red moscow

Chapter 2892

Sokov is now the commander of an infantry brigade. Not only does he have thousands of officers and soldiers under his command, but he is also responsible for part of the army's defense line. If he really wants to go behind enemy lines to perform a special mission, he must report to the army headquarters in advance and let Rokossovsky know his whereabouts.

When the call reached the army headquarters, it happened to be Rokossovsky who answered the phone. After recognizing Sokov's voice, he asked in surprise: "Misha, what can I do for you?"

"Comrade Commander, this is what happened," Sokov said hesitantly, "Didn't you just say that you found a unit of our army trapped behind enemy lines and that you needed me to send someone to contact them?"

"Yes, I did say that." Rokossovsky said this, and suddenly realized that Sokov's sudden call to him seemed a little strange, so he quickly asked: "Misha, you don't want to carry out this mission yourself, do you?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Seeing that Rokossovsky had guessed his intention, Sokov answered truthfully without hiding anything: "I have discussed this with Lieutenant Colonel Karsokov, Chief of Staff, and I think it might be more effective if I go in person to look for this unit."

Hearing what Sokov said, Rokossovsky hesitated for a moment. Although he felt that sending Sokov to find a troop would inevitably put the other side in danger, he changed his mind and thought that Sokov might be the most suitable person to find this troop trapped behind enemy lines.

He asked tentatively: "Misha, if I really want you to look for this unit, are you sure you can find it?"

"Comrade Commander, although I know their approximate location, I still have to rely on luck to find them."

"Well, you hand over the command of the troops to the deputy brigade commander and the chief of staff, and then lead your men to go deep behind enemy lines to find the whereabouts of the troops." Rokossovsky then asked, "How many people do you plan to take with you to carry out the mission?"

Sokov thought about it and replied, "I plan to take Lieutenant Zhukov, Sergeant Zub and Chulsin, disguised as Germans, and drive to the Lezitsa area to find the whereabouts of friendly forces."

"When do you plan to leave?"

"We will set out before daybreak," Sokov explained. "This way, we will not be easily detected by the enemy when we pass through the two armies' defense lines. If we are lucky, we should be able to establish contact with that unit this afternoon."

As soon as he finished speaking, Rokossovsky asked suddenly: "There are only four of you, and you don't even have a radio?"

Sokov's expression froze. If Rokossovsky hadn't reminded him, he would have forgotten this. His eyes moved back and forth between Morozova and Romanov, wondering in his heart who he should take with him.

Seeing that Sokov kept looking at him, Romanov quickly pointed at himself, indicating that he should participate in the operation.

But Sokov deliberately ignored him and said into the microphone: "Comrade Commander, I plan to let Comrade Morozova, the radio operator of the brigade, follow us."

"Okay then," Rokossovsky said, "You are going to go deep behind enemy lines and will certainly be checked by the Germans along the way. I will have someone prepare the necessary documents for you to deal with the German inspections."

"That's great." Whenever Sokov pretended to be a German officer, he was most worried about the enemy checking his ID, which would easily expose his identity. But with the fake ID provided by the headquarters, the situation would be different: "I plan to disguise myself as a German major, Zhukov as a second lieutenant, Zub as a sergeant, and Churhin as an ordinary soldier."

"I understand. I will prepare the corresponding documents for you."

“When will the documents be delivered?”

"It will be delivered in an hour." Rokossovsky reminded Sokov on the phone: "Misha, you should prepare to leave as soon as possible."

After hanging up the phone, Sokov ordered someone to call Zhukov, Zub and Churhin over.

The three were woken up in their sleep, but they did not complain at all. Instead, they followed the soldier who notified them and came to the tent where the brigade headquarters was located.

"You are here!" Sokov said to the three people when he saw them coming in, "I am going to take you three to the enemy's rear to carry out a special mission. Are you willing?"

Hearing Sokov's question, the three answered in unison: "Yes, we are willing to follow Comrade Brigade Commander to carry out the mission."

"Since you are all willing, then the next thing will be easy." Sokov began to assign tasks to them: "Churxin, we seized a barrel truck some time ago. This time we will take this truck when we go deep behind enemy lines. You will be the driver."

"Yes!" Churxin replied.

"Second Lieutenant Zhukov." Sokov turned to Zhukov and said, "Go to the quartermaster and get a few German uniforms. One major uniform is for me; one second lieutenant uniform is for you; one sergeant uniform is for Sergeant Zub. The other two ordinary soldiers' uniforms, one for Chulsin and one for Morozova."

Zhu Kewen was stunned after hearing this, and then asked, "Why do you want to bring female comrades with you?"

"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant." Sokov explained to Zhukov, "Our purpose of going deep behind enemy lines is to find a unit trapped behind enemy lines. Comrade Morozova has contacted them before, and the other side's telegraph operator is familiar with her telegraphing techniques, which will facilitate us to contact them after we arrive at the place."

After Zhu Kewen got the uniform, he asked Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, should we change the uniform now or wait until we are behind enemy lines?"

Sokov naturally understood what Zhukov meant. If he changed into German military uniform now, when crossing the defense lines of the two armies, it would be easy for his officers and soldiers to mistake him for the enemy, and unnecessary misunderstandings might occur.

"Let's change here." Sokov said, "Let Bobrikov and his men escort us through the defense line later."

After everyone changed into German military uniforms, they waited for a long time and finally a staff officer from the headquarters arrived.

The staff officer handed Sokov a sealed briefcase and said briefly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, this is something the commander ordered to be sent to you. He said he wishes you a safe journey. After completing the mission, you can return safely."

After thanking the other party, Sokov opened the sealed file bag and took out five fake certificates. He distributed the certificates to everyone according to the photos on the certificates, and said, "From now on, you are the people on the certificates. Remember?"

Everyone put away their credentials and answered in unison: "Remember." Under the escort of the guard company commander Captain Bobrikov, Sokov and others successfully passed the position of the Third Battalion and entered the German-controlled area.

Zhu Kewen was puzzled about Sokov's choice of this road and asked: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I think the road we took to attack the German transfer station last time was pretty good. There were no enemies along the way."

"Comrade Lieutenant," Sokov said solemnly, "there were indeed not many enemies along the road we took last time. But don't forget that we destroyed a German transfer station, killed everyone inside, and also stole a batch of supplies. The enemy suffered such a big loss, and they will definitely strengthen the guard force in this area. I dare say that if we take this road again today, the patrols we encounter along the way will definitely be several times more injured than last time. Although we carry fake documents prepared by our superiors, the more times we are checked, the more danger of being exposed. The road I chose to take seems dangerous, but because the enemy has the upper hand in this direction, they certainly would never dream that we would actually infiltrate in disguise."

Zhu Kewen was skeptical about Sokov's statement. He always felt that when entering the German-controlled area from the defense zone of the Third Battalion, he would encounter many patrols and checkpoints along the way, which was simply incomparable to the route he took last time.

The car drove along the muddy road for about ten kilometers before it was stopped by a checkpoint.

Seeing the checkpoint ahead, the people in the car couldn't help but panic. Sokov quickly said, "Don't panic, everyone. We are now disguised as Germans. We have fake documents made for us by our superiors. As long as we stay calm, the enemy will not be able to see our flaws."

When the car approached the checkpoint, it was stopped by a German soldier with a rifle.

He came to the car, bent down and looked inside, then held out his hand: "Please show me your ID!"

Zhu Kewen, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, handed over his ID and said, "We are from the Brandenburg Regiment and are carrying out a special mission."

The German soldier took Zhu Kewen's ID, compared the photo on it with Zhu Kewen, and handed the ID back. He then gestured to his compatriot standing next to the guard post, asking him to lift the horizontal bar across the middle of the road.

Churxin started the vehicle and quickly passed the checkpoint.

After passing the checkpoint, Zhu Kewen turned his head to look back and said in surprise: "I never thought that we could pass the German checkpoint so easily without arousing the enemy's suspicion."

Hearing Zhukov's words, Sokov smiled faintly and then said, "Comrade Lieutenant, don't forget that we are pretending to be the Brandenburg Regiment. This is a special unit in the German army. Not to mention that we are wearing German uniforms, even if we are wearing Soviet uniforms, as long as we show our fake identities, the Germans will not dare to stop us easily."

Zhukov believed what Sokov said. After all, when they were trapped in Kiev last time, Sokov used this trick to let the German officers personally escort everyone through the river bridge blocked by the German army, and successfully escaped the German encirclement.

"Comrade Brigade Commander," Zhu Kewen asked tentatively, "where is your old superior now?"

"My old superior?" Sokov was stunned at first, then he realized who Zhukov was talking about, and asked back: "Are you talking about General Vlasov?"

"Yes, it's him." Zhu Kewen said with emotion: "He is an excellent commander. I wonder which unit he is the commander of now."

Sokov couldn't help but sneer in his heart, thinking that this good commander in your mind was captured by the German army a few months later. Because of his unsteady position, he finally surrendered to the Germans and became a shameful traitor. However, this had not happened yet, so he naturally couldn't say it.

But since Zhukov asked, he still had to answer casually: "Since General Vlasov has served as an army commander before, I believe the Supreme Command will assign him a suitable position based on his abilities."

"Then tell me, does he still have a chance to become our superior?"

Sokov shuddered when he heard Zhukov say this, thinking to himself that it would be a nightmare for him if Vlasov became his superior again. When Vlasov surrendered to the Germans, he would definitely be implicated.

"Comrade Lieutenant," Sokov looked at Zhukov, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, and asked sternly, "Do you think Commander Rokossovsky's ability is not good enough?"

"How is that possible?" Zhukov didn't expect Sokov to ask this question suddenly, and answered in a panic: "I think General Rokossovsky is also a great commander. Whether in Shepetovka, Yartsevo or Smolensk, the troops he commanded have dealt a heavy blow to the German army. Now he is responsible for the defense of Moscow. As long as he can achieve the final victory, I think he will definitely be recorded in history."

"You are right. General Rokossovsky will go down in history."

After Sokov finished speaking, he was about to close his eyes to rest, when Sergeant Zub, who was sitting next to him, suddenly asked, "Comrade Brigade Commander, do you think that unit will still be there when we get to Lechitsa?"

"It's hard to say." Sokov shook his head, then looked at Morozova on the other side and added: "Fortunately, I brought Comrade Morozova with me. After we arrive in Lezitsa, if we can't find any trace of that unit, Comrade Morozova can send them a telegram to confirm their exact location, and then go over to meet them."

There was a fork in the road ahead. Chulsin stopped the car and turned to ask Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, which way should we go?"

Looking at the fork in the road ahead, Sokov tilted his head and asked Zhu Kewen: "Comrade Lieutenant, do you know the way?"

"I'm sorry, Comrade Brigade Commander." Zhu Kewen replied awkwardly, "I don't know which way to go either."

Just as Sokov was scratching his head, Morozova, who was sitting on his right, suddenly said, "Comrade Brigade Commander, I know the way. We should take the road on the right."

"Chursin, did you hear that?" Sokov nodded first, then said to Chursin: "Comrade Morozova said to take the road on the right."

The car drove into the road on the right and continued to move forward quickly.

Along the way, they passed a fortification built by the German army. Although there were sentries on duty, when they saw clearly that it was a German-made car, they did not stop the car to check, but let the car pass by them.

Although the German soldiers did not stop the car for inspection, Zhu Kewen was still frightened and broke out in a cold sweat: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I never expected that the enemy would build fortifications in the area they control. This should be to prevent our army from launching a counterattack."

"I think so." Sokov nodded and said, "Don't look at the current battlefield situation. The German army is attacking and our army is defending. But no one can guarantee that one day in the future the offensive and defensive positions will not change and our army will attack and the German army will defend. If they don't build fortifications, then they will not be able to stop our counterattack at all."

(End of this chapter)