Red Moscow

Chapter 2529

Sokov stood up and came to the door, raised his hand to open the door, and asked the train conductor who was nodding and bowing outside: "Comrade conductor, are you almost there?"

"Yes, Comrade General." said the conductor: "After crossing the railway bridge, we will arrive at Warsaw West Station in a few minutes."

"Oh, Warsaw West Station." After hearing this place name, Sokov couldn't help but said with emotion: "Back then, my troops once occupied Warsaw East Station, Wawel Station and Wilansk Station, but there was no chance to get through. Vistula River, capture the approaching Warsaw West Station."

“Comrade General,” the conductor asked with an unexpected expression on his face, “Have you ever participated in the battle to liberate Warsaw?”

"Yes."

“Since we can capture the three stations in the east of the city, we have no chance to capture the Warsaw West Station below the city?” the train conductor asked curiously: “What’s going on?”

"The reason is very simple," Sokov said looking at the train conductor: "When I commanded the troops to attack Warsaw, an uprising was breaking out in Warsaw. Since the bridges on the Vistula River were blown up by the Germans, my troops were occupying the eastern part of the city. After entering the Bank City area, they could not expand the results and could only stop at the bank of the Vistula River. "Considering that he and the train conductor were not familiar with each other, Sokov did not think that the rebels had broken their promises and failed to meet his troops as agreed. Tell the train conductor what led to the failure of the river-crossing battle.

But the train conductor did not seem to notice that Sokov had reservations about him, and continued to ask: "Yes, when there was an ambiguity in Warsaw, our army probably did not complete the cross-river operation for some reason. But in a few months After that, Zhukov organized the troops of the 1st Belarusian Front to launch a new attack on Warsaw and completely liberated the city. Comrade General, did your troops not participate in this battle? "

"No." Sokov shook his head and said: "Before the new round of attacks on Warsaw began, the troops under my command followed Marshal Rokossovsky to the Second Belarusian Front, our new combat direction. It was in East Prussia, so we missed the battle to liberate Warsaw.”

 After the two chatted for a few more words, Mensov said goodbye and left. Sokov turned to Agelina and said: "Agelina, let's go now."

"Comrade Captain, thank you!" Although Menshov did not know anything about escorting him, Sokov still held the other person's hand, expressed his gratitude to him, and then asked: " So how do you plan to go back?"

 When the train pulled into Warsaw West Station, a man who had long been forgotten by Sokov appeared.

Agelina had a bitter expression on her face when she heard what Sokov said: "I heard that after the Germans put out the Warsaw Uprising, they decided to wipe the city off the map, thus almost destroying most of the city. Most of the buildings, I guess the situation is similar in Kraków’s suburban streets.”

When Sokov saw this man, he had a shocked expression on his face: "Captain Menshov, why are you here?"

Sokov was stunned after hearing this, and then asked: "When did this happen? How come I don't know anything about it?" When he said this, he was still thinking secretly in his heart, could it be that he had lost his memory? Otherwise, how could he continue to remember it? Shaofu had forgotten everything about coming to see him.

"That's such a pity. Although the Germans completely destroyed the city before they withdrew, after more than a year of reconstruction, many places have been restored to almost the same condition as before the war." After saying this, the train conductor raised his hand to look He checked the time and then said apologetically to Sokov: "Comrade General, the train will be arriving at the station soon. I still have a lot of things to deal with. The train will be inspected and maintained at Warsaw Station, and the parking time will range from half a day to a day. If you If you can’t find a place to stay in the city, you can go back to the car and rest.”

 “Where do you live?”

“I live on a suburban street in Krakow, not far from Warsaw West Station. It only takes ten minutes to walk.”

"Comrade Captain." Since Menshov mentioned gangs, Sokov couldn't help but want to ask a few more questions: "It's been more than half a year since the war ended. Why are there still so many gangs in Poland and Germany? Do our troops Didn’t the party send troops to clear it up?”

After the train conductor left, Sokov turned to ask Agelina, who was sitting by the window: "Agelina, when the train enters the station, what are your plans?"

Regarding Sokov's question, Menshov replied with a wry smile: "Comrade General, these gangs are basically made up of local people. They are very familiar with the terrain, and there are many local people who act as spies for them, often us. As soon as the anti-bandit troops set off, the gangs would get the news and make preparations in advance. When we arrived at the pre-detected location, we found that it was already empty. "

Unexpectedly, Mensov grinned across from him and said: "Comrade General, when I came to report to you, you were already asleep. I was worried about disturbing your rest, so I only talked with this beautiful girl next to you. After saying a few words, we went back to the carriage the conductor prepared for us."

Agelina had been thinking about this issue all the way. When Sokov asked about it, she hesitated for a moment and said slowly: "I want to go to the place where I lived before and see if there are any acquaintances there." ”

Hearing that the place where Agelina used to live was not far from Warsaw West Station, Sokov said decisively: "Well, after the train enters the station, I will accompany you to walk around the suburban streets of Krakow. Can you meet your familiar neighbors?”

 “Okay, Comrade conductor, thank you.”

"I'll go to the station duty room later and ask if there is a train going east. If there is, I will hitch a ride with my subordinates." Menshov said with a smile: "Maybe the train conductor will see him. Having dozens of soldiers like us is a blessing. At least they don’t have to worry about encountering gangs on the road.”

"Misha." Agelina, who was standing next to Sokov, quickly explained: "Before the train started, Captain Menshov came to see you and was going to tell you that he personally led the team to **** us to Warsaw. ”

“Comrade General, I am worried that you will encounter danger on the road, so I will **** you here personally.”

Agelina glanced at the assault rifle leaning against the corner and the two wooden boxes containing magazines, and then said with some embarrassment: "What should I do with these things?" She was worried that if she left for a long time, the people in the house would be damaged. What can go wrong with weapons and ammunition.

Sokov's thoughts at the moment were the same as Agelina's. It was definitely not appropriate to go out with an assault rifle; but if he left it in the box and left for such a long time, someone might take it away. It's just a nuisance.

Just when Sokov was in trouble, Sergeant Torba appeared in the corridor. He asked Sokov: "Comrade General, the train has entered the station. Do you plan to stay on the train or go outside and walk around?" Let’s go?” “Comrade Sergeant, I want to go outside,” Sokov pointed toward the compartment and said to Torba, “But I don’t trust these things here. , Someone will come to repair the train later. If these weapons and ammunition are seen by the maintenance workers, who knows if any of them will have any ideas. "

Torba understood what Sokov meant, and he hurriedly patted his chest and promised: "Comrade General, these weapons and ammunition will be handed over to me. If anything goes wrong before you come back, you can send me directly." Court martial."

Now that Torba had made the guarantee, Sokov felt much more at ease. After thanking the other party, he took Agelina off the train and walked out of the station.

 Polish stations are the same as those in Moscow. No one checks tickets when entering or exiting the station. After all, it is basically impossible to evade fares in these countries. Because the conductors were waiting at the door to check tickets, people without tickets couldn't even get on the train, so naturally no one could evade the fare.

After leaving the station, Sokov looked at the ruins that had not been cleared everywhere in front of him, and he couldn't help but feel a little confused. He turned to Agelina and asked: "Agelina, which way should we go to reach the suburban street in Krakow you mentioned?"

Although Agelina has lived in Warsaw for a long time, the city has basically been destroyed by the Germans. Looking at the remaining ruins, she is also a little confused. She doesn’t know which direction to go in order to get there. Return to the suburban streets of Krakow where I used to live.

 Fortunately, there was an aunt wearing a headscarf at this moment. From in front of the two of them, Agelina quickly stopped her and communicated with the other party in Polish. And Sokov didn't understand Polish, so he could only stand by like a fool and watch the two of them chatter non-stop.

After finally waiting for the aunt to leave, Agelina took Sokov's hand and walked in the direction pointed by the aunt.

Sokov asked Agelina curiously: "What did you and that aunt talk about just now?"

"It's nothing. I just asked for directions and asked if there are many residents in the city now."

 The two of them walked slowly along the street with many bricks and rubbles, meeting many people along the way.

Looking at the oncoming Sokov and Agelina, most of the Poles stopped and stepped aside to make way for the two. The glances directed at the two of them ranged from curious to friendly, and occasionally one or two hostile glances were seen.

When Sokov found these hostile eyes directed at him, he couldn't help but wonder in his heart: Why do these people hate him? Did they have relatives who died at the hands of the Soviet army, such as those in the Katyn Forest?

After walking forward for more than ten minutes, the ruins of various buildings were still as far as the eye could see. Sokov couldn't help but sigh in his heart. It was said that after half a year of fierce fighting in Stalingrad, no complete building could be found. The situation in Warsaw is similar to that in Stalingrad.

“Misha, look quickly, there is a group of Germans in front of you.”

"Germans?" As soon as Sokov heard the Germans, his hand instinctively reached to his waist, ready to draw his pistol. But as soon as he put his hand on the holster, he suddenly realized that the war was over. The Germans Agelina mentioned were no longer enemies that he would fight to the death when they met, but just prisoners of war of the Soviet army. He took his hand back and asked, "Where?"

"Here, there." Agelina pointed towards the ruins across the road and said, "They are clearing the ruins over there."

Sokov looked in the direction of her finger, and sure enough he saw a group of German prisoners of war in the ruins, under the supervision of the Soviet army, working hard to clean up the masonry and rubble in the ruins. After the war, this was the first time he saw German prisoners of war. He couldn't help but become interested. He shook his head at Agelina and said, "Come on, let's go over and take a look."

 The two of them crossed the road and came to the ruins.

Sokov suddenly saw a man wearing a gray trench coat, saying something to the Soviet soldiers guarding the prisoners of war. But the soldier seemed very impatient. Not only did he shake his head desperately, he even picked up the rifle in his hand, intending to drive the man away.

“Misha,” Agelina also saw the man driven away by the soldiers, and couldn’t help but ask Sokov: “Then why did the soldiers drive that man away?”

"I'm not sure." Sokov saw the man walking back towards his position step by step, shaking his head and said: "I guess he wanted to do something with our soldiers, but he was beaten The other party refused. Just in time, he came towards us. You can go over and ask what is going on. "

Agelina nodded, let go of Sokov's arm, and walked towards the man. When she came to the man, she stopped and the two began talking in Polish.

Sokov quickly came to the two of them. Although he couldn't understand what the two were talking about, he still asked Agelina with some urgency: "Agelina, did he say what happened? ?"

The man glanced at Sokov's epaulettes, and an expression of surprise suddenly appeared on his face, and then he said in blunt Russian: "Mr. General, I want to ask you to do me a favor, okay?"

Hearing that the man could speak Russian, Sokov was a little surprised: "You can speak Russian? That's great. Tell me, what help do you need from me?"

"That's it, Mr. General." The man began to introduce the situation to Sokov, but because his Russian was average, he unconsciously switched to Polish as he spoke. Fortunately, there was Agelina who knew Polish next to her, and she promptly translated what the man said to Sokov.

 It turned out that the man was a pianist in Warsaw and a Jew. During the war, he was inevitably persecuted by the Germans. Later, during the Jewish uprising in Warsaw, he luckily escaped from the quarantine area and found a house nearby to hide in, preparing to wait until the end of the war.

Unexpectedly, one day, while he was looking for food, he was discovered by a German captain. After the other party knew his identity, instead of arresting him, he gave him some food. This state of affairs lasted until the Germans withdrew from Warsaw. Since the weather was already very cold when the German troops evacuated, the officer even gave him a military coat, which saved him from freezing to death. He was not saved until the Warsaw army entered the city.

 A few months ago, he met an old friend by chance. My friend told me that when I passed through a certain Soviet prisoner of war camp, I met the German captain who helped him and was imprisoned there. He had to do hard labor under the **** of the Soviet army every day, hoping to get his help.

 After receiving the news, he immediately rushed to the place where the German prisoners of war were doing hard labor, looking for the German captain who had helped him, hoping that he would have the opportunity to repay the kindness. But unfortunately, when he arrived at the prisoner-of-war camp that his friend mentioned, he found that the prisoner-of-war camp no longer existed, and the prisoners in it were naturally missing. But he did not give up and often took time to go to the place where German prisoners of war worked in Warsaw to see if he could find a German captain who had helped him.