red moscow

Chapter 2570

When the colonel led his men to arrest the plumber, Sokov was still very nervous. Although he analyzed the situation clearly in front of Sokolovsky, the truth of the matter could only be known after the plumber was captured.

"Misha," Sokolovsky knew that it might take some time to capture the plumber, so he asked Sokov to sit down and have some tea: "Sit down and have some tea."

After thanking him, Sokov sat down, picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and put it down again: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I wonder if there will be a trial tomorrow?"

"No." Sokolovsky shook his head and said, "This trial can be said to be the trial of the century. Naturally, it will not be conducted at any time like ordinary cases. A trial was just held today. The prosecution filed charges against the German war criminals on trial, but the defense tried to plead not guilty for the war criminals. It will take three to five days for the defense to collect evidence and organize materials, so the next trial will be in five days."

Sokov asked curiously: "Comrade Deputy Commander, where do the lawyers who defend German war criminals come from?"

Hearing Sokov's question, Sokolovsky's expression became serious: "The lawyers defending these war criminals are all from Germany. They were invited to attend the court and were full of enthusiasm for this case. In their defense of the war criminals' innocence, they not only glorified the war criminals, but also shamelessly said that it was our country's mistakes that provoked their attack."

Sokov knew little about the Nuremberg Trials, and was particularly shocked when he heard that German lawyers, in order to exonerate the war criminals, actually lied that the war was instigated by the Soviets. After a moment of contemplation, he asked, "Comrade Deputy Commander, I wonder how the judges for this trial were selected?"

"The Nuremberg International Military Tribunal consisted of eight judges: the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain, and France each appointed two judges, one of whom was an assistant judge. The American judge was Biddle, who served as the U.S. Attorney General during the war; and the assistant judge was Parker. The British judge was Sir Lawrence, and the assistant judge was Burkitt. ​​The French assistant judges Falco and De Vabres were both law professors at the Sorbonne University in France.

As for our side, Judge Nikitchenko is familiar with Western laws and is a gentle and honest person; Assistant Judge Volchkov was originally intended to be appointed as a judge by his superiors, but considering that he knew nothing about the Western legal system, he had to be appointed as an assistant judge.

After consultation, the judges from the four countries elected Sir Lawrence as the president of the court.

"I heard that the court session had begun a few days ago, so I applied to Marshal Zhukov to come here and observe the trial."

"Yes, the International Military Tribunal officially opened on the morning of November 1945, 11." Sokolovsky continued: "First, Chief Prosecutor Jackson delivered an opening speech and began the prosecution. He pointed out: 'The crimes we want to condemn and punish are so well-planned, so bad, and so destructive that our civilization cannot ignore them. If these crimes are allowed to happen again in the future, human civilization will not be able to survive. The four major countries, inspired by victory and stung by injury, stopped their revenge and voluntarily handed over the captured enemies to the sacred court for trial. This is the best proof of the rational exercise of human power and the highest tribute to human civilization.'"

"I wonder who are the prosecutors who filed lawsuits in various countries?" Sokov continued to ask.

"After the official announcement of the list of indicted war criminals, Judge Jackson was in charge of the prosecution in the United States. Maxwell Fife was in charge of the prosecution in the United Kingdom on behalf of Lord Shawcross. Our High Command appointed Lieutenant General Rudenko as Chief Prosecutor. The Chief Prosecutor appointed by France was Dementon."

After the two chatted about the trial for a while, the colonel walked in quickly from outside.

Seeing his adjutant coming, Sokolovsky stood up quickly and asked eagerly: "Colonel, what's the situation?"

"Comrade Deputy Commander!" the colonel said excitedly, "We have successfully captured the plumber and found this in his residence." As he said that, he took out a few pieces of paper from his pocket and handed them to Sokolovsky.

After quickly reading the contents above, Sokolovsky nodded slowly, "Yes, this is indeed a document that was given to the translator. If it falls into the hands of others, it will cause serious consequences."

"Colonel," Sokov waited for Sokolovsky to finish speaking and then asked the colonel cautiously, "I wonder what the plumber confessed?"

"General Sokov, your judgment is completely correct." The colonel turned to Sokov and said, "After our interrogation, the plumber confessed and told us in detail how he committed the crime. He tricked the female translator into writing the fake suicide note and then tricked her into drinking whiskey mixed with poison. After confirming that the female translator was dead, he put the body on the bed and pretended it was suicide, and then left the victim's room as you guessed."

Sokov raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. It was one thing to guess the truth of the matter, and it was another to confirm it. From this moment on, his heart, which had been hanging in his throat, finally returned to his stomach.

"Colonel," Sokolovsky raised the document in his hand and asked his adjutant, "Has the content of the document not been leaked?"

"No, Comrade Deputy Commander." The colonel said in a positive tone: "The plumber said that since we imposed martial law at night, he had no chance to leave the hotel. He originally planned to wait until tomorrow morning to go out and deliver the information, but he was suddenly arrested by us."

"That's good, that's good." Sokolovsky nodded repeatedly after hearing this. "It's good that it hasn't been leaked. If this document falls into the hands of certain people, it will probably cause an uproar, and I will probably be implicated."

"Comrade Deputy Commander," the colonel asked Sokolovsky, "How should we deal with the plumber? The US military police are still in the hotel. Should we hand over the suspect to them?"

"No, we can't give it to them." Sokov and Sokolovsky said in unison.

Sokov and Sokolovsky looked at each other and said a little embarrassedly: "Comrade Deputy Commander, you should make the decision."

But unexpectedly, Sokolovsky handed over the right to deal with the matter to Sokov: "Misha, if it weren't for you, not only would the murderer go unpunished, but our important documents would also fall into the hands of unfriendly people. Therefore, I think it is most appropriate for you to deal with the murderer."

Since Sokolovsky had given him the right to handle the matter, Sokov did not hesitate and said to the colonel: "Colonel, drag him outside and shoot him." Perhaps worried that the other party would not understand his intention, he also explained, "I think this plumber must have read the contents of the document. If we hand him over to the American military police, it means that our important documents will be leaked. If we want to keep this secret completely, we can only execute this plumber." The colonel agreed with Sokov's statement, but he still said with concern: "General Sokov, no matter what, the American military police and German police are still in the hotel. If we take the plumber out and shoot him directly, if they ask, how should we answer?"

"Just say that he brutally killed our female translator because of a love dispute." Sokov said to the colonel, "Just based on this reason, it is enough to sentence him to death."

"I think Misha's reason is good." Sokolovsky nodded slightly and said to his adjutant, "Just follow Misha's advice and reply to the American military police and German police. I think they will not have any objection."

After the colonel left, Sokolovsky came to Sokov, patted him on the shoulder, and said in a grateful tone: "Misha, well done. If it weren't for you today, we would have thought that the female translator committed suicide, and the stolen important documents would fall into the hands of unfriendly people tomorrow, causing us countless troubles. But because of your presence, the case was solved in time and the murderer was arrested. I will report this matter truthfully to Marshal Zhukov."

Hearing Sokolovsky's words, Sokov couldn't help but feel secretly happy and said repeatedly: "Thank you so much, Comrade Deputy Commander."

"I should be the one to say thank you." Sokolovsky looked at the time and said with concern, "Misha, it's getting late. You should go back and rest."

When Sokov returned to the room, he found that Ajelina had returned.

Seeing Sokov coming in, Ajelina immediately came forward and asked with concern: "Misha, what's the situation? Have you caught the murderer?"

Just as Sokov was about to speak, two crisp gunshots were suddenly heard outside the window.

Adelina heard the sudden gunshots, screamed and threw herself into Sokov's arms, and asked nervously: "Misha, what's going on? Where did the gunshots come from?"

"Don't worry, Ajelina." Sokov patted Ajelina's back gently and comforted her, "The gunshots you heard were the colonel and his men executing the murderer who killed the female translator outside."

"What? The colonel is executing the murderer of the female translator?" Adelina heard Sokov say this and quickly broke free from his arms. She took a step back, looked up at Sokov, and asked in surprise, "What is going on?"

"Ajelina, don't be anxious. Let me explain slowly." Then Sokov told Ajelina in detail the whole story of the case, as well as how he discovered the flaws in the case and quickly identified the murderer. Finally, he said, "After the colonel led his men to arrest the plumber, he confessed to the crimes he committed after interrogation, so he was shot directly."

"Why do they have to shoot him directly?" Ajelina asked puzzledly: "Even if he is the murderer, shouldn't he be handed over to the police for disposal?"

"Ajelina, the situation is different." Sokov restrained the smile on his face and said seriously, "This plumber stole important intelligence from our army and killed the female translator. If he is allowed to leave the hotel smoothly, it means that our important intelligence will be obtained by people with bad intentions, which will cause unnecessary trouble. Therefore, the most appropriate way to deal with it is to execute him immediately and completely cut off the channel for leaks."

"Oh, so that's how it is." After figuring out what was going on, Ajelina nodded slowly, then said with some regret, "I really feel sorry for that female translator. She was such a pretty girl. If she hadn't fallen in love with the plumber, she might not have lost her life. By the way, who do you think the plumber was? American or German?"

"It's not important. You just need to know that the other party is an enemy who stole important intelligence from our army." When Sokov said this, he was thinking that before the war, this young female translator would definitely look down on the plumber who killed her. But after several years of war, with the death of a large number of young and middle-aged people, it became difficult for young girls to choose a spouse. Their choice of partners is not limited to their own countrymen. As long as they are of the opposite sex who are pleasing to their eyes, let alone plumbers in German hotels, even prisoners of war in Soviet prisoner-of-war camps, they don't care.

Sokov couldn't help but think of Adelina in front of him. If she stayed in Germany for a long time, maybe she would not be able to resist the temptation and choose a German or an American. Thinking of this, his heart felt sour as if he had eaten a lemon.

Ajelina noticed the change in Sokov's expression and was stunned for a moment. Then she guessed his thoughts and punched his shoulder with her fist. Then she lowered her head and said, "Misha, do you have so little confidence in me?"

"Ah, no confidence, what do you mean?" Sokov was confused by Adelina's words and asked puzzledly: "What do you mean, I don't quite understand?"

"Hate it, you know exactly what I'm talking about." Ajielina said with a red face, "Don't worry, I won't choose anyone else except you."

When Sokov heard Ajelina say this, he couldn't help feeling warm in his heart. Just when he was about to say something, he heard someone knocking on the door.

When I walked over and opened the door, I saw that it was Bayer standing at the door.

"Officer Bayer," Sokov looked at him and asked, "What do you want to talk to me about?"

Bayer did not speak immediately. Instead, he tilted his head and looked into the room from beside Sokov. Seeing Ajelina there, he immediately called out to her, "Ajelina, please come over here. I have something to report to Comrade General. Please translate for me."

After Ajelina came over, Bayer began to speak: "Comrade General, our colleagues in Nuremberg are still collecting shoe prints. Why did you shoot the suspect?"

When Sokov heard Bayer's question, he naturally didn't tell the other party that we were worried that the plumber would tell others about the stolen intelligence and cause unnecessary trouble, so we killed him in advance. He just said tactfully: "Officer Bayer, from all the current signs, the plumber is the murderer of the female translator. There is no doubt about this. As for why we sentenced him to death so quickly, it was entirely because the female translator he killed was a soldier, so we sentenced him to death through a simplified military court."

After hearing Sokov bring up the military court, Bayer didn't know what to say. He could only say a few perfunctory words and then turned and left.