Red Moscow

During the chat between Sokov and Malenkov, he found that the other party was a person who knew how to find topics. Every time, he felt like he was running out of things to say, but the other party easily brought up a new topic, and the two of them could talk about it. Keep chatting happily.

While chatting, Malenkov suddenly said: "Misha, I used to know someone with the same name as you."

"A person with the same name as me?" Sokov asked in surprise: "Who is he?"

"Mikhail Ivanovich Sokov, lives in Dimirazevsky Street, Moscow."

After hearing this, Sokov's eyes widened in surprise, because the name the other party mentioned was the father of the body he had taken away. He asked cautiously: "Comrade Malenkov, do you know my father?"

"What, Mikhail Ivanovich is your father?" Malenkov said with a shocked face: "I thought you guys happened to have the same name."

"Yes, Comrade Malenkov, Mikhail Ivanovich is my father." After giving the other party a positive answer, Sokov repeated the question just now: "Do you know him?"

"Of course, of course I know him." Malenkov said: "I joined the army in 1918 and served as a political worker at the company, regiment and brigade levels. But I have never been on the battlefield, I have only been responsible in the army. Political propaganda work. It was at that time that I met your father. He was a cavalry battalion commander and once saved Comrade Stalin's life in battle. It is a pity that he died too early, otherwise he would not have been a marshal. A general of similar rank to you."

Sokov grinned when he heard what Malenkov said, but he was thinking in his heart, even if old Misha did not die young, could he have successfully escaped during the years of the Great Purge?

Malenkov asked coldly: "By the way, where is your father's cemetery? If I have time, I will go to pay homage to him."

Sokov didn't know where old Misha's grave was. He was dumbfounded for a moment and didn't know how to answer.

Seeing this, Malenkov asked in surprise: "Misha, don't you know where your father's grave is?"

"I know, of course I know." Sokov deliberately pretended to be saddened and said: "He is buried in the Saint's Cemetery in Moscow, but because of this damn war, I haven't paid homage to him for many years. "

Originally, Sokov would only stay for about ten minutes before leaving. Unexpectedly, the two of them became more and more interested in each other and actually lost track of time. At this moment, in order to get rid of the embarrassment, he raised his hand and looked at the time. He found that he had been staying with Malenkov for more than two hours. He hurriedly got up and said goodbye to the other party: "Comrade Malenkov, it's late. I'll take my leave now and come back another day." Visit you."

"Misha, it's rare that we have such a happy chat, why don't we chat for a while?"

Faced with Malenkov's enthusiasm, Sokov could only reply with a wry smile: "Comrade Malenkov, the security personnel responsible for my security are still waiting outside. They will be worried when they see me not going out for such a long time. "

After hearing what Sokov said, Malenkov no longer tried to keep the other party. He took the initiative to reach out and said with a smile: "Then we will talk another day."

As soon as Sokov stepped out of the building, Vaserigov came to greet him. He first glanced into the door, then lowered his voice and asked: "Comrade General, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, what can happen to me?"

"Comrade General, you took too long to go in. I'm worried that something happened to you." Vaserigov explained to Sokov: "You know, the people who went to see Marshal Zhukov rarely talked for more than ten minutes. Yes, and you’ve been in there for nearly three hours, I thought something had happened.”

"I met a leading comrade." Sokov said casually: "I chatted with him for a few more words, and I wasted time without realizing it."

After waiting for the car to start, Vaselgov, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned around, looked at Sokov sitting in the back seat and asked: "Comrade General, which leading comrade have you met?"

Sokov originally didn't want to tell the other party, but then he thought about it. Vaserigov was the security personnel assigned to him by Zhukov. He had been staying in this building before and must have known many people, so he He said cautiously: "It's Comrade Malenkov, do you know him?"

"Yes, of course I know him." Vaserigov nodded vigorously and gave Sokov a positive answer: "When I was working at the headquarters, I often saw him coming to see Marshal Zhukov. I was the one who went in twice. Reported. He is a kind-hearted person and has no airs in front of us. The staff in the building respect him. "

Sokov was skeptical about Vaserigov's statement that Malenkov was a kind-hearted person. In his limited memory, Malenkov had always been known for his tough methods and did not know how to hide his ambitions. Years later, he would join forces with Beria to fight the powerful Zhdanov. Although he was once expelled from the core of power by Stalin, he was still someone whom Stalin trusted.

It is said that Stalin was called the "loving father" in later generations, which was Malenkov's initiative. In early 1925, Kaganovich discovered Malenkov and arranged for him to work under Stalin's secretary. In 1930, after Kaganovich was promoted to the top position in Moscow, Malenkov was appointed head of the Organization Bureau of the Municipal Party Committee. It is said that every time he saw Stalin, he would excitedly say to the people around him: "When I see Comrade Stalin, I feel like I have met my loving father." He always firmly supported Stalin's ideas, and before long, He was appreciated by Stalin and entrusted with important tasks.

After the outbreak of the Patriotic War, although Malenkov's achievements were mediocre, because he had an extremely important position in Stalin's mind, it did not hinder his rise in position. After the war, he was even made head of the committee responsible for dismantling German industrial equipment, which shows how highly Stalin valued him. Sokov began to wonder, should he take advantage of the fact that old Misha and Malenkov had a friendship to deepen their relationship?

While Sokov was thinking wildly, he suddenly heard Vasergov say: "Comrade General, I just saw Agelina."

"What, have you seen Agelina?" Sokov asked nervously while looking out the car window: "Where is she? Why didn't I see her?"

"You misunderstood, Comrade General." Seeing that Sokov kept looking out the car window, Vasergov knew that he had misunderstood what he meant, and quickly explained: "Where I saw Comrade Adelina, It was in the headquarters building. She saw me and asked me about you. "

"Why is she in the headquarters building?" Sokov asked in surprise.

Seeing Sokov so surprised, Vasergov was a little surprised: "Comrade General, wasn't Agelina transferred to the translation team? The translation team works in the headquarters building. I'll meet you here." It’s perfectly normal to see Comrade Agelina.”

After not seeing Agelina for such a long time, Sokov still missed her a lot. For a moment, Sokov couldn't help but want to give the driver an order to turn around and return to the headquarters so that he could find Agelina. But then I thought about it, if I really did this, if someone with ulterior motives saw it and used it to make a fuss in the future, I'm afraid it would cause a lot of trouble for me. The best way is to wait until the next time you go to see Zhukov and stop by the translation team in the building to find Agelina, so that no one can gossip.

Vasergov originally thought that after Sokov knew where Adelina was, he would immediately order the driver to turn around and go back to the headquarters without hesitation, and then find Adelina. But after waiting for a long time, he still didn't get any orders from Sokov. He guessed that Sokov might have his own considerations in not letting the driver turn around, so he didn't ask any questions that would embarrass Sokov.

After the convoy arrived at the hotel, Sokov got off the car and said to Vaserigov: "Major, I'm going back to the room first. If anything happens, call me directly."

"Understood, Comrade General."

Sokov returned to his room and continued writing his novel.

Just after writing two pages, the phone on the table rang. Sokov put down his pen, stood up and picked up the phone: "I'm Sokov!"

Yakov's voice came from the receiver, accompanied by the sizzling sound of electricity: "Misha, it's me, I'm Yakov."

"It turns out to be Yasha." The sound of electricity in the phone receiver was so loud that Yakov's voice was a little unclear. Sokov had to say loudly: "Yasha, the signal on my phone here is not good. You speak louder."

"Misha!" Yakov raised his voice and said, "Comrade Eisenstein asked me to call you and ask you if you have any suitable recommendations for the heroine Lida in "The Dawns Here Are Quiet"?"

"Yes," Sokov replied: "I intend Valentina Serova to play this role."

"What?" Yakov's tone was full of shock when he heard Sokov's order: "You plan to let Valentina Serova play the role of Lida? Is this appropriate?"

Sokov heard what Yakov said and said quickly: "Yasha, I understand what you mean. Serova is an excellent actress. No matter how close her relationship is with anyone, it will not affect our ability to She plays the role of Leda.”

Seeing that Sokov understood his hint, Yakov hesitated for a moment and said: "Misha, I will convey your opinion to Comrade Eisenstein. But whether he is willing to use Serova to play the heroine? It’s hard to say. Besides, you also know that Serova is a famous actress. Even if Comrade Eisenstein doesn’t say anything, whether she is willing to play this role is still a question.”

"Don't worry." Sokov comforted Yakov and said, "Just convey my intention to Comrade Eisenstein and see if he will agree. If not, we will find a suitable person to play this role. ”

: "Okay, Misha." Since Sokov has already said this, Yakov can't say anything more: "I will convey it."

After a pause, Yakov continued: "Misha, since we talked about Serova, there is one more thing I want to tell you."

Sokov was thinking, did Yakov want to tell him that Marshal Rokossovsky stopped for a moment outside Serova's residence every morning? But he did not rush to tell the answer, but asked: "Yasha, I wonder what is going on?"

"I heard about this matter. I don't know whether it is true or not. Because you are my friend, I told you specially." Yakov said: "It is said that Comrade Zhdanov appreciates it very much. Writer Simonov's work "Smoke from the Motherland" and highly praised it. However, my father had exactly the opposite view of this work.

After Simonov learned the news, he was very panicked and quickly asked Zhdanov for advice on how to modify this work in order to gain my father's favor. Unexpectedly, Zhdanov scolded this work and Simonov on the spot without saying a word, and drove Simonov out of his office. "

When Sokov heard this, he realized that Zhdanov was doing this just to please Stalin, but his exaggerated performance was embarrassing. The result of his doing this is not only useless, but may also have the opposite effect.

Sokov knew very well that Yakov would not talk about this to him for no reason. There must be more important things to say later, so he asked straight to the point: "Yasha, do you have anything to say to me?" ?”

"Yes, Misha, I do have something to say to you." Yakov kindly reminded Sokov: "My father did not agree with you to continue writing the novel "The Siege" because the novel involved If you really write it, you might offend the people in charge of it in Leningrad. I suggest that after you finish "Ordinary Soldier", you should stop writing novels and find something else to do. Do."

Sokov smiled bitterly and said: "Yasha, now I am a general without any real power. If I don't write novels, what else can I do?"

"You can go to the General Ordnance Department." Yakov said: "Don't forget, Comrade Ustinov once promised you that he will always reserve a position for you. No matter when you want to join the General Ordnance Department, he will is welcome.”

Yakov's words made Sokov fall into deep thought. If you can no longer write novels in the future, joining the General Ordnance Department as a military engineer seems to be a good choice. But Sokov knew in his heart that the assault rifles, 107 rockets and anti-tank rocket launchers he developed were all copied from later generations of materials. If you really let yourself design a new weapon, the secret will definitely be revealed immediately.

Seeing Sokov's delay in speaking, Yakov thought that the other party was still unwilling to join the General Ordnance Department, but did not want to embarrass himself, so he murmured: "Misha, I just gave you a vaccination in advance. You will It’s up to you to decide what you plan to do.”

Sokov waited for Yakov to finish speaking, and then said smoothly: "Yasha, I may return to Moscow after a while. As for what kind of work I will do in the future, I will wait until I return to Moscow. Do you think this is okay? ?”

"Ah?! You are finally going back to Moscow. When will you come back?" Yakov said in surprise, "I will pick you up at the station."