red moscow

Chapter 2893 Attacked
On the following journey, Sokov and others passed many checkpoints and German positions. Although they passed them all smoothly, the expression on Sokov's face became unusually serious.

Zhu Kewen, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, turned his head and saw the expression on Sokov's face. He couldn't help but ask curiously: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I see that you don't look well. Are you feeling unwell?"

Sokov waved his hand and spoke his mind: "Comrade Lieutenant, there are at least 20 checkpoints and German positions we just passed, right?"

"To be precise, there are 22," Zhu Kewen said, "including 18 checkpoints and 4 defensive positions."

"If we have only one vehicle, it won't be a big problem to pass through this area." Sokov continued, "But if we find a force of thousands or even more people, how can we lead them through these German-controlled areas and return to our positions?"

Zhu Kewen's mouth twitched when he heard what Sokov said, and then he made an unrealistic suggestion: "Comrade Brigade Commander, if there are really several thousand people, you can let them stay behind enemy lines to fight guerrilla warfare, which can also play a role in restraining the enemy."

"This is unrealistic, Comrade Lieutenant." Sokov directly rejected Zhukov's proposal: "First, the superiors hope that this unit can return to our army's defense zone to strengthen our defense, so they sent us out to find them. Secondly, if there is a guerrilla force of thousands or even tens of thousands of people behind enemy lines, it will definitely attract the Germans' great attention, and then they will mobilize heavy troops to encircle and suppress this unit."

At this point, he paused for a moment, sighed softly, and continued: "How long do you think a troop without any supplies can hold out under the encirclement of the German army?"

Sokov's words made Zhu Kewen fall into deep thought, and he also realized that he had thought too simply. If the guerrillas were only a few dozen or a hundred people, even if they were surrounded and annihilated by the German army, they could use their small number advantage to jump out of the gap in the enemy's encirclement. But if the troops were too many, and there were also baggage and wounded, it would be too difficult to escape the encirclement of the German army.

…………

As the time approached noon, Sokov looked out the window at the rapidly receding scenery and asked Zhu Kewen in front of him: "Comrade Lieutenant, where are we now?"

"Comrade Brigade Commander," Zhukov half turned around and said to Sokov, "According to the time calculation, we should be less than 30 kilometers away from the Lechitsa area."

"Thirty kilometers." Sokov said casually, feeling the bumps on the road, "According to the road conditions, we can reach our destination within an hour."

"Yes, Comrade Brigade Commander." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Chulsin, who was driving, said, "I guarantee that we can reach the Lezitsa area within an hour."

"Comrade Brigade Commander," Zhu Kewen asked with a worried look on his face, "The Lezitsa area is so large, how do we know where the troops we are looking for are?"

Sokov was silent for a moment, then said, "Don't worry, after we reach the Lechitsa area, we will use the radio to contact the other party..."

Before he could finish his words, there was a burst of gunfire outside the car. Bullets pouring down from the slope on the side of the road stirred up dark brown dirt waves more than one meter high on both sides of the car.

"Enemy attack, enemy attack!" After a brief panic, Zhu Kewen shouted to Chu Erxin: "Speed ​​up and rush over."

Chulsin drove his car in a zigzag pattern in the rain of bullets, trying to avoid the bullets flying from the slope. Unfortunately, although he was a skilled driver, the dense bullets blocked the vehicle's way forward. Soon, the engine was hit and white smoke came out, and the car had to stop on the side of the road.

"Comrade Brigade Commander," Chulsin turned and shouted to Sokov who was sitting in the back, "The car was damaged by bullets. Get out quickly, otherwise we will all become targets."

Zhukov and Morozova, who was sitting on Sokov's right, opened the car door, jumped out first, and hid in the ditch on the side of the road. Sokov, Zub and Chulhin also jumped out of the car one after another and rolled into the ditch on the side of the road.

"How is it? Is anyone injured?" Sokov squatted in the ravine and shouted loudly to both sides.

"No, I'm not injured." The first to respond were Sergeants Churhin and Zub.

Then, Lieutenant Zhu Kewen's voice was heard again: "I am not injured either!"

"Morozova, what about you?" Sokov didn't hear Morozova's voice, and he was worried. If something happened to the other side, he would not be able to get in touch with the 315th Infantry Division, so he raised his voice again and asked, "Are you injured?"

"Comrade Commander," Morozova's voice came after a moment, "I'm fine."

After confirming that no one was injured, Sokov finally felt relieved. He raised his head to see who shot at him, but as soon as he showed his head, he was frightened by the dense bullets and shrank back into the ditch.

"Comrade Brigade Commander," Zhu Kewen asked anxiously, "Who shot at us?"

"I don't know." Sokov listened carefully. From the gunshots, he could tell that the weapons being fired included Soviet rotary machine guns, German MG34 machine guns, and even sporadic MP40 gunshots. "From the gunshots, it's hard to tell whether the people shooting at us are Germans or our own people."

"Damn it." After hearing what Sokov said, Zub said emotionally: "If they are one of us, why are you shooting at us?"

Sokov turned his head and stared at Zub, sneering and saying, "Comrade Sergeant, look down and see what you are wearing?"

Zub instinctively looked down and saw the German uniform he was wearing. He said a little embarrassedly, "He was wearing a German uniform. So the person who shot at us could be one of our own."

"I can only say that this possibility is very high." Now behind enemy lines, Sokov remained vigilant. He said to those around him, "It is possible that our identities were exposed and we were blocked by the German army. Therefore, we cannot easily expose our identities before we find out the enemy's identity."

"The fire outside was so fierce that we couldn't even raise our heads." Zhu Kewen said with a worried look on his face: "How can we figure out who attacked us?"

"Don't worry." Sokov comforted everyone, "The people on the hillside can't shoot indefinitely. After a while, they will definitely stop shooting and send people down to check. Then we will be able to figure out who the attackers are."

Just as Sokov had judged, a few minutes later, the shooting on the hillside stopped. Many people came down the hillside and came to the ravine where Sokov and others were hiding. They shouted in stiff and broken German: "Throw out your weapons first, then come out with your hands raised high."

Zhu Kewen's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he said to Sokov, "Comrade Brigade Commander, did you hear the German the speaker used? Not only was the grammar wrong, but the tone was stiff, and it was obvious that he was not a German."

"Yeah, I heard that too."

"Great, now we can confirm that they are our own people." Zhu Kewen said, and was about to stand up, but was stopped by Sokov. Zhu Kewen asked Sokov puzzledly: "Comrade Brigade Commander, since they are our own people, why don't you show up immediately?"

"Comrade Lieutenant, you are wearing a German uniform. If you stick your head out rashly, the enemy might shoot you directly." Sokov said to Zhukov, "Your death would be too unjust."

"Then what should we do?" Zhu Kewen asked.

"Throw away your weapons first." Sokov said, throwing away his pistol first, and shouting to the outside: "Don't shoot, don't shoot!"

Seeing Sokov throw away his weapon, the others followed suit and threw away the weapons they were carrying.

The people outside saw the people hiding in the ravine, threw out their weapons, and continued to shout: "Raise your hands and stand up slowly!"

Sokov said to his left and right: "I will stand up first. After it is safe, you can stand up later."

Seeing his men nod in agreement, Sokov raised his hands and stood up, shouting outside: "Don't shoot, don't shoot!"

After standing up straight, Sokov saw clearly that there was a group of Soviet officers and soldiers standing on the road. They had a variety of weapons in their hands, including both Soviet and German weapons, but all the muzzles of the guns were pointed at him.

Seeing Sokov stand up, an officer with the rank of captain stepped forward and said with some surprise: "I didn't expect that we caught a big fish, a German major."

"Comrade Captain," Sokov saw that the soldiers who attacked him were Soviet soldiers, and guessed that they might be the troops he was looking for. However, he did not hastily reveal his identity, but asked the captain: "I have something important to see your superior. Can you take us there?"

"Wow, this German can speak Russian. He speaks it so well. If I hadn't seen him in person, I would have thought he was Russian." The captain turned around and said to one of his subordinates.

"Comrade Captain, you are right. I am indeed Russian." Sokov put down his hands and explained to the other party: "The reason why I wear this German military uniform is to perform a special mission. Please take me to see your superior immediately. I have something important to tell him in person."

"Comrade Captain," before the captain could speak, a soldier who came to the edge of the gully saw Zhu Kewen and others hiding inside and shouted to the captain in surprise, "There are four Germans here, and there is even a female soldier."

Under the escort of Soviet soldiers, Sokov and others climbed out of the ravine and came to the car that had been shot into a sieve.

Sokov said to the captain: "Comrade Captain, I have a radio in the trunk, can you let me take it out?"

The captain thought about Sokov's request for a moment and nodded in agreement.

Seeing that the captain agreed, Sokov turned and gestured to Churhin, indicating that he should open the trunk and take out the radio inside.

When Chulsin took out the radio, Morozova next to him exclaimed: "Oh my God, the radio is broken."

Sokov looked in the direction of the sound and saw that liquid was dripping from the bottom of the radio in Chulxin's hand. It seemed that the battery was leaking.

"Morozova." Seeing this, Sokov couldn't help but frowned: "Is the radio still usable?"

"Comrade Brigade Commander, I don't know. I have to check it before I can confirm whether it can still be used." As she said that, she asked Churxin to put the radio on the ground and prepare for inspection.

Before Chuerxin could put the radio on the ground, the soldier standing next to him pushed him hard, causing him to stagger, and said viciously: "All right, stop dawdling and follow us quickly, or I'll shoot."

Chulxin turned and looked at Sokov, wanting to see what decision he would make.

Sokov knew very well that these soldiers were still on guard against him. If he didn't follow their instructions, they might shoot him. It would be too unfair to die in the hands of his own people. To avoid this, Sokov told Chulxin: "Chulxin, take the radio and follow the soldiers."

In this way, Sokov and his party, escorted by the soldiers, came to a small town.

They met many officers and soldiers along the way. When they saw Sokov and others being escorted by their comrades, they kept greeting their comrades: "It seems that you have made a good harvest today. You actually caught a German official."

In this way, Sokov and others, escorted by the soldiers, came to the church in the center of the town.

Sokov walked into the church and saw a long wooden table in the corner of the hall with several officers sitting on the left. He couldn't help but feel secretly happy. As long as he knew the other party's identity, he could confirm whether the other party was the target he was looking for.

"Report to the commander, comrade," the captain took the lead and walked up to a lieutenant colonel. After raising his hand to salute him, he reported with some pride: "We attacked a German car on the road and captured five prisoners." After that, he turned around and called his subordinates to bring Sokov and others over.

After the lieutenant colonel looked at Sokov and the others, he smiled and said, "Comrade Captain, you did a good job. You actually captured a German major. I'm sure we can get useful information from him."

After saying that, the lieutenant colonel turned around and called over a man who looked like a staff officer: "Go find someone who knows German. I want to interrogate them."

"Comrade Commander," the captain said as soon as he finished speaking, "There's no need to find a translator. These Germans can speak Russian, and they speak it quite well."

"What? He speaks Russian quite well?" The lieutenant colonel's expression suddenly became serious after listening to the captain's report: "So, their identities are not simple."

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Sokov was about to take two steps forward, but was held down by the shoulders by two soldiers beside him. However, he still said loudly, "I am one of you. I have something important to discuss. I need to see your highest commander here."

The lieutenant colonel came to Sokov, looked him up and down, and said with a straight face: "I am the highest commander here. If you have anything, just tell me."

Sokov thought what the other party said was true, and when he was about to say something, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a military flag leaning against the corner of the wall. He keenly noticed the number "315" written on it, and couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise, wondering if these people were the officers and soldiers of the 315th Infantry Division he was looking for?
(End of this chapter)