Red Moscow

Sokov was about to continue inspecting the defense areas of other divisions, and after chatting with Nikitin for a while, he was about to leave, but at this moment Lunev suddenly snorted, covered his abdomen with his hands, his face turned livid, and his expression was particularly strange. happy.

"Comrade Military Commissar, what's the matter with you?" Seeing Lunev's sudden illness, Sokov couldn't help feeling a little flustered, and asked with concern, "What's wrong with you?"

"Misha, if I'm not mistaken, it may be acute appendicitis." After Lunev said this to Sokov, he looked up at Nikitin: "General Nikitin, can I trouble you to call some military doctors?" ?"

Seeing Lunev's sudden illness, Nikitin was also taken aback. If something happened to the Military Commissar of the Army Group Army, he would not be able to afford it. At this time, listening to Lunev talking to himself, he nodded vigorously and said, "No problem, I will call the military doctor right away."

The chief of staff standing next to him said to Nikitin: "Comrade commander, the military doctor may be too busy at the moment. I will go there personally and invite the director of the field hospital over so that he can conduct an examination for comrade military commissar."

A few minutes later, a middle-aged military doctor, led by the chief of staff, walked into the division headquarters.

Seeing the military doctor coming in, Nikitin immediately went forward and said anxiously: "Comrade President, you are here! The Military Commissioner of the Group Army has a sudden illness, which may be acute appendicitis. Please help him check it."

When Sokov learned that the person who came was the director of the field hospital, he also greeted him and said politely: "Hello, Comrade Director! I am Sokov, the commander of the group army. My military commissar may be acutely ill. Appendicitis attack, please help him to have an examination."

The dean nodded after hearing this, and then asked someone to find a stretcher, let Lunev lie on it, and then began to examine him.

During the examination, Sokov, Nikitin and others were very anxious, but they did not dare to speak casually, so as not to interrupt the director's diagnosis.

After the dean checked Lunev, he said seriously: "Comrade Military Commissioner, your guess is correct, it is indeed acute appendicitis."

"I'm in a lot of pain," Lunev said. "Can you give me some painkillers?"

"Comrade Military Commissioner, just prescribing painkillers is useless." The dean shook his head and said, "I suggest you perform surgery immediately, otherwise it may be life-threatening."

But Lunev said with a lot of worries: "But we are still fighting now. Is it appropriate for me to have surgery at this time?"

As Sokov from a later generation, he naturally understands that acute appendicitis may seem like a minor ailment, but if he doesn't pay attention to it, once it becomes suppurative and infected, it may really be life-threatening. Thinking of this, he said, "Comrade Military Commissioner, I think you should obey the director and perform the operation immediately, otherwise your life may really be endangered."

"If I have an operation, I'm afraid I won't be able to cooperate with your work for quite a long time."

"It's okay, Comrade Military Commissar." Sokov thought that he could carry out his work normally even without Lunev's cooperation, not to mention that the small appendix operation would not take long to recuperate, so he comforted him and said: " After the operation, you can recuperate for a week at most before returning to normal and returning to the command post. Comrade dean, am I right?" He said the last sentence to the dean.

"That's right, Comrade Commander, you are right." The dean nodded in approval of Sokov's statement: "Appendix surgery is a minor operation. You can get out of bed and walk around on the day of the operation, and the wound will basically heal within seven days."

Seeing that everyone was persuading him to have an operation, and the pain in his lower right abdomen was getting worse, Lunev felt that if he didn't have an operation, he might really be in danger of his life, so he nodded slowly and said, "Okay." Come on, Comrade Dean, please perform the operation quickly."

When Lunev was lying on a stretcher and was being carried outside by several soldiers, Sokov wanted to follow, but Lunev said to him: "Misha, don't you still have to inspect?" , then don’t worry about it, I will stay in the field hospital of the 120th Guards Division after I have the operation, and you can come and see me anytime.”

Since Lunev was unwilling to affect his inspection work, Sokov no longer insisted. However, Lunev's operation was not a trivial matter. Before leaving the division headquarters, Sokov called Sidolin and told him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I will tell you something. We are near During the inspection of the 120th Division of the Guard, Comrade Military Commissioner suddenly suffered from acute appendicitis, and he has already been sent to the field hospital for surgery. After the operation, he will be here to recuperate for a period of time.”

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin said, "the condition of the division's field hospital is no match for that of the group army's field hospital. I think it's better to send the military commissioner back for surgery."

"The director of the division's field hospital is going to perform surgery on the military commissar himself, so I don't think there is any need to go back and forth." Sukov said into the microphone: "Besides, in a few days, the group army's field hospital will also move forward. Then choose the location here.”

"That's fine." Sidolin nodded and said, "In this way, Comrade Military Commissar won't have to move his nest until he recovers. By the way, Comrade Commander, where are you going to inspect next, I will inform you in advance The commander of the unit said hello."

"I plan to go to the 118th Infantry Brigade and the 202nd Tank Brigade next." Sokov thought of the enemy sneaking in now. Although he has a guard company with him, who can guarantee that no accidents will happen? If you greet the commanders of the units to be inspected in advance, they can arrange some things in advance to minimize the possibility of danger. It was precisely because of this consideration that Sokov agreed with Sidolin to disclose his whereabouts to the following commanders: "You and the two brigade commanders say hello."

"Okay, Comrade Commander," said Sidolin, "I'll call them immediately."

Since Lunev stayed in the division field hospital for surgery, there was a vacant seat in the jeep. When Sokov sent another invitation to Rednikova, she did not refuse, but sat down generously. to Sokov's side.

After the car started, Rednikova tentatively asked Sokov: "Comrade General, the chief just now is from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, right?"

Sokov knew that Rednikova was asking about Lunev, so he nodded, and before she could ask again, he said, "That's right, General Lunev is the deputy minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. To my military commissar."

When Rednikova and Lunev exchanged codes, they only knew that the other party was from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but they did not expect that his position was so high that he was only one or two levels lower than Beria. Thinking of this, she asked a little nervously: "He knows about us being assassinated by German secret agents today, will he punish us next?"

Rednikova's worry was correct. A group of agents from the Ministry of Internal Affairs came out to carry out a mission, but they were assassinated by German agents disguised as Soviet troops. They even took away their weapons and documents, and even killed the group. He was almost shot dead by his own people as an enemy. If the superiors really wanted to hold them accountable, I'm afraid none of the team members would be able to run away.

"Second Lieutenant Rednikova," Sokov saw Rednikova's worries, and comforted her, "Don't worry, Lunev is now my military commissar, not a deputy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Minister, I don't think he will pursue this matter any more, so just put your heart in your stomach."

"Really, Comrade General?" Rednikova asked with surprise and joy: "Is it true that he won't hold us accountable for our mistakes?"

Sokov was worried that Rednikova would not believe what he said, so he pouted at Koshkin who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, and said: "This captain was a subordinate of Comrade Military Commissar of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. General Nev's personality is very familiar. If you don't believe me, you can ask him to see if you will be punished?"

"No, Second Lieutenant Rednikova." Koshkin half turned around and said to Rednikova who was sitting in the back row: "Comrade Military Commissar is a very kind person. When you were rescued, he You didn’t say anything, so naturally you won’t be punished later, so don’t worry.”

After receiving Koshkin's confirmation, Rednikova felt more at ease: "That's good, that's good, I can feel relieved now."

"Koshkin," Sokov said to Koshkin, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, after the convoy continued to drive forward for a certain distance, "Did you see the supply point on the way?"

In today's large corps operations, several supply points are usually set up along the way to refuel the passing vehicles and provide food for the commanders and fighters on the roadside. Hearing Sokov's question, Koshkin immediately thought that he left too early this morning and hadn't eaten yet, so he quickly replied: "Comrade Commander, I haven't seen the supply point yet. But please rest assured, it won't be long. , you can see the existence of the supply point.”

Sokov nodded and didn't speak, but he was thinking in his heart: the number of supply points is still too small, we have traveled so far, and we didn't see any of them. I had to go on my way hungry. It seems that I should say hello to the logistics department of the group army and ask them to increase the number of supply points.

The convoy drove forward for a few more minutes, when Koshkin suddenly turned halfway around, pointed to the front, and excitedly said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, there is a supply point on the road ahead, we can eat there first." Get something, and then rush to the troops to be inspected."

"Well, I think it's okay." Sokov was so hungry at this moment that his chest was pressed against his back, and he immediately regained his energy when he heard that there was food ahead, but he still reminded Koshkin: "Koshkin, let the team Find a suitable place to park, and don't block the normal driving of other vehicles, understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Koshkin said confidently: "The location chosen for the supply point is very open, even if there are twenty or thirty trucks parked, it will not appear crowded."

When the convoy stopped in the open space next to the supply point, the soldiers of the guard company got out of the car one after another. After a simple formation, they were ready to go to the place where the supply point provided food to collect food. After eating, they could go to the nearby tent to rest for a while .

Just when Sokov was about to walk over, he was grabbed by Rednikova: "Wait a minute, Comrade General, please wait a moment."

Sokov turned his head to look at Rednikova, and was about to ask her what was going on, why she suddenly pulled him, but saw the other party terrified and said: "Comrade General, I saw it, I saw it. him."

"He? Who is he?" After Sokov said this impatiently, he suddenly thought of a possibility, and an expression of disbelief suddenly appeared on his face: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, you said it was those who attacked you German?"

"That's right, that's right." Rednikova nodded vigorously, and said in a positive tone: "Look at the crowd standing by the tent over there eating, there is a major with a bandaged arm hanging on his chest." , he led the team to attack us."

Sokov looked in the direction Rednikova said, and sure enough, he saw a major with a wounded arm, his bandaged arm hanging on his chest, and a few pieces of bread in the other hand gnawing on it. But he was not alone, there was a soldier-like man beside him, holding a lunch box in his hand, which seemed to be filled with soup. After the major finished eating the bread, he took a spoon from the soldier and scooped up a spoonful of soup in the lunch box...

"Comrade Second Lieutenant, please tell me." Sokov asked Rednikova with a serious expression: "Did the soldier next to him also participate in the attack on you?"

Rednikova stared at the soldier carefully, then shook her head and said: "Among those who attacked us, there was no such soldier."

"Then look again, are there any of them nearby?"

Hearing what Sokov said, Rednikova searched the dining crowd again. After a while, she said in a positive tone: "Comrade General, there is a second lieutenant five or six steps to the right of the major, and he is in the same group."

Sokov quickly looked towards the location Rednikova said, and he saw a second lieutenant. Since the second lieutenant is surrounded by ordinary soldiers, it is easy to identify. After confirming the two targets, Sokov continued to ask: "Is there any more?"

"No more." Rednikova shook her head and said, "At least in the crowd, no one found them again."

Sokov hurriedly called Koshkin over, told him what Rednikova had discovered in a low voice, and then ordered him to lead someone pretending to go to eat, quietly approached the major and second lieutenant, and caught them by surprise. stand up.

After Koshkin finished listening, he looked at Rednikova and asked, "Comrade Second Lieutenant, are you sure that there are only two of them here, and the other accomplices are not there?"

"Yes, Comrade Captain, I'm sure." Rednikova said in a firm tone: "Don't forget, I'm from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and it's my basic ability to remember people after seeing people. You can never go wrong."