Red Moscow

For the next week, Sokov lived a happy life of sleeping until he woke up naturally.

After getting up and washing up every day, I go to the cafe outside to have something to eat, and then take a walk back. Find a book, flip through a few pages, and then sit down to write the novel "The Siege." The speed of writing by hand is indeed not comparable to the speed of computer typing in later generations. Writing six or seven hours a day is only 10,000 words, and less than 80,000 words were written in a week.

As soon as he got up that day, he heard a knock on the door. Sokov thought that Asiya had forgotten something and came back to get it. When he opened the door, he saw that the person standing at the door was actually Yakov: "Yasha, how could it be you? Where did you come from?"

"Where else could it be." Yakov said as he walked into the house: "Of course he came from Vladimir. The filming work there is almost completed. Next, he will move to other places and continue the new work. The filming work. I have nothing to do for the time being, so I went back to Moscow first."

"You came back by the early morning train, right?" Sokov asked with concern: "When you arrived in Moscow, did you go home and take a look? Maybe your wife and children miss you very much."

Yakov chuckled, and then said: "Actually, I came back the night before yesterday. Not only did I go home to see my wife and children, I even went to my father and gave him your manuscript."

After learning that Yakov actually handed over the manuscript of the book "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" to Stalin, Sokov couldn't help but nervously asked: "I wonder if your father said anything after reading this book?"

"He said this is a good book and should be published as soon as possible so that more people can see it." Yakov said with a smile: "I just followed his order and came here specifically to see you. Originally, I I didn’t want to disturb you and Asiya’s time too early, so I planned to wait two days to come find you, but I didn’t expect that my father would call me early in the morning and ask me to come see you.”

After hearing this, Sokov laughed dryly and said a little embarrassedly: "Yasha, actually you can just make a phone call for this matter. There is no need to make a special trip."

"Besides the book, there is one more important thing." Yakov said, taking out a white envelope from his pocket: "This is for you."

If you see a white envelope in China, there are usually two situations: one is a dismissal letter from the company, and the other is a gift for a white matter. But in Russia, white envelopes have another meaning. They are usually used to hold greeting cards or invitations.

It was precisely because he knew this custom in Russia that when Sokov took the envelope, he jokingly asked: "Yasha, are you getting married again and you sent an invitation specifically to me?"

"The invitation is an invitation, not a wedding invitation." Yakov said seriously: "Look, this is an invitation that countless people want."

Sokov opened the envelope and took out the invitation. When he opened it, he was stunned: "What, this is an invitation to the military parade celebrating the 28th anniversary of the Great October Revolution? This is for me. ?"

"Of course it's for you." Yakov said with a smile: "Well, your name is written on it. This invitation was signed by my father personally. The number is 77. This is the most auspicious number. It means My father thinks highly of you. In addition, the invitation also states that you can bring one family member with you. In other words, on the day of the military parade, you can take Asia with you."

Sokov spent more than ten years in Russia before crossing over. After coming to this era, he spent another four long years. He naturally understands Russian customs and habits. "7" is the most auspicious number in this country. He gave himself an invitation with a double "7" number, and also allowed himself to take his wife with him. This shows how much Stalin valued him.

"Wasn't there a victory parade held in Red Square on June 24 this year?" Sokov asked curiously: "Why is there another military parade on October 1st?"

"Misha, don't you know that our country has two military parades every year." Yakov glanced at Sokov with a strange look and continued: "One is May Day, and the other is October Day. . None of us were able to participate in this year’s Victory Day military parade. Participating in the military parade this time can be regarded as a kind of compensation for us.”

"Yes, yes." Sokov nodded and said: "During the military parade, a few of us were still locked up in a sanatorium on the outskirts of Moscow, living basically isolated from the world. It was really hard to miss this grand festival. It’s such a shame. How I wanted to see with my own eyes the military condition of the Germans, the moment they were thrown in front of Lenin’s tomb by our soldiers.”

"Hey, I can't help it. The situation was special at that time. Not only were you and Asiya locked in the nursing home, Lu Jin and I were also there to accompany you."

"By the way, I heard you talking about Lu Jin. I wonder how he is doing recently." Sokov said with emotion: "It hasn't been long since I left the Far East. Now I really miss Lu Jin as my partner."

"I heard a news about Lukin." Yakov said: "It is said that he will soon be transferred back from the Far East and go to Odessa to serve as the deputy commander of the military region, and he will also receive a medal. .”

"It's a pity that Comrade Lukin is disabled." After learning about Lukin's new position, Sokov couldn't help but regretfully said: "If he hadn't been wounded and captured, and had his limbs amputated in a German prisoner-of-war camp, with his ability , fully qualified to hold higher positions.”

"You are right. Shortly after the war broke out, the troops he commanded caused considerable losses to the enemy." Yakov agreed with Sokov's statement: "If he had been in Vyazma Before the battle began, the person Konev transferred was not Rokossovsky but Lukin, so we may now call him Marshal Lukin. Unfortunately, there are no what-ifs in history, and he could only retain his original central position in the end. General rank, according to my judgment, he may retire with this rank in the future."

"Yeah, it's a pity." Sokov said: "During this Far East campaign, Deputy Commander Lukin's commanding ability was demonstrated to a certain extent. If I gave him the command of the entire group army, I might be able to obtain Greater results."

After hearing this, Yakov just nodded and suddenly asked a question that embarrassed Victor: "By the way, why didn't you tell Karina about your return to Moscow? As a result, the day after you left, she She ran over to me and asked why you were missing and if something happened? Because there was no news from you, she didn’t close her eyes all night and was worried about your safety! "

"I wrote her a note. Didn't she receive it?"

"Note, what kind of note?" Yakov asked: "Who did you entrust to give the note to Karina?"

"Who else could it be, of course Kopalova." Sokov said matter-of-factly: "She happened to be going to the municipal building for an interview at the time. I thought she would definitely see Karina, so I asked her to pass the note to To Karina. Did she forget?"

Unexpectedly, Yakov burst out laughing after hearing this: "Misha, you are really confused."

"Why do you say that?"

"Think about it, what is your relationship with Kopalova, and what is your relationship with Karina?"

"Friends, all friends." Sokov replied in a panic: "Both of them and I are friends."

"Pull him down." Yakov's face showed a look that I understood, and he continued: "Don't I know about that thing between you and Karina? Don't forget, the night before you left, I I went to look for you, but I heard the earth shaking in your room. I didn’t want to disturb you, so I went back to my room directly.”

Having said this, Yakov stood up suddenly, rushed into the bedroom to take a look, and then came out and said to Sokov: "Thank God, luckily Asiya is not here, otherwise she would have heard what she just said. No arguing. But there is something I want to ask you."

"Tell me, what's the matter?"

"Does Karina know you're married?"

Yakov's words stopped Sokov. He thought for a while, then slowly shook his head and said: "She has never asked me, and naturally I will not take the initiative to tell her. Presumably, she should not know Let me get married."

"That would be troublesome." Yakov said with a serious expression: "What if she comes to Moscow to find you one day and wants to marry you, but finds out that you have been married a long time ago and even have a child about to be born? I will find it hard to Imagine what will happen then.”

"Yes, this matter is quite troublesome." After hearing what Yakov said, Sokov also realized the seriousness of the problem and asked him for help: "Yasha, do you have any good ideas?"

"No, I have nothing to do." Yakov shook his head and said, "I am also a layman on this kind of thing, so I can't give you any constructive advice."

Just when Sokov was feeling uneasy, Yakov saw the notebook and pen on the table, raised his eyebrows, and then asked: "Misha, are you writing a new book again?"

"Yes, I am writing a new book." Sokov said: "The book is called "The Siege". It is based on the defense of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War, showing the cruelty of the siege and the arduous struggle to counter the siege. The course of the battle. During the 872 days and nights when the German army was at the gates of Leningrad, the city’s military and civilians united as one, stood firm and fought an arduous struggle against the enemy, and finally shattered the enemy’s conspiracy to capture this heroic city.”

"Can I see what you wrote?"

"Okay." Sokov nodded and handed the written manuscript to Yakov: "You can also give me some advice by the way."

"My father is full of praise for your book, what advice can I give?" Yakov smiled and opened the manuscript of the book.

Ten minutes later, after reading the previous chapter, Yakov couldn't help but frowned. Seeing this, Sokov quickly asked: "Yasha, do you see anything wrong? If so, feel free to point it out to me."

"As soon as your protagonist appeared, he came to Moscow from Leningrad to attend an important military conference. On the stage of the conference, in front of many marshals and generals, he criticized the crimes committed by our army in the Soviet-Finnish War. A series of mistakes. Although in the book, my father supports your protagonist’s statement, is it really appropriate for such content to appear in the book? Will it pass the strict review of the censorship department when it is published in the future? "

Yakov's words made Sokov realize that he had thought of the problem too simply. Chakovsky's book was published in 1975 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the victory in the Patriotic War. At that time, Stalin's influence was far less than it is today. Even Stalin in the movie no longer had perfect strategies, but made repeated mistakes, which led to the Soviet army's successive defeats in the Great Patriotic War. Thirty years later it would be possible to write about Stalin like this, but to write about it now would be to take a huge risk.

Thinking of this, Sokov couldn't help but frowned. He knew how excellent the book "Besieged" was. It is called one of the three outstanding works of war literature, the other two being "The Last Summer", the third part of Simonov's trilogy "The Living and the Dead", and Bondarev's "Hot" Snow". Before the book "The Siege" was finished, the film industry had already rushed to shoot several episodes of it. The first two films, "Luga Line" and "Pulkovo Meridian", were released at the same time as the novel in early May 1975, on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War. In 1978, the book "Besieged" won the highest literary award "Lenin Prize".

It is precisely because this book has achieved many achievements that Sokov chose this book. If he were asked to give up now, he would definitely not be willing to do so. After some thought, he picked up the manuscript and handed it to Yakov, saying solemnly: "Yasha, the best way now is to give what I have written to your father for review. If he says there is no problem and I can express myself freely, then when I want to publish it in the future, I don’t think the relevant censorship department will dare to set up obstacles for me.”

Yakov did not immediately reach for the manuscript, but looked at Sokov and asked: "Misha, tell me, how many words do you plan to write in this book?"

According to Yakov's idea, "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" has a length of more than 200,000 words, so Sokov chose to write the new one longer, which would be 300,000 to 400,000 words at best. Unexpectedly, Sokov's next answer almost made his jaw drop: "I plan to write about two million words."

"What, about two million words?" Yakov exclaimed in surprise: "Misha, can you really write such a novel? As far as I know, Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace" " is only 1.2 million words, and your book will be a full 800,000 words longer. How many years will it take you to write such a long content? If you really can't publish it, won't your hard work be in vain?"

"You are right, Yasha. I am also worried that the book I have spent several years and worked so hard to write will not even have a chance to be published." Sokov once again handed the manuscript to Yakov: " So I would like to ask your help to give this book to your father to read. If he says there is no problem, I will continue writing."

"Okay." Yakov's idea was simple. If Sokov spent several years writing a book and was not allowed to publish it in the end, it would be a disaster. So as a friend, he decided Give him a hand. He took the manuscript, nodded and said, "I will give what you have written to my father to read and see what he thinks."