Red Moscow

After buying the wine sets, he also bought a bunch of fruit plates and a few vases. Seeing that Sokov and the others had bought a lot of things, the stall owner took the initiative to push a small cart over and put all the crystal products he bought on the cart one by one. He went up and asked: "Comrade General, where can I send these things to you?"

"My car is at the door." Sokov said, "Please just bring your things to the door."

The stall owner agreed and pushed the cart outside, preparing to help Sokov deliver the crystal products to the cart.

As a few people walked outside, Sokov asked the stall owner curiously: "During the war, was the market here open normally?"

Unexpectedly, the stall owner shook his head after hearing this and said: "Since the outbreak of the war, all crystal factories have stopped normal production and switched to producing glass bottles used to make Molotov cocktails. It was not until the beginning of this year that crystal production was resumed."

"So that's it." Sokov continued to ask: "I see there are not many young people in the market. Have they all gone to the war?"

"It's not just young people. All men here in Crystal City between the ages of 16 and 50 were incorporated into the army after the war broke out." The middle-aged stall owner said to Sokov: "Comrade General, I'll tell you the truth. , I just returned home from the army last month."

"Oh, you just returned home from the army last month?" Sokov asked with some surprise: "I wonder which army you served in. Did you participate in the battle to attack Berlin?"

"Comrade General, I also want to be the first to rush into Berlin, but unfortunately I don't have this opportunity." The stall owner sighed and said: "The direction of the attack of my unit is Bulgaria. I thought there would be a fierce battle, but who knew what happened before the attack? Before the bombardment was about to start, we found that the Bulgarian army and their people on the opposite side lined up on the border to welcome us, with no intention of fighting us. In this way, we successfully entered Bulgarian territory without firing a shot."

Sokov vaguely remembered that the Ukrainian Third Front entered Bulgaria in September 1944. Although there was no fighting between the two sides, it was not smooth sailing when they took over the country. At that time, the country's capital Sofia was still under the control of pro-German forces. Next, an uprising broke out in order to seize the city. But Sokov didn't know the specific situation. He curiously asked the stall owner: "I heard that after our army entered Bulgaria, it seemed that there was a battle with the pro-German forces in the country. Didn't you participate in such a battle?"

"No." The stall owner shook his head and answered very simply: "When our army entered Bulgaria, my unit cooperated with the friendly Bulgarian army to defend the border and did not participate in any battles at all. Come with me My friends who enlisted in the army all had several medals on their chests when they were discharged, but as for me, I had nothing, so I couldn’t hold my head high in front of my friends.”

Sokov knew the stall owner's mood very well. Russia is a country where honor is more precious than life. The friend who joined the army with the stall owner received a lot of medals, but the stall owner didn't even have the most common medals, let alone medals. In front of his friends , it is reasonable to be unable to lift one’s head.

"Don't worry, although the war is over, you still have a chance to get a medal." Sokov raised his hand and patted the stall owner on the shoulder, comforting him and said: "You don't only get medals on the battlefield, you can get medals in the ordinary. In your job, you still have the possibility of receiving a medal."

Sokov wasn't just talking nonsense, he was telling the truth. There are many types of medals in the Soviet Union. In addition to those awarded on the battlefield, medals can also be obtained in other walks of life. On every major festival, those whose chests are covered with medals are not just soldiers, but also actors, engineers, doctors, painters, teachers, and even ordinary workers.

The stall owner obviously knew this. After listening to Sokov's words, he nodded vigorously and said, "Comrade General, you are right. I am demobilized now. If I work hard, I still have a chance to get a medal. As long as I get the Labor Medal, then when I get together with my friends in the future, I can confidently tell them that I also have a medal."

The three of them walked out of the market and saw the black car parked not far away, and Wo Wen standing next to the car.

The stall owner asked Sokov tentatively: "Comrade General, is that your car?"

"Yes, that's the car that brought me here."

The stall owner's sharp eyes clearly saw the various passes posted on the windshield of the car. He guessed that Sokov's origin was not simple, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade General, during the war, were you working in Moscow or on the front line?" What about commanding the battle?"

"Of course I'm commanding operations on the front line." Sokov replied with a smile: "Actually, I just came back from the Far East not long ago. Before that, the troops I commanded fought in the Far East. .”

Hearing what Sokov said, the stall owner immediately stood in awe of him, and then asked tentatively: "Comrade General, can you tell me which front your troops were on during the Great Patriotic War?"

Sokov replied with a smile: "I have been on many fronts. For example, after the big counterattack under Moscow began, I was on the Western Front; during the Battle of Stalingrad, I was on the Stalingrad Front. ; During the Battle of Kursk, I was affiliated with the Voronezh Front; then, I served in the 1st Ukrainian Front, 1st and 2nd Belorussian Front..."

The stall owner's eyes widened in surprise as he listened to Sokov's account of his experience. He didn't expect that such a young general in front of him would have such a rich life. He once thought that he had some background to become a general at a young age, but now it seems that he was wrong.

Wo Wen saw the stall owner pushing a cart of cartons and knew that they contained crystal products. He quickly opened the trunk, lifted one carton after another and put them into the trunk.

"I mean comrade," the stall owner asked Wowen in a low voice after seeing Sokov and Asiya getting into the car: "I want to ask, what is the name of this general? It looks like he is fighting. There have been many battles.”

"No." Hearing what the stall owner said, Wowen said with some pride: "You may never have imagined that at the beginning of the major counterattack under Moscow City, General Sokov was just a corporal. Look, in just a short period of time, Within a few years, he became a general, and a general at that. For another person, it would have taken more than ten years at the fastest to achieve his achievements."

The stall owner had never been in the same army as Sokov. Although he knew his name from Wowen, he had never heard of his deeds. However, Wo Wen's words still left a deep impression on him. He secretly wrote down Sokov's name, intending to check with his friends if he had the opportunity to see if he had heard of Sokov.

After putting all the cartons into the trunk, Woven closed the trunk, said goodbye to the stall owner, and got into the car. He turned to Sokov and asked: "Comrade General, are we going home now?"

"Of course." Sokov nodded and said, "Now that we have bought everything, let's go home."

Wowen started the car and said to Sokov: "Comrade General, you bought a lot of things."

"Crystal City is too far from Moscow." Sokov said: "It's not easy to come here. Now that I'm here, I naturally have to buy more."

"Misha," Asiya asked Sokov: "I bought so many crystal products today. Should I take them directly back to our house, or send them to my parents' house first?"

"I think we should take them home first." Sokov said: "The only thing I bought for your parents is a set of wine sets and a few fruit plates. It won't be too late for us to send them to them when we are free someday."

Now that Sokov had made his decision, Asya had no objection and said smoothly, "Okay, let's take our things home first."

When the vehicle drove near Vladimir, Sokov unexpectedly found that there were a lot of vehicles blocked in front of him. He was a little surprised and said: "It's strange, why is there a traffic jam here? Did something happen?"

"Yes, it's quite strange." Wo Wen also said in surprise: "When we came here, we only encountered a few sparse cars. Now there are at least fifty cars blocked on the road ahead. What is going on? ?”

Since the car couldn't go any further, Sokov simply got out of the car and stood next to the car and looked forward. He felt that there must be no traffic jam for no reason, there must be something wrong.

But apart from the two traffic policemen on duty, there was no rear-end or collision scene at the front of the car. At this time, Asiya also got out of the car. She was not as tall as Sokov, so naturally she couldn't see the situation ahead. She could only ask Sokov: "Misha, what happened ahead?"

"I didn't see any car accident scene, but I saw two traffic policemen blocking the road ahead." Sokov said: "I guess the reason for the sudden road closure was that some big shot wanted to go to Vladimir."

"I don't think so." Asiya shook her head after hearing this and said, "Didn't you listen to the driver comrade on the way here? There is a railway from Moscow to Vladimir. If a big shot comes to Vladimir, Kimil, it must be by train, it’s much faster than by car.”

When Sokov heard what Asya said, he immediately doubted his guess. That's right, if some important person wants to go to Vladimir, he should take a train even if he doesn't take a plane. How could he take a car like me? Also, there were only two traffic policemen blocking the road ahead, which did not look like a heavily guarded situation at all, which proved that the speculation that the big shots came to Vladimir was unreasonable. But why do traffic police block roads?

Just when Sokov was puzzled, he suddenly saw a huge convoy heading towards the city from a distance. Judging from the military green tarpaulin on the carriage, it should be a military vehicle. "Misha," Asia also saw the sudden appearance of the convoy and couldn't help but said to Sokov: "Have you seen that huge convoy? The traffic police are blocking the road ahead. Will they fight with this convoy?" Does it have anything to do with the team?”

"Well, it's possible." Sokov nodded and said, "I think what you said makes sense. The road closure must have something to do with this convoy."

"Strange, what does this convoy do?" Wo Wen also got out of the car, looked at the convoy in the distance, frowned and said: "There are so many vehicles, at least one regiment of troops is mounted on them. Nowadays, The war is over, what will such a force do when it appears here?"

Sokov heard from Wowen that this convoy contained at least one regiment of troops, and he guessed: "Could it be some kind of military exercise?"

"I don't think so." Wo Wen shook his head and said, "I have encountered troops engaged in military exercises on the road before. Such a large army must at least be accompanied by artillery or armored troops. Take a look at this army again. , except for more than a hundred trucks, there was no technical equipment accompanying them at all.”

Although Sokov has been commanding thousands of troops, he has never seen how the troops in the exercise travel. On the contrary, even though Woven has never been to the front line, he often drives outside and has seen more of the world than Sokov.

"Comrade driver," Sokov humbly asked Wowen: "What kind of team do you think this is?"

"If it was during a war, I would probably guess this was a unit ready to go into battle."

But before Wo Wen finished speaking, Asiya retorted: "I think it's impossible. You know, during the war, the combat troops sent to the front line should be heading west or south. How could they be heading towards the front?" Going east?"

Sokov felt that what Asiya said made sense. If it was during a war, the troops sent to the front line must be heading west or south. How could they be heading east? That would be completely different.

After the convoy entered Vladimir, the traffic police who blocked the road began to let the blocked vehicles go.

When the car passed by a traffic policeman, Wo Wen rolled down the window and asked him: "Comrade police, can you tell me what the unit just did?"

When the traffic police saw that the person asking the question was a soldier, and there was also a general sitting in the car, he quickly and respectfully replied: "It's for filming a movie. The troop you just saw went to the city of Vladimir." Came to shoot a movie.”

"It turned out to be a movie." After Sokov figured out what was going on, he couldn't help laughing. Seeing such a huge convoy appearing in front of him, the first thing he thought of was that there might be a war somewhere, but he forgot that the war was over at this moment. , such troops were sent by superiors to participate in film shooting.

"Misha," Asya immediately became interested when she learned that the convoy she just saw was going to Vladimir for a movie shoot. She said to Sokov: "Anyway, we have nothing to do, so why not go Vladimir, look how the movie is shot.”

"I think it's okay." After Sokov agreed to Asiya's proposal, he said to Woven: "Comrade driver, please change the direction. We are going to Vladimir now to see how the movies are shot there. .”

"Okay, Comrade General." Wowen immediately turned around and drove in the direction of Vladimir. At the same time, he said happily: "I was just going to ask you if you were willing to go to the city to watch a movie. I didn’t expect you to bring it up first.”

In this way, the car quickly drove into Vladimir.

Originally, Sokov was thinking about who he should find after entering the city to find out where the convoy went. But after entering the city, he realized that he was overthinking it. The convoy he just saw was parked on one side of the road. The soldiers in the carriage were sitting upright, no one spoke, and they were quietly waiting for orders from their superiors.