Red Moscow

However, Sokov did not immediately send someone to call Lyudmila and Vasily. In addition to not wanting to disturb their sleep, but also because the 3rd Guards Airborne Division and friendly troops were still on the right bank of the lower reaches of the Transnistria area, fighting for positions with the Germans, Sokov felt that it would not be too late to call the two after the battle was over.

The fighting lasted until 3:30 in the morning, and the Soviet army finally occupied all the positions on the right bank and drove the German army away from the Transnistria.

When Sokov called Koroteyev, he learned that the troops of the 52nd Army had established a firm foothold in the right bank area, and finally let go of the boulder in his heart. After he put down the phone, he said to Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I want to sleep for a while. If there is anything, you and General Trofimenko will take care of it."

When Sokov was lying on the camp bed, he wanted to have a good sleep, but the various sounds in the headquarters made it difficult for him to fall asleep. In this way, he slept for three hours in a state of half-awake and half-asleep, and when he heard Trofimenko's voice, he immediately sat up from the bed and asked curiously: "Comrade Deputy Commander, what's the matter?" something?"

"Comrade Commander, just received a telegram from Moscow, saying that Comrade Morozov has boarded the plane and will arrive at our place in about two and a half hours."

Hearing that Morozov would arrive in two and a half hours, Sokov couldn't sleep. He bent over to put on his boots and told Smirnov: "Comrade Smirnov, please inform Lyud Mira and Vasily, let them report to the headquarters immediately."

Although Lyudmila and Vasily don't have any combat missions at all now, they still get up at six o'clock. Hearing that Sokov wanted to see him, the two of them immediately tidied up their military appearance and came to Sokov's headquarters.

After introducing Lyudmila to Trofimenko and Sameko, Sokov asked Vasily: "Comrade Vasily, how is your sniper training course going?"

"The effect is not bad, Comrade Commander." Hearing Sokov ask himself, Vasily straightened his body and replied, "Among the more than 80 people who trained with us, there are more than a dozen good seedlings. After this period of time, Training, they have mastered the knowledge of snipers proficiently, and they can go out to perform tasks alone."

"Comrade Vasily, it is up to his superiors to decide when the sniper will go on mission. The mission of the two of you is to train more qualified snipers." Sokov said a few words before returning to the subject : "I called the two of you here today because a very famous person will come later, and he happens to be an excellent sniper. The three of you can get closer."

After looking at each other, Lyudmila and Vasily looked at Sokov and asked sincerely, "Comrade Commander, can you tell me who is the upcoming excellent sniper?"

"Yes." Thinking that Morozov would be here in two more hours, there was no need to hide anything from Lyudmila and Vasily, so he said truthfully: "His name is Nikolai Alexander. Rovich Morozov, I don't know if you have heard of..."

Before he finished speaking, Lyudmila exclaimed excitedly: "My God, Mr. Morozov is also coming to the front, which is really surprising."

Sokov was taken aback, and then asked back, "Lyudmila, do you know Morozov?"

"Yes, yes, Comrade Commander." Lyudmila nodded vigorously, and replied in an affirmative tone: "I have heard of his name since I was very young. Not long after I came back from the United States, I was in Moscow. I met the old man once, and he even taught me to improve my sniper skills."

"Comrade Commander," Vasily said suddenly at this time: "If the old man is also an excellent sniper, I wonder if you can let him train snipers with us. I believe that with his joining, we will train sniper Hand speed can be greatly enhanced."

"Vassily, I can't make the decision on this matter." Sokov said with a laugh: "Everything must wait for Morozov to arrive before making the final decision."

"That's fine." Vasily nodded, and said: "As far as I know, whenever the old man has time in the past two years, he will go to the conscription office and let the conscription officer Can agree to let him return to the army. But how dare the army want a person of his age? If something goes wrong, who can take the responsibility?"

"You're right." Sokov said casually: "He will be 90 years old this year. Think about it, as he gets older, his reactions in all aspects must be slow. If he is allowed to go to the battlefield again, it is tantamount to letting him go Death. I don't think any recruiting officer would be willing to take on such a responsibility."

Sokov specifically told Lyudmila and Vasily: "I remind you two to pay attention, even if the old man is willing to train snipers with you, you are also responsible for taking care of his body, and don't make any mistakes."

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Lyudmila said to Sokov: "As long as I'm here, I will definitely take care of his life and never let him have the slightest problem."

"Comrade Commander, when will he arrive?" Vasily asked.

Sokov raised his hand to check the time, and then said: "If everything goes well, he will arrive at our place in two hours, and you two will come with me to meet him."

More than two hours later, Sokov and others arrived at the airport. At this moment, there was a plane taxiing on the runway. According to Sokov's experience, Morozov was on this plane.

The plane taxied for a while and then stopped. After waiting for a while, the hatch was opened from the inside, and an officer in flight suit appeared at the hatch. After grasping the surroundings, he lowered the gangway, got off the plane first, and stood beside the plane with his hands behind his back.

At this time, an old man wearing a round cotton cap, a military overcoat, a goatee, and round eyes appeared at the gate of the plane. Seeing that he was about to get off the plane, the pilot who got off first quickly reached out to help him.

The old man rejected the pilot's offer and insisted on getting off the plane by himself. After getting off the plane, he looked around, and then walked straight towards Sokov.

Sokov originally thought that a ninety-year-old man, no matter how good his physique was, would probably walk tremblingly. But I didn't expect the old man's back to be straight and his steps to be relatively steady. Before he could recover, the old man had already walked in front of him and asked tentatively, "Is this General Sokov?"

"Yes, I'm Sokov." Sokov stretched out his hand to the other party in a panic, and said in a friendly tone: "Master, on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the combat group, welcome to come!"

"General Sokov," the old man said straight to the point without going around in circles, "I'm not here to be a guest, but to fight the Germans. I beg you, send me to the most dangerous front as soon as possible. There I will strike the German invaders hard."

"No, old man, this is absolutely not possible." Hearing that the old man got off the plane, he wanted to go to the front to fight the Germans. How could Sokov agree to his request? Instead, he said euphemistically: "You are our precious wealth, and none of us has the right to let you take risks. If you really have something wrong in my defense zone, even if the superiors don't pursue it, I will point a gun at myself shot in the head."

The old man never dreamed that Sokov, the commander who commanded hundreds of thousands of people, would act helplessly in front of him like a child, and could only say helplessly: "Okay, I promise you not to go to the front line, but You have to find some time for me to do it, you can't let me do nothing like this."

Sokov looked behind the old man to see if Lunev was coming, but unfortunately, except for the pilot, he did not see Lunev at all.

"Old man," Sokov couldn't help asking the old man: "Why didn't General Lunev come with you?"

"General Lunev was already on the plane." The old man heard Sokov ask Lunev and explained to him: "But before the plane took off, someone suddenly entered the cabin to look for him and said there was something important. I can only say sorry to me, I can’t come here with me.”

"By the way," the old man took out an envelope from the satchel he was carrying, and handed it to Sokov: "This is the letter that Lunev asked me to forward to you."

Sokov took the letter, but did not open it immediately, but put it in his pocket, and said to the old man at the same time: "Grandpa, let me introduce you to two people..."

Just when Sokov was about to introduce Lyudmila and Vasily to the old man, the old man waved his hands and said, "Comrade General, you don't need to introduce them, I know them all."

After finishing speaking, the old man opened his arms to Lyudmila: "Dear little Liuda, it is really a pleasure to see you here."

When the old man hugged Lyudmila, he asked with concern: "How is it? When it's windy and rainy, does your wound still hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt anymore, old man." Lyudmila said happily: "The folk remedy you gave me is really effective. After I used it, when it was windy and rainy, the wound never hurt again except for the occasional itching. .”

When Sokov heard the conversation between the two, he remembered that when Lunev introduced Morozov, he had heard that the other party knew almost nothing, and naturally his medical skills were no longer a problem.

"Old man," he asked with a smile after the old man and Lyudmila finished embracing, "My leg injury has just healed not long ago, not only is I limping when I walk, but also when it is windy and rainy, The pain is unbearable. Look, can you also give me a folk remedy to help me relieve these troubles?"

"No problem, Comrade General." The old man readily agreed to Sokov's request: "I'll check it for you when I get back later, and then prepare a prescription for you according to your condition."

The old man was still depressed because he was unable to participate in the battle. Now that he heard that Sokov wanted something from him, a new idea suddenly appeared in his heart: "Comrade General, I will treat your illness, should you do something?" What about the consultation fee?"

"Consultation fee, no problem." Sokov agreed very readily. As long as he can touch his own pain, no matter how much he pays, it is worth it: "I wonder how much consultation fee you plan to ask for?"

"Comrade General, you misunderstood. The consultation fee I want is not the cash you think." The old man said to Sokov: "I hope you can give me a chance to go to the battlefield."

"Grandpa, it is absolutely impossible to let you go to the battlefield." Sokov said seriously: "If I really agree to let you go to the battlefield, then the commanders of other troops will definitely point at my back after they know about it. The spine scolded: "Look, this is the general who actually let our country's most precious wealth take risks on the battlefield." Father, I don't want to be scolded so badly that I can't lift my head up."

Seeing the frustrated look on the old man's face, Sokov comforted him and said, "Although you can't go to the front line, I have arranged an important job for you."

Hearing that Sokov had arranged an important job for himself, the old man immediately regained his spirits: "Comrade General, I wonder what job you plan to arrange for me?"

"It's like this." Sokov pointed to Lyudmila and Vasily, and said to the old man: "They are two of the best snipers in our army, so I specifically applied to my superiors to let them both Come and help us train snipers. As far as I know, you are also a very good sniper. You have killed many German soldiers on the front line of Volkhov. Together with the two of them, help us train snipers, I don’t know Are you interested?"

Seeing that Sokov was so polite to him, the old man felt more at ease. He thought for a moment, then nodded and replied truthfully: "No problem, I will definitely assist Liuda and Vasily in their work and train you more snipers."

The old man agreed to Sokov's request so readily, which made him overjoyed. He grabbed the old man's hand and said excitedly: "Old man, with your help, I believe that the training class will definitely be able to cultivate more outstanding students." Sniper."

"Comrade Commander," Trofimenko stepped forward and said to Sokov, "The old man is old, and it may not be appropriate to stand here blowing the cold wind all the time. I think we should go back to the headquarters first."

"Yes, yes, yes," Trofimenko's words reminded Sokov that he should bring the old man back to the headquarters as soon as possible, and let him join Lyudmila's team as soon as possible, so as to speed up the training of the soldiers in the training class . "Grandpa, let's continue our chat in another place. Please get in the car first. When you get to the headquarters and familiarize yourself with the situation of the sniper training class, you can reopen the business."

The old man is very satisfied with Sokov's arrangement. Although he can't go to the battlefield in person, as long as the students he trained can master the sniper skills proficiently, it is also a great achievement for him.

In the car, Sokov opened the letter from Lunev to himself, and saw that the content was very simple, saying that he had something to do recently, and he might not be able to go to the front line for the time being. At the same time, he told Sokov that he must take good care of the old man, and he must not let him make any mistakes.

After receiving the letter, Sokov said to Koshkin who was sitting in the co-pilot seat: "Comrade Lieutenant, arrange a residence for the old man and send two soldiers to follow him. Personal safety. If something happens to him, the person responsible for taking care of him will wait to be court-martialed."