Red Moscow

After hearing Sokov's heartfelt words, Asiya was very moved. She knew that Sokov was worried about her own safety, so she didn't put herself in a dangerous position.

She got up and walked in front of Sokov, kissed him deeply on the forehead, and said gratefully: "Misha, thank you for your kindness. But as an assistant military doctor, my responsibility is to rescue the injured Soldiers. I think if it is possible, you should arrange me in the frontline combat troops."

Seeing that Assia was determined to go to the frontline troops, Sokov did not persuade her any more. Based on his understanding of Assia, even if he tried to persuade her, the other party would probably not agree to stay in the field hospital of the group army.

Sokov thought about several divisions in his mind, and finally thought that Khokhlov's 182nd Division was the first unit to go into battle. In the coming days, he would definitely not take any major battles The task was assigned to their division. If Portia was allowed to go to the division, the danger could be minimized.

Thinking of this, he said to Assia: "Assia, since you want to go to the first-line troops, why not go to Colonel Khokhlov's 182nd Division, they are the first in this battle against the Imperial Division. One into battle. It's a heroic force, and if you don't object, I'll send you to a division?"

Assia didn't know Sokov's little thoughts, and asked with some worry: "Misha, will the other party agree to take me?"

"Don't worry, as long as I'm here, no one will dare to object to which division you want to go to." Saying this, Sokov stood up and walked to the telephone set by the wall. He shook the handle a few times, Putting the handset to his ear, when he heard a voice coming from inside, he said into the microphone: "I'm Sokov, connect me to the 182nd Division headquarters."

The call was quickly connected, and after hearing Khokhlov's voice from the receiver, Sokov said calmly: "Comrade Colonel, I plan to send an assistant military doctor to your division field hospital. Do you want to?"

"Comrade Commander, the number of medical personnel in our division's field hospital has been severely lacking. It would be great if you could send us an assistant military doctor." Colonel Khokhlov tentatively asked, "When will he come?"

"It's not 'he' but 'she', a female assistant military doctor." There is still a difference between "he" and "she" in Russian, and Sokov realized that the other party misunderstood that he would send them a When the male military doctor came over, he made a special explanation, and finally emphasized: "You must ensure her safety..."

Unexpectedly, he was interrupted by Khokhlov before he finished speaking: "What, Comrade Commander, you plan to send a female assistant military doctor. Is this appropriate? You know, male military doctors are more popular on the front line .”

Assia heard that the other party politely rejected her joining, and the expression on her face couldn't help but dim. Seeing this, Sokov frowned, and said dissatisfiedly: "Comrade Colonel, don't you know that there are only soldiers and civilians on the battlefield, and there is no distinction between men and women?"

"Comrade Commander, what you said is correct." Khokhlov agreed with Sokov, but he still insisted: "Will women be afraid when they go to the battlefield?" ?”

"No." Sokov said categorically: "She participated in the entire Stalingrad defense battle and carried the wounded from the battlefield many times. She is not afraid of fighting at all."

Originally, Khokhlov wanted to continue to refuse, but when he heard Sokov mention the Battle of Stalingrad, he immediately realized that the reason why Sokov repeatedly recommended this person to him might have something to do with this female military doctor. Thinking of this, Khokhlov tentatively asked: "Comrade Commander, I would like to ask, is this person related to you?"

"Yes, she is my relative." Sokov glanced at Asiya and continued, "Don't you want to see if she is my relative before deciding whether to let her join your field hospital?"

"No, Comrade Commander." Seeing that Sokov's words hit the nail on the head, Khokhlov still tried his best to cover up: "Since she is a female military doctor who has fought in war, I welcome her on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of our division."

"Well, I'll send someone to take her there tomorrow." After Sokov finished speaking, he hung up the phone and said to Assia with a smile: "Assia, the matter has been settled, and Colonel Khokhlov welcomes you. You join their division field hospital."

"Misha, this is really great." Assia sat on Sokov's lap, put her arms around his neck, kissed him on the cheek twice, and said excitedly: "Thank you for helping me everything."

The two finished their lunch happily, and Sokov wanted to discuss life with Asiya at home while Sameko was watching for him at the headquarters. Although the two had received their marriage certificates before the start of the Battle of Stalingrad, they were still in name only. Sokov wanted to use this opportunity to cook the raw rice and make their marriage worthy of the name.

Unexpectedly, when everything was proceeding according to the steps, it was disrupted by a sudden knock on the door. Sokov, who only missed the door, yelled at the door angrily: "Who is outside?"

"Comrade Commander, it's me." A timid voice came from outside the door: "I'm Lieutenant Samoilov."

Sokov put on his clothes indiscriminately, jumped out of bed, came to the door barefoot, and opened the door with his hand.

Samoilov, who was standing outside the door, saw Sokov appearing at the door, quickly took a step back, and then raised his hand to salute: "Comrade Commander, Comrade Military Commissioner, please return to the headquarters immediately."

Sokov keenly grasped a message from the other party's words. The person who asked him to call him was Military Commissar Lunev, not Chief of Staff Sameko. It seemed that something went wrong. So he asked with a straight face, "What's the matter?"

"There is a great man from Moscow who wants to see you." Samoilov replied somewhat flusteredly: "Comrade Military Commissar ordered me to come and see you immediately."

"An important person from Moscow?" Sokov couldn't help muttering in his heart when he heard this. Zhukov had just left not long ago, and which important person would come here to find him? Moreover, Samoilov, who has always been bold, trembled unconsciously when he mentioned this person. It seemed that he was very afraid of this person. In order to find out who came, he tentatively asked: "Comrade Lieutenant, do you know who is here?"

Hearing Sokov's question, Samoilov looked around vigilantly, then replied in a low voice: "It's Comrade People's Commissar of the National Defense Committee."

"People's Commissar of the National Defense Committee?" Sokov repeated his position, and immediately his hairs stood on end. He asked in surprise, "Comrade Lieutenant, you said the person who came to see me was Comrade Beria?"

"That's right." Seeing that Sokov had already guessed the answer, Samoilov did not deny it, but nodded, and replied affirmatively: "It is Comrade People's Commissar, he is waiting for you in the headquarters. "

"Wait for me for a while, I'll change my clothes and follow you to the headquarters." After Sokov finished speaking, he closed the door, came to the bed, and said apologetically to Asiya: "Asiya, I'm really sorry. Sorry, there is an important person waiting for me in the headquarters, I need to rush to see her immediately. I will come to you later, okay?"

"Misha, since you have an important person to see you, go there quickly and don't make him wait." Asiya has never been a person who puts her back, she said reasonably: "I will always stay Waiting for you here."

When Sokov brought Samoilov to the headquarters, he saw many officers in blue caps standing at the door, walking back and forth like ordinary soldiers with submachine guns on their shoulders. Seeing the two of Sokov approaching, an officer stepped forward and stopped them: "Is it Major General Sokov?"

"Yes, I'm Sokov." Although the other party was only a second lieutenant, considering the special status of the other party, Sokov replied politely: "I was ordered to see Comrade Beria."

The second lieutenant obviously received the order from his superior, so he shook his head at Sokov: "Go in." Seeing that Samoilov wanted to follow in, he stopped him again, "Comrade Beria saw Sokov The general is alone, you better stay outside and wait."

Sokov walked into the headquarters familiarly, and saw that there were only three people in the room, one was the chief of staff, Major General Sameko, the other was the military commissar, Lieutenant General Lunev, and the rest was wearing military uniform. A middle-aged man with round glasses and a slightly bald head, he looks like a kind university professor.

Although it was the first time he saw this person, Sokov still matched the photos seen by later generations with the person in front of him. This is Beria who made everyone talk about it. As soon as he guessed the other party's identity, Sokov felt that his legs were a little weak. He didn't know why the other party came to him suddenly, and he seemed extremely nervous.

But no matter how scared he was, Sokov still tried his best to pretend to be calm. After raising his hand to salute the other party, he said respectfully: "Hello, Comrade People's Commissar of National Defense, Major General Sokov, Commander of the 27th Army, is here to report to you. On behalf of all the commanders and fighters, I welcome your arrival."

"You are Comrade Sokov. I heard your name more than once when I was in Moscow, but this is the first time I saw you in person today." Beria got up and walked over, reaching out to shake hands with Sokov. After shaking hands, he said with a smile: "I hope that my arrival today will not cause you any inconvenience."

"Look at what you said, Comrade People's Commissar of National Defense." Sokov said with a smile: "It is an honor for us that you can come to us. I believe that your arrival will unite the hearts of the troops and inspire The role of morale."

In the ensuing conversation, Beria, with a kind face and kind eyes, tried to create a feeling of spring breeze, but Sokov felt very uncomfortable. He felt that there were some indescribable things mixed in this comfort hypocritical. But as long as the other party is not specifically looking for trouble for him, this kind of hypocrisy can also be ignored.

After the two chatted a lot of unnutritious words, they finally touched on today's topic: "General Sokov, I have a few questions that I don't understand, and I want to ask you for advice."

Sokov said in his heart, finally getting to the point. Hastily and respectfully said: "Comrade People's Commissar, if you have any questions, just ask. As long as I know the answer, I will answer it truthfully."

"I heard that the day before the enemy launched an attack on the Kursk salient, you distributed weapons and ammunition to the troops and made everyone ready for battle. Is this true?"

Sokov knew that what he had done could not be hidden from anyone, so he replied truthfully: "Yes, there is such a thing."

"Then please tell me, how did you know the enemy was going to attack?"

Facing Beria's question, Sokov pondered for a long time, thinking about how to answer the other party's question. Seeing that Sokov did not speak for a long time, the expression on Beria's face became serious. Just when he was about to speak, Sokov said first: "I made a judgment based on the order issued by my superiors. .”

"According to the order of the superior?" Sokov's answer confused Beria, and he asked with some wonder: "What order?"

"In the combat order issued by the Supreme Command, it was specifically mentioned that the Germans may launch an attack on our army's defense line from July 3rd to 6th, and all troops should earnestly prepare for combat." Soko I think I saw a movie before, before the Battle of Kursk, when Zhukov and Rokossovsky discussed whether to shell the enemy's positions, Rokossovsky mentioned this Sokov didn’t know whether it was true or not, but he could only push his own judgment to this order at the moment: “I think the time limit predicted by the base camp is almost over, and the Germans haven’t moved for a long time, so I feel that There must be a conspiracy, so I decisively ordered the troops to prepare for battle. Unexpectedly, I was really fooled."

Sokov's answer surprised Beria. On the way here, he imagined many reasons why Sokov might defend himself, but he just didn't think of this. The muscles on his face twitched, and he asked with some embarrassment: "So, you judged that the enemy might take action in the Kursk salient based on this order from the Supreme Command?"

Ever since Sokov emerged and entered Beria's sights, he has been the target of suspicion. Beria felt that Sokov's judgment of the battle situation and his grasp of the fighters were surprisingly accurate, and there must be some conspiracy in it. Long before the start of the Battle of Stalingrad, he boldly raised the possibility that Sokov might be a German spy in a meeting of the Supreme Command, and used some examples to prove his guess.

Fortunately, many people helped Sokov speak well at that time, otherwise, he would have been arrested as a German spy long ago. The Battle of Kursk began, and when Beria learned again that Sokov had taken precautionary measures before the enemy attacked, he asked Stalin for instructions and came to Sokov with a group of men.

However, Sokov's answer just now made him puzzled again. Could it be that his judgment was wrong, the other party is really a military genius, and he can accurately judge the enemy's movements based on some clues? Sokov's answer sounded reasonable, but it still couldn't dispel the doubt in his heart.

Soon, he asked Sokov a new question: "Since you said that you made the troops ready for battle in advance, it was your judgment based on the order of your superiors. Then please tell me, the next battle, In what direction will it unfold?"