Red Moscow

When the two began to eat, Kopalova asked tentatively: "Misha, why are you here?"

"I went to Crystal City to buy crystals a few days ago." Sokov replied: "When I came back and passed through Vladimir, I saw a movie being filmed here, so I stayed to watch the excitement. After all, I had never seen a movie before. How it was filmed. By the way, how did you get here?"

"The leader of the newspaper said that there was an important movie being shot in Vladimir and asked me to follow another reporter to interview." Kopalova replied: "Then I naturally appeared here."

"Oh, that's what happened. Where is the other reporter?" Sokov quickly looked up at the door of the cafe. Seeing that no one was there, he lowered his head and continued eating: "Hasn't he arrived in Vladimir yet? ?”

"How is this possible? We came to Vladimir by train together." Kopalova explained: "He went to the relevant departments to go through the formalities. Although the war is over, there are still many restricted areas in the city. If Without special passes, we may not be able to enter places where the crew can enter.”

"oh."

"Where is Seryosha?"

"Sacrificed," Sokov replied without looking up.

"Sacrificed, how?" Kopalova asked puzzledly: "I remember that when we were in Stalingrad, Seryosha served as a commander in your guard camp and had no combat missions at all. How could he sacrifice himself?"

"Although the battle to defend Stalingrad was brutal, with soldiers only surviving for 24 hours and officers only 72 hours, both Seryosha and I survived." Sokov said with emotion: "Later, in the battle to liberate Ukraine Unfortunately, I was seriously injured and was sent to a military hospital in Moscow for treatment, while Seryosha was left with the commander who took over. When I returned to the front line and recruited my old troops, I learned that Seryosha had died. News. Oh, what a pity. If he had stayed by my side, he might have seen the day of victory."

But Kopalova sneered at Sokov's statement: "Come on, Misha. You yourself were seriously injured. Even if Seryosha stays by your side, I'm afraid he will die sooner or later. By the way. , how were you injured at that time?"

"I went to the front line for inspection, and on the way I met a group of German soldiers disguised as our army's engineers. They lied that a large number of landmines were found on the road ahead, and they were cleaning it up. They asked me to rest in a nearby road guard room." Soko The husband explained to Kopalova: "When I went in, I found that there was a time bomb hidden inside, so I jumped out of the window. But the moment I jumped out of the window, the bomb exploded, seriously injuring me. . Fortunately, the military doctors at the Moscow Military Hospital are very skilled, otherwise I would have died a long time ago."

"Misha, you are so lucky to be able to survive after being seriously injured." Kopalova said with emotion: "You know, General Vatutin was injured in the leg, and even the assistant military doctor at the Frontier Health Center was able to treat it. He was injured and was sent to a military hospital in Moscow. After several months of treatment, he died due to wound infection."

"Well, I know about this." Sokov nodded slightly, and then continued: "At that time, the Allies sent us an anti-inflammatory drug called penicillin, which has a very good anti-inflammatory effect and can effectively prevent Postoperative wound infection. If General Vatutin had used this medicine, his life might not have been in danger."

"Maybe he has a special status. It is impossible to use this untested new drug on him easily." After Kopalova said this, she suddenly asked: "Misha, what do you think of Vatutin?" What is this person’s ability?”

Hearing Kopalova's question, Sokov immediately became alert. He suddenly felt that the other party was like a secret reporter who was trying to trick him intentionally or unintentionally. Maybe there was an open recorder in her bag, which was recording him. All conversations with her were secretly recorded.

Seeing Sokov's delay in speaking, Kopalova urged: "Misha, why don't you speak? Didn't you hear the question I asked you?"

Sokov suppressed the smile on his face, looked at Kopalova and asked expressionlessly: "Kopalova, I want to know, are you asking the question as a friend, or as a friend?" Are you asking as a reporter?"

Kopalova was stunned for a moment when she heard Sokov ask this question, and then she understood why Sokov was so vigilant. If he was just an ordinary soldier, then evaluating a certain senior commander would be nothing more than a conversation piece after dinner; but with Sokov's current status, to evaluate a senior general who had sacrificed in front of him, he would have to use words and sentences. Be extremely cautious, otherwise it will be very detrimental to him once he is used by someone with ulterior motives.

Kopalova quickly put her satchel on the table, opened it and showed it to Sokov, and said: "Don't worry, Misha, there is no tape recorder hidden in my bag, it's just between two friends." Just small talk."

"Kopalova, before I answer your question, I need to clarify one thing first."

"whats the matter?"

"What is our relationship?" Sokov looked at Kopalova and asked solemnly: "What happened before?"

Kopalova's pretty face turned red, then she lowered her head and said with some embarrassment: "What else could it be, of course it's lovers."

This time it was Sokov's turn to be shocked: "What, are we lovers?"

"Yes." Kopalova raised her head again, looked at Sokov and said: "Misha, have you really forgotten that we started dating when we were studying, and we only broke off contact after the war broke out."

"We started dating when we were in school, but lost contact after the war broke out." After Sokov repeated Kopalova's words, he said with a wry smile: "I don't remember any of this."

Kopalova stared at Sokov for a while and realized that he didn't seem to be lying. Maybe the bombing really caused him to lose his memory, so she helped him recall: "On the day the war broke out, you and I were still grateful. Liao Sha, three people were watching the annual summer solstice celebration in Weedenham Park. Suddenly the radio in the park rang, and a deep voice came from the radio, saying that the Germans would tear us and our country apart in the early hours of this morning. The non-aggression pact between them blatantly launched a war against our country.

After you and Seryosha heard the broadcast, you left the park and went to a nearby recruitment point to sign up and joined the army as you wished. The day you left, you said to me: 'Kopalova, when the war is over, I will come back to marry you, you must wait for me. ’ Misha, have you forgotten all these words you said? "

After listening to Kopalova's story, Sokov broke into a cold sweat. He never dreamed that the original Sokov and Kopalova actually had such a past. No wonder they met each other again in Stalingrad. He stared at himself for a long time, then leaned into his ear and said: "I hate you!" Now I finally understood what was going on.

He looked at Kopalova and asked with some embarrassment: "Didn't you find another one after all these years?"

Unexpectedly, Kopalova sneered after hearing this and said: "Although you have forgotten me a long time ago, I always remember you in my heart. There are indeed many people who pursue me, but I have never promised anyone. Especially in When I reunited with you in Stalingrad and saw that you had become a colonel, there was no man that I could set my sights on."

When Sokov heard this, he couldn't help complaining in his heart. He didn't expect that because of a strange mistake, Kopalova's life was ruined. If he had been replaced by someone else instead of Sokov when he came to this era, there might not have been such an emotional entanglement. If Kopalova sees the real Sokov die, she will forget it sooner or later and find someone of the opposite sex who can be entrusted to her for life instead of being alone like now.

"Kopalova, I'm already married, and a child is about to be born." Sokov explained to Kopalova with a blushing face: "You should let go of the past relationship, start a new life, and find a new partner." Get married and have children with the right person for you.”

"Impossible, this is absolutely impossible." Kopalova shook her head and said resolutely: "Except for you, my heart can no longer tolerate anyone of the opposite sex."

Sokov didn't know what else he could say to Kopalova, so he could only change the topic in time: "Kopalova, let's continue talking about General Vatutin. Don't you want to know how I evaluate him? Of?"

Kopalova took out a handkerchief from her bag, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, calmed her emotions, and said, "Okay, then just tell me."

"First of all, I want to make it clear that General Vatutin is very loyal to the motherland and to the supreme commander himself." However, before evaluating Vatutin, Sokov must first inoculate him: "What I said Everything represents my personal views and is for reference only.”

Hearing what Sokov said, Kopalova couldn't help but smile: "Misha, don't be so serious. I was just asking casually to find a common topic."

"How should I put it? In my opinion, General Vatutin is capable, but his ability is average." Sokov said cautiously: "If you command an army, or even a group army-level unit, I'm afraid there won't be many problems. But. If he were to serve as the commander of the front army, his incompetence would be exposed."

This may be the first time Kopalova heard this statement, and she couldn't help but widen her eyes in surprise: "Misha, I see the evaluation of him from the outside world, saying that he is a rare general, and his ability is second only to Yu Zhukov, Rokossovsky and Konev. If he had not sacrificed, he might have been Marshal Vatutin by now."

"That's just external propaganda. In fact, after he became the commander of the front army, the troops he commanded always lost more and won less." Sokov knew that when the Intelligence Agency publicized to the outside world, it would definitely delete those things that were unfavorable to Vatutin. The reports only promote his victory. He looked around and found that he and Kopalova were alone in the cafe, and the waitress was standing at the counter chatting with others. She probably couldn't hear what he said, so he said confidently: " After the victory in the Battle of Stalingrad, our army launched the third Battle of Kharkov. No matter in terms of troops or equipment, our army was at an absolute advantage. From all aspects, the troops that defeated Manstein were A definite fact."

"The Third Battle of Kharkov?" Kopalova said with some surprise: "I have heard of this battle. It was not that our army dispatched small troops to attack the enemy. Because the enemy's strength was too large, our army's commanders and fighters Although we fought tenaciously, in the end we were unable to achieve the intended combat objective."

Sokov smiled bitterly, and then said: "During the Third Battle of Kharkov, our army dispatched the Southwest Front Army and the Voronezh Front Army, with a total strength of more than one million, and a large amount of weapons and equipment. From all aspects, , could crush Manstein's German army. However, after the battle began, General Vatutin took advantage of the situation and advanced forward, which led to the lengthening of the logistics supply line and the dispersion of troops. As a result, the German army was defeated as soon as it launched a counterattack. "

"Didn't you say that there were two front armies?" Kopalova asked tentatively: "After General Vatutin's troops were defeated, didn't the other front army come to his aid?"

"The troops participating in the offensive campaign at that time, in addition to General Vatutin's Southwest Front Army, were also General Golikov's Voronezh Front Army." Seeing that Kopalova did not understand that period of history, Sokov explained to her. : "The Southwest Front Army was defeated by the German army, and the Voronezh Front Army's defense line was also affected. In the end, it had to abandon the occupied area and retreat to the original occupied area."

Kopalova continued to ask: "But hasn't General Vatutin always been the commander of the Voronezh Front?"

"No, he was the commander of the Southwestern Front at first. After the failure of the Third Battle of Kharkov, both Golikov and he were dismissed by Comrade Stalin. After a period of hiding, he was transferred to the Voronezh Front."

"What about the Battle of Kursk?" What Sokov said completely overturned Kopalova's understanding. She continued to ask: "In this battle, General Vatutin's troops always achieved decisive results. Fighting, right?"

"The actual situation is exactly the opposite." Sokov said: "At that time, the German attack was divided into two directions, the north and the south. One way was to attack Marshal Rokossovsky's troops in the north, and the other was to attack General Vatutin in the south. The Voronezh Front Army. After the battle began, due to Vatutin's command errors, the Voronezh Front Army was retreating steadily. The Supreme Command had no choice but to dispatch troops from Marshal Konev's Steppe Front Army to rush over for reinforcements. Three troops were invested in the battle. It took four armies to barely contain the German attack."

"No way, Misha." Kopalova said in surprise: "Is everything you said true? Why is what I heard exactly the opposite of what you said?"

"The army group under my command was also transferred to reinforce the Voronezh Front." When talking about the Battle of Kursk, Sokov couldn't help but be full of pride: "The troops under my command defeated the three most powerful parties in the German army. The Guards Division turned the entire battle around."

"Is it true, Misha?" Kopalova asked: "Are everything you said true? You didn't lie to me deliberately to make me happy, did you?"

"How could this happen?" Sokov said: "When I have the opportunity in the future, I will tell you in detail what happened in the Battle of Kursk."