"What happened?" Sokov's first reaction when he heard Belkin say this was that the matter was revealed. He secretly led the team to carry out the mission was discovered by his superiors. He asked guiltily: "Is it because our superiors noticed this action?"
"Comrade radio operator, you go out first." After Berkin sent the radio operator away, he was about to say what was going on, but he accidentally saw Yakov standing behind Sokov. He quickly cast an inquiring look at Sokov, meaning he was asking: Who is this person, do you need to let him leave?
Sokov shook his head and said, "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, I'll introduce you to you. He is the person we want to rescue. You can just say anything if you have anything."
When he learned that the strange man with bandages on his face and only his mouth, eyes and nose was Stalin's son Yakov, Berkin couldn't help but look at him twice. However, he did not call the other party's name recklessly, but said something important to Sokov: "Comrade Battalion Commander, this is the situation. Not long ago, the Army Command prepared to jointly operate with the 61st Army on the right wing to seize the village of Popkovo occupied by the German army. Our division must also participate in this attack. Due to the lack of troops in the division, the division commander Chernesov called me and asked our battalion to draw two companies to participate in this battle."
When Sokov heard that Chernesov was going to draw two companies from the camp, he couldn't help but frown and asked, "When?"
"It was originally scheduled to be transferred out in three days, but I suddenly called half an hour ago and ordered the troops drawn to arrive at Sushinic tomorrow morning." After Berkin finished speaking, he asked Sokov for advice: "Comrade Battalion Commander, what should we do?"
Sokov was thinking that the time to mobilize the troops was suddenly advanced, and something unexpected must have happened, so he asked: "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, has something happened in the past few days when I was not here?"
"Yes," Belkin nodded and replied: "According to the information I have obtained, the German army launched a sudden attack on the defense zone of the 61st Army, and in a very short time, it broke through our army's two lines of defense."
"What, did the German army launch a counterattack on the right wing?" Sokov was a little surprised when he heard the news and asked again: "Have the superiors taken any measures?"
Belkin shook his head and replied, "I don't know, some information is not something that commanders of your and my level can know."
Sokov raised his hand and looked at the watch, saying to Belkin: "If the enemy makes progress on the right wing, then our direction will be attacked; once two companies are transferred, we will not be able to stop the enemy at all. Comrade of the deputy battalion commander, I will immediately go to Sushinic to talk to the commander. The matters in the battalion will be left to you to take charge of."
"Wait," Berkin saw Sokov about to leave with Yakov, so he quickly called him, turned around and took off a brand new military coat from the wall, and whispered to Yakov, saying to Sokov: "Comrade Battalion Commander, it's not appropriate for your friend to wear this outfit to the headquarters. It's better to put this outfit on."
After thanking Belkin, Sokov took the military coat and handed it to Yakov and said, "Let's put it on, let's go to Sushinic to meet the commander."
Soon after Sokov took Yakov away, the radio operator returned to the command post from outside and asked Belkin curiously: "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, who is the weird guy who came in with the battalion commander?"
Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Belkin glared at him and said seriously: "Comrade Radio, your responsibility is to send and receive telegrams, and ask less about things that have nothing to do with you."
…………
Half an hour later, Sokov's truck arrived outside the commander's department and stopped.
After getting off the bus, Sokov said to the driver: "It's not far from the square. You park the car there. I'll go find you after I finish my business." Then he turned around and said to Yakov who had just gotten off the bus, "Let's go!"
Sokov brought Yakov to the commander's office entrance and was about to walk inside, but was stopped by a lieutenant on duty. The lieutenant asked politely: "Comrade Major, what part do you belong to? Is there anything wrong with coming here?"
"I am Major Sokov, the battalion commander of the Istrian battalion," Sokov revealed his identity to the sentry. "I have something important to meet with the commander."
The lieutenant was very vigilant. After Sokov finished speaking, he continued to ask: "Whose order did you receive to come here to meet the commander?"
"No one received the order." Sokov replied truthfully: "I have particularly important information and I should report to the commander immediately. Comrade Lieutenant, please let me in."
"No, comrade Major!" said the lieutenant dryly: "You cannot enter the headquarters casually without the orders of the head of the army. This is the headquarters' important location, please do not stay here!"
Although Sokov hit a nail, he would never give up easily. He stepped forward and held the lieutenant's shoulder and said to him in a deliberate tone: "Comrade Lieutenant, please call Colonel Malining, Chief of Staff, and said that I had something urgent to see the commander. By the way, I almost forgot to tell you that the building where the commander is occupied by me and my troops."
Perhaps the last sentence worked. The lieutenant hesitated for a long time, finally nodded and said, "Okay, I'll call Comrade Chief of Staff. As for his disagreement with you, I can't guarantee it."
The lieutenant walked to the standside, picked up the phone and contacted Malining. He said respectfully: "Comrade Chief of Staff, Hello, I am the star-level officer at the door, and there is a major from the Istrian Battalion..." When he said this, he couldn't help but look back at Sokov and signaled that he could not remember his name. Sokov quickly said "Sokov" in the Istrian Battalion. After hearing it clearly, the lieutenant immediately raised his voice and looked at the microphone. "Major Sokov of the Istrian Battalion, he said he would meet the commander if there was an urgent matter."
When Malining heard that Sokov had an urgent matter to see Rokosovsky, he quickly ordered the lieutenant: "Since he is in urgent matters, let him come in."
"I understand, Comrade Chief of Staff." After putting down the phone, the lieutenant made a call to Sokov and said with a smile: "Comrade Major, please come in."
Sokov took Yakov into the building and found Malining inside. Malining glanced at the "weird man" behind Sokov and asked, "Major Sokov, what's the matter with you to find the commander?"
When Sokov heard Malining's question, he hesitated for a moment. He weighed the interests in his heart, and decided not to tell Malining about this. Then he said vaguely: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what I want to say is normal and needs to report to the commander privately."
Malining had a good impression of Sokov. He heard that he wanted to talk to Rokosovsky in person, so he did not make things difficult for him. Instead, he led the two of them to the room where Rokosovsky was.
Rokosovsky was working with several other army leaders to study how to strengthen the right-wing defense. Seeing Malining bring Sokov and the other two in, he casually asked: "Chief of Staff, is there anything wrong?"
"Comrade Commander," Malinin walked to Rokosovsky and whispered to him: "Major Sokov said there was something important to tell him. I asked him what was going on, but he refused to say it. It seemed that this was quite serious."
Rokosovsky turned around and asked to Sokov, "Sokov, do you have anything to tell me?"
When Sokov entered the door, he carefully observed the people in the room, including Zakharov, the deputy commander of the army, Kazakov, the commander of the artillery, Orel, the owner of the armored soldier, and the military commissioner Lobachev. At this moment, he heard what Rokosovsky said, and he said in embarrassment: "Comrade Commander, I want to talk to you alone."
"Come with me." Rokosovsky walked to the wall, pushed open a door, and waved his head at Sokov, "If there is anything, come in and say."
Just as Sokov was about to step into the small room, Malining called him and said politely: "Major Sokov, please hand over your carry-on weapon."
Sokov knew that this was the rule, so he cooperated very well and handed over the submachine gun and pistol to Malining. Seeing Malining's eyes staring at Yakov again, he quickly said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't worry, he doesn't have any weapons on him."
Rokosovsky and others entered the room, then closed the door and said unhappily: "Misha, don't keep it a secret. If you have any important matters, just say it directly. I'm holding a military meeting."
"Comrade Commander, please wait, the answer will be revealed soon." After saying that, Sokov reached out to help Yakov untie the bandage wrapped around his face.
Rokosovsky sat next to him, wanting to see what the hell was going to do. But when the bandages on Yakov's face were unbuttoned and his true face was revealed, Rokosovsky jumped up from his seat, rushed to Yakov, looked him up and down carefully, pointed at him with his fingers, and said in surprise: "You...you are...Yakov?!"
"Yes, Comrade General." Yakov nodded and gave Rokosovsky a positive answer: "I am Yakov Jugashvili."
"Aren't you captured by the German army? Why did you appear here?" Rokosovsky, shocked, turned his head and asked Sokov: "Misha, tell me what's going on?"
"Comrade Commander, I took people to rescue Yakov from the prisoner-of-war camp." Sokov told Rokosovsky about how he learned about Yakov's whereabouts and how he organized a team to Duminici to attack the prisoner-of-war camp.
After understanding the whole story, Rokosovsky looked at Yakov and asked Sokov: "How many people are there in this matter?"
"There are three people in Istria, one is me, one is the deputy political battalion commander Belkin, and the other is Valerian, who reported the news, but he has already died in the battle." After Sokov finished speaking, he suddenly realized that Rokosovsky also knew about this, and quickly added: "I was wrong. It should be four people, and one of them is you."
Seeing that Sokov controlled the number of insiders to such a small range, Rokosovsky guessed that he must have something to do, and then asked, "Misha, how did you think about this?"
"Comrade Commander, the Germans have been making trouble for Yakov's capture, and we should fight back." Sokov had a complete plan in his mind: "We first sent Yakov back to Moscow, and then declared to the outside world that Yakov had never been captured, but was injured in the battle and hid in a collective farm to recuperate. Now that he has recovered from his injuries, he has returned to Moscow."
Rokosovsky thought about Sokov's proposal for a long time before nodding and said, "This is a solution, but I want to ask Stalin first to see what he thinks."
As soon as he finished speaking, the phone on the table rang. Sokov instinctively looked at the place where the ringing sounded and found that it was a high-frequency phone. His heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and he thought to himself: "Is this a call from Stalin, right?"
Soon, his guess was confirmed, and Stalin's voice came from the receiver: "Comrade Rokosovsky, I'll ask you, the German army broke through the 61st Army on your right wing. Have you taken any measures?"
"Yes, Comrade Stalin." Rokosovsky quickly replied: "We sent troops with tank reinforcements to the right. First, we consolidate our defense line, and second, we are ready to support them when the 61st Army cannot support them..."
After reporting on the work, Rokosovsky noticed that Stalin was going to hang up the phone and quickly said, "Comrade Stalin, I have a very important person here. I want to call you, but I wonder if you allow it?"
If the person who said this was not Rokosovsky, Stalin probably had hung up the phone. He was silent for a moment and ordered Rokosovsky: "Give him the phone."
Yakov walked over, took the microphone from Rokosovsky's hand, and pressed it tightly to his ear. But he didn't speak for a long time. Sokov, who was standing beside him, clearly saw his hand holding the microphone trembling slightly.
"Why don't you speak?" Stalin asked in annoyed when he heard this, "Who are you?"
Chapter completed!