Red Moscow

Chapter 2570

 When the colonel led his men to arrest the plumber, Sokov was still very uneasy. Despite his lucid analysis in front of Sokolovsky, the truth of the matter can only be obtained by catching the plumber.

"Misha," Sokolovsky knew that it would take some time to arrest the plumber, so he asked Sokov to sit down and drink tea: "Sit down and drink some tea."

After thanking the other party, Sokov sat down, picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, and then put the teacup down again: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I wonder if there will be a court hearing tomorrow?"

"No." Sokolovsky shook his head and said: "This trial can be said to be the trial of the century. Naturally, it will not be held at any time like ordinary cases. There was just a trial today. The prosecutor raised questions about the German war criminals on trial. The charges were filed, but the defense tried to plead not guilty to the war criminals. It takes three to five days for the defense to collect evidence and organize materials, so the next trial will be five days later.”

Sokov asked curiously: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I wonder where the lawyers who defend German war criminals come from?"

Hearing Sokov's question, the expression on Sokolovsky's face became serious: "The lawyers defending these war criminals are all from Germany. They were invited to attend the court and were full of enthusiasm for this case. In their defense of the war criminals' innocence, they not only glorified the war criminals, but also shamelessly said that it was our country's mistakes that provoked their attack."

Sokov had limited knowledge of the Nuremberg Trials. He was particularly shocked when he heard that the German lawyers actually told the big lie that the war was started by the Soviet side in order to exonerate the war criminals. After he pondered for a moment, he then asked: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I wonder how the judges for this trial were set up?"

"The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg is composed of eight judges: the Soviet Union, the United States, Britain, and France each appoint two judges, one of whom is an assistant judge. The American judge is Biddle, who served as the United States' wartime Attorney General; Assistant Judge Parker The British judge is Sir Lawrence, the French associate judge Falco and the judge De Wabre are both law professors at the Sorbonne University in France.

As for our side, Judge Nikichenko is familiar with Western law and is gentle and kind-hearted; Assistant Judge Volchkov, originally his superiors planned to appoint him as a judge, but considering that he knew nothing about the Western legal system, they could only wrong him. Serve as Assistant Judge.

 Judges from the four countries elected Sir Lawrence as President of the Tribunal after consultation. "

“I heard that the court was convened a few days ago, so I applied to Marshal Zhukov to come here to observe the trial.”

"Yes, the International Military Tribunal officially opened on the morning of November 20, 1945." Sokolovsky continued: "First, Chief Prosecutor Jackson delivered an opening speech and started the prosecution's prosecution. He pointed out:' The crimes we want to condemn and punish are so well planned, so egregious, so devastating that our civilization cannot survive if they are allowed to be repeated in the future. The four great powers, who were hurt and stung, stopped their revenge and voluntarily handed over the captured enemies to the sacred court for trial. This is the best proof of the exercise of human rationality and the highest tribute to human civilization.'"

“I wonder who are the prosecutors filing lawsuits in various countries?” Sokov continued to ask.

“When the list of indicted war criminals was officially announced, Judge Jackson took charge of the prosecution in the United States. Maxwell Fife took charge of the prosecution in the United Kingdom on behalf of Sir Shawcross. Our High Command appointed Lieutenant General Rudenko as Chief Prosecutor. France’s appointed chief prosecutor is De Manton.”

After the two chatted for a while about the trial, the colonel walked in quickly from outside.

Seeing his adjutant arriving, Sokolovsky stood up quickly and asked eagerly: "Colonel, how is the situation?"

"Comrade Deputy Commander!" the colonel said with excitement: "We have successfully captured the plumber and found this from his residence." As he said, he took out a few pieces of paper from his pocket and handed it to Sokolovsky.

After quickly reading the above content, Sokolovsky nodded slowly, "Yes, this is indeed a document entrusted to the translator. If it falls into the hands of others, it will cause serious consequences."

“Colonel,” Sokov asked the colonel carefully after waiting for Sokolovsky to finish speaking, “I wonder what the plumber confessed to?”

"General Sokov, your judgment is completely correct." The colonel turned to Sokov and said: "After our interrogation, the plumber confessed and told the story of his crime in detail. He deceived the female translator. After writing the fake suicide note, he tricked the other party into drinking whiskey mixed with poison. After confirming that the female translator was dead, he placed the body on the bed, pretended to commit suicide, and then left the victim in the way you guessed. "

Sokov raised his hand and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. I couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief. It was one thing to guess the truth of the matter, but it was another thing to be confirmed. From this moment on, the heart hanging in his throat finally returned to his stomach.

"Colonel." Sokolovsky raised the document in his hand and asked his adjutant: "The content of the document has not been leaked, has it?"

"No, Comrade Deputy Commander." The colonel said in a positive tone: "The plumber said that since we were under martial law when it got dark, he had no chance to leave the hotel. He originally planned to wait until dawn tomorrow before going out to deliver information. Who was it? Zhi was suddenly arrested by us."

"That's good, that's good." Sokolovsky nodded repeatedly after hearing this: "It's good that it's not leaked. If this document falls into the hands of some people, I'm afraid it will cause an uproar. I’m afraid I won’t be able to get away with it.”

"Comrade Deputy Commander." The colonel asked Sokolovsky for instructions: "What should we do with the plumber? The US military police are still in the hotel and have not left. Should we hand over the suspect to them?"

“No, we can’t leave it to them.” Sokov and Sokolovsky said in unison.

Sokov and Sokolovsky looked at each other and said a little embarrassedly: "Comrade Deputy Commander, it's up to you to make the decision."

But unexpectedly, Sokolovsky handed over the handling of this matter to Sokov: "Misha, if it weren't for you, not only would this murderer be free, but our important documents would also be lost. In the hands of friendly personnel. Therefore, I think it is most appropriate for you to deal with this murderer."

Since Sokolovsky had given himself the power to handle the matter, Sokovsky did not hesitate and said to the colonel: "Colonel, drag him outside and shoot him." Perhaps he was worried that the other party would not understand. He also specifically explained his intention, "I think this plumber must have read the contents of the document. If he is handed over to the American military police to be taken away, it means that our important documents will be leaked. If we want to completely keep this secret , the plumber can only be executed." The colonel agreed with Sokov's statement, but he still said with concern: "General Sokov, anyway, the American military police and the German police are still in the hotel. Here, if we take the plumbers out and shoot them directly, how should we answer if they ask? "

“Let’s just say that he brutally killed our female translator because of an emotional dispute.” Sokov said to the colonel: “This reason alone is enough to sentence him to death.”

"I think Misha's reason is good." Sokolovsky nodded slightly after hearing this, and then said to his adjutant: "Just follow what Misha said and answer the American military police and the German police. I think they There will certainly be no objections.”

After the colonel left, Sokolovsky came to Sokov's side, raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder, and said in a grateful tone: "Misha, you did a great job. If I didn't have you today, We would definitely have thought that the female translator committed suicide, and that the stolen important documents would fall into the hands of unfriendly people tomorrow, causing us countless troubles. But because of your appearance, the case was solved in time. This case and the murderer has been captured, I will report the matter to Marshal Zhukov truthfully. "

Hearing what Sokolovsky said, Sokov couldn't help but feel secretly happy and said repeatedly: "Thank you so much, Comrade Deputy Commander."

"I should be the one to say thank you." Sokolovsky raised his hand and looked at the time, and then said with concern: "Misha, it's getting late, you should go back and rest early."

 When Sokov returned to the room, he found that Agelina had returned.

Seeing Sokov enter the door, Agelina immediately greeted him and asked with concern: "Misha, how is the situation? Have you caught the murderer?"

Just when Sokov was about to speak, two crisp gunshots suddenly came from outside the window.

Hearing the sudden gunshot, Agelina exclaimed and threw herself into Sokov's arms. She asked nervously: "Misha, what's going on? Where did the gunshot come from?"

"Don't worry, Agelina." Sokov gently patted Agelina's back with his hand, comforting her and said, "The gunfire you heard was the colonel leading people to execute the murderer outside. The murderer of translation.”

"What, the colonel is executing the murderer of the female translator?" After hearing what Sokov said, Agelina quickly broke away from his arms, took a step back, looked up at Sokov, and asked in surprise: "What exactly is going on?"

"Agelina, don't worry, listen to me explain slowly." Then Sokov told Agelina in detail the ins and outs of the case, how he discovered the flaws in the case, and quickly identified the murderer. He recounted the story and finally said: "After the colonel led people to arrest the plumber, after interrogation, he confessed to the crimes he committed, so he was shot directly."

"Why should he be shot directly?" Agelina asked puzzledly: "Even if he is the murderer, shouldn't he be handed over to the police station for processing?"

"Agelina, the situation is different." Sokov stopped the smile on his face and said with a serious expression: "After this plumber stole important information from our army, he killed the female translator. If he could leave smoothly, The hotel means that important information about our army will be obtained by people with malicious intentions, which will cause unnecessary trouble. Therefore, the most appropriate way to deal with it is to execute him immediately and completely cut off the leakers. way."

"Oh, that's it." Agelina nodded slowly after figuring out what was going on, and then said with some regret: "I really don't deserve to be that female translator. What a beautiful girl, if she hadn't fallen in love with her... If you kill this plumber, you might not lose your life. By the way, who do you think the plumber is, American or German?”

"It's not important. You just need to know that the other party is an enemy who steals important information from our army." When Sokov said this, he was thinking that before the war, this young female translator must have seen Not the plumber who killed her. But after several years of war, as a large number of young men died, it became difficult for young girls to choose a mate. Their choice of partners is not limited to their own countrymen, as long as they are attracted to the opposite sex, not to mention plumbers in German hotels, even prisoners of war in Soviet prisoner-of-war camps, they don't care.

Sokov couldn’t help but think of Agelina in front of him. If she stayed in Germany for a long time, she might not be able to resist the temptation and would choose a German or American. When he thought about it, his heart felt sour, like a lemon.

Agelina noticed the change in Sokov's face. She was stunned for a moment, and then guessed the other person's little thoughts. After hitting the other person's shoulder with her fist, she lowered her head and said: "Misha, you are doing this to me." No confidence?"

“Ah, no confidence, what’s the lack of confidence?” Sokov was confused by Agelina’s words and asked in confusion: “What do you mean, I don’t quite understand?”

"Hateful, you know exactly what I'm talking about." Agelina blushed and said, "Don't worry, I won't choose anyone else except you."

Sokov couldn't help but feel warm in his heart when he heard what Agelina said. When he was about to say something, he heard someone knocking on the door.

　　Going over and opening the door, I saw that it was Bayer standing at the door.

“Officer Bayer,” Sokov looked at the other person and asked, “What do you want from me?”

Bayer did not speak immediately, but tilted his head and looked into the room from Sokov's side. When he saw Agelina, he immediately greeted her: "Agelina, please come over here. I have something to ask." Report to Comrade General, please translate."

After Agelina came over, Bayer began to speak: "Comrade General, our colleagues in Nuremberg are still collecting shoe prints. How did you shoot the suspect?"

When Sokov heard Bayer's question, he naturally did not tell the other party. He said that we were worried that the plumber would tell others about the stolen information and cause unnecessary trouble, so he killed him and silenced him in advance. He just said tactfully: "Officer Bayer, from all the current signs, there is no doubt that the plumber was the murderer of the female translator. As for why we sentenced him to death so quickly, it was entirely because he was The female translator he killed was a soldier, so we sentenced him to death through a summary military court."

Hearing that Sokov had moved out the military court, Bayer couldn't say anything else, so he could only say a few perfunctory words, then turned and left.