"Comrade Joseph, it seemed that by maintaining radio silence these past few days, we had missed a great deal of news," Colonel Karlov, commander of the 4th Guards Infantry Division, said.
Joseph's face had gone as black as the bottom of a pot. "Comrade Karlov, are you accusing me?"
"Ah! Comrade Joseph, that wasn't what I meant." Colonel Karlov hurriedly denied it.
Colonel Karlov feared that he would anger Joseph over this. If it brought about his own death, that would be disastrous.
"Hmph!" Joseph snorted coldly. At any other time, he would already have taken the life of such a petty colonel. But at a moment like this, he did not dare do so. If it provoked a mutiny, the consequences would be even graver.
"Comrade Joseph, what should we do now?" Marshal Voroshilov asked.
"We are not far from Nizhny Novgorod now. If we turn on the radio and contact them, can we have them send vehicles to pick us up?" Joseph asked.
"Comrade Joseph, if we do that, our whereabouts are very likely to be exposed. The Germans will certainly be monitoring radio signals around Nizhny Novgorod," Marshal Voroshilov said.
"Comrade Joseph, according to the information we received, the government offices and troops that withdrew to Nizhny Novgorod have all evacuated from there," a Russian scout reported.
Upon hearing this, Joseph's expression became even uglier.
"Damn it, what are those people trying to do? Are they trying to betray me?" Joseph trembled with rage. In his view, those Russian leaders and troops had actually withdrawn before waiting for his arrival. They had clearly abandoned him and betrayed him. It made Joseph feel betrayed and deserted by all, and he wished he could execute every last one of them.
"Comrade Joseph, with the troops withdrawn, the Germans will