Red Moscow

"Vera, although I have been staying in the hospital bed for the past few days, according to my observation, this should be a very high-level hospital. If the level is not high enough, I am definitely not qualified to enter." Sokov looked at Vera and asked: " Am I right?"

"You are right, Comrade General." Since Sokov is already living here, there is no need to keep some things secret from him, Vera replied truthfully: "This is the Lubyanka Military Hospital, so to speak. The hospital with the highest level of security in the country. The soldiers who can be hospitalized here must at least be senior generals above the rank of lieutenant general."

After Vera finished speaking, she suddenly remembered that Sokov is only a major general now, and quickly added: "Comrade General, although you are only a major general, I heard that you can live here not only because Marshal Zhukov personally I sent you in because the Supreme Commander personally greeted the hospital.”

After listening to Vera's words, Sokov finally understood why he was qualified to live in such a special hospital. He hummed lightly, and said, "Vera, you must have taken care of many senior generals in the hospital in the past two years, right?"

Seeing that Vera nodded in agreement, he continued: "If there is any problem with the senior general you are taking care of, you will definitely be punished. Am I right?"

"That's right, Comrade General, your guess is correct." Vera's expression became serious: "If any accident happens to a senior general who is hospitalized, the doctors and nurses who are in charge of taking care of him will be severely punished. punish."

Sokov knew very well in his heart that the severe punishment that Vera said was definitely not as simple as being called to the dean's office to scold you, then deducting two months' salary from you, or sending you to clean up. At least, you will be sent to the gulag concentration camp; at worst, the grass on your grave will be more than ten feet high next year.

Just because later generations have read a lot of information about this era, Sokov knows a lot of inside stories that ordinary people don't know, so he can understand Vera's performance just now. He said to Vera with a smile on his face: "Vera, don't worry. Penicillin, a new type of drug, is good or bad for my body. I know it well. I am here to make a promise to you. I will not hold you responsible for adverse reactions."

In order to make Vera completely at ease, he even emphasized: "If you can't trust me, you can go to the dean and ask him to prepare a letter of commitment. I will sign on it and bear all the consequences of using the new drug without authorization." .”

"No, Comrade General, you misunderstood." Hearing what Sokov said, Vera quickly waved her hands and said in a panic: "I didn't mean that, I didn't mean that."

"Okay, Vera, stop thinking about it." Sokov thought to himself that he had the aura of the protagonist on his body, and no matter how serious the injury was, he would not be in danger of life, so he comforted Vera and said, "Wait until I The day you recover and leave the hospital, you'll know that I'm telling you the truth."

Seeing that Sokov said what was on his mind, Vera smiled a little embarrassedly, and then said, "Comrade General, please close your eyes and rest for a while. I'll go and see why Assia hasn't come back yet."

Sokov closed his eyes, just wanting to take a nap, but he fell asleep unknowingly. When he woke up, he found Assia and Vera sitting beside them chatting softly, so he called out, "Assia!"

"Honey," Assia heard Sokov's voice, immediately stopped talking with Vera, got up and walked quickly to the hospital bed, bent down and asked, "Are you feeling uncomfortable?"

"No." Sokov shook his head slightly, and asked back: "I want to ask, when can I get injections and infusions?"

"Honey, all this has been done long ago!"

"Ah?!" Sokov was taken aback. "When did this happen? I don't feel anything at all."

"When I went back to the ward, I found you were asleep, and I called a few times, but didn't wake you up." Assia explained: "Then I asked Vera to give you penicillin, and then infused glucose and saline."

Sokov said in surprise, "But why don't I feel anything at all?"

After Assia and Vera looked at each other, they turned their gazes on Sokov again, and said with a smile: "The liquid given to you contains sedative ingredients, which help sleep, you sleep like a head It's like a pig, it's strange to be aware of it."

"By the way, I have some good news for you."

"What good news?"

"I just got a notice from the director that Comrade Military Commissioner will come here to visit you tomorrow."

"Military Commissar?" Sokov repeated the word and asked tentatively, "Vera, are you talking about Lunev?"

"That's right, it's him." Asiya explained to Sokov: "It stands to reason that outsiders are not allowed to visit casually in such a highly secure hospital, but General Lunev's status is special, so he was allowed to visit the hospital in the hospital. I will go to the hospital tomorrow to see your condition."

"That's really great." Knowing that Lunev was coming, Sokov was still very happy. After all, he and the other party had been partners for a long time, and a tacit understanding had been formed between them. When we meet tomorrow, we can also learn about the situation of the troops and the changes in the frontier situation.

"When will he be here tomorrow?"

"About nine o'clock." Asiya reminded Sokov, "There must be a lot of big shots who will accompany him to the hospital to visit you."

"Big man?" Sokov began to mutter in his heart: "Who will it be?"

In the morning of the next day, the dean and several military doctors had just finished their rounds, when five or six people poured in from outside. With the entry of these people, the originally spacious ward seemed a bit crowded.

"Who are you?" Seeing so many people coming in from outside, the dean couldn't help frowning: "Who allowed you to enter General Sokov's ward casually?"

It was a general who took the lead, he stepped forward and held the dean's hand, and said with a smile: "Are you comrade dean?" Introduction, my name is Lunev, I used to be the deputy minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and now I am the military commissar of the 27th Army."

"Hello, Comrade Military Commissar." Although the dean didn't know Lunev, he had heard his name. When he learned that the general standing in front of him was the former Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, he immediately respected him. , hastily raised his hand to salute, and said nervously: "Welcome to our hospital for inspection."

"Comrade Dean, I'm really sorry." Lunev stared at Sokov lying on the bed, and said to the dean: "I represent all the commanders and fighters of the 27th Army, and I am here to visit our Comrade Commander. It seems that you have taken good care of him, thank you so much."

The dean received a call from his superior last night, knowing that Lunev was coming here to visit Sokov. Therefore, after a short chat, he left with the military doctor who was rounding the room with him, and called Vera before going out. The people brought by Lunev also walked outside the door consciously, and closed the door behind them so that no one would disturb their conversation.

When only Sokov, Lunev, and Asia were left in the room, Lunev went to the hospital bed and sat down, looking at Sokov who was lying on Chuanghang, and said with emotion: "Comrade Commander, Do you know how much everyone misses you when you are not in the army."

After listening to Lunev's words, Sokov laughed dryly, and then asked: "Comrade Military Commissar, what is the current situation of the troops?"

"Not ideal." Lunev obviously guessed that Sokov would ask this question, shook his head, and said with a wry smile: "Since you were injured, I feel that everything is messed up. The original plan we made to go south, It was changed by the new commander, General Trofimenko, and now most of the troops are concentrated on the west side of the original landing site, trying their best to block the German attack, so that the 7th Guards Army has enough time to stabilize their position on the right bank. New arrival."

Although I heard some sporadic news about the 27th Army two days ago, those news were not confirmed by Lunev until now. Sokov sighed secretly in his heart, feeling that the new commander, Lieutenant General Trofimenko, had played a good game of cards poorly.

If Sokov is still on the front line at this moment, no matter how difficult the situation of General Shumilov's 7th Guards Army is, he will not take the initiative to send troops to support, but will increase the offensive strength on the south side of the landing field to attract more troops. For the purpose of paying more attention to the enemy, use the tactics of besieging Wei and saving Zhao to rescue the friendly army from the predicament.

Now he can only wait for Lunev to finish speaking, and say in a regretful tone: "What a pity, such an adjustment of the battle plan has greatly delayed the time for us to liberate Alexandria and Kirovgrad. .”

Lunev is not a military cadre, and he doesn't know much about the stakes of abandoning the offensive on the south side of the landing site. He still asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, if you are still in command of the 27th Army, you see that the 7th Guards Army has been attacked. The danger of the German army rushing into the Dnieper River, presumably they will also deploy troops to reinforce it?"

Unexpectedly, after he finished speaking, Sokov gave him an unexpected answer: "No, Comrade Military Commissar, you are wrong. No matter what danger the 7th Guards Army faces, I will not dispatch one Soldiers go to support them."

Lunev was taken aback by Sokov's words, and he asked randomly, "Why? Comrade Commander, do you have the heart to watch your friendly troops be wiped out by the enemy?"

"You are mistaken, Comrade Military Commissar." Sokov shook his head and said, "I said not to send troops to reinforce, but it does not mean that I will not save them. On the contrary, my purpose of doing this is to get the friendly troops out of the country as soon as possible." out of trouble."

"Comrade Commander, I don't quite understand what you mean." Lunev, who was confused, humbly asked Sokov for advice: "Can you make it clearer?"

"As long as our troops attack Alexandria and Kirovgrad according to the original plan, the German army will have to divide its forces and strengthen the defenses of these two cities to prevent our army from capturing the cities," Sokov explained. Said: "But now our army has changed its plan to go south, and instead transferred the main force to the Qijilin area to assist the 7th Guards Army in its defense. In this way, the German army can use the forces originally used to defend the two cities. Transfer to the Qijilin area and increase the offensive strength in this area."

When Lunev heard this, he realized that the combat plan formulated by Trofimenko would return all the initiative that the 27th Army had gained on the battlefield to the Germans. In order to clarify this, he continued to ask: "Comrade Commander, will our 27th Army be in trouble?"

Sokov looked at Lunev and said with a wry smile: "Comrade Military Commissar, although we have invested a lot of troops in the Qijilin area, we have not been able to fully deploy them. As a result, we have become a refueling tactic in the battle with the enemy. Except Apart from causing huge losses to the troops, I don’t think we can achieve any results.”

"Then is there any remedy?"

"I'm sorry, Comrade Military Commissioner." Hearing this question, Sokov could only shake his head again, and replied in a regretful tone, "I really can't think of any good way to reverse the current unfavorable situation."

Lunev asked nervously: "Right now, the 27th Army is all on the right bank of the Dnieper River. If the Germans cut off the rear, wouldn't the entire army be in danger of being wiped out?"

"It's not impossible to wipe out the whole army. After all, there is the 69th Army behind them. Although they have been severely weakened in the battle, there should be no big problem in blocking the German attack and ensuring the safety of the 27th Army's rear. "

After the two chatted for a while about the problems facing the 27th Army, Sokov suddenly remembered that the battle ahead was still going on. As the military commissar of the Army, Lunev suddenly returned to the rear. Thinking of this, he tentatively asked: "Comrade Military Commissar, the front line is still fighting, why did you suddenly return to Moscow?"

"The Supreme Command has arranged new political workers to take over my position, and ordered me to rush back to Moscow to report on my duties immediately." Lunev said to Sokov with a smile: "I met Comrade Beria yesterday, and he said that there might be Rearrange my work so that I can continue to stay in Moscow. However, the specific work arrangement will not be announced until next week at the earliest."

"Comrade Military Commissioner, please accept my congratulations to you." When Sokov said this, he wanted to reach out to shake hands with the other party, but as soon as he moved, the wound was pulled again, and he felt bursts of pain. He could only apologize Said: "I'm sorry, I can't move my hand, I can't shake your hand."

"We are all so familiar, so we don't need to care about these details." Lunev said: "I learned from Marshal Zhukov that you were admitted to the military hospital in Lubyanka, which happens to be not far from where I work, so I asked Bei Comrade Lia applied for a visit. He readily agreed, and took the initiative to help me contact the hospital, so I can enter the hospital so smoothly to visit you."

"So, your new workplace is in the Lubyanka building?" Sokov waited for Lunev to finish speaking, and asked cautiously, "Am I guessing right?"

"That's right." Lunev nodded in agreement with Sokov's guess, "No matter what position I will take up next, the place of work must be in the Lubyanka Building. After you are discharged from the hospital, if there is If you need anything, you can come to me anytime."

For Sokov, the Lubyanka Building is a dragon's den and a tiger's den, so he won't go there. But since Lunev sent an invitation to himself, he still had to say a few perfunctory words: "Okay, Comrade Military Commissar, after I recover from my injuries, I will definitely visit you in the Lubyanka building."