Red Moscow

  Chapter 1588 The escaped pilot

As the friendly forces captured Poltava and moved towards the Dnieper River, all the commanders and fighters of the 27th and 53rd Army Groups stationed on both sides of the Dnieper River began to take active actions, racing against time to hoard ammunition, and prepare to wait for the time to come , launched a full-scale attack on the enemy.

  On this day, when Sokov was busy, he suddenly heard the phone on the next table ringing. Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he saw Derevyanko pick up the phone and listen for a moment, with a look of surprise on his face. When he was hesitating whether he should ask the other party what happened, Derevyanko walked up to Managarov, leaned over and whispered something in his ear.

   After Managarov finished listening, he also confessed something to Derevyanko in a low voice. Because the voice was too low, Sokov couldn't hear clearly at all. After speaking, Managarov got up, called his two military commissars, and left the church.

  Looking at the back of Managarov leaving, Sokov not only frowned, but said something in his heart, and he could actually alarm the senior commander of the 53rd Army?

He coughed lightly, cleared his throat, and was about to ask Derevyanko the reason, but saw that the chief of staff of the friendly army walked out quickly without even saying hello to himself after making a phone call. up the church hall.

   "Comrade Commander," Sameko, who also saw this situation, asked Sokov with some surprise: "What happened? Why did the senior commanders of the 53rd Army leave after answering a phone call?"

   "I don't know." Sokov shook his head and said with a wry smile: "When they come back, we will know what happened."

   After about half an hour, Lunev, who hadn't shown up for most of the day, appeared in the headquarters. He quickly came to Sokov and asked in surprise, "Comrade commander, why are you still here?"

   Sokov was taken aback for a moment, and then asked back: "Comrade Military Commissioner, what happened?"

"I got information that an hour ago, a German Dornier Do217 twin-engine heavy bomber flew over the Dnieper River and flew in the direction of Kremenchug." Lunev said to Sokov: "Due to being intercepted by our army's anti-aircraft artillery fire, the plane changed its course and finally made an emergency landing in the defense area of ​​the 116th Infantry Division."

   "Don't Dornier Do217 heavy bombers attack with a scale of 20 or 30 each time?" Sameko asked a little puzzled, "Why is there only one this time?"

"This is the strange thing." Lunev continued: "The observation post who reported to me said that there was a mechanical failure or the pilot's poor condition. The bomber was flying in the air as if it was drunk. .And when it was intercepted by our army's anti-aircraft artillery fire, it didn't make a decent evasive action, but directly changed its course and flew in the direction where there was no anti-aircraft artillery fire."

Sokov recalled the parameters of the Dornier Do217 twin-engine heavy bomber in his mind, and then asked Lunev: "Comrade military commissar, the crew of this aircraft should be four people. Even if the pilot is not in good health, someone will take over. He is flying, and there will never be a situation where the flight condition is not good. I think there must be something else wrong."

   "Yes," Lunev nodded, and replied: "After the enemy plane made an forced landing, the commanders and fighters of the 116th Division immediately surrounded the plane and captured all the occupants inside."

Hearing this, Sameko had a surprised expression on his face: "Comrade Commander, I understand. Why did the people from the 53rd Army just answer a phone call and all left. They must have gone to the 116th Division. Check out this forced-landed enemy plane."

   "Comrade Commander, I think there is something wrong with it." Lunev waited for Sameko to finish speaking, and immediately said to Sokov: "Why don't we go and have a look?"

   "Yes, Comrade Commander, you should go and have a look." Sameko also echoed: "Find out what's going on."

Sokov was very curious. It is reasonable to say that a German bomber made an emergency landing in the defense zone. After receiving the news, Managarov should have told himself immediately why he left quietly with his deputy. Woolen cloth? In order to find out what happened, Sokov quickly replied: "Okay, let's go and see now."

On the way to the defense zone of the 116th Division, Lunev said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I think there is a problem. Why didn't General Managarov report to you immediately after receiving the report below? You know, they are now under your command."

Hearing Lunev's question, Sokov smiled wryly and said: "Comrade Military Commissar, you should know that our army has already liberated Poltava, and the main force of the Front Army is moving towards Kremenchug. Maybe in the near future In the future, the 53rd Army will no longer accept my command, probably based on this consideration, General Managarov did not communicate with me after receiving the report on today's matter."

  …

   Besides, Managarov took his two military commissars out, got into the jeep parked outside, and asked the driver to go to the 116th Division's defense zone.

  Military Commissar Gorokhov asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, what happened, why did you leave in a hurry without even saying hello to General Sokov?"

"A strange thing happened to the 116th Division, and we need to deal with it immediately." Managarov replied: "After we figure out what's going on, it's not too late to report to General Sokov .”

  Military Commissar Tsarev, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, turned half-turned and asked, "Comrade Commander, can you tell us what happened?"

   "The situation is like this, comrades two military commissars." Managarov explained to the two: "Not long ago, a German heavy bomber made an forced landing in the defense area of ​​the 116th Division..."

   Knowing that it was just a German bomber forced to land, Gorokhov said disapprovingly: "Isn't it just a German bomber? The commander of the 116th Division can handle it. Why should we rush there?"

  Managarov did not immediately answer the other party's question, but continued: "After the bomber made an emergency landing, the commanders and fighters of the 116th Division quickly surrounded the plane and captured all the occupants on board."

   "Isn't this very good," Gorokhov said with a smile: "Not a single German can escape."

   "After our fighters captured these people, they realized that they were not Germans, but ours."

   "Our people?!" Hearing what Managarov said, Gorokhov's jaw almost hit his leg: "Comrade Commander, what is going on?"

   "Those people claimed to be captured by the German army. Today, they stole a bomber and escaped while the enemy was not paying attention."

"It's impossible." Before Managarov finished speaking, Gorokhov raised his voice and said, "The German prisoner-of-war camps are so closely guarded that it is very difficult to escape, let alone drive a German prisoner-of-war camp." It is simply a fantasy to escape from a human bomber."

"Comrade Military Commissar, you are right." Managarov agreed with Gorokhov's statement: "I am also very suspicious of the confessions of those prisoners, so I took you there to see what happened. .”

  When the jeep arrived at the division headquarters of the 116th Division, the division commander, Colonel Stirlitz, and several officers stood outside the door to greet him.

  Seeing that the jeep was stable, Stirlitz hurriedly stepped forward to open the rear door.

  Managarov stepped out of the car, reached out to shake hands with Stirlitz, and asked straight to the point: "Comrade Colonel, where are those people you mentioned?"

   Stirlitz pouted towards a stable not far away, and said, "They are all locked in the stable. If you want to see them, I will ask the soldiers to bring them here."

  Managarov nodded: "Bring them in, I want to ask what's going on."

   A few minutes later, six men in black and white striped prison uniforms walked into the headquarters.

  Managarov looked at the few people and asked, "Who among you brought the bomber over?"

   "It's me, Comrade General." A bearded young man took a step forward and said, "I flew the plane back."

   "What did you do before, why did you fly a plane?"

"I used to be a fighter pilot. During the big air battle in Kuban, my plane was shot down by the Germans, and I was also captured because of injuries." The young man said to Managarov, "Later I was sent to a prisoner of war camp. My daily job is to repair the runway of the German airport. During the repair process, I found a Dornier Do217 twin-engine heavy bomber parked in the German hangar, so I decided to use this plane to escape the prisoner-of-war camp."

Managarov turned his head and looked at the two military commissars sitting next to him, and then continued to ask: "I heard that when the bomber flies in the air, it seems to be drunk. Can you tell me the reason for this?" ?"

   "The reason is very simple, Comrade General." The young man explained, "I'm just a fighter pilot and have never flown a bomber before. I'm even more unfamiliar with this kind of German bomber, so the operation seemed very smooth during the flight."

   Regarding the young man's explanation, Managarov did not express his opinion immediately, but continued to ask: "Are all of them with you?"

"Yes, Comrade General, they are all prisoners of war of the Germans just like me." The young pilot argued to Managarov: "To steal a German bomber from the hangar, one person can I couldn't do it, so I contacted a few companions who seemed smart and eager to escape from the prisoner-of-war camp to carry out the escape plan together.

  After the German plane returned today, I saw that there were no Germans in the direction of the hangar, so I called a few companions to sneak into the hangar. First, I took the time to refuel the plane, and then asked two people to open the door of the hangar, and I started the plane to leave the hangar.

   At the beginning, everything went smoothly without being discovered by the Germans. But since I had never flown this kind of heavy bomber of the Germans, there was a little accident during takeoff, and the two consecutive takeoffs were unsuccessful, which aroused the suspicion of the Germans. They came from all directions, trying to prevent our lift-off. But fortunately, our luck was not bad, and finally took off at the last moment. "

  Derevyanko, who had just arrived at this moment, sneered when he heard what the young pilot said, and asked disdainfully, "Did the Germans just let you escape so easily?"

"Of course not, Comrade General." The young pilot quickly explained to Derevyanko: "The Germans sent two fighter jets to chase us and shoot us with machine guns. If you don't believe me, you can go and see the aircraft on the fuselage. The bullet holes were all left by the German fighter jets. The German fighter planes chased to the vicinity of the Dnieper River and were intercepted by ground anti-aircraft artillery fire before they returned."

  Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Derevyanko waved his hands and said, "This doesn't mean anything. Maybe you are spies sent by the Germans to come to our place to wreak havoc."

   Regarding Derevyanko's questioning, although the young pilot felt bitter, he still explained to him: "Comrade General, we are not spies, but prisoners of war who escaped from the German prisoner-of-war camp."

Derevyanko preconceived, thinking that these people were spies sent by the Germans, naturally he would not believe everything the young pilot said, he turned his head and said to Managarov: "Comrade Commander, the situation is obvious. It is impossible. It is impossible for someone to fly a German heavy bomber and come back from the German airport. This is a conspiracy. I suggest that these spies be executed immediately to prevent them from causing us irreparable losses."

  The people in prison uniforms immediately cried out when they heard what Derevyanko said: "Comrade General, we are really not German spies. You can't frame good people."

Derevyanko automatically blocked the words of several people, but continued to say to Managarov: "Comrade Commander, don't hesitate any longer. These people must be spies sent by the Germans. If they are kept, they will be given to you." We have serious consequences."

"General Derevyanko," before Managarov could speak, a familiar voice suddenly came from the door: "Since there were a few captured tank soldiers who escaped from the enemy's prisoner-of-war camp in tanks, Then why can't there be prisoners of war flying bombers and escaping from the enemy's airfield?"

   Derevyanko didn't look back, and knew that it was Sokov who spoke. He turned around and said to Sokov, "General Sokov, I think there is something wrong with these people. They must be spies sent by the Germans. They should all be executed immediately."

"General Derevyanko, I would like you to take a look at these people in front of you." Sokov pointed to the six people in prison uniforms in front of him, "They are all sallow and skinny, and they are all Germans. Tell me, would such a person be willing to serve as a spy for the Germans?"

   Derevyanko carefully looked at the six prisoners in front of him, and found that, as Sokov said, all of them were skinny and malnourished, and they seemed to have suffered a lot in the prisoner-of-war camp. He vaguely felt that there might be something wrong with his judgment, so he obediently shut his mouth.

"Comrade Commander," Seeing that Derevyanko was silent, Lunev said, "No matter what the origin of these people is, please hand them over to me, and let my people screen them. .”

   It stands to reason that these people were caught in the defense area of ​​the 116th Division. Even if they were to be interrogated, it would be the 116th Division's business. However, since the speaker was Lunev, due to his special status, it was difficult for everyone to raise objections, so they could only silently nod their heads in agreement.

  (end of this chapter)