Red Moscow

Two days later, Sokov received a call from Zhukov and immediately rushed to the train station to meet him.

After putting down the phone, Sokov did not dare to neglect, and quickly found Vaserigov and said to him: "Major, gather your people immediately. We have to rush to the train station immediately, where Marshal Zhukov is waiting for us."

"To the train station?" Vaserigov said somewhat unexpectedly: "Comrade General, it's already dark today, what are we going to do at the train station?"

"Major, this is Marshal Zhukov's order." Sokov said with a straight face: "Stop dawdling, hurry up and take your people with me."

While Vaserigov was gathering his men, Sokov wrote a note and put it in an envelope and handed it to the female soldier on duty at the front desk: "If Agelina comes to see me, please give this letter to she."

The female soldier took the envelope from Sokov's hand and replied respectfully: "Okay, Comrade General, I will definitely hand the letter into the hands of Comrade Agelina personally."

After arriving at the station, the first thing he saw was Zhukov's adjutant. When he saw Sokov's arrival, he quickly stepped forward and saluted: "General Sokov, Comrade Marshal is waiting for you in the carriage!"

Following the adjutant, Sokov came to the carriage specially prepared for Zhukov.

As soon as he entered the carriage, Sokov saw Zhukov sitting behind a large desk. He quickly stepped forward and saluted: "Hello, Comrade Marshal, I have been ordered to come. Please give me instructions!"

Zhukov stood up, shook hands with Sokov, and then said: "Comrade Malenkov is here too, please say hello to him."

Sokov looked in the direction of Zhukov's finger and saw Malenkov sitting on the sofa next to him. He quickly turned around and saluted him: "Hello, Comrade Malenkov."

Malenkov stood up, walked over, shook hands with Sokov, and said with a smile: "Misha, we meet again."

"Misha," after Sokov and Malenkov exchanged greetings, Zhukov said to him: "That man is locked in the second box of the carriage next to him. You will accompany him all the way. No one is allowed to meet him. Understand. ?"

Hearing Zhukov's order, Sokov seemed a little hesitant. He turned his head and glanced at Malenkov who was sitting on the sofa again, wondering whether he should reply to Zhukov's order in front of Malenkov?

Zhukov saw Sokov's hesitation and continued: "Comrade Malenkov also knows this. You can say whatever you want without any scruples."

Sokov put aside his scruples and asked Zhukov tentatively: "Comrade Marshal, am I the only one to accompany him in the box?"

"Of course, for the sake of confidentiality, it is best for you to stay in the box alone with him." Zhukov said: "Food and water can only be delivered to the door for you, and then you can come out and get it."

"I don't think this is safe." Sokov reminded Zhukov: "It takes a day and two nights from here to Moscow. What if I fall asleep and take a nap, and the other party takes the opportunity to escape? I need someone to cooperate with me, and I take turns watching each other in the box."

Worried that Zhukov would not agree to his request, Sokov also specifically added: "I think many people should have seen him during the process of escorting him from the headquarters building."

"That's not true." Malenkov interrupted: "When he left the cell, he was put on a black hood. After leaving the headquarters gate, he was directly stuffed into an airtight prison car. And the prison car was He drove directly to the platform, opened the door and sent him into the box without anyone seeing his face clearly. "

Having said that, Zhukov seems to be a little moved by Sokov's proposal. He hesitated for a moment and then asked: "Misha, who are you going to let take turns taking care of that person with you?"

"Major Vasergov." Sokov said Vasergov's name without hesitation: "Comrade Marshal, he is the person you sent to protect my safety. He has absolutely no loyalty. Question. And after my observation, he is very tight-lipped and doesn’t talk casually. Even if he and I take turns watching each other in the box, there will be no leaks. "

Since the candidate proposed by Sokov was Vasergov, Zhukov only thought for a moment and nodded in agreement: "Okay, Misha. If you have someone to help you, you can sleep peacefully if you are tired on the way. "

In this way, Sokov accepted the task assigned to him by Zhukov and went to the box of the next car to take care of the fake president's stand-in.

When he took Vaselgov to the designated box, the latter asked curiously: "Comrade General, where are we going?"

"There is an important prisoner." Sokov said vaguely: "Because his identity is particularly important, Marshal Zhukov asked me to take care of him personally. You also know that it takes one day and two nights to take a train from Berlin to Moscow. Time, I am worried that one person does not have enough energy, so I request Comrade Marshal to help me guard it. "

When the two came to the door of the box, two soldiers standing at the door blocked Sokov's path: "Comrade General, please stop. No one can enter this box without Marshal Zhukov's order."

Sokov took out the order signed by Zhukov and handed it into the hands of the soldier.

The soldier carefully checked Zhukov's order, handed it back to Sokov, stepped aside, opened the box door, and said politely: "Comrade General, please come in!"

After Sokov entered the box, he saw the fake president sitting on a berth, handcuffed and wearing a black hood. "Major," Sokov turned to Vaseligov and said, "Close the door."

After the door was closed, Sokov walked to the fake president and sat down. After hesitating for a moment, he pulled off the hood.

The fake president closed his eyes and shook his head vigorously. Then he looked at Sokov sitting opposite him, smiled bitterly, and said in a sarcastic tone, "I didn't expect that Marshal Zhukov would send a general to look after me in person."

"Comrade General," Vaseligov came over and asked curiously, "Who is he?"

Sokof turned his head and looked at Vaseligov and said, "Major, haven't you learned the confidentiality regulations? Don't you know what to ask and what not to ask?"

"I know." After Vaseligov said this, he took two steps back and sat down on the sofa near the door.

"Sir," Sokov said to the fake president, "I can't tell you my real identity, but you just need to know that I will be here with you until you arrive in Moscow. I will be responsible for your safety."

Who knows that the other party sneered and said, "Comrade General, I'm afraid the situation is not that simple. As far as I know, there are still a considerable number of gangs in Germany, Poland, and even Ukraine. The train we are riding is completely likely to be attacked."

"Don't worry, we are not afraid even if we are attacked." Vaseligov, who was sitting on the sofa, said, "Just before getting on the train, I carefully observed that there were two flatbed cars with sandbags in the middle of the train. Not only were there machine guns, but there were also 37mm twin anti-aircraft guns. There was an armored vehicle equipped with artillery at the front and rear of the car. If the gangs don't come, it's fine. If they do, they will have a hard time."

Sokov was originally worried about the incomplete security facilities of the train he was riding, but when he heard what Vaseligov said, he felt much more at ease. With such powerful firepower, even if we encounter attacks from gangs on the road, we can easily eliminate them all.

At this moment, Vaserigov continued: "Also, I just checked the train schedule. After we leave Poland, we will not go to Ukraine but to Belarus. That route is quite safe. After all, during the war, the guerrillas active in the Belarusian region were all under the unified command of our army."

Sokof knew very well why Vaserigov emphasized that the Belarusian guerrillas were under the unified command of the Soviet army. Because during the Great Patriotic War, although many guerrillas appeared in Ukraine, these guerrillas belonged to three factions: one was the guerrillas organized by the Soviet army and the local Soviet organization, which were completely trustworthy troops; the second was the pro-German armed forces, and the leaders of these guerrillas were all Soviet traitors; the third was the guerrillas formed by Bandera elements, who had to fight the German army and attack the Soviet army at the same time, and were forces that both the Soviet Union and Germany had to eliminate.

If the train is to return to Moscow via Ukraine, no one can guarantee whether it will encounter an attack on the road. After all, it was on this land that Vatutin was seriously injured and died of wound infection because of the attack by Bandera elements. However, there is basically no need to worry about safety issues when the train returns to Moscow from Belarus.

Sokov tentatively asked the fake president: "You must be very uncomfortable wearing handcuffs, otherwise, I will ask someone to bring the key and open the handcuffs?"

Hearing Sokov say this, Vaserigov's heart suddenly became nervous. Although there are two people guarding this person, if his handcuffs are untied, if he takes advantage of the slowdown of the train and jumps out of the train to escape, it will be troublesome.

But before Vaserigov could express his concerns, the fake president waved his hand and said, "Comrade General, there is no need to remove the handcuffs. This way you don't have to worry about me attacking you or trying to escape. Don't you agree?"

Sokov didn't care at all whether to remove the fake president's handcuffs or not. Even if the other party wanted to resist or escape, with his current mental state, could he beat both himself and Vaserigov? However, since the other party took the initiative to not remove the handcuffs, he didn't force it, but nodded and said, "Okay, I respect your choice."

No words were spoken all night.

Soon after dawn the next day, Sokov heard someone knocking on the door and shouting, "Comrade General!"

Sovkov nodded to Vaserigov, who was sitting on the sofa by the door, and said, "Major, go and see what's going on?"

Vaserigov nodded, stood up, opened the door of the box, and leaned out to ask the soldier standing at the door, "What's the matter?"

A soldier holding a tray said to Vaserigov respectfully, "Comrade Major, this is your breakfast."

Vaserigov thought about what Sokov had said before, that no one except him and himself could come into this box, so he reached out and took the tray from the soldier: "Comrade Soldier, thank you, give me everything."

Vaserigov returned to the box, first holding the tray with one hand and closing the door with the other hand, then holding the tray with both hands and coming to the window, and placing the things on the tray one by one on the coffee table between Sokov and the fake president.

After breakfast, Vaselgov packed up his things and sent them out of the box himself. Since the door was open for a short time, even the soldiers standing at the door did not see clearly how many people were in the box.

When the train stopped at a small station, Sokov suddenly saw a group of women in headscarves on the snow near the station. Led by several soldiers, they bent down and looked for something in the snow.

When the fake president saw this, he couldn't help but asked curiously: "Comrade General, what are those women doing?"

Sokov squinted his eyes and looked out the window. Because he was too far away, he couldn't see clearly what the women were doing. He was even thinking that he should have brought a telescope here so that he could clearly see what they were doing.

"Comrade General," Vaserigov stood up and looked out the car window for a while, and then said to Sokov: "These women are clearing mines!"

"Demining?!" Sokov couldn't help being surprised after hearing this, and then asked: "Use inexperienced women to demining?" He said that demining is a very professional job, even if it is demining by specialized engineering troops, Casualties are inevitable. Asking a group of inexperienced women to carry out demining tasks is tantamount to asking them to die.

"Yes, Comrade General." Vaselgov shrugged and said, "You know, in the past few years of war, the Germans, Poles, and even our troops have laid a large number of bombs in Poland. Landmines. Due to the loss of the mine configuration map and the erosion of rain, many landmines have moved away from their original positions. If we want to send professional engineering troops to carry out demining operations, we simply do not have enough manpower. Later, someone suggested to Marshal Zhukov that it could be done. Local women are responsible for demining. In fact, demining is not a big deal. With simple training, anyone can do this job.”

Sokov recalled a movie he had seen in later generations, "The Minefield," in which the Danish officer Carl Leopold Rasmussen led a group of German prisoners of war and risked their lives on an uninhabited coastline. Demining. German prisoners of war dug millions of remaining mines with their own hands. During the demining process, many prisoners of war were killed or maimed. Just imagine, soldiers clearing mines will cause a lot of casualties. If a group of women with little experience are asked to clear mines after a short training, they will undoubtedly die.

Thinking of this, Sokov smiled bitterly and shook his head: "This order is a bit ridiculous. It actually asks ordinary women to clear mines. This is undoubtedly asking them to die. You know, women's psychological quality is generally poor. If they are clearing mines, In the process, if a landmine is triggered, the other women will be frightened and run away. You should know the serious consequences of running around in the minefield."