Red Moscow

"Thank you for your concern." Seeing so many people caring about him, Sokov was very moved. After expressing his gratitude to everyone, he continued: "I just received a telegram that my wife has been released. , and the engineer who molested her will be severely punished soon."

As for the severe punishment, Sokov didn't have the heart to ask, but since Beria has personally come forward, one can imagine the fate of the engineer.

"General Sokov," Managarov saw that Sokov was unwilling to dwell on this issue, but changed the subject in time: "Do you think Lieutenant Samoilov can catch the German spies?" ?”

"I think there should be no problem." Lunev replied before Sokov said, "As the commander's most trusted subordinate, Lieutenant Samoilov has never let us down."

Derevyanko has returned to his original nature at this moment, and couldn't help but stunned Lunev: "Comrade Military Commissar, you said that Lieutenant Samoilov has never let you down. What do you think of the arrest of spies, but repeated failures?"

Lunev thought for a while and replied: "How to put it, it may be due to lack of experience. You know, in a city that is not fully familiar with it, it is not easy to find out all the hidden German spies. matter."

Derevyanko originally wanted to complain about the arrest operation that was about to start, but when the words came to his lips, he suddenly remembered that this operation was arranged by Sokov himself. If he mentioned this matter at this moment, wouldn't it be equivalent to singing against Sokov what? Thinking of this, he quickly swallowed back what he wanted to say.

Sensing that Derevyanko seemed to have something to say, Sokov raised his chin at him and asked tentatively, "Chief of Staff Derevyanko, do you seem to have something to say?"

Derevyanko hesitated for a few seconds, then said: "General Sokov, I'm thinking about something."

"what's up?"

"If, what I said is if." Derevyanko was afraid that Sukov would misunderstand what he meant, and quickly explained to him: "If Lieutenant Samoilov caught the German spies lurking in the city, then When the enemy bombs at night, do they have no one to guide them?"

The speaker has no intention but the listener does. Derevyanko originally perfunctory Sokov's words, but a bold idea popped into Sokov's mind. He turned to Lunev: "Comrade Military Commissar, I want to ask you, are there any residents living in those areas full of ruins?"

Lunev was taken aback by Sokov's question. He frowned and thought for a while, then replied: "According to my observation, there are simple shacks built in the ruins, which should be the residents who lived there and collected some buildings. Materials, a place to shelter yourself from the wind and rain.”

"Is it a lot?"

"Not many." Lunev shook his head and said, "Most of the residents who built shacks on the ruins were resettled in other places by us. The remaining residents, besides leaving their homeland, also wanted to live in the ruins." Find some daily necessities you need."

"Comrade Military Commissar, since there are not many residents staying there, after Samoilov captures the spies in the city, he will try to persuade those residents to move out of the ruined area and temporarily settle in another area."

Regarding Sokov's strange order, Lunev did not accept it immediately, but asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, I don't understand why you issued such an order? Can you explain it to us?"

"Yes, General Sokov." As soon as Lunev finished speaking, Managarov also echoed: "I don't understand why you issued such an order. There is no reason to let the residents stay in the ruins." Would it be beneficial for us to clear the debris early and rebuild new buildings there?"

"Comrade General, I must have my reasons for doing this." After Sokov said this, he glanced at the commanders on the battlefield one by one, and felt that they were all reliable people. They didn't have to worry about leaking the secrets, so they continued to say: "Isn't the enemy going to bomb at night? I asked the military commissioner to move people away, just to let the German planes throw all the bombs they carried on the ground." On the ruins of no one."

Hearing what Sokov said, Derevyanko not only laughed: "General Sokov, you really know how to joke, how could the enemy's planes honestly throw all the bombs at the location you designated? ..." As soon as he said this, he suddenly thought of a possibility, and the words he wanted to say got stuck in his throat.

Derevyanko understood Sokov's intention in an instant, and asked cautiously: "General Sokov, are you planning to wait until Lieutenant Samoilov catches the spies, and when the enemy conducts night bombing, will you Looking for someone to pretend to be a spy in the city, guide the German night bombers in the uninhabited ruins area, and let them bomb the uninhabited ruins area?"

Seeing that Derevyanko had guessed his intention, Sokov didn't speak, just nodded slightly, and then gave the other party a thumbs up, praising the other party for guessing correctly.

Managarov couldn't help but his eyes lit up, and said to Sokov: "General Sokov, our air defense weapons are limited, and we don't have searchlights. Every time enemy planes attack at night, we can only watch them. bombing, but cannot take effective measures to deal with them. If the method you said is really effective, then a large number of enemy aerial bombs can be wasted."

"Yes," Sokov nodded and said, "There is a problem with the enemy's supplies. After bombing the city, the aerial bombs they consume will have to wait a long time before they can be supplied. In this way, our army The number of bombings encountered during defensive operations will be greatly reduced."

"But the premise of doing this is that Lieutenant Samoilov's operation can be successful, and all the German spies in the city will be wiped out." Sameko poured cold water on everyone: "If a German spy slips through the net, then Comrade Commander plan, there is a possibility of failure.”

Hearing what Sameko said, everyone became worried about the actions Samoilov was taking. After all, the previous arrest operations all ended in failure. The German spies lurking in the city have become frightened birds, and they will escape if there is any trouble.

By noon, there was no reply from Samoilov, but Yakov called Sokov's headquarters. As soon as he heard Sokov's voice, he said excitedly: "Misha, do you know? Comrade Beria personally went out to deal with Assia's affairs. Now Assia is fine, return to her working in the infirmary. Do you want to know what kind of punishment was given to that engineer?"

"I don't know." After Sokov answered honestly, he asked, "How to deal with him?"

"As far as I know, in another week, he will be sent to Siberia. There will be a scientific research project to drill a well leading to the center of the earth." Yakov said: "And this engineer will be honored to be the One of the drillers drilling the well."

Drilling to the center of the earth? ! Sokov was not only stunned when he heard Yakov say that. Later generations of the Soviet Union began a scientific drilling in the area near the Norwegian border on the Kola Peninsula, which lasted for decades and drilled 12,262 meters. There were many reasons for the subsequent stoppage of work. Some said that the funds were exhausted and could no longer be maintained; others said that a supernatural event occurred, the drilling opened hell, and the audio equipment carried on the drill bit recorded a recording that seemed like countless people screaming.

But in any case, this scientific research project will not be officially launched until 1970, and there are still 27 years before the restriction. Could it be that, in addition to the Kola drilling, the Soviet Union has conducted similar scientific research projects in other areas?

Yakov heard that Sokov hadn't spoken, thought he didn't believe it was all true, and quickly explained: "Comrade Beria greeted you in the Armament Department today and said that Asiya is your wife. , if anyone dares to have any unreasonable thoughts about her in the future, he will definitely be severely punished. Misha, you can rest assured now."

But Yakov didn't expect that what Sokov was thinking about was not about Asiya at all, but other things that hadn't happened yet. After Sokov woke up from his contemplation, he tentatively asked: "Yasha, I have already talked to Marshal Zhukov about the transport plane. I wonder how many shells you can provide me?"

"Misha, you're embarrassing me like this." Yakov sighed and said, "You know, every arsenal under the Weapons and Equipment Department produces ammunition according to a plan. Do you understand the plan? Once produced, these ammunition will be delivered directly to certain troops. The shells you need are completely unplanned, and it will be very difficult for me to help you get them."

Seeing Yakov push back and forth, Sokov felt unhappy: "Yasha, we are friends, so I can safely arrange Asiya to work with you. It turned out that such a big thing happened, and you didn't make it in time." Tell me, it almost caused a big mistake, tell me, how to solve this matter?"

Regarding Asiya's matter, Yakov feels guilty towards Sokov. Even if Ustinov is not in the weapons and equipment department, Yakov, as the bearded son, is there no better way to deal with the aftermath? ?

Sure enough, Yakov blushed immediately when he heard Sokov mention Asiya, and apologized to Sokov: "Misha, I'm sorry, it's indeed my responsibility for not handling this matter well. Don't worry, I will definitely take good care of Asiya in the future and will never let something like this happen again."

"Assia's matter, let's put it aside first." Sokov finally caught an opportunity, but he was willing to give up easily: "Let's talk about the issue of heavy artillery shells. I finally persuaded Marshal Zhukov, please He greeted the people from the Air Force Command and provided us with a transport plane. Now that everything is ready, but you tell me that you can’t provide us with shells, how can there be such a reason in the world?"

"Alright, alright, Misha, I can't say enough about you." Facing Sokov's pressing force, Yakov could only choose to compromise: "Tell me, how many shells do you plan to ask for?"

"Of course, the more the better." Seeing that the opponent gave in, Sokov took the opportunity to speak loudly, "You have to give me 100,000 shells anyway."

The number Sokov proposed not only frightened Yakov, but even Managarov and others on the side were stunned. They never dreamed that Sokov would ask for so many shells . According to their thinking, the superior can give two or three thousand rounds of shells, and they can already hide and laugh.

"No, no." The number proposed by Sokov was rejected by Yakov without any surprise: "We only provided 70,000 rounds of shells for the Prairie Front Army in two days, and the shells you need for an army group actually exceed this." Numbers. Do you think shells are as easy to produce as bullets?"

"Then how many shells can you give me?"

Yakov calculated silently in his heart, gritted his teeth and said, "Three thousand rounds, no more."

"Three thousand?!" Hearing the figure Yakov said, Sokov couldn't help but sneered: "Yasha, you haggled too hard, didn't you? I want 100,000 shells, but you only give I have three thousand hairs, don't you think it's a little too little?"

"Misha, I just told you that the shells provided to you are all overproduction parts, and I have the right to use them. If the number is more, unless Comrade Ustinov agrees, no one will I have no right to give you shells."

For Sokov, 3,000 rounds of heavy artillery shells can only meet the shelling needs of a day or two. After these shells are fired, the heavy artillery shells in the group army will become decorations. So he had to find a way to get more shells.

After being silent for a while, Sokov asked tentatively, "Yasha, I want to ask, how many factories are producing shells now?"

Unexpectedly, Yakov misunderstood Sokov's meaning. He thought that what the other party wanted to ask was the daily output of the factory. You must know that the production data of these arsenals are top secret and must not be easily leaked out. So he said with some hesitation: "Misha, you are not from the Armament Department. I cannot provide you with the production data of the arsenal."

"Yasha, you misunderstood." After listening to Yakov's reply, Sokov knew that he had misunderstood, and quickly explained to him: "I just want to ask, is there a spare arsenal? You know, the city's The arsenal may be bombed by enemy aircraft, or destroyed by the enemy. Therefore, there must be several spare arsenals."

"Oh, so that's what happened." After figuring out what was going on, Yakov breathed a sigh of relief and continued: "Yes, for safety reasons, there are indeed several spare arsenals outside Moscow, just to prepare After the arsenal in the city has a problem, it will serve as a substitute."

"Then how much is their output?" Sokov asked tentatively.

"The output of the arsenal is national defense data that needs to be kept absolutely confidential. Please forgive me for not being able to tell you."

Since Yakov didn't want to say it, Sokov didn't force it, so he decided to find another way to get the shells he wanted: "Yasha, can you see if this works. Anyway, those spare arsenals are idle, why not Let them start production?" Sokov knew that Yakov had such a right, so he began to lobby him, "You can use the excess production to arm more troops so that they can better attack the enemy. "

Yakov didn't realize that this was the hole Sokov dug for himself, and after thinking for a long time, he said, "Okay, Misha, for the sake of our being friends, I can start a spare arsenal in the eastern suburbs. But the factory is not big, and the daily production is limited, you won't be unhappy, right?"

"No, no." Sokov said repeatedly: "How about you let this arsenal serve us exclusively, so that we can formulate a new production plan according to our needs."