Red Moscow

When Kilponos left the headquarters, he may not have thought of the consequences that would come from his underestimation of the enemy.

After Tupikov waited for Kirponos and Gurov to leave, he directly issued an order: "In order to prevent the target from being exposed, everyone should stay in their rooms and are not allowed to leave the building at will. In addition, in order to prevent damage, Elements have sneaked into the building to cause damage, and the sentry at the door should be on alert. No one is allowed to enter the headquarters building before dawn. "

Sokov and others who were being transferred naturally didn't know what was happening at the front army headquarters.

After everyone entered the air-raid shelter, Yegor suddenly asked Sokov: "Comrade Captain, the personnel of our headquarters have entered the air-raid shelter. What about the nearby front army headquarters? Have they all entered the air-raid shelter like us?" ?”

Yegor's question really stupefied Sokov. If Sokov is the commander of the group army at this moment, he will definitely notify the front army headquarters when he transfers. After all, the building where they are located is also within the range of German bombers. But at this moment, he was just a little captain, he spoke softly, and few people could listen to what he said. Although Vlasov and Colonel Del were persuaded by him, they seemed to be unable to fully trust him for the time being.

Ten minutes later, the sound of an aerial bomb hitting the ground and exploding, as well as the sound of a house collapsing, were heard outside. Countless dust was shaken down from the ceiling and sprinkled on everyone's hats and military uniforms.

"Captain Sokov." Zhukov, who was sitting near Sokov, gave him a thumbs up. "If you hadn't convinced the army chief in time to issue an air raid siren and notify everyone in the building to take cover, Air-raid shelter, then the bombing at this moment will definitely cause a lot of casualties. "

In another room in the air-raid shelter, Vlasov raised his hand to pat the dust falling on his shoulders and said to Colonel Del: "Comrade Chief of Staff, it seems that we don't trust Captain Sokov enough. He After discovering signs of danger, he immediately warned us and let us Notify everyone in the building to evacuate to the air raid shelter. Although we agreed to his proposal, we were still dubious. I think we should have a talk with him after the air raid is over. Since we have assigned him to be responsible for the security of the headquarters. Give him absolute trust.”

"You are right, Comrade Commander." Del did not bother to dust himself off, but raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead: "Listening to the noise outside, the scale of the German bombing is not small. If we If they are all still in the building, it will probably cause a lot of casualties.”

"By the way, Comrade Chief of Staff, I have something to ask you." Vlasov suddenly remembered a key thing and asked quickly: "When we informed all personnel to retreat to the air-raid shelter, did you ask the front commander Ministry report?”

Colonel Del was stunned by Vlasov's words. After a while, he murmured: "Comrade Commander, I thought you reported this matter to the front army headquarters."

"Hell, I thought you were on duty tonight. If such a big thing happened, you would definitely report it to the Front Army Headquarters." Vlasov's expression became serious: "No, if the Front Army Headquarters doesn't If they retreat, they will definitely suffer huge losses in the bombing. After all, the building they are in is also in the area bombed by German bombers. "

"I'll call and ask immediately." Del was anxious after hearing what Vlasov said: "See if they have evacuated the building."

Del picked up the phone on the table and ordered the operator to connect him to the duty room of the front army headquarters.

Unexpectedly, the operator told him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I'm sorry, we can't get in touch with the front army headquarters here."

"Why?" Del roared into the phone: "Why can't you get through?"

"There are two possibilities." The operator said tremblingly: "One is that the phone line was blown down, and the other is that the personnel on duty at the front army headquarters also went out to avoid the air raid, so no one answered the phone."

"Immediately send someone to check the line." Del said in a stern tone: "Be sure to restore contact with the front army headquarters as soon as possible."

When Del put down the phone, Vlasov sighed softly and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, we made two mistakes today."

"Comrade Commander, what do you mean by this?" Colonel Del asked in confusion.

"Because we did not fully believe what Captain Sokov said, when we arranged for the people in the building to come out and take cover, we did not report the matter to the front headquarters in time." Vlasov said: "After daybreak, I will personally go to the front army headquarters to review it with Kilponos."

"Comrade Commander, I will go with you." Del did not evade responsibility, but took the initiative to say: "After all, I also have an unshirkable responsibility for this matter."

The bombing by enemy planes lasted for half an hour and then ended.

After the air raid alert was lifted, Sokov left the air raid shelter with the soldiers of the special company.

As soon as he came to the street, he smelled the smell of gunpowder smoke in the air and the unique smell of smoke and dust from collapsed buildings.

The Army Headquarters building a few hundred meters away was hit by aerial bombs in many places, and flames roared out from the windowless windows. Two fire trucks that had just arrived were parked outside the building, and firefighters were putting out the fire with water hoses.

"Comrade Captain," Konstantin was a little scared when he saw this situation. He said to Sokov: "If we do not evacuate the building in time and hide in the air raid shelter, a large number of casualties will inevitably occur."

Before Sokov could speak, Zhu Kewen, who was next to him, said: "The damage here in the Army Group Headquarters building is not serious. Look at the building where the Front Army Headquarters is located. It has simply turned into a sea of ​​flames."

Sokov turned around and looked, and sure enough he saw that the building where the front army headquarters was located had been engulfed in flames. Fire trucks were parked outside the building, and countless fire hoses sprayed the fire in an attempt to suppress the fire in the building.

Seeing this situation, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little in his heart. If someone in the building hadn't been evacuated when the German planes bombed just now, I'm afraid the situation would have been in danger at this moment.

At this moment, Sokov heard someone shouting loudly: "Captain Sokov, Captain Sokov, where are you?"

Although he couldn't see clearly who was calling him in the chaos, Sokov still agreed: "I'm here."

"Comrade Captain," a lieutenant came to Sokov, raised his hand in salute and said to him: "The commander and chief of staff are looking for you and ask you to go see them immediately."

After learning that Vlasov and Colonel Del were summoned, Sokov did not dare to neglect and left quickly with the lieutenant.

Constantine looked at Sokov's back and asked Zhu Kewen beside him: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, guess what the commander asked our company commander to do?"

"Tonight's air strike, without the help of saboteurs, the enemy planes will definitely not be able to find the bombing target." Zhu Kewen is worthy of being from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and he immediately guessed the intentions of Vlasov and Del: " If you call the company commander over now, you must be preparing to arrange for him to launch a search in the city to arrest those suspicious people."

"I think it's impossible to find saboteurs." Constantine said: "There are only more than 80 people in our company. It is simply impossible to find a few saboteurs sent by the Germans in such a big city. things.”

Besides, Sokov followed the lieutenant to the two Vlasovs, raised his hands and saluted: "Commander, chief of staff, special company commander Captain Sokov is ordered..."

"Okay, don't report." Vlasov interrupted Sokov, who was about to make a report in accordance with the regulations, and said with a straight face: "Captain Sokov, we have come to you because it is very important." The task is left to you.”

After hearing what Vlasov said, Sokov immediately realized that the other party might order him to take people to search the city to find the saboteurs who set the fire. He quickly straightened his back and said respectfully: "Comrade Commander, please give the order."

"You reported to us the information about the enemy's possible air attack on the army headquarters." Vlasov looked at Sokov and said: "I guess you also have a way to find the enemies hidden in the city. You will take your The special company is conducting a search in the city to find the saboteurs who set the fire, do you understand?"

"Understood." After Sokov agreed, he raised his difficulty to Vlasov: "But Comrade Commander, I only have more than eighty people. I have to find a few hidden people in such a big city. I’m afraid it’s not an easy task.”

"Captain Sokov, I know you have a few people." Colonel Del continued: "But under the current circumstances, we cannot mobilize more people for you. You can only rely on the existing strength and stay nearby. Search for saboteurs.”

In fact, Sokov also understood in his heart that it was not advisable to mobilize troops from other places in the middle of the night to participate in the search for saboteurs in the city. The visibility at night was already low, and the new troops and their own subordinates were not familiar with each other, so there were huge problems in coordination. If the saboteurs put on Soviet military uniforms again, they will be even more confused, making it difficult to distinguish them.

It was out of this consideration that Sokov simply thought about it and accepted the order from the two men: "Okay, I will arrange manpower now to search for saboteurs lurking in the city and eliminate potential safety hazards. "

When Sokov returned to his unit, Konstantin came over and asked: "Comrade company commander, I wonder what the commander and chief of staff asked you to do?"

"Let our special company dispatch immediately to launch a manhunt in the war city to capture the saboteurs who set the fire."

After listening to the order conveyed by Sokov, Constantine felt embarrassed: "Comrade company commander, we only have more than eighty people. How can we find a few saboteurs in such a big city?"

"Platoon leader, you are right. We have too few people. It is obviously impossible to catch the saboteurs sent by the Germans in such a big city." Sokov said to the two men. : "Now I assign tasks: First platoon, go to the theater to investigate the cause of the fire; second platoon, go to the library to check the damage. The direct class will follow me and go to the public bathroom to look for clues related to the fire. Are the tasks clear?"

"It's clear!" Constantine and Zhu Kewen responded loudly at the same time.

"Now that the mission has been clarified, let's set off."

Sokov took the soldiers in his immediate squad to the public bathroom where the fire broke out. At this moment, the fire here had been completely extinguished by the firefighters, but when he walked into the scene, he still felt a rush of heat.

"Comrade Company Commander," Chursin looked at Sokov and asked, "What should we do next?"

"Go into the bathroom and take a look to see if anyone died in it." Sokov said to everyone: "By the way, find out the cause of their death."

After a few soldiers agreed loudly, they turned and entered the bathroom to check the situation inside.

Ten minutes later, Djubro came out first and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, there are eight burnt corpses in the bathroom. After my identification, except for one who is the administrator of the public bathroom, the rest The deceased should be a customer who came here to take a bath."

"How do you differentiate between administrators and customers?" Sokov asked curiously.

"This is very simple. Only one of the deceased was wearing clothes. Although it has been destroyed by the fire, it can still be seen that he was wearing an administrator's uniform." Djubro explained to Sokov: "And the other Seven people, but no clothes. We checked the wardrobe and found no trace of clothing."

"What was the cause of their death?" Sokov asked: "Were they burned to death by fire, or were they killed by other reasons?"

Sokov's words stopped Dyubro. He scratched the back of his head, not knowing how to answer Sokov's question.

Fortunately, Yegor walked out of the bathroom at this time and came to Dyuburo's rescue: "Comrade company commander, we have figured it out. The eight deceased inside had already died before the fire broke out in the bathroom. According to my Observation, they were stabbed to death with daggers, and their clothes were taken away by others, I guess, by saboteurs.”

After listening to the two men's stories, Sokov roughly understood what was going on: "I understand. The saboteurs should have been lurking in the public bathroom in advance. When several soldiers came here to take a bath, they took advantage of them and killed them. Killed them all, put on their military uniforms, set fire to the public bathroom, and headed towards the next target - the theater."

"Comrade Company Commander," Jiubro asked with some confusion: "How do you know that the deceased were all soldiers? Also, why did the people who killed them put on their military uniforms and leave?"

"This is very simple." Sokov explained: "Kiev has martial law every night. During the martial law, only soldiers can walk on the streets. After these saboteurs killed the soldiers who came to the bathroom to take a bath, they put on Their military uniforms will not attract attention when walking around the city. "

"Oh, that's what happened." After listening to Sokov's analysis, Djubro nodded slowly: "Comrade company commander, I think what you said makes sense. Those saboteurs put on the uniforms of our soldiers. , Even if you encounter a patrol team on the street, you don’t have to worry about revealing your identity. The captain of the patrol team may even think of them as another patrol team. "

"Comrade company commander, what should we do next?" Yegor asked.

Sokov thought for a while and then said: "Next, we will go to the theater to have a look. Maybe we can get useful information."