After Rokossovsky got out of the car, he quickly came to Sokov and Yakov. After he glanced at Sokov, he reached out and grabbed Yakov's arm with concern.
Ask: "Yasha, are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Comrade Marshal." Yakov saw that Rokossovsky was so concerned about him and understood what the other person was thinking, so he quickly explained: "Both Misha and I are fine. Thank you for your concern, Comrade Marshal.
."
"As long as it's okay, it's okay." After Rokossovsky said this, he turned to look at Sokov: "Misha, what on earth is going on? Why were you shot?"
"I don't know the specific situation." Sokov glanced at the soldiers who had set up a warning circle around them, and then explained to Rokossovsky: "Our vehicle just drove here and was suddenly attacked.
Shots came from a building on the roadside. The driver of the car in front was hit by a bullet, causing the vehicle to lose control and cause a car accident. The driver and a captain died, and another major was injured and has just been sent for treatment."
"Who do you think could do it?" Rokossovsky was ostensibly talking to Sokov, but in fact he was explaining to Yakov in disguise: "Your trip to Moscow is absolutely confidential.
, not many people know about it, and these people are all reliable, so I don’t think this was a premeditated ambush.”
"You are right, Comrade Marshal." Sokov heard the implication of Rokossovsky's words and quickly explained: "I think this was an accident. If it was really premeditated by the Germans,
If there is an ambush, then the target of the gunman's attack will not be the driver of the car in front, but Yasha and I sitting in the back car."
"So, it was just an accident?!" Rokossovsky's expression became relaxed: "Maybe the Germans hiding in the building saw two jeeps passing by on the road.
Then he fired a shot casually."
"Comrade Marshal, before you came here, Misha and I discussed this matter." Yakov said: "I think it is very likely that this is the case. After all, the war has just ended, and there are still a large number of guns scattered among the people.
There are a lot of uncertainties.”
After chatting with the two for a few words, Rokossovsky turned his attention to Asiya, who was standing next to the jeep, and asked with concern: "Asiya, are you not scared?"
"No, Comrade Marshal." Asiya shook her head and said, "Anyway, I am also a person who has been on the battlefield. This little thing cannot scare me."
"Comrade Marshal," an officer who came with Rokossovsky came over and raised his hand in salute and reported: "The troops have all disembarked. Please give instructions on the next move."
Rokossovsky pointed towards the mobile building in the distance that was being searched by Soviet commanders and fighters, and said: "Comrade Major, leave half of your people here to guard, and the other half to help them and assist them in arresting them."
German gunner."
When the major and his personnel rushed towards the building, Rokossovsky said apologetically to Yakov: "Yasha, I'm so sorry, your plane may be delayed."
"It's okay." Yakov said casually: "No one expected that such a thing would happen on the road, and there is nothing we can do about delaying the takeoff of the plane. By the way, Comrade Marshal, will you send someone to the airport to inform the pilot?
To prevent him from waiting impatiently."
"Before I came here, I asked my chief of staff, General Bogolyubov, to call the airport and inform the pilots of what happened on the way." Rokossovsky said: "Our top priority now is to catch
Stop the gunman who shot you."
After waiting for almost half an hour, Sokov saw a group of civilians in plainclothes, escorted by commanders and soldiers, walking in this direction. He quickly said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, look,
So many people were arrested, and among them there should be the gunman who fired the gun."
Soon the group of civilians were escorted by the soldiers and came to Rokossovsky and others. Major Bourget, who led the team, stepped forward and reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Marshal, we have captured a total of
We picked up 48 suspects, and they were all suspected of shooting. It was difficult for us to distinguish them, so we took them all over."
Sokov looked at the civilians standing in front of him and found that they were either elderly people or children in their teens. Asiya approached Sokov and asked in a low voice: "Misha, they are either old people or children, what do you think?
Will the gunman be among them?"
"Yes, Asya." Sokov replied in a low voice: "Although the Germans have surrendered, their people are still full of hostility towards us. Even the elderly and children would not shoot at us.
possible."
"Comrade Major," Rokossovsky asked Bourget, "how did you know that the gunman would be among these people?"
"Report to Comrade Marshal," Bourget replied: "We found various types of guns in their homes, as well as portraits of mustaches, etc..." After saying that, he turned around and made a gesture to the back, and immediately there was
A dozen soldiers came over with a pile of guns and placed them in front of Rokossovsky.
Rokossovsky looked down and saw that the weapons on the ground included rifles, submachine guns and pistols, as well as a dozen photos of mustaches in frames. He did not immediately express his position, but turned to ask Sokov: "Misha
, are you able to identify the real shooter?"
Sokov looked down at the weapons on the ground, and then said: "Comrade Marshal, based on the analysis of the shooting situations we suffered, submachine guns and pistols can be ruled out. Submachine guns can only fire continuously, and there is no accuracy beyond fifty meters.
"And the pistol has too much range to hit a vehicle driving dozens of meters away. The gun that shot at us should be a rifle."
After saying these words, Sokov asked Bourget: "Comrade Major, let me ask you, when you collected the weapons, did you register the owner of the gun?"
"Registered, Comrade General." Bourgeois nodded and said, "When guns are found in everyone's home, I order them to be registered."
"Okay, now that you have registered the owner of the gun, the next thing will be easy to handle." Sokov told the other party: "First let the owners of submachine guns and pistols receive their guns, and then stand aside and wait.
At our disposal.”
After hearing Sokov's order, Bourget looked at Rokossovsky hesitantly, wanting to see what the marshal's attitude was. Rokossovsky saw the questioning look the major cast towards him.
Then he said impatiently: "Major, didn't you hear General Sokov's order?"
"heard it!"
"Since you heard it, why don't you execute it?"
Now that Rokossovsky had spoken, Bourget naturally did not dare to neglect, and quickly called the German translator who was holding the register, and asked him to call out all the Germans who owned submachine guns and pistols.
Facing the gun muzzles all around, the Germans whose names were called out obediently stood up from the team, took their guns without bullets, and stood at the designated position. They were full of anxiety and fear.
At a moment's notice, the Russians who were named ordered the surrounding soldiers to shoot and kill them all here.
After taking away the submachine guns and rifles, there were more than twenty rifles left on the ground. Sokov nuzzled at Bourget and said: "Comrade Major, you can check now which gun can smell the smell of gunpowder at the muzzle.
Then find out the owner of this gun, he is the gunman who shot at us."
Bourgeois nodded, bent down to pick up the rifle on the ground, put the muzzle of the gun close to his nose, and smelled carefully whether there was any smell of gunpowder smoke. At first, he was a little worried, maybe these rifles could smell the smell of gunpowder smoke.
Shi couldn't arrest all the owners of these guns. But soon, he changed his mind. The Germans had surrendered for several days. If these guns in the hands of civilians could still smell the smoke, they would
It means they fired today or yesterday. The war is over, what are they still shooting for? It is definitely right to arrest them all.
After some inspection, Bourget picked out three rifles, placed them in front of Sokov, and reported to him: "Comrade General, the muzzles of these three 98K rifles all have the smell of gunpowder smoke. They should be
He fired a gun not long ago."
"Find the owners of these three guns." Sokov said coldly: "I want to see who they are."
Soon, Bourget brought the owners of the three guns to Sokov: "Comrade General, these three are the owners of the guns."
Sokov clearly saw the three people standing in front of him, two elderly people in their sixties and a child of fourteen or fifteen years old. Without hesitation, he pointed at the child and said to Bourget: "Comrade Major, it goes without saying.
, it must have been him who fired the shot."
Everyone was surprised that Sokov pointed out the gunman so quickly. Asiya specially reminded Sokov: "Misha, you must not make a mistake."
"It's unmistakable." Sokov said with a sneer: "Although the three guns all have the smell of gunpowder smoke from being fired, the old people are burdened by their families. Since the war is over, they don't need to create extraneous matters.
Shooting at passing military vehicles caused unnecessary trouble for themselves. Children are different. They act impulsively without considering the possible consequences. I think it was this child who saw two jeeps on the road.
Driving, out of hatred for us, he shot at us regardless of the consequences."
The three German civilians standing in front of them could not understand the conversation between Sokov and Bourget. After the German translator translated the conversation to them, the tense nerves of the two old men relaxed, and they
He even drew a cross on his chest and thanked God for blessing him. The child's face showed a shocked expression. He didn't expect that the other party would point out him so accurately. He lowered his head in a hurry, thinking about the next step.
what to do.
Bourget was also asking this question: "Comrade General, now that it is confirmed that it is this child, how should we deal with him?"
If the shooter had been a young man, Sokov would have ordered Bourget to drag the man aside and shoot him without hesitation, in order to avenge the unjust death of the driver and captain. But now that the shooter was a child, he seemed
Hesitating a little, he hesitated for a long time, feeling that this thorny issue should be handed over to Rokossovsky, the highest-ranking military officer on the scene: "Comrade Marshal, what do you think should be done with this child?"
It would be very difficult for Rokossovsky to deal with this young gunman. Now that the war is over, it is obviously inappropriate to shoot people casually. This will lead to the deterioration of the relationship between the Soviet army and the local residents. But if it is easy
He couldn't let the murderer go, and he couldn't explain it to the dead driver and captain's family. After some careful consideration, Rokossovsky said to Bourget: "Major, send this child to a prisoner of war camp and let him live there."
Stay there for a few months."
"Yes!" Bourget agreed and called two soldiers to take the gunman aside.
"Also." After a pause, Bourget continued to ask for instructions: "We found photos of mustaches in the homes of some Germans. We don't know what to do with them?"
Rokossovsky might be worried that Sokov would throw this hot potato to him again, so he said first: "Misha, I leave these people to you!"
Sokov thought for a while, then pointed his hand at the trembling Germans and said: "Major, let them burn the photos of the mustaches with their own hands, and then go home."
After hearing Sokov's treatment of these people, Bourget's eyes widened in surprise: "What, Comrade General, you will let them go home after letting them burn the photos of the mustache?"
"Yes, as long as they are willing to burn the photos of the mustache, they can go home."
"But they still have photos of mustaches hidden in their homes, which shows that they may be die-hard Nazis." Bourget said with some reluctance: "I'm afraid it wouldn't be good to just let them go like this."
"Comrade Major, as a German, it is normal to have photos of mustaches at home. If you don't have them, the Gestapo who come to visit you will probably cause trouble for them." Sokov explained to Bourget:
"So, keeping photos of mustaches at home does not mean that they are die-hard Nazis. Listen to me, yes, let them burn the photos of mustaches and then go home."
When the Germans who thought they were doomed heard that as long as they burned the photo of the mustache, they could return to their homes, they cheered. Then they scrambled to take out the matches, smashed the photo frame, and took out the
The photo of the mustache was set on fire, and then they left in groups.
"What about these people?" Bourget pouted at the Germans holding submachine guns and pistols and asked, "What should we do with them?"
"Needless to say, it is natural to collect their weapons to avoid any shooting incidents when our military vehicles pass by here in the future." Sokov said briefly: "Those who hand over their guns can also go home.
."
After Sokov explained these things in one breath, he suddenly remembered that Rokossovsky was still by his side. By doing this, he was not a bit overstepping his authority. He quickly asked the other party for instructions: "Comrade Marshal, I don't know how I will handle it. How can you do it?"
Are you satisfied?"
"Misha, you handled it well." Rokossovsky was very satisfied with Sokov's handling method. He nodded and said: "After all, it was only the German boy who caused trouble this time. There is no need to involve other people."