Sokov took the Istrian battalion to Tula in a truck provided by the 16th Army. After getting off the bus there, they marched on foot for three days, traveling more than 200 kilometers southeast, and arrived at the front headquarters east of Yelets.
However, when they were almost at their destination, they were stopped at a checkpoint. The leader of the team was a corporal. He was not affected by the fact that Sokov's military rank was higher than his own. Instead, he asked dryly: "Comrade commander, which section are you from? Where are you going?"
"We are the Istria Battalion." Belkin replied from the side: "We are preparing to go to the front headquarters."
"Istrian camp, I haven't heard of it." Unexpectedly, the corporal didn't respond to Belkin's words at all. Instead, he asked in an official tone: "Password!"
"No, nothing." Hearing the series of questions raised by the corporal, Sokov said with some laughter and tears: "We just came from Zizdra, how do we know your password?"
"No," the corporal said matter-of-factly, "You can't pass us without a command."
Captain Vasily, the commander of the second company who had endured it for a long time, became angry. He pointed at the opponent's nose and said sternly: "Which part are you from? Find your commander immediately. I want to ask him how he educates his subordinates." He actually adopts this attitude towards his own friendly forces."
"I'm sorry, Comrade Captain." The corporal was also a bully. When he saw Vasily getting angry at him, he replied in a panic: "Our company's command post is four or five kilometers away from here..."
"Call your company commander immediately," Vasily pointed to the wooden sentry box not far away and said, "Call him immediately and tell him the number of our unit."
"But, but..." Seeing Vasily's fierce look, the corporal became more and more panicked: "I'm worried that if I call the company commander rashly, I will be criticized by him."
"Comrade Corporal, I order you." Vasily raised his voice and said to the Corporal: "Why do you think I am looking for him? I want to confirm my identity as soon as possible. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Comrade Captain." The corporal, who was scolded, ran to the post and called his company commander. Prepare to report to him about the presence of an army here.
When the corporal went to make a phone call, Asya squeezed into Sokov's side from behind and asked curiously: "Misha, what happened? Why didn't they let us pass?"
Before Sokov could finish speaking, Seryosha, the police platoon leader, said angrily: "We met a lunatic who actually asked us for a password. We won't be allowed to pass through here without a password."
After making the call, the corporal quickly ran over from the guard box and said to Sokov with a smile: "Comrade Major, I have already called the company commander. He said he will be here right away. Please wait here." For a while."
"I'm talking about comrade corporal." As soon as the corporal finished speaking, Vasily attacked him again: "We have traveled more than two hundred kilometers in the past few days, and the soldiers are very tired. We want to rush to rest as soon as possible, but you are here again If we are blocked here, how long will we have to wait before we are allowed to pass?"
After waiting for more than ten minutes, an open jeep drove over. As soon as the car stopped, the officer sitting in the passenger seat jumped out of the car without even opening the door, came to Sokov, raised his hand in salute and said: "Hello, Comrade Major, I am a front soldier. Captain Sergey, commander of the first company of the Guard Regiment.”
"Hello, Comrade Captain." Sokov raised his hand in return and said politely to Sergei: "I am Major Sokov. Under the orders of the new commander General Rokossovsky, I led the East Pull up camp and rush to the front army headquarters."
"I'm sorry, Comrade Major, I didn't receive any notice about your coming." Sergey waited for Sokov to finish and then said in a humble tone: "It's one o'clock in the afternoon. Please stay here for another half hour. My subordinates will let you pass." After saying that, the captain raised his hand to salute Sokov again, then got into the car and left.
Seeing that the captain didn't play according to the routine, Sokov was also a little dumbfounded. He thought to himself what was going on and why the commander of the guard company came over to meet him. He didn't say anything in detail, but just asked himself to wait for another half. Left after hours?
The corporal standing nearby saw Sokov cast a questioning look at him, smiled awkwardly, and then replied: "Comrade Major, it is said that a special force will pass through here later. Before they pass, all Anyone without a password will not be allowed to pass."
The mysterious force mentioned by the corporal aroused Sokov's great curiosity. He quickly asked: "Comrade corporal, can you tell me what special force it is?"
"I'm sorry, Comrade Major, I can't tell you." The muscles on the corporal's face twitched violently as he said, "Don't say I don't know. Even if I know, I can't tell you. It's confidential."
"Okay, okay. Comrade Corporal." Sokov didn't want to embarrass the other party, so he waved to him and said, "I won't ask anymore, so as not to embarrass you." Then Sokov turned to Belkin and said, " Comrade Belkin, the soldiers must be tired and hungry after walking such a long way. Let them rest where they are after disbanding, and seize the time to eat and drink water."
Belkin nodded, turned around and shouted loudly to the marching column behind him: "Everyone listen to my command: stand at attention! Rest where you are and disband!" Following Belkin's order, the commanders and soldiers of the entire battalion rushed Spread out, find a place to sit in the woods on both sides of the road, and seize the time to drink water and eat solid food.
Half an hour later, a convoy drove up from a distance, with an armored vehicle in front of it and three dark green buses in the middle, but the curtains were drawn on the windows and no one could be seen inside. Behind the bus were two more trucks full of soldiers.
When the corporal saw the convoy approaching, he quickly ordered the soldiers at the checkpoint: "Hurry up and move the roadblock." Upon hearing the corporal's order, the soldiers at the checkpoint quickly ran out from their resting place and tied up the man lying in the middle of the road. The wooden frame covered with barbed wire was removed to make way for the motorcade.
As the convoy passed by, Belkin whispered to Sokov: "Comrade Major, who do you think is in the car? Why are there armored vehicles clearing the way for them, and two cars of soldiers behind to protect them?"
Since he couldn't see what was going on in the car, Sokov had no idea who was in the car. He said casually: "Maybe it's some kind of condolence group?"
"No, it's definitely not a condolence group." Belkin, who once worked in the Army's Political Department for a period of time, said: "I have seen many condolence groups, but I have never seen one with so many officers and soldiers protecting them."
Seryozha, who was next to him, interrupted again: "The corporal at the checkpoint just now said that there is a special force. I think the people in the bus are that mysterious special force."
After the convoy passed the checkpoint, the corporal ran over and said to Sokov: "Comrade Major, the convoy has passed the checkpoint, and your troops can continue to move forward."
Although Sokov wanted to know the information about the special forces, he knew very well that he could not get any valuable information from the corporal, so he did not waste any time and ordered Belkin: "Gather the troops, Ready to move on.”
