red moscow

Chapter 2899

As the car approached the row of buildings, Sokov carefully observed the closed doors, wondering which door the enemy would emerge from.

But when the car stopped, all the doors were still closed, and no enemies rushed out as imagined.

Seeing this, Zhu Kewen was about to say something, but Sokov raised his hand to stop him.

Sokov only whispered: "Speak German, this will confuse the enemy."

After hearing this, Zhu Kewen nodded, then opened the car door and got out to check.

Sokov held the pistol and stared outside with vigilant eyes. If he found anything wrong, he would shoot immediately. Chulxin, who was driving, also picked up the submachine gun beside him, turned on the safety, and pointed the gun at the closed doors.

Zhukov quickly opened several doors to check, but found no one inside. He turned around, spread his hands toward Sokov, and said loudly in German: "Major, there is no one here."

After hearing what Zhukov said, Sokov pushed open the car door and got out. He didn't even bother to close the door and walked over with a gun in hand.

"Is there really no one here?" He came up to Zhu Kewen and asked.

Zhu Kewen shook his head and answered in a positive tone: "No, Mr. Major, there is no one."

Although Sokov saw with his own eyes that there was no one in the rooms opened by Zhukov when he was in the car, he was still worried and went forward to open a room himself to check the situation inside.

In the newly opened room, there was no sign that anyone had ever been there except for a desk piled with clutter, two overturned chairs, and documents all over the floor.

Zhukov came over and whispered to Sokov, "Comrade Brigade Commander..."

Sokov frowned, put his index finger to his lips, and made a gesture of silence to stop Zhukov from continuing. Although no one was found in the several rooms that were opened, who could guarantee that there were no Germans hiding nearby? If Zhukov spoke to them in Russian and was heard by the enemy, the lives of the three of them would be in danger.

"Speak German!" Sokov whispered again in German. "Don't forget what we are here for."

"But there's no one here."

"Look again." Seeing that most of the doors of the buildings were open, but no one was found, Sokov began to wonder if the information provided by the scouts was accurate. He said unwillingly, "Open the remaining doors. If no one is found, we will go to the back to see if there is anyone in the carriage."

Soon, the remaining rooms were checked, and apart from the mess on the floor, there was not even a ghost to be found.

"Let's go and take a look at the back." After saying this to Zhukov, Sokov waved to Churhin, who was standing next to the car with a gun, and motioned him to follow.

The three men walked cautiously to the back of the building, ready to shoot at any time.

When they walked to the corner, they vaguely heard voices. Sokov hurriedly stopped and raised his hand to gesture for everyone to stop.

When Zhu Kewen and Chu Erxin saw his gesture, they immediately stopped and listened attentively to the sound coming from the corner.

After listening for a while, Zhukov leaned close to Sokov and whispered, "Comrade Brigade Commander, it seems that the Germans are talking. There are not many of them, maybe three or four."

When he learned that there might be only three or four enemies, Sokov whispered to Chulhin: "Churhin, turn on the safety of your submachine gun. If you see them suddenly move aside, shoot at them immediately. Do you understand?"

After hearing this, Churxin didn't say anything, but just nodded vigorously to show that he understood.

Sokov walked to the corner and carefully looked outside. He saw two motorcycles parked not far away, one was a two-wheeled motorcycle and the other was a three-wheeled motorcycle. Four German soldiers wearing helmets and military coats were standing next to the motorcycles, smoking and chatting.

Just as he was about to continue observing his surroundings, he was discovered by a German soldier who was smoking.

The German soldier threw away the cigarette butt in his hand, picked up the submachine gun hanging on his chest, pointed at Sokov's position, and shouted loudly: "Who's there?"

The other three German soldiers, upon hearing their companion's voice, turned their heads to look at where Sokov was hiding and raised their weapons.

Seeing that he had been discovered, Sokov walked out openly and strode towards the German soldiers, asking loudly: "Which unit are you from and what are you doing here?"

Seeing that the person coming out was a major, the four German soldiers quickly lowered their guns.

The first German soldier to point his gun at Sokov was a corporal. He replied respectfully, "Major, we are a reconnaissance team from the 197th Infantry Division. We are here to perform a reconnaissance mission. May I ask who you are?"

"I'm from the Brandenburg Regiment," Sokov said nonsense, "I was on a mission nearby, but I was attacked by guerrillas. My men and I fled here." He turned and shouted at the corner, "We are all on our side here, come out."

Following Sokov's shout, Zhukov and Chulxin came out from the corner and quickly came to Sokov's side.

Sokov looked back and confirmed the positions of Zhukov and Chulxin. At the same time, he silently calculated which side he should dodge to in order to leave a shooting position for Chulxin.

"Major." The German corporal looked at Sokov and his two companions carefully and asked suspiciously, "Are there only three of you?"

"Of course there were more than three of us." Sokov deliberately said in an angry tone, "Didn't I just tell you that we were attacked by guerrillas on the road? Except for the three of us, the rest of us died under the guerrillas' guns."

"Guerrillas?" Hearing what Sokov said, the German corporal asked nervously, "Where are they and how many are there?"

"Based on the distribution of firepower, there are at least forty or fifty people." Sokov evaded the question casually and asked, "Corporal, how many people are there? I'm worried that the guerrillas will catch up here later, and we won't be able to deal with them with just a few of us."

"Mr. Major, do you have any transportation?"

"Yes, there is a car." Sokov asked curiously: "Why do you ask this?"

"Major, there are only four of us. Together with you and your men, there are only seven of us." The German corporal explained to Sokov, "We can't handle so many guerrillas with our limited numbers, so we need to move immediately. It's great that you have a car, so you can quickly get out of this dangerous area."

"How far is your unit from here?"

"It's about 20 to 25 kilometers from here." After figuring out the enemy's strength, Sokov felt relieved. He shouted to the four German soldiers, "If that's the case, then what are you still hesitating about? Move quickly, or we won't be able to stop the guerrillas if they come."

As he spoke, Sokov quickly took a step to the left, leaving an angle for Zhukov and Churhin to shoot.

At the same time, he raised his pistol and shouted, "Shoot!" and took the lead in shooting at the German corporal.

The sound of gunfire was the order, and Zhu Kewen's pistol and Churxin's submachine gun also fired.

The sudden shooting caught the four German soldiers off guard. Before they could come to their senses, they were all shot and fell to the ground. Before the German corporal fell to the ground, he looked at Sokov with a resentful look, and then fell straight to the ground.

Seeing that all four enemies were defeated, Zhu Kewen hurried forward and checked to see if there were any fish that had escaped. After confirming that all the enemies were eliminated, he walked back to report to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, they are all taken care of."

Sokov nodded, and then ordered Chulxin: "Churxin, send a signal to the comrades in the reconnaissance team and ask them to come over immediately."

Chulsin agreed and quickly walked around the building, signaling towards the area where the scouts were.

Sokov took Zhukov to a locomotive, trying to find out whether the locomotives piled there could still be used.

The two men came to the first locomotive. When Sokov was about to get on the train, he was pulled back by Zhukov. At the same time, a panicked voice came: "Comrade Brigade Commander, wait a moment, don't get on the train!"

Sokov turned to look at Zhukov and asked in confusion: "Comrade Lieutenant, what's wrong? Why can't you get in the car?"

Zhu Kewen pointed to the door and said, "Look, what's written on the car?"

Looking in the direction of Zhukov's finger, Sokov saw clearly the words "Beware of mines" written in Russian on the door of the cockpit.

Zhu Kewen said nervously, "There is a mine in the cockpit. It would be dangerous if we go up there. Why don't we send someone to contact Colonel Politic and ask him to send someone to clear the mine in the cockpit."

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Sokov laughed and said, "Comrade Lieutenant, don't worry, there are no mines at all."

"No mines? But there's a sign on the door saying 'Beware of mines'. How come?"

"I think the railway workers didn't want the Germans to use these locomotives, so they wrote these words on purpose," Sokov explained to him. "You might as well take a look at the other locomotives to see if they have the same words on them."

Zhu Kewen hesitated for a moment, half believing and half doubting, and then said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, please wait here for a while. I will go check the other locomotives to see if it is as you said."

Sokov did not stop him and nodded in agreement.

When Zhu Kewen went to check the other locomotives, Sokov was not in a hurry to enter the cockpit. After all, he was not a train driver and was unfamiliar with everything on the train. Even if he really got in, he probably wouldn't be able to figure out what was going on.

A few minutes later, Zhukov came back to Sokov and said excitedly, "Comrade Brigade Commander, you are right. The same words are written on the other locomotives. It seems that the railway employees wrote them deliberately to deceive the Germans."

After a pause, he asked Sokov tentatively: "Comrade Brigade Commander, can we go up and check now?"

At this point, Sokov was no longer in a hurry. He shook his head and said, "Comrade Lieutenant, neither of us are train drivers. Even if we go up, I'm afraid we won't understand. Anyway, Chulxin has already sent a signal to the comrades in the reconnaissance team. We will wait for them here to see if anyone among them can drive a train."

As he was talking, Chulsin ran over with a gun in hand and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the comrades of the reconnaissance team have received my signal and are heading here."

After hearing this, Sokov said nothing, but just nodded slightly.

Chulxin saw Sokov and Zhukov standing by the locomotive but not getting on, and couldn't help asking curiously, "Comrade Brigade Commander, can this locomotive still be used?"

"I'm not sure." Sokov shook his head and said, "Lieutenant Zhukov and I are not train drivers. We know nothing about locomotives. Even if we go up, I'm afraid we won't be able to see anything. Let's stay here and wait for the comrades of the reconnaissance team to come. Maybe there will be professionals among them."

As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Chulsin said, "Comrade Brigade Commander, I was a train driver for several years before the war. If you trust me, can you let me go up and check it out?"

Upon learning that Chulxin had worked as a train driver before the war, Sokov was overjoyed and said repeatedly: "Comrade Chulxin, hurry up and check it out. This locomotive seems to be still usable."

"Okay!" Chulxin agreed, grabbed the handrail next to the car door, and climbed into the cockpit using the ladder.

Looking at Chulxin busy in the cockpit, Zhukov lowered his voice and asked Sokov in a skeptical tone: "Comrade Brigade Commander, do you think Chulxin really understands it?"

"I don't think he would cheat me on such a small matter."

Soon, Chulsin stood at the door and said loudly to Sokov outside: "Comrade Brigade Commander, we are lucky. The locomotive is intact and the carriage is full of coal. As long as the boiler is ignited, the locomotive can start at any time."

"That's great." Sokov was very relieved to learn that the locomotive was good. This meant that the transfer of the 315th Division could rely on these locomotives and wagons at the freight center. He said to Churhin, "Comrade Churhin, please check the other locomotives to see if they can be used."

Just as Chursin agreed and got out of the cockpit, the reconnaissance team arrived.

The scout sergeant in charge came over and saluted Sokov, then asked respectfully, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what's going on in the freight center?"

Sokov looked at the scouts standing in front of him, suppressed his anger, and said in a calm tone: "Comrade Sergeant, you are right. There are indeed Germans in the freight center, and there are more than one."

Hearing what Sokov said, the sergeant suddenly became nervous. He looked around and asked, "Where are the Germans?"

Sokov pointed to the spot where several German soldiers lay dead and said to the sergeant, "Look, they are all there."

The sergeant looked in the direction of Sokov's finger and saw two motorcycles parked there and German bodies lying on the ground. He quickly called over one of his men and ordered, "Go over and see what's going on over there."

After receiving the order, the scout walked over carefully with his weapon in hand. After a careful inspection, he slung his gun over his shoulder and trotted over to report to the sergeant: "Comrade Sergeant, there are four German bodies over there. They are all dead."

(End of this chapter)