Red Moscow

In the middle of the night, Sokov was woken up by Chursin in his sleep: "Comrade Captain, wake up quickly, something happened!"

Sokov narrowed his eyes and asked sleepily: "What happened?"

"You will know when you get to the top of the building." Chursin must be worried that Sokov would not want to go out to check, and he emphasized: "It was Yegor who asked me to call you."

Before dark, Sokov asked the soldiers in his direct squad to take turns on duty on the top of the headquarters building, observe the surrounding environment, and report to him in a timely manner if any problems were discovered. Now Sokov heard that Chursin said that Yegor was looking for him, and he guessed that something big might have happened, otherwise the other party would not let anyone disturb his sweet dream.

After getting dressed, Sokov followed Chursin to the roof.

Soon, they arrived at the top of the building, and Sokov walked directly to the observation point he set up during the day.

At this moment, Yegor was looking down with his telescope. Hearing footsteps behind him, he quickly put down his binoculars and turned to look behind him. Seeing that the person coming was Sokov, he quickly turned around and saluted: "Hello, Comrade Captain."

"Egor," Sokov looked at Yegor and asked, "What happened?"

"You take a look first and then talk." Yegor did not answer Sokov's question immediately, but just handed the telescope in his hand to Sokov: "I will report to you after you have seen it."

Sokov took the telescope and looked downstairs. He found that a building in the distance was on fire. He quickly raised the telescope and looked in that direction.

"What the hell, why is there a fire there?" Sokov asked looking at the burning building: "Where is the fire and how long has it been?"

"Less than five minutes." Yegor replied from behind: "If I remember correctly, there should be a shared bathroom there."

If the fire broke out somewhere else, Sokov wouldn't find it strange, but the fire in the bathroom would be very strange: "Did you report it to your superiors?"

"I called the duty room and reported to them the fire in the public bathroom. It won't be long before they send the fire brigade to put out the fire."

Sokov secretly calculated the distance. The bathroom was about five or six hundred meters away from the headquarters. Even if the house burned down, it would not affect the headquarters. He put down the telescope and said to Yegor: "Egor, did you ask Chulsin to call me up just because of the fire in the public bathroom?"

"How should I put it, Comrade Captain, you can say yes or you can say no."

Yegor's words confused Sokov: "Egor, I don't understand what you mean. Can you explain it in more detail?"

"The fire in the public bathroom is just the beginning." Yegor said: "I estimate that there will be fires in other places before long."

"Are there other places where there were fires?" Sokov couldn't help but smile when he heard what Yegor said: "Yegor, are you from Tsigan, can you tell fortunes?"

"Comrade Captain, please believe me, before long, a nearby building will also catch fire."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sokov heard Chursin exclaim: "Look, there is thick smoke rising over there. Is there also a fire?"

Sokov turned his head and looked in the direction that Chulsin pointed, and he saw rising flames and thick smoke.

He hurriedly ran to the side of the roof, lowered his head and looked down, and saw a building a few hundred meters away. Sure enough, it was filled with flames.

"Egor, can you explain to me?" Sokov pointed in the direction of the fire and asked Yegor puzzledly: "Why is there a fire here too?"

"The place where the fire broke out was a theater." Yegor said: "When the chairs in the theater burn, they can burn for a long time."

"Okay, Igor, stop talking nonsense." Sokov became a little anxious: "Tell me, how did you know there would be another fire?"

"Comrade Captain," Yegor said to Sokov with a serious expression: "If I am not mistaken, the German army will soon carry out night bombings on the city."

"How did you know?"

"Comrade Captain." Yegor explained to Sokov: "The city has implemented a blackout. At night, everything is dark. Even if the Germans want to carry out night bombing, they can't find the target at all."

"That's right, cities with blackouts are completely dark at night, and German pilots can't find their targets at all." Sokov looked at the theater with flames soaring into the sky, and immediately understood what Yegor wanted to express: "Igor , If I guess correctly, the fire was set by saboteurs who sneaked into the city and gave instructions to the German night pilots to bomb the target. "

Chursin, who heard the conversation between Sokov and Yegor, said with some disapproval: "Maybe the fire has been extinguished before the arrival of the German bomber group, and the enemy pilots will still not be able to see the target clearly."

"Chursin, if only things were as simple as you think." Yegor said with a serious expression: "If my judgment is correct, German spies will set fires in other directions to provide space for German bombers. Group instructions for bombing targets."

When Sokov heard what Yegor said, he couldn't help but trembled, and then asked: "Egor, you mean, the Germans will make the headquarters a target for their bombing?"

"Yeah, that's what I think."

"How could the German pilots know where our headquarters was at night?" Chulsin asked puzzledly.

Seeing that Chursin still didn't understand, Sokov explained to him: "The German spies set three fires around the headquarters, which is equivalent to indicating the target for the German pilots. After the German bomber group arrives over Kiev, they only need to follow the instructions Bombing in the middle of the three fire points will destroy our headquarters."

After saying that, Sokov turned around and walked downstairs, saying: "Egor, you and Chursin continue to stay upstairs to observe, I will go down and report to the commander."

When Sokov hurried to the headquarters, although it was quieter than during the day, there were still many staff officers on duty.

"Who is on duty tonight?" Sokov grabbed a staff officer walking by and said hurriedly: "I have important information to report."

The staff officer pointed to a closed door in the corner of the headquarters and said, "The person on duty tonight is Colonel Del, the chief of staff. He is sleeping inside at the moment."

Sokov rushed to the small door and pushed it with his hand. It didn't open. It must have been locked inside. He quickly slapped the door with his hand and shouted loudly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, Comrade Chief of Staff, I am Captain Sokov, and I have urgent information to report to you."

Sokov's sound of knocking on the door and shouting woke up the dozing staff officers and communications soldiers in the headquarters. Although they didn't say anything, they all cast dissatisfied looks at Sokov.

The door opened, and Colonel Del appeared at the door wearing a military uniform, looking like he was not awake.

He looked at Sokov and said impatiently: "Comrade Captain, you'd better have something really important, otherwise I can transfer you to the front just because you woke me up."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I'm sorry to disturb your rest." Sokov said hurriedly: "The enemy's bomber formation will soon bomb the headquarters. I am here to inform everyone to evacuate to a safe area."

"Captain Sokov, are you clairvoyant?"

"no."

"Then how do you know that the enemy is about to bomb this place?" Del said angrily: "I think it's all your imagination."

Seeing that Colonel Del did not believe what he said, Sokov couldn't help but become anxious. He quickly pulled him to the long table next to him, found paper and pen and began to draw a schematic diagram: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you see, this is the building where our headquarters is located. , the public bathroom at this location now, and the drama at this location A fire has already broken out in the hospital. According to my analysis, the German spies will soon set fire to another building near the headquarters. As long as there are three fire points, this will indicate the target for the German night bombers. , let them bomb towards the middle of the fire point."

"You said that German spies tried to create fires in three places around the headquarters to indicate bombing targets for German night bombers?"

"Yes, I think so." Sokov said anxiously: "Although there are only two fires now, according to my judgment, the third fire point will appear soon."

Just when Colonel Del was about to say a few words, a staff officer sitting by the window suddenly exclaimed: "Come and see, there's a fire in the library."

Everyone rushed to the window and looked in the direction pointed by the staff officer, and sure enough they saw a fire breaking out in a three-story building over there.

Seeing this scene, Colonel Del's face became serious: "Captain Sokov, so your judgment is correct. The Germans are about to bomb the headquarters here."

"Well, that's it." Sokov nodded vigorously and said in a positive tone: "If we don't move as soon as possible, we will definitely suffer heavy casualties under the German bombing. Comrade Chief of Staff, give the order quickly, let Everyone retreated to nearby air raid shelters to avoid the incoming air raid."

Colonel Del no longer hesitated and immediately issued an order to a staff officer beside him: "Send an air raid siren immediately and ask everyone in the building to move to a nearby air raid shelter."

"Do you need someone on duty?"

"No need." Colonel Del answered simply: "Everyone knows that the Germans are about to bomb this building. If you leave people on duty inside, don't you let them die? Follow my order, everyone leaves the building and hides nearby. air raid shelter.”

A few minutes later, a blaring air raid siren sounded.

Since it was nighttime, the sound of air raid sirens could be heard far, far away.

The front army headquarters was only a few hundred meters away from here, and the front army leaders who were staying in the building were also awakened by the sound of air raid sirens.

Major General Tupikov, the Chief of Staff of the Front Army, heard the air defense siren outside and immediately called the duty room: "What's going on? Where did the air defense siren come from?"

The staff officer on duty quickly replied: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the air raid warning came from the nearby garrison headquarters building."

"It's nonsense, it's nonsense." Tupikov said angrily: "What's going on with Vlasov? He stayed up in the middle of the night and kept sounding the air-raid siren, deliberately not letting us sleep."

After ending the call with the duty room, he picked up another phone, dialed a number and said: "Operator, this is Tupikov, please put me through to the 37th Army Headquarters immediately."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, please wait a moment, I will put you through right away."

A few minutes later, the operator reported to Tupikov: "Sorry, Comrade Chief of Staff, no one answered the phone at the 37th Army Headquarters."

"What, no one answered?" Tupikov was anxious when he heard it: "What about their combat duty room, is there no one answering it?"

"Yes, I have called the combat duty room, and no one answered it."

Tupikov put down the phone, called a staff officer, and told him: "You go to the 37th Army Headquarters immediately, find out why they sounded the air defense alarm in the middle of the night, and ask their duty officer to call me."

Before the staff officer who received the order left, Commander General Kirponos and Divisional Political Commissar Gurov walked in.

"Comrade Chief of Staff, what happened? Why did the air defense alarm sound in the middle of the night?" Kirponos asked with a straight face.

"Comrade Commander," Tupikov replied bitterly after hearing Kirponos's reproach, "It was not us who sounded the air defense alarm, but the one from the nearby garrison headquarters building. I asked the operator to call them, but no one answered. I was just about to send someone to check."

As soon as he finished speaking, a phone on the table rang.

Tupikov grabbed the phone and listened for a moment, then his face changed drastically.

Seeing this, Kirponos immediately asked, "Chief of Staff, what happened?"

"The air defense headquarters reported that a German night bomber formation is heading towards Kiev. It will reach the sky above Kiev in a quarter of an hour at most."

"It seems that Vlasov and his men got the intelligence in advance and sounded the air defense alarm." After listening to Tupikov, Gurov said to Kirponos thoughtfully, "Comrade Commander, should we order the people in the headquarters to go to the air raid shelter to avoid the German air raid?"

"I don't think it's necessary." Unexpectedly, Kirponos shook his head and said, "Kiev has already implemented a curfew. After dark, it is pitch black everywhere. Even if the German bombers reach the sky above Kiev, they can't find the target to bomb."

"Do we need to send someone to find General Vlasov?"

"No." Kirponos continued: "After the enemy planes leave, send someone to call Vlasov over. I will criticize him. As a group army commander, how can he be so panicked?"

"Comrade staff officer." Since Kirponos said there was no need to find Vlasov, Tupikov said to the staff officer: "The previous order is canceled, you go back and rest."

"What about the German air raid?"

"Don't worry about it." Tupikov looked at the staff officer in front of him and said confidently: "Comrade Commander just said that Kiev has already implemented a blackout. Even if the German planes are over Kiev, they are blind and can't even find the target. What can they bomb?"

Seeing that the three leaders of the front were so calm, the staff officer felt that he should not panic in front of them, so as not to be regarded as a coward by them. After raising his hand to salute, he turned around and left the command center and went back to his room to rest.