Red Moscow

Chapter 2257

  Sokov couldn't help frowning, and said with a sneer: "Comrade female officer, if you say that one or two of you accidentally lost their IDs, I believe this. But all five of you lost their IDs. How is this possible?"

   "Really, Comrade General." The female officer quickly argued, "What I said is true."

   "What's your name?" Sokov asked.

   "My name is Rednikova, and I am a second lieutenant from the Ministry of Internal Affairs." The female officer said, "It's a pity that my certificate is lost, otherwise I can show you my certificate."

   Knowing that the other party was an officer from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Lunev walked up and suddenly said a few words to the other party. Although Lunev spoke Russian, Sokov found himself not understanding what he was saying. However, the female officer named Rednikova had a shocked expression on her face after hearing this, and then answered Lunev in the same tone.

   "Misha." Lunev turned to Sokov and said, "I have just verified her identity, and she is indeed a member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. If you still want to know anything, just ask, I believe she will tell you everything you are interested in."

  Since the other party is an officer of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Sokov naturally can no longer ask what mission they are performing. If he is qualified to know, the major has probably told him just now. He coughed lightly, cleared his throat and asked, "Second Lieutenant Rednikova, please tell me how your documents were lost?"

   "Comrade General," Rednikova knew very well in her heart that if she couldn't explain the loss of her documents clearly, although Sokov would not shoot herself again, she would not let herself go easily. She quickly explained: "After accepting the mission, we took a jeep to the Oder River. Halfway, our car broke down. We happened to see a few of our own people in the wooden house on the side of the road, so we asked them for help.

  The leader of the team was also a major. After he verified our identities, he let us enter the house to rest and arrange personnel to help us repair the car. In the face of his enthusiasm, we all expressed our gratitude, thinking that we were our own, so we relaxed our vigilance, so that we didn't have any precautions against the tea he sent..."

   "Wait a minute, Comrade Rednikova." Hearing this, Sokov raised his hand and interrupted Rednikova's next words: "You said that you drank the tea he sent to you without warning. Could there be something wrong with the tea?"

  "Yes, Comrade General." Rednikova nodded, and said in a positive tone: "There is indeed something wrong with the tea. We lost consciousness shortly after drinking it. When we woke up, we found that we were all **** and thrown in the corner of the room. After we helped each other untie the rope, we found that not only the jeep parked at the door was gone, but also the documents and weapons on us. Major Mischenko," she pointed at the major next to her. Nodding his mouth, he continued, "He said that the Germans might use our identities to cause sabotage, so we rushed over here in a hurry. Unexpectedly, when we arrived at the checkpoint not far from here, we were detained by the lieutenant and his subordinates, and we were about to be shot on the spot."

   "Major Mischenko," Sokov waited for Rednikova to finish speaking, then turned to face the major and said, "If it is said that Second Lieutenant Rednikova has no experience and followed the enemy's lead, I believe this. But as a major of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, how could you make such a low-level mistake?"

   "Comrade General, it's all my fault." Mischenko blushed and said, "I thought there were troops from our army along the way, and the Germans must have disappeared long ago. Who would have thought that they would encounter Germans disguised as commanders and fighters of our army, and it would be a big loss."

   "Comrade Lieutenant," Sokov called the lieutenant who was about to shoot Myschenko and Rednikova over, and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant, it's your turn to speak now. Please tell me what happened."

  The lieutenant nodded and began to tell the story of the whole incident: "We have a checkpoint at the edge of the nearby forest, and there are usually four or five soldiers on duty there. An hour ago, I took someone to change the defense, but unexpectedly found that all the soldiers in the checkpoint were dead, and all of them were killed with daggers without any precautions. So I want to catch him and avenge the soldiers who died under my command.

  After we buried the fallen comrades and re-arranged the guard post at the checkpoint, Mischenko and Rednikova came over. At that time, I found that several officers were walking without even carrying weapons, so I felt that something was wrong, so I stopped them for inspection.

   After this inspection, I immediately found that Major Mischenko was exactly the same as the photo on the ID card I picked up. But when I asked his name, he said his name was Mischenko. I saw that the person matched the photo on the certificate, and the name also matched. There was no doubt that he was the murderer of my subordinates, so I ordered people to arrest them all. "

   "Comrade lieutenant, even if they are German spies, what you should do is to hand them over to your superior." Lunev waited for the lieutenant to finish speaking, and said with a straight face: "It's not to shoot people without authorization. If we didn't happen to pass by here, wouldn't they have become your ghosts?"

   "I'm sorry, Comrade Military Commissioner." The lieutenant said to Lunev with a blushing face, "I really thought they were disguised by the Germans, and when I thought about the tragedy of my subordinates when they died, I became so angry that I ordered them to be shot."

   "Remember this lesson, Comrade Lieutenant." Sokov said a little bit dumbfoundingly: "If you catch any suspicious personnel in the future, remember to hand it over to your superiors, but let you make up your own mind, understand?"

   "Understood, Comrade Commander."

   "Major Mischenko," Sokov said to Mischenko again: "Can you tell us about those people?"

  Mishchenko knew that Sokov was asking about the person who stole his documents and weapons, and after thinking for a while, he replied: "The leader is a major, and there are also a captain, two lieutenants and a soldier. I think they should use our documents to try to sneak past the checkpoint, but they were discovered by the soldiers on duty, and they killed them out of desperation."

   "Well, the analysis is good." Sokov nodded, and said: "I also think there is such a possibility. The enemy must have used the stolen documents and jeeps to try to pass through the checkpoint, but the vigilant soldiers saw through their identities. In desperation, they had no choice but to jump over the wall and kill the soldiers on duty."

  "Lieutenant Koshkin," Sokov told Koshkin: "Contact the chief of staff immediately and ask him to notify the checkpoints on both sides of the Oder River to pay attention to a jeep. Among the five crew members on it are a major, a captain, two second lieutenants, and a private. If you find a person who matches this characteristic, you will be detained immediately and taken care of on the spot."

   "Comrade Mischenko," Lunev looked at Mischenko and asked, "If Rednikova is left behind, the four of you will go to carry out the mission, will there be no problem?"

  Hearing Lunev's question, Mischenko hurriedly shook his head vigorously, and replied: "No problem, Comrade General."

   "Well, you take the other three officers to carry out the mission, and Rednikova stays." After Lunev finished speaking, he ordered Koshkin: "Captain Koshkin, prepare weapons for them, and send another squad of soldiers to go with them."

   Koshkin nodded, and then called a subordinate to ask him to prepare guns and vehicles for Mischenko and others so that they could continue to carry out the mission.

  Watching her companion leave, Rednikova asked Sokov in some surprise: "Comrade General, why did you leave me?"

   "Comrade Second Lieutenant, I think you should have heard my order just now." Sokov explained to Rednikova: "If we catch someone who meets the conditions you mentioned, we must find someone to identify them. I think you are the right candidate."

  After listening to Sokov's explanation, Rednikova finally understood why the other party wanted to leave her alone, and nodded vigorously: "I understand, Comrade General, I will definitely cooperate with you with all my strength." When she said this, the expression on her face suddenly became grim. "If those German spies were caught, I would definitely smash them into pieces. It was because of them that my companion and I almost died at the gunpoint of our own people."

   Sokov raised his hand to look at the time, then waved his hand and said, "It's getting late, let's go on."

   Originally he invited Rednikova to sit in the same car as himself, but Rednikova seemed extremely restrained in the face of a superior like Lunev, so she rejected Sokov's kindness and sat in the driver's seat of a truck instead. Seeing that Rednikova was unwilling to ride in the same car as himself, Sokov also guessed the reason, so he stopped forcing it and ordered to drive directly after getting in the car.

  Seeing that the convoy was about to reach the Oder River, Sokov suddenly saw a row of brick-and-concrete bungalows on the side of the road. There were seven or eight soldiers lined up in front of the house. Soldiers with guns stood around them, faintly surrounding them.

   Sokov couldn't help frowning when he saw this: "What's going on, what mistakes did these soldiers make? Koshkin, go down and find out." The reason why he ordered Koshkin to get out of the car to check was because he was worried that the situation like Mischenko and Rednikova would happen again.

   Having received the order, Koshkin didn't dare to neglect, and quickly ordered the driver to stop, then pushed the car door and walked down. He walked quickly to the bungalow and asked loudly: "Who is in charge here, come and talk to me."

   At this time, a captain walked by, looked Koshkin up and down, and said, "Comrade captain, what do you want?"

   Koshkin pointed at the soldiers with his hand and asked, "What's going on with them?"

   "They are all disgraceful people." The captain gritted his teeth and said, "They actually entered the Germans' homes and robbed them."

   "Robbery?!" Koshkin was taken aback, and then asked, "What did they rob?"

   "Here!" The captain pointed at the large bundles on the ground, and said, "There are valuable clothes, brand-new leather shoes, and silver tableware for German meals."

   After listening to it, Koshkin asked casually, "That's all?"

   "Isn't that enough?" The captain said with shock on his face: "You know, before our army entered East Prussia, Rokossovsky issued an order not to harass and loot civilians, and not to do things that do not match the status of soldiers. Otherwise, they will be sent to military courts and even directly enforce battlefield discipline."

  Sokov was sitting in the car. Because the distance was a bit far away, he couldn't hear what was said between Koshkin and the captain at all. He pushed open the door impatiently, got out of the car and walked towards the two. Seeing that Sokov had already got out of the car, Lunev got out of the car too, and it was not appropriate for him to stay in the car.

  The captain, who was arguing with Koshkin, was shocked when he saw Sokov and Lunev coming. Although Sokov and Lunev did not know him, he knew the commander of the group army and the military commissar. He hurriedly stood at attention and raised his hand to salute: "Hello, comrade commander, comrade military commissar!"

   "I said, Comrade Captain, what happened here?" Sokov asked.

  The captain pointed at the soldiers with his hand, and repeated what he said to Koshkin. After listening, Sokov asked, "Comrade Captain, how do you plan to deal with them?"

   "It's needless to say," the captain said without hesitation, "Of course it will be sent to a court-martial and let them accept the punishment they deserve."

  Sokov did not immediately express his opinion, but came to those soldiers, glanced at them one by one, and asked, "Who can tell me why you want to rob the common people?"

   "Comrade Commander, I don't understand." A soldier standing at the end of the team suddenly said.

  Sokov came to the soldier and asked curiously, "Comrade soldier, what do you not understand?"

   "Comrade Commander," the soldier pointed to the bungalow behind him, and said angrily, "I don't understand. The Germans live in better houses than us, and the interior furnishings are better than ours. Even the clothes and boots they wear are better than ours. Since their life is much better than ours, why did they start this **** war and invade our country?"

  Why did Germany invade the Soviet Union? For Sokov, the answer is very simple. It is because the Soviet Union is a threat to the Germans. If they want to occupy the whole of Europe, they must first eliminate this threatening enemy. Although this is the truth, Sokov cannot explain it to the soldiers. After all, such an explanation is too empty and unconvincing.

  After thinking quickly for a while, he said slowly: "Comrade soldier, it is because the Germans are greedy. Although they already have a life that is the envy of many countries, they want to get more wealth and resources. That's why they launched this unjust war. Can you understand what I mean?"

  The soldier was stunned for a moment, then nodded vigorously, and said in an affirmative tone: "I understand, Comrade Commander. The reason why the Germans launched a war against us is because of their greed in their hearts, and they want to obtain more wealth and resources, and then unify the entire world."

   "Comrade Commander," the captain asked Sokov for instructions: "How should I deal with them? Should I send them to a military court?"

   "I don't think it's necessary." Sokov shook his head, and then ordered the captain: "Return all these things first, and lock them up for three days."