Red Moscow

Early the next morning, a truck with a tarpaulin stopped in front of Henrik's sister's house.

After the driver parked the car, he honked the horn twice, and then stared at the door to see when the people inside would come out.

"The car is coming!" Henrik's sister Erica urged everyone when she heard the car horn from outside the door, "Let's pack our things and leave immediately."

When the family came out of the house carrying suitcases and burdens, the driver sideways opened the door on the passenger side and shouted at Erica, "Hey, Erica, sit here."

Hearing what the driver said, Erica seemed a little hesitant, and then she said to the driver: "I want my mother to sit with me, is that okay?"

The driver's seat of a truck can usually seat three people, as long as there are no fat people among them, it is still quite spacious. But the driver didn't seem to want Erica's mother to sit on the bridge, so he said with a look of embarrassment: "There are too many people on the bridge, and it is easy to attract the attention of the Germans. If the Germans take the opportunity to make things difficult for us, it will be troublesome." .”

When Erica's mother heard that if she sat on the bridge, she might be made things difficult by the Germans along the way, she backed off immediately, and she turned to her daughter and said, "Erica, I think you are the only one here." Let’s sit in the driver’s seat, and I will sit in the car with your father and younger brother.” Seeing that her mother did not want to take the co-pilot seat, Erica had no choice but to sit in the cab alone, while turning her head to face the outside of the car. Jemon and Henrik said: "Hurry up, we can set off when our luggage is packed."

When Henryk was carrying the luggage, he accidentally glanced at the driver's cab, and saw that the driver was a tall, middle-aged man with a fierce appearance. At this moment, his eyes were fixed on his sister. And Erica seemed a little afraid of this person, her eyes flickered, and she didn't dare to look at him.

Seeing this situation, Henrik's heart was full of doubts. Since his sister was afraid of this person, why did he ask him to send his family to Getansk? With such doubts, Henrik and his parents sat in the rear compartment.

After the car started, Henrik's mother began to pray with her eyes closed, hoping that her family could reach Gtansk smoothly.

The driver who was driving at the moment said to Erica: "Erica, we can reach Gdansk in the evening. I will stay there for a few days, can you come and accompany me?"

Hearing what the driver said, Erica seemed flustered: "No, no, I have to find a way to settle down with my parents. There will be a lot of things these days, so I may not have time to find you."

The driver snorted coldly when he heard her evasion, and then said: "Erica, Dobzhanski is dead, and you are a widow now. How will you live without a husband? If you follow me, not only You can live without worrying about food and clothing, and I can even let you live like a noble lady. I told you this when you came to see me yesterday, how to choose, you can figure it out yourself!"

Facing the threat from the driver, Erica had to seriously think about whether she should continue to stick to her principles or obey the driver. After all, people like them who do black market business do earn a lot of money every year. It is not nonsense to let themselves live a good life.

On the way Erica's family fled to Getansk by car, Sokov received a report from scouts that the German army was undergoing a large-scale mobilization of troops.

After reading the scout's report, Victor compared the deployment of his defense zone, then slapped the table with his hand, and excitedly said to Pornegerin and Sidolin: "Comrade Deputy Commander , Comrade Chief of Staff, it seems that the Germans have fallen into our trap and are readjusting the deployment of troops according to the fake defense map we gave them."

Ponegelin took the report and browsed through it, with a knowing smile on his face: "Comrade Commander, I really didn't expect that the Germans really fell into your trap. In this way, our offensive in a few days later In the midst of the attack, it was possible to break through the German defenses with minimal casualties."

"Yes, yes." Sidolin also echoed: "Originally, according to the offensive route deployed by our superiors, at least we must break through the defense of two to three divisions of the German army to successfully wedge into their defense depth. Now their As soon as the troops were mobilized, the strength of the defenders in our attack direction was greatly weakened. As long as the attack starts, I believe that our troops will be able to break through the German defenses in a very short period of time."

"Although the German army has adjusted their deployment according to the fake defense map we provided." Pornejelin worried that Sukov was too complacent, and specifically reminded him: "But now the German army is heavily concentrated in areas where our defense is weak. If They suddenly launched an assault on our army before our army's offensive began, and our defense line may be breached."

Although in Sokov's memory, the German army in East Prussia in January 1945 did not take any offensive actions, but the world is unpredictable, and he does not know whether the appearance of his own butterfly will make the real History takes a serious deflection here. If the German army really launched an attack by surprise from its weakly defended area, it might affect the overall battle situation.

"I will report this to Comrade Marshal." Sokov said: "In any case, the intelligence department of the Front Army Command's reconnaissance capabilities far exceed ours. They are responsible for figuring out the intentions of our frontal German army. It's more appropriate."

After the call was connected, Sokov answered the phone Bogolyubov and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, is Comrade Marshal there? I have something important to report to him."

"Misha, I'm Rokossovsky." Rokossovsky's voice quickly came from the receiver: "What do you need from me?"

"Comrade Marshal, this is what happened." Sokov reported the situation he was currently facing to Rokossovsky in detail, and finally made a request to him: "I hope that the intelligence troops of the Front Army Command , can strengthen the reconnaissance of the German command and figure out their next combat deployment."

"Misha, don't wait for the report from the intelligence department, I can tell you the answer now." Rokossovsky said: "According to the latest information we have, the Germans will not attack me before mid-February." army to take any military action."

Rokossovsky's words surprised Sokov, and he asked in puzzlement, "Why?"

"The counterattack of the Germans in the Ardennes area showed them the dawn of victory." Rokossovsky said in a disdainful tone: "So the Germans plan to transfer troops from the Eastern Front in the near future to strengthen the offensive in the Ardennes area. power, trying to drive the Allies back to France, even across the English Channel."

"Comrade Marshal, they are daydreaming." Sokov, who knew the outcome of the Ardennes counterattack, said with a sneer: "The Germans are doomed. Even if they can win some victories in the Ardennes area, they still cannot save them from being wiped out." ending."

"Yes, Misha. Your thoughts are exactly the same as mine." Seeing that Sokov's views coincided with his own, Rokossovsky said with emotion: "The Germans just took advantage of the Allies' underestimation of the enemy." , by surprise and a risky counterattack. No matter how successful they are now, it is impossible to completely defeat the Allies and drive them back across the English Channel."

After finishing the call with Rokossovsky, Sokov felt confident. Since the German army will not take active military actions in East Prussia until mid-February, there is nothing to worry about. However, in order to confuse the enemy, there must be one action that should be taken.

Prior to this, Sokov felt that merit should be rewarded. The reason why this operation to confuse the German army was so successful was due to Second Lieutenant Daniel. Sergeant Fermi and Corporal Remo who assisted him also had some credit.

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov told Sidolin as soon as he put down the phone, "call and inform Second Lieutenant Daniel, Sergeant Fermi, and Corporal Remo to come here. During this operation to confuse the enemy, they established It’s no small feat, and we want to commend them for their achievements.”

As a unit at the level of the group army, it can award honors to those commanders and fighters who have made merit without going through the higher authorities. Ponegerin asked Sokov for instructions: "Comrade Commander, I wonder what medals you plan to award them?"

"Is the Order of the Red Banner okay?" You know, in the early days of the war, the Order of the Red Banner represented a very high honor, but as the war progressed, more and more Orders of the Red Banner were issued, and the gold content of this order was not so great. Taller. So when Ponegerin asked what order should be awarded, Sokov did not hesitate to say the Order of the Red Banner.

"I agree to award the Order of the Red Banner to Second Lieutenant Daniel." Bornejelin nodded and said, "However, the merits of Sergeant Fermi and Corporal Remo are not enough to award the Order of the Red Banner..."

Sokov worried that Ponegerin would not finish talking, so he interrupted him in time: "It's up to you to decide what medals the two of them award."

"Also, Comrade Commander." When Sidolin picked up the phone, he specifically reminded Sokov: "Some areas of our defense are too weak. If the Germans launch an attack, what should we do?"

"You call first." Sokov said to Sidolin: "I will tell you in detail after you finish the call."

Sidolin, who was eager to know about Sokov's deployment, immediately contacted Daniel and the others by phone and asked them to rush to the headquarters as soon as possible. As soon as he put down the phone, he couldn't wait to ask Sokov: "Comrade Commander, tell us about your plan."

Sokov pointed to the area where the troops were weak on the map, and said to Ponedelin and Sidolin: "Everyone knows that our defense is the weakest here. There is only one infantry regiment that is not full. And the Germans, through Today's force adjustment, the total force in this direction has reached one armored division and two infantry divisions. Although they may not launch an attack, once their attack starts, our defense line here will be in a very short time was broken through."

"Then what can be done to prevent this possibility?" asked Sidolin.

"If we want to prevent the Germans from attacking easily, we must increase our strength in this area."

"Comrade Commander, I think it is necessary to remind you." Sidolin said: "We don't have much reserve troops. If we use it to strengthen this area, then other important areas will not get enough after the war begins." supplement."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you don't have to worry about this." Sokov said carelessly, "It only takes two regiments to confuse the enemy."

Hearing what Sokov said, Sidolin's face was full of confusion. He didn't understand what Sokov wanted to express, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, I don't quite understand what you mean, can you speak well?" Can you be clearer?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, starting tomorrow, mobilize a hundred trucks and transport the troops of the two regiments to the front in batches." Sokov said: "To make a big splash, it is best for the Germans on the opposite side to see clearly. Let them understand that we are sending troops to the front."

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin said, shaking his head, "the strength of the two regiments is too small. The Germans will not pay attention to it at all. It is of no use for us to do so."

"Chief of Staff, I haven't spoken yet. It's not too late for you to comment after I finish." Sukov continued: "We transported troops to the front with great fanfare during the day, and quietly sent troops to the front after dark." Withdrew. The next day, this batch of troops was transported to the front again, and then withdrawn at night. This went on and on again, giving the Germans the illusion that we had deployed at least two or three divisions in the area to counter their possible launched an attack."

After listening to Sokov's explanation, Ponegerin clapped his hands and applauded: "It's great, it's simply great. Comrade Commander, I never thought that you could come up with such an ingenious plan. I believe that if If we start to implement it, the Germans will definitely be fooled, and then we will be able to contain the heavy German army with a small amount of troops."

"As long as the enemy's main force is contained in this area." Sokov said: "Then when we attack in other areas, the resistance we encounter will be greatly weakened."

Sokov raised his hand to check the time, and felt that Daniel and the others should be arriving soon. In front of these subordinates, we can no longer talk about combat deployment, because there will be a danger of leaking secrets, so he changed the topic back to the award: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I think that in addition to awarding honors, you can also consider giving Three people have been promoted to military ranks. What do you think?"

"I think it's okay. Let them each be promoted to one level." Bornejelin nodded and said, "Second Lieutenant Daniel was promoted to Lieutenant, Sergeant Fermi was promoted to Master Sergeant, and Corporal Remo was promoted to Sergeant."

"Wait a minute, Comrade Deputy Commander, I have a different opinion." As soon as Ponegerin finished speaking, Sidolin interrupted and said, "I have no objection to the promotion of Daniel and Fermi. But Remo I don’t think it’s appropriate for a corporal to only be born one level, and he should be promoted to sergeant anyway.”

Perhaps because he was worried about the objections of Sokov and Ponegerin, Sidolin also specifically added: "As far as I know, Corporal Remo has devoted himself to his duties and achieved many achievements. But it is because of his poor interpersonal relationship that every The last promotion has nothing to do with him. This time there is finally a promotion opportunity, I think we can't treat him badly."

"Then tell me," Pornegelin asked, "What rank do you think he should be promoted to?"