Chapter 2726

Just after cleaning the horse manure in the carriage, Vlasov and his guard came back.

His driver came over and asked: "Comrade General, you are going to Moscow by train, so what should I do? Should I follow the truck team back to Nezhin?"

Vlasov only remembered at this moment that he had forgotten the driver. He thought for a while and said: "Comrade driver, you stay here. Maybe I will need your car when I return to Kiev."

"Okay, Comrade General." The driver heard what Vlasov said and said helplessly: "Then I will wait for you here."

After entering the carriage, Vlasov also smelled the stench inside and couldn't help frowning.

Sokov quickly explained to him: "Comrade General, this carriage provided to us by the station was originally used to transport war horses. Just now I saw that the ground was full of hay and horse manure, so I asked the soldiers to clean it up, but the smell could not be dissipated in a short time."

"It's okay." After listening to Sokov's explanation, Vlasov said generously: "It will be fine in a while."

"Comrade General," Sokov asked curiously: "What arrangements will we make after we arrive in Moscow later?"

"I just called the garrison headquarters." Vlasov said: "General Artemyev, the commander of the Moscow garrison, will send someone to pick me up at the station."

Knowing that someone would pick him up at the station later, Sokov felt at ease. In this way, this makeshift army will have a place to stay when it arrives in Moscow.

After eight hours of bumpy ride, the train entered Moscow.

When the soldiers got off the train and were lining up on the platform, a major walked over quickly with two soldiers.

He came to Vlasov, raised his hand to salute, and said politely: "Hello, General Vlasov, I am sent by General Artemyev, the commander of the Moscow garrison, to pick you up. The car is next to the platform, please follow me."

But Vlasov stood still and said to the major: "Comrade Major, what should I do with these soldiers who came with me?"

When the major came over, he saw the troops lining up on the platform, but he didn't think much about it. He thought it was a temporary troop from somewhere. After all, such troops appear in the railway station every day.

At this moment, hearing what Vlasov said, he turned his head to look at the troops on the platform and asked in surprise: "Comrade General, are they all coming with you from Kiev?"

"It is a troop I temporarily recruited in Nezhin." Perhaps because he was worried that the major would look down on this troop, he also emphasized: "They have achieved great results on the battlefield, so I decided to let them escort me to Moscow."

After hearing this, the major turned around and said a few words to a soldier beside him.

After the soldiers left, the major said to Vlasov: "Comrade General, I have asked someone to contact the station to see if they can lend us a few trucks, so that these soldiers can follow us to the garrison headquarters."

A few minutes later, the soldier came back and reported to the major: "Comrade Major, the vehicle has been contacted and will arrive in a few minutes."

"Comrade General, the car has been contacted." The major said to Vlasov: "Let's go to the parking lot."

The troops came to the parking lot next to the platform, where there were only two black cars.

The major ran to one of the black cars, opened the back door, and said to Vlasov: "Comrade General, please take this one."

"Wait a minute, Comrade Major." Vlasov said: "I will wait for the soldiers to get on the car, and it will not be too late to get on the car."

More than ten minutes later, the soldiers all boarded the trucks that drove over and followed the car that Vlasov was riding in, heading towards the garrison headquarters.

"Sokov," Andre asked curiously, "How do you think the garrison headquarters plans to arrange us?"

Sokov looked out the window. He saw many patrols along the way, some of them were soldiers and some were militiamen. The patrols composed of soldiers usually consisted of five or six people, while the patrols composed of militiamen were in platoons.

"Andre, did you see those patrols on the street?"

"Yes." Andre nodded and said, "The rifles carried by those militiamen are probably antiques from World War I. They are okay for scaring criminals in the city, but if they go to the battlefield, such weapons will cause them great losses."

"Andre, I think that in order to stop the German army's advance, the Supreme Command has sent out all the troops that should be sent. There are only a few garrison troops and some newly formed militia divisions left in the city. Let alone fighting, I am afraid that they can't adapt to the task of patrolling in the city, so after we go to the garrison headquarters, we may be incorporated."

"Sokof, is everything you said true?" Andrei asked in surprise, "Will we really be incorporated into the garrison headquarters? But on the way here, didn't General Vlasov keep saying that he hoped we would serve as his guard and escort him back to Kiev after his new appointment?"

"Before coming to Moscow, I really didn't know that the situation in the city had become so bad." Sokov shook his head and said, "If the enemy rushes into the city in the future, it may not be the regular troops who fight them, but these improvised militias."

"I said, comrade soldier," the conversation between Andrei and Sokov was heard by the driver. When he heard Sokov say that the enemy might rush into Moscow, he couldn't help but say, "You are simply a defeatist argument."

"Defeatist argument?" Hearing what the driver said, Sokov was stunned: "Why do you say that?"

"Have you forgotten that the city we are in is called Moscow?" the driver said with a straight face: "Except for Napoleon who once broke into this city, no invader has ever entered this city. Never before and never will in the future. There will be.”

Sokov muttered in his mind: "Didn't the descendants of Genghis Khan also conquer this city? Even Kiev on the right bank of the Dnieper River was occupied."

"Although the Germans are coming with force, I heard that they have been blocked by the Southwest Front in Ukraine, and Belarus has been blocked by the heroic Western Front." The driver said confidently: "I believe it won't be long before they They will be driven out of our country, let alone anywhere near Moscow.”

When Sokov heard this, he understood that this driver had probably never seen a real battlefield. Everything he knew was from battle reports or what he heard from other people's mouths, so he was so blind. of confidence. He had just met the driver not long ago and was not interested in arguing with him. Instead, he listened quietly to him explaining his point of view.

"Comrade soldier," the driver saw that Sokov did not refute, thinking that he had been silenced by him. He couldn't help but feel complacent in his heart, and continued: "It is impossible for the Germans to approach Moscow at any time. Your assumption is completely unfounded. At best, your thoughts are panic; at worst, they are defeatist arguments. Fortunately, you said these words in front of me. If someone from the Ministry of Internal Affairs hears it, you will definitely. Will be imprisoned in Lubyanka."

"Comrade driver, how can you say that?" Hearing what the driver said, Andrei was angry: "You said that others can, but you can't say that about Sokov. You know, he was alone two days ago. Captured a German armored column. If such a record were known to the Supreme Command, the Supreme Commander himself might personally award him a medal. "

Unexpectedly, the driver sneered at Andre's statement: "Pull him down, he can kill a German tank by himself, which is considered very impressive, and he also captured an armored column, which is simply a fantasy."

Seeing that Andre was still arguing with the other party, Sokov raised his hand to stop him: "Andre, stop talking. Comrade driver obviously doesn't believe that I have such ability. No matter how much you say, he will Thought we were bragging.”

Andrei closed his mouth. He felt that what Sokov said made sense. The driver was simply unreasonable. He was just chatting with Sokov. He was a driver, so he was interrupting. Listen to his tone. , as if he were from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

But Sokov realized a serious problem from the driver's attitude. Since the Soviet army had not suffered a disastrous defeat in Kiev at this moment, everyone did not have a clear understanding of the cruelty of this war. They thought that the war situation would soon reverse, and the arrogant German army would suffer a devastating blow and be driven out. national borders. It is precisely because of this kind of blind optimism that people like the driver think that it is impossible for the German army to reach near Moscow.

The convoy arrived at the compound where the garrison headquarters was located. After all the soldiers got off the bus, the driver drove back to the train station.

"Comrade General," Sokov came to Vlasov and asked him for instructions: "What should we do?"

"Comrade Major," Vlasov turned around and asked the major next to him: "I wonder how you plan to place my men?"

The major called a captain in the yard and told him: "Captain, this is a company from the Southwest Front. You are responsible for placing them in the barracks. After arranging their accommodation, you will take them to the restaurant for dinner." , They have been traveling for a day, they must be hungry."

The captain nodded, turned around, walked up to Second Lieutenant Dennis, and asked, "Second Lieutenant, are you the company commander of this unit? Please bring your people with me, and I will arrange a place for you to stay."

Unexpectedly, as soon as the captain finished speaking, Vlasov, who was standing not far away, came over and said to him: "Comrade Captain, you are mistaken. He is not the company commander, but the deputy company commander. The company of this company There is someone else."

The captain glanced at the collar badges of the soldiers and found that except for Second Lieutenant Dennis, no soldier wore the rank of an officer. He couldn't help but asked in surprise: "Who is it, Comrade General?"

"Here, it's him." Vlasov pointed to Sokov and said to the captain: "He is the commander of this company."

"What, he is the company commander of this company?" the captain said in surprise: "But he has no military rank at all?"

"Although he does not have a military rank now, it does not mean that he cannot be a company commander." After Vlasov said briefly, he urged the captain: "Captain, take them to the barracks quickly."

"Comrade company commander," the captain said to Sokov respectfully, "please take your company with me and I will arrange a place for you to live."

After the major waited for his men to leave with Sokov's company, he said to Vlasov: "General Vlasov, comrade commander should be impatient. Let's go over now."

Vlasov shook hands with Artemyev in his office and said with a smile: "Comrade Artemyev, the last time we met was before the war broke out."

"That's right." Major General Artemyev, commander of the Moscow garrison, nodded and said, "To be precise, we met at the May Day parade this year. We had a long talk at that time to discuss whether a war would break out."

"Well, I remember." Vlasov continued, "I said at that time that the probability of a war breaking out was very small because the Germans could not fight on two fronts at the same time. But now it seems that I underestimated the madness of the mustache. He actually dared to rashly launch an attack on our country when the war with Britain was not over yet."

"What's the situation in Kiev?" Artemyev continued to ask, "I heard that you have successfully crushed the German army's conspiracy to occupy Kiev on the march. , I think it won't be long before they launch a full-scale counterattack against the Germans. "

"Comrade Artemyev, I think you may be disappointed." Vlasov's expression became serious: "According to my observations and the changes in the battlefield situation, it is simply impossible to launch a full-scale counterattack against the enemy in a very short period of time."

"Ah, why?" Artemyev asked in surprise: "But the reports we have seen and heard say that the enemy's attack has been successfully contained by our army, and even anti-war organizations have emerged within the German army, unwilling to continue to participate in this unjust war. In addition, the workers in the rear military factories have also begun to slack off, and the supplies to the front line are all substandard. ammunition. "

After listening to Artemyev's story, Vlasov couldn't help but smile bitterly: "Comrade Artemyev, these are just a propaganda method for the morale of the army and the people. The actual situation on the battlefield is more severe than you think."

"Is the situation in Kiev really as General Zhukov said, it has reached a point where it is difficult to save?" Artemyev said cautiously: "I heard that General Zhukov suggested to Comrade Stalin that according to the current situation in Kiev, there is no need to hold on, so he plans to withdraw the main force of the Southwestern Front to the vicinity of Moscow. For this reason, he was relieved of his post by Comrade Stalin and appointed as the commander of the reserve front. "

"Artemyev Comrade, General Zhukov said this at the end of July, and the situation in Kiev is even more serious now than it was then. "Vlasov said with a serious expression: "With the mechanized forces of the Southwestern Front being completely destroyed in the Battle of Uman, we no longer have enough tanks to deal with the German armored forces, and can only use infantry to fight tanks. So when facing the enemy's armored assault, our army will pay a heavy price."

As the two were talking, the phone on the table rang. Artemyev picked up the phone and listened for a moment, then replied: "I understand, I will immediately send General Vlasov to report to the Kremlin."

After hanging up the phone, Artemyev said to Vlasov: "Vlasov, we should go to the Kremlin."