red moscow

Chapter 2623: Blockade of the British Embassy

After Sokov and Yakov left Zhukov's office, Yakov asked curiously, "Misha, what measures do you think my father will take?"

"Strong measures will definitely be taken." Sokov knew very well that if Stalin did not react to Churchill's "Iron Curtain" theory, it would be completely inconsistent with his character. Although it was unclear what measures he would take, Zhukov's proposal to conduct large-scale military exercises in Europe would definitely be approved by him. Therefore, when he heard Yakov's question, Sokov told him the period of the exercises: "I think your father will definitely agree to Marshal Zhukov's proposal to conduct large-scale military exercises in Europe to achieve the purpose of deterring the Allies."

"Misha, I'm worried," Yakov said anxiously, "If we conduct large-scale military exercises in Europe, will it provoke the Allies? You know, the war has just ended for half a year. If we start a new war, it will be very disadvantageous to us."

"Don't worry, Yasha." Sokov thought to himself that the so-called various exercises were nothing more than showing off one's muscles to the other side, telling them how powerful one is. If they come to provoke him, they will definitely not get any good results. The United States and the Soviet Union had been fighting for decades, but in the end they did not fight. So they comforted Yakov and said, "It is impossible for us and the Allies to fight on the battlefield. Instead, we will take another way to fight."

"Another way?" Yakov asked curiously, "What way? Can you tell me?"

After the Iron Curtain theory was introduced, it took quite a long time for the Soviet Union and the United States to start the Cold War mode. If I were to talk about this future confrontation mode at this moment, I am afraid it would arouse Yakov's suspicion. So he said vaguely: "Yasha, this is just my guess, and the idea is not mature enough. In order not to mislead you, I will not say it."

"Misha, since we may boycott June's victory parade in London, will the troops' training continue?"

"Of course, of course we have to continue." Sokov said, "As long as the superiors do not order us to stop training, then the training of the reference troops cannot be stopped. And in order not to cause unnecessary panic, what we heard in Marshal Zhukov's office today must be kept absolutely confidential."

"Don't worry, Misha, I'll keep it a secret."

When the two returned to the barracks, Bezikov immediately came up to them and asked with concern: "Comrades Generals, you are back! I wonder if Marshal Zhukov has any new instructions for us?"

"There are no new instructions for now." Sokov said, "What you need to do now is to continue training and be ready to go at any time."

The next morning, a black car drove into the military camp and arrived at the training ground.

After the car stopped beside the training ground, a captain with a briefcase got out of the car. When he saw Bezikov, who was supervising the training of the troops on the sidelines, he quickly raised his hand to salute and asked respectfully, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, where are Generals Sokov and Yakov?"

Bezikov did not answer the other party's question immediately, but asked: "Comrade Captain, what do you want to see them for?"

"I have an order jointly signed by Marshal Zhukov and Comrade Beria. I need to hand it to them personally."

If it was just an order from Marshal Zhukov, Bezikov would have thought it was nothing, it was just an instruction on training; but when he heard that it was an order jointly issued by Zhukov and Beria, Bezikov felt that the matter was not simple, and hurriedly said to the captain: "Comrade Captain, follow me, I will take you to the two generals."

Bezikov led the captain to a small hut not far away, where Sokov and Yakov were sitting around the stove, warming themselves by the fire and drinking tea.

Seeing Bezikov coming in with a strange captain, Sokov asked hurriedly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, who is he?"

"Comrade General," Bezikov said quickly, "This person is sent by Marshal Zhukov to deliver the order. He said that he has an order jointly signed by Marshal Zhukov and Comrade Beria, which he will personally hand over to you."

Sokov did not expect that the order sent by the captain was actually issued jointly by Zhukov and Beria. He quickly stood up, put on his hat, straightened his military appearance, and then said to the captain: "Comrade Captain, give me the order."

The captain opened the briefcase he was carrying, took out a manila envelope and handed it to Sokov.

Sokov took it and carefully checked the wax seal on the envelope. Seeing that it was intact, he opened the envelope boldly.

There were two pieces of paper in the envelope. One was a task assigned to Sokov: "Immediately lead all members of the review force to the British Embassy, ​​impose a blockade on it, and do not allow any embassy personnel to leave. Signed: Zhukov, Beria! March 1946, 3."

The other one is a certificate for collecting ammunition from a nearby ammunition depot, as well as a list of the required ammunition.

After reading it, Sokov gave two more pieces of paper to Yakov for review.

After seeing this, Yakov was shocked: "Misha, let's blockade the British embassy. This will cause a serious diplomatic crisis."

"Yasha, since this is an order jointly issued by Marshal Zhukov and Comrade Beria, we just need to execute it." Sokov handed another piece of paper to Bezikov and told him: "Lieutenant Colonel Bezikov, you immediately take people to the armory to collect ammunition. After the ammunition is collected, it will be distributed to each soldier immediately."

When Bezikov heard Sokov's order, he was shocked: "Comrade General, distribute ammunition to the soldiers. Are we going to fight?"

"We are only on guard duty, distributing ammunition is just in case. I think there is a high probability that there will be no fighting." Sokov gestured to Bezikov and urged: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, time is running out, hurry up and take people to collect ammunition."

Half an hour later, the ammunition was distributed to each soldier.

After completing this task, Bezikov came to Sokov and said to him: "Comrade General, please say a few words to our officers and soldiers."

"Comrades," Sokov stood in front of the queue and said to the soldiers who were ready to go, "Just yesterday, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill made extremely unfriendly remarks about our country during his visit to the United States. In order to express his protest to Mr. Churchill, the superiors decided to send us to blockade the British embassy and teach them a lesson. Here, I remind you that although there are live bullets in the guns, it is only for emergency use. No one is allowed to shoot without my order. Do you understand?"

"Understood!" Hundreds of spirited soldiers stood up and answered.

"Okay!" Sokov waved his hand and announced loudly: "Let's go!"

As the order was issued, hundreds of soldiers boarded the four buses parked next to the training ground. After seeing the soldiers boarding the buses, Sokov and Yakov got on the car brought by the captain and headed towards the British Embassy.

At the gate of the British Embassy, ​​there was a Soviet police lieutenant and two British soldiers on duty.

Seeing the approaching convoy, the three of them showed expressions of surprise on their faces.

When he saw Sokov, Yakov, Bezikov and others getting out of different cars, the police lieutenant trotted over, raised his hand to salute Sokov and others, and then looked at Sokov, who had the highest military rank, and asked: "Comrade General, what can I do for you?"

"Comrade Lieutenant," Sokov said to the police lieutenant, "We are ordered to take over the defense of the British Embassy. Please ask those British soldiers to go back to the house."

Unexpectedly, the police lieutenant stiffened his neck after hearing what Sokov said and said, "I'm sorry, my duty is to protect the safety of the British Embassy. If you can't show a valid order, you can't enter the embassy at will."

Sokov raised his chin towards Bezikov, who immediately understood what he meant. He took out the order from his pocket, waved it in front of the police lieutenant, and said, "Lieutenant, have you seen this order? This is an order jointly signed by Marshal Zhukov and Comrade Beria. Do you want to disobey them?"

If it was just an order issued by Zhukov, the police lieutenant might have said something back. But when he heard Beria's order, he was immediately trembling with fear and said in a panic: "Comrade General, this matter is of great importance. I need to consult my superiors."

"Go and ask for instructions." Sokov waved at him.

The police lieutenant felt as if he had been pardoned, and hurried to the duty room in the courtyard, intending to call his superiors there to report the matter.

As soon as the police lieutenant Sokov and others left, they immediately called Bezikov over and ordered him, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, immediately have someone take over the British sentry's post at the door, and then send someone into the courtyard to seal off all the entrances and exits of the building, and don't allow anyone to enter or leave at will."

"Comrade General," Bezikov glanced at the lieutenant who was running to the duty room and said hesitantly, "But the police lieutenant hasn't called his superior yet."

"Who he calls is his business." Sokov said to Bezikov with a serious expression, "Our mission is to blockade the British Embassy and not allow anyone to enter or leave at will. Do you understand?"

"Understood." Bezikov agreed and then ran to the side to arrange personnel.

"Misha, this is interesting." Yakov said to Sokov with a smile: "Zhukov asked the review troops to blockade the British Embassy. This is a great move. We want to boycott the victory parade in London, and these officers and soldiers will definitely not be able to go to London again. This is the British Embassy. Letting them come here to perform their mission is equivalent to letting them set foot on British territory. It can be regarded as a kind of compensation for them."

Under Bezikov's arrangement, the soldiers who had just got off the car quickly replaced the British soldiers' sentry posts at the gate, and also entered the compound and blocked all the entrances and exits of the embassy building. The police lieutenant who was on the phone was frightened when he saw Sokov's men break into the British embassy without explanation, and hurriedly said into the microphone: "Comrade Major, something happened. A general with a large group of officers and soldiers broke into the British embassy, ​​took over the British soldiers' sentry posts, and blocked all the entrances and exits of the embassy building, strictly restricting people from entering and leaving."

The police major who answered the phone was also shocked and asked quickly, "What's going on? Under whose orders did they come to seal off the embassy?"

"They said they were following the orders of Marshal Zhukov and Comrade Beria to blockade the British Embassy."

The police major was overwhelmed when he heard Beria's name. He knew that this was a man he could not afford to offend, so he quickly ordered his subordinates: "Since the general leading the team has said that they are ordered to blockade the British embassy, ​​then we should not interfere. You leave the embassy immediately and as quickly as possible. Do you understand?"

Seeing that his superiors had backed off, the police lieutenant naturally would not stay and waste his time. He quickly put down the phone, found Sokov, and said respectfully: "Comrade General, I have already spoken to my superiors."

"How did he say?"

"He said that since you have taken over this place, I should leave immediately." The police lieutenant asked cautiously: "Do you allow me to leave?"

"Allowed!" Sokov had originally thought that the police lieutenant was too annoying to stay here, and was considering how to get rid of him. When he heard him say this, he immediately said, "Comrade Lieutenant, your work is done, you can leave!"

The police lieutenant saluted Sokov and turned to leave the embassy.

At this moment, in addition to the gate and the exits of the building, the remaining soldiers set up a cordon in the yard. Looking at the officers and soldiers who were stationed every three steps and every five steps, Sokov suddenly remembered the old movie "Lin Zexu", in which the Qing army also set up a similar posture to block the British merchants who sold opium in the embassy.

The captain who delivered the order, seeing that Sokov and his men had completed the blockade of the British Embassy, ​​said to Sokov: "Comrade General, since you have completed the blockade of the British Embassy, ​​my mission is also completed. Will you allow me to leave?"

"Allowed!" Sokov smiled and nodded to the captain, saying, "Good luck!"

Shortly after the captain left, a squad leader on duty at the gate of the embassy building ran over to report to Sokov: "Comrade General, a British military attaché wants to protest to you, saying that our actions are tantamount to declaring war on Britain."

Sokov sneered after hearing this, and then ordered the squad leader: "Bring the military attaché here. I want to hear what he wants to say."

Soon, a major with gray hair and no military cap appeared in front of Sokov. When he saw Sokov leading the team, he was surprised. He did not expect that the Soviet general leading the team was so young. "General," the military attaché said in stiff Russian, "Why did you lead people to break into the British Embassy? You should know that the embassy is British territory. Your behavior is tantamount to invasion."

Hearing the military attaché's remarks, Sokov smiled and said, "Major, we are here just to protect you."

"Protect us?" The military attaché showed a shocked expression on his face: "You led troops into the embassy, ​​and you said it was to protect us?"

"That's right, Mr. Military Attaché." Sokov continued in fluent English, "When your former Prime Minister Winston Churchill visited the United States, he made a statement that was extremely unfriendly to our country. When our superiors learned of this, they were worried that radical masses would take radical actions against you, so they sent us here to maintain order. You know, the troops responsible for maintaining order are not ordinary troops."