Red Moscow

"Misha," Ajelina glanced at Buckhouse who was still standing in front of Sokov, and said hesitantly: "If I go to ask about Officer Bayer, how can you communicate with this officer?"

"It doesn't matter," Sokov said with a relaxed expression: "One of the soldiers who came out with us today knows German, and he can temporarily play the role of translator."

Hearing Sokov's words, Ajelina nodded boldly and then walked towards the sheriff in the distance.

Buckhouse was a little surprised to see Ajelina leave. He asked Sokov in surprise: "General, what is that girl doing there?"

"We came here today to bring Officer Bayer and his son to look for someone." Sokov explained to Buckhouse: "I just saw the sheriff who took them to find the chief come out, but he didn't see any trace of Bayer and his son, so I asked her to go over and ask."

Unexpectedly, Buckhouse had an embarrassed expression on his face after hearing this: "General, I think it may not be easy for you to find clues from us."

Sokov was shocked and asked back: "Why?"

"You also know that this is a US military-controlled area." Buckhouse and Sokov had dealt with each other twice, and they were barely acquaintances, so they didn't have so many scruples when talking. He said awkwardly: "The residents here are not very friendly to the Russian army, including the police. If you come forward and ask them to help find someone, I'm afraid no one will really help you."

Sokov was mentally prepared for Buckhouse's statement. After figuring out what was going on, his mood returned to normal, and he said lightly: "Mr. Officer, you are right. I also found that the residents here in Nuremberg are not very friendly to us. But the people we are looking for this time are not our people, but the wife and children of a German captain. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, I specially brought a policeman from Berlin to assist us in our work. If he goes out to find people, the resistance he encounters should be much smaller."

Knowing that the people they were looking for were actually the family members of German officers, the expression on Backhaus's face became relaxed: "Mr. General, if the people you are looking for are the family members of officers, there will be no big problem."

And Ajelina walked up to the police chief, Asked politely: "Mr. Sheriff, where are the father and son who came with us now?"

"They are in the chief's office." The chief explained to Ajelina: "At first, the chief heard that they came with a Russian general and came here to find two people. He was reluctant at first. But when he heard that the person he was looking for was the family of an officer, he immediately called the police in charge of household registration and asked him to report to the office. When I came out, the police in charge of household registration had already arrived and might be helping your people find household registration information at this moment."

Ajelina asked a few more questions, thanked the chief, and returned to Sokov and told him in detail what she had found out.

Sokov was thinking in his heart that although Nuremberg was a big city, their chief was at best a colonel, and this was a branch, and the chief was at most a lieutenant colonel. If it was a Soviet-controlled area, the chief would definitely come out to greet a general in his police station, but this is a US-controlled area. Not to mention himself, even if Sokolovsky or even Zhukov came, the other party might not buy it and would still let them sit on the bench.

After Buckhouse and Sokov chatted for a few more words, they left.

As soon as he left, Vasherigov asked eagerly: "Comrade General, what should we do? Should we wait here all the time?"

Shokov smiled faintly and said casually: "Comrade Major, I just said that it's too cold outside. You don't want to go outside to blow the northwest wind, right?"

Vasherigov's original intention was to ask Sokov whether he should send someone to the chief's office to see how long it would take for Bayer and his son to come out. Hearing Sokov say this at this moment, he immediately realized that he had lost his composure. Sokov didn't say anything, so how could he, the guard responsible for protecting his safety, have the qualifications to speak, so he shut up obediently.

After waiting for more than ten minutes, Bayer and his son finally came out, and with them came a young policeman who was still childish.

Bayer came to Sokov and said apologetically: "Comrade General, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long."

Since Sokov had accompanied Bayer here to inquire about the news, he naturally had no complaints. He asked straight to the point: "How is it, do you have any clues?"

Bayer nodded and replied: "We just checked the relevant household registration information and found that among the families living on Munich Street, there may be the people we are looking for."

Hearing what Bayer said, Sokov immediately stood up and said, "If that's the case, let's go there quickly."

"Comrade General," Bayer said hesitantly: "From here to Munich Street, it is at least seven or eight kilometers. If you walk, it will take at least two hours."

"Is there a car?" Sokov asked.

"Yes," the policeman said cautiously, "There is a patrol car. We can take it."

Led by the policeman, they came to the parking lot behind the police station. Sokov saw an extended convertible police car that he saw on the streets of Berlin, and pointed at it and asked, "Is this the car?"

"Of course, Comrade General." Bayer said cautiously: "It's winter now. It's a bit cold in this car. I hope you don't mind."

"It doesn't matter." Sokov waved his hand to the people behind him and said, "Don't be stunned, everyone get in the car."

The little policeman drove everyone to a street with relatively complete buildings, parked the car next to a building, turned to Bayer and said: "We're here!"

Sokov said to Bayer: "Officer Bayer, you and your son follow this policeman up to look for someone, and we will stay in the car and wait for you." Sokov knew in his heart that if so many people went upstairs at the same time, something would happen. If there is a lot of noise, the residents might think that they are here to arrest people.

When Bayer heard what Sokov said, he immediately understood that the other party did not want the residents here to be frightened, so he nodded, took his son, and followed the little policeman out of the car and entered the building.

After Bayer and others left, Sokov immediately opened the door and got out of the car, intending to stretch his hands and feet. Although I had only been on the road for a short time, my hands and feet were still cold from the cold when riding in a convertible in the middle of winter.

Seeing Sokov get out of the car, Adelina and Vaserigov also got out of the car, imitating Sokov's example, and flexed their hands and feet next to the police car.

Just as a few people were moving their hands and feet, several children ran out from the door of the nearby unit. They came to the police car, looked at these soldiers wearing Soviet uniforms, and began to whisper softly. After talking for a while, the child walked away, but he still kept talking.

Seeing the children talking and looking towards him, Sokov couldn't help but wonder what they said, so he asked Agelina in a low voice: "Agelina, go over and listen to what those children are saying. ?”

Agelina said "hmm" and took a few steps towards where the children were, listening to what they had to say.

A few minutes later, Agelina returned to Sokov with a strange expression.

Seeing this, Sokov couldn't help but asked in surprise: "Agelina, what are the children talking about? Are they talking bad about us?"

"They didn't say anything bad." Agelina shook her head and said, "They were discussing a problem."

"what is the problem?"

"They are discussing," Agelina said: "If there are one hundred thousand Cossack cavalry from the Napoleonic period, who can win the final victory against a current German armored regiment."

"It goes without saying." After hearing this, Vaserigov said without hesitation: "The German armored regiment only has so many people. The 100,000 Cossack cavalry in the Tsarist era could crush them even if they were stepped on." Trampled to death."

But Sokov shook his head and denied Vaserigov's statement: "That's not necessarily true. I think the final result may be exactly the opposite."

Seeing Vaserigov's look of disbelief, Sokov continued: "A German armored regiment is under the jurisdiction of two tank battalions. Each tank battalion is under the jurisdiction of a company directly under the battalion headquarters, four tank companies and a maintenance company. The total number of various tanks and armored vehicles in the company is more than 200. Using such equipment to deal with the Cossack cavalry using sabers and muskets is simply one-sided. "

"No way, Comrade General." After hearing what Sokov said, Vaserigov still said with luck: "Even if the weapons are backward, there are one hundred thousand Cossack cavalry after all, and they occupy an absolute majority in terms of numbers. Advantage."

"Comrade Major, on the battlefield, you cannot simply look at the comparison of the numbers of both sides." Sokov said carefully that the issues discussed by children were as stupid as those in later generations who said that 200 Guan Gong could kill ten Tiger tanks. He Explained to Vaserigov: "The formation of cavalry charges in the Napoleonic era was quite dense. As long as the German tanks fired, they could cause huge casualties to the attacking side. I think after a few rounds of shelling, the attacking side The cavalry has been defeated. The cavalry without organization has no combat effectiveness at all. Facing modern armored forces, they can only become lambs to be slaughtered. "

After listening to Sokov's analysis, Vaserigov fell silent. Although he was carrying the shoulder straps of a major, he had never been on the battlefield. His knowledge of war was through newspapers, magazines, or film and television works. Therefore, when he heard that it was a hundred thousand Cossack cavalry fighting against a German armored regiment, he instinctively thought The numerically superior Cossack cavalry can achieve the final victory. But after listening to Sokov's story, I realized that I had thought of the problem too simply.

The topic could not continue, and everyone became silent.

Fortunately, at this time, the Bayers and his son and the young policeman walked out of the building, and Sokov quickly pulled Agelina to greet them.

"Officer Bayer, how is the situation? Have you found anyone?"

"Comrade General," Bayer said, shaking his head: "We asked the residents in the building. In April this year, there were indeed some people from Berlin living here. But after Nuremberg suffered heavy bombing by the Allies, many people Everyone was evacuated to the countryside. Maybe Captain Hosenfeld’s wife and children were among the evacuees.”

What Sokov was most worried about finally happened. He asked Bayer with a straight face and an expressionless expression: "Officer Bayer, what should we do? Go to the countryside to find them?"

"This is impossible, Comrade General." But Bayer shook his head and said: "Due to the critical situation at the time, there was no time to count the evacuation list. Therefore, even if the captain's wife and children were among the evacuees, we could not figure it out. Where did they go?"

"That's a pity." After listening to Bayer's words, Sokov realized that it would be more difficult to find Captain Hosenfeld's wife and children than to find a needle in a haystack. He could only smile bitterly and said, "It seems that we are destined to disappoint Captain Hosenfeld."

"Yes, Comrade General, but there is nothing we can do about it." Bayer said, "When we return to Berlin, I will explain this matter in detail to Captain Hosenfeld."

The policeman waited for Bayer to finish speaking and asked something in a low voice.

After listening, Bayer said to Sokov, "Comrade General, this policeman asked us if we still need to use this car. If not, he will drive back to the police station."

Although it is still a long distance from here to the hotel where he lives, Sokov doesn't want to take this car again. It was freezing cold, and there was no shelter in the car. If there was another gust of cold wind, he might catch a cold when he returned to the hotel. So he said to Bayer, "Officer Bayer, let him leave first, we can walk back to the hotel. By the way, I still have to thank him for driving us here."

After Bayer thanked the policeman, the policeman raised his hand to salute Sokov and drove away.

"Comrade General," Vaseligov asked, "Are we just walking back like this?"

"Yes, Major." Sokov nodded and said, "Anyway, we have nothing to do, just take it as a walk."

When the group walked back, Adelina asked Sokov with some concern, "Misha, we came to Nuremberg this time and failed to help Captain Hosenfeld find his wife and children. Will he be particularly disappointed when he knows this news?"

Sokov thought that even if he hadn't appeared, Hosenfeld would not have the opportunity to meet his wife and children after being captured, and finally died miserably in the Soviet prisoner-of-war camp, and even his body could not be found. He sighed softly and said, "There is no way. This is the sequelae of war. It's not just him. There are tens of thousands of people who lost their loved ones in this damn war. Being able to survive is a kind of luck."

"Well, you make sense." Ajelina nodded slowly: "Although we didn't find the captain's wife and children this time, we didn't hear the news of their death, which means that they may still be alive. As long as they are still alive, I think they will be reunited with their family sooner or later."

"Yes, yes, as long as they are still alive, there must be hope." Sokov thought to himself, Hosenfeld survived because of him. As long as his wife and children are still alive, maybe one day in the future, they will return to their home in Berlin, and then it will be the day of their reunion.