Red Moscow

Seeing that Sokov remained silent, Belkin said, "Comrade Brigade Commander, in fact, our regiment was basically fully staffed when we broke through."

Sokov, who was deep in thought, couldn't help showing a surprised expression on his face when he heard Belkin say this: "But the 456th Regiment you brought back has a total strength of less than 400 people. What's going on? Under what circumstances did you suffer such a huge loss?"

"Our regiment broke through two German blockades in succession, with only one-fifth of our casualties," Belkin said with a painful expression. "But when we broke through the enemy's last line of defense, we were bombarded by enemy planes. Unfortunately, the regiment command post was destroyed by bombs dropped by enemy planes. More than 20 officers and soldiers, including the regiment commander and political commissar, all died heroically. Because the troops lost unified command, they suddenly became chaotic in the enemy's bombing. Although we finally succeeded in breaking through the enemy's encirclement, the officers and soldiers in the regiment also suffered heavy casualties."

"Yes, Comrade Belkin," Sokov echoed, "If we lose air superiority on the battlefield, then no matter how brave our officers and soldiers are and how much they sacrifice, it will be difficult for us to achieve final victory."

Belkin belatedly asked, "Comrade Brigade Commander, you think the headquarters will not allow our brigade to participate in the counterattack?"

"It's entirely possible."

Hearing what Sokov said, Belkin became anxious: "But our brigade was just formed not long ago, and the commanders and soldiers have not had enough time to get used to each other, and lack the minimum tacit understanding. The weapons are mainly light weapons, which are barely enough for defense; but if they are used for offense, even if the enemy does not send out the air force, we will be helpless in the face of the enemy's large number of armored forces."

Sokov agreed with Belkin's statement. Although his troops had nearly 2,000 people and most of the officers and soldiers had rich combat experience, if they were not equipped with enough heavy weapons and launched a counterattack against the enemy rashly, it would be like sending the officers and soldiers to their deaths.

When Sokov began to ponder again, Belkin put forward his own opinion: "Comrade Brigade Commander, if we want to eliminate the German air threat, can we send a force to attack the enemy's airfield and destroy their aircraft?"

"This is unrealistic." Sokov interrupted Belkin before he finished speaking: "You know, the enemy airport is at least hundreds of kilometers away from the front line. Not to mention that we don't know the exact location of the enemy airport, even if we know it, how can we get there? You know, the enemy must have strict defenses against the airport. If we send too few people, we can't destroy the airport at all; and if we send too many people, we can't get through the enemy's defense line at all."

After Sokov finished speaking, he called Morozova, who was sitting in front of the radio, and told her: "Comrade radio operator, send a telegram to the army headquarters immediately, saying that if we want to avoid the troops being bombed by enemy planes during the counterattack, the best way is to choose the time of attack at night. In this way, not only will the enemy's planes be useless, but even the role of tanks and artillery will be greatly reduced."

When Morozova began to send a telegram to the army headquarters, Belkin asked with some concern: "Comrade Brigade Commander, do you think the commander will agree with your suggestion?"

Sokov knew Rokossovsky's character very well and knew that he was a man who would readily accept good advice, so he said confidently: "I think Comrade Commander will not object."

Things turned out just as Sokov had expected. After receiving the telegram from Sokov, Rokossovsky read it carefully twice, nodded slowly, and said to Malinin and others: "I think Major Sokov's suggestion is good. If we choose to counterattack at night, not only will the enemy's aircraft be useless, but even the threat of tanks and artillery to our army will be greatly reduced."

Malinin could tell from Rokossovsky's tone that he admired Sokov, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, how about we call Major Sokov to the headquarters and ask him about his ideas?"

Rokossovsky readily agreed to Malinin's proposal: "I think it's okay. Now we can only communicate with him through telegrams, and many things cannot be explained clearly in telegrams. So I think it's okay to call him over and ask him what he thinks in person."

"Well, I'll telegraph him right away and ask him to report to headquarters after daybreak."

A few minutes later, Sokov received a call back. After reading the content, he couldn't help but smile: "Lieutenant Colonel Belkin, it seems that the commander has agreed with my proposal and sent a telegram specifically asking me to go to the headquarters after dawn."

"Do you need an escort?" Belkin asked.

"I'll ask Captain Bobrikov to send a few guards to escort him."

"Before you leave, do you need to send someone to the forest to check on the enemy's casualties?"

Sokov knew what Belkin said about the first battalion destroying the enemy's sneak attack, so he nodded and said in an affirmative tone: "Of course. Since we have crushed the enemy's sneak attack conspiracy, I must wait until I know the results of the battle before I can go to the headquarters with peace of mind. In this way, even if the commander and the chief of staff ask about this matter, I can give them a detailed report."

Sokov lay down to take a nap and reminded Belkin: "Lieutenant Colonel Belkin, I will sleep for a while. If there is anything, wake me up immediately."

"Okay, Comrade Brigade Commander." Belkin nodded. "If there is anything, I will wake you up immediately."

…………

When the sky turned blue as the belly of a fish, Sokov was awakened by Belkin.

Sokov opened his eyes and saw Belkin standing in front of him with a happy look on his face. He guessed that the First Battalion might have counted the results of the battle, so he asked quickly, "Lieutenant Colonel Belkin, has the First Battalion counted the results of the battle?"

"Yes, Comrade Brigade Commander." Belkin nodded vigorously and replied in a positive tone: "That's right, Captain Yefim has already counted the results of the battle."

"Tell me quickly, how many enemies have we eliminated."

"According to statistics, 37 enemies were killed," Belkin replied excitedly. "In addition, a German second lieutenant was captured. He should be the commander of this unit."

"What? A German second lieutenant was captured?" Sokov was immediately excited after hearing this: "Where is the prisoner?"

"When I learned that a prisoner had been captured, I immediately asked the soldier who reported the news to inform Yefim and asked him to send the prisoner over." Belkin raised his hand to check the time and continued, "I think it won't be long before you can see this German prisoner."

As soon as he finished speaking, Yefim's voice came from outside the tent: "Report, can I come in?"

Hearing Yefim's voice, Belkin immediately rushed to the door of the tent and raised his hand to lift the curtain: "Captain Yefim, come in quickly."

The next moment, Captain Yefim walked in and saluted Sokov and Belkin.

Sokov did not raise his hand to return the greeting, but asked eagerly: "Comrade Captain, where are the prisoners you captured?"

"He's just outside the tent." Yefim asked Sokov: "Do we need to bring him in?"

"Wait a moment." Sokov asked curiously, "Is the prisoner injured?"

Hearing Sokov's question, Yefim hesitated for a moment, then replied: "My soldiers attacked him when they captured him, so he should be considered injured."

Sokov frowned slightly. "Your soldiers attacked him, is it because he resisted?"

"No, when my men found him, he didn't put up any resistance, but raised his hands to surrender." Yefim explained awkwardly, "One of my men beat up the prisoner because his friend died in the night battle. Although other soldiers stopped him in time, they still injured the prisoner."

Sokov asked in confusion: "The battle ended several hours ago, and the German lieutenant was not injured. Why didn't he run away, but stayed there and waited to be captured?"

"Yes, it's quite strange." Belkin wanted Yefim to bring the prisoner in, but he soon thought of a key problem and said to Sokov, "Comrade Brigade Commander, we don't have anyone who knows German here, so we can't interrogate the prisoner. Aren't you going to the headquarters? Why don't you bring him there?"

"I know German and can interrogate the prisoners." Sokov said this and ordered Yefim: "Comrade Captain, bring the prisoners in."

Soon, a German second lieutenant with a bruised face and nose was escorted into the tent by two soldiers.

Sokov looked at the German lieutenant and asked expressionlessly in German: "What is your name, rank and position?"

"My name is Georg!" Unexpectedly, the German lieutenant said in fluent Russian: "I ask you to send me to a higher-level command. I have important information to report."

When the German prisoner who called himself Georg opened his mouth, everyone was stunned. They didn't expect that he could speak fluent Russian.

Sokov did not reply immediately, but turned to Yefim and asked, "Comrade Captain, didn't you interrogate him immediately after you captured him?"

"No." Yefim hurriedly shook his head and explained, "There is no one in the camp who knows German, so we can't interrogate him." At this point, Yefim looked at Georg with resentment and said viciously, "I didn't expect he could speak Russian. If I had known, I would have interrogated him."

Georg's eyes scanned several people and stopped at Belkin. He said politely, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I ask you to send me to your superior command unit, preferably at the army level. I have important intelligence to report to your senior commander."

Belkin did not expect that Georg would regard him as the supreme commander. He could only point at Sokov and said awkwardly: "This is our brigade commander. If you have anything to say, just tell him."

Georg probably didn't expect that a lieutenant colonel would actually listen to the command of a major. But at this moment, he didn't bother to figure out what was going on. Instead, he turned his eyes to Sokov and said sincerely: "Comrade Major, I beg you again to send me to your superior department. I have important things to report."

As soon as these words came out, everyone's eyes were focused on Sokov, waiting patiently for him to make a decision.

Sokov looked at the German lieutenant Georg in front of him, and quickly sorted out the information he had obtained in his mind: this German lieutenant named Georg could speak fluent Russian; after being discovered by our soldiers, he not only did not put up any form of resistance, but took the initiative to raise his hands and surrender. This shows that this person is likely to be an intelligence officer who infiltrated the German army.

After realizing this, he walked to the door of the tent and said to a sentry standing outside: "Go and call Bobrikov."

The sentry answered and ran to find Bobrikov.

Not long after, Bobrikov walked in from outside the tent: "Comrade Brigade Commander, what instructions do you have?"

When Georg heard Bobrikov address Sokov, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and thought to himself, I never expected that a small major would be the brigade commander. Isn't this position usually lieutenant colonel or colonel?

"Captain Bobrikov," Sokov did not notice the change in Georg's expression, but said to Bobrikov, "I have something to do and need to rush to the army headquarters as soon as possible. Please select a guard squad for me and prepare two trucks. In addition to escorting me to the headquarters," he glanced at Georg intentionally and continued, "this prisoner must also be sent there."

"Yes, Comrade Brigade Commander." Bobrikov agreed, turned and walked out of the tent to arrange personnel and vehicles.

"Lieutenant Georg," Sokov said to Georg, "Although I don't know your true identity, I will send you to the army headquarters and hand you over to a special person for handling."

"That's great." Hearing Sokov say that, Georg smiled and thanked him repeatedly: "Thank you, thank you, thank you so much!"

Ten minutes later, two trucks with tarpaulins set off.

Sokov and Bobrikov squeezed in the driving seat of the first car, while Georg sat in the compartment of the second car. There were three armed soldiers next to him, watching him vigilantly to prevent him from doing any conspiracy.

On the way, Bobrikov tentatively asked Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, how did you capture that German prisoner?"

Although Sokov guessed in his heart that Georg might be an intelligence officer, he did not tell Bobrikov about it. Instead, he said casually: "Captain Yefim told me that his soldiers caught him while cleaning the battlefield."

"Then why are we bringing him to the headquarters?"

"What else can we do? Of course we should hand him over to the enemy work department in the headquarters to see if we can get useful information from him." In order to prevent Bobrikov from asking more questions, Sokov interrupted him and said, "By the way, can the people you sent keep an eye on him? Don't let him escape."

Bobrikov's attention was diverted by Sokov's words: "Don't worry, Comrade Brigade Commander. The three people I sent are very reliable. It is impossible for the prisoner to escape from their hands."