red moscow

Chapter 2904

In response to Khabarov's request, Sokov said without hesitation: "Anton, you have to remember that this is a war era, and our actions are not as convenient as in later generations. Not to mention that I am just a small brigade commander, even General Rokossovsky cannot leave the front line and return to Moscow without orders from his superiors. Do you understand?"

Fortunately, Khabarov was also a reasonable man. After listening to Sokov's words, although he felt a little disappointed, he could understand: "Misha, I understand. I want to go back to the future so much that I can't help but feel a little anxious. I hope you can understand."

"Of course I understand." Sokov was worried that Khabarov would get into some unnecessary trouble because of his outspokenness, so he reminded him, "Anton, remember this. From now on, except in front of me, don't tell anyone that you are from the future, otherwise you may get yourself killed. Do you understand?"

"I understand, I understand." Khabarov nodded in agreement, and suddenly remembered that he had mentioned to many people that he was from the future. He said worriedly: "But the division commander named Politik and the regiment commander Haranchuk have heard me mention this. What should I do if they tell others about this in the future?"

"That's easy." Sokov gave Khabarov some advice: "If anyone asks you about this, just say that you were frightened and had hallucinations, and that what you said was nonsense."

"But I have already told you the exact time when we won the war." Khabarov continued with a bitter face: "If someone insists on this point, what should I do?"

"Just say that you saw those things in your dreams." Sokov said, "Even if those people have doubts, they can't investigate your dreams, right?"

"Well, if anyone asks, I'll answer them like this."

"By the way, I encountered an incredible thing a few days ago."

"What's the matter?" Khabarov asked curiously.

Sokov then told Khabarov about Lieutenant Jegarin.

But when he mentioned that Regarin had killed 75 German soldiers on his own, Khabarov shook his head like a rattle: "Misha, stop joking, how is this possible? Unless he had the assistance of the system, it would be impossible for him to achieve such a record."

Sokov remained silent about Khabarov's speculation. He had the same doubt when he first heard that Regarin had achieved such a record.

Seeing that Sokov was still silent, Khabarov asked, "Misha, are you really kidding me?"

"How is this possible?" Sokov shook his head and said, "When we heard about this record, no one believed it was true. For this reason, the deputy brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Belkin, personally led people to the scene to verify, and finally found that such an exaggerated record was actually true."

After hearing this, Khabarov's mouth twitched violently. He asked in an incredulous tone: "Misha, I wonder where Lieutenant Zhegarin is. I want to meet him."

"I guess you won't have a chance to meet him."

"Why?" Khabarov asked puzzledly, "Why didn't I have a chance to see him? Did he die in the battle?"

"He didn't die, he just disappeared." Sokov looked at Khabarov and said, "After he disappeared inexplicably, I suddenly realized that except for me, everyone who had dealt with him didn't remember him at all."

"Ah, how is this possible?" Khabarov said in surprise, "There must be many people who have seen him, so it's impossible that only one person would not remember him, right?"

"That's exactly what happened. No one except me remembers his existence. Even his comrades who once fought alongside him don't remember him at all. Everyone's memory of him has been wiped out." Sokov emphasized: "When he joined my infantry brigade, he was just an ordinary soldier. Because of his outstanding achievements, I promoted him to lieutenant. But since he disappeared, the promotion order I personally issued has also disappeared without a trace."

"Misha, this is ridiculous," Baharov said in shock. "It is hard to imagine that a living person disappeared without any reason and no one remembered his existence."

Sokov raised his hand to check the time, then said, "It's getting late, we should go back, otherwise it will arouse suspicion. I will say hello to Captain Bobrikov later and ask him to assign you to the guard company."

The two men came to the outside of the tent near the brigade headquarters, and Sokov said to the sentry standing at the door: "Comrade Soldier, go in and call out Captain Bobrikov."

As the captain of the guard company, Bobrikov always lay on the floor near the door of the tent in full clothes to deal with emergencies. When he heard the sentry say that Sokov was looking for him, he immediately stood up and walked out quickly.

He came up to Sokov, raised his hand and saluted, and asked, "Comrade Brigade Commander, what instructions do you have?"

"This is Comrade Anton Khabarov," Sokov pointed at Khabarov and said to Bobrikov, "From now on, he is a member of the guard company. Find him a uniform and give him a gun."

Bobrikov looked at Khabarov, who was dressed as a civilian, and said hesitantly, "Comrade Brigade Commander, it's no problem to find him a military uniform. But judging from his appearance, he should be an untrained civilian. Can he use a weapon?"

In his later life, Sokov once followed Khabarov to the shooting range to shoot with an AK47 and drove a T-34 tank. It can be said that Khabarov played an indispensable role in his ability to adapt to the battlefield so quickly and master the use of various weapons so skillfully during his last time of traveling. Therefore, when he heard Bobrikov's question, he said without hesitation: "Don't worry, Comrade Captain. He looks very smart. Even if he has never used a weapon before, as long as you teach him, he will soon be able to master the use of various weapons."

Seeing that Sokov trusted the young man beside him so much, Bobrikov was stunned, but he just hid his doubts in his heart, nodded and said: "Okay, Comrade Brigade Commander, I will make proper arrangements, don't worry."

……

At daybreak, Politik and Haranchuk hurried to the brigade headquarters.

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov," Politik asked impatiently as soon as he saw Sokov, "When are we going to the army headquarters?"

"No hurry, no hurry." Sokov waved his hand at the other party, and after asking the two to sit down, he said, "Let's finish breakfast first, it won't be too late for us to set off later." After that, he told Romanov next to him, "Romanov, go and see if breakfast is ready."

Romanov agreed and walked out of the tent.

While waiting for breakfast, Sokov called the headquarters again. This time he was lucky, and the person who answered the phone was Rokossovsky. "Misha." Rokossovsky said with a smile on the other end of the phone: "I heard that you not only brought back a troop, but also seized a batch of German weapons. That's great!"

Hearing Rokossovsky's praise, Sokov grinned silently and said, "Comrade Commander, you are too kind. I just did what I should do."

"You called me, what's the matter?"

"It's like this. I have agreed with the Chief of Staff to take the two commanders of the 315th Infantry Division to the headquarters and follow your instructions." Sokov explained: "I don't know if you are in the headquarters at the moment, so I called to ask."

"I just came back from the front headquarters two hours ago," Rokossovsky said, "Misha, please bring the two commanders here as soon as possible."

"Okay, Comrade Commander, we'll be there as soon as possible."

When he hung up the phone, Sokov saw that Romanov had brought in breakfast, so he called out to Politik and Haranchuk: "Comrades commanders, let's hurry up and have breakfast. After we finish, we will rush to the army headquarters immediately."

Half an hour later, after finishing breakfast, Sokov and his group got into two jeeps and sped towards the army headquarters.

On the way, Politic, who was sitting next to Sokov, asked, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I saw that among the guards sitting in another car, there was a civilian who looked a little mentally disturbed and was rescued by our army."

Sokov knew that Politik was talking about Khabarov, so he nodded and said, "Yes, that's him."

Haranchuk, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, half turned around, looked at Sokov and asked in confusion: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I don't understand why you let such a mentally ill person serve as your guard?"

Sokov naturally would not tell the two that the reason he kept Khabarov by his side was to return to the future. He could only say vaguely: "I talked to him privately, and I felt that his thinking was very clear, and he didn't seem like a mentally ill person at all."

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Haranchuk reminded Sokov when he heard him say that, "Have you forgotten what he said at the division headquarters?"

"What remarks?" Sokov asked back, "Are you referring to the fact that he said he came from the future and that we won the war?"

Sokov's words left Haranchuk stuck, and he didn't know how to respond for a moment.

Fortunately, Politic spoke up in time to save him: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I don't deny that we will definitely win the war. But his claim that he is from the future is simply a fantasy. No one with a normal mind would say such a thing."

"We all know that there are prophets who focus on predicting future events and make predictions through intuition, historical patterns, statistical analysis or mysticism," Sokov said. "I think Comrade Khabarov may have acquired some kind of ability to foresee the distant future."

After hearing Sokov's far-fetched explanation, Politic didn't know whether to laugh or cry. In his mind, Khabarov didn't look like a prophet at all, but more like a psychopath. However, out of courtesy, he still said politely: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, maybe you are right."

The following conversation between the few people avoided this sensitive topic and instead talked about how the headquarters would arrange the troops.

"Lieutenant Colonel Sokov," Haranchuk asked Sokov cautiously, "How do you think General Rokossovsky will deploy our troops?"

"Comrades, commanders," Sokov felt obliged to briefly introduce the current situation of the army to the two men, and said solemnly, "The 16th Army is defending a front of hundreds of kilometers with limited forces. Because of the limited forces, there are no reserves in the rear. Once the enemy breaks through our defense line, they can drive straight into Moscow."

After hearing this, Politic couldn't help but take a breath: "Doesn't the 16th Army have a reserve force?"

"No, there are no reserves at all." Sokov introduced them, "According to my judgment, the headquarters may let you serve as a reserve, and send you to the direction where there is danger; secondly, you will be sent directly to Volokolamsk to assist General Panfilov's 316th Infantry Division in defense and firmly hold the city."

"Which plan do you think is more suitable for us?"

Sokov did not give an answer immediately, but asked: "Which plan do you think is more beneficial to you?"

"Of course, the first option." Haranchuk answered without hesitation: "Our division has been fighting behind enemy lines for several months, and the officers and soldiers are already exhausted. If we force them to go to the battlefield, their combat effectiveness will surely be greatly reduced."

"Yes, that's true." Politic agreed, "After several months of fighting, the officers and soldiers are already exhausted both physically and mentally. They really need to rest for a while before they can get back into the fight."

"Since you have made up your mind, just tell the truth when the commander asks you."

When they arrived at the headquarters, Sokov asked the guards he brought with him to wait for him outside, and then he personally took Politik and Haranchuk to meet Rokossovsky.

Rokossovsky, who was talking to Lobachev, saw Sokov and two commanders entering the headquarters, so he stood up and greeted them: "Misha, you are here!"

"Hello, Comrade Commander!" Sokov raised his hand to salute Rokossovsky, and began to introduce the two commanders beside him: "Let me introduce you, this is Colonel Politic, the commander of the 315th Infantry Division, and this is Lieutenant Colonel Haranchuk, the commander of his 1069th Regiment."

"Hello, commanders, I am Lieutenant General Rokossovsky, commander of the 16th Army." Rokossovsky extended his hand to the two men and said in a friendly tone: "On behalf of all members of the headquarters, I welcome you!"

"Hello, Comrade General!" Politik reached out and shook Rokossovsky's hand, and said a little excitedly: "We were originally an isolated army behind enemy lines. We sent you a telegram for help just to try our luck and see if there was a chance to escape from danger. I didn't expect that the next day after the telegram was sent, you sent Lieutenant Colonel Sokov to contact us deep behind enemy lines. I was so moved. Comrade General, on behalf of all the officers and soldiers of the 315th Infantry Division, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to you!"

Rokossovsky replied with a smile: "Colonel Politik, the person you should thank is not me, but Lieutenant Colonel Sokov. It was he who risked his life to go deep behind enemy lines and found a way to rescue you."

(End of this chapter)