red moscow

Chapter 2953 Dealing with Special Agents
Sokov's truck quickly caught up with the last of the three trucks.

Sokov leaned out and shouted at the driver of the car, "Stop the car! Stop the car right now!"

Hearing Sokov's shout, the driver, though unsure of what had happened, obediently stepped on the brakes and stopped the car on the road, since it was a lieutenant colonel ordering him to stop.

After stopping one truck, Sokov did the same thing, stopping two more trucks in succession.

After all three trucks stopped, Sokov ordered his driver to park the truck across the road, blocking their path. This way, he wouldn't have to worry about the drivers starting their vehicles and driving off when he got out.

Sokov got out of the car and went to the driver's seat of the first vehicle, asking into it, "Who's leading this team?"

The passenger-side door opened, and a captain stepped out.

He walked around the front of the car, came up to Sokov, saluted, and politely asked, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, why are you blocking our way?"

Sokov was eager to eliminate the four Germans disguised as NKVD soldiers, so he didn't beat around the bush and said directly, "Comrade Captain, I need your cooperation to eliminate a few enemy soldiers who have infiltrated behind our lines."

The captain had been harboring resentment at having his convoy inexplicably stopped. But upon hearing Sokov's words, his eyebrows shot up, and he asked, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, where is the enemy?"

“You should have seen them,” Sokov said. “Those NKVD soldiers standing by the roadside before your convoy overtook my car were Germans in disguise.”

"What? Those NKVD soldiers were Germans in disguise?" The captain's eyes widened in surprise. "Lieutenant Colonel, you can't be mistaken, can you?"

“Captain, I’ve been dealing with the Germans for a long time. Determining their true identities isn’t difficult for me. I’m certain those men are Germans in disguise.” Sokov stated his judgment with certainty, then asked, “What? Didn’t you notice those NKVD soldiers when you arrived?”

The captain took off his military cap, scratched the back of his head, and said somewhat embarrassedly, "Of course I saw it. But as you know, nobody likes dealing with people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so when I saw a few Ministry of Internal Affairs officers checking identification on the road, I ordered the driver to speed up."

“Comrade Captain,” Sokov reached out and shook the captain’s hand, expressing his gratitude, “thank you! It was because of your timely appearance that my life was saved.”

Sokov's words left the captain completely bewildered: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I don't quite understand what you mean. How did I save your life?"

“To be honest, four enemies were positioned in different directions, blocking all our escape routes. If a shot had been fired, none of the three of us would have survived.” Sokov shook the captain’s hand vigorously a few times and said gratefully, “It was because of your appearance that the Germans hesitated and abandoned their attack on us, allowing us to survive by sheer luck. Now, I want to take you with me to eliminate those Germans.”

The captain chuckled dryly twice, then cautiously asked, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, now that you're out of danger, you can continue on your way. Why do you insist on eliminating these Germans?"

“The reason is simple, Captain.” Sokov frowned when he saw that the captain didn’t seem willing to bring his men to eliminate the Germans. “The Germans haven’t attacked us yet because of your sudden appearance. But if a lone vehicle or individual encountered these Germans, do you think they would have any chance of survival?”

The captain realized from Sokov's words that he had oversimplified the problem.

Although these Germans haven't caused any immediate harm, if they are allowed to remain in the area, lone vehicles or individuals will inevitably suffer. Having understood this, the captain immediately stood at attention, straightened his back, and said to Sokov, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what should we do? Please give the order."

"Captain, how many men do you have?"

The captain glanced at the vehicles behind him and replied, "There are 48 people in total, including the driver."

“I have three men here, which means we have a total of 51 men to deal with four Germans. We have an absolute advantage in both numbers and equipment,” Sokov said. “Next, I will assign the combat mission.”

The captain called over his deputies from the two vehicles behind him, namely the lieutenant deputy company commander and the second lieutenant platoon leader, and had them listen to Sokov's instructions.

When Sokov was assigning tasks, the deputy company commander raised his question: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, if we turn back now to chase after them, what if the enemy has already escaped into the forest on both sides of the road? If the enemy has entered the forest, it is obviously unrealistic for us with such a small number of people to find even a few of them."

“Lieutenant, if it were summer, the situation you described would be very likely to occur,” Sokov explained to the deputy company commander. “But it’s winter now, and the roadsides are covered in snow. Even if the enemy leaves the road and enters the forest, their footprints in the snow will give them away.”

Hearing Sokov say this, the deputy company commander nodded vigorously and agreed, "You're right, Lieutenant Colonel. If the enemy leaves the road and escapes into the forest, the footprints they leave in the snow will give them away."

After all the vehicles turned around, Sokov wanted to rush to the front, but the captain stopped him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you are the highest commander here. How can you be at the front of the convoy? If something happens to you, the unit will lose unified command. Let my car drive at the front of the convoy."

"Alright, Captain, then you can lead the way in your car."

As Sokov ordered the driver to chase after the captain's convoy, they passed through a forest. The trees obscured the view of the Germans posing as NKVD soldiers. They did not notice that the four trucks they had just let go were now rushing menacingly toward them. They remained in their original positions, waiting for new prey to take the bait.

The roar of cars behind them inevitably startled them.

The fake Internal Affairs lieutenant turned to look behind him and saw a convoy of four trucks heading towards his location. At first, he didn't pay much attention, assuming it was a convoy returning from the front lines.

But soon, he spotted the last vehicle in the convoy. He had observed it closely when he stopped it for inspection not long ago, so it left a deep impression on him. Seeing this vehicle returning with the other three trucks, he immediately realized something was wrong and shouted to the other three German soldiers, "Damn it, our identities have been exposed! Get off the road and hide in the nearby forest! We absolutely cannot let the Germans catch us!"

Upon hearing the fake lieutenant's shout, the other German soldiers turned and fled into the forest by the roadside.

But the snow on the roadside slowed them down, and after only a few men had run, the machine gun mounted on the truck opened fire. The soldiers standing next to the machine gunner also raised their rifles and began firing at the German soldiers fleeing into the forest. Although firing from a moving vehicle made accuracy questionable, the concentrated fire still killed one German soldier on the spot. Another German soldier, seeing his comrade fall, turned to help him up, but was shot in the leg and collapsed onto the snow.

After the four trucks stopped one after another, the soldiers in the truck beds jumped off and, without even having time to form ranks, rushed towards the fleeing German soldiers with their weapons in hand.

A few minutes later, the battle ended. Of the four Germans who were impersonating NKVD soldiers, three were killed and one was wounded. The fake NKVD lieutenant was wounded and captured. The Soviet soldiers only suffered two minor injuries, and after their wounds were bandaged, they were no different from normal people.

The captain and his men brought the fake lieutenant before Sokov. "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, this is the only survivor we've captured."

"Tell me, what is your mission?"

The captured fake lieutenant sneered and stiffened his neck, "I won't say anything, just have someone shoot me."

Seeing that the fake lieutenant was so stubborn, the deputy company commander pressed his pistol against his temple and said through gritted teeth, "If you don't talk, I'll kill you right now."

"Lieutenant, put your gun down. I have some questions for him." After the deputy company commander put down his gun, Sokov took out a silver cigarette case from his pocket, opened it, and handed it to the fake lieutenant, saying in German, "Have one!"

The fake lieutenant's pupils contracted sharply, and he asked incredulously, "You can speak German?"

"I'm German, is it strange that I can speak German?" Sokov said with a straight face, spouting nonsense.

The fake lieutenant was fooled by Sokov's words. He asked in surprise, "But when I checked your identification, I saw that you were clearly..."

"You're clearly a Russian officer, aren't you?" Sokov continued to deceive them, saying, "That's actually my false identity. I'm an officer in the Brandenburg Regiment. I infiltrated the Russian army using documents I seized from Russians. I was supposed to be on a secret mission to the front lines, but I almost died at your hands."

Hearing Sokov's words, the fake lieutenant smiled somewhat embarrassedly. He reached into his cigarette case, took out a cigarette, and stared at the cigarette case in Sokov's hand, trying to cover up his embarrassment with other words: "Your cigarette case is from Hanau, isn't it?"

"Good eye!" Sokov gave the other man a thumbs up: "This silver cigarette case is indeed made in Hanau."

After lighting a match for the other man's cigarette, Sokov continued, "I don't know your name or your rank, but can I ask you what mission you were carrying out this time, infiltrating behind Russian lines?"

The fake lieutenant took a drag of his cigarette, a playful smile spreading across his face: "Lieutenant Colonel, if I asked you what mission you were carrying out after infiltrating the Russians, would you tell me?"

Sokov's expression froze, then he replied awkwardly, "That's definitely not the case."

"Coincidentally, I won't reveal the purpose of this operation to anyone."

Seeing that he couldn't get the information he wanted from the German prisoners, Sokov felt a surge of murderous intent. He gritted his teeth and said, "On the battlefield, what will happen if you capture an enemy wearing our uniform? I don't need to tell you, you should know the answer, right?"

“That’s right, I do know what I’m doing.” The fake lieutenant took a few deep drags on his cigarette, threw it on the ground, and then looked at Sokov with a calm expression, saying, “Colonel, in order to avoid revealing your identity, you can now order my execution.”

Sokov nodded, then turned and ordered the captain, "Comrade Captain, take this German aside and shoot him."

The captain agreed and assigned the task to the deputy company commander.

After the deputy company commander and several soldiers escorted the fake lieutenant away, the captain asked with some curiosity, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I just heard you talking to this German prisoner in German, and you seemed to be speaking quite fluently. I wonder where you learned German?"

When Sokov heard the captain say this, his right hand was on the holster at his waist. He knew that his conversation with the German prisoner in German had aroused the captain's suspicion. If he didn't explain himself, the captain might shoot him in the back when he turned around.

It was with this in mind that Sokov frankly said, "I learned German from a German translator at the front. You know, my troops often capture prisoners in battle. If you don't understand German and don't have a German translator, it's impossible to get useful information from prisoners in a timely manner. Also, Captain, you can take your hand off your holster. I am your comrade, not your enemy."

Hearing Sokov say this, the captain smiled sheepishly, took his hand off the holster at his waist, and said awkwardly, "I thought you were a German in disguise, just like that prisoner, because you speak German so fluently."

The deputy company commander had just led his men to execute the fake lieutenant when a jeep pulled up behind him. A middle-aged man in civilian clothes and two heavily armed soldiers got out. The man shouted at the deputy company commander, "What are you doing? Why are you shooting at your own men?"

Before the deputy company commander could speak, the man shouted again, "Where is your commander? I want to write down his name and report his wrongdoing to my superiors."

Sokov, who was talking to the captain, heard the man's voice and quickly walked over.

Sokov approached the man and asked expressionlessly, "Comrade, who are you, and why are you shouting here?"

The man pulled an identification card from his jacket pocket and said sternly, "I am Vladimir Stavsky, editor of Pravda, and I am here on orders to report from the front. Comrade Commander, please tell me, why are you randomly shooting comrades from the NKVD? Did they see something they shouldn't have seen, so you're killing them to silence them?"

Faced with Vladimir Stavsky's questioning, Sokov glanced at the five corpses lying on the ground. Before answering the question, he instructed the captain: "Comrade Captain, have someone strip them of their uniforms and burn them, then throw their bodies into the snow by the roadside."

After the captain began to carry out his orders, Sokov turned his gaze back to Vladimir Stavsky: "Comrade Stavsky, do you really think we're executing members of the NKVD?"

(End of this chapter)