The commander responsible for commanding the German troops in Bryansk direction was Hans von Zalmut, the newly appointed commander of the 2nd Army. After learning that the Air Force had already mastered the air superiority on the battlefield and the counterattack of the reinforcements also successfully crushed the Soviet attack on the second line of defense, he immediately issued an order to the front line troops and continued to attack northward, trying to capture the areas such as Jizdra occupied by the Soviet army again.
Faced with the fierce attack of the German army, both Orlov's infantry army and Sokov's 31st Guard Division fought to the death. They repelled a series of attacks launched by the German army. Although they suffered huge casualties, they finally gained a firm foothold on the first line of defense they occupied.
In order to reduce the pressure on the 16th Army, Zhukov ordered the 10th and 61st Army on the left and right wings to take active action and launch an attack on the German defense depth. Although the troops commanded by the two generals Popov did not make any progress, they effectively restrained the enemy's forces and prevented them from attacking the 16th Army with all their strength. This was the front line between the Soviet and German sides, and was stabilized on the first line of defense occupied by the Soviet army.
In the early morning of June 22, Sokov was standing at the gate of the division, looking at the bright sky and saying to Potugin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, although Moscow does not have white nights like Leningrad, the sky tonight is really bright."
"Yes, the summer solstice is the longest day in the year." After hearing this, Portojin nodded and said, "The reason why he chose this day was because the long daytime time can extend their combat time to achieve greater results."
While the two were chatting, a communications soldier suddenly ran out of the division headquarters and reported to Portukin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, there is a phone call from the front line to find you."
Pottojin looked at the communications soldier and asked, "Who's the call?"
The correspondent trooper quickly replied: "It was Captain Jetrov, the battalion commander of the 1135th Regiment."
Sokov was eager to know that Jetrov was calling at this time and something important was happening, so he returned to the command center with Potukin.
Potukin picked up the microphone and put it in his ear and said, "Is it Captain Jetrov? Is it Lieutenant Colonel Potukin! Is there anything?"
Sokov, who was sitting next to Potukin, heard Jetrov's excited voice: "Comrade Chief of Staff, Matt Vie and Norma, who had just gone out to carry out his mission, caught a prisoner in the minefield in front of the position."
"Catch a prisoner?" After hearing Jetrov say this, Potukin and Sokov both showed a look of surprise on their faces. The prisoners usually caught in the minefield are mine-clearing engineers. Their mission is to open up a road in the minefield and prepare for the upcoming attack. Therefore, after a moment of silence, Potukin asked, "Is it an engineer?"
"No, Comrade Chief of Staff." Jetrov said hesitantly: "Yes...a female soldier."
"What, female soldier?" Jetrov's words almost made Potukin and Sokov's chins hit the ground directly. They thought to themselves, "Can't the Germans find anyone to be engineers? Even women are sent to minefields to clear mines." Because the news was so shocking, both of them ignored Jetrov's identity as engineers.
Sokov pointed at the phone and clicked a few times, and ordered: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please ask Captain Jetrov to send someone to send the female captive here immediately. We must find out why she appeared here."
After hearing this, Potukin nodded, then said to the microphone: "Comrade Captain, the division commander ordered: send the prisoners here immediately, we will conduct interrogation."
After Potukin put down the phone, Sokov immediately asked him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is there anyone in the division who understands German?"
Potukin thought for a while, then shook his head: "It seems that there is no!"
"Oh, why did I forget him?" Sokov was a little disappointed when he heard that no one in Potukin's teacher understood German. Sudov suddenly remembered that Asia knew German and could have her as an interpreter. Thinking of this, Sokov quickly picked up the phone and called the Istrian camp. When he heard Belkin's voice, he said straightforwardly: "Hello, Comrade Belkin, I am Sokov. There is an important task and needs Asia to help. You can send someone to send her here immediately."
The Istria camp station was only five or six minutes away from the division headquarters. Asia soon arrived at the division headquarters. Asia and Sokov met again after a long separation, and were particularly excited, but in front of the staff and correspondents in the division headquarters, she still reported to Sokov according to the regulations: "Comrade Commander, the health officer Asia is ordered to come, please give instructions!"
If it were a private occasion, Sokov might give Asia a warm hug, but in this formal occasion, he could only say seriously: "Comrade Asia, we will interrogate a prisoner later. Since there is no German-speaking person in the division, I will call Belkin and ask him to send someone to you."
Hearing that Sokov let himself come here to be a translator, a hint of disappointment flashed in Asia's eyes. However, she still straightened her body and replied: "Comrade Teacher, please rest assured, I will definitely translate for you."
Potukin had long heard of the story between Sokov and Asia. Seeing the two of them talking seriously in front of them, they deliberately did not expose them, but instead asked: "Comrade Asia, I heard that there was a surrendered German prisoner in your camp. He was usually responsible for the translation work. Why didn't he come today?"
"Report to Comrade Chief of Staff," Asia replied dryly to Potukin, "Corporal Ernst was injured in the battle two months before and was sent to the military hospital in the rear, and has not been discharged yet."
After chatting for a few more, Matvi and Norma brought the prisoners to the division headquarters. Sokov saw the female prisoner who was standing in the middle by the two. He was tall and wearing a fitted German corporal uniform, with his hands tied behind him. However, he was wearing a black hood on his head, and he couldn't see clearly what the other party looked like.
Somehow, when he saw this female captive, Sokov felt a very familiar feeling in his heart. He pointed his hand at the stool in the middle of the room and ordered Matvey: "Comrade Sergeant, let her sit on the stool."
After Matvi pressed the female prisoner on a stool, Sokov, who sat back at the table, ordered Matvi again: "Take off the hood on her head." Hearing Sokov's order, Matvi quickly took off the hood on the captain's head. As soon as the hood was taken off, Sokov saw that there was a piece of rag in the mouth of the female prisoner, so he made a gesture to Matvi, indicating that he would take out the rag. After Matvi truthfully executed Sokov's order, he took a step back and stood behind the captain with Norma holding a submachine gun.
Seeing the female prisoner looking disheveled, Sokov was not interested in looking at him carefully, so he turned his head to look at Asia standing behind him: "Asia, ask her name, military rank and position."
Just as Asia was about to translate Sokov's words into German, the female captive suddenly exclaimed, and then asked in skillful Russian with excitement: "Are you...are you...mi...misha?"
When Sokov heard the other party call out his nickname, he was surprised and thought to himself that he was so famous in Germany? Even a German corporal knew his name, and it was a nickname. He narrowed his eyes and looked at the female captain, wanting to see who he was.
"O my God!" Asia exclaimed, then rushed over Sokov, hugged the female prisoner, and said excitedly: "Is it you, Ajelina?"
Ajelina?! Hearing this familiar name, Sokov suddenly stood up from his seat, rushed over a few steps, lifted the hair on the female captain's face with his hand, and looked at the other party carefully. "It's really Ajelina," After confirming that the prisoner who was held in Asia's arms was Ajelina who had not seen him for a long time, Sokov walked to Matvey, pulled out a dagger from his waist, and cut off the rope that tied Ajelina's hands.
"Ajelina," Sokov and Asia sat down with their hands on their left and right, and asked with concern: "Where have you been to these months, and why did you appear here?"
Portokin quickly waved to Matve and the others, signaling them to retreat first, then personally fetched a basin of water and placed it in front of Ajlina, asking Asia to help her wash her face.
"Ajelina," After Asia helped Ajelina get dressed up, Sokov repeated the question just now: "Where are you in these months and why are you here?"
Ajelina looked up at Sokov and said, "A few months ago, I was sent to Bryansk by my superiors to serve as an interpreter in the headquarters of the 2nd German Army."
When he heard that the other party was working as a translator in the German headquarters, Sokov suddenly thought of the two unidentified telegrams in his mind, and asked quickly: "So, did you send those two unidentified telegrams?"
The surprise on Ajelina's face flashed away, and she nodded and said with certainty: "Yes, I sent those two telegrams."
"But why did you invent the coded telegram?" Potukin, who was standing beside him, had seen two telegrams with his own eyes. After seeing Ajelina admit that it was her telegram, he asked in confusion: "Don't you know that the Germans can receive it while our army receives the telegram. In this way, wouldn't you put you in a dangerous situation?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I guess I may know the reason." Sokov raised his hand and stopped Potukin and continued to ask. The interface said: "What happened to the comrade in charge of sending the newspaper, so that Ajelina had to risk using a clear telegram in order to deliver the message."
"Yes, Misha, that's what you said." Ajelina nodded and said with certainty: "The radio operator who cooperates with me is an elderly shoemaker. Every time I have any information to pass on, I go to the shoe store to find him in the name of shoe repair. But last month, he was suddenly arrested and there was no news. In order to spread the information I obtained, I could only risk using a clear telegram to send messages."
"How did you appear here?" Sokov thought to himself, it was hundreds of kilometers away from Bryansk. How did you, a weak female, appear on the front line?
Ajelina saw Sokov's suspicion of herself and quickly explained: "I sent two clear telegrams in a row, and I was suspicious of the Germans, but they couldn't catch any handle on me and didn't dare to do anything to me. But in this way, I could never get any valuable information from them. It happened that during the day, the chief of staff of the Army of the Group took me to the front line for inspection. I took the opportunity to sneak out and wanted to climb into our position, but I was captured by two soldiers before I could pass through the barbed wire."
Hearing Ajelina say this, Sokov was shocked and sweated. Although Jetrov's report said that Ajelina was caught in the minefield, the real minefield was behind the barbed wire. If it were not for Matvi and Norma, they had caught Ajelina in time. Waiting for her fate, she would either be killed by a landmine or be shot and killed by the soldiers on duty on the position. Therefore, he said with lingering fear: "Fortunately you did not crawl into the barbed wire, otherwise we would have to collect your body now."
After taking a sip of the hot tea that Asia handed her, Ajelina looked at Sokov and asked, "Misha, can you send someone to the Front Army Command? I have important information and need to hand it over to my superiors immediately."
"I don't have the ability to send you to the Front Command." Sokov saw Ajelina taking the initiative to change the topic, and knew in his heart that the secrets she had were not something that he could know at his level. However, it was impossible to send her directly to the Front Command, and he could only pass it through the Army Command. "But I can send you to the Army Command first and ask them to send someone to the Front Command."
Sokov picked up the phone on the table and answered the Army Command. When he heard someone talking inside, he immediately spoke: "I am Major Sokov, the commander of the 31st Division of the Guards. I have important things to report to the commander."
After Sokov finished speaking, the person who answered the phone said lazily: "Major Sokov, Comrade Commander is sleeping. If you have anything to do, you can tell me."
Sokov didn't know who was answering the phone, so naturally he couldn't reveal such a confidential matter to the other party casually. Since Rokosovsky was sleeping, Malining might not be sleeping too. So he continued: "Sorry, what I said is very important. If the commander is not convenient to answer the phone, please ask the Chief of Staff to answer the phone."
Not long after, Malining's familiar voice came from the receiver: "I am Malining, Major Sokov, is there anything urgent?"
After hearing Malining's voice, Sokov first glanced at Ajelina who was sitting next to him, and then said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, the person who invented the code telegram for us is sitting next to me at this moment. She said there was something important and needed to rush to the Front Command immediately. Can you send someone to pick her up?"
After Sokov finished speaking, Malining asked vigilantly: "Major Sokov, are you sure she is the one who invented the telegram?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov replied affirmatively in response to Malining's doubts: "I have dealt with her before, she is a very reliable person, and I believe that what she said is true."
Chapter completed!