Red Moscow

After Sokov thanked the police lieutenant, he took Asiya to the back of the Lenin Exhibition Hall. Sure enough, a stage was being set up in the open space. It seemed that the police lieutenant was right. There must be performances here at night. There were several buses with white backgrounds and blue rims parked nearby, with thick curtains drawn on the window glass. It was not clear what was going on inside, and it was not known whether there were any actors participating in tonight's performance in the cars, who were resting inside.

Seeing Sokov staring at the buses, Asiya asked curiously: "Misha, do you think the actors participating in the show will be resting in the car at this moment?"

"It's possible." In later generations, Sokov liked to go to Weedenham Park and Victory Square every time he encountered a major celebration, because these important areas would hold various celebrations. Every time when a stage is being built, the bus carrying performers will stop early next to the unfinished stage, allowing the performers to enter early and familiarize themselves with the surrounding environment. Firstly, to prevent them from stage fright; secondly, To prevent too many tourists coming before the event starts, blocking the road, even if the traffic police clear the way, it may not be easy to enter the performance site.

Since the stage was still being set up and there was nothing to see, Asya pulled Sokov towards the exhibition hall at the back.

There are many fountains in Weedenham Park. When they are open in the summer, many citizens will swim in the fountains. It is winter now, all the fountains in the park no longer spray water, and the water in the pool has turned into ice.

But when passing a large fountain, Sokov glanced towards the roadside, and he clearly remembered that there was a barbecue stall here in later generations. Where other places in Moscow charge for barbecue by the skewer, here they charge based on the number of pieces of meat. Five pieces of meat are skewered on a skewer. In other places, the price of the whole skewer is 200 rubles; but here, the price of each piece of meat is 200 rubles. Those who come to Weedenham Park for the first time will be ripped off by the stall owners whenever they come here to eat barbecue.

"Misha," Asia saw Sokov staring at an open space on the roadside and couldn't help but curiously asked, "What are you staring at this open space?"

"Asia, I'm thinking, if the park allows it, I want to open a barbecue stall here." Sokov thought to himself. There are also barbecue stalls in Victory Square, but others have clearly marked the price, 200 rubles per skewer. It’s only 200 rubles, and I won’t charge you a kopeck more. Although this kebab stall in Weedenham Park is notorious for ripping off people, others actually make money. Instead of letting others earn this money, it is better to set up a stall yourself and maybe make a lot of money every day.

Unexpectedly, Asiya laughed loudly after hearing this: "Misha, you are so funny. Why did you think of opening a barbecue stall in Weedenham Park? I thought there must be a lot of people here, all watching. How can a general grill meat here like a hawker?"

"How about it? You should think about it." Sokov waited for Asiya to finish laughing and then asked seriously: "Let's open a barbecue stall here. I will be responsible for the barbecue and you will be responsible for collecting the money. Even if my superiors ask me to retire , without any income, we can rely on this barbecue stall to have enough food and clothing."

"Okay, Misha, stop joking." Asiya said: "I think it might be the right choice for you to concentrate on writing novels, and don't think about the barbecue stall. I think even if it is allowed to open in the park For barbecue stalls, park employees will probably also be given priority.”

Sokov thought about it, but if this barbecue stall in Weedenham Park, which is famous for extortion, had no background in park management, how could he have been extorting money for more than ten or twenty years without ever being punished. Even if he has the status of a so-called general, but has no affiliation with the park, I am afraid that if he applies to open a barbecue stall, others will not pay attention to him at all, so he should not do such useless work.

The park in Weedenham is very large. If you want to visit it all, it will take at least three to four hours or even longer. Therefore, there are special tourist minibuses in the park for tourists to ride. However, in this era, tourist minibuses have not yet opened, so you need to walk on your own two legs to visit the park.

After walking around for an hour, Sokov was worried that Asiya's body couldn't bear it, so he took her to sit on a bench by the lake and asked with concern: "Asiya, are you tired? If you feel tired, Well, let’s go home now.”

Unexpectedly, Asiya shook her head after hearing this and said: "I'm not tired. I also want to watch the performance of the Red Flag Song and Dance Troupe here in the evening. Especially the leader Alexandrov, he is a legend. I don't know who he is today." Won’t show up at the party.”

"Oh, Alexandrov." Sokov nodded and said, "I once heard Marshal Rokossovsky mention him."

Sokov said it casually, but Asya became interested: "What, Marshal Rokossovsky once mentioned Alexandrov to you, tell me quickly, Comrade Marshal What was said."

Sokov's initial understanding of Alexandrov came from the movie "The Battle of Moscow". At that time, the 16th Army commanded by Rokossovsky faced the crazy attack of the German army and fought very hard. It was under this circumstance that Alexandrov brought comrades from the Red Flag Song and Dance Ensemble to the forefront to perform. When they sang "Holy War" through the telephone to the commanders who were directing operations at the front, those commanders were as excited as chicken blood, and the combat effectiveness of the troops was also greatly improved.

Although this scene is in later generations, anyone who has watched "The Battle of Moscow" will know it. But in today's era, except for some parties involved, not many people know about this matter. So Sokov began to tell Asiya about how during the Battle of Moscow, Alexandrov led the Red Flag Song and Dance Troupe to perform in the 16th Army. He used singing to boost the morale of the commanders and soldiers, so that the soldiers successfully fought back. The Germans attacked again and again.

After telling this story, Sokov said with emotion: "I really didn't expect that a good song can not only make the blood boil when listening to it, but also have the effect of boosting morale."

As soon as Sokov finished speaking, a familiar voice came from behind him: "Yes, Comrade General, you are right, a good song can indeed boost morale. I am the first When I heard the song "Holy War" for the first time, I also had a feeling of excitement, and I felt that no matter how many enemies appeared in front of me, I would pick up weapons and rush forward to fight them to the end."

Sokov turned around and saw that the person standing behind him was actually Gavrilov, whom Werner had mentioned to him a few days ago. He quickly stood up and said in surprise: "It turns out to be you, Gavrilov." Major Husband, I really didn’t expect that I would meet you here.”

When Sokov and Gavrilov shook hands, Asya also stood up holding the back of the chair, looked at Gavrilov and asked: "Misha, this is the Gavri you mentioned to me. Major Love?”

"Yes, that's him." Sokov first gave Asiya a positive answer, and then said to Gavrilov: "Comrade Major, let me introduce to you, this is my wife A Thea, she’s a medic.”

"Hello, Asya!" When Gavrilov shook hands with Asya, he looked at her bulging belly and asked tentatively: "When will your child be born?"

"The due date is March next year." Asiya replied with a smile: "If the little guy is not honest, he might be born early."

Sokov asked Gavrilov to sit down. Anyway, the park bench can accommodate even five people, not to mention three people.

After sitting down, Sokov asked curiously: "Comrade Major, where do you work now?"

"My superiors transferred me back to Moscow some time ago and said they planned to send me to Siberia to manage the prisoner-of-war camp." Gavrilov replied: "But because the prisoner-of-war camp is still under construction, I am afraid that my appointment will be postponed to this month. Late."

"Comrade Major, to tell you the truth, when I was transferred back to Moscow, I also asked my superiors to send me to Siberia to manage the Kwantung Army's prisoner-of-war camp." Sokov said: "The general responsible for managing the distribution work, He also agreed to my request."

"That's great." Gavrilov didn't hear clearly what Sokov wanted to express, so he said hastily: "If you go to Siberia, you will be my superior. I can work under your leadership. ,it's my honour."

"Comrade Major, I haven't finished speaking about the agreement yet." Sokov said with a wry smile: "Although the general responsible for arranging the work readily agreed to my request, some changes occurred later, and my work arrangements were changed. It was put on hold so that I could only stay at home and do nothing every day.”

"Comrade General, you are not just sitting at home doing nothing." Gavrilov said with a smile: "I met screenwriter Werner some time ago, and he said that you wrote a novel "The Dawns Here Are Quiet", which is a novel. This is an amazing work. In the near future, it will be adapted into a play, an opera, and maybe even a screen. You are amazing."

Faced with Gavrilov's compliment, Sokov could only laugh awkwardly, not knowing how to answer the other person's words.

"Comrade Major," Asiya, who was sitting next to him, suddenly interrupted and asked, "Have you found your wife and adopted son Kolya?"

Gavrilov, who was originally chatting and laughing, heard Asiya's question, and the muscles on his face suddenly twitched violently. He looked at Asiya and asked nervously, "Asiya, how do you know about me?" My adopted son’s name is Kolya, I seem to have never told anyone.”

"Of course I said it, Comrade Major." Seeing that Asiya said the wrong thing, Sokov quickly came out to smooth things over. After all, Gavrilov had to wait until 11 years later in 1956 to reunite with his wife and adopted son. . Although Gavrilov had remarried at the time, when he heard that his ex-wife was living in a home for the disabled in Brest Oblast, he drove hundreds of kilometers overnight to pick her up and later met her. The wife takes care of her ex-wife together. He said covertly: "I know all this based on your information."

When Gavrilov saw Asiya mentioning his wife and adopted son, he thought that the other party knew their whereabouts, but when he heard Sokov's explanation, his heart became cold again. He sighed softly and said: "No, although I have asked many people about their whereabouts, I still have no accurate answer. Maybe they are no longer alive."

"No, Comrade Major." Asiya said, "I feel they should still be alive."

"It's unlikely that we are still alive." Gavrilov shook his head and said: "We were trapped in the fortress by the Germans and lacked water and food. If we let a large group of women and children stay with us, even if If the Germans don't attack, I'm afraid they will die of thirst and starvation in the end, so after repeated thinking, I finally made the difficult decision to let them surrender to the Germans to save more lives."

Asiya remembered what Sokov once said to her, and couldn't help but feel a little bit in her heart, but she still asked with a sense of luck: "How did the Germans place these surrendered women and children?"

"According to reliable information, they were initially placed in a concentration camp." Gavrilov said with a heavy heart: "But in the second year, these women and children were shot by the Germans. I think my wife and adopted son I’m afraid he also died in the massacre.”

"Comrade Major, you are so pessimistic." Sokov raised his hand and patted Gavrilov on the shoulder, comforting him and said: "Although most of the women and children who surrendered to the Germans in the fortress were They shot them, but there must be people who survived, and maybe your wife and adopted son are one of the survivors."

Gavrilov looked at Sokov, smiled bitterly, shook his head and said: "Comrade General, please stop comforting me. I have been dreaming about Katya in my dreams recently. She said she was killed by the Germans. Give me the chance to avenge her and the child."

Sokov knew that Gavrilov's wife's name was Ekaterina, and her nickname was Katya. After hearing this, he laughed and said to Gavrilov: "Comrade Major, how can you take the things you dream about seriously? This is what you think about day and night, and think about your wife and children all day long. , you will naturally dream about them when you dream at night. Since there is no whereabouts of them for a long time, and you heard that the surrendered military relatives were massacred by the Germans, you wishfully believe that your wife and children are dead. "

"Maybe," Gavrilov replied with a dejected look.

"Comrade Major, it's too cold by the lake. Why don't we sit in a warm cafe, have something to eat, and watch the show in the evening." Sokov said in order to stop Gavrilov from worrying about the disappearance of his wife and adopted son. , took the initiative to change the topic: "What do you think?"

Faced with Sokov's proposal, Gavrilov hesitated for a moment, and then nodded slowly: "Okay, Comrade General, I will follow your arrangement!"