red moscow

Chapter 2881 Smooth Return
The restrained German bald captain, second lieutenant and the corporal who led the way, looking at the black muzzles of guns around them, could only accept their fate and give up the idea of ​​resistance.

After Captain Olga and Second Lieutenant Zhukov drove the captured German officers and soldiers to a place, Sokov unexpectedly found that there were more than 90 people, almost twice the number he had scouted in advance.

In order to find out what was going on, Sokov asked the bald captain: "Captain, isn't there only about fifty people at your transfer station? Why are there nearly a hundred people here?"

Hearing Sokov's question, the bald captain smiled bitterly and replied, "Mr. Officer, the transfer station is indeed staffed with only more than 50 people, and the extra people are drivers who transport goods. After daybreak, they will drive those vehicles loaded with ammunition and supplies to our frontline positions."

Sokov was secretly delighted. If there were dozens of vehicles loaded with ammunition and supplies, it would save time in transporting the supplies, and the troops could return to their defense zone before dawn.

Olga saw Sokov's happy face and asked quickly, "Comrade Brigade Commander, what is this German talking about?"

"Comrade Captain, this German captain told me that there are more than 30 trucks loaded with supplies at the transfer station, ready to be transported to the front line after daybreak."

"Then what should we do?" Olga said anxiously, "We must not allow this batch of supplies to be transported to the front line, otherwise it will pose a considerable threat to our army."

"Don't worry, comrade captain, these supplies will never reach the hands of the Germans." After saying this, Sokov called Zhukov to his side and told him, "Second Lieutenant Zhukov, go ask the prisoners who is the driver of the car."

"Driver?" Zhu Kewen was stunned and asked in confusion, "Comrade Brigade Commander, what do you want to do with the German driver?"

"Didn't you hear the conversation between me and the German captain just now?" Sokov said, "Since the supplies have been loaded and there are ready-made drivers, it's natural for us to let them help us transport the supplies back."

"I see. I'll find all those drivers right away."

When Zhukov ran to the prisoners and shouted for the drivers to come forward, Olga asked Sokov, "Comrade Brigade Commander, since we have more than 30 trucks of supplies, should we continue to move the rest?"

"Of course, of course we have to move." Sokov nodded and said in an affirmative tone: "If we want to hold on, we will need a huge amount of ammunition and supplies. But now our superiors are temporarily unable to provide us with supplies, so we can only find a way to solve the supply problem ourselves."

After a pause, Sokov told Olga: "Comrade Captain, immediately organize your men to move the materials from the transfer station onto the trucks we brought."

"Comrade Commander," Olga reminded Sokov, "if the car is full, our soldiers will have no place to sit."

"We can disperse the people. Originally, one car had about 20 people, but now it can be reduced to five to eight." When Sokov said this, he suddenly thought of a key issue: "Comrade Captain, we may encounter German patrols again on our way back to the defense zone, so you need to agree on a contact signal with your men and be prepared to eliminate the patrols you encounter along the way if necessary."

"Don't worry, Comrade Brigade Commander." Olga glanced at the prisoners and then asked tentatively, "My men have all gone to move supplies, so who will take care of these prisoners?"

"Let Lieutenant Zhukov and the soldiers of the guard platoon take care of the prisoners." Sokov waved his hand at Olga and urged, "It's getting late. Hurry up and move. We have to try to leave the German-occupied area before dawn."

Olga took people to move ammunition and supplies, and Sokov returned to the prisoners.

He walked up to the German lieutenant, took out the silver cigarette case made in Hanau, Germany, opened it, handed it to him, and said politely: "Have one!"

Seeing the cigarette box in front of him, the German lieutenant hesitated for a moment, but still carefully took out a cigarette, thanked Sokov and put it in his mouth. When he reached out to feel for a match, Sokov had already handed him a lit lighter and lit the cigarette for him.

After helping the German second lieutenant light his cigarette, Sokov turned to the bald captain and the German corporal who was leading the way. After the two men took their cigarettes, he lit theirs as well.

"Mr. Officer!" Seeing Sokov take the initiative to light his cigarette, the bald captain's fear dissipated a lot. He asked tentatively: "You speak German well. I wonder where did you learn it?"

"I've been to Germany and lived in Berlin for a while." Sokov said this, not to lie to the bald captain. In his previous life, he had indeed been to post-war Berlin with the female translator Ajelina and stayed there for a while. But what he said next was no longer true: "I learned German in Berlin."

"Do you have any friends in Berlin?" asked the bald captain.

"If you mean German friends, there are a few." Sokov recalled the German captain Hosenfel who he had rescued in Warsaw and had helped the Jews. He continued, "One of them is Hosenfel, an SS officer, and is now stationed in Warsaw."

"Mr. Officer," the German second lieutenant came over to see Sokov and the bald captain chatting, and asked tentatively, "Have you been to Warsaw?"

"Yes." Sokov nodded and said, "I have been to many cities in Europe. In addition to Berlin and Warsaw, I have also been to Budapest, the capital of Hungary, and Vienna, the capital of Austria."

After hearing what Sokov said, the German lieutenant said with emotion: "Mr. Officer, I never thought that you have been to so many places at such a young age."

While Sokov was chatting with the two German officers, he kept glancing at the soldiers who were loading the goods, calculating in his mind how long it would take to get the truck he had brought.

Half an hour later, Olga came to report: "Comrade Brigade Commander, our trucks are full and ready to go."

"Let the soldiers get on the bus. We need to leave here as soon as possible." After Sokov gave Olga the order, he asked again, "Have you agreed on a contact signal for the soldiers?"

"It's agreed." Olga then asked, "How should the convoy be organized? Please tell me!"

"Of course our car will lead the way, followed by two vehicles driven by German drivers, and then another one of ours, and so on." Sokov said to Olga, "You and I will sit in the cab of the lead car. If anything happens, we will be the first to discover it."

Before Olga left, she glanced at the prisoners and seemed to want to say something, but she didn't say it in the end. She went straight to direct the troops to board the vehicles. After the convoy was formed, Sokov and Olga got into the cab of the lead vehicle. After closing the door, Sokov leaned out and shouted, "Second Lieutenant Zhukov!"

Hearing Sokov's shout, Lieutenant Zhukov immediately came to the car, looked up at Sokov and asked: "Comrade Brigade Commander, what instructions do you have?"

"Comrade Lieutenant, find me two submachine guns, one for me and one for Captain Olga."

Zhukov carried out Sokov's order very quickly. He found two submachine guns and handed them in through the window.

Sokov took the submachine gun, handed one to Olga, and said, "Comrade Captain, hold on to your gun. We may have a fight with the enemy on the way."

After Zhukov handed the gun to Sokov, he did not leave, but asked tentatively: "Comrade Brigade Commander, what should we do with these German prisoners?"

"Comrade Lieutenant, I'll leave them to you." Sokov looked down at Zhu Kewen who was standing next to the car: "You should know what to do, right?"

When the convoy left the transfer station, Olga, who was sitting next to Sokov, asked curiously: "Comrade Brigade Commander, what are you going to do with the prisoners?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of submachine gun fire was heard from the direction of the transfer station.

Hearing the gunshots from behind, Sokov closed his eyes. He recalled a TV series he had watched in later generations, "Band of Brothers". An American paratrooper was on his way and saw some captured German prisoners on the side of the road. He went over to chat with one of them and they got along quite well. As he continued on his way, he passed by a companion. The companion came to the middle of the German prisoners, took out the cigarettes he was carrying, distributed them to the prisoners, and took the initiative to light cigarettes for them. But the next moment, the paratrooper who was walking away heard dense gunshots from behind. It should be his companions and comrades who were guarding the prisoners, executing the captured German prisoners.

This situation is exactly the same as in the TV series.

When Olga heard the gunshots, she shuddered. She turned her head to look at Sokov and asked in shock, "Comrade Commander, did you kill all the prisoners?"

"Captain Olga, how can we take so many prisoners when we are behind enemy lines?" Sokov turned to Olga and said, "If we let these prisoners go, someone will definitely come to the nearby area for help. If the Germans nearby get the news, they will rush over to surround us. It is still unknown whether our convoy can return to our defense zone safely. Therefore, in order to eliminate the unstable factors, using this method to deal with the German prisoners is undoubtedly the best choice."

After listening to Sokov's explanation, Olga fell silent. He felt that it was a soldier's duty to fight the enemy face to face on the battlefield and to do everything possible to eliminate the enemy. But to massacre a group of prisoners who had laid down their weapons was something that he could not accept. However, he could not deny that in the current situation, in order not to expose the target, it seemed reasonable to kill all the German prisoners in the transfer station.

After a moment of silence, Olga asked tentatively: "Comrade Brigade Commander, what about those German drivers? What do you plan to do with them when we reach our destination?"

Sokov knew very well what Olga was worried about, so he said carelessly: "Don't worry, Comrade Captain, I am not an executioner. The execution of the German prisoners of war in the transfer station was a last resort. As for the German drivers who helped us transport supplies, I will arrange for people to send them to the prisoner-of-war camp after we reach the destination. For them, the war is over now."

Sokov originally thought that he might encounter Lieutenant Oliver's patrol again on the way back to his own defense zone, and even asked Olga to agree on a contact signal with the soldiers in advance, ready to annihilate them all when they encountered the patrol. But he didn't expect that the whole journey was safe and sound, and he could vaguely see that there was still no trace of the enemy in the second battalion's position.

"Comrade Brigade Commander." Olga saw that the Second Battalion's position was just ahead, and hurriedly said to Sokov, "I think the convoy should stop temporarily. It won't be too late to continue moving forward after contacting the battalion commander, so as to avoid a conflict with the sentries on duty at the position."

Sokov thought Olga's reminder was correct. He ordered the driver to stop the car, turned around and opened the small window at the back, and said to the radio operator in the car: "Radio operator, call the Second Battalion immediately and tell them that our convoy has arrived in front of their position and ask them to send someone to meet them."

The radio operator agreed and began to call the Second Battalion.

Not long after, the radio operator excitedly reported to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, we have contacted the Second Battalion."

Sokov took the headset and transmitter from the radio operator and began to speak: "Second Battalion Commander, I am Brigade Commander Sokov. Our convoy has arrived in front of your battalion's position. Immediately send someone to open a passage for us in the minefield. We are going to prepare to enter the defense zone."

"Comrade Brigade Commander, I will immediately send people to open up a path." Captain Alexa, the commander of the second battalion, said, "You will be able to pass in a quarter of an hour at most."

After finishing the call with the second battalion commander, Sokov said to Olga: "Comrade Captain, send a signal to the rear to let the soldiers who are monitoring the German driver be on high alert, lest they become desperate and do something we can't imagine."

"Unexpected things?" Olga asked in confusion, "Comrade Brigade Commander, what do you mean by that? I don't understand."

"Comrade Captain, our vehicles are loaded with ammunition and supplies." Seeing that Olga didn't understand, Sokov explained to her, "If the German driver does something bad when we are passing through a minefield and drives the vehicle into a minefield, once the ammunition on the vehicle explodes, I'm afraid the entire convoy will suffer huge losses."

Olga imagined the scene of the ammunition truck exploding and shuddered all over. Then she nodded and said, "Okay, Comrade Brigade Commander, I will immediately send a signal to the soldiers sitting in the cab and monitoring the German driver to be on high alert to prevent the enemy from doing anything bad."

Sokov also emphasized: "Tell the soldiers that if they find that the German driver is trying to drive the vehicle into the mine-buried area, they are allowed to decisively shoot the driver."

The passage back to the Second Battalion's position was opened, and under the guidance of the Second Battalion's soldiers, the convoy passed through the minefield in an orderly manner.

Although some German drivers had the idea of ​​driving their cars into the minefield, when they saw the black muzzles of guns pointing at them, they had to put away their little thoughts and obediently follow the vehicles in front of them, slowly entering the defense area of ​​the Second Battalion along the passage.

Alexa, the second battalion commander who had been waiting here for a long time, ran over and saluted Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, do you need me to arrange some personnel to unload all the supplies?"

"No need." Sokov waved his hand at Alexa. "These weapons will be transported back to the brigade headquarters first, and then the brigade headquarters will distribute weapons, ammunition and supplies according to the actual situation of each battalion."

(End of this chapter)