Since he didn't know when the friendly forces would arrive to join forces, Sokov ordered Sidorin to call the commanders of each regiment and ask them to closely monitor the movements on the opposite side. Once a battle was discovered behind the German position, it would indicate The friendly forces are coming to join forces, and they must be ready to attack immediately.
After arranging all this, Sidorin answered a phone call. After he put down the phone, he said to Sokov: "Comrade division commander, the US military instructors who came to our division in the past two months will return to Moscow after dawn along with the comrades from the Weapons and Equipment Department. Do you want to meet them?"
Hearing Sidorin mention the American instructors, Sokov remembered that these instructors had been teaching everyone in the division how to use rocket launchers. Now that they were leaving, he had never seen each other. It would be too rude. Thinking of this, he quickly said to Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please ask those American instructors to come to the division headquarters."
Ten minutes later, five soldiers wearing US military uniforms appeared at the division headquarters. Sidorin had dealt with them and took the initiative to introduce Sokov: "Comrade division commander, let me introduce to you. This is Lieutenant Lake, the leader of the American instructor group; this is Second Lieutenant Michael; Henry Special second lieutenant..."
Every time Sidorin introduced someone, Sokov shook hands with the other person and said politely in English: "Thank you!" Seeing the young Soviet colonel in front of him, when shaking hands, he actually thanked himself in English. The U.S. military instructors all had friendly smiles on their faces.
After introducing both parties, Sidorin whispered to Sokov: "Comrade division commander, Lieutenant Lake's Russian is good. Don't you want to chat with him?"
Sokov met with these American instructors just out of courtesy. He originally wanted to just say a few words and send the other party away, but after hearing what Sidorin said, he could only change his mind and prepare to have a polite chat with Lake.
After inviting everyone to sit down, Sokov looked at Lake and asked: "Lieutenant Lake, how are you? Are you still used to the food and accommodation during the past two months in Mamayev Heights?"
Lake replied with a smile on his face: "Colonel, I understand what you mean. You are worried that we will not adapt to such an environment. Don't worry, this is not our first time on the battlefield, and we can adapt to difficult environments."
"Lieutenant Lake," Lake's answer made Sokov feel more favorable towards him: "I would like to ask where you have participated in battles before. Was it North Africa?"
According to Sokov, well-trained American officers and soldiers usually have experience on the North African battlefield, so he asked this question. Unexpectedly, Lieutenant Lake shook his head and replied: "My previous combat unit was in the Pacific. The enemy we had to face was the Japanese, not the Germans."
Hearing that the enemy they fought before was the Japanese, Sokov was very interested. He asked curiously: "Lieutenant, can I ask, when did you start fighting the Japanese?"
"December 7, 1941." Lake replied solemnly.
"December 7, 1941?" Sidorin repeated the date and said in surprise: "Comrade division commander, isn't this the second day of our major counterattack against the Germans outside Moscow?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, for us, this is the second day of the major counterattack under Moscow. But for the American allies," Sokov said to Lake with a sideways face, "this is a day for the United States to The day that people will always remember is that the Japanese navy attacked the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor on this day, causing huge casualties to the U.S. military."
After listening to Sokov's words, Lake showed an expression of astonishment on his face. He asked in surprise: "Colonel, I didn't expect that you actually knew about the Pearl Harbor incident?"
"I heard someone mention it before when I was in Moscow." Sokov said: "It is said that President Roosevelt delivered a historic speech the next day, and even the isolationist Congress unanimously approved the declaration of war against Japan. Bill. On the surface, this is a brilliant victory for the Japanese, but from a long-term perspective, it is a disaster for the Japanese. I believe that the U.S. allies will completely defeat the Japanese within one or two years."
"Thank you, Colonel!" After listening to Sokov's words, Lake stood up to express his thanks and said politely: "I believe that the heroic Soviet soldiers and civilians can eventually defeat the German invaders."
After the commercial exchange ended, Sokov changed the subject and asked: "Lieutenant Lake, I heard that before the Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor, a nearby radar station discovered a group of unidentified aircraft on the sea and reported it to superiors. You must know that there were still twenty minutes before the Japanese air raid started. If your superiors can pay attention to this report, the damage to Pearl Harbor may be minimized."
"The officer who received the report thought it was a wrong report, so he chose to ignore it and ordered the radar station to be closed." Lake said helplessly: "Actually, this cannot be blamed on him. As far as I know, he also received the report that day. He received strange phone calls that seemed to be a prank and affected his judgement."
"Prank?" Sokov heard for the first time that before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the officer on duty received a prank call, which affected his judgment. He asked with interest: "Lieutenant Lake, do you know about pranks?" What’s on the phone?”
"At that time, someone called the officer on duty and said that he was a senator and that the Japanese would dispatch aircraft to attack Pearl Harbor at 7:50." Lake said calmly: "But the officer knew about the senator and asked the other party Where did he call himself, but the other party said that he made the call on the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier, and the captain, Colonel Yeck, was beside him."
"Lieutenant Lake," Sidorin heard this and couldn't help but interrupt and asked: "Is there anything wrong?"
"Lieutenant Colonel, you don't know something." Lake looked at Sidorin and said with a wry smile: "Although the commander-in-chief of the Pacific Fleet is called Nimitz, there is no Nimitz aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy, let alone There is no captain named Yeck.”
Sokov was also confused when he heard this. As a person from the future, he naturally knows that the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier was built in memory of the deceased Chief of Naval Operations and five-star Navy Admiral Nimitz. Construction started in June 1968, and was launched in May 1972. Delivered to the U.S. Navy in May 1975. The ship was first incorporated into the Atlantic Fleet, and its home port was the Port of Norfolk on the east coast of the United States. A few years later, it was reorganized into the Pacific Fleet, and its base was changed to Everett Naval Base.
How could someone on an aircraft carrier whose construction only started in 1968 know of its existence in 1941 and call the watch room at Pearl Harbor to warn? This is simply incredible.
Seeing Sokov's puzzled expression, Lake misunderstood what he meant and quickly explained: "It was such a prank call that could not withstand scrutiny, which seriously affected the judgment of the officer on duty, thus making him incompetent next time." During the period, a serious miscalculation occurred, which led to the tragedy of the attack on Pearl Harbor."
After chatting for a while longer, Lake slapped his men and left. Sidorin looked at his back and asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade Commander, do you think what he said is true? Someone actually gave him a gift from a non-existent aircraft carrier before the attack on Pearl Harbor. The duty room called to warn the police, this is simply ridiculous.”
Sokov had doubts in his heart. If what Lake said was true, did it mean that the aircraft carrier that was built more than 20 years later had also traveled to this era? But as soon as this idea came up, Sokov resolutely rejected it. The Nimitz aircraft carrier has more than 80 carrier-based aircraft, and most of them are two-seat, twin-engine supersonic F-14 fighter jets. It was as easy as an adult to beat a baby to deal with the Japanese navy's aircraft. Why did we allow the Pearl Harbor incident to happen?
But Sokov could only ponder this matter silently in his mind, but could not tell anyone. Because this kind of thing is so unbelievable, once he says it, even an old partner like Sidorin will probably think of himself as a lunatic. Therefore, he decided to keep this matter as a permanent secret, bury it deeply in his heart, and never tell anyone.
"It's getting late, let's go back and rest." Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch. Seeing that it was already early morning, he waved to Sidorin and the others and said, "It's not too late to come back to work after daybreak. "
When Sokov walked out of the command post, Anisimov caught up from behind and asked Sokov in a low voice: "Comrade Division Commander, I think you seem to have something on your mind. Are you still thinking about the ghost aircraft carrier?"
"Ghost aircraft carrier?!" Hearing the word Anisimov said, Sokov asked in surprise: "Comrade political commissar, why do you call it 'ghost aircraft carrier'?"
"Just think about it, someone can actually make a phone call on an aircraft carrier that doesn't exist at all." Anisimov said carelessly: "If this isn't called a ghost aircraft carrier, what else could it be called?"
Sokov didn't want to get entangled with Anisimov on this matter, so he changed the subject in time: "Okay, Comrade Political Commissar, stop talking about the ghost aircraft carrier. That is an American matter, and it has nothing to do with us. It doesn't matter at all. You must be exhausted these days. Go back and rest quickly. I have important work for you to complete tomorrow."
Hearing that there was important work, Anisimov immediately forgot about the "ghost aircraft carrier" and asked anxiously: "Comrade division commander, can you tell me what it is?"
"I estimate that before we join forces with friendly forces, there will be a large number of German officers and soldiers coming to surrender." Sokov said to Anisimov: "There must be many of them who have scruples, and you are responsible for appeasing them. Understand. ?"
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Anisimov replied resoundingly: "Don't worry, I promise to complete the task well."
