Red Moscow

Sokov regained consciousness on the third day after the operation. He opened his dim eyes and found that everything around him was white, the white ceiling, the white walls, and even the quilt on his body were all white.

He closed his eyes and thought for a while, remembering that on the way to the front with the platoon of guards, he met a team of engineers at a crossing. The captain of the team told himself that there were landmines planted by the German army on the road ahead, and enthusiastically said: Please go to the Taoist room next to you to rest.

However, when I was in the room, I found a suspicious suitcase, and there was a ticking sound from the clock inside. When I realized that it might be a bomb, I jumped out of the window. Unexpectedly, the bomb exploded as soon as he took off... He has no memory of what happened afterwards.

What Sokov didn't know was that the air blast from the explosion threw him onto the nearby railway. Even when the staff officer brought someone over to rescue him, he instinctively wanted to draw out his pistol and shoot at the other party.

He fell into a coma, and was quickly taken back to Klemenchug by the staff, where he received emergency rescue. Soon after the operation, Zhukov personally accompanied him by plane back to Moscow, and under Stalin's personal interrogation, he was admitted to a military hospital with good medical conditions near Lubyanka.

This is an underground military hospital. It is located on the square opposite the famous Ministry of Internal Affairs building. From the outside, it looks like a container inserted obliquely on the ground. Enter the door through the guard post at the door, and walk 50 meters along the corridor , the field of vision will suddenly open up, and you will see the wide outpatient hall. The ward where Sokov is hospitalized is located on the second floor below the outpatient hall. Although it is more than ten meters deep underground, there is no need to worry about stuffiness due to the perfect ventilation system.

Don't see that the German army is not capable of bombing Moscow, but Zhukov still found Stalin because of his relationship with Sokov, and asked him to arrange for Sokov to be admitted to the safest military hospital, where he will carry out follow-up treat.

Sokov opened his eyes again and tried to sit up to see where it was. Unexpectedly, the moment he moved, the wound caused great pain, and he couldn't help snorting. His voice startled a nurse sitting next to him. She leaned over and found that Sokov had opened his eyes. She couldn't help but exclaimed, "Comrade General, you're awake."

Before Sokov could speak, she turned and ran out of the ward.

A few minutes later, seven or eight medical staff rushed in from the ward. They have a clear division of labor, and they are busy for a while. An elderly doctor bent down and asked Sokov politely, "Comrade General, how do you feel now?"

Sokov felt the sharp pain coming from the wound, and replied in a weak voice: "I feel pain all over my body."

"This is very normal, Comrade General." The doctor replied, "You were sent to our hospital after being seriously injured. Although you are awake now, the injury is still not optimistic. It is very painful to feel the pain." normal."

Sokov analyzed the environment here and the doctor's neat attire, and felt that it should not be the front line, so he tentatively asked, "Where am I?"

"Comrade General, you are now in the military hospital in Lubyanka." The doctor replied with a smile: "You will be well treated here."

When he heard the word Lubyanka, Sokov instinctively thought of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and couldn't help but tremble all over. Noticing his strange behavior, the doctor asked with concern: "Comrade General, where is your wound hurting?"

"It's not the wound that hurts." Sokov shook his head slightly and asked a very stupid question: "Lubyanka? Is it Lubyanka from Moscow?"

"Naturally, Comrade General." Hearing Sokov's question, the doctor couldn't help answering with a smile: "Where else will there be a Lubyanka except Moscow."

Sokov tried not to think about the daunting place name of Lubyanka, but asked cautiously: "Since this is Moscow, can I inform my family to come and visit?"

"Your family is in Moscow?"

"Yes, as a military doctor in the Armament Department."

"Oh, your family members are military doctors?!" The doctor had an unexpected expression on his face: "I really didn't expect that he would be with us. Comrade General, don't worry, I will immediately report this matter to the dean and political commissar After getting their permission, you can notify your family members to visit you."

After examining Sokov, the medical staff left one after another, leaving only the nurse whom Sokov saw when he opened his eyes. The nurse came to Sokov's bed, bent down and said with a smile, "Comrade General, I am Vera, the nurse who is in charge of taking care of you. If you need my help, please ask me."

"Is my injury serious?" Sokov asked, sitting up tentatively. But his frail body caused the originally simple movement to make him feel dizzy, many black spots floated in front of his eyes, and his head that had just been raised fell weakly on the pillow.

"Lie down, lie down, Comrade General." Seeing Sokov's reckless behavior, Vera hurriedly reached out to support his head, and said in a panic: "Your body is too weak and you still need to rest. Don't move casually, lest the wound burst open."

Sokov lay quietly on the hospital bed, looked at Vera who had just sat down beside the bed, and asked feebly, "How many days have I been in a coma?"

"Three days!"

Sokov thought to himself that on the day he was wounded, the troops of the 254th and 300th Divisions had already broken through the defenses of the German 1st Army and were advancing south. If nothing else, they should be attacking Alexandria at this moment.

Thinking of this, he asked again: "How is the situation on the front line?"

"The situation on the front line?" Vera was taken aback when he heard Sokov's question, and then asked back, "Comrade General, which front line do you want to know about?"

"Has the defense line of the Dnieper River been broken by our army?"

"Of course we broke through, Comrade General." Vera said happily: "The first to break through the enemy's line of defense was the grassland front army, which was the least favored by everyone before the war."

"Why are you not optimistic about the grassland front army?"

"It goes without saying that the Grassland Front Army is just a reserve front army, and its combat effectiveness is definitely not comparable to that of the regular Front Army." Vera said: "But I didn't expect that from the beginning of the Battle of Kursk to the present, they have made remarkable achievements. In particular, the 27th Army under this front has a brilliant record. Not only did it liberate Belgorod, but it was also the first to rush into Kharkov, which is truly remarkable.”

When the Soviet Intelligence Agency released the battle report, for the sake of confidentiality, it often only announced the number of the meritorious unit, or generally speaking, the unit of a certain general. Therefore, even Vera, who often learned about the battle ahead through newspapers and radio, would not Knowing that the general lying in front of her is the commander of the 27th Army that she said.

"Hehe," Sokov laughed dryly and asked Vera, "Has our army captured Alexandria and Kirovgrad?"

Vera stared at Sokov blankly for a while, then shook her head and said, "Probably not. I didn't see any information about the liberation of Alexandria and Kirov from the battle reports released by the Soviet Intelligence Agency. Geller's content."

Sokov guessed that Vera might have stayed in the hospital for a long time and had little contact with the outside world, so he could not keep abreast of the battle situation outside, so he tentatively asked: "Vera, could it be that the Soviet intelligence agency announced the battle report, and You happened to not see these contents?"

"No, absolutely not." Vera shook her head and denied desperately: "Comrade General, I am a Ukrainian. I listen to the radio every day and watch the battle reports released by the Soviet Intelligence Agency. If the cities in Ukraine Liberated, I'll definitely notice."

Sokov stared at Vera, thinking to himself: "Since Vera is Ukrainian, she will definitely notice that our army has liberated major cities in Ukraine. If Alexandria and Kirovgrad didn't win, so something went wrong."

If you want to ask Vera about it, but then you think about it, she is an ordinary nurse, and her knowledge of the front line comes from the Soviet Intelligence Agency. As for why the troops have not captured Alexandria and Kirovgrad until now Well, she definitely doesn't know the specific reason, and she still needs to find a way to ask someone who knows the inside story.

After thinking about it for a while, Sokov realized that there was no one else who could provide him with accurate information except Yakov. In order to find out the situation on the front line as soon as possible, he asked Vera cautiously: "Vera, can you make a call for me?"

"Call?" Vera asked curiously, "Who are you calling, your wife?"

"No." Sokov shook his head and said, "It's a friend of mine. His name is Yakov. He is a colonel and works in the Weapons Department."

"Comrade General," Vera replied cautiously after Sokov finished speaking: "You can tell me your friend's name and phone number, and I will report to the dean. As long as he allows, I can give your friend Call up."

Sokov didn't expect that making a phone call would be so cumbersome, and he wanted to give up at first, but then he thought, if he didn't call Yakov, he might not be able to keep abreast of the situation on the battlefield in a timely manner. After thinking about this, he could only smile bitterly and say to Vera: "Then I will trouble you."

"No trouble, this is what we should do." Vera asked carelessly: "Comrade General, I want to ask you, if the dean allows me to call, what do you plan to say to Colonel Yakov? "

"Just tell him that I am recuperating in the military hospital in Lubyanka, and ask him to come here when he is free."

"Okay, Comrade General." Vera replied, "I will apply to the dean as soon as possible..."

Before she could finish her sentence, there was a knock on the door.

Vera got up and walked to the door, opened the door, and asked the person standing outside the door: "Comrade Colonel, what do you want?"

A voice Sokov was familiar with came from outside the door: "Comrade nurse, does Major General Sokov live here?"

"Yes, he does live here." Vera asked vigilantly, "Who are you, and what can I do with him?"

"I'm a friend of his. I heard that he was injured and was hospitalized here. I came here specially to visit him."

Sokov, who was lying on the hospital bed, took a few deep breaths, then tried to raise his voice and said to Vera, "Vera, let him in."

Vera turned to look at Sokov, and said with some embarrassment: "But I don't know his identity yet."

"Vera, I just asked you to call him." Sokov said pantingly, "He is Yakov, my best friend."

Hearing that the colonel at the door was the one Sokov asked him to call, Vera smiled, and she opened the door wider so that the other party could walk in smoothly. At the same time, he said: "I'm sorry, Colonel Yakov, I didn't know you were the Comrade General and others. Please come in, please come in quickly."

After thanking Vera, Yakov walked in the door carelessly, came to Sokov's bed and sat down. When he looked at Sukov's bandaged, thick tree-trunk hanging in mid-air, he had a look of astonishment on his face: "I said Misha, your leg won't be useless, right?"

In fact, as early as when the medical staff came in for the physical examination, Sokov found that his leg was cast in plaster, wrapped in a thick bandage, and hung in mid-air. He couldn't help worrying that he would become disabled. Hearing what Yakov said at this moment, he couldn't help feeling flustered, but he still pretended to be calm and said: "Yasha, don't worry, it's just a small injury. I'll be able to get out of bed in a while, and you will be able to get out of bed soon." See me alive again."

"Comrade General, the injury on your leg is not serious." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Vera interrupted and said, "I heard from the doctor that your right leg has a comminuted fracture and you will have to lie in bed for at least three months. It is possible to get out of bed and try to walk. Even so, I am afraid that I will be disabled."

The expression on Sokov's face became stiff, and the smile gradually disappeared. After a while, he looked at Vera and said, "Vera, Colonel Yakov and I have something important to discuss, can you avoid it for a while?"

Seeing that Sokov issued an order to expel him, Vera nodded with interest and said in a low voice: "Comrade General, there is a bell next to your pillow. If there is anything, just pull the rope, and I will call immediately." Came here."

"Understood, Vera." Sokov was eager to know the frontier, so he said impatiently: "I will call you if there is something to do, you go out first."

Yakov was a smart man, seeing Sokov eagerly chased the nurse away, he guessed that the other party had something important to ask him, so he took the initiative to ask: "Misha, do you have something important to ask me? "

"Yes, Yasha." Seeing that Yakov had guessed his intentions, Sokov did not hide anything, and replied truthfully, "I do have something important to ask you."

"Misha, as a friend, I want to say sorry to you here." Yakov guessed that if Sokov had something to ask himself, it must be why he stopped supplying the 27th Army with new rockets, so he took the initiative to explain. Said: "It is Comrade Ustinov's decision to stop supplying new rockets to your army. I am just a small colonel, and there is no way to change his decision."

"Yasha, do you think I am in a hurry to see you because I want to ask about new rockets?" Sokov shook his head and said, "Wrong, wrong, I have other things to ask you."

"Other things?" Sokov's words confused Yakov: "What is it?"