Red Moscow

After leaving the hospital, the two walked along the street for more than 200 meters, and a coffee shop appeared on the side of the road. Sokov slowed down, turned his face sideways and said to Tonya: "That's it, Tonya, let's go in." After speaking, he pushed open the two closed glass doors, and walked back and forth with Tonya walked in.

The size of the cafe is medium, and there are more than 20 square tables inside. It may be because it is lunch time, and most of the tables are occupied. Sokov looked around for a while, pointed to the corner, and said to Tonya, "Donia, there is a vacant seat there, just go and sit down, and I will go there when I buy something."

Unexpectedly, Tonya stood there without moving, but said to him nervously: "Misha, let's go to another place to eat?"

Sokov was surprised by Tonya's reaction. After he saw the customers sitting in the cafe, he immediately understood what Tonya was afraid of. Just from the black leather jackets and blue hats worn by those customers, Sokov knew that they belonged to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. If he hadn't suddenly seen so many personnel from the Ministry of Internal Affairs here, Sokov would have almost forgotten that this place is not far from Lubyanka, the headquarters of the KGB, and they should have come here for dinner.

The staff of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who were eating, when they heard someone coming in from the outside, habitually looked up towards the door, just in time to see Sokov and Tonya walking in. Tonya's nervousness was seen by one of the internal affairs officers. He put down the tableware in his hand, got up and walked to the door, and said to Sokov and Tonya: "Please show your IDs!"

"Certificate?!" Hearing what the internal affairs officer said, Tonya took out her own certificate from her pocket in a panic, and handed it over with both hands: "This is my certificate."

The officer took the certificate, and didn't look through it immediately, but continued to stare at Tonya, waiting for the other party to tremble a little, before he looked down at the certificate in his hand. After reading it, he handed it back to Tonya, then looked at Sokov and asked, "Comrade Major, where is your ID?"

"I'm sorry, Comrade Second Lieutenant." Sokov shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said, "I just came back from the front line, and I don't have any documents?"

"No certificate." Hearing what Sokov said, the officer couldn't help snorting, and then said coldly: "Since you don't have a certificate, please come with me?"

"Wait a minute, Second Lieutenant Sashko." Just as the officer grabbed Sokov's arm and tried to take him away from the coffee shop, the officer sitting at another table stopped him. Sokov looked in the direction where the sound came from, and it turned out to be an elderly captain. He got up and came to the officer, and said to him, "You don't think he is a deserter, do you?"

Second Lieutenant Sashiko nodded, and said with certainty: "That's right, since he can't produce his documents, I have reason to suspect that he is a deserter, and I need to take him back for inspection immediately."

The captain sneered at Second Lieutenant Sashko, and then said disdainfully: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, please keep your eyes open, is there any deserter with the Order of Lenin on his chest?"

When Second Lieutenant Sashko asked Sokov for his documents, he didn't notice that there were two medals on the jumper inside the open military coat, one of which was the very high-level Order of Lenin. When he saw the medal on Sokov's chest, he quickly let go, took a step back, and said to his superior in embarrassment: "Comrade Captain, I didn't pay attention to the medal on his chest."

The captain ignored Sashko, but took two steps forward, came to Sokov, and said apologetically to Sokov: "Comrade Major, I apologize to you on behalf of my colleagues, please forgive his recklessness."

"It's okay, Comrade Captain." Sokov waved his hand at the other party, and said generously: "It's just a misunderstanding." He also explained to the captain specifically, "I am Major Sokov, the battalion commander of the Istria Battalion. , I was ordered to return to Moscow a few days ago. Due to various reasons, I don’t have any documents on me, please forgive me for this.”

"I understand, Comrade Major." After confirming Sokov's identity, the captain said with a smile, "As far as I know, many officers on the front line have not had time to issue new military certificates due to their job changes. I think that's the case with you, too."

Seeing that the other party gave him a step up, Sokov nodded and said firmly: "Comrade Captain, you are right. I have just obtained the rank of major, and the new military certificate has not yet been issued. "

After the captain left with the reckless second lieutenant, Sokov turned his head and asked Tonya who was still in shock: "Donia, what do you want to eat?"

"A cup of black coffee without sugar." Tonya calmed down and said, "A vegetable salad and two slices of bread."

Sokov used the tray on the counter to carry the coffee and food he ordered, and led Tonya to an empty table in the corner and sat down. He took out everything from the tray and said to Tonya with a smile: "Please, Tonya! You must be very hungry."

Before picking up the tableware, Tonya glanced secretly at the officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs sitting around, and said with lingering fear: "Misha, you are so brave, you dare to walk around without a certificate. If you are caught People from the Ministry of Internal Affairs arrest you as a deserter, and you may be shot."

"Don't worry, Tonya, I'm fine." Sokov's mood was obviously not affected by the incident just now, but he changed the topic in time: "Donia, where are you from?"

Tonya, who had just picked up the coffee, quickly put down the coffee when she heard Sokov's question, and replied truthfully: "I am from Leningrad, and I studied at a medical university in Moscow. I just graduated last year, and the war broke out." Then I was assigned to the current hospital as a surgical intern.”

Knowing that Tonya is actually from Leningrad, Sokov couldn't help raising his eyebrows. He thought of the city that was besieged by the German army. In the past few months, tens of thousands of residents suffered from lack of food. When he was starved to death, he quickly asked with concern: "Do you still have family members in Leningrad?"

"My mother and two younger brothers are still in Leningrad!" Tonya replied sadly, "I have lost contact with them, and I don't know how they are doing now?"

"Didn't you contact them?" As soon as Sokov said, he felt that he was asking a bit absurdly. Now that Leningrad is under siege by the German army, how difficult it is to get in touch with relatives in the city one thing.

Tonya replied with a wry smile: "In order to ensure the smooth flow of military lines, Leningrad has cut off all civilian telephone lines since late August, and will wait for the reply after the war. In a word, I have already lost contact with them." We've been in touch for a long time." When she said this, her eye circles turned red, and tears streamed down her face.

Sokov quickly picked up the napkin in front of him, handed it to Tonya to wipe away tears, and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Tonya, I didn't mean it."

Tonya took the napkin, wiped it casually, and said with a smile on her face: "It's okay, this is war. Maybe we won't be able to reunite with our loved ones until the day the war ends. By the way, Misha, where are your family members?"

"My mother was evacuated to the rear in October last year." Sokov said vaguely: "I am the only one left in Moscow now."

Tonya stared at the medal on Sokov's chest for a while, and asked curiously, "Misha, I want to ask you, why did you return to Moscow at this time?"

Sokov was taken aback by Tonya's question. After hesitating for a long time, he said cautiously, "Donia, I don't understand what you mean."

"As far as I know, fighting is still going on on the outskirts of Moscow." Tonya stared into Sokov's eyes and said, "Shouldn't a commander like you command the troops to fight the Germans?"

After figuring out what Tonya was asking, Sokov quickly said, "I was ordered to send a wounded senior commander back to the military hospital in Moscow for treatment."

"Misha, where is the senior commander you mentioned now?" Tonya asked briefly.

Hearing Tonya's question, Sokov thought to himself for a while, and felt that as long as Rokossovsky's name was not mentioned, it should not be considered a leak, so he said generously: "In Dimir Yazev Agricultural College."

"Dimiryazev Agricultural College?!" When Tonya heard the place name, she had a surprised expression on her face: "What a coincidence, there are many wounded people living in our courtyard, who came from Dimir They were transferred from the Yazef Agricultural College. I went there this morning to pick up a group of wounded who were transferred back.”

"Really?!" After seeing Tonya nodding in affirmation, Sokov suddenly had a thought in his mind. One step ahead of the arrangement, but unexpectedly, he was stopped by the soldiers standing guard in the corridor. Regardless of his explanation, the other party refused to let him go to see the commander. Now that Tonya can enter the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy, if she is willing to help her, she may be able to meet Rokossovsky smoothly.

Thinking of this, he said to Tonya: "Donia, when will you pick up the wounded next time?"

"Our hospital generally places wounded who have recovered but still need to continue to recuperate." Dongia frowned and said, "As for when to pick up new wounded, it's hard to say. Maybe tomorrow, maybe we have to wait." Four or five days."

When Sokov heard it, there was something going on! He hurriedly asked again: "I wonder if you can take me to Timiryazev Agricultural College with you next time you go to pick up the wounded?" Seeing the puzzled expression on Tonya's face, he quickly explained to her, " That's right, I was ordered to send this commander to the Timiryazev Agricultural Academy. But what should I do next, whether to return to the front or stay in Moscow, the superiors did not have a clear answer. Therefore, I asked Go meet my superiors at the hospital and see how he arranges it."

"So that's how it is." Donia nodded after she figured out what was going on, and said, "You can find me in Room 107 of the outpatient building of the hospital at eight o'clock tomorrow morning. If there is no one at the door, just open the door." Come in; if there are many patients queuing outside the door, you will have to wait a little longer."

Sokov stayed in Moscow for a long time, so he naturally knew that Russian hospitals did not register. If he wanted to see a doctor, he had to queue up outside the clinics of various doctors. Whether a doctor is busy at work can be known only by seeing how many patients are queuing outside the clinic.

Since there were too many officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the cafe, it was impossible for the two of them to stay here for too long. After a hasty lunch, they left the restaurant.

Sokov had nothing to do at the moment anyway, so he offered to send Dongia back to the hospital. For his kindness, Dong Niya blushed and agreed, and took his arm actively, and walked towards the hospital.

On the way, Sokov saw the house he lived in, pointed to the window of his room in a mysterious way, and said to Tonya: "Dunia, have you seen the three-story house? "

"I see." Tonya looked in the direction of his finger, and after seeing the three-story building clearly, she nodded and said, "There are people with status living on this street. Ordinary people want to Live, can't live yet."

Hearing what Tonya said, Sokov said with some embarrassment: "Actually, I just want to tell you that the window on the right of the third floor is my room."

"What, you live here?" Tonya stopped in her tracks and asked in surprise, "You're not joking with me, are you?"

"How could it be possible to joke with you about this kind of thing?" Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch. There was almost an hour before Tonya went to work, so he took the initiative to invite her: "I want to invite you now Come to my house as a guest, I wonder if you would like to?"

Donia had been holding Sokov's arm on the road, but when she heard that Sokov invited her to be a guest at home, her heartbeat suddenly accelerated. After hesitating for a long time, she murmured: "Misha, it's too soon, we just met today, and you are going to invite me to your home..."

"That's right, Tonya." Sukov was afraid that Tonya would reject his request, so he said very quickly: "This house was rewarded to me by my superiors. Maybe it won't be long before I will I will go to the front line, and this house will be vacant. It is not good for a house to be unoccupied for too long, and it is only one road away from your work place. It is perfect for you. So I would like to take the liberty of pleading You, during the time I'm not in Moscow, how about you help me look at the house?"

After listening to Sokov's heartfelt words, Tonya finally nodded and said, "Okay, I will go to your house first. If it is suitable, I will help you look after the house when you are not in Moscow." of."