Red Moscow

Perhaps because of the overnight journey, Agelina looked particularly tired at the moment. She took out the novel manuscript from her bag and handed it to Sokov: "Misha, this is your manuscript. Remember to keep it and don't throw it away. ”

Sokov took the manuscript and asked with concern: "Have you had dinner?"

"I ate a few slices of bread on the way." Agelina said weakly: "I'm a little sleepy, so I'll lie down for a while."

"Well, you should rest first."

Unexpectedly, Agelina grabbed Sokov: "Misha, come here and use it as a pillow for me."

Sokov shook his head with a wry smile, and lay obediently on the bed, letting Agelina rest his face on his chest.

"Misha," Agelina asked in a weak voice: "You are in such a hurry to return to Berlin, what happened?"

Sokov thought about it secretly. Although Zhukov might be dismissed from his post, the matter still needed to be kept secret until a formal personnel notice was issued. Therefore, he could only say euphemistically: "Marshal Zhukov plans to return to Moscow in the near future. He wants me and He went back together. So when he recalled General Sokolovsky, he also called me back to Berlin."

"When will you return to Moscow?" Agelina's voice was already inaudible, but Sokov, who was close at hand, still heard it.

"I don't know. I have to wait for notification." Sokov said cautiously: "When I return to China, you may have to stay in Berlin and continue working for a while. Do you have any objections?"

But Agelina did not answer. Sokov raised his head slightly and found that the other party had fallen asleep. For fear of waking her up, he could only maintain this uncomfortable position and continue to lie on the bed, thinking to himself: If Agelina knew that she would be separated from him for a long time, I wonder how she would react?

Early the next morning, the ringing of the phone woke up the two sleeping people.

Sokov wanted to get up to answer the phone, but found that Agelina's head was still on her chest and he couldn't get up at all. He could only push Agelina with his hand: "Agelina, wake up, wake up quickly."

Agelina opened her eyes sleepily, looked at Sokov and asked: "Misha, what's the matter?"

"The phone, there's a phone." Sokov said anxiously, "I'm going to answer the phone, so don't hold me down."

Sokov was worried that the ringing of the phone would stop at any time. After getting up, he didn't even have time to put on his boots, so he rushed to the phone with bare feet, grabbed the phone and put it to his ear, saying loudly: "I am Sokov!"

"Hello, General Sokov!" A strange voice came from the receiver: "Is Comrade Agelina here?"

Hearing that the other party was looking for Agelina, Sokov couldn't help but asked alertly: "Who are you? What do you want to see her for?"

"Comrade General, I am the leader of the translation team." The other party replied: "I am looking for Comrade Agelina for work matters."

When Sokov heard what the other party said, he immediately lost his temper. He covered the phone with his hand, turned around and said to Agelina, who was still sleeping on the bed: "Agelina, this is your call, the translation team is calling. ”

Knowing that the call was from the translation team, Agelina did not dare to neglect, and quickly came over and took the microphone from Sokov's hand: "Hello, I am Agelina..."

The call ended quickly, and Agelina said with a frustrated look: "Misha, the translation team asked me to go over immediately and report that there are a batch of important documents that need to be translated as soon as possible."

"Since it's work, let's get busy." Sokov said to Agelina: "Anyway, I will stay in the hotel during this period, and you can come back at any time."

…

After Agelina left, more than a week passed, but she still did not appear in front of Sokov again.

And Sokov was not in a hurry, staying in his room with peace of mind and continuing to work on his novel.

During the creation process, he couldn't help but miss the computers of later generations. If he had a computer in his hand, it would only take a few months to copy a book with more than 200,000 words. Now, the book "Ordinary Soldier" has been written for nearly two months, but only three-fifths of it has been completed. It will take more than a month to complete at the earliest.

When the phone rang, Sokov put down the pen in his hand and wondered if the call was from Agelina.

But when he picked up the phone, he realized that he had guessed wrong. The person who called him was Zhukov's adjutant: "General Sokov, Comrade Marshal wants to see you. Can you come as soon as possible?"

Upon learning that Zhukov wanted to see him, Sokov immediately thought that the other party might be leaving Berlin, and quickly replied: "Comrade Adjutant, I will be there right away."

After putting down the phone, Sokov called Vaserigov's room and directly told him: "Comrade Major, prepare a vehicle immediately. I want to see Marshal Zhukov."

"Okay, Comrade General." Vaselgov replied: "The vehicle will be waiting for you at the door in a quarter of an hour."

When Sokov packed up his things and walked out of the hotel, he found that the motorcade had stopped at the door, and Vaserigov was explaining something to an officer. Seeing Sokov going out, he trotted over quickly, raised his hand in salute and said: "Comrade General, the convoy is ready and ready to go at any time."

Sokov waved his hand: "Get in the car."

On the way, Vaselgov, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned around and asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade General, I wonder what the Marshal wants from you?"

"I don't know." Sokov asked: "Major, why do you ask this?"

"Comrade General." After hearing Sokov's question, Vasergov replied with some embarrassment: "Marshal Zhukov arranged for me to protect your safety, but you basically don't go out now, and we are a little too free. Time. Over time, I’m worried that someone will gossip.”

"I don't have a specific position here in Berlin, so what's the point of running around every day?" Sokov said dissatisfied: "Since I stay in the hotel every day, you should naturally stay here too, regardless of what others say. What gossip."

After the motorcade arrived, Vaserigov got out of the car first and went to the back door, and opened the door for Sokov.

Sokov got out of the car and walked towards the building with his legs up, followed closely by Vaserigov.

"Major," Sokov took two steps, stopped, turned and said to Vaselgov: "Just wait for me outside, I will go to see the marshal alone."

Although Vaseligov was a little unwilling to accept the order given by Sokov, he could only obey: "Yes, Comrade General!"

Arriving at Zhukov's office, Sokov saw a middle-aged round-faced man wearing Lenin uniform. When he saluted Zhukov, he glanced at him from the corner of his eye, wondering who this person was. Zhukov seemed to be talking to him. Very polite.

After Sokov saluted, Zhukov stood up and walked out from behind the desk, walked in front of Sokov and shook hands, then pointed at the man and said to Sokov: "Misha, let me introduce you. This is Comrade Malenkov. He is the head of the Berlin Demolition Equipment Committee and is responsible for the demolition of various industrial equipment in Germany.”

For Sokov, the name Malenkov was a familiar one. He quickly raised his hand and saluted him with a military salute: "Hello, Comrade Malenkov!"

"Hello, General Sokov." Malenkov stood up, held Sokov's hand, and said with a smile: "I have heard of your name a long time ago, but this is the first time I have seen you in person. I heard Zhukov Marshal said, you have been in Berlin for about a month. How are you getting used to the life here? "

"It's okay." Sokov replied: "Comrade Marshal arranged for me to stay at the Adlon Hotel. The staff in the hotel are all drawn from the military. In terms of food and living habits, they are not much different from those in China. "

"I heard that you have been staying in the hotel recently and not going anywhere." Malenkov continued to ask: "I wonder what you are doing in the room?"

"When I have nothing to do, I just study writing novels at home."

Coincidentally, Malenkov had read Sokov's novel, and after hearing his answer, he couldn't help but curiously asked: "General Sokov, I wonder what your new book is about?"

"The name of the book is "Ordinary Soldier"," Sokov replied: "The book is about the heroism and tenacity shown by the soldier Matlosov on the battlefield. In order to ensure the victory of the battle, he blocked it with his own chest. The story of surviving the enemy’s bullets from the bunker and dying heroically.”

"Well, this is a good subject." Malenkov said with a smile: "I believe that after this book is published, it will be very popular among readers."

"I hope so."

"By the way, I heard that you also wrote a book," Malenkov asked unexpectedly: "You only wrote a few chapters, but Comrade Stalin stopped it because it involved some important figures. "

"Yes, Comrade Malenkov, this is indeed the case." Sokov nodded and replied: "Comrade Stalin said that most of the important figures mentioned in my book are still alive. If you create an image that they are not satisfied with, it may cause unnecessary trouble.”

"Yes, General Sokov, you are right." Malenkov agreed with Sokov's statement: "It's a coincidence that when I was in Moscow, I had a chance to see what you wrote. Those manuscripts. To be honest, they are quite well written. If I didn't know who you really were, I would have thought you were a senior writer, someone who was working with a narrow-minded person. There will be a lot of conflicts.”

Sokov didn't know who Malenkov was talking about, so he could only grin and pretend to agree with him.

"Georgy Maximilianovich," Zhukov asked, calling Malenkov's birth and father's name: "What are you talking about? Why can't I understand you?"

"Comrade Marshal, the situation is like this." Ma Linin introduced to Zhukov: "General Sokov wrote a novel reflecting the Great Patriotic War a few months ago. The book is called "The Dawns Here Are Quiet". As soon as the book was published , it became extremely popular and has even been adapted into a play and an opera. I also heard that the Moscow Film Studio plans to shoot this movie in the near future.”

After hearing this, Zhukov couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise: "What, the book written by Misha is actually going to be made into a movie. This is simply incredible."

"I heard from Comrade Poskrebyshev that after the publication of "The Dawns Here Are Quiet", General Sokov immediately started writing a novel called "The Siege,"" Malenkov looked at Zhukov and said: "Since the background of this book is Leningrad, it is inevitable to mention those people. The Supreme Commander himself was worried that after the book was published, it would bring unnecessary trouble to General Sokov, so he asked him to stop it The creation of the book.”

After explaining to Zhukov, Malenkov turned to Sokov and asked: "General Sokov, when do you plan to continue writing this book?"

"I don't know." Sokov answered truthfully: "Maybe it will take a few years, or even more than ten years, before I can continue writing."

"That's such a pity." Malenkov said with doubts on his face: "I have read your manuscript and it is quite good. I am eager to know what happened to these characters in the novel. Did they die or survive? A day of victory."

"Comrade Malenkov, although living to see the day of victory is what everyone hopes for, it is actually unrealistic." Sokov said with a serious expression: "There will always be people who will fight to defend the motherland in this war. There are fewer people than we think who will sacrifice their precious lives and shed their last drop of blood for the country and the people."

After Zhukov waited for the chat between Sokov and Malenkov to come to an end, he said unhurriedly: "Misha, when we return to Moscow in a few days, Comrade Malenkov will be with us."

When he learned that Malenkov was going to return to Moscow with him, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little surprised: "Comrade Marshal, didn't you say that Comrade Malenkov was responsible for the demolition of German industrial equipment and facilities? Has this work already been completed?"

"It will take at least two or three years to complete the demolition of important industrial equipment in Germany." Malenkov said: "But now I have handed over this matter to my deputy. During my time away from Berlin, this work will be carried out by He is fully responsible."

Sokov couldn't help but feel a little puzzled. He thought that Zhukov returned to Moscow because someone was snitching on him later. Why did Malenkov also want to return to Moscow? Did something unexpected happen?

Zhukov obviously saw Sokov's doubts and explained to him: "Misha, it's like this. Comrade Malenkov and the head of the State Planning Commission Voznesensky had some disagreements at work. "He returned to Moscow this time to resolve the differences."

Hearing what Zhukov said, Sokov suddenly understood that Zhukov and Malenkov had the same emotional problems. Their superiors asked them to hand over their duties to their deputies and then return to Moscow to report on their duties.

After figuring out what was going on, Sokov asked tentatively: "Comrade Marshal, when will we return to Moscow?"

"The Supreme Command has not yet given us an accurate order." Zhukov said with some helplessness, "So we still need to wait for a while."

Sokov wished he could stay in Berlin for a few more days so that he could spend more time with Agelina. Unexpectedly, just when he was happy, he suddenly heard Zhukov say: "Misha, I have one more thing to tell you. According to reliable information, General Patton encountered a car accident yesterday, and the situation is not good."