Early the next morning, the director of the reconnaissance department and the director of the intelligence department came to Sokov's headquarters together.
Seeing the two of them appear at the same time, Sameko, who was on duty, couldn't help but frown. In his memory, except for meetings, he had never encountered two division chiefs appearing at the same time. He couldn't help but asked nervously: "Comrade two division chiefs, did you come here at the same time? Did something big happen?" ?”
The two division chiefs looked at each other, and finally the reconnaissance division chief stepped forward and reported to Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the scouts we sent behind enemy lines sent us back a piece of intelligence not long ago. After repeated research with the Director of Intelligence, I felt that it was a bit too abnormal, so we came over to report to you and Comrade Commander."
"What information."
The director of the reconnaissance department quickly stepped forward and handed the telegram in his hand to Sameko.
Sameko quickly read the contents of the telegram with a shocked expression on his face. He lowered his head and looked at the map on the table, made a few gestures with his fingers, then picked up the phone and said into the phone: "I am Chief of Staff Sameko, call me immediately to the commander."
Soon, Sokov, who was sleeping in the room, was woken up by the soldiers and came to answer Samyko's call. He raised his hand and looked at his watch and found that it was just four in the morning, less than two hours before he went to bed. He came to the phone in a daze and tried his best to ask in a calm tone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you called me at this time. What happened?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, something unexpected happened." Samyko did not tell Sokov what happened, but said with a serious expression: "Please come to the headquarters immediately."
Hearing that there was something important, Sokov's drowsiness disappeared without a trace. As soon as he put down the phone, he immediately put on his clothes and boots and walked quickly towards the headquarters.
When he walked into the headquarters, Sokov saw the director of the reconnaissance department and the director of the intelligence department standing in front of Samek. He couldn't help but feel a little bit in his heart. Like Samek, he had never seen the two directors except for meetings. appeared at the same time. He walked straight up to the two division chiefs and asked with a straight face: "What happened?"
"Comrade Commander," before the two division chiefs could speak, Samek came over and handed the telegram he had read to Sokov: "This is information sent by the scouts we sent behind enemy lines. "
Full of doubts, Sokov took the telegram from Samek's hand. After reading it quickly, he walked to the table and looked down at the map on the table. After watching it for a while, he raised his head and asked the two division chiefs who remained silent: "Comrade division chiefs, what do you think of the telegram sent back by the scouts?"
After the two looked at each other again, this time it was the director of the Intelligence Division who came forward. After all, analyzing intelligence was the job of the Intelligence Division. He straightened his back and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, after repeated discussions with the director of my reconnaissance department, I feel that the content in this telegram is absurd. But out of consideration of my own responsibility, I feel it is necessary Report this to you and the Chief of Staff.”
"The enemy has established a new prisoner of war camp in the forest outside Dergach." Sokov did not express his position on what the intelligence director said. Instead, he picked up the telegram and read to himself: "According to our According to the reconnaissance, no trace of our commanders and fighters was found in the prisoner-of-war camp. They were all unarmed Italian soldiers detained there, and the number was probably more than 5,000."
After reading the telegram, Sokov looked at the Director of Intelligence and asked: "Comrade Director of Intelligence, you said this telegram is absurd. Can you explain to me what you mean?"
"The reason is very simple, Comrade Commander." The head of the Intelligence Division said plausibly: "The Italians are allies of the Germans. If there are only dozens or even hundreds of Italian soldiers detained in German prisoner-of-war camps, I think it would be It's acceptable. But now there are more than 5,000 people in the prisoner of war camp. How is this possible? I think it should be a German conspiracy."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov still did not express his attitude, but turned to ask Sameko: "What do you think of this matter?"
"Comrade Commander," Seeing Sokov asking himself, Sameko quickly replied: "I agree with the analysis of the Director of Intelligence. This is very likely to be a conspiracy. Italy and Germany are allies. What is going on in the German prisoner-of-war camps?" Will there be such a large number of Italian soldiers?"
After asking Sameko for his opinion, Sokov turned his attention to the director of the reconnaissance department: "Comrade director of the reconnaissance department, this information came from the scouts you sent behind enemy lines. Am I right?"
"You are right, Comrade Commander." The director of the Reconnaissance Division broke into a cold sweat when he heard Sokov ask himself this question. He explained with some stuttering: "When I received this telegram, it was absolutely impossible for me. I ordered someone to call the scouts back to verify the matter. But the commander leading the team told me that the contents of the telegram were true."
"Comrade Director of the Reconnaissance Division," Sokov waited for the other party to finish speaking, looked at the Director of the Intelligence Division, and asked the Director of the Reconnaissance Division: "If I remember correctly, the Director of the Intelligence Division once told me that he and you worked together for this telegram. , we had repeated discussions, didn’t you tell him truthfully what the intelligence had verified?”
"Said."
"If so, then why did you finally come to the conclusion that you don't believe the scout's report at all?" Sokov said angrily: "If that's the case, then what's the point of the scout reporting the situation to you?" What’s the meaning?”
The scolded director of the reconnaissance department quickly lowered his head, not daring to answer Sokov's words.
"Comrade Commander," Sameko quickly came out to smooth things over: "Although the intelligence sent back by the scouts has been verified by the Director of the Reconnaissance Division, I strongly agree with their views. This should be a German conspiracy, otherwise I really can’t figure out why they disarmed as many as 5,000 Italian troops and imprisoned them in their prisoner of war camps.”
Based on the intelligence sent back by the scouts, Sokov realized that the reason for this situation should be that the Allied forces landed in Sicily and overwhelmed the Italian army, while Mussolini was unable to parry due to military reasons. After defeat and the rise of domestic anti-revolutionary dilution movements, he was dismissed from his post and imprisoned on the summit of the Gran Sasso in the Abruzzi Mountains.
In this case, the Germans were worried that Italy, their pig teammate, would side with the British and American Allies, so they took precautions and controlled the Italian troops fighting alongside them to prevent them from doing anything wrong.
But at this moment, the Italian side has just sent representatives to contact the British and American sides, and no substantive results have been reached. If Sokov told his subordinates present that the Germans disarmed and imprisoned the Italians because they were worried that the Italians would retaliate, no one would believe him.
Even if what Sokov said is proven correct in the future, Sameko and others will still have questions: How did Comrade Commander know that the Italians were going to surrender, and the Germans had to kill them in advance in order to prevent them from stabbing them in the back. They were disarmed and imprisoned.
In order not to get involved in the gang, Sokov thought quickly. He wanted to find a logical reason to explain to the three people why the German army imprisoned the Italian army.
But after thinking for a long time, all the reasons he could think of had logical loopholes of one kind or another. Anyone who analyzes it carefully will immediately discover the flaws.
"Comrade Commander," Seeing Sokov's delay in speaking, Samyko thought that his statement had successfully convinced the other party: "I think you can completely ignore this report from the scouts. I think they have been captured by the Germans." He was confused by the illusion created by people, so he provided us with this completely wrong information."
"No, no, no, I don't think the scouts were deceived by the enemy." Sokov waved his hands desperately and said impatiently: "On the contrary, what they saw may be the truest side. It's just that there are some things we don't know. If you know, you will mistakenly think that the scouts have been deceived by the enemy.”
Hearing what Sokov said, Sameko and others looked at each other.
After a short period of silence, Sameko said: "Comrade Commander, can you tell me your reasons?"
Sokov sat at the table, tapping his fingers quickly on the table, thinking about how to answer Samek's question. I don’t know how long it took, but he finally thought of a more reasonable explanation. He looked up at Sameko and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, let me give you an example. For example, I want to attack an enemy fortress and have local armed forces join in." , join us in attacking the fortress.
Our attack was unsuccessful due to the enemy's tight defense. At this moment, you learn that the local armed forces you are cooperating with are secretly colluding with the defenders in the fortress, and may even work with them to deal with you. At this time, what would you choose to do? "
After asking this question, Sokov saw Samyko's thoughtful expression, looked at the two division chiefs, and asked: "Comrade division chiefs, what will you do?"
The director of the intelligence department stepped forward and replied: "There are two options: one is to stop attacking the fortress and choose to withdraw troops; the other is to disarm the cooperating local armed forces and solve the future problems before continuing to attack the fortress."
"That's right, Comrade Director of the Intelligence Division." After Sokov waited for the Director of the Intelligence Division to finish speaking, he praised him, and then said: "Since you understand this truth, the authenticity of the content in this telegram, you Do you know how to judge?"
"How do I know how to judge..." Before the director of the intelligence department could say anything, he suddenly thought of what Sokov was implying. Then he was shocked and asked Sokov in an unbelievable tone: "Comrade Commander, you You mean, the Germans were worried that the Italians would make tricks behind their backs, so for the sake of safety, they disarmed and imprisoned the Italian troops?"
"But how is this possible?" But the director of the reconnaissance department asked in confusion: "Although we won the battle of Kursk and took the opportunity to liberate Belgorod, our army did not secretly negotiate with the Italian army. Contact, how could the Germans think of guarding against them?”
"Comrade Director of the Reconnaissance Division," Samyko immediately understood the cause and effect after hearing what the Director of the Intelligence Division said, and couldn't help but secretly give Sokov a thumbs up. At this moment, seeing that the director of the reconnaissance department was still stubborn, he explained to him: "On our land, our army does not have any private contact with the Italian army in the future, but you have forgotten that the British and American coalition forces landing in Sicily have already put the Italian army The fight was so overwhelming. Maybe they had sent representatives at this time to discuss stopping the war with the British and American Allies."
"If this is really the case, then the intelligence provided by the scouts can explain it clearly." After Sameko finished speaking, he looked down at Sokov sitting at the table: "Comrade Commander, I can say that Is it right?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right." Sokov nodded slightly and continued: "I estimate that Italian representatives are already sitting in the headquarters of the British and American Allied Forces at this moment, discussing whether the two sides should stop War, to deal with the Germans together. The Germans may have heard some rumors, and in order to prevent the Italian army from joining forces with us, they took a preemptive strike and disarmed and controlled the Italian army."
Having said this, Sokov stood up and pointed at the director of the reconnaissance department: "Comrade director of the reconnaissance department, you should immediately contact the scouts behind the enemy and order them to conduct more detailed reconnaissance of the prisoner of war camp. Know what’s really going on inside.”
"Yes, Comrade Commander." The director of the reconnaissance department replied loudly and quickly: "I will go back and send a telegram to the scouts and ask them to find out the specific situation in the prisoner of war camp."
After sending away the two division chiefs, Samek looked at Sokov and asked: "Comrade Commander, do you really think that the Italian army will surrender and join the British and American Allied Forces?"
"It is entirely possible." Since the thoughts of Sameko and others were guided in the right direction step by step, Sokov had no scruples and said openly: "If the Italian army is in If Europe surrenders, it will definitely join the British and American Allies. As for the Italian troops in our country, all they can do is cooperate with us. This is a situation that the Germans do not want to see, so they took the lead and The Italian troops disarmed and imprisoned them so that they would not join forces with us against them."
"Comrade Commander, I have never been optimistic about the Italian army." Hearing Sokov said that the Italian army might join forces with his own army, he quickly waved his hands and said: "If they really join our side, I am worried that they will be on the battlefield. It will hold us back. At that time, we will have to deploy troops to protect them, thus weakening our army's offensive power."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I think we have no chance of cooperating with the Italian army." Sokov clearly remembered that after the Battle of Kursk, the Italian army disappeared on the Soviet-German battlefield, proving that the Germans arrived before they dispatched Before the representatives came into contact with the Soviet army, they were all moved to the rear and imprisoned. "I think the enemy is worried about the trouble the Italian troops will cause them and will move them all out of our reach before that happens."
