Red Moscow

  Chapter 607 Difficult choice

   "Comrade Brigadier," Bely listened to Asker's translation, and hurriedly approached Sokov's ear, whispering, "Tell me, don't the Germans know that we have already occupied this position?"

"No way?" Sokov heard what Bely said, and said with some surprise: "Our attack here is not a small movement, and it is impossible for the enemy to notice it. Maybe our attack has just begun, and the German commander who is standing here , have already reported to their superiors through the radio.”

"Corporal Bauer." In order to find out what was going on, Sokov cheered up again and asked the prisoner standing in front of him: "According to what you just explained, you are just an engineer. Let you act as a communication soldier?"

"That's right, Mr. Lieutenant Colonel." Seeing that Sokov finally got to the point, Bauer hastily replied respectfully: "During the long battle, our signal troops suffered a relatively large loss, and in the short term, we can't get the most out of them." Supplementary, so the commander will draw manpower from other arms to perform the task of the signal soldier."

"I think such an order can be conveyed through the radio." Sokov saw a corner of the headquarters, a radio station that was damaged by a grenade, and asked thoughtfully: "Why does your superior still want to send a radio station?" Let you go for a trip?"

   "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel!" Bauer quickly replied after listening to the translation: "Because the radio station was broken, the division headquarters could not get in touch with the defenders here, so they sent me here to deliver orders."

   "Where is the command?"

   "Here!" Bauer hastily took out a piece of paper that was folded squarely from his pocket, and handed it to Askell who was standing beside him. After Askel took it, he walked over and handed it to Sokov without looking at it.

  Sokov unfolded the paper, and saw a few lines of letters scrawled on it, but unfortunately he couldn't understand it at all. After pretending to look at it for a while, he handed it to Gurdiyev at the side, and said with a smile: "Comrade Colonel, take a look."

  Gurdiyev Bisokov was self-aware. After he glanced at the other party with contempt, he laughed and said, "Comrade Brigadier, I don't understand German, and I don't understand what is written on it."

  Sokov smiled awkwardly, handed the order back to Askel, and said to him with a blushing face: "Comrade Captain, do you know the words above? Can you read to us what it is."

Askell took the order, browsed through it carefully, nodded, and then said to Sokov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, Bauer did not lie, the content of this order is basically the same as what he said, It is to let them stick to their positions, and absolutely not let our troops outside the encirclement break through the defense and rush to Orlovka to join forces with the troops inside the city."

   "Comrade Brigadier, I can now fully confirm it." Bely suddenly said in shock: "The Germans still don't know that their position is lost!"

   "Is this really the case?" Sokov said something dubious, and then told Askel: "Comrade Captain, ask him, when did he set off from the German division headquarters?"

After asking Bauer, Askell replied to Sokov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, he set off from the German division headquarters an hour ago. Before he set off, he didn't know that this place was already occupied by our army." , otherwise I wouldn’t have rushed over rashly just now.”

After listening to Asker's translation, Sokov looked at Bely and Gurdiyev who were sitting on the left and right, and then asked: "Comrades colonels, do you think what he said is true? "

"Comrade Brigadier," Bely said first, "I can't think of any need for this Corporal Bauer to lie? We don't care whether he is really a member of the German Communist Party, but the orders he carried are indeed As he said, it is to order the enemy standing here to strengthen their defenses, resolutely block the attack of the friendly forces, and prevent them from rushing to Orlovka to join us."

"I think what Colonel Bely said makes sense." Gurdiyev nodded and said, "If the Germans really knew that we had seized this important position, they would have dispatched a large army to attack us. But now there is no movement for a long time, which proves that they have not noticed at all."

  After the two colonels finished speaking, Sokov did not immediately express his opinion. He tapped the table with his fingers lightly, and began to think quickly in his mind. From occupying the position to the present, the series of deployments he has carried out are all in response to the enemy's attack. But just got the news that the German army still didn't know anything about the loss of this important position. Maybe he could make good use of this matter to buy more time.

   "Corporal Bauer." Sokov stopped his fingers, looked up at Bauer, and asked, "After you send the order, what will you do next?"

   Facing Sokov's question, Bauer's face was blank, and he didn't know how to answer it. Seeing Bauer's delay in speaking, Sokov guessed that the other party must not have understood what he meant, and quickly added: "I am asking, after you send the order here, should you return to the division headquarters immediately, or continue to stay here. "

   After figuring out what question Sokov wanted to ask, Captain Ball breathed a sigh of relief, and then replied: "After I send the order, I will return to the division headquarters immediately and report the situation here to the commander."

Sokov thought to himself: If he left Bauer here, the German commander may think that something happened to him on the road when he sees that he has not returned for a long time. Things may be exposed. But before finding out Bauer's true identity, it would be too risky to send him back like this. Maybe all he is doing now is to numb himself, to give himself the illusion that he is a reliable person, and then let him go. And as soon as he returned to the German division headquarters, he would truthfully report the situation here to the German commander without reservation, and the Germans would still know that the position here was occupied by him.

   "How should I deal with this Ball?" Sokov asked himself silently in his heart: "Should I let him go or not?"

After thinking for a long time, Sokov didn't come up with a good solution, so he decided to hand over the contradiction to Bely and Gurdiyev: "Comrades two colonels, this Corporal Bauer who surrendered to us, whether we are Whether to keep him or let him go may lead to the leakage of information about our army's occupation of this place. Tell me, how should I deal with it?"

"I think it's better to let it go." Bely said cautiously: "The Germans know that we have captured this position, but it is only a matter of time. If he answers the German division headquarters and helps us conceal this matter, we can gain more Time for some construction work."

   "What do you mean, Colonel Gurdiyev?" Sokov waited for Bely to finish speaking, then turned to look at Gurdiyev, and asked politely, "Should we let him go or continue to detain him?"

   "In my opinion, it is not impossible to let him go." Gurdiyev said solemnly: "But I think we must first find out his identity. Only when he is worthy of our trust can we let him go back."

  (end of this chapter)