Red Moscow

Due to Sokov's current injuries, it is impossible to go to Red Square to watch the military parade on October Day. Soon after Lunev returned, he ordered someone to send a small radio so that Sokov could lie down. I listened to the whole process of the military parade on the hospital bed.

When the big clock of the Spassk Clock Tower strikes ten, the Octoberfest celebrations officially begin.

The ceremony was presided over by Alexander Sergeyevich Shcherbakov, First Secretary of the Moscow Region and City WEI. When he stood on the Lenin Mausoleum and announced the start of the ceremony, the military band on the square began to play.

The commander-in-chief of the military parade was Voroshilov, the marshal who was born in the cavalry, and an adjutant riding a black horse, galloping out from the gate of the palace wall behind Lenin's tomb. When they came to stop in front of Lenin's tomb, the commander of the reference army, who also brought an adjutant, had already stationed there waiting for him.

After the two groups merged into one, Voroshilov was in front, followed by the commander and two adjutants, and rode along the neatly lined phalanx.

After advancing for a certain distance, Voroshilov reined in the reins and shouted to the officers and soldiers in the queue: "Comrades, I wish you a happy October Day!"

"Comrade Marshal of the Soviet Union!" The commanders and fighters in the queue shouted in unison: "Happy October Day to you!"

Having completed this step, Voroshilov rode on. After advancing tens of meters, stop again and repeat the steps just now.

After inspecting the troops, Voroshilov returned to the Lenin Mausoleum and dismounted, climbed up the Lenin Mausoleum from the side stairs, and reported to Stalin who had been waiting here.

Then, Stalin began to speak. His speech was very simple, stating the achievements of the Soviet army in the past year, how many invaders were eliminated, and how many lands were liberated. It even mentioned that on July 9, 1943, Moscow, which sounded 141 air raid sirens, after the last siren, peace finally came to the city again.

Assia, who was sitting by the hospital bed and listening to the celebration with Sokov, couldn't help but ask at this moment: "Misha, Comrade Stalin's words mean that the Germans will no longer have the ability to approach Moscow?"

"This is natural." Sokov, who knew the whole history, said confidently: "Perhaps in more than a year, it will be the turn of the Germans to worry about whether their capital, Berlin, will be threatened by us."

Hearing what Sokov said, Assia asked in surprise, "Misha, do you mean that we will be able to defeat the Germans in a year or so?"

"Although this is just my guess, the possibility of becoming a reality is still very high."

"I believe what you said," Assia nodded and said, "Your judgment has always been very accurate."

"It's a pity that the troops of General Rokossovsky and General Vatutin failed to liberate Kiev before October Day." Sokov knew that the purpose of the Soviet Army's launch of the Kiev Campaign in early October was to liberate the Ukrainian capital , as a tribute to October Festival. However, the resistance of the German army was more tenacious than imagined. Although the Soviet army tried its best, it still failed to occupy the city across the banks of the Dnieper River at the beginning of the 11th.

"Yes, it's such a pity." Assia also said with emotion: "If the city can really be liberated before October Festival, it will definitely be celebrated with a salute on Red Square."

After Stalin's speech, the military parade began.

The military band played the national anthem and walked at the forefront of all the parade troops.

Sokov was a little disappointed when he heard that the Internationale was being played. As far as he knows, the song composed by Aleksandrov has been selected as the new national anthem of the Soviet Union, but for some unknown reason, it was not played in this military parade.

Although there is no need to worry about being attacked by the German army during the celebration, the whole event only lasted forty minutes and ended.

When Asiya reluctantly turned off the radio, she continued to say, "The time for this celebration is too short. I don't know when it will return to the scale of one or two hours before the war."

"Maybe in another year or two, your wish will come true." Sokov recalled the military parade on June 24, 1945, with a smile on his face: "At that time, we had already defeated We have defeated the German invaders, and it is time to celebrate our victory at the Red Square military parade."

Not long after, the dean came to round the ward with several military doctors. Probably they had also tuned in to the Octoberfest celebrations, and everyone's faces were beaming with joy.

"General Sokov," the dean asked with a smile, "How do you feel today?"

"Very good, better than ever." After Sokov said this, he looked at the dean and asked, "Comrade dean, when can I get out of bed and walk around?"

"Don't worry, General Sokov." The dean said, "After your leg bones grow well, you can get out of bed and try to walk around." After saying this, he turned his head and asked a military doctor behind him, "You checked General Sokov two days ago. Tell me, how long will it take for him to try to get out of bed?"

"Comrade President, usually a person with a broken leg will not be able to get out of bed for at least three or four months." The military doctor replied, "But when I checked General Sokov a few days ago, I found that his bones The recovery speed is faster than we expected. If there are no accidents, I will be able to get out of bed and walk as soon as the 20th of this month."

Hearing what the military doctor said, Asiya who was standing next to him exclaimed, then bent down and grabbed Sokov's hand, and said excitedly: "Misha, did you hear that? In less than two weeks, You can try to get out of bed and move around."

After the dean waited for Sokov to thank him, he suddenly remembered something: "By the way, Comrade General, I received a call today, saying that an old friend of yours is coming to see you."

Assia, who was originally smiling, heard from the dean that Sokov's old friend was coming, and immediately thought of the two women living in Sokov's house, and her face suddenly became as cold as frost.

When Sokov noticed the change in Assia, he couldn't help feeling hairy. He could only bite the bullet and say, "Comrade Dean, can you tell me who my old friend is?"

"Comrade General," said the dean with a smile on his face, "he will be here soon, and you will know who he is when you see him."

Although the dean didn't say who Sokov's old friend was, when Assia heard that the other party used "he" instead of "she", she couldn't help secretly heaving a sigh of relief, and the expression on her face also changed. softened again.

After the dean and his party left, Asiya even asked Sokov, "Misha, tell me, which of your old friends will come to visit you later?"

"I don't know." Sokov shook his head like a rattle: "I don't have any friends in Moscow, how do I know who will visit me later?"

Seeing that Assia was frowning, as if she was helping him remember who his friends in Moscow were, Sokov let out a smile and said to her: "Assia, don't bother thinking about who it is. Wait for him to come later , don’t you know it.”

"That's right." Assia said, she turned and walked to the table, picked up the teapot on the table, shook it gently, and said, "Misha, I'm going to get some water, and I'll be back soon .”

"Assia, you can ask Vera to go for such a trivial matter." After Sokov said this, he was surprised to find that Vera was not in the ward, and asked in surprise, "Where did Vera go?"

"You, you, you are young, but your memory is so bad." Assia said angrily: "She said last night that she had something to do at home, and she wanted to take a day off today, and asked you for leave, and you agreed without even thinking about it." .Why, after just one night, you forgot about it?"

After being reminded by Assia, Sokov felt that there was such a thing, so he nodded and said with some embarrassment: "Yes, yes, she did say last night that she will take a day off today, and I will take this matter into consideration." forgotten."

When Asiya went out with the kettle, she closed the door behind her. Sokov stared at the ceiling in a daze for a while, feeling really bored, so he closed his eyes and meditated.

Not long after I closed my eyes, I heard someone knocking on the door, followed by a familiar voice: "Is General Sokov in this ward?"

"Who is it?" Sokov hurriedly opened his eyes and said in the direction of the door: "The door is not closed, please push the door and come in."

The door opened, and a middle-aged officer in a brand new uniform walked in from the outside.

After he entered the room, he walked quickly to Sokov's window and asked with a smile on his face, "General Sokov, do you still remember me?"

When this person entered the door, Sokov felt that the other person looked familiar, but for a while he couldn't remember where he had seen him. As soon as he heard his voice at this moment, it immediately matched a certain image in his memory. He pointed at the other party and exclaimed: "So it's you, General Bornegelin!"

"That's right, I'm Ponegerin, but I'm not a general now." The recognized Ponegerin asked Sokov with a smile on his face, "Can I sit down?"

"Of course, of course, please sit down." After calling the other party to sit down, Sokov looked at the major's rank on the other's shoulder strap, and asked in wonder: "General Pornegerin, why are you wearing a major's uniform? "

Ponejielin was originally the commander of the 12th Army of the Soviet Army. He was captured shortly after the outbreak of the war and was later rescued by Sokov's men. After staying at the 27th Army Headquarters for a short time, he was taken back to Moscow for interrogation by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Seeing that the other party was sitting in front of him swaggeringly at this moment, Sokov knew that he had passed the review of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so he stretched out his hand and said friendlyly: "General Pornegerin, congratulations on passing the screening of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, come back again. We are in the middle of the army." At this point, he intentionally paused for a moment, looked carefully at Pornegerin's epaulettes again, and it was indeed the rank of major: "You haven't answered me yet, why are you wearing the uniform of a major?"

Pornegerin smiled wryly, and said: "Yes, I did pass the screening and review of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but since I was captured by the Germans, I definitely can't enjoy the original military rank treatment, so I was demoted to major .”

After listening to Ponegelin's explanation, Sokov was not surprised at all. He clearly remembered Marshal Kulik. Because of his poor command in the Kerch Peninsula, the entire Crimea except Sevastopol was lost. Stalin directly deprived him of the rank of Marshal and reduced him to a private. A month later, he was re-promoted to major general.

Sokov didn't care about when Ponegerin would be able to become a general again, but was concerned about his next work arrangement: "General Ponegerin, I wonder how your superiors arrange your work?"

"I didn't arrange any work for me." Pornedelin shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Let us stay in Moscow now, and we cannot leave the city without an order."

Sokov keenly noticed that he said "we" instead of me, so he asked with great interest: "General Ponejielin, who is your other companion?"

"Of course it was Lieutenant General Muzichenko and Major General Kirillov who were rescued together with me." Ponedelin explained to Sukov: "They have been demoted to majors just like me, and now they are waiting to be rescued. You can’t go anywhere in the hotel designated by your superiors.”

"Since you can't go anywhere, why did you come here today?" Sokov said, "You know, the security here is so strict that not everyone can come in."

"I know." Ponejielin nodded and said, "Marshal Zhukov asked me what I wanted, and I told him that I wanted to see you. So he arranged this visit."

Without waiting for Sokov to ask again, he continued, "Originally, after we were released, I wanted to go to the 27th Army, even if I could be a staff officer under your command. Unexpectedly, people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs told I said that you were seriously injured, and Lieutenant General Trofimenko is now in command of the 27th Army. I also asked if we insist on working in the 27th Army. I think you are not here, and I am afraid that it will not be easy to get along with other commanders. He rejected the other party's request."

"So that's the case." Hearing what Ponegerin said, Sokov immediately understood that the other commander was worried about being unfairly treated by other commanders, and wanted to work with him. But now he doesn't know where he will be arranged by his superiors after he recovers from his injury, and where he can accept a commander who is discriminated against and excluded like Ponejelin.

"General Ponegerin," Sokov said to Ponegerin with a wry smile, "you can see that I am seriously injured, and I don't know when I will recover. Even if I recover, where will I be assigned? Work is still an unknown. Even if I want to help you now, I still can't do what I want."

Although Ponegerin guessed that he might be rejected before he came here to see Sokov, but he still felt very disappointed when he heard Sokov say the rejection with his own ears. He tried his best to squeeze a smile on his face: "I'm sorry, General Sokov, I was too wishful thinking. Maybe my arrival today was a mistake. I'm sorry to disturb your rest, and I'm leaving now. "

Sokov remembered that Baghramyan, who was the deputy chief of staff and chief of operations of the Southwest Front Army, once commented that Ponejielin was the most educated commander of the army group. Commanded an infantry division, served as Chief of Staff of the Leningrad Military District, and led the Tactical Teaching and Research Section of the Frunze Military Academy. He is well versed in advanced corps tactics, proficient in military academic issues, and enjoys high prestige in the Southwest Front Army.

For such a talent, he would not give up easily. If he continued to serve as the commander of the group army in the future, having such a deputy would double his combat efficiency. Seeing Ponegelin getting up and about to leave, he quickly stopped him: "Wait a minute, General Ponegelin."