Red Moscow

"Comrade General," the soldier walked up to Sokov and said with a smile, "I have found two comrades to help you dig sand."

After realizing that the other party brought him here just to help him dig out sand, Sokov's heart hung in his throat and returned to his stomach. However, he considered that he needed to get some sand to make cat litter at home because he had kittens at home. , it was somewhat inappropriate to let others do it for me. He quickly excused himself and said: "Comrade soldiers, give me the tools and I will dig it myself."

"Look at what you said, Comrade General." A soldier with a pickaxe in his hand and a freckles on his face said: "How can I let you do such a heavy job? Let us do it." After that, He called his comrade with a shovel next to him and came to the sand pile to start digging sand.

When the Freckles Warrior made a move, Sokov immediately understood that the other party really had good intentions. The sand has been piled here for who knows how long. It may have been exposed to rain. Once the temperature dropped, it was frozen to a solid state. The Freckles Warrior first used a pickaxe to break open the sand and smash it into pieces, and then his companions shoveled the sand in. In the cloth bag.

Sokov handed a cigarette to the soldier standing next to him and asked casually: "Comrade soldier, I don't know how to call you?"

"Comrade General," the soldier took the cigarette from Sokov's hand, held it in his mouth, took out a match and lit it for Sokov first, and then lit it for himself: "You can call Nikolai."

"Nikolai, are you from Moscow?"

"No, Comrade General." Nikolay shook his head and said: "I am from Smolensk. After the war broke out, I evacuated to Moscow with my parents. When the army recruited soldiers last year, I signed up and was assigned Be on duty here."

"Where are your parents now? Have they returned to Smolensk?"

Nikolai shook his head and replied: "No. Just after the war, my parents went back to Smolensk once, but I heard from them that half the city was in ruins, and the place where our home was was also in ruins. It was in ruins. So they changed their minds and did not plan to return to Smolensk. The factories in Minsk happened to be recruiting experienced workers, so they signed up to go to Minsk."

When Sokov heard this, he began to think in his mind that the Soviet Union is now a complete country. Whether your parents go to Minsk, Belarus or anywhere else, they are Soviet citizens. But if one day the Soviet Union collapses, your parents will become Russian citizens of Belarus, and you will become a Russian citizen.

But it will take a long 45 years for the Soviet Union to disintegrate. By then, not to mention Nikolai's parents are no longer alive, I am afraid that Nikolai's own life will also enter a countdown.

While the two were chatting, the two soldiers dug out a large bag full of sand.

The freckled warrior put down the pickaxe in his hand, looked at Sokov and asked: "Comrade General, do you think this bag is enough? If not, I will dig more for you."

Sokov glanced at the two sacks filled with sand on the ground. Each bag contained at least fifty or sixty pounds of sand, which was more than enough for his kitten. He nodded quickly and said: "Enough, enough. So much sand." It’ll last me a long time.”

As he spoke, he took out his cigarette case and handed it to the two soldiers.

The two soldiers each took out a cigarette from the cigarette case, and Nicholas next to him immediately lit it for them.

After taking a puff of cigarette, the freckled warrior asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade General, what do you want the sand for?"

"I picked up a stray cat on the road today." Since the Freckles Warrior asked about no secret, Sokov said truthfully: "The sand is for it to use in the toilet."

"Let the cat go to the toilet in the sand?" After hearing this, the Freckles Warrior's face was full of surprise, "This is the first time I have heard of it."

Seeing that Freckles Warrior knew nothing about raising cats, Sokov explained to him that cats originally lived in the desert and covered their feces with sand to conceal their smell and avoid being discovered by natural enemies.

After figuring out what was going on, the freckled warrior nodded, threw the cigarette butt in his hand on the ground, crushed it with his toes, and then took the initiative to say to Sokov: "Comrade General, this sand is too heavy, we will help you send it back. Bar."

If there is only one bag of sand, even if it weighs fifty or sixty pounds, Sokov can confidently carry it back. But now there are two bags. If you want to carry them all back, you need to make at least two trips. Since Freckles said that he would help him carry it back, Sokov said in a smooth manner: "Then I'll trouble you."

Sokov took the three of them back to his home. After the three put down the bags of sand, they were about to leave, but they were stopped by Sokov.

Sokov walked to the table in the living room, took out three apples and an unopened pack of cigarettes from the fruit bowl, and walked in front of the three of them. Each of them was given an apple, and then he put a cigarette into Nicholas's hand, and said to them with a smile: "Thank you for today, come and be a guest when you have time!"

The three of them didn't expect Sokov to be so polite. They just helped him send two bags of sand home, but he shared apples with everyone and took a pack of cigarettes, which made them feel very embarrassed. Nikolai wanted to refuse, but Sokov put the cigarette into his hand without any explanation. He could only say with some embarrassment: "Comrade General, if you need sand again in the future, just say it and we will Brought to you."

After seeing off Nikolai and others, Sokov found an unused washbasin from the bathroom, placed it in the corner of the living room, and poured some sand from the bag into it. Asiya wanted to help, but Sokov refused: "I will do the rough work, just stand still and be careful not to inflate the baby."

Since Sokov didn't need his own help, Asiya didn't force it. She asked curiously: "What happened to those three soldiers? Why did they help you send the sand home."

Sokov explained to Asiya how he found sand, and before Asiya asked again, he continued: "Do you think it's natural for me to ask them to do something for me? Instead, I gave it to them. Something, a bit unnecessary, right?”

Hearing Sokov's question, Asiya was silent for a moment, then nodded slowly and said: "Yes. After all, you are a general, and they are just ordinary soldiers. There are some things that you just need to give them. If you give an order, they will execute it unconditionally.”

"Asiya, you can't say that." Sokov disagreed with Asiya's statement: "Although in my capacity, I give them orders, they will definitely listen. But in my heart, I It will be somewhat reluctant. Now I just give them a small gift, but it can make them feel that this is my respect for them. If I need their help with anything in the future, I think they will be very enthusiastic."

After spreading sand in the basin, Sokov said to Asiya: "Bring Luna here, and I will teach her how to use the litter box."

Asiya quickly grabbed Luna, handed it to Sokov, and asked curiously: "How do you plan to teach it to use the litter box?"

"Don't worry, just wait and see." Sokov took Luna and put it in a simple cat litter box. He grabbed her two front paws and dug in the sand while mumbling something. : "Luna, from now on you will use the toilet here, and if you pull out the poop, cover it with your paws. Do you understand?"

Seeing Sokov teaching Luna to use "cat litter" so seriously, Asiya couldn't help but laugh, and then said jokingly: "Misha, if you teach Luna to use sand to go to the toilet like this, can she really learn it? "

Although Sokov taught many kittens to use the toilet in later generations, those offspring were, after all, the offspring of domestic breed cats, and their mothers might have taught them long before he taught them to use cat litter to use the toilet. So when he heard Asiya's question, Sokov could only say in an uncertain tone: "I'm not sure, but there's nothing wrong with trying." After saying that, he let go of Luna's arms. Only the front paws, waiting for it to jump out of the litter box.

Unexpectedly, Luna did not jump out. Instead, she squatted in the sand and started to poop.

Soon, a foul smell rushed into Sokov's nostrils. He pinched his nose and stood up, and said to Asiya: "Asiya, did you see? Luna is going to the toilet."

"I saw it, I saw it." Asiya said with emotion after seeing this: "It has been home for so long and has never used the toilet. I didn't expect that as soon as it was put into the litter box, it would know that it would go to the toilet here."

After Luna finished pooping, she did not jump out of the litter box immediately. Instead, she used her paws to pull out the sand and cover the poop she pulled out.

"Misha, this is really incredible." Asiya said with wide eyes: "You just taught it how to cover the pulled out daddy with sand, but I didn't expect it to really learn it. It is so smart."

Just as Sokov was about to talk, he heard the phone ringing.

"I'm Sokov!" Sokov picked up the phone and asked, "Who are you?"

"Misha, it's me." Yakov's voice came from the receiver: "I am Yakov."

"It's Yasha." Sokov asked curiously: "Call me. What's the matter?"

"Yes, there is indeed one thing." After Yakov said this, he suddenly asked a question: "Do you know Bagration?"

"Bagration?!" Sokov couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this question. Then he thought that the offensive campaign launched by the Soviet army in Belarus in June 1944 was named after Bagration, and he quickly said: "I Wasn't the offensive campaign launched by the army in Belarus last year named after him?"

"Yes, yes, you are right." Yakov continued: "Do you know what kind of person he is?"

Sokov heard that there was some testing element in Yakov's question, so he quickly recalled Bagration's resume, and then said unhurriedly: "Bagration, full name Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration was an army general and prince of the Tsarist Russian Empire, a descendant of the Georgian Bagration royal family. The most famous young general in the Tsarist Russian army during the Napoleonic Wars, and one of the Russian generals. A person who is widely optimistic among people.

During the Battle of Borodino on September 7, 1812, Bagration commanded the left wing of the Russian army to resist the French attack. He himself was stationed at Simonovsky's fortifications and was unfortunately injured by a French artillery shell. Five days later, on September 12, 1812, Bagration died of his injuries in the village of Simi in Vladimir-Gubnia. "

"It seems that you have a lot of research on Bagration." Yakov said in an approving tone: "What else do you know?"

"I remember that on June 5, 1839, his body was reburied on the battlefield of the Battle of Borodino, not far from the Monument to the Heroes of the War of 1812." Sokov continued: "But in 1941, our army and During the German Battle of Borodino, in order to destroy our army’s defenses and kill a large number of our troops’ effective forces, the German army bombarded Borodino with intensive artillery fire, resulting in the destruction of Bagration’s tomb.”

"Yes, Misha, you are right." Yakov waited for Sokov to finish and immediately added: "After repeated searches after the war, the local museum only found part of the remains and clothes. The fragments must be said to be a pity.”

"Yasha, what are you talking about?" Sokov didn't understand why Yakov suddenly mentioned this, so he asked in confusion: "Does Bagration have any connection with me?" When he said this , he was still thinking in his mind, did the other party discover that he was a descendant of Bagration after searching through the files?

But his absurd idea was quickly broken by Yakov: "Misha, my father asked me to go to his office today and asked me to go to Borodino and collect Bagration's remains and clothes. Re-burial. I thought that you were quite bored at home every day, so I recommended to him that you come with me."

"What, going to Borodino with you?" Sokov said in surprise: "But Asya is pregnant now. If I leave, no one will take care of her."

"Don't worry, Misha, it won't take up too much of your time." Yakov said on the phone: "We will leave tomorrow and be back in Moscow at noon the day after tomorrow at the latest. It will not affect you in taking care of Asya at all."

Since it was Yakov who sent the invitation, Sokov hesitated for a moment and nodded slowly in agreement: "Okay, Yasha, I'll wait for you to pick me up tomorrow."

Seeing that Sokov was willing to accompany him to Borodino, Yakov was very happy. He then said: "If we have enough time, we can also go to Tolstoy's former residence."

"You want to go to Tolstoy's former residence?" When Sokov heard Yakov mention this place, he thought of some rumors from later generations, and asked tentatively: "Yasha, I heard that Guderian When the Tolstoy Manor was used as a headquarters, he ordered people to dig up Tolstoy's remains and throw them everywhere, and then buried two of his fallen officers. I wonder if this happened. ?”

"I have also heard this rumor." Yakov said: "But it is difficult to distinguish whether it is true or false."

"Perhaps you can ask Marshal Zhukov to interrogate Guderian to see if he dug up the remains of the great writer and threw them on the ground when he occupied Tolstoy's manor, and then buried the remains of his two fallen subordinates. .”

"I don't think it is necessary to bother Marshal Zhukov with such a small matter." Yakov said with a smile: "There are special managers in the manor. When I see them, I will ask about this matter specifically to see what it is. Rumor has it, this is true. We will set off at eight o'clock tomorrow morning, please remember to wait for me downstairs in advance, don't forget it."

"Okay, okay, I will go downstairs and wait for you in advance."