On the early morning of March 8th, Sokov, who was about to leave for Sushinich, suddenly received a call from Malinin. The Army Chief of Staff asked bluntly on the phone: "Comrade Major, are you leaving?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I'm getting ready to leave." Sokov knew that Malinin must have something important to call if he called at this time, so he quickly asked carefully: "I wonder what your instructions are?"
"That's right. During the battle in the past two days, didn't you capture a female second lieutenant of the German Army's communications corps?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov held the microphone and looked across the hall. He saw the beautiful female second lieutenant, covered with a thin blanket at the moment, curled up and sleeping in the corner. , "She has been detained in my battalion command post."
"When you come to Suhinich, take her with you."
"What, take her with you?" When he heard Malinin say this, Sokov's heart sank and he secretly thought that he was going to send her to a prisoner of war camp? If such a delicate woman like her were really sent to a prisoner-of-war camp in Siberia, she would probably die in less than two months. Thinking of this, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Chief of Staff, may I ask why she was brought to Susinich?"
After Sokov finished asking, he noticed that Malinin seemed to be covering the microphone with his hand, and he was asking the person next to him for instructions in a low voice. He guessed that Ma Lining might be asking the other party if he could let him know the truth. After a while, Malinin's voice came from the receiver again: "Major Sokov, you are going to the army headquarters soon anyway. You will know about this sooner or later, so I won't hide it from you. This is Elizabeth. Her fiancé Andreas, an anti-fascist and a leader of the underground resistance organization, was murdered in a German concentration camp two weeks ago."
The fiancé of a German female second lieutenant was a member of an underground organization and was killed by the Germans. Based on Malinin's story, Sokov immediately thought of a possibility and asked hurriedly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, so it is possible that she is also on our side?"
"We still need to do further verification on this matter." Malinin did not say anything more, but just urged Sokov: "Major Sokov, hurry up and come here, Comrade Commander is ready to set off at nine o'clock sharp. "
After learning that Elizabeth might be one of his own, Sokov suddenly felt much better, because this way, she would not be sent to a labor camp in Siberia, and what he was worried about would not happen. He quickly came to Elizabeth's side, leaned down, gently pushed her shoulder a few times, and whispered at the same time: "Wake up, Elizabeth, wake up..."
Elizabeth, who was sleeping soundly, sat up suddenly after being woken up by Sokov. She hugged the blanket to her chest and asked warily: "Mr. Major, what do you want to do?"
"Elizabeth, don't be afraid." Sokov grinned and said to her, "I'm here to send you on your way." As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly realized that he seemed to have said something wrong. He was originally going to send her to the army headquarters. Why did she feel like she was going to be sent to the execution ground when she said it?
When Elizabeth heard what Sokov said, she put aside the blanket in her arms, arranged her hair with her hands, stood up, and faced Sokov and said righteously: "I'm ready, where are you going to shoot me?" I?"
Seeing that the other party had indeed misunderstood what he meant, Sokov was a little dumbfounded. He hurriedly waved his hands and explained to the other party: "You misunderstood. When I said about going on the road, I meant to send you to the army headquarters, not to shoot you." .”
After he said this, seeing that Elizabeth was still vigilant, he quickly added: "I know that your fiancé Andreas is an anti-fascist and the leader of an underground organization..."
The name Andreas immediately made Elizabeth's vigilance disappear without a trace. She exclaimed, grabbed Sokov's arm, and asked excitedly: "Where is Andreas now? Is he okay?" Bar?"
Sokov was eager to bring Elizabeth to the Army Headquarters, so naturally he would not tell her the news that Andreas was killed by the Germans, but said vaguely: "Elizabeth, I have been ordered to take you to the Army Headquarters. Regarding the specific situation of Andreas, I think someone will tell you when we get there."
Elizabeth learned that she could get the exact information about her fiancé when she arrived at the army headquarters, so she couldn't wait any longer. She grabbed Sokov's arm and walked out of the church. At the same time, she said anxiously: "Mr. Major, what about that?" Let’s leave now.”
There is a jeep parked outside the church. This was specially sent by Zhukov after the Istrian battalion occupied the town of Maklaki, saying that it would facilitate Sokov's travel.
Sokov and Elizabeth got into the back seat of the car. As soon as the door was closed, Sokov told the driver: "Comrade driver, drive! We must reach Sushinich within an hour."
"Don't worry, Comrade Battalion Commander." The driver said without looking back, "I will definitely send you to Susinich on time."
"Mr. Major," after the jeep started, Elizabeth changed her usual reticence and said to Sokov a little chatteringly: "Since last October, I was ordered to be transferred to the Eastern Front, I have never seen my fiancé again. I wrote him more than a dozen letters, but he didn’t reply to any of them, and I don’t know what happened to him, which made me feel uneasy..."
Although Sokov already knew that Elizabeth's fiancé died in the concentration camp, he could not tell the other party. He could only pretend to be interested and listen carefully to the story Elizabeth told. By the time the story was finished, Sokov was completely convinced that Elizabeth had already become a staunch anti-fascist like Andreas. She works in the communications department of the German army and must have some special tasks. If he hadn't considered that his level was not high enough and that Elizabeth didn't fully trust him, he would definitely have broken the pot and asked.
The jeep came to a stop at the door of the Army Group Headquarters. The officer on duty at the door saw Sokov getting out of the car and immediately came over and asked, "Is that Major Sokov?"
"Yes, I'm Sokov."
"Hello, Comrade Major." The officer saluted Sokov, turned to look at Elizabeth behind him, and asked, "Is this the Second Lieutenant Elizabeth you brought?"
When Elizabeth heard the officer ask her name, she quickly stepped forward and replied: "Yes, I am Elizabeth!"
"Ms. Second Lieutenant, I was ordered to come here to pick you up." The officer turned his body to the side of the road, pointed towards the building and said: "Please follow me, I will take you to the director of the Political Department. .”
