Hearing Olga's question, Sokov smiled faintly and said disapprovingly: "Comrade Captain, the Germans probably never dreamed that we would wear their uniforms and drive around in the area they controlled."

"What if we are interrogated by the enemy?"

"We'll just say we're from the Seventh Armored Division," Sokov said. "If it was just a small group of a few or even a dozen people, we'd probably be strictly checked by the enemy after we encountered them. But our convoy has ten trucks, and they're all full of people. When the Germans see us, they'll think we're really from the Seventh Armored Division and won't be suspicious."

Olga's worries soon became a reality.

The convoy stopped, the driver stuck his head out to take a look, then retracted his head and said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, it's bad, it seems we have encountered a German patrol ahead."

"Comrade Captain," Sokov frowned when he heard the driver say that, and then told Olga: "Let your soldiers get ready for battle. I'll take some people to the front to take a look."

Sokov opened the car door and got out. He walked to the driver's seat of the car in front and raised his hand to pat the door.

Sitting in the driver's seat of the car were Sergeant Zub and a soldier from the guard platoon. When they heard Sokov knocking on the door, they quickly opened the door and got out.

After Zub got out of the car, he whispered to Sokov, "Comrade Brigade Commander, what's the matter?"

"There seems to be a German patrol ahead, which has stopped our convoy." Sokov said to the two men, "Come with me to meet the commander of the German patrol. It would be best if we could trick them. If we can't, just shoot them dead."

Zub and the other man agreed, carrying their submachine guns, and followed Sokov towards the German patrol ahead.

Arriving at the front of the convoy, Sokov saw five German three-wheeled motorcycles blocking the convoy's path. A German second lieutenant was standing next to the first truck, negotiating with Second Lieutenant Zhu Kewen in the cab. Not far away, a dozen German soldiers with live ammunition stood near the motorcycles, their guns pointed in the direction of the truck convoy.

Sokov was worried that Zhukov might make mistakes, so he quickly quickened his pace and walked over, asking loudly, "What's going on? Why did the convoy stop?"

The German second lieutenant who was talking to Zhu Kewen saw a major walking towards him, turned around slowly, and asked suspiciously: "Mr. Major, which unit are you from, and why are you here?"

"I'm Major Ernst of the 7th Armored Division." Sokov made up an identity and asked the other party with a stern face: "Second Lieutenant, why are you blocking our way?"

"I am Lieutenant Oliver, the leader of the patrol team, and I am in charge of patrolling this area." The German lieutenant spoke in an official tone and said, "Major, please show me your ID."

When formulating this plan, Sokov considered that if he wanted to sneak into the German transit station, his ID would definitely be checked by the soldiers on duty. Therefore, he deliberately found several military IDs from the fallen German officers and selected one with a photo similar to his own.

Seeing Lieutenant Oliver asking him for his ID, Sokov took it out of his jacket pocket and handed it over.

Lieutenant Oliver took the ID and used the flashlight to carefully check whether the photo on the ID was the same as Sokov's. The photo on the military ID chosen by Sokov was only 30% similar to Sokov, but at night, visibility was low and the German lieutenant did not dare to use the flashlight to shine on Sokov's face for comparison, so he managed to get away with it.

After checking the documents, Oliver handed them back to Sokov with both hands and said respectfully, "Major, you can continue on your way!"

Following Lieutenant Oliver's order, the patrol's motorcycles retreated to the side of the road, making way for Sokov's convoy.

When the truck that Sokov was riding in drove past the patrol's motorcycle, Olga, who was sitting next to Sokov, breathed a sigh of relief and said with emotion: "Comrade Brigade Commander, it was so dangerous just now. I thought a fight was about to break out. I was scared and broke out in a cold sweat."

Sokov just smiled faintly after hearing this, and then said: "Comrade Captain, don't worry. Although the German patrol team has more than a dozen people, we are wearing the same uniforms as them, so it is not easy to arouse their suspicion. Even if we accidentally expose our identities, our number is ten times that of theirs. It is not a small matter to eliminate them."

An hour later, the convoy arrived at a location two or three kilometers away from the transfer station.

To be on the safe side, Sokov did not immediately order the convoy to drive into the transfer station, but stopped on the side of the road.

Seeing this, Olga asked in surprise: "Comrade Brigade Commander, why did we stop?"

"I'm waiting for someone."

"Waiting for someone?" Olga asked puzzledly, "Who?"

"Of course it was our scouts." Sokov explained to Olga, "It was because they discovered the German transfer station that I made a temporary sneak attack plan. Now that we have arrived near the transfer station, we must first understand the enemy's troop deployment in the transfer station before we can think of a way to capture it."

"But how do we get in touch with them?" Olga asked. "If I were a member of the reconnaissance team and saw a group of German soldiers here, I would definitely not dare to approach easily."

Sokov turned around and opened the small glass window behind the cab and asked, "Comrade radio operator, have you contacted the comrades in the reconnaissance team?"

The radio operator who followed Sokov was sitting in the back car. When he heard Sokov's question, he quickly replied: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I am calling them, but there is no response yet."

"Keep calling." Sokov said, "We can't take any action until we contact them."

A few minutes later, the radio operator said to Sokov excitedly: "Comrade Brigade Commander, we've made contact." After that, he handed the headphones and transmitter in through the small window.

Sokov put on his headphones and said into the transmitter: "I am Major Sokov, where are you?"

"Comrade Brigade Commander," the scout replied, "we are only two or three kilometers away from the transfer station. However, there is a German convoy parked on the road, filled with German soldiers. We dare not pass by easily."

Sokov laughed and said, "Don't worry, the convoy you saw is us. Just come over here."

Although Sokov had made his words very clear, the scout still seemed very nervous: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I can't be sure whether the convoy you are in and the convoy I saw are the same convoy."

Sokov felt that what the scout said made sense. The convoy parked on the road might not be the only one of its kind. It would be troublesome if something went wrong.

Thinking of this, he said into the transmitter: "Comrade Scout, I believe you have a flashlight with you, right?"

"Of course, of course I have a flashlight."

"Use a flashlight to signal the convoy." Sokov continued, "If I can see the flashing light, it means the convoy you see is ours. If you can't see it, you have to think of other ways."

"Okay, Comrade Brigade Commander," the scout said, "I'll send someone to send a signal right away."

After a while, the scout's timid voice came from the headset: "Do you see the flashlight?"

Just as Sokov was looking outside intently, the driver suddenly said excitedly: "Comrade Brigade Commander, look, there is a flashlight flashing at the nine o'clock direction."

Sokov looked in the direction the driver pointed and saw a flashlight flashing in the forest in the distance. He quickly said into the transmitter, "Comrade Scout, I see, your position is at the nine o'clock direction of the convoy."

"Understood, Comrade Brigade Commander." The scout said in a relaxed tone, "We will rush over immediately."

Without waiting for Sokov's instructions, Olga opened the car door and got out, arranging people to guard near the convoy and to meet the incoming scouts.

Ten minutes later, several dark figures appeared on the roadside. Sokov guessed that it was the reconnaissance team, so he handed the earphone and transmitter back to the radio operator, got off the bus and stood beside the car.

The sergeant walking in front saluted Sokov and was about to report according to the regulations, but was stopped by Sokov: "Comrade Sergeant, don't say anything extra. Just tell us what you have discovered."

"Okay, Comrade Brigade Commander." The sergeant took out a hand-drawn map from his pocket and placed it on the hood of the truck. He turned on the flashlight and pointed at the map to report to Sokov: "According to our reconnaissance, there are about fifty officers and soldiers in the enemy's transfer station."

"More than 50 soldiers?" Olga was stunned when she heard the number the sergeant said. Then she asked in astonishment, "There are only more than 50 people in such a large transfer station?"

"Yes, officer comrade." The sergeant looked at Olga, who was wearing the uniform of a German corporal. Although he didn't know her rank, he knew that she must be a high-ranking official since she spoke before Sokov. He explained respectfully, "Although there are a lot of weapons, ammunition and various supplies in this transfer station, the enemy obviously doesn't think that our people will appear nearby, so the defense is not tight."

Olga, who was originally skeptical about the surprise attack on the transfer station, showed a pleasant surprise after hearing the sergeant's words. She turned to Sokov and said, "Comrade Commander, there are only more than 50 enemies in the transfer station. Even if we fail in the surprise attack, we can easily take it down if we switch to a strong attack."

But Sokov just glanced at Olga and said to the scout: "Comrade Sergeant, go on, where are the enemy's sentries at night?"

(End of this chapter)