Red Moscow

Under Sokov's persuasion, Asiya finally gave up the idea of ​​celebrating for him, but she still said unwillingly: "If you don't celebrate such a big event, won't you regret it in the future?"

"It's just a small honor. It's the same thing whether you celebrate or not. There's nothing to regret." After Sokov finished speaking, he suddenly remembered Rokossovsky and said casually: " Compared with General Rokossovsky, this matter is really nothing."

"General Rokossovsky?" Assia heard Sokov say this, with a shocked expression on her face; "Did something happen to him?"

"Don't you know that the Supreme Command originally arranged for his troops to liberate Kiev. But due to various reasons, after the October offensive failed, he was transferred to the north, and the task of liberating Kiev fell to Vatu Beijing’s Ukrainian First Front Army.” Sokov looked at Asiya and asked: “There was an opportunity that could be recorded in history, but now it falls into the hands of others, how do you feel? ?”

Assia hesitated for a few seconds before saying, "But General Vatutin's troops performed really well. According to the battle report of the Soviet Intelligence Agency, his troops liberated Kiev at 6:50 am on the 6th."

"The Russian army has a tradition. As long as the red flag is planted on the top of the city's municipal building during the battle, even if 80% of the city is still in the hands of the enemy, it means that our army has occupied the city." Sokov smiled wryly. Said: "Maybe the time you mentioned is just the time to plant the red flag on the roof."

"Misha," Assia asked back in surprise, "could it be that our army didn't occupy Kiev at all?"

"Kiev must have been occupied by our army, and the next battle will definitely start in the west of Kiev." Sokov said: "But what I suspect is that the time our army actually occupied Kiev is far longer than the intelligence agency. It's late to report."

However, after Sokov finished speaking, he immediately reminded Assia: "Assia, you just have to listen to what you said, and don't talk nonsense, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble."

Knowing the seriousness of the problem, Asiya nodded and said, "I see, Misha, I won't tell anyone."

A week later, when the dean brought people to make rounds, he told Sokov good news: "General Sokov, I have some good news for you."

"Good news?!" After getting along for this period of time, Sokov had a better understanding of the dean's personality. The other party said that there was good news, which must be related to his injury, so he tentatively asked: "Comrade dean, and Is my injury related?"

"Yes, it is indeed related to your injury." The dean said with a smile: "You have been lying on the hospital bed for a long time, and you can go outside to get some fresh air."

"Comrade dean," Sokov waited for the other party to finish speaking, pointed to his leg with a plaster cast, and said, "My plaster cast hasn't been removed yet, how can I get out of bed and walk?"

"Comrade General, you misunderstood me. When I said go out to breathe fresh air, I didn't mean to get you out of bed to practice walking, but to go out in a wheelchair and see how the surrounding environment is."

"Comrade General," Vera, who was standing in the corner of the ward, heard the dean say this, and hurriedly stepped forward and said, "As long as the sun is out, I can push you out to breathe fresh air."

"Vera, the weather is not bad today. You can find a wheelchair later and push Comrade General out to get some fresh air." The dean told Vera, "But it's a bit cold outside. You'd better wear more clothes when you go out. So as not to catch a cold."

Half an hour later, Sokov sat in a wheelchair and was pushed outside by Vera to bask in the sun. Because he understands the Russian winter and knows that the more the sun rises, the colder it will be, so he put on a warm military coat before going out.

The soldier standing guard at the door was obviously notified. When he saw Vera pushing Sokov out and Assia who was following the wheelchair, not only did he not feel embarrassed, but he also took the initiative to push Vera into a wheelchair.

When he came to the open space, Sokov saw the majestic building opposite at a glance. He tilted his head back and asked Vera, "Vera, is the Lubyanka Ministry of Internal Affairs building in front of you?"

"Yes, Comrade General."

Seeing that there was no camouflage net on the building, Sokov couldn't help asking curiously: "Strange, why is there no camouflage net on this building? Aren't you afraid that the target will be exposed when the German army comes to attack?"

When Vera heard this, he smiled: "Comrade General, didn't you listen to Comrade Stalin's speech a few days ago? With the development of the war situation in a direction favorable to our army, the threat of war in Moscow has been completely eliminated. Not only here The camouflage nets on the buildings have been removed, and the camouflage nets on most buildings in the city are being removed one after another.”

Sokov nodded, thinking that dismantling the camouflage net in the city is a good thing, at least it means that the enemy's air force will no longer appear over the city, and everyone no longer has to worry about being attacked by air.

Sukov suddenly saw an officer wearing a military overcoat and beaver fur hat walking slowly in his direction. He felt that the figure of the other party was familiar, squinted his eyes for a while, turned his head and said to Asiya who was standing beside her, who was stomping her feet, "Asiya, hurry up and take a look at the officer who is coming, don't you?" We know each other?"

Assia hurriedly looked in the direction Sokov pointed, and sure enough, she found that the figure of the officer walking towards here was indeed somewhat familiar, so she said thoughtfully: "Misha, tell me, you will Could it be General Lunev who came to visit you?"

"Well, it's possible." After Asia's reminder, Sokov found that although the officer who walked over couldn't see his face, his forehead, body shape and walking posture were indeed very similar to Lunev: "It's a bit like Lunev, what is he doing here, is he visiting me?"

The officer walked over quickly. He might be thinking about something, but he didn't notice Sokov and the others staying at the entrance, and walked in with his head buried.

When Sokov saw clearly that the officer was Lunev, he called out to him: "General Lunev, where are you going?"

Hearing someone call his name, Lunev stopped, and looked in the direction of the voice in a daze. After seeing Sokov clearly in the wheelchair, he exclaimed in surprise: "Misha, what the hell, how did you come out?"

"Comrade dean said that my injury is recovering well, let me come out to breathe fresh air." After Sukov briefly introduced the situation, he continued to ask: "Are you here to see me?"

"That's right, I just came to see you in the hospital." Lunev said to Asya and Vera, "It's too cold outside, push Misha in quickly, if you get cold, it will be terrible."

After Sokov was pushed back to the ward, Assia and Vera helped him lie on the hospital bed.

Vera knew Lunev and knew that he would go to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing. After finishing his work, he immediately found an excuse to avoid him. And Asia poured a cup of hot tea, put it in Lunev's hand, then left the ward, and closed the door, because she knew very well that Lunev came in a hurry today, there must be something important Things need to be discussed with Sokov. At her level, she was not qualified to listen to many things, so she chose to avoid them.

"Lunev, what's the matter?"

"The German army launched a counterattack in the Zhitomir area, and the situation of our army is very bad..."

"Wait a minute, my comrade military commissar." Hearing Lunev talk about the situation on the front line, Sokov instinctively called the other party a military commissar: "I don't have a map, I can't figure out what you are talking about."

Sokov's words reminded Lunev. He took out a map that was folded squarely from his pocket, spread it on Sokov's quilt, pointed to it and said, "Misha, you Lo and behold, Zhitomir is west of Kiev, now held by General Moskalenko's 38th Army.

General Rybalko's 3rd Guards Tank Army is now south of Zhitomir, less than 50 kilometers away from Berdichev. His 7th Guards Tank Corps was blocking the attack of the German 25th Armored Division outside Fastov.

The 60th Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Cherniakhovsky, is attacking Korosten, north of Zhytomyr.

General Zhmachenko's 40th Army had just left Kiev and was moving south, preparing to stop the enemy going north. "

Sokov waited for Lunev to introduce the situation, and did not immediately express any opinions, but asked: "What about our 27th Army, where is it now?"

Hearing Sokov's question, Lunev replied bitterly: "After the fierce fighting in the early stage, they have become exhausted and unable to attack again, so they stayed to defend the Buklin bend. "

After seeing clearly the position of the 27th Army, Sokov just hummed lightly.

Lunev was very dissatisfied with Sokov's reaction. He said emotionally: "Misha, are you going to watch the enemy annihilate our troops and retake Kiev?"

"My Comrade Military Commissar, I think you have forgotten one important thing." Sokov spread his hands, shrugged, and said helplessly: "You know, I am only a wounded person now, how can I be qualified?" Let’s do some battle analysis.”

"Aren't you planning to go to the General Staff?" Lunev asked a little strangely: "When the situation on the front line is not good for our army, I'll come here and ask you what countermeasures you have. Is there anything wrong?"

"Lunev, when will I agree to go to the General Staff?" Sokov also specifically reminded Lunev: "Didn't I clearly refuse when you came with General Stemenko last time?"

"Stemenko convinced the Chief of the General Staff Antonov," Lunev said to Sokov, "I have prepared a transfer order for you, and you will officially go to work in the War Department as soon as you recover from your injuries."

Sokov panicked. He dreamed of going back to the front line, and he didn't want to go to any war department at all. He is very self-aware, knowing that he is simply not qualified for the work of the war department. If he really goes, he will show his true colors in two weeks. So he tried his best to evade and said: "Lunev, for the sake of our friends, please help me."

"What do you do for me?"

"Help me get rid of the transfer order from the War Department." Sokov didn't hide it, but said straight: "I still hope to go back to the front line."

"Back to the front?" Lunev shook his head and said, "The 27th Army is now commanded by General Trofimenko. It is very difficult to replace him." The implication is, don't even think about going back to be some kind of army commander, you should just go to the war department honestly.

From Lunev's words, Sokov realized that Zhukov had not communicated with Antonov, otherwise the chief of staff would not have given himself a transfer order so quickly.

"Lunev, my old friend, was unable to return to the 27th Army, which had long been in my expectation." Sokov said frankly to Lunev: "General Rokossovsky and I Talked about it, I hope I can go to his army after I recover from my injury, I have already promised him, you can't let me be a person who breaks my promise, right?"

"What, Rokossovsky invited you to his army?" Lunev asked in surprise, "When did this happen?"

"A few days ago, he came with Marshal Zhukov." When Sokov mentioned Zhukov, he deliberately emphasized his tone to let Lunev understand that Zhukov was also an insider when he returned to the front line after his injury.

If Rokossovsky was the only one who allowed Sokov to return to the front line, Lunev felt that the transfer order issued by Antonov still had a chance to take effect. But since Zhukov was involved in this matter, it is obviously not so safe to transfer Sokov to the War Department.

But he remembered the purpose of coming here today, and quickly said: "Misha, whether you go back to the front line or to the war department, you need to wait until your injuries are fully recovered. I came today to ask you how to break current crisis."

Sokov remembered that General Balck, the commander of the 48th Panzer Army of the German Army, gathered more than 400 tanks from the Banner Guard Division and the 1st Armored Division shortly after the counterattack began, and launched a fierce attack on the 38th Army, which lacked armor. The 7th Armored Division and the 68th Infantry Division were used to cut off the road between Kiev and Zhytomyr, forming an encirclement of the 38th Army.

Thinking of the 38th Army trapped in Zhytomir, in order to avoid being annihilated by the German army, it will break through sooner or later, and breaking through early can reduce some losses. Wanting to understand this, he said to Lunev: "Lunev, in order to prevent the 38th Army from falling into the encirclement of the German army, they should be ordered to abandon Zhitomir immediately and quickly retreat to Kiev."

"What, give up Zhitomir?" Lunev stared at Sokov with wide eyes, thinking about why Sokov made such a suggestion. After a while, he shook his head with a wry smile, then pointed to the map and said to Sokov: "Misha, look at the map. The three armies of the 1st Ukrainian Front marched hand in hand: the 38th Army in the center occupied the daycare Mir; the 60th Army on the North Road is besieging Korosten; and the 3rd Guards Tank Army on the South Road is approaching Berkichev. Once Zhytomyr is abandoned, the original straight line will become a V shape, The battle line is in danger of being divided by the German army."

"There is no other way, Lunev." Sokov said rather helplessly: "Even if General Moskalenko wanted to stick to Zhytomyr, I don't think he could stand it. Instead of waiting until then, he would pay a lot of money." The high price highlights the encirclement of the enemy, so it is better to evacuate Zhytomyr and retain more vital forces."