red moscow

Chapter 2769

Seeing Sokov whispering with Andrei, Colonel Del nudged Vlasov's arm with his elbow and reminded him, "Comrade Commander, look, Captain Sokov is chatting with the comrade of the garrison commander. They seem to have known each other for a long time."

Vlasov glanced at where the two were and immediately recognized that the person chatting with Sokov was Andrei. A smile immediately appeared on his face: "Chief of Staff, you are right. They do know each other. Maybe they are good friends."

Hearing Vlasov say this, Colonel Del was stunned, and then asked: "Comrade Commander, do you know that comrade?"

"Yes, I do know him." Vlasov nodded to show his affirmation, and then explained to Colonel Del, Potapov and Nikolsky: "In August, I was ordered to go to Moscow to report on my work and receive a new position. On the way, I met Captain Sokov and a troop he led. The comrade he is talking to now is called Andrei, and he is also a member of the troop. It is said that it was he who persuaded Sokov to join the army."

"What? He persuaded Sokov to join the army?" Potapov didn't know much about Sokov's past. Hearing Vlasov's words, he immediately became interested and asked quickly: "Vlasov, can you tell me what's going on?"

Since Potapov was interested in Sokov's past, Vlasov did not hide anything and told him in detail what he knew.

Potapov only knew that Sokov had captured a German armored column single-handedly, but he knew nothing about his previous experience. After listening to Vlasov's story, he wanted to recruit Sokov into his team even more.

The lieutenant colonel in charge, after settling Vlasov and others, came to Sokov.

He had just learned that some officers and soldiers in the garrison headquarters had followed Sokov here for more than a month. They were very polite to him and did not look down on him just because their positions were three levels higher than his. "Comrade Captain, since you have many acquaintances in the garrison headquarters, you can live with them for the time being. When your superiors get new appointments, you can leave with them."

"No problem, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Sokov responded politely: "I will obey your arrangements."

After the lieutenant colonel left, Andrei took Sokov away and said, "Sokov, I'm living in the same room with Lieutenant Dennis now. You can live with us."

Soon, Sokov followed Andrei to his residence.

This is a room of more than ten square meters, with four single beds. Two of the beds are covered with sheets and quilts, indicating that they are beds where people sleep.

"Sokof," Andrei pointed to a bed next to the radiator and said to Sokov, "It's almost October. Maybe it will start snowing someday, and it will be very cold. This bed is close to the heater, so you don't have to worry about being woken up by the cold at night."

After Sokov thanked Andrei, he asked, "By the way, where is Lieutenant Denis going?"

"Where else could he go? He must be on patrol." Andre said, looking up at the clock on the wall, and continued, "He will be back in half an hour."

Andrei went to get the sheets and quilts. When he helped Sokov make the bed, he asked about Kiev again: "Sokov, I heard that the Southwestern Front was completely wiped out, and even the commander, chief of staff and military commissar were all killed. Is this true?"

When Sokov heard what Andrei said, he immediately realized that the truth about the Battle of Kiev was probably still kept absolutely secret in Moscow. Otherwise, how could a garrison member like Andrei not know it?
He organized the words in his mind, and then tried to speak in a calm tone: "Our troops did suffer some losses in the Kiev area. Important commanders of the Southwestern Front died in the battle, and the officers and soldiers of the troops also made great sacrifices. But the claim that the whole army was annihilated is a pure rumor fabricated by the enemy. If they were completely annihilated, then what kind of troops are fighting the enemy in the Kharkov area now?"

After saying all these words in one breath, Sokov couldn't help but despise himself in his heart. After all, these words sounded just like a certain bald guy's army that was defeated step by step, with the number of soldiers reduced from millions to hundreds of thousands, and finally retreated to an isolated island, but never mentioned the word failure, and even proudly promoted it as a successful transition.

After hearing what Sokov said, Andrei, who was sitting next to him, slapped his thigh and said excitedly, "Sokov, you are right. This must be a rumor. A few days ago, when I was leading a patrol, I met a wounded soldier on the street. He was a typical disseminator of defeatist arguments. He said what I just said."

Although some things are true, if they are said at an inappropriate time and place, they become rumors. Sokov was worried about the wounded soldier who told the truth, so he asked Andre tentatively: "What did you do with the wounded soldier later?"

"What else can we do? Send him back to the hospital, of course." Andre said, "But I heard that soon someone from the Internal Affairs Force went to the hospital to look for the wounded soldier. I don't know what the final outcome was."

"Are all the soldiers we brought from Ukraine still staying at the garrison headquarters?"

"Less than half of the personnel are left." Hearing Sokov's question, Andrei's expression became serious. "And those who are left are basically new recruits recruited later. The veterans with combat experience have been transferred to the front line."

The corners of Sokov's mouth twitched, and he thought that under the current circumstances, if they were transferred to the front line, there would be only two fates waiting for them, either death in battle or becoming a prisoner of the Germans.

Just as Sokov was sighing, Andrei continued to ask: "By the way, Sokov, what will be the arrangements for you when you return to Moscow this time?"

"I don't know." Sokov remembered that the first position Vlasov got after returning to Moscow from Kiev was the commander of the 20th Army. But now the 20th Army is commanded by Lieutenant General Lukin or Lieutenant General Yershakov. After being annihilated by the German army in the Vyazma area, this unit was reorganized in January of that year. Vlasov could only get the position of commander at that time. So when Andre asked about his future, Sokov could only say helplessly: "I will obey the arrangements of my superiors."

As the two were talking, the door was pushed open from the outside and an officer in a military coat walked in.

The officer came in and was about to take off his military coat, but he saw Sokov sitting by the bed chatting with Andrei. He was surprised and widened his eyes: "Captain Sokov, where did you come from?" Sokov saw clearly that the person was Lieutenant Dennis, and he quickly stood up and shook hands with him, smiling and said; "I just came here from the front today."

"Any mission?"

"I came here with General Vlasov, commander of the 37th Army, and General Potapov, commander of the st Army." Sokov replied with a smile, "We may have to stay here for a while, waiting for our superiors to assign new positions to these two generals."

Dennis took off his military coat and hung it on the wall by the door. After closing the door, he sat on the bed opposite Sokov and asked tentatively, "I heard that our army suffered a great defeat in the Kiev area, and even the head of the front headquarters was killed?"

"Lieutenant, since this is a war, everyone is likely to be sacrificed, no matter if he is an ordinary soldier or a high-ranking general." Sokov replied tactfully: "When a bullet hits the body, everyone will bleed, get injured, or even die."

Fortunately, Denis did not ask too many questions, but instead provided Sokov with a piece of gossip he had heard two days ago: "Comrade Captain, I heard that the Supreme Command intends to reorganize the 5th Army, and the main force of the army is from the Far East."

After hearing what Denis said, Sokov immediately remembered that in the 132st Guards Infantry Army that Lelyushchenko was about to serve as the commander, there was the nd Far Eastern Red Banner Infantry Division from the Far East, whose commander was Colonel Porosukhin. The unit should be arriving in the Moscow area soon.

"Since it is a new formation, the troops from the Far East or the newly recruited soldiers will definitely not be enough." Dennis continued, "Because some personnel will be transferred from the garrison headquarters to strengthen the newly formed troops."

Andrei was shocked when he heard this. "What? They transferred personnel from our garrison headquarters to strengthen the troops at the beginning of this month. How long has it been since they transferred personnel again? If things continue like this, maybe the militias from the factories will have to take over the work of the garrison headquarters."

"Andre, the situation you described cannot be ruled out." Dennis said with a serious expression, "I estimate that when we reassign personnel in a few days, you and I will definitely be transferred. You should be mentally prepared."

Andrei's face turned pale, and he said unhappily, "If it's an order from my superior, I'll just obey it. It's not like I haven't been on the battlefield before." At this point, he turned his head to look at Sokov beside him and continued, "But if Sokov is still my superior, then no matter where I'm transferred, I won't complain at all."

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Unexpectedly, just as he finished speaking, Dennis actually echoed: "Andre, you are right. If our superior is Sokov, I think our chances of surviving on the battlefield will be greatly improved."

Sokov didn't expect the two to think so highly of him. He waved his hands hurriedly and said, "You two are flattering me. Even if I am very capable, what use can I be on a battlefield where tens or hundreds of thousands of troops are fighting at any time?"

"Sokov, you are so modest." Andrei said, "I have been in the army for quite a while, but I have never seen anyone who has just joined the army and can show extraordinary military talent and capture a German armored column alone."

Hearing the two men's flattery, Sokov smiled bitterly and said, "You all know how I captured the German armored column. If I hadn't had the help of the tank soldiers, I would have turned around and run away when I saw so many German tanks. I wouldn't have dared to capture them. This incident was largely due to luck. I'm afraid I won't be able to capture so many German tanks next time I encounter a similar situation."

"Captain Sokov," Lieutenant Denis said seriously, "If the superiors really want to send you to the front line, if possible, I still hope you can command us. This is not only my hope, but also the common idea of ​​Andrei and those comrades who fought side by side with me. Andrei, don't you agree?"

"That's right, that's right." Andre nodded vigorously and said in an affirmative tone: "We all hope to be your subordinates again. With you as our commander, we will be more confident even on the battlefield."

Seeing how determined they were, Sokov didn't want to spoil their fun, so he could only write a blank check: "Well, since you think so highly of me, I promise you that if my superiors really want to send me to the front, I will try my best to stay with you."

After receiving Sokov's promise, Dennis and Andrei showed relieved expressions on their faces: "That's great, Captain Sokov. I believe it won't be long before we can fight side by side again and achieve greater merits."

The three chatted for a while, and Sokov suddenly remembered that in the memoirs of the generals he had read, it was mentioned that when the troops were most scarce, a group of people were drawn from the Moscow police to form a police detachment and handed over to Rokossovsky for command. However, Sokov could not remember the specific time. Thinking of this, he hurriedly asked Dennis: "Lieutenant Dennis, the superiors are going to draw people from our garrison headquarters. Will they also draw from other departments?"

"I haven't heard of that." Dennis shook his head and said, "Besides the garrison headquarters, where else can we draw manpower from in the city? At most, we can organize the militias in several large factories into a militia division and send them directly to the front line. But such a force is obviously not strong enough to fight."

Seeing that there was no news of the police being transferred to form a police detachment, Sokov felt more at ease. This meant that Victoria must still be in Moscow and would not be sent to the front line in the short term.

"By the way, Sokov, there is something I almost forgot." Andrei said, "Do you remember the policewoman who came here to look for you before you went to Kiev?"

Just as Sokov was thinking about Victoria, Andrei took the initiative to mention her. For a moment, Sokov's heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably. He pretended to be calm and asked, "Of course I remember, what happened to her?"

"I met her twice when I was patrolling the streets with my team," Andrei said. "Every time we met, she asked me about your whereabouts. As you know, we haven't had any contact since you went to Kiev, so of course I don't know what's going on with you."

"Me too." Dennis added: "She also asked me about the captain, but I knew nothing about it, so I didn't give her a satisfactory answer."

Sokov thought that he had gone to say goodbye to Victoria before leaving for Kiev, so she must know where he was going. The reason why she always asked about him every time she saw Denis and Andrei was that maybe she had something important to tell him.

(End of this chapter)