When Sokov saw that it was quiet outside, he pressed against the wall and shouted outside: "Hello, I am Sokov. Can any of you tell me which chief of staff was shot?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a voice came from outside: "Comrade Commander, this is Chief of Staff Smirnov."
Hearing that Smirnov was shot, Sokov's heart sank. He clearly remembered what the information said. Aaliyah's best achievement was hitting three beer bottles with three shots from 500 meters away. Now this place is only three hundred meters away from her sniper position. Once Smirnov is shot, he will definitely be in danger.
But in order not to cause unnecessary panic, he still tried to control his emotions, and tried his best to ask outside in a calm tone: "Is his injury serious?"
Just when he was ready to accept the fact that Smirnov had died, he unexpectedly heard Smirnov's weak voice coming from outside: "Comrade Commander, there's nothing wrong with me, I just got hit in the shoulder." One shot.”
After learning that Smirnov was still alive, Sokov's nose felt sour and he almost shed tears. Fortunately, he controlled his emotions in time and continued to ask with concern: "Have you bandaged the wound?"
"Not yet." Smirnov said: "My injury is not too serious, don't worry, Comrade Commander. It won't be too late to let the health workers bandage me after the German snipers are eliminated."
Sokov moved a few steps towards the door, stood in the shooting blind spot of the attic, and looked outside. He saw officers and soldiers escaping from the headquarters. Some were hiding behind the sandbag fortifications outside the door, and some were hiding on the stairs. Beside them, some were hiding behind stone pillars. From Sokov's point of view, many people are not in good concealment positions and will still become targets of snipers. But for some reason, the sniper never fired again after that shot.
Although the sniper did not shoot, no one dared to move, lest they become the sniper's next target.
After five or six minutes of anxious waiting, Sokov heard someone outside shouting loudly: "Comrade Commander, Comrade Commander, the German snipers have captured him."
Sokov heard Koshkin's voice, and cautiously poked his head out, looking at Koshkin who was running over in a hurry, and asked tentatively: "Koshkin, what did you say? The sniper caught him?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Koshkin had already run to a position not far from Sokov and said loudly: "Our people are escorting her here. You will see her soon. .”
Hearing that the sniper had been caught, the commanders and soldiers hiding outside stood up and arranged their military appearance. The staff officer who had been staying with Smirnov also called a hygienist and asked her to bandage Smirnov's wounds.
Although Koshkin had just taken away more than 20 people, and was assisted by Lyudmila and Vasily, Sokov was still impressed by the efficiency of catching the sniper in such a short period of time. Surprised: "Koshkin, you captured the German sniper in such a short period of time. How did you do it?"
"Comrade Commander, in fact it was not us who caught the sniper, but someone else."
"Is there someone else?" Sokov asked curiously, "Who is it?"
"Who else could it be? Of course it's the old man."
"Old man?!" After Koshkin's reminder, Sokov realized that when Koshkin came to the headquarters to report on his work, he only saw Lyudmila and Vasily, but no trace of the old man. At that time He hadn't noticed it yet, but now that he thought about it, he was probably preparing to capture a German sniper.
"What on earth is going on?" Trofimenko came over and asked Koshkin a little eagerly: "How did the old man catch the sniper."
Koshkin did not answer the question immediately, but smiled faintly and said to Trofimenko: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I think you should wait until the old man comes over and ask him personally."
Not long after, a large group of soldiers arrived outside the headquarters building from a distance.
Sokov's sharp eyes saw the old man in the crowd at a glance. He was wearing a cotton military uniform without any military rank and a cotton hat without a cap badge. If it weren't for a rifle with a scope slung over his shoulder, he would There is almost no difference from an old man walking on the street.
Then, Sokov saw a young and beautiful woman, who he quickly recognized as the German sniper Alia. She was wearing a white headscarf, her arms were hanging naturally, and the clothes on her shoulders were stained red with blood. Although no soldier grabbed her arm, Lyudmila and Vasily following her gave her no chance to escape.
Sokov was filled with anger for the female sniper who wounded Smirnov. However, it seems inappropriate to consider interrogating Aaliya in public. It happened that the smoke in the corridor had dissipated, and Sokov ordered her to be brought to the headquarters for interrogation.
Before the interrogation began, Sokov curiously asked the old man: "Old man, can you tell me how you captured this German sniper?"
"Comrade Commander, the situation is like this." The old man glanced at Alia standing next to him and explained to Sokov: "She came to our place at noon and said that when she discovered German troops appearing in the forest outside the city, I accidentally noticed a cold light flashing in her eyes, which seemed to have murderous intent for everyone in the room.
When the troops went to surround and annihilate the German airborne group in the forest outside the city, Captain Koshkin asked me to stay out of concern for my health. After they left, the more I thought about it, the more something was wrong. I felt that there was something wrong with the woman who came to provide information. I went alone to the attic that might be a sniper position and carefully looked for clues.
After some searching, I picked up a long chestnut hair on the ground near the window. Judging from the length and color of her hair, she must be the woman who just came to provide information.
I think this woman took our people to encircle and suppress the German airborne group, probably to divert our target. So, I went to the street and after observing the surrounding environment, I found a house. From his window, he could clearly see the attic window. Due to the angle, people standing at the attic window cannot see clearly where I am. So, I used this place as a sniper position and closely monitored the direction of the attic. "
When Sokov heard this, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart, ginger is still spicy when it's old. The old man discovered that there was something wrong with Aaliya just by looking at her and took preventive measures in advance. It was really rare. No wonder the old saying goes: An old person in a family is like a treasure. It seems quite reasonable.
"Old man," Sokov said to the old man in an encouraging tone: "Go on, tell me how you caught her."
The old man nodded and continued: "Half an hour ago, I found that the attic window was opened. I guessed that she might be about to take action, so I set up the gun and pointed it at her location. s position.
When there was an explosion from the direction of the headquarters, I saw the muzzle of a gun sticking out of the window, which was a precursor to preparing to fire. I wanted to shoot to stop her immediately, but she was very cunning. Only the barrel of the gun was exposed, but she was still hiding in my shooting blind spot. I had no choice but to continue waiting for the opportunity.
When the people in the headquarters ran outside because of the explosion, her body leaned forward slightly, exposing one shoulder. I shot her shoulder without hesitation. The huge impact of the bullet caused her body to tilt to one side. I lost no time in firing another shot, hitting her shoulder on the other side. She was shot in both arms, and the sniper rifle in her hand rolled out of the attic window. Seeing that she had no weapon, I quickly sent a signal to the snipers hidden in nearby houses and asked them to go arrest people in the attic. As soon as they rushed into the house, they encountered the sniper trying to escape and captured her alive without any effort. "
"Well done, old man." Trofimenko gave the old man a thumbs up: "Without you, the members of the headquarters would have suffered heavy casualties."
"Comrade Deputy Commander," the old man said guiltily, "I may be old and my hands and feet are a little slow. When she fired, she also fired a shot. I don't know if any of the commanders died."
Sokov had always been wondering why a sniper with such outstanding marksmanship like Alia only hit Smirnov's shoulder. It turned out that she was shot by the old man when she was shooting, which resulted in The bullet missed, otherwise what he would see right now would be Smirnov's cold body.
"Don't worry, old man." Sokov said to the old man with a smile: "My chief of staff, General Smirnov, was shot in the shoulder, but it's nothing serious. He will be fine after a while of rest."
"Comrade Commander," Samyko reminded Sokov, "should we interrogate the prisoner and find out how she caused the explosion in the kitchen?"
"Do you need me to translate for you?" The old man heard what Samek said and asked Sokov in a joking tone: "You know, I have translated for Emperor William before."
When Aaliya heard what the old man said, she rolled her eyes and whispered, "Bragging!"
Although her voice was small, Sokov heard it clearly. He smiled and said: "Alia, this old man is really not bragging. He is proficient in the languages of more than a dozen countries and serves as a translator for your Emperor William. I'm really not bragging. But I think the Emperor William the old man is talking about is probably not the William II you are familiar with, but the long-dead William I, who is also the Emperor William you often call. Old man, am I right? ?”
"That's right, Comrade Commander." The old man agreed with Sokov's statement: "Not only did I know Emperor William the Great, I even had a close relationship with Bismarck, who was known as the 'Iron-Blooded Prime Minister' at the time."
After listening to the old man's words, Aaliya showed a bitter expression on her face: "Old man, can you tell me how old you are this year?"
"Me," the old man said proudly, "I was born in 1854, and I just turned ninety this year."
Although Aaliya knew that the old man was not young, she was still shocked when she heard that the other man was over ninety years old. Then she lowered her head and murmured: "I didn't expect that an excellent sniper like me would be defeated by an old man. inside."
After Sokov arranged for a military doctor to bandage Alia's wounds, he began interrogating Alia. Since Aaliyah was not an ordinary soldier, the commonly used interrogation methods were of little use to her. Fortunately, the 27th Army Headquarters had a special service section whose members were all members of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so Sokov left the task of interrogating Alia to them.
Originally, Sokov and others wanted to witness the interrogation of Alia with their own eyes, but then a telegram from the direction of Chernivtsi arrived. Compared with the war in the north, the interrogation of Alia seemed inconsequential. Sokov said to the special service section chief: "Comrade section chief, you are solely responsible for the interrogation. You must find out how she made it in the kitchen." explosion."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." The special service chief assured Sokov: "No matter how tight her mouth is, I can still get the answer I want."
After the special service chief and his men took Alia to the next door, Samyko said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, according to General Bogdanov's report, the German troops attacking from the north of the city The troops have successfully broken through the defense lines established by the 115th Infantry Brigade and the 11th Guards Tank Brigade and are rapidly rushing towards the outskirts of the city."
After listening to Samyko's report, Sokov asked rhetorically: "Comrade Chief of Staff, did General Bogdanov report why the Germans broke through his defenses in the north of the city so easily?"
A bitter expression appeared on Sameko's face: "Comrade Commander, the situation is very similar to ours today."
"Is it similar to our situation today?" Sokov couldn't help but feel moved after hearing this: "Would the Germans also deploy snipers near Chernivtsi?"
"You guessed it right, Comrade Commander." Sameko said helplessly: "The commander of the 115th Infantry Brigade was killed by a German sniper while commanding the battle, causing the troops to lose unified command. As a result First, the infantry was defeated by the Germans, and then the 11th Guards Tank Brigade, which lost its infantry cover, was hit by the powerful anti-tank firepower of the Germans. With more than half of its tanks lost, it had no choice but to withdraw from the battle."
"It seems that without air superiority, it will still be difficult for the 2nd Tank Army to block the enemy's crazy attack." After saying this, Sokov casually ordered: "Chief of Staff, call General Goryunov immediately. , requesting him to dispatch the air force to conduct air strikes against German ground forces in the Chernivtsi area."
After saying this, Sokov did not hear a familiar response. He thought the other party did not hear it, so he repeated it again: "General Smirnov, call General Goryunov..."
"Comrade Commander," Samyko reminded Sokov carefully: "Chief of Staff Smirnov is injured and is being treated at the army field hospital. Why don't I call General Goryunov."
Sokov raised his hand and slapped himself on the forehead, and said with some embarrassment: "Damn it, how could I forget about this? Forget it, I'll call General Goryunov personally and try to get him He quickly sent air power to attack the German ground forces to consolidate our defensive positions."
