red moscow

Chapter 2945

For police officers who frequently handle identification documents, the authenticity of an document can be determined with just a glance. After checking Yakov's document, he turned and walked to the lieutenant, handing it over and saying, "Lieutenant, this document is genuine."

The police lieutenant took the identification and looked at it, then walked over to Yakov and personally returned the identification to him. He then said to Sokov and Khabarov, "Please show me your identification!"

After Khabarov produced his identification, Sokov handed the two documents to the police lieutenant. He didn't say anything, just stared at the man silently.

The police lieutenant opened Sokov's identification, examined it, and then asked sternly, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, can you tell me where your unit is stationed, and what are you two doing in the city?"

“Where my troops are currently stationed is classified information, and I cannot tell you,” Sokov said, looking at the police lieutenant with amusement. “As for what we’re doing in Moscow, don’t we have a travel permit in our military ID cards with the detailed reason written on it?”

“I’ve seen the travel permit; it’s for taking a general to a military hospital in Moscow for treatment of his injuries.” The police lieutenant pressed on, “But the hospital you’re going to isn’t in this area. How do you explain that?”

“We’re here specifically to see a friend.” Sokov pointed to Yakov beside him: “Look, this is Lieutenant Yakov. You just checked his identification, so you shouldn’t doubt his identity, right?”

“Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, Lieutenant Yakov’s identity is indeed without question,” the police lieutenant said. “However, your identity and that of your subordinates are questionable. Please come with me; we need to verify your identities.”

Seeing the police lieutenant's arrogant demeanor, Yakov became anxious: "Lieutenant, what are you doing?"

Worried that Yakov might argue with the police lieutenant over him, Sokov quickly raised his hand to stop him and then said to the police lieutenant, "Lieutenant, I'm sorry, I have important business to attend to later and cannot accompany you to the station for questioning."

The police lieutenant, not expecting Sokov to dare refuse to go to the police station, immediately changed his expression and said coldly, "Lieutenant Colonel, let me remind you of something: I'm the one in charge here. If I tell you to go to the police station, you must go. Understand?"

“Lieutenant, I’m not going to the police station with you because it’s unnecessary,” Sokov said, leaning back in his chair. “Because someone in your department can verify my identity.”

Upon hearing Sokov's words, the police lieutenant instinctively asked, "Who is it? Who can verify your identity?"

“General Romanchenko!” Sokov said, “General Romanchenko, the head of the police headquarters, dealt with me last month and should be able to verify my identity.”

To everyone's surprise, the police lieutenant sneered and said in a contemptuous tone, "Lieutenant Colonel, I'm just a lowly lieutenant. Do you think someone of my rank has the right to call the director of headquarters directly?"

Sokov thought about it and realized it made sense. In the army, a company commander or platoon leader under his command wouldn't be authorized to call Rokossovsky directly. Then another name popped into his head: "Since you're not authorized to contact General Romanchenko, what about Major Felix Gerchikov? You must be authorized to contact him, right?" He wasn't sure if the lieutenant knew Gerchikov, but in the current situation, he could only try his luck.

Unexpectedly, the police lieutenant looked shocked when he heard the name Sokov mentioned: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, do you know Major Gerchkov?"

“Yes, I fought alongside him some time ago, so he must remember me well.” Sokov didn’t tell the police lieutenant why he had fought alongside Gerchkov, but urged him, “Why don’t you call and ask him?”

The police lieutenant hesitated for a moment, then politely said to Sokov, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, please wait a moment while I make a phone call." As he turned to walk towards the counter, he waved to his men who were holding guns and ordered them, "Put your guns down!"

Watching the police lieutenant standing by the counter making a phone call, Yakov leaned closer to Sokov and asked in a low voice with some concern, "Misha, do you really know that Major Gerchikov?" His worry was palpable; he feared that Sokov had just given a name to get away with things, and if the police lieutenant contacted him later and he said he didn't know Sokov, things would probably get very complicated.

"Don't worry, Yasha." Sokov smiled and nodded at Yakov. "I did fight alongside Major Gerchkov. He may not remember others, but he will definitely remember me. After all, we were comrades who went through life and death together."

When the police lieutenant returned to Sokov with a beaming smile after making the call, he returned Sokov's identification and said respectfully, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I have already called Major Gerchkov. He said that he fought alongside you last month and wiped out a group of German agents who had infiltrated Moscow. He said he will be here soon, so please be sure to wait for him here."

Sokov figured he'd be spending a lot of time in Moscow in the future, and making more friends would be beneficial. Hearing the police lieutenant's suggestion, he nodded in agreement: "Alright, I'll stay here and wait for him."

After a brief pause, Sokov, remembering the other party's inexplicable appearance and their intention to arrest him and Khabarov, asked curiously, "Lieutenant, can you tell me why you want to arrest me?"

After speaking with Gerchkov, the police lieutenant realized there must have been some misunderstanding. Hearing Sokov's question, he quickly explained, "Colonel, here's what happened: I received a call from one of my subordinates who said an elderly woman at the subway station where you took the train reported you, saying you might be spies who infiltrated the city. Upon receiving this information, I immediately brought men over."

Sokov frowned slightly and continued, "Then how did you know we were here?"

“The old lady said she heard that you were going to meet someone at a coffee shop near Mayakovsky Square, so I brought my men over here.” The police lieutenant quickly explained to Sokov, “After coming out of the metro station, I stopped a policeman on duty in the square and asked him if he had seen two people like you. He said he had given you directions before, so I followed his directions and came here directly.”

"Oh, I see." Sokov finally understood why the police lieutenant was able to lead his men to find him so accurately; it turned out that the policeman he had asked for directions from had told him.

“Lieutenant,” Yakov said, seeing that the misunderstanding had been cleared up, “now that we know it was a misunderstanding, may you leave with your men?”

"I'm sorry, Lieutenant Yakov," the police lieutenant said apologetically, "I'm afraid we'll have to wait a little longer."

"Wait a little longer?" Yakov repeated what the other person had said, then said impatiently, "What are you waiting for?"

“Lieutenant Yakov,” the police lieutenant explained respectfully. “When I set off with my men, I was worried that I had arrested the wrong person, so I ordered the police officer who received the report to bring the old lady who reported the lieutenant colonel over for identification.”

“Misha, what do you think we should do about this?” Yakov turned to Sokov for his opinion. “It’s fine. We’re going to be here for a while anyway. Let’s just wait for that old lady to come over. I want to ask her in person why she thinks we’re like German spies.”

A dozen minutes later, the police officers on duty at the subway station led the elderly woman into the coffee shop.

He approached the police lieutenant, saluted, and said, "Lieutenant, I have brought the person who reported the case."

"Thank you for your hard work!" The police lieutenant nodded to him, then turned his gaze to the old lady: "Grandma, please tell me, were those two special agents you mentioned at the scene?"

The old woman's gaze swept across the coffee shop, quickly settling on Sokov and Khabarov. "That's them!" she pointed at them, then turned to the police lieutenant and said, "They're the German agents who infiltrated the city. Arrest them quickly!"

But the police lieutenant just smiled wryly and said somewhat awkwardly, "Grandma, I think you've got it wrong. They're not German agents, but commanders who just returned from the front lines." Perhaps worried that the old lady might say something unpleasant, he added, "I've already checked their identification, and there's nothing wrong with it."

Upon hearing this, the old woman was dumbfounded. She never expected that the police, after checking her, would tell her that she had made a mistake in identifying the German agent she believed to be a German spy.

She said reluctantly, "Lieutenant, surely they wouldn't use fake identification? You mustn't be mistaken."

“There’s no mistake.” Before the police lieutenant could speak, a loud voice came from the doorway: “I can guarantee that these two comrades are definitely not German agents.”

Everyone looked towards the door and saw a policeman in a major's uniform walk in.

The person who arrived was none other than Major Gerchkov, whom the police lieutenant had contacted not long ago.

Upon seeing Gerchkov, the police lieutenant immediately stepped forward and saluted him.

But the old lady still insisted, "Comrade Commander, what evidence do you have that they aren't German agents?"

Gerchkov grinned and then said to the old lady, "This lieutenant colonel accompanied me on a special mission to the Kremlin last month."

When Gerchkov told them that Sokov had been on a mission to the Kremlin last month, everyone was surprised but their doubts were dispelled. If he really was a German agent, how could he have entered the Kremlin?

The old lady was stunned when she heard this.

After a long while, she asked Gerchkov tremblingly, "Comrade Commander, is everything you said true?"

“Old man, do you think I would dare to lie about something like this?” Gerchkov retorted.

The old lady stopped talking and said somewhat awkwardly, "Commander, it seems I made a mistake."

Sokov had already stood up to greet Gerchkov and gave him a warm hug: "Comrade Felix, I really didn't expect that we would meet again so soon."

"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I didn't expect that we would meet again so soon."

After the police lieutenant left with his men and the old woman, Sokov invited Gerchikov to sit down at the table, ordered him a coffee, and then introduced him to Yakov and Khabarov: "Felix, let me introduce you. This is Lieutenant Yakov, who works in the weapons and equipment department. This is Khabarov, my subordinate." He then said to Yakov and Khabarov, "This is Major Felix Gerchikov; we once carried out a special mission together."

Yakov was well aware of the secrecy regulations and knew what he could and could not ask. Since Sokov had said that Gerchikov was a comrade-in-arms, he was very polite. He took the initiative to extend his hand to the other party and said in a friendly tone, "Hello, Major Comrade, it's a pleasure to meet you."

After shaking hands with Yakov and Khabarov, Gerchikov apologized to Sokov for what had just happened: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, since the evacuation order was issued in October, there has been some disorder in the city, and enemy agents and saboteurs have infiltrated the city in large numbers. Therefore, as soon as we receive a report, regardless of the veracity of the intelligence, we immediately send people to investigate. I apologize again for today's misunderstanding."

“Felix!” Sokov waved his hand at Geerchkov and said, “This isn’t your responsibility, you don’t need to be so polite. On the contrary, if you hadn’t come forward to clear things up for me, I’d probably be in the police station for questioning right now.”

“By the way, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov,” Gerchkov asked curiously, “the fighting at the front is fierce. Logically, you should be at the front. Why are you here?”

“I’m here for two things,” Sokov explained, holding up two fingers to Geerchkov. “First, we are here on orders to escort Lieutenant General Lukin to Moscow to recover from his injuries. Second, I intend to have this soldier join the Armaments Department, so I brought him to see Lieutenant Yakov.”

Gerchikov turned to look at Khabarov, his face full of surprise. He couldn't understand why Sokov would personally go to such lengths to get this seemingly ordinary soldier into the weapons and equipment department.

Before Gerchkov could voice his question, Sokov guessed what he was about to say and quickly interjected, "Comrade Khabarov has recently developed two new weapons that are very helpful in enhancing our army's combat effectiveness. It is clearly inappropriate for such an excellent weapons designer to remain at the front lines. If something were to happen one day, it would be a huge loss for our army."

Although Gerchkov felt that Sokov's statement was somewhat exaggerated, he did not expose him in front of outsiders, but instead echoed, "Oh, I see. No wonder you personally accompanied him to see Lieutenant Yakov of the Armaments Department."

“Felix, as far as I know, General Romanchenko, the head of the police headquarters, will organize a police detachment and send them to the 16th Army’s defense zone.” Sokov looked at Gerchkov and asked, “I wonder if you will be assigned to this unit?”

(End of this chapter)