red moscow

Chapter 2757

After dark, everyone stopped moving forward and found a suitable place in the forest to camp, preparing to continue their journey after dawn the next day.

Sokov took the people who had initially escaped from Yagotin and set up defenses around the locations of Vlasov, Colonel Del and Nikolsky to prevent them from encountering any accidents.

In the middle of the night, Sokov was suddenly awakened by a loud noise. As soon as he opened his eyes, Konstantin rushed to him and shouted at him: "Comrade Captain, the Germans are coming, let's retreat quickly."

Sokov looked around and found that the soldiers were running away in all directions, and no one fired back. Faced with such a chaotic scene, Sokov was powerless to save the situation and could only order Constantine: "Comrade Lieutenant, take the commander, chief of staff and military commissar to move immediately. Don't let them fall into the hands of the Germans."

When leaving Yagotin, Sokov gave strict division of labor to Konstantin and several of his soldiers. In case of an emergency, they would immediately carry Vlasov, Colonel Del and Nikolsky to transfer to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Germans.

Hearing Sokov's order at this moment, Konstantin did not dare to delay. He turned around and ordered the soldiers to move immediately with the three army chiefs as planned.

In this way, Vlasov, Colonel Del and Nikolsky, who had just been awakened from their sleep, were carried by Sokov's men and fled deeper into the forest before they could figure out what was going on.

Vlasov was carried by the soldiers and ran while asking Sokov who was not far away: "What's going on? Why do we have to move?"

"Comrade Commander," Sokov told the other party as he ran, "The Germans are coming. If we don't move in time, we may become their prisoners."

Hearing that there was a possibility of becoming a prisoner, Vlasov suddenly became anxious. He did not want to be a prisoner of the Germans, so he cooperated with the two soldiers who were holding him and ran towards the depths of the forest, taking one step forward and one step back.

After running for an unknown distance, Sokov felt that it should be safe, so he quickly ordered his men to stop.

When Sokov gathered his troops and saw the situation, he almost burst into tears. The army of more than 100 people was reduced to less than 20 people, and the rest had all fled.

"Captain Sokov," Colonel Del asked, panting, "If the Germans are here, why didn't I hear any gunshots or explosions? Could it be that when the Germans broke into our camp, they used cold weapons?"

Sokov thought what the other party said made sense. From the beginning of the escape, apart from the panicked shouts of the soldiers, there was no sound of gunfire or explosions. The Germans would never be stupid enough to use cold weapons. The only explanation was that there were no Germans at all, and we were just scaring ourselves.

Thinking of this, he quickly called Constantine over and asked directly: "Comrade Lieutenant, you said that the Germans attacked our camp. Did you see it with your own eyes?"

Constantine was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Comrade Captain, I didn't see any Germans at all. I only came to tell you to leave because I heard others shouting that the Germans were coming."

Sokov noticed something was wrong and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant, tell me that you only heard someone shouting 'The Germans are coming', but you didn't see the Germans with your own eyes. Am I right?"

"That's right, Comrade Captain." Constantine nodded and said, "I just heard someone shouting: The Germans are coming, so I ran over to wake you up."

Sokov was sure that this was another blunder. In order to find out the truth, he suppressed his anger and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant, can you tell me who heard you shout?"

"There are people shouting everywhere, I think it can't be fake." Constantine answered truthfully.

"Yes, I was also awakened by the shouting." Del said online, "When I was listening to see if there were any gunshots around, your people carried me away from there."

"Captain Sokov, what's going on?" Vlasov also noticed something was wrong, so he asked Sokov, "Can you tell me exactly whether any Germans broke into our camp?"

"Comrade Commandant, I cannot give you an accurate answer as to whether any Germans have entered our camp."

"Since you don't know, then send someone to find out quickly." Vlasov said with a serious expression: "I want to know if there are any Germans near us."

After Sokov agreed, he called Chulxin to his front and said to him: "Comrade Chulxin, I now order you to take two soldiers to scout our camp to see if there are any Germans there."

After Chulsin led his men away, Sokov continued to analyze the situation with everyone: "If our camp was really attacked by the Germans, there would definitely be an exchange of fire. But from what we saw just now, apart from hearing our soldiers' shouts and seeing them running around, we didn't hear any gunfire or explosions, let alone see any trace of the Germans."

After hearing what Sokov said, Nikolsky said thoughtfully: "Captain Sokov, if according to what you said, there are no Germans around us, then why are people running around? This is obviously illogical."

"Comrade Military Commissar, regarding this matter." Facing Nikolsky's question, Sokov cautiously replied: "I have guessed a possibility."

"Which possibility?" asked Nikolsky.

"Camp Roar! Also known as Camp Explosion!"

When everyone heard the word Sokov said, they couldn't help but gasp.

"Camp Roar", also known as "camp explosion", is a very special military term. It refers to an emergency incident in which all officers and soldiers blindly take abnormal actions without receiving any instructions when the troops are camping at night. It often happened in the ancient army and even led to mutual slaughter, thus making the army lose its combat effectiveness.

As a senior soldier, Vlasov thought for a long time after listening to Sokov's guess. Finally, he nodded slowly and confirmed Sokov's statement: "I think Captain Sokov is right. We may have encountered the camp roar tonight."

"Comrade Commander," Colonel Del asked in confusion, "What was the cause of the camp howl?" Sokov's thoughts gradually became clear at this moment, and he said carefully, "Comrade Chief of Staff, this is what I think. Our troops were defeated, and the officers and soldiers were in a state of high tension. It may be that a soldier slept in the middle of the night and happened to say in his sleep, 'The Germans are coming,' and the soldiers around him happened to hear it. The soldier who didn't know the truth had no time to confirm whether the Germans were coming, so he started shouting and causing this incident."

"Yes, that's possible." Nikolsky also agreed with Sokov's statement. "After a long period of high-intensity fighting, the soldiers are in a state of high tension at all times. Once they hear someone shouting 'The Germans are coming', it will cause a series of chain reactions."

After Nikolsky finished speaking, Vlasov smiled bitterly and said, "I never thought we would encounter such a thing. But fortunately, after the camp roar, the troops just fled in all directions and did not kill each other. This is a blessing in disguise."

"Comrade Commander, what should we do next?" Colonel Del asked Vlasov: "Should we stay here or move to another place immediately?"

Before Vlasov could speak, Sokov said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, please don't do that. I just sent a few soldiers to the camp we evacuated to check what happened there. If we move hastily now, what if they come back and can't find us?"

Colonel Del seemed to want to say something, but Vlasov raised his hand to stop him: "Chief of Staff, if you have anything to say, wait until the soldiers who went to investigate the situation come back. Also, if we stay here for a while, maybe we can take in some of the scattered soldiers."

Since Vlasov has already expressed his position, Colonel Del has nothing to say. He can only stay here obediently and wait for Churhin and others to come back.

As it turned out, Vlasov's decision was correct.

When Chulsin and others came back, nearly fifty people gathered around Sokov, all of whom were soldiers who had escaped after the camp was bombed.

Chulxin came to Sokov and was about to report, but Sokov raised his hand to stop him: "Churxin, report your findings to the commander."

"Tell me, Comrade Chulsin," Vlasov asked in a friendly tone, "What did you see after you returned to our camp?"

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"There was nothing but some abandoned backpacks and weapons," Chulxin replied. "We also conducted a thorough search in the vicinity and found no trace of the Germans. It seems that the Germans never showed up at all."

After listening to Churhin's report, Sokov's mind was as clear as a mirror. He was right. Someone was indeed half asleep and shouted "The Germans are coming", which caused the chaos.

"Chursin," Sokov asked tentatively when he saw that Chulsin and the other two soldiers were carrying several rifles and two or three backpacks, "Did you pick up all the backpacks and weapons that were abandoned in the camp?"

"No, Comrade Captain." Chulxin shook his head and said, "I brought too few people with me. I didn't even pick up half of them."

Sokov looked at the soldiers he had just taken in. Many of them didn't even have boots, let alone weapons and backpacks. They were probably abandoned when they fled. He turned to them and said, "Follow Comrade Chulxin and go to the original camp to get your weapons and backpacks back. Especially the soldiers without boots, you must remember that you can't march in the forest without boots."

Everyone responded loudly and followed Churxin towards the original camping site.

Seeing that there were 20 to 30 soldiers following Churxin to the original campsite, Colonel Del became a little impatient: "Comrade Commander, do you think we should go back to the original campsite?"

Vlasov chuckled at Colonel Del's suggestion, then pointed at Sokov and said, "Chief of Staff, I think you should ask Captain Sokov for his opinion."

"I think we should stay here." When Sokov said this, he saw Colonel Del's face change, and he quickly explained to him: "Although no Germans appeared near our camp last night, what about today and tonight? They will always appear there. If we stay, it will be dangerous. It is better to stay here temporarily. If we find that the enemy is coming towards us, we still have enough time to move."

"Well, Captain Sokov is right." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Nikolsky agreed with a smile: "Even if no Germans showed up at the original campsite last night, who can guarantee that they won't show up today? Therefore, staying here should be the safest. Even if the Germans occupy that campsite, it will take a lot of time to get to this place."

"We will stay here to rest for now. After Chulsin and his men retrieve the lost backpacks and weapons, we will continue to move." Sokov said to everyone, "You can use this time to have a good rest. After we set off, we don't know when we can rest again."

Everyone agreed with Sokov's statement, so they dispersed and found a suitable place to sit down and rest, so as to recover their strength as soon as possible, so as to avoid falling behind due to exhaustion during the march and being unable to return to the Soviet defense line.

After a long wait, Sokov finally saw Churhin and his men returning. Everyone was carrying a rifle and a backpack. It seemed that they had gained a lot this time.

When Chulsin came over, Sokov asked with concern: "Have you got all the backpacks and weapons back from the camp?"

"Yes, Comrade Captain," Chulxin replied in a positive tone, "We have taken them all back."

"How do you feel?" Sokov turned around and asked the soldiers who followed him back: "Are you tired?"

The soldiers answered in unison: "Not tired."

Although the soldiers said they were not tired, Sokov thought that they had walked such a long way back and forth. If they continued to travel now, many of them might fall behind due to lack of strength. Falling behind in the forest would have serious consequences. It was for this reason that Sokov did not order them to set off immediately. Instead, he said to them in a kind tone: "Comrades, you must be very tired. Sit down and rest for a while. We will continue on our journey later."

As Sokov had expected, many soldiers had already felt exhausted after returning from the camp. When they heard Sokov asking them to rest, they immediately fell to the ground. Soon, snoring could be heard from the crowd.

"Comrade Captain," Konstantin said to Sokov, "you are very thoughtful. Given their situation, if they set out immediately, they will be left behind in less than an hour due to exhaustion. If they are left behind in the depths of the forest, the consequences will be very serious. I am afraid that most of them will not be able to walk out of the forest alive."

"Yes, that's true." Sokov replied, "I plan to let them rest for an hour before continuing on their journey, but by then, their strength should have recovered. If we slow down the marching speed appropriately, we should be able to avoid falling behind."

(End of this chapter)