red moscow

Chapter 2894

Sokov remembered that the commander standing in front of the military flag in his dream was a colonel. If the people and things in the dream were real, it meant that the lieutenant colonel in front of him was not the highest commander of this unit. So he did not beat around the bush and asked directly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I'm afraid you are not the highest commander of this unit?"

The lieutenant colonel's face changed, and he asked sternly, "Who told you that I'm not the highest commander of the army?"

"Here!" Sokov pointed to the military flag leaning against the wall. "I saw the number of the 315th Infantry Division written on that flag, but the captain who brought me here called you the regiment commander, which means there are commanders with higher ranks than you."

The lieutenant colonel slapped his hand heavily on the table and asked sternly, "Tell me the truth, who are you?"

"I've just said it, I'm one of us."

"Our own people, what do you mean by our own people?"

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, before I reveal my identity, I want to make one thing clear."

"what's up?"

"Are you really the 315th Infantry Division?"

Facing the question raised by Sokov, the lieutenant colonel hesitated for a moment, then nodded slowly and said: "Yes, we are the 315th Infantry Division. Now, can you tell me who you are?"

Sokov twisted his body and broke free from the restraints of the two soldiers. He took a step forward, put his hands behind his back, and said loudly: "I am Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, commander of the 16th Army Infantry Brigade. I came to the Lezitsa area to look for you under the order of my superiors."

"You said you were the commander of an infantry brigade, and you hold the rank of lieutenant colonel?"

"That's right." Sokov nodded and gave the other party an affirmative answer.

Unexpectedly, the lieutenant colonel sneered after hearing this: "You said you were a lieutenant colonel, but you are too young to get such a rank." He pointed to his collar badge and continued, "I am 41 years old now, and I have been in the army for 23 years to get my current rank. Judging from your age, I am afraid that you have been in the army for no more than three years. With such a short military service, it is difficult for you to be a second lieutenant, so how can you get the rank of lieutenant colonel? Even if you want to lie, you should find a reliable reason."

Sokov had already guessed the lieutenant colonel's reaction. He was not angry at all, but said amiably: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, if it were peacetime, it would be difficult to get promoted in the army. But now is a wartime, and it is not uncommon for people to be promoted out of turn because of their meritorious service."

"What is your purpose here?"

"It was only after we received your telegram that we learned that there was another unit of our army in the Lecica area. Therefore, the superiors ordered me to contact you as soon as possible and find a way to bring you back to our defense zone."

After hearing what Sokov said, the lieutenant colonel looked him up and down with a suspicious look, then turned his head and asked a lieutenant next to him: "Communications staff, has our radio station sent a telegram to the outside world?"

"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." The communications staff officer who was named nodded and replied, "We did send a telegram to the outside world and even received a reply. Since you were not in the headquarters at the time, it is understandable that you did not know about this."

As soon as the communications officer finished speaking, Sokov immediately continued, "After we received the telegram you sent, I immediately arranged for a radio operator. Look, it's that female comrade who sent the message."

The lieutenant colonel asked the communications staff to bring the telegram sent by Morozova. After quickly reading the contents, he looked at Sokov and asked, "You said you were Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the commander of the infantry brigade, and you had telegram exchanges with us. Now tell me, what did your reply say?"

"I asked Morozova to tell you our identities and unit numbers in the reply." Sokov pointed to the telegram held by the lieutenant colonel and said, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you can tell if I am right by looking at the telegram in your hand."

The lieutenant colonel had already read the telegram, so he knew that what Sokov said was consistent with the content of the telegram. He could basically confirm that the men in German uniforms were friendly comrades who came to contact his troops. However, the lieutenant colonel did not change his attitude immediately, but continued to ask: "The content of the telegram is roughly correct. But how can you prove to us that this telegram was sent by you?"

Sokov did not speak, but turned to look at Morozova and winked at her, indicating that she should answer the question.

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Morozova saw Sokov's eyes and immediately understood his intention. She quickly stepped forward and said to the lieutenant colonel, "If you don't believe me, I can send a message in front of you and let your radio operator make a judgment to see if he has heard the method and rhythm of my message."

The lieutenant colonel thought Morozova's suggestion was very good. Every radio operator had his or her own telegraphic sending habits. Since she had sent telegrams to and from the division's radio operator before, as long as she sent a telegram in public, the division's radio operator would be able to determine whether the person sending the telegram to him or her was the female soldier in front of him or her.

"Comrade," the lieutenant colonel said to Morozova politely, "I'd like to trouble you to send a telegram now and let my radio operator check to see if we have exchanged telegrams before. Do you think it's okay?"

"Of course." Morozova readily agreed to the lieutenant colonel's proposal, but then said with difficulty: "But, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the radio we carried was destroyed by your people on the road, and we can't send messages at all."

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," the communications officer whispered to the lieutenant colonel, "We can ask her to use our radio to send a message, and then have the radio operator wear headphones to monitor it. We can then confirm whether the radio operator who calls us back is this girl."

"I think it's possible." The lieutenant colonel also felt that this was the best way to distinguish between friend and foe, so he nodded in agreement: "Then let her try."

"Morozova," Sokov saw that the lieutenant colonel agreed to the test plan, so he turned to Morozova and said, "Then you can try it."

Morozova sat down in front of the radio, stretched her hands, and then began to send a telegram. The radio operator at the division headquarters stood beside her, put on a pair of headphones, and listened quietly to Morozova's telegram.

After listening for a while, the radio operator took off his headphones and said to the lieutenant colonel waiting next to him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, yes, the person who sent me a telegram yesterday should be her."

The lieutenant colonel stared at the radio operator and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely sure." The radio operator replied: "The female radio operator's transmission method is very special. The person who sent me the message yesterday must be her." The lieutenant colonel smiled. He took the initiative to extend his hand to Sokov and said in a friendly manner: "Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov. Let me introduce myself. I am Lieutenant Colonel Haranchuk, the commander of the 315th Regiment of the 1069th Infantry Division."

"Hello, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." As Sokov shook hands with Haranchuk, he asked tentatively, "Where is your division commander?"

"He's out inspecting the troops."

"Aren't you in the Lecica area? Why did you move here?"

"Alas, we have no other choice." Haranchuk sighed when he heard this question, "Since we lost contact with our superiors, we have been operating behind enemy lines. Since the troops cannot get any supplies, we are now running out of ammunition and food. The enemy has obviously discovered our weakness and has sent heavy troops to the Lechitsa area to encircle and suppress us. In order to preserve our manpower, we had to abandon the Lechitsa area and move to our current location."

Sokov waited for Haranchuk to finish speaking, then asked a key question: "How many troops does your division have?"

"The troops were fully staffed at 11,000 men, but after such a long battle, no more than 4,000 men in the entire division were still able to fight."

Sokov originally thought that after being trapped behind enemy lines for so long, it was already pretty good that only a thousand people were left. But when he heard that there were only about 4,000 people left, he was still a little surprised. He said with some surprise: "I didn't expect you to have so many troops."

After hearing what Sokov said, Haranchuk asked in confusion: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, according to your opinion, how many people should be left in our division?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Haranchuk," Sokov responded politely, "In the 16th Army's defense zone, there are many troops that have been crippled by the enemy, and some infantry divisions have only to people left. It's remarkable that you have retained nearly troops."

While Sokov and Haranchuk were chatting, someone outside suddenly shouted, "Comrade Division Commander is back!"

Upon learning that the division commander had returned, Sokov quickly stood up and looked towards the door.

Soon, a middle-aged commander wearing a gray otter-skin hat, a black military coat, and the rank of colonel on his collar, accompanied by several officers, walked towards the location of Sokov and Haranchuk.

When Sokov saw the person clearly, his heart started beating wildly: Yes, it was him, the commander he saw in his dream.

The colonel came to Haranchuk, glanced at Sokov standing next to him, and frowned slightly: "Lieutenant Colonel Haranchuk, is this the prisoner you captured?"

"Comrade Division Commander, let me introduce you. This is Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, commander of the 16th Army Infantry Brigade. He has been ordered to come here to establish contact with us."

"Hello, Comrade Division Commander." Sokov waited for Haranchuk to finish speaking, then quickly extended his hand to the colonel: "After receiving your telegram yesterday, the Army Group Commander General Rokossovsky ordered me to come and establish contact with you."

The colonel shook hands with Sokov and said, "Hello, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I am Colonel Politik, the commander of the 315th Infantry Division. On behalf of all the officers and soldiers of the division, I welcome the arrival of friendly comrades."

After asking Sokov to sit down, Colonel Politic said politely: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, we have lost contact with our superiors in the past few months. I wonder where the battle line is now?"

Sokov thought for a moment and replied, "The 16th Army's current defense zone is along the Rama River."

"Around the Rama River?" Hearing what Sokov said, Politic quickly pulled the map from the table, placed it in front of himself, and examined it carefully.

After finding the place name mentioned by Sokov, Politic gestured on the map for a long time, and finally took a breath of cold air: "Oh my God, it is more than 200 kilometers away from here. And it is less than 100 kilometers away from Moscow. If the German offensive is fierce and breaks through our defense line, they can rush directly into Moscow."

"Comrade Colonel, even if we all die, we will never let the enemy set foot in Moscow." Sokov said solemnly: "Even if there are living Germans who can enter Moscow, they will be our prisoners of war."

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you are right. We can definitely stop the Germans from entering Moscow." After saying this, Politik asked the question he was concerned about: "I wonder what General Rokossovsky plans to ask us to do?"

"If possible, Commander Rokossovsky hopes that you can withdraw to the 16th Army's defense zone and participate in this great battle to defend Moscow."

Politik frowned. "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the distance from here to the Rama River is more than 200 kilometers, and there are a large number of German troops along the way. How can we transfer these thousands of officers and soldiers safely?"

On the way here, Sokov saw the enemy's defensive positions and checkpoints, and he knew very well that it would be extremely difficult to transfer thousands of people to the defense zone of the 16th Army quietly.

After careful consideration, Sokov decided to explain the actual situation to Politik: "Comrade Colonel, as you are worried, it is indeed not an easy task to get several thousand troops to walk more than 200 kilometers, through the enemy's layers of defense, and return to our army's position."

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, to be honest, the division commander and I have discussed this issue before." Haranchuk sighed and said, "Unfortunately, no matter how many ways we tried, we were unable to successfully bring these thousands of officers and soldiers back to our defense line."

"We had different opinions on whether to leave or stay," said Politic. "When the proposal to return to our own defense line eastward was rejected by reality, many commanders suggested that we should stay where we are now and fight guerrilla warfare to engage in battles with the enemy."

"Comrade Colonel, your division's situation is not suitable for staying and fighting guerrilla warfare." Sokov waited for Politic to finish speaking, and immediately expressed his worries: "Once the Germans know that there is an organized army behind them, they will definitely mobilize heavy troops to encircle and suppress them. I don't deny that the officers and soldiers of the 315th Division will show bravery and courage when facing the enemy, but since you are trapped behind enemy lines and cannot get any supplies, facing the enemy's heavy encirclement and suppression, what kind of fate you will face in the end, even if I don't say it, you should know it in your hearts."

"That's right." Politik agreed with Sokov's statement: "In the past, when the troops had sufficient ammunition, we could take the initiative to attack the enemy in certain areas. But with the shortage of ammunition and supplies, we had to switch from offense to defense. For example, this time, if we had sufficient ammunition, facing a German regiment rushing over, we would definitely choose to fight head-on instead of retreating."

"Staying here will lead to a dead end." Sokov has made a decision at this moment: "In order to avoid the end of annihilation of the entire army, I think we should find a way to move eastward and enter the defense zone of the 16th Army."

(End of this chapter)