Promotion in rank and new uniforms are not as attractive to the female soldiers as the box of soap Sokov placed on the table. Sokov, who came to inspect the air defense position, did not come empty-handed. In addition to bringing new military ranks to the company commander, and more than 20 sets of small military uniforms, he also brought this box from the quartermaster. Blackmail” soap. He said to the company commander Lyuba seriously: "Captain Lyuba, there are thirty-five bars of soap in this box. I will give you the right to distribute them. It is up to you to decide how to distribute them."
"Thank you, comrade battalion commander." Liuba saw the box of soap on the table, and tears filled her eyes with excitement: "On behalf of all the soldiers in the company, thank you! Salute!" She raised her hand to her forehead, Salute to Sokov. The female soldiers around him also followed their company commander's example and saluted Sokov.
None of them knew that the battalion commander, who made them burst into tears of gratitude, secretly left five bars of soap to give to his sweetheart Asiya.
When Sokov returned to the command post, he saw only one operator sitting in front of the walkie-talkie in the room, but Belkin was missing. He casually asked the radio operator: "Where did the deputy battalion commander go?"
He didn't expect to get any satisfactory answer from the operator, but the operator unexpectedly replied: "He took a few soldiers to the high ground to deliver new uniforms to the soldiers of the Third Company."
"Oh oh oh, I know." Sokov nodded and walked towards his seat, wanting to sit down and drink some tea, and later send Asya the five bars of soap he had secretly left behind.
As soon as he was holding the teacup, he heard the radio operator say: "Comrade Battalion Commander, a soldier just came to you and asked for something very important."
"Which company is he from?" Since arriving here, no soldier has ever come to the command post to look for him. Sokov asked curiously: "Did he say there was anything important?"
"I don't know which company he belongs to. But he is wearing a new military uniform and is not in good health. He looks very sick. He should be a soldier who has just been rescued from a prisoner of war camp." The operator was reporting to Sokov. Suddenly he saw someone walking along the traffic trench outside, and he quickly called Sokov: "Comrade Battalion Commander, come and see, he's here again."
Sokov tilted his head and looked out the door, and sure enough he saw a tall and thin soldier wearing a brand new military coat walking towards here along the traffic trench. Soon, the soldier came to a stop outside the door, straightened his body and shouted: "Report!"
"Come in!"
The soldier walked up to Sokov, raised his hand and saluted: "Comrade battalion commander, tank platoon soldier Valerian reports to you!"
Sokov felt that the other person came to him twice, and there must be something important, so he smiled and asked: "Valerian, what do you want from me?" Valerian did not answer immediately, but turned his head. He glanced at the operator sitting not far away, seemingly apprehensive.
"Comrade radio operator," Sokov guessed that what the other party was going to say must be very confidential, so he ordered the radio operator: "You go out first."
After the operator got up and left, Sokov said to Valerian: "Okay, comrade soldier, there are only two of us here, what can you say."
Valerian was silent for a moment, and then said: "Comrade Battalion Commander, if you don't mind, I would like to introduce you to my previous unit."
Seeing Valerian speaking in a garrulous manner, Sokov felt a little impatient, so he urged: "Comrade soldier, if you have anything to do, please tell me. I will be leaving soon, so I can only I’ll give you three minutes.”
"Before I was captured, I was a tank driver in the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Regiment of the 14th Tank Division under the 16th Army, with the rank of second lieutenant." Valerian heard the impatience in Sokov's tone, so he stopped talking. Nonsense, but simply say: "I was captured in the battle of Smolensk."
Sokov was a little absent-minded at first, but when he heard the other party said that he had also been a member of the 16th Army, he couldn't help but become interested. He looked at Valerian and listened patiently as he continued.
"Our division suffered heavy losses in the battle," Valerian said expressionlessly: "Except for a few lucky comrades who broke through the encirclement, the rest were either captured or sacrificed. Those who were captured with me at the time Among his comrades, there is Lieutenant Yakov Dzhugashvili..." At this point, he suddenly stopped.
Seeing that he stopped mid-sentence, Sokov urged him: "Comrade soldier, keep talking. Why did you stop talking in the middle of the sentence?"
After Sokov finished speaking, he saw Valerian staring at him as if he were a fool and said nothing, so he asked confusedly: "What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"
"Comrade Battalion Commander," Valerian asked with shock on his face: "You actually don't know who Yakov Dzhugashvili is?"
"Who is he? Why should I know an ordinary tank soldier lieutenant?" Sokov finished this sentence casually, and suddenly remembered the Yakov Dzhugash mentioned by Valerian. Who is Vili? He suddenly jumped up from his seat and asked in surprise: "Comrade soldier, are you talking about Yakov Dzhugashvili, the son of the Supreme Commander himself?"
"Yes, that's him." Valerian nodded and gave Sokov a positive answer.
Sokov asked in surprise: "Wasn't he sent to Germany a long time ago?"
"No, he has been in a prisoner-of-war camp not far from Moscow." Valerian said shockingly: "At least a week ago, he was staying with me in a prisoner-of-war camp in the Kozelsk area."
"This is impossible, this is impossible." After Sokov heard this earth-shattering news, his first reaction was that Valerian was lying. Maybe he was a spy sent by the Germans, so he shouted at him: " Smolensk is several hundred kilometers northwest of Sushinich. Even if the Germans did not imprison him in the local prisoner of war camp, they would imprison him in a prisoner of war camp as far west as possible. How could he be sent to What about the prisoner-of-war camp in the Kozelsk area? Moreover, according to the information I received, he was sent to Germany soon after being captured and was imprisoned in the Overagox concentration camp."
Seeing Sokov being so excited, Valerian did not explain. Instead, he waited for him to have an attack before speaking: "Comrade Battalion Commander, what I said is true. The reason why we are locked up in the Kozelsk area is In the prisoner of war camp, the Germans were always ready to make a fuss about him. As for the Yakov in the German concentration camp, he was fake. He was impersonated by another officer who looked very similar to him. His name was Obest Jeni. Chef.”
"Why?" Sokov sat in his seat and asked breathlessly: "Why did the Germans arrange a fake Yakov in a concentration camp in Germany?"
"I heard from the guards that there were several special teams that rescued Yakov, but unfortunately they all failed." Valerian said thoughtfully: "They arranged a fake Yakov in Germany. , probably to divert everyone’s attention so that the rescuers can’t figure out where Yakov is.”
Valerian's explanation was reasonable and made Sokov think that this might be the case. He was silent for a long time and then asked: "Then do you know where Yakov is now?"
"I know." Valerian walked to the table, pointed to the map spread out on it and asked, "Is it okay?" After getting Sokov's permission, he pointed to a location and said, "Here is This small prisoner-of-war camp can only hold more than a hundred people, and there are not many guards. Yakov should have been detained here after being taken away from the prisoner-of-war camp in the Kozelsk area."
Sokov stared at the position of his finger and discovered that it turned out to be Duminic, a small city fifty kilometers south of Susinich. It was full of forests, lakes and swamps, and the possibility of establishing a prisoner-of-war camp was high. However, Sokov did not express an opinion. He just looked at Valerian and asked: "Comrade soldier, since you know the whereabouts of Yakov, why didn't you report it to your superiors when you were rescued?
"I reported it!" Valerian said with a bitter look on his face: "But no one believed it, and some even threatened me, saying that if I was talking nonsense, I would be shot."
As Valerian spoke, Sokov kept looking into his eyes to determine if he was lying. Fortunately, the final observation proved that he was telling the truth. Sokov waved his hand at him and said: "Comrade soldier, please go back and rest first. I will immediately send someone to verify the situation you mentioned. Remember, you are not allowed to tell anyone about this matter."
"Understood, Comrade Battalion Commander." Seeing that Sokov finally believed his words, Valerian showed a happy smile on his face. He raised his hand to salute Sokov, then turned around and strode out of the command post. .
