Red Moscow

  Chapter 606 Singing

  While Sokov was talking to Bely, there was a clear gunshot from the south, followed by the firing of submachine guns and machine guns.

"Damn, what's going on here?" Sokov heard the dense gunfire, and instinctively looked south, but he didn't see any traces of the enemy. He quickly called Guchakov and ordered Said: "Guchakov, go to Colonel Gurdiyev and ask, what happened and why did you shoot the guns indiscriminately?"

   Soon after Guchakov left, the dense gunfire became sparse. Bely looked in the direction of the gunfire, and said thoughtfully, "Comrade Brigadier, it was Gurdiyev who spotted the enemy's scouts, and that's why they shot."

"Can the enemy's scouts have several people, so that the machine gun and the submachine gun can fire at the same time?" Sokov said displeasedly: "Just a few minutes ago, I estimate that at least thousands of bullets were consumed. If the ammunition runs out, When the Germans charge up, are you going to bayonet them?"

Seeing that Sokov got angry, Bely quickly persuaded him: "Comrade Brigadier, don't worry, when I see Colonel Gurdiyev later, I will criticize him for you so that he will not waste ammunition casually in the future." You know, we have been fighting in Orlovka for two days, and the ammunition is almost exhausted. If we don’t save some money, we may have to let the soldiers fight the enemy with bayonets.”

Guchakov, who went to inquire about the news, quickly ran back to Sukov: "Comrade Brigadier, I have figured it out. The sentry found a German soldier on a motorcycle coming towards us. Shots were fired."

"Nonsense, it's nonsense. When you see a German soldier, you shoot at random. Come, come with me," Sokov angrily walked a few steps along the communication trench to the south, and suddenly remembered Bely and the 292nd Division. The liaison officer was still there, stopped again, and said to Bely: "Comrade Colonel, you stay here. If there is anything, you can deal with it."

   When he came to the unfinished trench, Sokov saw that the soldiers were all lying in the trench, with their guns pointing into the distance. After following Guchakov and running to Gurdiyev's hidden position, he asked bluntly, "Comrade Colonel, what happened, why did you shoot indiscriminately?"

"Comrade Brigadier," Gurdiyev replied with a blushing face, "while we were repairing the fortifications, the sentry on duty saw a two-wheeled motorcycle coming towards us. The driver of the motorcycle was a German As a soldier, he instinctively pulled the trigger, which caused all the soldiers on guard duty to fire."

  Sokov looked outside, only to see a two-wheeled motorcycle lying on the ground fifty or sixty meters away, but no one could see it. Sokov turned his head and asked Gurdiyev strangely: "Comrade Colonel, where is the German motorcyclist? Why didn't I see him?"

   "In the bomb crater, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Before Gurdiyev could answer, a young soldier next to him answered first, "The Germans are hiding in the bomb crater."

After figuring out that the Germans were hiding in the bomb crater, and listening to the occasional gunshots in the trenches, Sokov frowned and said to Gurdiyev: "Comrade Colonel, the bullets fired from the rifle can't turn, but there is no way." Hit the Germans hiding in the craters. Tell the soldiers to stop shooting and stop wasting precious bullets."

   "Send my order!" Gurdiyev hurriedly ordered to the soldiers beside him: "Let everyone stop shooting!"

  After the gunfire on the position stopped, Sokov saw a steel helmet rising from a bullet crater in the distance, and quickly retracted it, probably because he was worried that there were snipers in the position here. However, shortly after the helmet was retracted, a strange sound suddenly came from the crater. A soldier listened to it for a while, and suddenly cried out in surprise: "The Germans are singing!"

   "Singing?!" Gurdiyev couldn't help being taken aback when he heard the soldier say this. "He's dying, so what else is he singing?"

   "Don't talk." Sokov who was lying next to them interrupted them, and said to himself: "Although I can't hear what he is singing, the tone seems familiar."

   "It's The Internationale, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, the little soldier went on to say: "I heard clearly, he sang The Internationale."

   "Damn, how is this possible?" Gurdiyev stared at the crater in the distance with wide eyes, and said in an unbelievable tone: "How can the Germans sing "The Internationale"?"

   As for the Little Soldier, Sokov has no doubts. "Unbreakable Alliance" will not become the national anthem of the Soviet Union until 1944, but today's national anthem is "Internationale". He listened for a while, and realized that although the Germans were singing in German, the melody of the song was undoubtedly "The Internationale".

  Sokov turned his head and said to Gurdiyev: "Comrade Colonel, send some people over to bring that German soldier over. Remember, don't shoot, catch him alive."

  Gurdiyev nodded, then called a second lieutenant and asked him to lead a few soldiers towards the bomb crater in the distance. As they walked, the soldiers shouted: "Hunder Hoch! Hund Hoch!"

  The German who was hiding in the crater was very cooperative. When he heard someone shouting "Hender Hoch", he quickly walked out of the crater with his hands raised high. Probably because of worry, he still sang "The Internationale" in German.

   Seeing that the Germans showed no sign of resistance, the second lieutenant rushed forward with his soldiers. First, they searched the German soldier for any weapons, and then he cut his hands behind his back and walked towards the position.

Looking at the German soldiers being escorted over, Sokov asked Gurdiyev curiously: "Comrade Colonel, who do you think he is? Why did he sing "The Internationale"? Could he be a member of the German Communist Party? I remember that a few hours before the outbreak of the war, a member of the German Communist Party defected to our army and reported the news that Faxi Temple was about to attack our country."

   But Gurdiyev said vigilantly: "Comrade Brigadier, just after we arrived here, a member of the German Communist Party came to surrender to us. Is this too coincidental?"

   It was the first time Sokov saw such a German soldier who voluntarily surrendered on the battlefield. When he heard the other party sing "The Internationale", he felt ecstasy in his heart, thinking that the other party was his comrade. But at this time, when he heard Gurdiyev say this, he couldn't help but shake his mind again: "Comrade Colonel, who do you think he is?"

"I think he may be a spy sent by the Germans." Gurdiyev said with confidence: "I have seen more than one time that the Germans sent spies who pretended to surrender, and some even carried a False party certificates."

   "Are there any soldiers in your division who understand German?" Sokov looked at Gurdiyev and said, "We must first find out who he is and why he is here."

   "No." Gurdiyev shook his head and replied with a wry smile: "It turns out that the division had a staff officer who knew German, but unfortunately he died in the battle. Now there is no one in the division who understands German."

   Just as Sokov was considering whether to send the captives to the 24th Army Headquarters for interrogation by someone who knew German there, he heard someone calling his name behind him. Turning around, it turned out that Bely and Askel were walking towards him along the traffic trench.

   Bely came to Sokov and asked curiously: "Comrade Brigadier, what happened? I seem to have seen our soldiers capture a German soldier."

  Hearing Bely's inquiry, Sokov told him what happened just now, and finally said with regret: "It's a pity that there is no one who understands German, otherwise we can also find out who he is."

   "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I understand German." Unexpectedly, as soon as Sokov finished speaking, Askel, who was acting as the liaison officer, stepped forward and said, "I can act as an interpreter for you when you interrogate the prisoners."

   Seeing that Asker actually understood German, Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed. After expressing his thanks to the other party, he prepared to interrogate the captives on the spot. Unexpectedly, Bely stopped him: "Comrade Brigadier, there are too many people talking here, it's inconvenient. I think it's better to go back to the headquarters and interrogate the prisoners there."

   When Sokov and the others occupied the position, the enemies who were hiding in the headquarters bunker were killed by the soldiers with grenades because they refused to surrender. Sokov thought the smell of blood was too strong, and he was still reluctant to go in, but now that Bely had brought it up, he couldn't object anymore, so he could only bite the bullet and agree.

  Sokov and the others came to the command post, and just sat down when the prisoners were brought in. Sokov saw clearly that the other party was a young soldier of medium build with short blond hair, and asked casually, "What's your name?" Askel quickly translated Sokov's words to the captives.

   "My name is Bauer." After the prisoner finished saying his name, before Sokov asked again, he took the initiative to say the number of his division, as well as his rank and position.

   Knowing that the other party was just an ordinary engineer corporal, Sokov felt that he lacked interest. According to his thinking, what important military information can an ordinary soldier know? If the other party hadn't surrendered voluntarily and sang "The Internationale", he might have been dragged out and shot. Anyway, there is no condition to take prisoners now.

  Seeing that Sokov was absent-minded, Gurdiyev guessed that he was not interested in this kind of shrimp, so he took the initiative to ask instead of him: "What are you doing here?"

   Hearing Gurdiyev's question, Bauer quickly straightened up and replied, "Send the order!"

   "Convey the order?!" Sokov suddenly became interested: "What order?"

Although Bauer didn't know Sokov's identity, seeing that the two colonels sitting next to him treated him respectfully as a lieutenant colonel, he guessed that he was the person in charge here, and quickly answered honestly. Said: "The division's order stated that due to the shortage of soldiers, it is temporarily unable to deploy forces to strengthen the defense here. I hope they can resolutely block the Russian attack."

  (end of this chapter)