Since he didn't know when the friendly forces would arrive to join forces, Sokov ordered Sidorin to call the commanders of each regiment and ask them to closely monitor the movements on the opposite side. Once a battle was discovered behind the German position, it would indicate
The friendly forces are coming to join forces, so be ready to attack immediately.
After arranging all this, Sidorin answered a phone call. After he put down the phone, he said to Sokov: "Comrade division commander, the US military instructors who came to our division in the past two months will follow the weapons and equipment department after dawn.
Return to Moscow together, comrades. Do you want to see them?"
Hearing Sidorin mention the American instructors, Sokov remembered that these instructors had been teaching everyone in the division how to use rocket launchers. Now that they were leaving, he had never seen each other. It would be too rude. Thinking of this, he quickly said to
Sidorin said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please ask those American instructors to come to the division headquarters."
Ten minutes later, five soldiers wearing US military uniforms appeared at the division headquarters. After dealing with them, Sidorin took the initiative to introduce Sokov: "Comrade division commander, let me introduce to you, this is
Lieutenant Lake is the leader of the American instructor team; this is Second Lieutenant Michael; Second Lieutenant Hunter..."
Every time Sidorin introduced someone, Sokov shook hands with the other person and said politely in English: "Thank you!" Seeing the young Soviet colonel in front of him, when shaking hands, he actually thanked himself in English.
, the U.S. military instructors all had friendly smiles on their faces.
After introducing both parties, Sidorin whispered to Sokov: "Comrade division commander, Lieutenant Lake's Russian is good. Don't you want to chat with him?"
Sokov met these American instructors just out of politeness. He originally wanted to say a few words and send them away, but when he heard what Sidorin said, he could only change his mind and prepare to talk to them.
Lake chatted politely.
After inviting everyone to sit down, Sokov looked at Lake and asked: "Lieutenant Lake, how are you? Are you still used to the food and accommodation during the past two months in Mamayev Heights?"
Lake replied with a smile on his face: "Colonel, I understand what you mean. You are worried that we will not adapt to such an environment. Don't worry, this is not our first time on the battlefield, and we can adapt to difficult environments."
"Lieutenant Lake," Lake's answer made Sokov feel more favorable towards him: "I would like to ask where you have participated in battles before. Was it North Africa?"
According to Sokov's idea, well-trained U.S. officers and soldiers usually have experience in the North African battlefield, so he asked such a question. Unexpectedly, Lieutenant Lake shook his head and replied: "My previous combat unit was
In the Pacific, the enemy we have to face is the Japanese, not the Germans."
Hearing that the enemy they fought before was the Japanese, Sokov was very interested. He asked curiously: "Lieutenant, can I ask, when did you start fighting the Japanese?"
"December 7, 1941." Lake replied solemnly.
"December 7, 1941?" Sidorin repeated the date and said in surprise: "Comrade division commander, isn't this the second day of our major counterattack against the German army under the city of Moscow?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, for us, this is the second day of the major counterattack outside Moscow. But for American allies," Sokov said to Lake with a sideways face, "This is a day for the United States to
The day that people will always remember is the day when the Japanese navy launched a surprise attack on the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, causing huge casualties to the U.S. military."
After listening to Sokov's words, Lake showed an expression of astonishment on his face. He asked in surprise: "Colonel, I didn't expect that you actually knew about the Pearl Harbor incident?"
"When I was in Moscow, I heard someone mention it before," Sokov said: "It is said that President Roosevelt delivered a historic speech the next day, and even the isolationist Congress unanimously approved the declaration of war against Japan.
Bill. On the surface, this is a brilliant victory for the Japanese, but from a long-term perspective, it is a disaster for the Japanese. I believe that the U.S. allies will completely defeat the Japanese within one or two years."
"Thank you, Colonel!" After listening to Sokov's words, Lake stood up to express his thanks and said politely: "I believe that the heroic Soviet soldiers and civilians can eventually defeat the German invaders."
After the commercial exchange ended, Sokov changed the subject and asked: "Lieutenant Lake, I heard that before the Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor, a nearby radar station discovered a group of unidentified aircraft on the sea and reported it to superiors.
You must know that there were still twenty minutes before the Japanese air raid started. If your superiors could pay attention to this report, the damage to Pearl Harbor might be minimized."
"The officer who received the report thought it was a wrong report, so he chose to ignore it and ordered the radar station to be closed." Lake said helplessly: "Actually, you can't blame him. As far as I know, he also received the report that day.
He received a strange phone call, which seemed to be a prank, thus affecting his judgment."
"Prank?" Sokov heard for the first time that before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the officer on duty received a prank call, which affected his judgment. He asked with interest: "Lieutenant Lake, do you know about pranks?"
What’s on the phone?”
"At that time, someone called the officer on duty and said that he was a senator and that the Japanese would dispatch aircraft to attack Pearl Harbor at 7:50." Lake said calmly: "But the officer knew about the senator and asked the other party
Where did he call himself, but the other party said that he made the call on the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier, and the captain, Colonel Yeck, was beside him."
"Lieutenant Lake," Sidorin heard this and couldn't help but interrupt and asked: "Is there anything wrong?"
"Lieutenant Colonel, you don't know something." Lake looked at Sidorin and said with a wry smile: "Although the commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet is named Nimitz, there is no Nimitz aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy at all, let alone
There is no captain named Yeck."
When Sokov heard this, he was also confused. As a person from the future, he naturally knew that the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier was built to commemorate the death of the Chief of Naval Operations, the five-star Admiral Nimitz, who was built in June 1968.
Construction started in May, launched in May 1972, and delivered to the U.S. Navy in May 1975. The ship was first incorporated into the Atlantic Fleet, and its home port was the Port of Norfolk on the east coast of the United States; a few years later, it was reorganized into the Pacific Fleet.
The base was changed to Everett Naval Base.
How could someone on an aircraft carrier whose construction only started in 1968 know of its existence in 1941 and call the watch room at Pearl Harbor to warn the ship? This is simply unbelievable.
Seeing Sokov's confused expression, Lake misunderstood what he meant and quickly explained: "It was such a prank call that could not withstand scrutiny, which seriously affected the judgment of the officer on duty, thus making him unable to make the next decision.
During the period, a serious miscalculation occurred, which led to the tragedy of the attack on Pearl Harbor."
After chatting for a while, Lake led his men and left. Sidorin looked at his back and asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade Commander, do you think what he said is true? There is actually someone in Pearl.
Before the attack on the port, a warning call was made to the watch room from an aircraft carrier that did not exist. This is simply ridiculous."
Sokov had doubts in his heart. If what Lake said was true, did it mean that the aircraft carrier that was built more than 20 years later had also traveled to this era? But as soon as this idea came up,
Sokov firmly denied that the Nimitz aircraft carrier has more than 80 carrier-based aircraft, and most of them are two-seat, twin-engine supersonic F-14 fighter jets, which are used to deal with Japanese Navy aircraft.
It's as easy as hitting a baby, so why did we let the Pearl Harbor incident happen?
But Sokov could only ponder this matter silently in his mind, but could not tell anyone. Because this kind of thing was so unbelievable, once he told it, even an old partner like Sidorin would probably put him in trouble.
He regarded it as a mental illness. Therefore, he decided to keep this matter as a permanent secret, bury it deeply in his heart, and never tell anyone.
"It's getting late, let's go back and rest." Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch. Seeing that it was already early morning, he waved to Sidorin and the others and said, "It's not too late to come back to work after dawn.
"
When Sokov walked out of the command post, Anisimov caught up from behind and asked Sokov in a low voice: "Comrade division commander, I think you seem to have something on your mind. Are you still thinking about the ghost aircraft carrier?"
"Ghost aircraft carrier?!" Hearing the word Anisimov said, Sokov asked in surprise: "Comrade political commissar, why do you call it 'ghost aircraft carrier'?"
"Just think about it, someone can actually make a phone call on an aircraft carrier that doesn't exist at all." Anisimov said carelessly: "If this isn't called a ghost aircraft carrier, what else could it be called?"
Sokov didn't want to get entangled with Anisimov on this matter, so he changed the subject in time: "Okay, Comrade Political Commissar, stop talking about the ghost aircraft carrier. That is an American matter, and it has nothing to do with us.
It doesn't matter at all. You must be exhausted these days. Go back and rest quickly. I have important work for you to complete tomorrow."
Hearing that there was important work, Anisimov immediately forgot about the "ghost aircraft carrier" and asked anxiously: "Comrade division commander, can you tell me what it is?"
"I estimate that before we join forces with friendly forces, there will be a large number of German officers and soldiers coming to surrender." Sokov said to Anisimov: "There must be many of them who have scruples, and you are responsible for appeasing them. Understand.
?"
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Anisimov replied resoundingly: "Don't worry, I promise to complete the task well."
This chapter has been completed!