Red Moscow

"Agelina, Yasha is right." Sokov nodded to Agelina and said, "If you come back with us, I think the museum director will definitely arrange a suitable place for you."

Hearing what Sokov said, Agelina tilted her head and thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay, then I'll cause trouble for you."

"No trouble, no trouble." Yakov said with a smile: "It is our honor to have such a beautiful girl as our neighbor. Misha, are you right?"

"That's right." Sokov smiled and nodded: "Anyway, you came to see Bagration's burial ceremony. It's more convenient to live in the museum."

The three of them had lunch and walked back to the museum.

When the curator saw that the two men had brought back a girl, he couldn't help but curiously asked: "Comrade generals, do you know who this girl is?"

"Comrade Director," Sokov said to the director first: "This is my good friend Adelina. She is also here to see Bagration's burial ceremony. I hope you can arrange a place for her to stay. .”

"No problem, no problem." Since Sokov proposed this matter, the curator would naturally not object. He quickly said: "There is an empty room next to your room where this person named Ajieli can stay." Na’s girl lives there.”

When the curator took Agelina to see the room, Yakov suddenly asked Sokov: "Misha, in our opinion, Bagration is a great hero of Russia, but people in later generations will do the same. Do you treat him?"

Yakov's question reminds Sokov of Stalin, who will die in a few years. For various reasons, he has been smeared to varying degrees.

Leonard Hendelin, a musician who once worked in the Bolshoi Orchestra and immigrated to the United States very early, is good at performing "Aida" according to another famous opera singer and three-time Stalin Prize winner. and "Carmen" Vina Davydova wrote a memoir called "Me and Stalin", which was first published in Western countries in 1970, and was later translated into multiple languages ​​and published in different countries. .

And Sokov happened to have read this book. He remembered that on page 456 of the book, it was described like this: "At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Vina heard such a phone call in Malenkov's office. It was Malenkov who made the call. To the KGB: 'The Supreme Commander orders you to immediately release Rokossovsky, Bartov, Malinovsky, Gorbatov, and Vannikov. They should report to the Supreme Command in 12 hours .’ It is conceivable that if Germany invaded the Soviet Union later, these generals would be shot as foreign spies.”

Among the characters mentioned in the book, the most familiar to Sokov are Rokossovsky and Bartov.

He clearly remembered that in October 1939, shortly after the Soviet Union and Germany carved up Poland, Timoshenko applied to Stalin to reinstate Officer Rokossovsky to his post on the grounds that the war was imminent and the army lacked command talents. 5th Cavalry Corps.

In May 1940, the Soviet army reformed the military rank system. On June 4, Rokossovsky was awarded the rank of major general. At the end of the same year, the Soviet Union began to form mechanized troops. Several mechanized corps were established in the Kiev Military District. In November, Rokossovsky was transferred from the cavalry unit and served as commander of the 9th Mechanized Corps of the Kiev Military District.

As for Batov, he served as the commander of the 65th Army from 1942 to the end of the war. He participated in the 1939-1940 Soviet-Finnish War and was appointed deputy commander of the Transcaucasus Military District in 1940. .

Just based on the resumes of the two people, it can be seen that the book "Stalin and Me" is distorting the facts. Even if there was no German invasion, at least the lives of these two people would not be in danger. However, considering that this book was published in a Western country, it was during the Cold War, and this kind of book is what Western countries like to read.

"Misha," Yakov saw Sokov hesitated to speak, so he grabbed his shoulders, shook him twice, and asked, "What are you thinking about?"

"Oh, I was thinking about your question." Sokov woke up from his thoughts, looked at Yakov and said: "I feel that since Bagration can be regarded as a hero of Russia now, he will also be regarded as a hero of Russia in the future. Treated like a hero."

When he said this, Sokov couldn't help but want to ask Yakov if there was a woman close to Stalin named Vina Davydova, but when the words came to his lips, he swallowed them back and asked. He knew that knowing too much about some things would not end well, and he didn't want to die so early and young.

Sokov promptly changed the subject: "By the way, where is Vasily?"

Yakov probably didn't expect that Sokov's topic would change so quickly, and he couldn't help but be stunned: "Vasily, which Vasily?"

It is normal for him to have such a reaction. After all, there are many people named Vasily, just like there are many people in China named Xiao Zhang, Xiao Li, Xiao Wang, and Xiao Ma. Seeing that he didn't understand who he was talking about, Sokov quickly added: "That's your brother, Vasily Stalin!"

"Oh, you're talking about him." Yakov laughed: "Before the Far East War, when we were imprisoned in a sanatorium outside Moscow, he once called me. Who knew he wanted to come to the sanatorium where we were? Look at us. But I was worried that he would go fry fish in the river near the sanatorium, so I refused his offer to come over."

"Where is he now?" Sokov asked tentatively: "In Moscow, or somewhere else?"

"He is in Berlin." Yakov said quite proudly: "I heard that early next year, he will be appointed commander of the 1st Guards Fighter Air Corps and awarded the rank of major general. In this way, my family will have two General."

"Not only are there two generals, there is also a generalissimo!" Sokov flattered Yakov without leaving any trace: "A generalissimo accompanying two major generals, how coordinated this is."

"Misha, without you, I would have no chance of becoming a general." Yakov put a hand on Sokov's shoulder and said with emotion: "If you hadn't led people to attack the prisoner of war camp and rescue me, Maybe I would have died in the enemy's prisoner-of-war camp. I once asked the relevant parties that almost all of our military officers and soldiers captured in the battle to defend Smolensk died in German prisoner-of-war camps or concentration camps. If I had not been rescued, I would have met the same fate as them."

Sokov did not refute Yakov's statement, because he knew very well that in real history, Yakov died in a German prisoner of war camp. After the news of his capture reached Stalin's ears, Stalin sent a team of agents to carry out a rescue operation. Unfortunately, the rescue operation failed because he was transferred to a new prisoner of war camp by the Germans. end.

After the Battle of Stalingrad, the German High Command proposed to Stalin through the Red Cross Society that Yakov be exchanged for the captured German Marshal Paulus, but Stalin firmly refused. He even said: : "I will not trade a soldier for a marshal" such cruel words also completely cut off Yakov's life.

Knowing that his father had given up the chance to rescue him, Yakov's spirit began to collapse. On the night of April 14, 1943, he strongly requested to see the leader of the concentration camp, but was ruthlessly rejected. In desperation, he threw himself against the high-voltage barbed wire and ended his life.

But now, because of his unexpected emergence, Yakov was rescued from the prisoner of war camp, freed him from the tragic fate in real history, and even became a general. However, Sokov did not regard himself as a benefactor, but always got along with Yakov as a friend. Hearing what he said at this moment, he grinned: "Yasha, you can't say that. I just rescued you by chance. You know, even if you were not rescued by me, the rescue team sent by your father would still save you." You rescued me from a prisoner of war camp."

It was obviously the first time Yakov had heard about what Sokov said. He opened his eyes in surprise and asked: "Misha, who did you hear about this?"

"Yasha, don't forget, Deputy Minister of the Interior General Lunev once served as my military commissar. He knows more inside information than anyone else." Although Lunev never mentioned it to Sokov Stalin sent people to rescue Yakov, but Sokov hinted to Yakov that he heard about the situation from Lunev to dispel his doubts: "The person who led the team at that time was a woman from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The second lieutenant, together with three soldiers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs whose loyalty is absolutely reliable, formed a rescue team and went to the prisoner of war camp where you were held to rescue you. Unfortunately for him, I acted one step faster than them and rescued you first. Rescued.”

As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Yakov opened his arms and hugged him, patted him on the back, and said gratefully: "Misha, my good brother, I thank you for what you have done for me. Everything. I have a feeling that if you hadn't rescued me in the first place, maybe I would have been moved to another place by the Germans, and the rescue team would have missed it, causing the rescue operation to fail."

"I said, what are you doing?"

Agelina, who had finished looking at the room, came over and asked the two people hugging each other: "What happened that made you two hug?"

Sokov quickly broke away from Yakov's embrace, took a step back, smiled and said to Agelina: "Yasha and I remembered a past incident, and he expressed his gratitude to me through this hug."

"Yes, Misha is right." Yakov did not regard Agelina as an outsider, so he said carelessly: "I was unfortunately captured by the Germans during the defense of Smolensk. If it hadn't been for Misha It happened that I led someone to break into the prisoner of war camp and rescue me. I am afraid that I would have died in the German prisoner of war camp."

Agelina once served as a translator in a German prisoner-of-war camp and saw with her own eyes that many captured commanders and fighters were killed by the Germans. Therefore, she deeply believed Yakov's statement. She nodded and said : "Yasha, you are right. I once stayed in a German prisoner-of-war camp for a while, and almost every day I could see our commanders and soldiers being killed by the Germans. It is indeed necessary for you to be able to leave the prisoner-of-war camp and survive. Thanks Misha.”

Sokov laughed dryly twice and said: "I now feel that rescuing Yasha back then was the luckiest thing I did."

After saying this, he saw that the two of them were a little dazed, and quickly continued: "The reason why the troops under my command can achieve so many victories is not only that the commanders and soldiers fought bravely, but that I used appropriate tactics. The best thing is that when Yasha worked in the Weapons and Equipment Department, which is now the General Ordnance Department, he was able to continuously provide a variety of new weapons to my troops, thus making my troops' combat effectiveness far better than that of friendly forces."

"Misha, you are so humble." Yakov said with a smile: "The reason why I can continue to provide you with various new weapons is because of the authorization of Comrade Ustinov. Assault rifles, anti-tank rocket launchers, or new rockets for attacking fortresses and infantry groups are all invented by you. Giving these weapons to your troops is to allow you to discover them in time during use. deficiencies and make improvements.”

Seeing Sokov and Yakov standing in the corridor exchanging business blows, Agelina couldn't help but shook her head with a wry smile, and then said to the two of them: "I said you two, there are only three of us in this corridor. , even if you praise each other as a flower, no outsider can hear it. I think, how about we find a place to sit down and chat while drinking tea? "

"I think it's okay." Yakov quickly nodded in agreement, and then asked Sokov: "Misha, what do you think?"

"Then find a place to sit." When Sokov said this, he raised his own question: "But where can I find tea?"

"I just asked the curator." Agelina said with a smile: "Go along the corridor to the end, turn right and go out, and pass through a small courtyard, which is the museum's canteen. If you asked more just now, maybe you can use it No need to walk so far to the train station for lunch."

"If we really eat in the cafeteria here, we won't have a chance to see you." Sokov said with a smile: "This is probably the legendary fate."

"Okay, if you have any questions, let's go to the cafeteria and talk about it." Yakov urged: "I'm a little thirsty."

The three of them followed the route the curator told them and came to the canteen at the back.

When an old lady in an apron saw the three people entering, she quickly stepped forward to block their way and said with a serious expression: "I'm sorry, you three, this is the canteen of the museum. Outsiders are not allowed to enter at will. Please leave here."

"Old lady, we live in the dormitory of the museum." Agelina smiled and said to the old lady: "The curator told me that I could find this place."

When the old lady heard what Agelina said, her attitude suddenly changed: "It turns out that the three of you are guests of the curator. I wonder what you want to eat first?"

Agelina turned and asked Sokov: "Misha, what do you want?"

"A pot of tea and two pieces of dark chocolate." After Sokov finished saying what he wanted to order, he asked Yakov sideways: "Yasha, what about you?"

"Another pack of biscuits."

"Okay," the old lady nodded, "I'll send you what you want right away."

A few minutes later, the old lady came over carrying a tray with a teapot, cups, and a saucer filled with chopped dark chocolate and biscuits.

Seeing this, Agelina quickly stood up and helped the old lady place the things in the tray on the table one by one.