Red Moscow

Chapter 2557

 At the appointed time in the afternoon, the front desk called Sokov: "Comrade General, someone is looking for you outside."

Sokov guessed that it was Hosenfeld and Ernst who were here, so he did not ask who the people at the front desk were, but directly told them: "Comrade soldier, please arrange for them to wait for me in the reception area first. I'll be out soon."

"Okay, Comrade General." The female soldier at the front desk agreed respectfully, and then asked for instructions: "Do I need to prepare tea for them?"

"No need." Sokov said: "We are going out soon, so there is no need to prepare tea."

　　Sokov and Agelina left the room and when they came to the hotel lobby, they found Hosenfeld and Ernst sitting on the sofa in the reception area chatting.

 “Hello, gentlemen!” Sokov stepped forward to greet the four of them.

Seeing Sokov's arrival, the four people stood up quickly, stood at attention, and said hello to Sokov: "Hello, Comrade General!"

Hearing that the four of them all called themselves comrade generals in Russian, although Hosenfeld and Bayer's accents were not standard, Sokov could feel that the two of them had practiced this sentence repeatedly before coming here. For him, this was a good start, indicating that these people were willing to obey him.

Sokov's eyes swept over the four people and saw that Ernst and Hossenfeld were both wearing Soviet military coats, Officer Bayer was wearing his police uniform, and Denaris was wearing an ordinary black coat. Coat. Seeing this, Sokov couldn't help but frown slightly: "Lieutenant Denaris, why don't you wear a military uniform?"

After listening to Agelina's translation, Denaris replied in a panic: "Comrade General, Berlin is now controlled by the Soviet army. If I appear on the street wearing a German military uniform, I will definitely be arrested by the patrol. It would be troublesome if he was sent directly to a prisoner of war camp.”

When Sokov heard this, it seemed that this was really the case. Even though it has been half a year since the war ended, if there is a man wearing a German military uniform walking struttingly on the streets of Berlin, and if the passing Soviet patrol does not arrest him, the leader of the team will definitely be criticized by his superiors.

"Well, Lieutenant Denaris, you are right, I didn't think well." After Sokov said this, he waved his hand and announced: "It's getting late, let's go."

 When he arrived at the door, Vaselgov had already prepared the vehicle.

Before getting on the bus, Sokov said to Ernst, Hossenfeld and others who were following him: "The three buses at the back are used to pick up the soldiers who were pulled out. You can just choose one." Take a ride.”

Hosenfeld and others had never thought that they were qualified to ride in the same bus as Sokov. When they heard that the three buses at the back were used to transport prisoners of war, they quickly agreed and ran to the back and got on casually. One of the buses.

 The convoy set off. The convoy of four jeeps and three buses had an expeditionary momentum and attracted the attention of many passers-by.

 An oncoming patrol saw the convoy approaching. The captain quickly called the soldiers to retreat, stood at attention on the spot, and raised his hands to salute the convoy.

"Comrade General," Vaserigov, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, turned to Sokov and said, "I have already contacted Major Poledenko, the director of the staff office, and he said he would wait for us at the gate of the prisoner of war camp. , accompany us to select prisoners of war.”

"Well, very good." Sokov nodded slightly after hearing this: "With the help of Major Poledenko, our work will go much smoother later."

As we were about to leave the city, the jeep in front suddenly stopped. The car braked, causing a look of shock to appear on Sokov's face. Just when he was about to tell Vaselgov to go and see what was going on, a guard got out of the jeep in front and ran over to report to Vaselgov, saying that there was a traffic jam ahead and that another soldier had already gone to check. .

Sokov rushed to the prisoner of war camp in a hurry and wanted to find out what happened. He opened the door and got out of the car and said to Vaserigov: "Major, let me go to the front and take a look."

Vaseligov was worried about Sokov's safety and quickly opened the door and got out of the car. After he got out of the car, he saw the guards in the two jeeps behind him also getting out of the car. He gestured to them to follow him to ensure Sokov's safety.

What collided at the intersection were two trucks coming from different directions. The fronts of both trucks were flattened. Their bodies blocked the road that could only accommodate two vehicles. On both sides of the street, there were bricks and rubble all over the ground. There is no way to get out of the way and go around the curb. The drivers were both Germans, and they were standing in the middle of the road, arguing loudly in a language Sokov couldn't understand.

Vasergov came to Sokov, and after just looking at him for a moment, a stern expression appeared on his face. He whispered to Sokov in a low voice: "Comrade General, I think there is something wrong with these two drivers. Please hurry up." Get back in the car to avoid danger."

Sokov realized something was wrong after Vasergov’s reminder. Although the fronts of the two trucks were flattened, the engines still sounded like they were working normally. After the car accident, the two drivers did not move the car aside immediately, but allowed the vehicle to block the road and quarreled as if no one was watching. Although Wai Guoren was not in the habit of watching lively scenes, the dispute between the two still attracted forty or fifty people to watch. If there is an attacker hiding in it, it will be really hard to guard against.

Just when Sokov turned around to get back into the car, Agelina came over and asked loudly: "Misha, what's going on? Was there a car accident here?"

"Yes, there was indeed a car accident." Sokov grabbed Agelina's arm and dragged her back: "But I feel something is wrong. Let's talk about it when we get back to the car."

When they got back to the car, Agelina asked in surprise: "What's wrong?"

“After two cars collided, the driver did not move the car to the side of the road immediately, but allowed the car to block the road and quarrel there as if no one was around. Isn’t this a problem?”

“In the event of a car accident, the vehicle cannot be moved casually before the traffic police arrive, so as not to destroy the evidence at the scene and make it impossible for the traffic police to determine who is primarily responsible.”

"Comrade Adelina," as soon as Adelina finished speaking, Vaselgov, who was sitting in the passenger seat, said: "If it was before the war, your statement would be completely correct. But now In Berlin, there are no traffic police at all, only some soldiers from our army are maintaining traffic. Even if something like this happens, their usual approach is to urge the driver to drive away quickly so as not to affect the traffic. "

Hearing Vaserigov's explanation, Agelina also realized something was wrong. She grabbed Sokov's arm and said emotionally: "Misha, could this be a trap set by them? Deliberately causing a car accident, and when we got out of the car to check, the attackers hiding in the crowd shot at us?" Before Sokov could reply, Adelina kept urging Vaselgov: "Comrade Major, hurry up, turn around quickly, let's go, take another road..." Agelina's voice began to tremble because of nervousness.

 The convoy immediately began to turn around, preparing to rush to the prisoner of war camp from other streets.

As the convoy left, the two drivers who had been arguing stopped their quarrel, exchanged glances with each other, returned to their cars, and drove away from the area. The citizens watching on the roadside dispersed one after another when they saw that the two drivers had left and there was no excitement to be seen.

Sokov didn't know what happened here after he left. He was comforting the panicked Agelina: "Agelina, don't worry, no matter what, this city is under the control of our army." Although there are still some hostile elements left, they cannot make any big waves."

 The convoy came to a stop at the gate of the prisoner of war camp. Seeing Sokov and others getting out of the car, the sentry at the door quickly called his superiors to inform them of the arrival of Sokov and others.

Soon, the prisoner of war camp door opened, and a group of commanders and fighters came out.

The leader of the team is a major, and behind him are several captains, captains, and then lieutenants, second lieutenants, and other commanders at various levels according to their positions.

The major came to Sokov and immediately saluted: "Is this General Sokov? I am Major Poledenko, the director of the General Staff Office, and I have been ordered to come to greet you."

"Hello, Comrade Major." Sokov stretched out his hand and shook hands with the other party. "I will trouble you to worry about the selection of prisoners of war later."

"Comrade General, this is my responsibility." Poledenko said respectfully: "Let me introduce to you, this is Captain Lugovaya, the person in charge of the prisoner of war camp."

"Hello, Comrade General." After Lugovaya raised his hand to salute Sokov, he took Sokov's extended hand and said with a smile: "Welcome to inspect the work of the prisoner of war camp we manage. ”

 After shaking hands with Lugovaya, Sokov introduced him to Hosenfeld, Ernst, Denaris and others behind him: "They all accompanied me to select prisoners of war."

Lugovaya looked at the obviously German people behind Sokov and frowned. He asked tentatively: "Comrade General, these followers of yours seem to be Germans?"

"Yes, they are Germans." Sokov did not hide the true identities of Hosenfeld, Ernst and others. He said truthfully: "Their other identity is the newly formed police unit. The commander of the 3rd detachment, they are here with me today, they are responsible for selecting prisoners of war. "

After saying this, Sokov paused for a moment, and then asked Lugovaya: "Comrade Captain, I wonder how many prisoners of war there are in your prisoner of war camp?"

 “More than thirteen thousand people.”

"What, more than 13,000 people?" Sokov looked at the huge prisoner-of-war camp in front of him and asked in surprise: "How many soldiers are there to take care of these prisoners of war?"

 “Not many, only more than three hundred people.”

"There are only more than three hundred people, which is not a large number." After Sokov said this, when he was about to ask the next question, he suddenly thought of Hosenfeld, Ernst and others who were following behind him. Not wanting others to hear, he took Lugovaya a few steps away, then lowered his voice and asked, "I wonder if anyone has escaped from prison?"

"No." Lugovaya answered very simply: "Although there are only two barbed wire fences on the edge of the prisoner of war camp, so far, no signs of escape have been found." In order to enhance his persuasion, he also emphasized: " Moreover, the area where the prisoner of war camp is located is under the control of our army. Even if the Germans escape, they have nowhere to go. Even if they enter the territory of several other Allied forces, they may be captured and imprisoned in the prisoner of war camp. "I know very well that the wisest thing to do now is to stay in the prisoner of war camp and undergo rehabilitation until we release them at the right time."

Sokov agreed very much with Lugovaya's statement. Even if the German prisoners of war escaped from this prisoner of war camp, they would have nowhere to go. If you stay in the Soviet-occupied area, you can only hide like a mouse in a shady place; if you leave the Soviet-occupied area, the situation will not be much better. There is a high probability that you will be sent to an Allied prisoner-of-war camp, so the best choice is to stay in the Soviet-occupied area. Stay here honestly and wait for the day of release.

After a pause, Sokov continued to ask: "Then what is the death rate in your prisoner of war camp?"

Lugovaya never dreamed that Sokov would ask such a question so directly. The muscles on his face twitched violently, and his mind began to think quickly about how to answer Sokov's question.

Seeing that Lugovaya was slow to speak, Sokov did not urge him. He just stared at him intently, waiting for him to give him a satisfactory answer. Poledenko, who was standing not far away, came over and asked curiously: "Comrade General, what question do you want to ask?"

Sokov looked towards where Ernst and Denaris were, because both of them knew Russian, and if they knew some things, they might cause unnecessary trouble. Fortunately, both of them stood still. From such a long distance, they should not be able to hear their conversation with Lugovaya and Poledenko, so they said confidently and boldly: "Comrade Major, I just asked Lugovaya Captain Ya, how many prisoners of war die every day in the prison camp, but he doesn’t know how to answer me.”

As the director of the General Staff Office, Poledenko was very familiar with the situation in the prisoner-of-war camp. When Sokov asked about it at this moment, he couldn't help but hesitate. He didn't know whether he should tell the other party the real death data in the prisoner of war camp.

Sokov saw what Poledenko was thinking and said with a smile: "Comrade Major, don't worry, I'm just asking casually. If there are any secrets involved, you don't have to tell them."

After hearing what Sokov said, Poledenko felt that there was no need to hide some things from Sokov, so he said: "Comrade General, since you asked about this, I will tell you the truth. We have just established a prisoner of war camp. At that time, due to the presence of many wounded people and some restless personnel, fifty or sixty people died every day in this prisoner-of-war camp alone. As time went by, the number of prisoners-of-war deaths dropped greatly and was brought under control. Between eight and fifteen people a day.”

Sokov knew very well that the data mentioned by Poledenko must have been shrunk. Eight to fifteen prisoners of war died every day. In other words, at least fifteen prisoners of war died every day, and four died in a month. One hundred and fifty people.

He didn't care how many prisoners of war died, but he prayed secretly in his heart that if Officer Bayer's two sons were in this prisoner of war camp, they must not die. Otherwise, what kind of reaction would Bayer, who often lost his son, have? He can't predict it.

 (End of this chapter)