Red Moscow

Seeing that everything was quiet outside, Sokov leaned against the wall and shouted outside, "Hi, I'm Sokov. Can any of you tell me which chief of staff was shot?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a voice came from outside: "Comrade Commander, it's Chief of Staff Smirnov."

Hearing that Smirnov was shot, Sokov's heart sank. He clearly remembered what was written in the information. Alia's best result was hitting three beer bottles with three shots from 500 meters away. Now it is only 300 meters away from her sniper position, once Smirnov is shot, it must be a disaster.

But in order not to cause unnecessary panic, he still tried his best to control his emotions, and tried his best to ask outside in a calm tone: "Is his injury serious?"

Just when he was ready to accept the fact that Smirnov had died, he unexpectedly heard Smirnov's weak voice from outside: "Comrade Commander, I'm fine, I just got hit in the shoulder." One shot."

Knowing that Smirnov was still alive, Sokov's nose was sore and tears almost fell down. Fortunately, he controlled his emotions in time, and continued to ask with concern: "Did you bandage the wound?"

"Not yet." Smirnov said, "My injury is not too serious. Comrade Commander, don't worry. It won't be too late for the health workers to bandage me after the German snipers are eliminated."

Sokov moved a few steps towards the door, stood in the blind shooting area of ​​the attic, looked outside, and saw the officers and soldiers who escaped from the headquarters, some were hiding behind the sandbag fortification outside the door, and some were hiding on the stairs Next to it, some hid behind the stone pier. From Sokov's point of view, many people's hidden positions are not good, and they will still become the targets of snipers. But somehow the sniper hasn't fired since that shot.

Although the sniper didn't shoot, no one dared to move around, lest they become the next target of the sniper.

After waiting anxiously for five or six minutes, Sokov heard someone outside shouting loudly: "Comrade Commander, Comrade Commander, the German snipers have caught it."

Recognizing Koshkin's voice, Sokov poked his head out cautiously, looked at Koshkin who was running over in a hurry, and asked tentatively, "Koshkin, what did you say? The sniper caught it?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Koshkin had already run to a position not far from Sokov, and said loudly: "Our people are escorting her here, and you will see her soon. .”

Hearing that the sniper had been caught, the commanders and fighters hiding outside stood up one after another and straightened their military appearance. The staff officer who had been staying by Smirnov's side also called a hygienist and asked her to bandage Smirnov's wound.

Although Koshkin took away more than 20 people just now, and with the assistance of Lyudmila and Vasily, he caught the sniper in such a short period of time. This kind of efficiency still made Sokov Surprised: "Koshkin, captured the German sniper in such a short period of time, how did you do it?"

"Comrade Commander, in fact, it is not us who caught the sniper, but someone else."

"Anyone else?" Sokov asked curiously, "Who is it?"

"Who else is it, of course the old man."

"Old man?!" With Koshkin's reminder, Sokov realized that when Koshkin came to the headquarters to report to work, he only saw Lyudmila and Vasily, but did not see the old man. I haven't noticed it yet, but now that I think about it, he should be preparing to capture a German sniper.

"What's going on here?" Trofimenko came over and asked Koshkin eagerly, "How did the old man catch the sniper."

Koshkin did not immediately answer this question, but smiled lightly and said to Trofimenko: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I think you should ask the old man yourself after he comes over."

Not long after, a large group of soldiers came from a distance outside the building of the headquarters.

Sokov had sharp eyes and saw the old man in the crowd at a glance. He was wearing a cotton military uniform without any military rank and a cotton hat without a badge. If it wasn't for a rifle with a scope on his shoulder, he would It is almost indistinguishable from the old people walking on the street.

Then, Sokov saw a young and beautiful woman, who he quickly recognized as the German sniper Alia. She was wearing a white headscarf, her arms drooped naturally, and the clothes on her shoulders on both sides were already stained red with blood. Although no fighter grabbed her arm, Lyudmila and Vasily following her gave her no chance of escaping.

For the female sniper who injured Smirnov, Sokov was full of anger. However, it seems inappropriate to interrogate Aliya in public. It happened that the gunpowder smoke in the corridor had cleared, so Sokov ordered her to be taken to the headquarters for interrogation.

Before the interrogation began, Sokov asked the old man curiously: "Grandpa, can you tell me how you captured this German sniper?"

"Comrade Commander, the situation is like this." The old man glanced at Aliya who was standing next to him, and explained to Sokov: "She came to us at noon and said that when she found German troops in the forest outside the city, I accidentally found a cold light flashing in her eyes, which seemed to have murderous intent for everyone in our room.

When the troops went to surround the German airborne group in the forest outside the city, Captain Koshkin asked me to stay out of concern for my health. After they left, the more I thought about it, the more something was wrong. I felt that there was something wrong with the woman who came to provide information. I went to the attic where the sniper might be located alone, looking for clues carefully.

After some searching, I found a long chestnut hair on the ground near the window. Judging from the length and color of her hair, she should be the woman who just came to provide information.

I think this woman took our people to encircle and suppress the German airborne team, most likely to divert our target. So, I came to the street and after observing the surrounding environment, I found a family. From the window of his house, he could clearly see the attic window. But because of the angle, the person standing at the attic window couldn't see where I was. So, I used this place as a sniper position and closely monitored the direction of the attic. "

Hearing this, Sokov couldn't help but sigh in his heart, ginger is still old and spicy. The old man found out that there was a problem with Alia just by looking at her, and he took preventive measures in advance. It is really rare. No wonder the old saying goes: An old man is like a treasure. It still seems very reasonable.

"Old man," Sokov said to the old man in an encouraging tone, "go on, tell me how you caught her."

The old man nodded and continued: "Half an hour ago, I found that the window of the attic was opened, so I guessed that she might be about to make a move, so I set up my gun and aimed it at her place. s position.

When there was an explosion from the direction of the headquarters, I saw a gun muzzle sticking out of the window, which was a precursor to firing. I wanted to shoot to stop her immediately, but she was very cunning, only the barrel of the gun was exposed, but the whole person was still hiding in my shooting blind spot. I had no choice but to continue to wait for the opportunity.

When the people in the headquarters ran outside because of the explosion, her body leaned forward slightly, exposing one shoulder, and I shot without hesitation and hit her shoulder. The huge impact of the bullet made her lean to one side, and I fired another shot without losing the opportunity, hitting her on the other shoulder. She was shot in both arms, and the sniper rifle in her hand rolled out of the attic window. Seeing that she had no weapons, I quickly sent a signal to the snipers hiding in the nearby houses, telling them to go to the attic to arrest people. No sooner had they stormed into the house than the sniper tried to flee and captured her alive without much trouble. "

"Good job, old man." Trofimenko gave the old man a thumbs up: "Without you, the members of the headquarters would have suffered heavy casualties."

"Comrade Deputy Commander," the old man said guiltily, "I may be old, and my hands and feet are a little slow. While firing, she also fired a shot. I don't know if any commander died."

Sokov had always wondered why a sniper like Aliya with such excellent marksmanship only hit Smirnov on the shoulder. It turned out that she was shot by the old man when she was shooting, which caused The bullet missed, otherwise what I saw at this moment would be Smirnov's cold body.

"Don't worry, old man." Sokov said to the old man with a smile: "My chief of staff, General Smirnov, was shot in the shoulder, but there is nothing serious about it. He will be fine after a period of recuperation."

"Comrade Commander," Sameko reminded Sokov, "shall we interrogate the prisoner to find out how she caused the explosion in the kitchen?"

"Do you need me to translate for you?" The old man asked Sokov in a teasing tone after hearing what Sameko said, "You know, I used to translate for Emperor William."

After hearing what the old man said, Aliya rolled her eyes and said in a low voice: "Bragging!"

Although her voice was low, Sokov could hear her clearly. He smiled and said, "Alia, the old man is really not bragging. He is proficient in the languages ​​of more than a dozen countries, and he is an interpreter for your Emperor William. It’s really not bragging. But I think that the Kaiser Wilhelm the old man is talking about is probably not the William II you are familiar with, but the long-dead William I, which is what you often call William the Great. Old man, I’m right, right? ?”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." The old man agreed with Sokov's statement: "I not only knew Kaiser William the Great, but also had an inseparable relationship with Bismarck, who was known as the 'Iron Prime Minister' at that time."

After listening to the old man's words, Aliya showed a bitter expression on her face: "Grandpa, can you tell me how old you are this year?"

"Me," said the old man proudly, "I was born in 1854, and I just turned ninety this year."

Although Aliya knew that the old man was not young, she was still shocked when she heard that the other party was ninety years old, then she lowered her head and murmured: "I never thought that I, an excellent sniper, would be defeated by an old man." inside."

After Sokov arranged for a military doctor to bandage Alia's wound, the interrogation of Alia began. Since Aliya was not an ordinary soldier, the usual interrogation methods were of little use to her. Fortunately, there is a special service department at the 27th Army Headquarters, and its members are all members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so Sokov handed over the work of interrogating Alia to them.

Originally, Sokov and the others wanted to see the interrogation of Alia with their own eyes, but at this time a telegram from the direction of Chernivtsi came. Compared with the war in the north, the interrogation of Alia is insignificant. Sokov said to the Chief of Secret Service: "Comrade Chief, you are solely responsible for the interrogation. You must find out how she made it in the kitchen." explosion."

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." The Secret Service Chief assured Sokov, "No matter how tight her mouth is, I can still ask for the answer I want."

After the Secret Service Chief and his subordinates took Aliya to the next door, Sameko said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, according to General Bogdanov's report, the German army attacking from the north of the city The troops, having successfully broken through the lines established by the 115th Infantry Brigade and the 11th Guards Tank Brigade, are rushing rapidly towards the outskirts of the city."

After listening to Sameko's report, Sokov asked back: "Comrade Chief of Staff, did General Bogdanov report why the Germans broke through his defense in the north of the city so easily?"

There was a bitter expression on Sameko's face: "Comrade Commander, it is very similar to our situation today."

"It's very similar to our situation today?" Sokov couldn't help being shocked after hearing this: "The Germans didn't deploy snipers near Chernivtsi, did they?"

"You guessed it right, Comrade Commander." Sameko said rather helplessly: "The commander of the 115th Infantry Brigade was killed by a German sniper while commanding the battle, causing the troops to lose their unified command. As a result First, the infantry was defeated by the Germans, and then the 11th Guards Tank Brigade, which lost the cover of the infantry, was attacked by the powerful anti-tank firepower of the Germans. When more than half of the tanks were lost, they had no choice but to withdraw from the battle."

"It seems that without air supremacy, it will be difficult for the 2nd Tank Army to block the enemy's crazy attack." Sokov said casually, "Chief of Staff, call General Goryunov immediately. , asking him to send out the air force to carry out air strikes on the German ground forces in the Chernivtsi area."

After saying this, Sokov didn't hear the familiar response. He thought the other party didn't hear it, so he repeated it again: "General Smirnov, call General Goryunov..."

"Comrade Commander," Sameko carefully reminded Sokov, "Chief of Staff Smirnov is injured and is currently receiving treatment at the Army Field Hospital. Why don't I call General Goryunov?"

Sokov raised his hand and slapped himself on the forehead, and said with some embarrassment: "Damn, why did I forget about this. Forget it, I'd better call General Goryunov myself and try to let him go." He quickly sent air power to attack the German ground forces to strengthen our defensive positions."