Red Moscow

Hearing Zakharov's question, Sokov couldn't help being taken aback, "He went outside to perform a mission!"

"Where did you go to perform the mission?"

"Because we wanted to eliminate two German sniper teams," Sokov hesitated for a moment, and decided to tell the truth, so as not to cause any misunderstandings, and the explanation would not be clear in the future: "So we formed two sniper teams and went to different places. , but wiped out the German sniper team. Among them, Lyudmila formed a team with five excellent snipers, while the other team was formed by Vasily and the old man with four snipers."

"When I sent the old man to your place, I told you," Zakharov said angrily after hearing Sokov's explanation, "The old man is the treasure of our country, we must ensure his safety." , there must be no problems. But what about you, have you taken my order to heart?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army," Sokov took advantage of the gap between the other party's speech, and defended himself, "I just sent him out to perform a mission, and nothing happened to him?"

Zakharov snorted twice on the other end of the phone, and then said: "Comrade Sokov, according to my judgment, the two sniper teams you organized will definitely not be performing missions near Otac? Tell me, where did they go?"

"Lyudmila's team went to Chernivtsi, while Vasily and the old man's team went to Wengeny." Sokov said in defense: "But I have already called them back urgently, tonight at the latest Can go back to Otatz."

"It's nonsense, it's nonsense." Zakharov criticized Sokov and said: "The old man is already ninety years old, and you still send him to perform tasks hundreds of kilometers away. If something goes wrong, you will be responsible for it." Are you responsible for this?"

Sokov was clear about this matter, knowing that if something happened to the old man, he really couldn't bear the responsibility, so he replied truthfully: "I can't afford it."

"Since you know you can't take responsibility, then you still sent the old man so far to carry out the mission." Zakharov almost roared on the other end of the phone: "Believe it or not, I will punish you?!"

Sokov didn't care about Zakharov's threat, and punished him as he wanted, no matter what the big deal. In order to divert the other party's attention, he took the initiative to say: "Comrade commander, our department has launched a counterattack against the German army in the Chernivtsi area."

"Oh, a counteroffensive was launched in the Chernivtsi area?" Sokov's words really diverted Zakharov's attention: "How is the progress now?"

Sokov raised his head, looked at Sameko on the opposite side, and asked if there was any recent battle report? Fortunately, the chief of staff had been working with Sokov for a long time, and he actually understood what Sokov meant, and quickly handed Sokov a telegram he had just received.

After quickly browsing the contents of the telegram, Sokov said into the microphone with a relaxed expression: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I have some good news for you: General Bogdanov's troops have successfully broken through the German defense line and are heading towards the The enemy's defenses develop in depth."

"This is really exciting and good news." Zakharov forgot that he was calling to blame Sokov, but couldn't wait to ask about the battle situation in the Chernivtsi area: "Can the enemy be brought out of the city?" Do you want to drive away?"

"There should be no problem." Regarding this, Sokov is still very confident: "The enemy may not have thought that they will encounter our tenacious resistance in the Chernivtsi area. Once the attack is frustrated, they will have to stay on the ground Turning to defense, but the time we left for them is too short, they have no time to build solid fortifications, so they can only choose to retreat in the face of our army's strong counterattack."

"If the Germans can be completely driven out of the Chernivtsi area, then the next battle will be easy." Zakharov said: "You can let more troops enter Romania and carry out our next battle." One-stage combat deployment."

"Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, the battle group commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Ponegerin has all entered Romania." Sukov remembered that when Ponegerin's battle group entered Romania, he had not had time to report to his superiors, so he Taking the opportunity to say: "Now they are preparing for battle and preparing to expand the occupied area."

"Oh, the Ponegerin battle group has all entered Romania?" Zakharov asked in surprise, "When did this happen?"

"Just this morning," Sokov replied, "it was because they all entered Romania that I made up my mind to launch a counterattack in Chernivtsi."

"You did the right thing, Comrade Sokov." Zakharov had just praised Sokov, and suddenly realized that something was wrong. He seemed to call him specifically to blame him. Why did it turn into praise in a blink of an eye? "By the way, let's continue talking about the old man."

Seeing that Zakharov returned the topic to the old man again, Sokov couldn't laugh or cry: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, didn't I already tell you that the old man will be able to return to Otac tonight at the latest?"

"Comrade Sokov, let me tell you very seriously, you must have the old man show up at your headquarters before noon tomorrow." Zakharov said in a stern tone: "Otherwise, you will be punished."

Sokov didn't expect that Zakharov mentioned twice today that he would punish himself, and he couldn't help feeling a little puzzled. What happened to make Zakharov behave so abnormally?

Zakharov should have guessed what was on Sokov's mind, and said proactively, "Comrade Sokov, are you muttering in your heart, is this Zakharov committing a crime today and always pestering the old man?"

Before Sokov could answer, he continued: "Let me tell you, there will be a condolence group from Moscow tomorrow, and I want Otatz to inspect and visit the old man by the way. I also know that the people who came this time are some big shots , if you prevent them from seeing the figure of the old man, I'm afraid not only you, but even Marshal Konev will be punished."

"What, is there a big shot coming tomorrow?" Sokov couldn't help but thump in his heart when he heard Zakharov say that, and secretly said that it's not good. Could it be that the German ace sniper lurking in the city is aiming at the big shot who will appear tomorrow? here?

"Yes, they have all held important positions. So it is not an exaggeration to say that they are big men." Zakharov explained to Sokov: "They and the old man are old acquaintances. I heard that the old man is now in your office. The troops, so I want to go to see him specially, and talk to him about the past and so on. "

"Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army," Sokov said nervously, "We are close to the front line, and there are still enemies in the city that have not been eliminated. If these big men want to come, it may be difficult to guarantee their safety."

"Comrade Sokov, you are now commanding a combat group of hundreds of thousands of people, not a guard platoon." Hearing Sokov's obvious evasion, Zakharov said very dissatisfied: "Is it impossible to guarantee the safety of the condolence team members?"

Hearing that Zakharov got angry, Sokov could only bite the bullet and replied: "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I will immediately strengthen the security work in the city and ensure the personal safety of the members of the condolence team."

"That's right." Zakharov nodded in satisfaction to Sokov's answer, and said, "They will arrive at ten o'clock tomorrow morning. You must do a good job of security and reception. Do you understand?"

Sokov put down the phone, glanced at the people at the table, and his expression became serious: "Commanders, the situation is not good. There will be a condolence team from Moscow tomorrow, and there are some important people in it. leaders. Tell me, how do we ensure their personal safety?"

"I think the safest way is to deploy our fighters on both sides of the street where the condolence team passes by to guard." Sameko suggested: "Of course, if we want to deal with German snipers, we can only pin our hopes on Let them occupy the commanding heights on both sides to prevent possible sniper killings."

"Grandpa and the others are coming back tonight." Trofimenko interjected, "Let the three of them each bring a few snipers, choose an important location to hide, and kill the enemy's snipers decisively as soon as they show up." .”

"Comrade Deputy Commander," Sokov interrupted Trofimenko and said to him, "The reason why the consolation team came here is because of the old man. They came to Otac specially to meet the old man, and He recounts the past."

"So, you don't need the old man to participate in tomorrow's security mission?"

"Yes," Sokov nodded at Sameko and said, "When the old man returns to Otac, don't arrange any work for him. The chief of staff of the front army is right, the old man is ninety years old If there is something good or bad, none of us can bear the responsibility."

"Comrade Commander, I have a suggestion." Trofimenko said: "For the sake of the old man's safety, how about letting the old man go with them when the condolence team leaves this time? As long as he leaves Otatz, What happens in the future has nothing to do with us. What do you think?"

Although Trofimenko's statement seems to be a burden, it is undoubtedly the best choice under the current circumstances. So Sokov only hesitated for a few seconds, and then readily agreed: "Okay, just do as the deputy commander said, and when the condolence team leaves, let the old man leave with them. He is ninety years old, life on the front line is too difficult, and there are many dangers everywhere, he is indeed not suitable to stay here."

Seeing that the two commanders had reached an agreement, neither Sameko nor Smirnov could say anything, so they could only acquiesce in the decision made by the two, and planned to wait for the old man to come back, so that he would not arrange any more for him. Work, and let him leave Otac with the condolence team.

I thought the old man and the others would not come back until after dark, but unexpectedly, the old man and Vasily appeared in the headquarters just after dusk.

Seeing the two people appear, Sokov was very surprised: "Old man, Vasily, why did you come back so early?"

"We came back by taking a shortcut," the old man said to Sokov excitedly, "I discovered this road by accident. Not only did it save nearly an hour's drive, but we also made a huge discovery along the way." .”

"A huge discovery?" Sokov was taken aback after hearing this, and then asked back: "What a huge discovery, let's hear it!"

"Vassily, I think you should report this matter to Comrade Commander. You have said more details than me."

Hearing what the old man said, Vasily did not shirk, and took the initiative to report to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, when we took a shortcut, we accidentally discovered two huge warehouses. The entrances to the warehouses are two mounds. It's covered with weeds and shrubs, and you can't see it unless you look closely."

"What's in the warehouse?" Trofimenko asked eagerly.

"Comrade Deputy Commander, I was about to say something." Vasily glanced at Trofimenko, and continued: "The lock on the big iron gate at the entrance is rusty, and we broke the lock easily. After entering the warehouse, we found the power generation room and turned on the lights inside. With the help of the lights, we found that it turned out to be a huge arsenal. I pried open a wooden box and found that it contained Mosin Nagant rifle."

"Oh, the arsenal?" Sokov said with some surprise: "This place has been occupied by the Germans for more than three years. How can there be two huge arsenals?"

"Comrade Commander, the reason is very simple." Hearing Sokov talking to himself, the old man explained to him: "I have just said that the location is in the forest, and there are two dirt bags at the entrance. , and it is covered with weeds and shrubs. When the Germans occupied this place, it happened to be the end of June and the beginning of July. At that time, the forest was densely covered with vegetation. If the Germans did not conduct a careful search, they really could not find the two munitions. library."

With the old man's explanation, Sokov immediately understood. When the Germans first occupied this place, no hidden arsenal was found at all. In addition, the place was remote and inaccessible. After a long time, no one discovered the location of the arsenal. If the old man and Vasily hadn't cut corners today, I'm afraid they wouldn't have been able to find these two arsenals.

When Sokov was guessing, he heard Smirnov say: "Master, your luck is really good. Now the weeds in the forest are withered and yellow, and the bushes are only bare, so you are lucky to find the location of the arsenal. The entrance. If it is half a month earlier or more than half a month at night, it will be impossible to find this place, so the snow and dense grass will cover the entrance of the arsenal."

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right." The old man agreed with Smirnov's statement: "It is pure luck that we found the arsenal today. As you said, If another period of time passes, maybe we won’t be able to find it.”

"Vassily," Sameko walked over with a map and asked Vasily politely, "Can you point me to the location of the arsenal?"

"Here." Vasily looked at the map for a while, and then decisively pointed to a location, but he still said uneasy: "The location there is too remote, if you rely on the map alone, you can't find it at all. How about this Well, let me act as the guide, and I will be able to find the location of the arsenal in the shortest possible time."