Red Moscow

Chapter 2391

 The convoy moved towards Fengtian.

After driving for a while, Sokov saw through the car window a herdsman's tent not far from the roadside. In the open space next to the tent, five men dressed as herdsmen were sitting around a fire. They were holding a loaded sheepskin bag in their hands, shaking it rhythmically.

“Stop!” Seeing this, Sokov quickly ordered the driver to stop.

 As the jeep Sokov was riding in stopped, the entire convoy also stopped one after another.

After Bezikov got out of the car, he walked to Sokov's window and asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, why did you stop?"

Sokov pointed at the herdsmen not far away and asked curiously: "Comrade Major, go ask those herdsmen what they are doing?"

Although Bezikov felt that Sokov ordered the convoy to stop for such a trivial matter, it was a bit of a fuss. But since the other party gave the order, he could only obey and walked towards the herdsmen with two soldiers.

Lukin, who was sitting next to Sokov, looked at the herdsmen, frowned slightly, and said thoughtfully: "I think they must be making something edible."

Sokov was full of doubts about Lukin's statement, but he couldn't refute him for such a trivial matter. He could only turn his attention to the busy herders. Seeing Bezikov and others walking towards them, there were panic expressions on their faces, but they still sat on the ground and did not move, and continued to shake the bulging sheepskin bags with their hands.

Soon, Bezikov walked up to the herdsmen and started talking to them. Because he was too far away, Sokov couldn't hear what Bezikov was saying, but he could clearly see the surprised expression on Bezikov's face at first, and then he burst out laughing. After asking a few more questions, he returned with the soldiers and reported back to Sokov.

“Major Bezikov,” Sokov asked impatiently when he saw Bezikov approaching him, “What are they doing, and why are they shaking the bulging sheepskin bags around the fire?”

"Comrade Commander, I have already asked, they are making butter." Bezikov said: "The sheepskin bag is filled with milk and cow dung burned on the fire. This is to provide a certain temperature for the milk. As it continues to shake, the milk in the sheepskin separates the oil and water and turns into butter."

"Oh, so that's what happened." After listening to Bezikov's introduction, the strange knowledge in Sokov's mind increased again. He nodded and told Bezikov: "Comrade Major, let the convoy continue. Set off!"

After waiting for the car to restart, Sokov said to Lukin with a smile: "Comrade Deputy Commander, you guessed it right, they are indeed making food."

“I really didn’t expect that the butter we eat is actually made this way.”

 After several hours of driving, the motorcade arrived at the outskirts of Fengtian.

 Here, the convoy encountered the first checkpoint.

 Looking at the red flag flying above the wooden house next to the checkpoint, Sokov had a smile on his face. He turned to Lu Jin and said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, have you seen the red flag on the checkpoint? This should be a checkpoint set up by the 4th Guards Airborne Division."

"Yes, yes." Lukin agreed with Sokov's statement: "I saw the sentry at the checkpoint, wearing the uniform of our army." But a surprised expression soon appeared on his face , "What's going on? Why are there still Kwantung Army soldiers at the checkpoint?"

When Sokov heard this, he was immediately shocked and quickly concentrated on looking forward. Sure enough, at the checkpoint ahead, in addition to seven or eight soldiers wearing Soviet military uniforms, there were also many people wearing Kwantung Army uniforms wandering back and forth. He was also confused. Since this checkpoint was controlled by airborne troops, why were there still little Japs?

Just when I was puzzled, Lu Jin suddenly said: "Misha, I remember you said that due to the limited strength of our army in Fengtian, it may be difficult to control the whole city, so let Afuning The general asked the Kwantung Army to allocate some manpower to assist our army in maintaining order in Fengtian City."

"Yes, yes, that's what happened." After Lu Jin reminded him, Sokov immediately remembered that he had indeed given such an order, and nodded quickly: "I did give such an order to mobilize the Kwantung Army. The troops helped us maintain order in the city. Later, General Afuning reported to me that in order to prevent the Kwantung Army from rioting, he issued wooden sticks to the Kwantung Army soldiers who helped us maintain order. Look, at the checkpoint Are those Kwantung Army soldiers holding wooden sticks in their hands?"

"Yes, they are indeed wooden sticks." After Lu Jin observed carefully for a while, he also said with a smile: "In this way, even if they want to riot, they have to think about it. With the few wooden sticks in their hands, they can Will it cause waves in the city?"

Although the Kwantung Army soldiers who helped maintain order were only equipped with wooden sticks and became the stick army in Fengtian City, Sokov was still worried about them. He began to think that after entering the city, he must form a new army. , to maintain order in the city. Thinking of this, he turned to Lu Jin and said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, letting the soldiers of the Kwantung Army assist us in maintaining order is just a temporary measure. Although they have laid down their weapons, the headquarters will issue orders on how to deal with them. Before, they were still our enemies. Therefore, I felt it was necessary to organize a force composed of local people to help us maintain order in the city."

Hearing what Sokov said, Lu Jin couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise: "Is this possible for a troop composed of local people? How do you plan to solve the problem for them with the troop numbers, weapons and equipment, and various supplies?" According to Lukin's idea and Sokov's were purely whims. If a new armed force composed mainly of local people was really formed, I am afraid that all logistical supplies would have to rely on his own troops, thus increasing the burden on the logistics department.

 But what Sokov said next was far beyond his expectation: "Comrade Deputy Commander, we do not have to bear the burden of the equipment and supplies of this unit."

"We don't need to bear the burden?" But Lu Jin still said uneasily: "Then where do their equipment and supplies come from? They can't fall from the sky, right?"

"There are many military warehouses of the Kwantung Army inside and outside Fengtian City, which contain the weapons and equipment and various military supplies they need." Sokov said to Lu Jin with a smile: "We will open the warehouses and let them take whatever they want. , take as much as you can."

However, Sokov's statement was immediately refuted by Lu Jin: "Misha, we have indeed captured a lot of Kwantung Army warehouses, but what should we do with the weapons, ammunition and various materials in the warehouses? Our army level You are not qualified to make the decision, and you need to wait for orders from superiors. If you open the warehouse without authorization and let a newly formed army take away the supplies, I am afraid someone will cause you trouble in the future. "

Sokov did not expect that his idea would be opposed by Lukin. He couldn't help but frown and began to think about how to persuade the other party. Although he is the commander of the group army, if everyone's opinions are not unified, I am afraid there will be a lot of trouble in the future. Lujin saw Sokov frowning and thinking, and knew that his words had embarrassed him, so he quickly added: "Misha, if you really want to form such an army mainly composed of local people, you must It is not difficult to deal with their weapons, equipment and logistical supplies."

“Comrade Deputy Commander, do you have any good ideas?”

"It is obviously impossible to openly open the warehouse and let the new troops transport the materials inside." Lu Jin said: "But if the soldiers guarding the warehouse accidentally fell asleep while on duty at night and were sneaked in, Stealing some supplies doesn’t seem like a big deal.”

"Understood, Comrade Deputy Commander." Lu Jin woke up the dreamer. This opinion of Lu Jin made Sokov feel his eyes light up. Although he could not openly provide weapons, ammunition and various military supplies to the new troops, he could But it allows them to use the darkness to enter the warehouse and take what they need. He grabbed Lu Jin's hand, shook it vigorously twice, and said excitedly: "On behalf of the new unit that is about to be established, I would like to express my gratitude to you."

After Lukin and Sokov shook hands, he asked another key question: "Misha, who do you plan to put in command of this new army?"

"There are two candidates now." Sokov said: "I used to be optimistic about Captain Feng, but today another Lieutenant Chen came, and he seems to be suitable to be the commander of this new force. Comrade Deputy Commander, If you had to choose, who would you choose?"

"If I had to choose, I would definitely choose Lieutenant Chen without hesitation." After Lu Jin said this, seeing Sokov looking at him in surprise, he continued: "Although Captain Feng has a higher rank, , but don’t forget, he is the intelligence section chief of the International Brigade. He may be better at intelligence, but when it comes to commanding a newly formed unit, I think Lieutenant Chen, who is the company commander, is more suitable."

Sokov has always been good-natured. He nodded and said, "Comrade Deputy Commander, you are right. Captain Feng is the intelligence section chief. Commanding troops is not his specialty. This new unit will be commanded by Lieutenant Chen." , he can serve as political commissar."

"Political commissar?" Lukin couldn't help but asked in surprise when he heard Sokov's job title: "Misha, how many new troops do you plan to form?"

Sokov wanted to form a force of tens of thousands and put it under the command of Lieutenant Chen and Captain Feng. However, these two were former company commanders, so it was obviously inappropriate for them to suddenly assume the position of division commanders. Moreover, it was impossible to recruit so many soldiers in a hurry. He thought for a while and said: "First give them a strengthened battalion structure. In an ordinary battalion, the battalion commander's deputy position is the instructor; while they strengthen the battalion's political workers, they can serve as political commissars."

After listening to Sokov’s words, Lu Jin nodded slightly: “I think it’s okay, I’ll do as you say.”

When the convoy passed the checkpoint, the sergeant leading the convoy reported to his superiors on the phone: "Report to the company commander, the commander's convoy has just passed our checkpoint and is heading towards the city."

The company commander knew that Sokov was coming and did not dare to neglect, so he quickly reported the matter to all levels. With little effort, Army Commander General Afunin knew the news of Sokov's arrival, and quickly came out to greet him with commanders above the battalion level of the 4th Guards Airborne Division.

 The convoy stopped outside the building where the headquarters is located. As soon as the car stopped, Afuning stepped forward, opened the rear door, and respectfully asked Sokov and Lukin to get out of the car. Among the people who came, Yakov was not there. He asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, I wonder where the Chief of Staff has gone?"

"He is still staying in Zhengjiatun." Sokov said: "I asked him to set up the new headquarters in Fengtian City. He stayed in Zhengjiatun just to wait for the members of the headquarters who came from Saulon."

“Oh, so that’s what it is.” Afunin called to Sokov and Lukin and said, “Commander, Comrade Military Commissioner, outside is not the place to talk. Please go inside.”

 Sokov and others stayed in Fengtian, while Captain Feng continued to rush to Xinjing with his men to find Commander Yang's head.

Sokov came to Afuning's office and saw that the room was spacious and luxuriously decorated. He couldn't help saying with emotion: "General Afuning, I really didn't expect that you would have such a luxurious office after you came to Fengtian. I really I envy you so much.”

Afuning laughed dryly and said, "Comrade Commander, if you like this office, then I will give it to you."

"No need." Sokov said casually, without any intention of occupying this office. He waved his hands and said: "I just said casually, you should continue to work here. Now, you report to us After you entered Fengtian, you took over something."

Afunin had already guessed that Sokov would ask these things, so he quickly picked up a document bag on the table and handed it to Sokov.

Sokov saw that the document bag was bulging, and there must be a lot of documents in it, so he waved his hand to Afunin and said: "With so many documents, I will definitely not be able to finish them all in a while, so you should briefly Introduce it to me.”

Afnin agreed, took out a small notebook from his pocket, flipped through a few pages, and reported to Sokov the information he had compiled.

Sokov spent five minutes listening to Afunin's report. He nodded with a smile and said in an approving tone: "General Afunin, you did a good job. Although you only entered the city for two or three days, you He knows everything about the situation here."

 After a pause, Sokov continued to ask: "Is there any difficulty?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Afuning said: "The city of Fengtian is too big, and we only have a few thousand people from one airborne division. To control the entire city, the force is obviously not enough. Although we have left part of Kanto The soldiers of the army help us maintain order in this city, but no matter what, they are our enemies and always a security risk. Therefore, I hope to transfer the other two divisions of my unit to Fengtian. I wonder what your following is like?”

 (End of this chapter)