Red Moscow

A smile appeared on Agelina's face, and then she gave Sokov a thumbs up: "Yes, Misha, you are so smart. Before I finished speaking, you guessed that the superior was about to give me a warning." The job I arranged. Yes, I was asked to work in the translation team under the General Staff Office. "

"There are quite a few people in the translation team. There are currently 47 people working on the translation team." Sokov said, "Along with you, wouldn't it be too much?"

"Why is there too much?" Agelina explained to Sokov: "As far as I know, most of the translators in the editorial team cooperate with the publishing house to translate the orders issued by the cluster headquarters in Germany into In German, the amount of work is not small. In addition, only a few people can serve as portable translators.”

"That is to say, if you join the translation team, you may be asked to serve as a portable translator."

"Yes, that's it." Agelina said with a smile: "When you go to Bavaria, I can go with you in the name of your interpreter."

While the two were talking, the phone suddenly rang. Agelina stood up and wanted to answer the phone, but Sokov held her back: "I'll answer it!"

Grabbing the microphone and putting it to his ear, Sokov said loudly: "I am Sokov!"

After a brief silence on the receiver, Ernst's voice came: "Hello, Comrade General!"

"Oh, it's Ernst." When Sokov heard Ernst's voice, he couldn't help but feel a little surprised. Why did he call him not long after he came back from his place? Did something happen? "Call me, what's the matter?"

"Comrade General," Ernst said hesitantly, "I'm calling you to ask you a favor."

"What's the deal?"

"I have a neighbor, to be precise, my cousin Hossenfeld's neighbor." Ernst said hesitantly: "He hopes to serve in the newly formed garrison command. I took the liberty to call you. , I just want to ask if I can assign him a position?”

After hearing this, Sokov couldn't help but frown slightly, thinking that it would be unwise for Ernst to want to put people in the garrison headquarters before it was established. He asked coldly: "Ernst, I wonder what that man's name is and what he did during the war?"

"His name is Denaris, a lieutenant in the Romanian army."

"A lieutenant in the Romanian army?" Sokov tried hard to recall the history of the Soviet army's combat in Romania. He vaguely remembered that the Ukrainian Second Front liberated all of Romania in September 1944. The Denaris mentioned by Ernst should not only have served in the Romanian army, but also in other troops: "Besides the Romanian army, where else has he served?"

"No more. He only served in the Army in Romania."

"Ernst, although the troops I command are not affiliated with the Second Ukrainian Front, I also remember that Romania was liberated by our army in September 1944, and the troops stationed in Romania should have been canceled at that time. Could it be that Dena Reese’s army still retains the structure of the Romanian army?”

"No, Comrade General." Ernst said hesitantly: "Because as early as August 1944, he became a deserter."

"Deserter?" Sokov said in surprise after hearing this: "Ernst, you mean, he became a deserter before Romania was liberated by our army?"

"That's right, Comrade General."

"How did he become a deserter?" Sokov asked with interest: "Was he on the battlefield of the decisive battle with our army?"

"The matter of him being a deserter is very complicated." Ernst organized the vocabulary in his mind and continued: "I couldn't explain it clearly on the phone at the moment. I wonder if you would allow me to take him to see you and let him explain it to you in person. clear."

"Okay!" Sokov wanted to know more about Denaris' experience as a deserter, so he readily agreed. He looked at his watch, and then said: "It's a bit late today. At ten o'clock tomorrow morning, you take him to Ah Come to see me at the Delong Hotel. When you get to the hotel, just tell the front desk that you are looking for me, and they will call me. "

"Okay, Comrade General, I will be there on time at ten o'clock tomorrow morning."

When Sokov put down the phone, Agelina asked curiously: "Misha, what's the matter?"

"Ernst told me that he had a neighbor who also wanted to be a member of the Garrison Command." Sokov said: "This man once served in the German Army in Romania and later became a deserter. I asked him Bring that man to my place at ten o'clock tomorrow morning, I want to talk to him."

"Desert?!" Agelina said in surprise: "I heard that as long as the Germans catch deserters, they will not only shoot them directly, but even send their relatives to concentration camps. How did he escape capture?"

"Ernst didn't tell me the specific situation, and I don't know either." Sokov said: "If you want to know the details, you can go to see him with me tomorrow and help me as a translator. I think this Dana Lieutenant Reese, he probably doesn’t understand Russian.”

"No problem." Agelina said without hesitation: "This is my responsibility."

The next morning, at just 9:30, Sokov received a call from the front desk: "Comrade General, there are two people looking for you!"

Sokov glanced at the time and found that there was still half an hour before the agreed time. Ernst should have arrived early, so he asked: "Did they identify themselves?"

The female soldier at the front desk replied: "They are two Germans, one named Denaris and one named Ernst. The man named Ernst speaks Russian very well. He said he made an appointment with you last night. Okay, so I called you specifically to see if this is the case."

"That's right, comrade female soldier." Sokov replied: "Let them sit in the reception area first, and I will go out as soon as possible. By the way, don't forget to prepare tea for them."

"Understood, Comrade General." The receptionist said respectfully, "I will prepare tea for them."

When Sokov put down the phone, Agelina had already been woken up. She asked sleepily: "Misha, who is it?"

"It's Ernst and Lieutenant Denaris." Seeing Agelina not waking up, Sokov said considerately: "Since Ernst is here, Denaris and I There should be no problem with the communication between the lieutenants, so you should continue to sleep."

"I won't sleep anymore." Agelina lifted the quilt and got out of bed, walking barefoot to the bathroom: "I want to accompany you to see them."

A quarter of an hour later, Sokov and Agelina finished washing and walked out of the room together.

When he arrived at the hotel's reception area, Sokov saw Ernst and a man in a black coat sitting on a couch talking quietly. Although the man was neatly dressed and must have shaved before coming, Sokov still felt that the man looked like a prisoner of war who had been tortured in a prisoner of war camp.

When the two people who were talking saw Sokov and Agelina appearing, they quickly stood up from the sofa and greeted respectfully: "Hello, Comrade General! Hello, Agelina!"

"Comrade General, let me introduce you." Ernst pointed to the man next to him and introduced to Sokov: "This is my cousin's neighbor—Lieutenant Denaris!"

Sokov nodded, then stretched out his hand to Denaris and said in a friendly tone: "Hello, Lieutenant Denaris!"

Unexpectedly, Denaris unexpectedly said in Russian: "Hello, Mr. General!" Although the tone was a bit stiff, he did speak Russian.

Sokov was stunned and asked curiously: "Do you speak Russian?"

"Yes, Mr. General! I know a little Russian!"

Sokov glanced at the coffee table in front of the sofa and saw two cups of hot tea and a small plate with sugar cubes on it. Knowing that the female soldier at the front desk had faithfully carried out his order and provided tea for the two of them, he greeted them. The two said: "Stop standing, please sit down. If you have anything to say, we'll talk about it after we sit down."

After sitting down, Sokov first asked: "Lieutenant Denaris, I wonder which unit of the Romanian Army you serve in?"

After hearing Sokov's question, Denaris quickly stood up and replied: "Mr. General, I serve in the 73rd Infantry Division under the 5th Army of the 17th Group Army."

Sokov didn't know much about the structure of the German army stationed in Romania, so he just asked casually. Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Agelina interjected and asked: "I remember there is another 132nd Infantry Division, which is also stationed in Romania."

"You are right, girl." Denaris nodded and said to Agelina: "There was indeed the 132nd Infantry Division before, but they were transferred away long ago. In 1944, they were incorporated into the Northern Army Group group."

"Lieutenant Denaris, I heard Ernst say yesterday that you became a deserter before our army liberated Romania." Sokov waited for Denaris to finish and then asked: "Can you tell me , what’s going on?”

Seeing that Denaris was hesitant, Ernst quickly touched him with his elbow and reminded him in a low voice: "Denaris, tell the truth, don't hide anything from Sokov, otherwise he will It won't help you."

"Mr. General!" Denaris, who had been reminded by Ernst, said with a serious expression: "If you are interested, I will report to you in detail how I became a deserter."

"Speak, Lieutenant Denaris, I'm all ears."

"It was in June 1944. I received a task, which was to escort an oil convoy from Craiova, a southern city in Romania, through Yugoslavia to transport oil to the armored base in Austria. Because of this road We often encounter guerrilla attacks, so before setting off, the commander in charge of this operation took some necessary precautions.”

Hearing that Denaris' mission was to escort oil tankers to Austria through Yugoslavia, he couldn't help but think of the classic old movie "Walter Defends Sarajevo", in which Walter and his guerrillas tried every means to blow up the German army's oil shipment. The train paralyzed the German armored forces due to lack of fuel. It may not be that easy for Denaris to escort the oil convoy through the guerrilla activity area smoothly.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but ask: "Lieutenant Denaris, can you tell me what precautions your commander has taken?"

"Drivers, a very special group of drivers." Denaris replied without hesitation: "With this group of drivers, we can greatly improve our success rate in passing through the guerrilla zone."

Denaris's words aroused Sokov's curiosity: "Oh, a group of drivers who can provide you with the success rate of passing through the guerrilla zones in Yugoslavia. Who are they?"

"They are a group of Russian prisoners of war..." As soon as Denaris finished speaking, Ernst quickly corrected him: "Comrade General, he said it wrong, they are Soviet prisoners of war!"

After Ernst reminded him, Denaris realized that he had made a problem with the name. Even though they all called the Soviet army Russians in private, using such a name in front of Sokov was obviously a mistake. It was inappropriate, so he quickly changed his words and said: "Yes, Ernst is right, they are a group of Soviet prisoners of war. Most of them were captured shortly after Operation Barbarossa began and have been detained in prisoner-of-war camps in Romania. This time, 60 drivers with driving experience were selected to serve as tanker truck drivers.”

Sokov raised his own question: "Lieutenant Denaris, I don't understand. Is it a bit too risky for your commander to use a group of Soviet prisoners of war as drivers of oil tankers? For example, when passing by a cliff, , when a driver turns the steering wheel and drives the vehicle straight down, wouldn’t it cause a crash and death?”

"We have considered this issue, so each cab is equipped with a soldier to monitor the driver. At the same time, in order to prevent the driver from jumping out of the car and escaping, we even locked their hands on the steering wheel with chains. "

"What your commander did is really cruel." After hearing this, Agelina couldn't help but interrupt again: "If the guerrillas attack the convoy again, they will inevitably kill the Soviet prisoners of war who are driving. This is equivalent to Let our own people fight our own people.”

But Sokov's perspective on the problem was different from Agelina's. He asked tentatively: "Lieutenant Denaris, even if all the drivers are replaced by prisoners of war from our army, the guerrillas must be hiding when they attack the convoy." How could they know that the driver was a prisoner of war from our army when they used landmines to blow up vehicles in the distance?”

Sokov's words reminded Agelina: "Yes, yes, how do the guerrillas know that the driver is a Soviet prisoner of war?"

"Before I led the team to set off, the commander once told me." Denaris explained to the two of them: "When the convoy arrives in the town to rest, it must be ordered to take the Soviet prisoners of war to the square for public display, so that those who are hiding in the crowd can Look at the guerrillas, the people driving us are Soviet prisoners of war. If they attack the convoy, they will inevitably kill these prisoners of war."

When Sokov heard this, he couldn't help but give a thumbs up to the German commander. This was really amazing. When the convoy arrived at a town to rest, the German soldiers were asked to escort all the Soviet prisoners of war who were driving to the square for public display. This was equivalent to telling the guerrillas that your friends are driving for us and if you attack the convoy, they will kill you. friend. In this way, the guerrillas who originally planned to attack the convoy would use a defensive weapon when deploying an ambush.

"Your commander's plan is really great." As for the German commander's plan, Sokov felt that it was difficult to crack. Maybe the convoy escorted by Denaris relied on this to pass through Yugoslavia without incident. In the guerrilla zone, the oil was delivered to the Austrian armored force station: "So did you successfully transport the oil to Austria in the end?"