red moscow

Chapter 2734

When Sokov and his companion pushed the last cart of information out, Lunev also left the room and locked the door.

Arriving at the parking lot, when Sokov was about to unload the truck, Lunev called him and said, "Misha, your mission has been completed. Let my people complete the rest."

"Comrade Lunev, we will go back first." Sokov raised his hand and saluted Lunev: "I wish you a safe journey!"

Lunev returned the greeting, shook Sokov's hand, and said in a friendly manner: "Misha, I hope we can meet again in the near future."

"Yes, Comrade Lunev." Sokov thought to himself, the last time I traveled through time, you and I were partners, I wonder if we can be partners again this time.

When Sokov and the guard returned to the entrance of the operations department, Vlasov was already standing at the door.

Seeing the two people rushing over, Vlasov asked with a frosty face: "Where have you two gone? Didn't I tell you to wait for me here?"

Seeing that Vlasov was angry, the guard hurriedly said in defense: "I'm sorry, Comrade General, just now a commander..."

Before the guard could finish, Sokov interrupted him and took the initiative to admit his mistake to Vlasov: "I'm sorry, Comrade General, we were wrong. I apologize to you."

Vlasov knew that his two men were staying outside because they must have been drafted by someone and were helping out in some department. If the guards really told him everything, he would probably be scolded; but now that Sokov took the initiative to admit his mistake and gave him a way out in public, he said, "Come back to the army headquarters with me. I want to take over the command of the troops as soon as possible."

Since Vlasov served as commander of the 37th Army and commander of the Kiev garrison at the same time, his command center was not far from the front headquarters building.

The three of them came out of the building, passed through the various fortifications outside the building, and walked towards the building where the garrison headquarters was located. Vlasov, who was walking in the front, suddenly slowed down his pace and turned to ask Sokov: "Captain Sokov, tell me, can these fortifications outside the building play a role in the face of the German attack?"

Sokov hesitated for a moment, then asked cautiously: "Comrade General, do you want to hear the truth?"

"Nonsense, since I asked you this, I must want to hear the truth." Vlasov said in an encouraging tone: "Just tell me, even if you are wrong, I won't blame you."

Since Vlasov said so, Sokov naturally had no scruples: "Can't stop it!"

"why?"

"Although there are many fortifications on the road leading to the front headquarters building, according to my observation, they are all sandbag fortifications, plus some wooden fences with barbed wire; in terms of weapon configuration, except for a few Maxim heavy machine guns and a dozen rotary machine guns, they are all rifles or submachine guns. If the attacking enemy is just ordinary infantry, such fortifications and equipment may be able to resist for a while. But when the Germans attacked, tanks covered the infantry charge. I don't think such fortifications and equipment can stop the German tanks."

After listening to Sokov's story, Vlasov nodded slightly, and then said: "The garrison headquarters is not far from here. Since you know the weaknesses of the fortifications, you will be responsible for strengthening the outer defense of my headquarters."

The war was imminent, and Sokov did not think that his level could be comparable to those professional engineers. He wanted to refuse, but seeing that Vlasov was staring at him intently, as if he did not want him to refuse his proposal, he could only say reluctantly: "Comrade General, I will do my best."

Arriving at the gate of the garrison headquarters, Vlasov and his two companions were stopped by the sentry at the gate. A second lieutenant wearing a red armband came over and said politely: "Comrade General, this is the garrison headquarters. If you want to enter, please show your ID."

Seeing the sentry on duty at the door actually asking Vlasov to show his ID, the guard immediately became anxious: "Do you know who he is?"

But as soon as he opened his mouth, Vlasov stopped him: "The sentry is right. You need to show your ID to enter these departments." After saying that, he took out his ID and handed it over.

The lieutenant took the ID and did not check it immediately. Instead, he looked at Sokov and asked, "Comrade Captain, where is your ID?"

Sokov had only been in the army for a few days, and he had basically been in the wilderness, without any contact with his superiors. How could he get a military ID? So he could only answer, "I'm sorry, comrade lieutenant, I don't have any documents."

After hearing what Sokov said, not only the lieutenant was stunned, but even Vlasov was stunned for a moment. But he quickly figured out what was going on, and then explained to the lieutenant: "Comrade Lieutenant, my subordinate's situation is rather special, and it is normal that he does not have a military ID. You should look at my ID first."

The lieutenant opened Vlasov's military ID and was stunned when he saw the name on it. He had been informed that the new commander of the 37th Army and garrison commander, General Vlasov, would take office today and asked him to prepare for the reception. He did not expect that he would stop the other party at the door and even ask to check his ID.

The lieutenant quickly returned Vlasov's military ID to the other party, and said in fear and trepidation: "I'm sorry, Comrade General, I didn't know you were the new commander and I stopped you at the door. Please forgive my recklessness."

Vlasov took the certificate, raised his hand and patted the lieutenant on the shoulder, and said kindly: "Comrade Lieutenant, you did the right thing, and you are also fulfilling your duties. I am very satisfied to have such a dedicated sentinel like you at the entrance of the headquarters."

Hearing Vlasov's praise, the lieutenant blushed with excitement and said excitedly: "Thank you for the compliment, Comrade Commander!"

Although Vlasov was the garrison commander of Kiev, he was first and foremost the commander of the 37th Army. Therefore, he asked the second lieutenant about the location of the army headquarters before taking Sokov into the building in front of them.

Arriving at the army headquarters, it was a chaotic place with a lot of people. The signalmen kept calling out code names one after another, and the radio operators were desperately sending and receiving telegrams. Some of the staff officers stood in front of the map on the wall, with arrows representing the strength of the Soviet and German forces; some gathered around the long table, looking at the battle report in front of them.

A staff officer spotted Vlasov and his two companions, and immediately came over and asked politely, "Comrade General, who are you looking for?"

"Comrade Staff Officer," Sokov took a look at the other man's rank, which was only a lieutenant, and stepped forward and said, "This is the new commander of the 37th Army and commander of the Kiev garrison, Major General Vlasov."

"Hello, Comrade Commander!" After learning Vlasov's identity, the staff officer stood at attention, raised his hand to salute him, and said respectfully: "Comrade Chief of Staff has been waiting for you. I will take you there. Please follow me."

The staff officer led a few people to a long table in another room and said to a colonel sitting at the table: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the new commander has arrived!"

"What? The new commander has arrived?" The colonel jumped up from his seat when he heard the staff officer say that. "Where is he?"

"I'm here," Vlasov said, standing behind the colonel.

The colonel turned around and saw Vlasov standing behind him. He quickly raised his hand and saluted: "Hello, Comrade Commander, I am Colonel Del, Chief of Staff."

"Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff." Vlasov shook hands with the other party and asked politely, "Do you need to check the appointment letter given to me by my superiors?"

"No, Comrade Commander." Colonel Del shook his head and said, "You can enter this building, which means the officer on duty at the door must have checked your identity." "What is the current situation?"

"It's terrible, Comrade Commander." Colonel Del said with a serious expression: "Our defense line is being attacked fiercely by the German army..."

Vlasov interrupted him: "Be more specific."

"Comrade Commander, please allow me to introduce the situation of the army group to you first." Colonel Del said: "Our army group was formed in the early part of this month on the basis of the Kiev fortified area and the Supreme Command Headquarters Reserve. It is composed of the 147th, 171st, 175th, 206th, 284th and 295th Infantry Divisions, as well as the Kiev fortified area, artillery and other corps and troops. After the formation of the troops, they will be arranged in Svyatilinona, Svalomiye, west of Kiev, along the left bank of the Dnieper River to the north, and to Zhelebia to resist the German attack."

"Which areas are under attack now?" Vlasov continued to ask.

Colonel Del pointed to the left bank of the Dnieper River and said to Vlasov: "Our 295th Infantry Division deployed on the left bank has been under a frenzied attack by the German army since yesterday. Their front-line positions were breached this morning, but fortunately the division chief of staff personally led a battalion to counterattack, blocked the gap, and wiped out all the enemies that broke in."

"Well done." Vlasov nodded and then asked, "What about other regions?"

"Fighting is also going on in other areas..."

But before Colonel Del could finish his speech, Vlasov stopped him.

Vlasov stood up straight and said to the staff officer standing beside him: "Comrade staff officer, this is Captain Sokov. He has not been in the army for long and has not had time to apply for a military ID. Please take him to the relevant department to apply for it."

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When the staff officer took Sokov and the guard away, Colonel Del asked in confusion: "Comrade Commander, you just said that the captain had not been in the army for long, so how did he get the Order of Lenin on his chest? You know, although many people in our entire army have won medals, we can't find a single Order of Lenin."

Seeing that Colonel Del was so interested in Sokov, Vlasov told him about Sokov's achievements.

After hearing this, Del's face was full of shock: "My God, he captured 12 German tanks by himself. If we had a hundred such soldiers, I'm afraid the Germans would have no tanks left."

Vlasov grinned and said, "On the way here just now, he told me that our fortifications are too simple and if we encounter an attack by the German armored forces, we will not be able to hold out for long."

Unexpectedly, Del did not take Vlasov's words seriously: "Comrade Commander, I think he is worrying too much. We have nearly 800,000 troops in the Kiev area. Can't we stop the enemy's attack?"

Fortunately, Sokov was not standing next to Colonel Del when he said this, otherwise a picture would emerge in his mind: a big bald man standing in front of a battle map hanging on the wall, saying in a thick dialect: 800,000 against 600,000, the advantage is on me!
At this time, Sokov, led by his staff officer, was going to the Personnel Department to apply for a military ID.

On the way, the staff officer asked curiously: "Comrade Captain, I don't understand why you don't have a military ID?"

Facing the staff officer's question, Sokov scratched the back of his head and said a little embarrassedly: "Comrade staff officer, I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. I have been in the army for less than a week. My unit was disbanded and lost contact with the superiors. There is no place to apply for a military ID."

"What, what?" The staff officer couldn't believe his ears when he heard Sokov say this: "Comrade Captain, you said you have been in the army for less than a week?"

"Yeah, less than a week?"

"How is this possible?" The staff officer pointed to the rank on Sokov's collar and the Order of Lenin on his chest and asked in disbelief, "If you have been in the army for less than a week, how could you get the rank of captain and the Order of Lenin, which represents the highest honor?"

Faced with the staff officer's questioning, the guard next to him excitedly recounted Sokov's amazing achievements before he could finish speaking.

After listening to the speech, the staff officer gave Sokof a thumbs up and said, "Comrade Captain, you are awesome. I believe you will achieve even greater feats in the next battle."

Arriving at the personnel department, there was a captain sitting behind a desk in the room. Upon seeing the staff officer come in, he quickly stood up and greeted him, "How come you have time to come over today? What's the situation outside?"

"Not very good." The staff officer shook his head, then pulled Sokov in front of the captain and said to him: "This is Captain Sokov, he came here with the new commander General Vlasov. Since he doesn't have a military ID, it will be inconvenient for him to go anywhere in the future. Please help him get a new military ID."

The captain held out his hand to Sokov: "Comrade Captain, where is your original military ID?"

"I'm sorry, Comrade Captain, I don't have a military ID."

The captain frowned slightly, returned to his seat, took out the registration book, and began to ask: "Your name and rank!"

"Mikhail Mikhailovich Sokov. Rank Captain!"

After recording these data, the captain continued to ask: "When did you join the army?"

When the captain asked Sokov this question, the staff officer next to him showed a half-smile on his face. He wanted to see how his friend would react after knowing Sokov's exact enlistment date.

"September 8th!"

"Which year?" The captain did not notice anything unusual and continued asking.

"1941 years!"

As the captain was about to write the date in the register, he suddenly realized something and shuddered. He raised his voice and asked, "What, comrade captain, you said you joined the army on August 1941, 8?"

"That's right." Sokov nodded and said in a positive tone, "That's the date."

"How is this possible?" The captain was about to collapse: "How could it be possible that you have been in the army for less than a week?"

(End of this chapter)