Red Moscow

"Comrade Marshal," Sokov came to Rokossovsky and saluted him, "What instructions do you have?"

"What instruction can I give!" Rokossovsky greeted Sokov to sit down: "I just want you to come over and have a chat, don't stand there, sit down quickly."

After Sokov sat down, Rokossovsky glanced at Claire's position, and then said with a smile, "Misha, I think you had a good conversation with that British female nurse."

Sokov laughed dryly and replied, "It's just a small chat."

Rokossovsky looked around, leaned closer to Sokov and said in a low voice: "Although we are allies with the UK now, we should keep a distance. This woman is a nurse on the surface, who knows Is it a British agent, be careful that she uses you to obtain information from our army."

"Don't worry, Comrade Marshal." Sokov assured Rokossovsky: "-we are talking about trivial matters of parents, and we will never reveal the secrets of our army."

"That's good, that's good." Rokossovsky nodded slightly, and said gratifiedly, "Misha, I'm quite at ease with you."

At this time, a new dance song was played, and a female officer in a straight military uniform came over, forming a stark contrast with the female nurses in fancy dress. Seeing her walking towards him, Rokossovsky turned to Sokov and said, "These are all communications soldiers from the British Army Command, and they are not worse than those nurses, right?"

"Each has its own merits!"

The female officer came to Rokossovsky and said respectfully: "Mr. Marshal, can you do me a favor?"

Rokossovsky nodded, then stood up, took the other's hand and walked towards the dance floor, then turned to Sokov and said, "Misha, if you want to dance, go back to your nurse."

Sokov felt that sitting here alone was quite boring, so he got up and walked towards his original position.

Fortunately, Blair hadn't left yet. When she saw Sokov coming back, her face was filled with joy: "General Sokov, I thought you wouldn't come back."

"How is this possible?" Sokov said with a smile: "I just went to talk to Comrade Marshal, and after I finished speaking, I thought that sitting here alone was boring, so I came back to you immediately."

"Really?" Blair said with a look of surprise, "I really didn't expect that I have such an important position in your heart."

Sokov laughed dryly twice, and then asked, "Blair, what do you usually do for fun?"

"As long as it's not my turn to be on duty, I usually read books in the dormitory." Blair said: "Of course, if there is a movie in the camp, I will occasionally go to watch the movie."

"Whose work do you like to watch the most?"

"It goes without saying, of course it is Dickens, he is the most influential writer in the history of English literature." Blair said: "He wrote "Oliver Twist", "A Tale of Two Cities", "The Pickwick Papers", " "Old Curio Shop" and so on, I've seen them all."

"I've also read Dickens's book." As soon as Blair finished speaking, Sokov continued: "Dickens' last work, "The Drood Mystery", was originally planned to write 12 volumes, but unfortunately only 6 volumes were completed. He passed away. What is the content later, I am afraid only God knows now."

Blair chuckled, and then asked back, "General Sokov, which author's book do you like the most?"

When Sokov was in college, he majored in foreign literature, so he naturally knew writers from countries such as Britain, America, and France like the back of his hand. He likes writers from three countries, and he still doesn't know how to choose which one he likes the most.

Seeing Sokov's delay in speaking, Blair thought that the other party never read books, so he couldn't name his favorite writer, so he quickly smoothed things over and said, "General Sokov, if you don't have a favorite writer, forget it."

"No, Blair, you misunderstood." Sokov explained to the other party: "I like too many writers, and I really can't tell who I like the most. But the foreign literature I read the most is Da Zhong. Horse's book."

Blair was somewhat surprised when Sokov said that she liked Alexandre Dumas. She tentatively asked, "Which books have you read by him?"

"The first thing I watched was "The Count of Monte Cristo". My favorite is to watch Edmond Dantès, after obtaining the treasure, use all kinds of careful planning to repay those who have been kind to him and punish those enemies who have framed him."

"After watching "The Count of Monte Cristo", I felt that I couldn't get enough of it, and then I watched the trilogy "The Three Musketeers", "Twenty Years Later", "Bronze" set in the reigns of Kings Louis XIII and Louis XIV. Viscount La Jelona."

"By the way, there is also the trilogy "Queen Margaux", "Madame Monsolo" and "Forty-five Guards", set against the religious wars of the sixteenth century."

Seeing Sokov mentioning all the books he had read, Blair was shocked: "General Sokov, I heard that many books are banned in your country. The books you mentioned should be They are all banned books."

Blair's words shocked Sokov into a cold sweat. Yes, he was so happy just now that he forgot that these books were not available in Soviet bookstores at that time. In order to conceal his slip of the tongue, he could only bite the bullet and say, "Didn't I just tell you that my English was taught by a teacher? In fact, he also has another identity, that is, the school librarian, because he Because of this, I have the opportunity to see some books that cannot be bought in bookstores outside."

Sokov's seemingly reasonable explanation made Claire perfunctory. After all, it was impossible for the other party to go to the school he was studying to investigate whether there was a teacher who knew English and was managing books. He had taught Sokov English. And let him read a lot of foreign literature books.

"Blair," the dance music on the field ended. A nurse in a floral dress, after being separated from a Soviet general, came to Blair. She nodded at Sokov to say hello, and then asked Blair: "I heard that there will be a movie outside later, do you want to watch it?"

"what movie?"

""Water Lotus"!"

After hearing this, Blair did not express his opinion immediately, but turned to Sokov and asked, "General Sokov, would you like to go to the movies with us? It's a comedy movie made in the United States last year, and it's still in color."

When Sokov heard the name of the movie, he was thinking about it. He remembered that there were two "Water Lotus" filmed in the United States. One was filmed in 1944. It was about the love between the composer Steve and the swimming coach Caroline. , but parted ways because of the agent's obstruction. In order to get back the woman he likes, Steve used the school regulations of the girls' school to enter the school where Caroline worked, and tried every means to get back his lover.

The other one, produced in 1952, is a film based on the biography of Australian swimming champion and entertainer Annette Kellerman.

Although Sokov had already guessed that the "Water Lotus" they were talking about was a movie produced in 1944, but out of safety, he still asked tentatively: "The "Water Lotus" you are talking about is directed by George Sidney?"

"That's right, the director is George Sidney." Blair said with some surprise: "General Sukov, I really didn't expect that you know this movie, and even who the director is, it's simply incredible .”

Sokov coughed and said in disguise: "Actually, I also heard it from the radio. You know, I stay in the headquarters all day, and I am quite bored. I listen to the radio occasionally, and I happen to hear The movie was introduced on the radio, and I remembered it immediately."

"Then would you like to accompany us to the movies?" After Claire said this, she suddenly remembered that she hadn't had time to introduce her companion, and quickly added: "I forgot to introduce you, this is my best friend Elizabeth."

"Hello, Miss Elizabeth." Sokov stood up and stretched out his hand to the other party, saying friendlyly, "Nice to meet you!"

"Me too, General Sokov!"

After the hands of the two were separated, Claire asked the question again: "General Sokov, would you like to go to the movies with us?"

"I don't think it's necessary." Sokov thought for a while. If he was an ordinary person, facing the invitation of two beautiful British female nurses, he would definitely agree to accompany them to the movies without hesitation. But now I am a senior officer of the Soviet Army, and I rashly followed two British female nurses to leave the meeting place and go to watch a movie elsewhere, not to mention whether safety can be guaranteed. Some caring people use it to make a fuss. It was precisely because of this consideration that he politely rejected Carlisle's invitation: "I'm afraid we will leave here soon. If everyone finds out that I am not sure when we leave, I am afraid that it will cause unnecessary trouble. Claire, really Sorry, I can't go to the movies with you, you should go with Elizabeth."

Hearing what Sokov said, Claire's face was full of disappointment. She thought that after such a long communication, Sokov must have developed a good impression of her in her heart. If she invited him to go to the movies with her, she definitely would not deny yourself. But unexpectedly, he lowered his posture and asked him, but he still ruthlessly refused.

Although Blair was very upset, she still politely said to Sokov out of politeness: "General Sokov, since you don't want to go to the movies, I won't force you anymore. Goodbye! Elizabeth, Let's go to the movies."

Not long after Blair and Elizabeth left arm in arm, Sidolin sat down. He looked at their backs and asked Sukov curiously, "Comrade Commander, why did these two beautiful nurses leave?"

"There is a movie playing somewhere nearby. The two of them went to watch the movie."

Sidolin asked puzzledly, "Then why didn't you go with them?"

"I didn't think it was suitable, so I refused." Sokov did not elaborate on the specific reasons, but asked instead: "Comrade Chief of Staff, where did you go with the Military Commissioner? what about you?"

"It's normal not to see us." Sidolin said with a smile: "We are sitting with a group of British generals. I saw you chatting with a young and beautiful girl here from a distance. I saw that Comrade Military Commissioner was about to come over. , I stopped him specially, so as not to disturb your elegance."

Sokov looked in the direction Sidolin said, and he saw a group of British generals, but he did not see Lunev. He asked curiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you said that the military commissar and the British generals Together, why didn't we see his trace?"

Sidolin looked in that direction, with the same surprised expression on his face: "It was still there just now, why did it disappear in a blink of an eye?" But he quickly continued, "By the way, a general just said If you want to invite him to drink, maybe they go to the next room to drink."

Knowing that Lunev was sent to drink with the British generals, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little worried: "He just had an appendix operation some time ago, can he drink?"

"Of course you can drink it, Comrade Commander." Sidolin said with a smile: "Alcohol is anti-virus. If he drinks alcohol, it is equivalent to using alcohol to sterilize his wounds again. Maybe it will be good for his body. .”

"No, no, this is absolutely not possible." Sokov shook his head and said to Sidolin: "He has not had the operation for a long time. If he drinks too much alcohol, it may cause irreversible damage to his body. Get it back. In a word, you can't let him drink too much alcohol, otherwise it will hurt your body."

"Okay, Comrade Commander." Seeing Sokov's resolute attitude, Sidolin couldn't say anything more, so he stood up and said, "Then I'll go find the military commissar and bring it to you." Come."

"That's right, that's exactly what it should be." Sokov urged, "Don't dawdle, go find him quickly."

As soon as Sidolin left, Rokossovsky came over and deliberately asked Sokov, "Misha, where did your beautiful nurse go?"

Sokov grinned, and said rather helplessly, "She and her girlfriend went to the movies."

"Since they go to the movies, why don't you go with them?"

"Comrade Marshal, aren't we going to return to the garrison immediately after the ball?" Sokov explained to Rokossovsky, "I'm worried that while you are watching a movie, you suddenly announce that all the staff will return to their defense zone. At that time, even if someone was sent to look for me, they might not be able to find me, so it would be a waste of time."

"Misha, I forgot to tell you something." Rokossovsky said, "After discussing with Marshal Montgomery, we have decided not to return to the station tonight. He will arrange a place for us to rest. Don't worry. That is to say, if you go to watch a movie with that female nurse right now, you don't have to worry that we will leave you behind when we leave. "