Chapter 1702

Just as we were preparing for the attack on zelauf heights, an unexpected incident happened.

I was reporting to Zhukov the detailed process of seizing the fortress when military commissar jerekin came over with a telegram in his hand and a smile on his face. I thought he had something important to report to Zhukov, so I stopped to hear what he said.

Unexpectedly, he waved to me, motioned me to continue to report to Zhukov, and then found a chair to sit down at Zhukov's desk. As I was eager to know what good news jerekin had to report to Zhukov, I speeded up the reporting. When I put the list of awards drawn up by trakov in front of and behind Zhukov's face, I turned to look at jieliejin and said, "Comrade military commissar, I have finished reporting. If you have anything to do, you can tell marshal."

Zhukov quickly looked through the roster of awards and handed it to jieliejin, who was sitting next to him. He said with a smile, "Comrade military commissar, you are always in charge of awards, so I'll leave it to you." When jerekin took over the roster, he continued, "you look like you have some good news for me, don't you?"

"Yes, comrade marshal." He handed the telegram to Zhukov and said, "this is a marriage application from general katukov."

As soon as I heard that it was katukov's application for marriage, I instinctively asked, "general katukov is getting married again?" After asking, I realized how stupid my question was. Katukov's wife is still alive. How can he marry again?

When Zhukov received the message, he asked with the same doubt: "the marriage application transferred by katukov? Is it because his deputy is going to get married that he sends us a telegram for instructions so solemnly? "

"Comrade marshal, you misunderstood." Jieliejin quickly explained to Zhukov, "the one who applied for marriage was lieutenant Alexandra samosenko, deputy commander of tank battalion of the 21st brigade of the 8th mechanized army of the guards. The one who married her was a US soldier."

Jerekin's words aroused Zhukov's vigilance. He frowned and asked, "how can katukov's commanders come into contact with American soldiers?"

"Well, comrade marshal." After receiving the phone call, I was also puzzled, so I personally sent the inquiry message to katukov and his military Commissar. This is their reply to me. This American soldier, Joseph Robert bell, belongs to the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army. The night before Normandy landing, his troops flew to the German rear and parachuted. Unfortunately, his C-47 transport was shot down by German air defense artillery. Fortunately, he successfully parachuted and landed.

He lost contact with his comrades in arms and carried out the planned destruction in the rear of the German army, successfully blowing up a German power station and some communication lines. But not long after that, he was captured by the German army in the process of carrying out the sabotage.

After entering the prison camp, he and his inmates made two escapes, the first failed, and the second time, he successfully escaped from the prison camp. According to his statement, he wanted to join our army in Poland, but because he didn't know the way in a strange environment, he got on the train to Berlin by mistake.

Due to reports from German civilians, he was arrested by Gestapo and held in prison for a period of time. Probably because Germany attempted to make peace with Britain and the United States in private, the custody of British and American prisoners of war became lax. He was transferred to a new POW camp on the way, once again successfully escaped from the hands of the German army.

In the process of escape, he was rescued by the tank battalion of the mechanized 20th brigade of our guards. Lieutenant Alexandra samusenko, the deputy battalion commander, became his interpreter because he knew some English. After understanding his intention to continue to attack the Communist aggressors, he became an infantry soldier in the tank battalion. "

After listening to gilekin's story, I said with emotion: "this soldier's experience is almost enough to write a novel." With these words, I turned to Zhukov and asked, "Comrade marshal, what shall we do next?"

Seeing that Zhukov was silent, jieliejin added: "Comrade marshal, what should we do about this marriage application? Rejected or agreed? "

Zhukov got up, walked back and forth in the room, frowning, and began to think about this headache. When he stopped, he said to gilekin, "Comrade military commissar, before we come to a conclusion, we must first find out the identity of this American soldier, and then decide whether we agree to their marriage or not after everything is clear."

"That's a good idea." Jerekin looked at the phone on the table and asked tentatively, "Comrade marshal, I don't know whether this call is from you or me?"

"I'll do it." Zhukov went to the table, picked up the high-frequency telephone, put it in the microphone and said, "get me Moscow, the people's Council of foreign affairs, and find Molotov."

After the phone was connected, I heard Molotov's voice coming from the receiver: "Marshal Zhukov, I don't know if you call me. Is there anything important?"

"That's right, comrade member of the people's Foreign Affairs Committee." Zhukov said politely, "one of the American soldiers we rescued fell in love with one of our female commanders, so I want to ask you to ask the US embassy to confirm his identity."

"What, American soldiers like our female commander?" When Molotov heard Zhukov say this, he was surprised. Then he tentatively asked, "isn't it Rita that he likes?"

I didn't expect that this incident would make me blush. When I was thinking about whether I should explain to Molotov in person, Zhukov said, "Comrade Molotov, you are mistaken. What the American soldiers like is a female tank driver in katukov's army, not Rita."

"So it is. I understand." Molotov immediately said solemnly, "Comrade Zhukov, please tell me the name of the American soldier and his original unit."

Zhukov quickly picked up the paper that jerekin had put on his desk and read: "his name is Joseph Robert bell. He belongs to the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division of the US Army. He was captured by the German army shortly after the Normandy landing and escaped from the German prison camp not long ago."

"I wrote it down." Molotov said solemnly to Zhukov, "I will contact the US embassy immediately to check whether there is such a person. I'll get in touch with you as soon as I hear from you. "

Seeing Zhukov put down the phone, jerekin asked again, "marshal, how can I reply to general katukov?"

Zhukov thought about it, and then said, "Comrade military commissar, you tell katukov that we are verifying the identity of this American soldier. Once we confirm that he is reliable, we will consider whether to approve their marriage."

I'm going to say goodbye to Zhukov and return to his headquarters. But before I could speak, Zhukov said, "Rita, I have something to discuss with you. If the identity of the US soldiers is confirmed, I intend to agree to their marriage application. At that time, I intend to let you represent the headquarters of the front army to preside over their wedding in the region of bermelania. Do you have any objection? "

"Comrade marshal, this is a good thing." When I heard that Zhukov wanted me to support the wedding of the two couples, I quickly said with a smile, "soon our troops will join the British and American forces in Berlin. It would be of great historical significance to let the new couple appear at the scene of the meeting. "

"Yes, I think so too." Zhukov nodded his head and said, "the first thing to do now is to wait for Molotov's reply and find out the real identity of the American soldier."

At last, in the evening, Molotov's reply came. He said to Zhukov solemnly on the phone: "Marshal Zhukov, it's a bit troublesome. According to the investigation results of the US embassy, he has been on the list of the dead. His hometown has published an obituary and held a memorial service..."

After hearing this, Zhukov held the microphone in his hand, closed his eyes and thought for a while, then said, "Comrade Molotov, you should know that it is inevitable to make some mistakes during the war. It is entirely possible to regard a missing person as a dead person in the war..."

"Comrade Zhukov, I haven't finished yet." Molotov interrupted Zhukov and said, "in order to find out the true identity of this American soldier, the US embassy will send a military officer and several Marines to you by plane overnight. I hope you can provide him with the necessary assistance."

"Don't worry, I'll arrange it." After Zhukov put down the phone, he handed over the matter to jieliejin: "Comrade military commissar, there will be US military officers and Marines flying here tonight. You will be responsible for receiving them then."

Although we were ready to receive US military officers, what happened next was totally unexpected. Katukov sent another telegram, saying that the German army launched an unexpected attack in the area of the mechanized 20th brigade of the guards, although it successfully smashed the German attack after fierce fighting. Unfortunately, Captain samusenko died in the battle, and Robert was also injured.

After getting the news, Zhukov immediately gave an order to malining: "chief of staff, immediately send a plane to send the American soldier here, and do everything possible to save his life."

As soon as marinin sent out the plane to pick up the wounded, jerekin came in with an American officer. Just as I was thinking about whether to remind Zhukov to find an interpreter, I saw the facial features come up to Zhukov. After raising his hand and saluting, he said in Russian: "Hello, marshal, I'm a military officer from the US embassy. I'm ordered to verify the identity of our soldier Robert."

Zhukov came forward to shake hands with him. After greeting him to sit down, he said with some embarrassment, "Sir, something happened. Before you arrived here, Robert's troops and the German army had a fierce exchange of fire..."

Before Zhukov finished, the military officer jumped up from his seat and asked nervously, "marshal, did Robert die in the battle?"

"No, No." Zhukov quickly waved his hand, motioned to the military officer to sit down, and then said, "he was only wounded in the battle, but his life is not in danger. I have sent a special plane to bermelania to pick him up overnight. You'll see him tomorrow morning. " After a few more words of conversation, Zhukov told malining: "Comrade chief of staff, we should arrange a place for our American allies to have a good rest." Malining agreed, walked up to a military officer, and made a gesture to him with a smile: "Mr. military officer, please come with me, I will arrange a comfortable residence for you and your subordinates, so that you can have a good rest." Early the next morning, Zhukov took me, jerekin and the U.S. military officer to the military hospital where Robert was placed. The president of the military hospital was a little flustered when he saw a group of senior officers entering the hospital. He hurried up to us and prepared to raise his hand to report to Zhukov, but Zhukov stopped him. Zhukov asked frankly, "where are the wounded soldiers of the US army sent last night?" After the Dean made clear our intention, he suddenly became calm and answered clearly: "report to marshal, he is in the special ward on the second floor."“ Come on, take us After giving orders to the president, Zhukov turned to the US military officer and said, "Mr. military officer, your compatriots are in the special ward on the second floor. We'll see him now." Under the leadership of the president, we went into the intensive care unit on the second floor. There is a bed in the room, on which lies a man with short blonde hair, who should be Robert. He was sleeping soundly at the moment, and didn't notice that many unexpected guests had come to his room. After confirming the identity of the other party to the Dean, the military officer winked at a marine who followed him. The latter immediately stepped forward and took out a stack of paper from his bag. At the tip of my eyes, I saw that there were some faxes with fingerprints and palmprint printed on them. I immediately understood that the military officer intended to determine the identity of the other party by comparing fingerprints and palmprint. With the help of the military officer, the marine printed Robert's fingerprints on several pieces of paper. After a comparison, he nodded to the military officer, indicating that the two were identical. The military officer came up to Zhukov and said, "marshal, now we have confirmed that the fingerprints match the palmprint, but for the sake of safety, I intend to make further confirmation. Can you find a way to wake him up? " After Zhukov and other military officers finished, he turned his eyes to the dean. The Dean raised his hand and looked at his watch, nodded and said, "after he arrived last night, we dealt with his injury and then injected a tranquilizer. Now it's almost time. We should wake up immediately." Robert woke up and saw a lot of people standing in the room, and the level was very high. He could not help looking a little flustered. The U.S. military officer quickly went to his bed, leaned down and asked in a low voice in English. Robert froze for a moment, then began to speak quickly in English. I know some English. From their conversation, I can tell that the military officer is asking Robert about his capture and escape. After going through all the procedures, the military officer came to us, looked at Zhukov and said, "Mr. marshal, now we can completely confirm that he is our missing soldier Robert. With your permission, I'd like to take him back to the Embassy in Moscow as soon as possible. " Listening to the military officer's words, the president quickly interrupted and said, "I'm sorry, Mr. officer, his injury is not suitable for moving at present. Let him rest here for a while, and then take him back to Moscow." After hearing this, the military officer did not speak, but looked at Zhukov for help, waiting for him to make the final decision. Zhukov thought about it, and then said to the military officer, "Mr. military officer, you have heard that for the sake of the health of your compatriots, it is not suitable to move at present. I think we should let him rest here for a while." Seeing that Zhukov had made the final decision, the military officer had to nod his head and replied helplessly: "well, marshal, since you can say that, let Robert stay here first. I will contact the embassy as soon as possible and report what happened here to them. "