red moscow

Chapter 2896

When Grande heard what Sokov said, the corner of his eye couldn't help twitching. He wanted to say something, but finally held back.

After all, it was his own fault that his fake identity was exposed in such a short time. He thought that the Russians in the church did not understand German, so he planned to use the opportunity of being a translator to find out the identities of the German officers and soldiers in front of him to see if there was a chance to rescue them. However, he did not expect that this was just a trap set by the Russians for him, and he foolishly jumped into it.

Sokov looked at Grande and asked, "Tell me, what's your name and what's your mission here?" In order to make everyone around him understand his conversation with Grande, Sokov spoke Russian instead of German.

Grande snorted coldly and did not answer Sokov's question.

Sokov didn't waste any more words with him. He turned to Zhu Kewen and said, "Comrade Lieutenant, you are from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and have more experience in interrogation. I will hand this German over to you."

Zhu Kewen grinned and said, "Don't worry, Comrade Brigade Commander. No matter how tight-lipped he is, I can make him confess honestly." Then he called Zub and Chulxin and took Grand aside for interrogation.

Seeing the fake Soviet captain being taken away, Politic asked Sokov with some concern: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, do you need me to send someone to assist them?"

"No need." Sokov shook his head: "The three of them are enough."

Politik turned his head to the scout who brought Grande back and asked sternly: "Comrade Sergeant, how could you bring back a German pretending to be our soldier?"

The scout wiped the sweat off his forehead with his hand and replied nervously: "Comrade Commander, my men and I saw him running away in the forest. The German soldiers chasing him were shooting at him. We thought he was one of our own, so we shot and repelled the Germans chasing him and saved him. I really didn't know that he was a fake German."

"Comrade Commander," the scout had just finished speaking when Haranchuk next to him continued, "Perhaps the enemy discovered that our scouts were active nearby, so they came up with this conspiracy to find the location of our headquarters."

After hearing what Haranchuk said, Politik did not immediately express his opinion, but turned to look at Sokov and asked politely: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what do you think about this matter?"

Sokov thought to himself, if the Germans really discovered the existence of the scouts, they came up with such a self-torture trick, which means they have a backup plan and we must be careful. Thinking of this, he looked up at Politic and said solemnly: "Comrade Colonel, if the Germans sent such an agent just to find the location of your headquarters, it means that they may have deployed a large force nearby and can attack you at any time. Therefore, you must be prepared for battle, so as not to be caught off guard by the enemy."

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what you said makes sense." Politik nodded, and then ordered Haranchuk: "Haranchuk, you go back to the troops immediately and issue a combat alert to the officers and soldiers. Let everyone be prepared for battle, so as not to be caught off guard by the enemy."

Haranchuk stood up and said, "I'll go back now."

After Haranchuk left, Politik brought up the old matter again: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, do you have any good ideas to bring this unit back to the eastern defense zone as intact as possible?"

"It's not easy, Comrade Colonel." Sokov said with a bitter face, "On the way here, we passed through 22 German-controlled areas, including 18 checkpoints and four defensive positions. The checkpoints are easy to deal with. The soldiers inside are no more than a platoon at most and only a squad at least. We can capture them with just one charge. The most troublesome thing is the German defensive positions. Four positions are equivalent to four lines of defense. In the absence of heavy weapons and severe shortage of ammunition, it is harder than climbing to the sky to break through the enemy's defense line."

"If we stay, we will definitely be annihilated by the enemy. But if we want to leave, we can't break through the enemy's layers of defense." Politic took off his military cap, scratched the back of his head and said awkwardly: "We really can't move forward or backward now. Is it really impossible to escape the danger of annihilation?"

"Comrade Colonel." Sokov took his eyes off the map again, looked up at Politic, and asked solemnly: "I think you must have more than just Haranchuk under your command. Didn't the others give you any advice?"

"Of course someone suggested it to me," Politik replied, "I was advised to break up the troops into smaller units, disperse them to different places, and fight guerrilla warfare against the Germans."

After hearing this, Sokov sneered: "Comrade Colonel, if we can't solve the problem of supplying ammunition and materials to the troops, even if we disperse to fight guerrilla warfare, I'm afraid the final outcome will not be very good. After all, if your 4,000-man army is dispersed to fight guerrilla warfare, the number of people will increase several times. By then, the soldiers will have no bullets in their guns and no food in their stomachs. How can they fight the enemy?"

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you are right. I thought the same thing at the time, so I rejected the proposal directly." Politic said, "Then I asked my guerrilla comrades to get the batteries needed for the radio station and sent a telegram to the outside world, hoping to get assistance."

Sokov didn't know how to respond and could only remain silent.

After a while, Politic opened his mouth again and asked Sokov tentatively: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I have an idea, do you think it will work?"

"what idea?"

"Can we ask our superiors to provide us with airdrops?" Politic said excitedly, "As long as we can get a batch of ammunition and supplies, we can hold out longer behind enemy lines."

"Do you think it's possible?" Sokov asked with a wry smile, "Don't you know that our transport planes will not only be hit by German anti-aircraft fire during the flight, but also be intercepted by German fighter planes. When they reach their destination, I'm afraid most of the transport plane formation will be lost. The superiors will not agree to such a crazy plan."

Sokov's words were not alarmist. For a mere few thousand troops, a transport fleet was dispatched to fly more than 200 kilometers behind enemy lines to provide them with airdrops. I'm afraid no superior commander would agree to such a crazy plan.

Seeing the frowning Politic, he said tactfully: "Comrade Colonel, if you want to get out of the current predicament, you can only rely on your existing strength."

After hearing what Sokov said, Politik pursed his lips and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, if you were the highest commander of this unit, what would you do?"

Sokov put himself in the role of the division commander and began to think about how he would deal with the troops under his command if they were in the current situation.

Seeing that Sokov began to think deeply, Politic did not interrupt him, but stood up and walked to where the samovar was placed, poured a cup of hot tea and placed it in front of Sokov.

"Comrade Brigade Commander!" When Sokov picked up the hot tea in front of him and thanked Politik, he heard the voice of Lieutenant Zhukov behind him.

Sokov turned his head and saw Zhukov and Sergeant Zub walking towards him quickly. Based on the expressions on their faces, he realized that the German named Grande or something else must have confessed. He quickly put down the teacup in his hand and asked eagerly, "How is it, did he confess?"

"Yes, Comrade Brigade Commander." Zhu Kewen nodded vigorously and said in a positive tone: "He confessed everything." When Politic heard what Zhu Kewen said, a shocked expression appeared on his face: "He confessed so quickly?"

Zhu Kewen showed a smug expression on his face: "Comrade Colonel, when it comes to interrogation, I am a professional."

"Comrade Second Lieutenant, stop talking nonsense and tell us quickly what he has confessed?" Sokov urged.

"The man's real name is Moritz, and he is a SS major." Zhu Kewen said, "His mission is to command a special airborne force to search for the headquarters of the 315th Infantry Division and destroy it."

"What, the enemy is coming for me?" Politic's face was full of disbelief.

"Comrade Lieutenant, go on." Sokov was eager to know the whole situation, so he interrupted and asked, "He was being chased by German soldiers, what's the matter?"

"Comrade Brigade Commander, this is quite interesting. Please listen to me slowly." Zhu Kewen said, "Moritz commanded the special airborne force to attack the troops of the 315th Division. Although they achieved certain results, they still could not find any trace of the division headquarters. Yesterday, they encountered a unit of the 315th Division. The task force suffered heavy losses. The captain had a conflict with Moritz, so he ordered people to tie up Moritz.

This morning, Moritz took advantage of the soldiers who were guarding him to take a nap, killed one of them, and quietly escaped from the camp. Not long after he ran away, he was discovered by other members of the task force, so the captain sent people to chase him. Coincidentally, Moritz met the reconnaissance team of the 315th Division on his way to escape. When they saw that Moritz was wearing our military uniform and was being chased by the Germans, they mistook him for one of ours and brought him here. "

After listening to Zhukov's story, Sokov was only a little surprised, but Politic broke out in a cold sweat. He thought that if Sokov had not discovered the other party's identity in time, he would definitely keep this fake Lieutenant Grande by his side. When the other party took advantage of his inattention, he would throw a few grenades at the division headquarters, which would be enough to cause heavy losses to the division headquarters.

Thinking of this, Politic stepped forward, shook Sokov's hand, and said in a grateful tone: "Thank you, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel. If you hadn't seen through the Germans' disguise in time, I and my division would be in danger now."

Facing Politic's thanks, Sokov had such an expression. After shaking hands with him, he asked curiously: "Comrade Colonel, how do you plan to deal with this German major?"

"Since he is wearing our military uniform, it means he is a spy." Politic said with a serious expression: "Spies cannot be considered prisoners of war, just shoot him directly." It happened that the scout who brought back the fake Grande was standing not far away. He waved at him and said, "Comrade Sergeant, come over here."

"Comrade commander," the scout came to Politic and asked cautiously, "What instructions do you have?"

Politik said: "After interrogation, the lieutenant has confessed that he is a German major. Take him out and shoot him now."

The scout agreed and followed Zhu Kewen and others to meet Major Moritz.

"It was a close call." Politic said again: "I almost put my division in danger because of my negligence."

Sokov didn't say a word. His eyes were fixed on the map, trying hard to find a way to help the 315th Division escape.

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," seeing that Sokov had been staring at the map, Politic came over and asked curiously, "Do you have any new ideas?"

"Comrade Colonel, look here." Sokov pointed to a location on the map and said to Politic: "According to the map, there seems to be a train station here."

"It's a freight center." Politic was obviously very familiar with the terrain here. After hearing what Sokov said, he immediately replied: "There are dozens of sealed tank cars and two locomotives parked inside. Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what are you talking about?"

Sokov did not answer the other party's question immediately, but asked: "Who owns this freight station now? Us or the Germans?"

"There is no strategic value there, so neither we nor the Germans have troops stationed there."

After listening to Politic's reply, Sokov said: "Comrade Colonel, I have a bold idea."

"what idea?"

"Let the troops occupy the freight station immediately, then have everyone board the vehicles and return to our defense zone."

"What?" Hearing what Sokov said, Politik's eyes widened in surprise. "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, do you mean to let all the officers and soldiers of our division take the train back to our defense line?"

"Yes, that's what I mean." Sokov asked back, "What's wrong with that?"

"You just said that there are four German lines of defense between us and your defense zone." Politic said, "Letting the soldiers take the train and pass through the German lines of defense is like sending them to their deaths, isn't it?"

"That may not be the case." Sokov smiled and continued, "We just need to disguise this train as a German vehicle and carry the troops eastward, then we can pass through the enemy's defense line and enter our defense zone."

Politik thought Sokov's plan was too crazy. If the soldiers were to take the train back to the Soviet defense zone, they would be unable to fight back if attacked by the enemy on the way. Thousands of them would become lambs to be slaughtered. So he said decisively: "I'm sorry, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, your idea is too far-fetched. I can't let my men take risks. Please forgive me for not accepting your suggestion."

Sokov had expected Politic's reaction. Thousands of people took a train and passed through the enemy's defense zone. This was not daring at all, but too crazy. If there was any mistake, the army would be wiped out on the way, and they would not even be able to fight back.

However, he was not in a hurry, but continued to explain: "Comrade Colonel, you see, if we take the train from here and head east, we can reach a position three kilometers away from our brigade's position, and then the officers and soldiers will get off the train and march on foot. It will take at most an hour to enter our brigade's defense zone. How about it, are you interested in considering my proposal again?"

(End of this chapter)