Red Moscow

Golia said in a panic: "Comrade Brigadier, we are still more than 20 kilometers away from our destination. At our current speed, we still have to walk for at least seven or eight hours. During this period, as long as there is even one soldier who does not Be careful what you say, and you risk being exposed."

"Comrade Captain," Sokov was also worried about what Goria was worried about, but now that he was on the verge of riding a tiger, he could only pretend to be calm and said: "You know very well that the enemy is following us, our As long as someone in the team speaks, the enemy can hear it. In this case, how do we convey orders to the soldiers?"

"Then what should we do?" Goliath asked the bewildered six gods.

"Maintain the status quo and move on." Sokov said blankly, "I hope we will have good luck and be able to reach our destination smoothly without being noticed by the enemy."

In this way, the Soviet army disguised as the German army and the real German army headed north along the bumpy road. Although there were several German checkpoints along the way, when the enemy saw such a large army, they didn't even ask, they just removed the obstacles on the road and let them pass.

Seeing that the troops passed through many checkpoints of the German army so smoothly, Golia felt a lot more at ease. He felt that what Sokov said was very reasonable. Marching with the enemy's troops can indeed confuse the public. But not long after he was happy, he began to worry again. He asked Sokov in a low voice: "Comrade Brigadier, we marched with the enemy, and of course we can pass various checkpoints smoothly. But, have you considered it? How to get rid of this enemy when we arrive at the pick-up point?"

"Don't worry, Comrade Captain." Although Sokov didn't know where the German army's destination was, he still said to Golia calmly: "There are so many forks in the road ahead, maybe we can walk along the road." , the enemy will be separated from us."

"I hope so." Goria murmured, "If they still follow us when we reach the meeting place, we can only find a way to eliminate them."

When the troops had gone about two-thirds of the distance, the radio operator handed Sokov a telegram and said in a low voice, "Comrade Brigadier, this is a telegram just sent by the Army Group Command."

Hearing that it was a telegram from the Group Army Command, Sokov guessed that the contents might be related to friendly forces, so he quickly browsed the contents with a flashlight. The telegram stated that the troops that broke through the German defenses were the 67th Tank Brigade commanded by Colonel Shidjayev. The brigade had 35 tanks and a company of infantry. They successfully broke through the German defenses and were rushing towards the In the Orlovka area, order Sokov's troops to join them after dawn.

After reading the contents of the telegram, Sokov handed it to Golia, and began to think about how to get rid of the German troops marching with him. This place is already in the depth of the German defense. If you start a war with the Germans behind you, if you can't destroy them in a short time, when the enemies around you come flooding in, it will be your small army of 200 people that will be wiped out.

Just when Sokov was worried, Golia had already read the contents of the telegram, and he said with some excitement: "Comrade brigade commander, this is really great, a tank brigade and an infantry company, plus our team troops, we can establish a support point in the Orlovka area and create conditions for the meeting of the main forces of the two sides."

After waiting for Goria to finish speaking, Sokov pouted at the German troops behind and said, "Comrade Captain, the first thing we need to do now is to find a way to get rid of this enemy."

Golia turned his head and looked at the enemy behind him, with a troubled expression on his face: "Comrade Brigadier, this enemy has followed us for about 20 kilometers. It seems that we are going in the same direction as us. What should we do?" How do you get rid of them?"

"Comrade Brigadier," said Ernst, who had been silent since departure, seeing that Sokov and Goria were helpless against the German troops following behind, "I think the best way is to order our troops to The troops stopped and the German troops moved on."

Hearing Ernst's suggestion, Sokov couldn't help raising his eyebrows, and then asked: "Corporal Ernst, I don't know if you have thought about it, how should we order the troops to stop? You know, except Fighters other than those you train don't understand German at all."

Regarding Sokov's concerns, Ernst grinned, and then said: "Comrade Brigadier, it doesn't really matter whether our comrades can understand German, as long as all the armored vehicles are ordered to stop, don't the soldiers behind understand why? What's the matter?"

"It makes sense, it makes sense." Hearing what Ernst said, Sokov immediately realized that he was on the edge of a corner, and quickly ordered the operator: "Send a report to the front armored vehicle, ordering them to stop and stand by on the spot."

After the armored vehicles driving in front of the team stopped one by one, the infantry following the vehicles also stopped advancing, standing still and waiting for further orders. "What's going on?" Seeing that the troops in front stopped suddenly, a German lieutenant walked out of the German army behind, and shouted at the Soviet commanders in front: "What happened, why did you stop?" ?”

"I'm sorry, Mr. Lieutenant." A Soviet soldier wearing the uniform of a German second lieutenant walked out of the queue and replied in proficient German: "We don't know what happened, we just stopped when we saw the armored vehicle in front stopped. .”

Seeing that he couldn't ask why from the infantry, the German lieutenant quickly walked over the infantry line, walked to several armored vehicles, and asked loudly, "Can any of you tell me what happened?"

"Corporal Ernst," Sokov saw a German lieutenant approaching and yelling, so he kicked Ernst lightly with his toe, and ordered in a low voice: "You find a way to get this German officer send away."

Ernst nodded, stood up, and asked the German lieutenant under the car, "Lieutenant, what are you yelling about?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Captain." After seeing Ernst's military rank, the lieutenant quickly stood at attention and saluted, and said respectfully, "I want to ask, why did the troops stop advancing?"

"We walked all night, and the soldiers are all tired." Ernst waited for the lieutenant to finish speaking, pretending to be impatient and said, "So I ordered the troops to stop and let them take a good rest, and then continue after dawn." It's not too late to hurry. Lieutenant, if you are in a hurry, you might as well go first."

The German lieutenant standing under the car, after listening to Ernst's words, raised his hand to salute him, turned around and walked quickly back to his unit. Not long after, Sokov and the others saw hundreds of German officers and soldiers walking past the armored vehicle in a neat formation.

Seeing that the enemy had gone far away, Golia let out a foul breath and said to Sokov with relief: "Thank God, Comrade Brigadier Commander, the enemy is finally gone. If I continue to walk with them like this, I am really worried that something will happen. .”

"Corporal Ernst, you did a good job." Seeing that Ernst sent the enemy away with a few words, Sokov raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder twice, and said approvingly: "If we can do it after dawn, You should be the first to join forces with the friendly army."

Ernst just smiled lightly when he praised Sokov, "Comrade Brigadier, it's just a matter of little effort."

Golia waited for Sokov to sit down again, leaned close to his ear and whispered: "Comrade Brigadier, how long has Ernst surrendered?"

Sokov did not expect that Golia would suddenly ask about this matter, he calculated silently in his heart, and then replied in a low voice: "Shortly after the big counter-offensive under the city of Moscow began, he surrendered to our army. Nine months. Comrade Captain, what are you asking about this family?"

"Comrade Brigadier," Goria quickly glanced at Ernst who was sitting not far away, and then whispered, "Don't you think his rank is too low?"

As soon as Golia reminded him, Sokov realized that Ernst was still a corporal until now. Although he has the right to be promoted to a military rank below the school level, due to Ernst's sensitive identity, if he is to be promoted to a military rank, he must obtain the consent of Belkin and Sidolin. He thought to himself, after completing this support mission, he would immediately discuss with Belkin and the others as soon as he returned to the brigade headquarters, and he must promote Ernst to the military rank.

Although the German troops had gone far away, Sokov did not immediately order the troops to set off. He knew that the soldiers must be very tired at the moment after walking in the middle of the night, so he decisively ordered everyone to rest on the spot, take the time to sleep, and prepare to wait. Leave after dawn.

Regarding Sokov's decision, Golia once again raised his own doubts: "Comrade Brigadier, didn't the superior order us to join the tank brigade that broke through the German defense line after dawn? If you order the soldiers to rest now, we will Worried about not being able to arrive at the designated place after dawn."

"Comrade Captain, don't you see that the soldiers are exhausted? If you continue to rush, they will become exhausted by dawn. If there is a battle, do you think their physical strength can support it?" Sokov After saying this, seeing that Golia still looked hesitant, he added: "I am the brigade commander. If the superiors want to blame the fighters if they miss the opportunity to rest, I will bear all the responsibilities. bear."

"Okay, Comrade Brigadier." Seeing Sokov's resolute attitude, Goria knew that it was useless to say anything else, so he called a messenger and told him: "Immediately report to the troops behind." My order, everyone rests where they are, and waits until dawn before setting off."