Red Moscow

"Is Comrade Stalin in his office?"

Hearing Zhukov's question, Boskrebyshev hesitated for a moment, and then replied: "Yes, Comrade Marshal, he is in his office. But he is resting at the moment. If you have anything, you can tell me .I will convey it to him when he wakes up."

"Since he is resting, I won't disturb him." Zhukov said on the phone: "I called today to ask how the Supreme Command plans to place Misha? As far as I know, he is in ten He had left the Far East several days ago and returned to Moscow by train. If nothing else happened, he would have arrived in Moscow in the past two days."

"Comrade Marshal, your guess is correct." Boskrebyshev said: "General Sokov and General Yakov both arrived in Moscow today."

Knowing that Sokov had arrived in Moscow, Zhukov asked with some urgency: "Comrade Boskrebyshev, I made a request to the Supreme Command some time ago, hoping to transfer Mischa to Berlin to serve as the garrison commander. I don't know if you Have you told Misha about this?"

"Comrade Marshal," Poskrebyshev thought for a moment and decided to truthfully report to Zhukov what he knew about the situation: "After the two generals Sokov and Yakov returned to Moscow, they immediately went to the Ministry of Defense , met with General Orekhov from the General Headquarters. General Orekhov told General Sokov about your proposal and asked for his opinion.”

"What did Misha say?"

"It's a pity, Comrade Marshal." Poskrebyshev said in a regretful tone: "Sokov rejected this proposal and was unwilling to go to Berlin to serve as the garrison commander."

"What, he doesn't want to come to Berlin?" Zhukov asked: "Why?"

"I don't know, Comrade Marshal. I don't know why he declined your invitation."

After hearing what Boskrebyshev said, Zhukov began to think about why Sokov rejected his invitation so simply. After a while, he asked again: "Besides me, is there anyone else who also wants Misha to work with him?"

"You guessed it right. Comrade Khrushchev also wanted General Sokov to work in the Kiev Military District, but he also refused."

When Zhukov heard that Khrushchev also sent an invitation to Sokov, he couldn't help but frowned, and then said: "Khrushchev also sent an invitation to Misha. Doesn't he know that the newly rebuilt Kiev Military District is now It’s just a mess, and after Misha goes there, he will be very busy all day long.”

Poskrebyshev muttered to himself: "Kiev is a mess, how can the situation in Berlin be better? The city destroyed by the war needs to be rebuilt, and hundreds of thousands of prisoners of war need to be resettled. The workload is small. No worse than Kiev." However, he could only mutter these things secretly in his heart, but did not dare to say them out easily. At the same time, he also wanted to flatter Zhukov: "You are right, Comrade Marshal."

Zhukov paused for a moment and continued to ask: "Comrade Boskrebyshev, please tell me truthfully, where did Misha go to work in the end?"

"Comrade Marshal, according to General Sokov's own wishes, he wants to go to Siberia to manage the hundreds of thousands of Kwantung Army prisoners of war captured by our army." Having said this, Boskrebyshev couldn't help but raise his head and look at the two men next to him. She glanced at the closed door, and lowered her voice with some guilt: "But Ustinov called Comrade Stalin not long ago, hoping to let General Sokov go to work in the General Ordnance Department."

"Hell." Zhukov said dissatisfiedly when he learned that Ustinov had also come to intervene: "The war is over. Troops on all fronts began to disarm one after another. Tens of thousands of commanders and combatants took off their uniforms and returned to the army. Go to work somewhere. At this time, what are you asking Misha to go to the General Ordnance Department for?"

"Comrade Marshal, although the war is over," Poskrebyshev said respectfully, "but no one can guarantee that a war will not break out again one day in the future. If our troops do not have advanced weapons, then We may suffer heavy losses in future wars. Therefore, Comrade Ustinov’s request was approved by Comrade Stalin.”

"So that's it." Zhukov knew that Ustinov wanted to recruit Sokov, and he originally wanted to try hard to prevent the other party from achieving his goal, but after hearing what Boskrebyshev said, he realized that this There wasn't much room for change, so I could only say regretfully, "That's such a shame."

When Zhukov hung up the phone, Poskrebyshev was quite puzzled: When did Marshal Zhukov become so easy to talk to? You know, if he encountered this kind of situation before, he would definitely use various means to achieve his purpose.

But he had more important things to do, so he didn't bother to think about what Zhukov was thinking. He called Ustinov's office and asked politely: "Is this Comrade Ustinov? I am Boskrebyshev."

"Hello, Poskrebeshev." Ustinov was a little surprised when he heard that it was Poskrebeshev who made the call. He secretly thought that something had happened. Stalin specifically ordered Poskrebeshev to Scheff called himself and asked tentatively: "I wonder if Comrade Stalin has any latest instructions?"

"Uh, Comrade People's Commissar, actually I'm not calling you." Poskrebyshev said with some embarrassment: "I wanted to ask if Yakov is with you?"

"Yes, yes." Ustinov glanced at Yakov, who was sitting opposite him, and asked tentatively: "Do you want him to answer the phone?"

"Yes, Comrade People's Commissar, please give him the phone."

Ustinov handed the microphone to Yakov: "Yasha, your call is from Comrade Boskrebyshev."

"Comrade Boskrebyshev called me?" Yakov took the phone from Ustinov's hand with some surprise, put it to his ear and said: "Hello, Boskrebyshev Comrade, I am Yakov, what do you want from me?"

"Hello, Yakov." Poskrebyshev said politely: "Comrade Stalin asked me to inform you that you will come to my house for dinner tomorrow night."

"I'm going to have dinner at home tomorrow night, am I the only one?"

"Of course not," Poskrebyshev said: "In addition to you, your wife Yulia and daughter Galina are also invited."

"Okay, Comrade Boskrebyshev, our whole family will go to the appointment on time tomorrow."

Yakov, who was on the phone with Boskrebyshev, never dreamed that in real history, as he was captured by the Germans, his wife Yulia was also imprisoned by Stalin, and even died shortly after his death. Got shot. His daughter Galina became a famous writer a few years later.

Yakov put down the phone and said to Ustinov with a smile: "Comrade People's Commissar, my father asked me to take the whole family to dinner tomorrow."

"Since the outbreak of the war, I think this is the first time Comrade Stalin has asked you to go home for dinner."

"Yes, it is indeed the first time." Yakov did not deny Ustinov's statement: "You also know that my father actually doesn't like Yulia at all. He treats her every time he meets her. It's cold. Sometimes I even have a terrible thought in my mind, thinking that if I die in the war, I'm afraid Yulia will not end well."

Yakov's topic already involved Stalin's family. No matter how high his position was, Ustinov would not dare to express his opinions at will on the family affairs of the Supreme Commander himself. He chuckled and said to Yakov: "Yasha, it's getting late. You should go home early. Don't keep Yulia and the children waiting."

"Okay." Yakov realized that it was indeed late, so he stood up and said goodbye to Ustinov: "I will bring Misha to see you tomorrow."

After Yakov left the General Ordnance Department, he returned to his home in a special car equipped for him.

Seeing Yakov back, his wife Yulia was naturally very happy, and quickly came up to him and gave him a warm hug: "Yasha, you are finally back!"

After Yakov and Yulia finished hugging, they found that their daughter Galina was not at home. He couldn't help but asked curiously: "Where is Galina? She is not playful and she hasn't come home yet."

"Yasha, what's wrong with you?" Yulia looked at Yakov and said in surprise: "Have you forgotten that today is Tuesday?"

"Yes, today is Tuesday." Yakov said confused: "But does it have anything to do with Galina not being at home?"

"Of course it does matter." Yulia guessed that her husband might have been away from home for too long and couldn't remember many things, so she reminded him: "Galina usually lives at the school from Monday to Thursday, and only stays on campus from Monday to Thursday. I won’t go home until Friday afternoon.”

Hearing what Yulia said, Yakov suddenly remembered that this was the school's rule. He had to stay in school during the day from Monday to Friday, and could not return to his home until school was over on Friday afternoon. After two days of rest, return to school on Sunday afternoon or Monday morning. He couldn't help but regretfully said: "So, I have to wait two days before I can see her. Yulia, can you go to school tomorrow and ask for leave for Galina and let her go home? ?"

Yulia asked curiously: "Yasha, what's the matter? Why do you suddenly ask for leave for your daughter and ask her to go home?"

"I received a call from Comrade Boskrebyshev today. He said that my father would invite our family to dinner tomorrow night." Yakov explained to Yulia: "Tell me, how can such an important gathering be missed?" Where is Galina?"

"Yasha, you're right." When Yulia heard this, she thought, what? She's going to her father-in-law's house for dinner tomorrow. This is such a big deal. She quickly replied: "Tomorrow morning, I'll go to school to ask for leave for Galina." , ask her to come back immediately. By the way, have you had dinner? "

"Not yet." Yakov shook his head and said, "I just returned to Moscow today. I have a lot of things to do and I don't have time to eat at all."

"Then you sit down for a while, and I'll go cook for you now."

While Yulia was cooking, Yakov picked up the phone and called Sokov again.

Sokov, who was on the other end of the phone, heard Yakov's voice and asked, somewhat dumbfounded: "Yasha, did you call me for anything important?"

"Misha, let me tell you good news." Yakov said excitedly: "You may stay in Moscow and no longer have to go to Siberia."

"Why?" When Sokov heard what Yakov said, he couldn't help but secretly complained, secretly saying that for you, staying in Moscow is a good thing, but for me, the best place is to go to Siberia to manage those damned things. Kwantung Army prisoners of war. If you can't go, wouldn't you be missing a lot of fun in the world? So when Yakov said this, he couldn't help but feel a little anxious: "Why would I stay in Moscow?"

"That's right," Yakov said triumphantly: "When I went to the General Ordnance Department to meet Comrade Ustinov, I mentioned your matter by the way. After hearing this, he said that asking you to go to Siberia to manage prisoners of war is simply ridiculous. It is a waste of talent. Your best job position should be in the General Ordnance Department. We all believe that with your intelligence, you will be able to develop more new weapons for our army."

"When I went to Siberia, I had already made an agreement with General Orekhov." To be fair, Sokov did not want to stay in Moscow. He just wanted to rush to Siberia as soon as possible to collect the prisoners of war of the Kwantung Army, so he sent Orekhov to Siberia. Hough pushed it out as a shield: "It may not be easy to make changes at this time."

What Sokov didn't expect was that as soon as he said this, Yakov said with a smile: "Misha, I knew you were worried about this. Don't worry, Comrade Ustinov will give it to my father personally." He made a phone call and expressed his wish to stay in the General Ordnance Department. My father has agreed to his request. I believe it won’t be long before we can become colleagues.”

When Sokov heard this, he couldn't help but became a little anxious. He turned down the invitations of Zhukov and Khrushchev. Instead of going to Berlin or Kiev, he just wanted to go to Siberia as soon as possible and quietly be a prisoner of war who could torment the Kwantung Army. The guard didn't expect someone to be unwilling to satisfy such a simple wish as his own.

"Yasha, is there any room for change in this matter?" Sokov asked anxiously: "You know, I actually know nothing about weapon design. I just want to go to Siberia to be a guard. Can you do it in front of your father? , can you say something nice to me?"

"Misha, there is one more thing I forgot to tell you." Yakov did not pay attention to what Sokov was saying, but shared his joy with him: "Comrade Boskrebyshev called me to inform me, He said that my father would treat my whole family to dinner tomorrow night. You know, the last time the whole family had a dinner was in 1940. Five years later, now I finally have the opportunity to sit down and have a meal with the whole family."