Red Moscow

"What, the Bayers and his son are going out?" Sokov couldn't help frowning after hearing this, and asked: "What are they going out for?"

"He said he wanted to go out and try his luck to see if he could meet Captain Hosenfeld's wife and children on the street."

"Nonsense, it's just nonsense." Sokov said with some annoyance: "Is it so easy to find two people in such a big city? What's more, there are two of them, father and son, one wearing a German police uniform. What if a person wearing the uniform of the National Defense Force is arrested when he encounters a US military patrol outside? You know, this is not within our military's defense zone, and it is not easy to rescue them. "

"Misha, don't be angry." Agelina gently patted Sokov's shoulder with her hand to stabilize his mood. Then he asked Vaserigov: "Comrade Major, as far as I know, you don't seem to understand German. How did you know that the Bayers planned to go out?"

"Comrade Agelina, you are right, I do not understand German." Vaseligov explained: "But among the guards I brought, there was a soldier who could speak German, and it was he who Officer Er’s words were translated to me.”

Sokov finally understood how Vaselgov and Bayer communicated when he and Agelina were not present. Among the accompanying guards, there was a soldier who was proficient in German to ensure that Bayer Father and son can communicate with everyone without barriers.

"Comrade General," Vaserigov understood Sokov's intention and immediately expressed his opinion to him: "I will tell the Bayers and his son when I get back that you will not allow them to go out."

Sokov nodded and continued: "Major, you still want to tell them, just say that we entered the US military defense zone without formal notification. We only arrived here smoothly under the guise of visiting General Patton. Ten million Don’t make unnecessary trouble. If we really want to find someone, I think we should go to Nuremberg, where we might have a better chance of meeting Captain Hosenfeld’s wife and children.”

After Vaserigov left, Agelina asked: "Misha, Leipzig is a bigger city than Nuremberg. If I were the wife of Captain Hosenfeld, I would definitely choose this city. You Why aren't you willing to let the Bayers go out and try their luck? Are you really worried that the local U.S. military police will cause trouble for them, as you said?"

Sokov smiled slightly, and then said: "Agelina, I think you may still remember that when we first met Officer Bayer, he once said that he personally sent Captain Hosenfel's wife and The child went to the train station and took the train leaving Berlin.”

"Remember, of course I remember." Agelina nodded vigorously, and then asked: "But what does this have to do with you not allowing Officer Bayer and his son to go out to look for people?"

"Of course there is a connection." Sokov continued: "I clearly remember that Officer Bayer said that Captain Hosenfeld's wife and children went to Bavaria. And Leipzig where we are now belongs to Saxony. If you were Captain Hosenfeld's wife, would you leave Bavaria and come to Saxony?"

After Sokov's explanation, Agelina immediately realized that she had overlooked an important issue. Since the person she was looking for was most likely to be in Bavaria, she was looking for someone in a city in Saxony. How could she find someone? The odds are too small. "Oh, that's it, I understand. Misha, your decision is right."

"According to my judgment, after we arrive in Nuremberg, the probability of success will be higher if we let the Bayers go out to find people." Sokov took the initiative to explain without waiting for Agelina to ask: "Now in Nuremberg For the trial of German war criminals, it is estimated that a large number of troops will be stationed to maintain order. Since there are large troops stationed, a large number of local people will definitely be needed to provide them with various basic services. I guess Captain Hosenfeld's wife is not in Nuremberg. , but in order to make a living, he would also go to Nuremberg to work as a waiter or something like that.”

Agelina strongly agrees with Sokov's analysis: "Well, Misha, you make a lot of sense. No matter what Captain Hosenfeld's wife originally did, she fled because of the war. After Berlin, she basically lost her financial resources. If she wanted to survive, she could only work in cities that provided job opportunities.”

…

A night of silence.

At dawn the next day, Sokov's convoy was heading towards Nuremberg behind Sergeant Logan's jeep.

In the evening, the convoy arrived at the northern suburbs of Nuremberg. Here, they were stopped again by a US military checkpoint.

The man in charge of the checkpoint was a military police lieutenant. After listening to Sergeant Logan's report, he said coldly: "I'm sorry, I didn't receive a notification that a Russian general was going to enter Nuremberg, so I can't let you in."

Seeing that Logan seemed to want to say something more, he straightened his face and said in a stern tone: "Sergeant, since your mission is to send these Russians here, your mission has been completed. Return immediately. Let’s return to the original location.”

When Logan heard what the lieutenant said, he could only salute, turn around and walk towards his jeep. When passing by Sokov, he said apologetically: "Sorry, Mr. General, I have tried my best. Whether you can enter Nuremberg or not, you can only rely on yourselves."

After expressing his gratitude to Logan, Sokov came to the military police lieutenant: "Lieutenant, I came to Nuremberg to observe the trial of German war criminals. I hope you can help me contact the person in charge of our army in the city and send someone to pick him up." us."

Unexpectedly, the military police lieutenant ignored Sokov at all. He just snorted coldly and walked aside, not wanting to talk to Sokov at all.

"Misha, what should we do?" After Agelina heard clearly what the military police lieutenant said, she quickly came to Sokov's side and asked anxiously: "If he doesn't help us contact General Sokolovsky, How can we get into Nuremberg?"

Sokov thought that when he first entered the US-controlled area from the Soviet defense area, he was also made things difficult by the military police. However, after he carried out the golden sign of Patton, the other party let him go easily. He decided to try again. See Does Patton's name work well here.

"Mr. Lieutenant!" Sokov took a few steps towards the location of the military police lieutenant, preparing to tell him that he came here at the invitation of Patton. Unexpectedly, the military police lieutenant looked like he was facing a formidable enemy. He put his right hand on the holster at his waist, pointed at Sokov with his left hand, and said in a stern tone: "Stop, don't cross that road." cordon, otherwise we will take strict action."

Seeing the other party's behavior, Vaserigov became angry. He also put his hand on the holster on his waist. If the other party made any excessive moves, he would definitely draw his gun and shoot without hesitation. At the same time, the guards who got out of several other jeeps also surrounded the checkpoint in a fan shape. Although there were no soldiers aiming their guns at the checkpoint, if the other party made any excessive moves, they would definitely open fire at the first opportunity. .

"Lieutenant!" Sokov noticed the tense atmosphere here and was worried that one of the two sides could not control his emotions. If the gun went off, it might have serious consequences, so he raised his hand to stop Vaserigov behind him. , and said to the military police lieutenant: "I was invited by General Patton to come to Bavaria as a guest. Is this how you treat guests?"

Hearing Sokov mention General Patton, the military police lieutenant couldn't help but be stunned. Although Patton no longer serves as Bavaria's top military administrator, he still bears the title of commander of the 15th Army, and his guests cannot be offended casually. "Mr. General," the military police lieutenant immediately changed his face and said with a smile: "Please wait a moment, I will contact General Patton immediately to see what instructions he has?"

Sokov was not sure whether Patton was at his headquarters at the moment. Even if he was, he might not be able to get there in a while. At present, he had to find a way to get into the city and join Sokolovsky and others who had arrived here long ago, so he added later: "Lieutenant, if you can't contact General Patton, then help me contact him." Our personnel here, ask them to send someone here to pick us up.”

The military police lieutenant returned to the duty box and used the phone inside to contact General Patton's headquarters. But unfortunately, Patton was not at the headquarters. However, the staff officer who answered the phone still told the military police lieutenant: "Yes, General Patton had a very pleasant conversation with the Russian general when he met some time ago. He personally extended an invitation to him and invited him to Bavaria as a guest. Lieutenant, I remind you, you must not offend this Russian general. You must know that General Patton respects him very much. Once he knows that you are deliberately making things difficult for him, he will definitely settle accounts with you. "

After hearing what the staff officer said, the military police lieutenant broke into a cold sweat. He raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead and said repeatedly: "Don't worry, I won't make things difficult for him."

After ending the call with the 15th Army, the military police lieutenant thought for a while, then dialed his superior's phone number and reported what happened here.

The lieutenant's superior was a major. After listening to the lieutenant's report, he said in a serious tone: "Lieutenant, our relationship with the Russians is very delicate now. Although there may be military conflicts in the future, under the current circumstances, If you offend a Russian general, the consequences will be very serious. You should go back and apologize to him immediately. I will contact the Russians in the city and ask them to send someone to the checkpoint to pick him up."

After the military police lieutenant put down the phone, he returned to Sokov, nodded and said: "Mr. General, I'm so sorry, it was all a misunderstanding. I have already contacted General Patton. Unfortunately, he went out for inspection. Not at the headquarters. But don't worry, I have asked my superiors to contact your personnel stationed in Nuremberg. I believe someone will come back to pick you up soon."

"Thank you, Lieutenant!"

In order to save the bad impression he had just left on Sokov, the military police lieutenant took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed it to Sokov: "Mr. General, do you smoke?"

"Hey, it's Camel cigarettes." Sokov took out a cigarette from the cigarette case and put it in his mouth. Vaseligov behind him immediately stepped forward and lit a match to light the cigarette for him.

"Mr. General, I can't get used to German cigarettes." The military police lieutenant said with a smile: "It smells like horse manure."

"Oh, Lieutenant, do you feel the same way?" Sokov said with some surprise: "When our army launched a full-scale counterattack against the German army in December 1941, the troops under my command once seized a batch of German cigarettes, but everyone After smoking it, they were not satisfied with the taste. They all commented like you that German cigarettes smell like horse manure.”

After waiting for almost half an hour, two black cars appeared in the distance. Sokov was sharp-eyed and recognized at a glance that the car behind belonged to the Soviet army, because there were two small red flags of the Soviet Union on both sides of the headlights. The car leading the way in front was the flag of the US military.

The car stopped at the checkpoint. After the first car stopped, a major of the military police came out. He came to the lieutenant, whispered a few words to him, and came to Sokov and said politely: "General, I'm really sorry, my subordinates have caused you trouble, I hope you don't mind."

At this time, the door of the car behind also opened, and a colonel came out. He walked quickly to Sokov, raised his hand to salute, and said respectfully: "Hello, General Sokov, I am here to pick you up on the order of Deputy Commander Sokolovsky."

After a simple greeting, Sokov's convoy followed the car sent by Sokolovsky, drove through the US military checkpoint, and drove towards the city.

Led by the sedan, Sokov's motorcade arrived outside a stone building in the city.

After the car in front stopped, the colonel who got off the car ran quickly to Sokov's car, opened the door with his hand, and said respectfully: "Comrade General, we are here, please get off!"

In this building, Sokov finally saw Sokolovsky, whom he had not seen for a long time.

Sokov stood at attention and raised his hand to salute Sokolovsky: "Hello, Comrade Deputy Commander."

Sokolovsky shook Sokov's hand and said excitedly: "Misha, I received a special call from Marshal Zhukov yesterday, saying that you will rush to Nuremberg in a short time to listen to the trial of German war criminals. Why are you walking so slowly and arriving today?"

"Comrade Deputy Commander." Sokov explained to Sokolovsky: "I originally wanted to take the train, but considering that if I do this, I am afraid I will not see anything along the way. So I changed my mind and came by car. Although this will take longer on the road, I can see a lot of useful ”

Sokolovsky knew what Sokov was talking about, and he asked jokingly: "Did you see anything valuable along the way?"

"I saw a lot of troops, tanks and artillery positions along the way." Sokov replied: "But these positions are far away from the areas controlled by our army and have no value."

"Yes, the distribution of the US military's forces and technical equipment that we can see is deliberately shown to us by the US military, and it is indeed of no value." Sokolovsky said: "Maybe there are a lot of troops and technical equipment hidden near the areas controlled by our army. Once the war starts, I am afraid that our army will suffer a great loss."