Two German soldiers, armed with rifles with bayonets stuck in their muzzles, went up to the second floor to inspect every room.

A Soviet officer pulled out a pistol from his pocket, gritted his teeth and distorted his expression, ready to fight to the death with the rushing Germans.

The general reached out and held down his weapon, then shook his head at him, motioning for him to hide it in a proper position.

The two Germans finally walked to the door of the room where Khrushchev was, and stood at the door to watch several people in the room eating around a table.

Then, with a weapon in his hand, a German soldier walked into the house, stood behind Khrushchev and bent down.

Khrushchev was already pale with fright, but the German soldier did not even look at him, reached out and took a black loaf of bread from the table and stuffed it into his mouth.

The German army did not allow the masses to take a stitch and a thread, and after entering the people's houses, they ate a bite of the master's food, which was not a big deal in the eyes of the grassroots soldiers.

After stuffing the food in their mouths, the two German soldiers left the door and walked to the next room.

The order to search Khrushchev had not yet been passed to every unit, so this time they came over, and they did not search deliberately, and it was natural that they were not so careful.

When the two German soldiers walked out of the house, the Soviet soldiers inside and Khrushchev himself were greatly relieved.

Probably, this was the closest he had ever been to a German soldier. Moreover, the bright bayonet, which was right next to him just now, looked chilling.

"We'll get out of here at once, and when they've interrogated the captives, they'll know roughly where we are, and then we won't be able to leave as long as martial law is up." The Soviet general, who was quite experienced, said so.

His words made Khrushchev very nervous, and he quickly nodded and said: "Let's go, and we'll leave when the Germans outside leave." ”

Obviously, it was impossible for the Germans who had come to rest to leave immediately, and it was impossible for the Germans to watch a few men walk in front of them with suspicious expressions.

There were many women and children in the house, so Khrushchev was given a few of them some cover. If you suddenly saw a few men on the street, the German soldiers would not let it go easily.

"It's too late, we jumped out of the window at the back of the building! If we don't act immediately, it will be very easy for the Germans to catch us once martial law is up. The general said.

It was impossible for the guard battalion to protect them all to be killed, and the Germans would have taken some prisoners, and as long as they were interrogated, it would have been obvious to all.

As long as it proved that Khrushchev and others were in this vicinity, the Germans could easily control a few blocks, and then little by little they would look for the senior commander of the Soviet army who was hiding.

If the other party is looking for it carefully, they will not be able to escape, not to mention that if they do not leave here immediately, the German army will announce the news that Khrushchev has absconded.

At that time, even if Khrushchev was lucky enough not to die, he would have been written down by Stalin and turned into a traitor to the Soviet Union and a sinner......

In order to avoid this from happening, they had to leave here immediately, find a defensive area where the Soviets were stationed, identify themselves and continue the fight!

"Okay!" After thinking about this, Khrushchev finally made sense.

Although he was reluctant to risk leaving, the fear of the German forces around him forced him to follow the advice of others and leave the place immediately.

A few men grabbed some food and stuffed it into their pockets, then walked to the first floor, chose a window, and climbed out of the wall under the gaze of several old women.

……

"Khrushchev's command has already taken the city, why didn't he capture himself?" Manstein put down the papers in his hand and asked the officer who had come to report with a frown.

The original plan was that after the capture of the Kremlin, the fighting in Moscow would be almost over.

But who could have known that Konev and a group of men hid in a defensive bunker near the island in the middle of the river, continued to direct the battle, and held out until now without surrendering.

Although the Soviet troops in the north were almost cleared, it was the credit of Army Group North, and it had nothing to do with him Manstein.

Now the problem is that he could have caught Khrushchev, but the damned comrade left-behind commissar also ran away at the last moment!

Are all these high-ranking Soviet leaders rats? Stalin fled before Moscow was surrounded, and Khrushchev ran away at the last moment!

"Don't they dare to fight like a man and die where they deserve to die?" Manstein, a little annoyed, muttered to himself.

"We are looking for Khrushchev's whereabouts, and the most reliable information is that the direction of his escape is north of Moscow!" The officer who came to report said.

Nodding, Manstein looked at the map on the table that had been sent by his subordinates and hung in Khrushchev's office, and commanded: "Send this map to the Supreme Command!" Give it to the Führer! ”

After ......saying that, he stood up, walked to the map hanging in his office with his hands behind his back, and whispered to himself.

When his eyes fell on the areas held by the Soviet troops in the north, which were about to disappear, he seemed to think of something.

These defensive rings of the Soviet army, which were already on the verge of annihilation, Khrushchev could not have gotten in any way.

Even if they were able to get there, they would not be able to get past the thick encirclement of the German army and join up with the recalcitrant Soviet troops inside.

In this way, the likelihood of Khrushchev continuing to flee north becomes very small. His most likely choice is to turn around and head south immediately!

Yes, in this way, the confessions of Soviet prisoners can also be used to mislead the German capture troops, so that the Germans mistakenly believe that Khrushchev has been fleeing north.

But he had actually run south in disguise, which would have left most of the search force behind.

It was easier to say how to join the Soviets in the defensive circle of the island in the middle of the river - as long as they could touch the Moskva River, it would be easier to cross the river than to cross the tight German lines.

"He probably won't be able to go north! Now he should have changed into civilian clothes, evaded our front-line combat soldiers, and turned his head and fled south! Manstein, who had guessed something, said firmly.

"Give the order to let the troops in the south investigate closely! Be sure to catch Khrushchev and others! Now that the direction of the other party's actions was determined, Manstein quickly gave the order.