Red Moscow

On the last day of 1945, Sokov received a call from Ustinov: "Misha, have you been in the office lately?"

"Yes, Comrade People's Commissar." Sokov quickly replied: "I heard that you went to the Far East. I will definitely stay in the office until I get your new order."

"Tomorrow is the New Year." Ustinov said: "You should go home to reunite with your family and wait until Christmas before coming back to work. If possible, remember to go to your superiors to say New Year greetings. This will be a blessing to you in the future. The development is very helpful, you know?”

Sokov originally wanted to take advantage of the New Year's opportunity to visit old superiors like Zhukov and Rokossovsky, and he might even work under them in the future. When he heard that Ustinov was planning to let him go home, he immediately said in a grateful tone: "Thank you, Comrade People's Commissar, I will follow your instructions."

"I don't have any instructions." Ustinov said with a smile: "I'm just giving you a suggestion. You know, after I return to Moscow from the Far East, I will consider adding more burdens to you and let you be responsible for more... For important work, even if you want to visit your old superiors, you may not have the time. "

After ending the call with Ustinov, Sokov called the captain and said to him: "Comrade Captain, I just received a call from Comrade People's Commissar. He asked me to go home to reunite with my family and wait for Christmas. Come back to work on holiday.”

"That is to say, you have to wait until January 8th to go to work." The captain asked cautiously: "What about me, will I also take leave?"

"Comrade Captain, you were originally sent by the People's Commissar to assist me in my work." Sokov said to the captain with a smile: "Since I am going home for the holidays, what are you still doing here? You should pack your things. Go home early. After all, New Year’s Day is our biggest holiday and a day for family reunion.”

"Understood, Comrade General." The captain nodded and said, "Then I will go home today and come back to work after Christmas."

When Sokov returned to his home, he saw Asiya preparing New Year's Eve dinner with her mother with a pregnant belly, while his father-in-law Bakanidze was sitting on the sofa in the living room, smoking and reading the newspaper.

Seeing Sokov enter the door, everyone put down their work and came forward.

Especially Asiya, she spread her arms and said emotionally: "Misha, you are back!"

When Sokov and Asiya hugged, they deliberately held their abdomens to avoid squeezing each other's belly. At the same time, he asked with concern: "Asiya, how have you been feeling these past two days?"

"The child is kicking me more and more frequently now. It seems that he is eager to come out to see us."

"He" and "she" in Russian are two completely different words. When Sokov heard that Asya used "he", he smiled and said: "Asya, you are so sure that you are pregnant." It must be a boy, maybe a beautiful little girl.”

As soon as Sokov finished speaking, his mother-in-law next to him spoke: "Misha, do you prefer a son or a daughter?"

Although this question has been asked many times, the elders still like to ask it again and again. Sokov replied without hesitation: "For me, children are all the same. They are all my children, and I like them all. I heard a saying that more sons are born during war, and more daughters are born during peacetime." Now that the war is over and peace has returned to the world, I think Asiya has a higher chance of giving birth to a daughter.”

Unexpectedly, as soon as Sokov finished speaking, Bakanidze said leisurely beside him: "Misha, you seem to have made a mistake. When Asya was pregnant with the child, the war was not over yet. You know, if she was Unless she is pregnant, she will definitely follow you to the Far East and participate in the final battle. Therefore, I think Asiya has a higher chance of giving birth to a son."

"By the way, Misha." Asiya's concerns are different from those of her parents. "How long can you stay at home when you come back this time?"

"My superiors gave me a week off," Sokov replied, "I have to wait until after Christmas before going back to work."

"What are your plans during this time?" Asiya then asked.

"I plan to visit Marshal Zhukov and Marshal Rokossovsky. In any case, they were once my old superiors." Sokov said to the three of them: "Although I do not hold a position in the army now, You should also visit them out of politeness.”

"Misha, your idea is right." Bakanidze said: "Even though the war is over, it may break out again one day. If you have a good relationship with the two marshals, you will have a chance once the war restarts in the future. Back in the Army again.”

"Old man, what are you talking about?" Mother-in-law seemed dissatisfied with Bakanidze's words and said with a serious expression: "Can't you stay in Moscow and live a good life? You have to go to the battlefield and charge into battle. If anything happens, then... What about Thea and her kids?”

While Sokov was thinking about how to resolve the crisis, the phone rang in the room.

Picking up the phone, Yakov's voice came from inside: "Misha, it seems that the news I got is correct. You have indeed returned home."

"Yes, I have gone home. It was authorized by Comrade Comrade People's Commissar. He gave me a week's holiday and asked me to go back to work after Christmas." After briefly explaining his situation, Sokov asked. : "What about you, at home or in the office?"

"I'm going home too." Yakov said: "I plan to visit Marshal Zhukov tomorrow morning. I wonder if you would like to go with him."

"That's such a coincidence." Sokov couldn't help but feel ecstatic when he learned that Yakov was going to visit Marshal Zhukov: "Then let's go together."

"No problem, I'll drive over to pick you up at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. You should be prepared in advance."

Sokov has been in this era for so long, and he has never visited others to pay New Year greetings. Therefore, he is not familiar with various rules, so he asked tentatively: "Yasha, when we go to see Marshal Zhukov, what should we bring to him?" Okay?”

"I heard that Marshal Zhukov liked drinking red wine here for two years." Yakov said: "It happened that someone gave me a few bottles of Ukrainian wine. When I go to Marshal Zhukov's house tomorrow, I will give these bottles of wine to him. It should be given to him by both of us."

"Yasha, thank you." Sokov said gratefully after hearing this: "I was worried about what gift to give, but you helped me solve a big problem."

"It's okay, it's just a little effort. We are good brothers, so there is no need to say thank you. Remember, I will pick you up at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."

"Okay, I'll wait for you."

After Sokov put down the phone, he said to Asiya: "Asiya, I have already agreed with Yasha that we will go to Marshal Zhukov's house tomorrow. He has several bottles of Ukrainian wine in his hand and plans to give them to Marshal Zhukov as gifts. , the right should be given by the two of us."

"Do you need me to come with you?" Asiya asked tentatively.

"Your body is inconvenient." Sokov looked at Asiya's bulging belly and slowly shook his head: "There is no need to go back and forth."

The next morning, Yakov drove Sokov to Zhukov's residence.

Zhukov's residence was a villa with a courtyard, and there were two sentries and an officer at the door. Seeing a car approaching, the officer quickly stepped forward, raised his hands above his head, palms forward, and signaled the vehicle driven by Yakov to stop.

After stopping the car, Yakov rolled down the window and said to the officer who came over: "Comrade Captain, we are here to visit Marshal Zhukov."

The captain obviously knew Yakov and did not ask him for his ID. Instead, he glanced at Sokov who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, took a step back, raised his hand in salute, and gestured to the sentry at the door. . The sentry who saw the captain's gesture quickly opened the door so that the car driven by Yakov could drive in.

When Yakov and Sokov entered the hall, they saw Zhukov talking to a bald man wearing Lenin clothes.

When Zhukov saw Sokov and Yakov walking in from outside, he quickly stood up and said with some surprise: "Why are you two here?"

The bald man sitting opposite Zhukov had his back to the door. When Zhukov said this, he instinctively turned his head and looked over. Sokov recognized at a glance that the bald man was none other than Khrushchev, who was in charge of the overall situation in Ukraine.

Sokov first saluted Zhukov, then turned and saluted Khrushchev: "Hello, Comrade Khrushchev, nice to see you here!"

"Misha," Khrushchev stood up, came to Sokov, shook his head and said: "Last time I gave you tens of thousands of additional troops, you almost never contacted me again, and even invited me You went to work in Ukraine, but you were rejected.”

"Comrade Khrushchev," Sokov thought about the second Ukrainian famine that would break out this year, and nearly a quarter of the people in the country would starve to death. Decades later, a circular black marble sculpture called the "Motherland" sculpture was built in Kiev to commemorate the Ukrainian people who starved to death in 1946: "I feel that I am not capable enough. If I really go If I go to your place, I might not be able to help you, and I might even cause trouble for you.”

"You rejected me, but you did not hesitate at all about Zhukov's invitation." Khrushchev said with a smile: "It seems that in your mind, my status cannot be compared with Marshal Zhukov. "

"Comrade Khrushchev, you have misunderstood." Sokov deliberately explained to Khrushchev in order to avoid being put in the wrong shoes in the future: "I have found that my abilities are limited and I am not suitable for local work at all, so I refused. Your invitation. Please forgive me if I am rude in any way.”

"I can forgive you." Khrushchev said slowly: "Can you give me some advice?"

Sokov was still thinking about how to remind Khrushchev that a food crisis would break out in Ukraine this year. Unexpectedly, the other party took the initiative to put this opportunity in front of him, so he followed suit and said, "I do have some immature ideas."

"Come and tell me!"

"Although the war is over, the demobilization of the troops has not yet ended." Sokov said: "As a result, there will not be enough manpower to cultivate the farmland in Ukraine. If there is another drought, there will be As a result, crop production will be reduced significantly, and it will be a problem for the people throughout Ukraine to have enough to eat. "

"No way, Misha." Khrushchev seemed distracted by Sokov's statement: "During the war, the situation was even worse than now. We couldn't still get enough food. Now that the war is over, Isn’t the food production in peacetime as good as that in wartime?”

"Comrade Khrushchev, you may have forgotten. If the food produced in Ukraine is only provided to our country, there should be no big problem." Sokov reminded the other party: "But in Europe today, many countries have become The countries we protect also suffered huge casualties in this war. In other words, the food produced in Ukraine must not only supply the whole country, but also provide food to these protected countries. There will be shortages. If there is another drought, resulting in a large-scale reduction in food production, it means that people will go hungry or even starve to death."

"Misha, you are too alarmist." But Khrushchev still couldn't hear Sokov's opinion and said to himself: "Even though Ukraine has been occupied by the Germans for so long, there are still food reserves. Some, even if there is a large-scale reduction in grain production in 1946, we will be able to cope with it. "

"Comrade Khrushchev, don't talk, listen to what Misha said." Zhukov raised his hand to interrupt Khrushchev's words. He said to Sokov: "Misha, if you really show up, What would you do if it were you in the situation mentioned?"

"Due to the emergence of drought, large-scale reductions in grain production are inevitable, I think." Sokov said cautiously: "At this time, I will consider large-scale planting of drought-resistant crops, such as potatoes and corn. ..." When talking about corn, Sokov couldn't help but glance at Khrushchev. He remembered that the latter later wanted to learn from the old United States and began to plant corn on a large scale. He ignored the geographical and climatic factors of the Soviet Union and planted it throughout the Soviet Union. corn. However, due to the geographical conditions of the Soviet Union, mainly the poor temperature and lighting, the corn almost did not produce cobs. In addition, relevant personnel purchased large cobs from abroad to fool Khrushchev, resulting in the failure of the corn movement.

Although the subsequent corn movement ended in failure, it is still possible to grow corn in Ukraine. The soil here is fertile and the climate is pleasant, which is very suitable for the growth of corn. Sokov continued: "Potatoes and corn are both drought-resistant crops, and the land in Ukraine is fertile. After planting them, the collective farm members don't have to worry about management at all. They only need to wait until September to harvest. With this, These potatoes and corn can make up for the loss of wheat production.”

Sokov suggested to Khrushchev to plant potatoes and corn, mainly because these two crops are drought-resistant and can guarantee a certain level of yield even if they encounter drought. You must know that Stalin levied 400 million poods of grain from Ukraine in 1946 (1 pood = 40 Russian pounds ≈ 16.38 kilograms). Although according to his ideas, Ukraine's economy had been seriously affected by the war and had been reduced. Although the government imposed high standards, it still emptied all the food in Ukraine's granaries, resulting in nearly a quarter of the population dying of famine.

"Comrade Khrushchev, I think Misha's statement is good." Zhukov looked at Khrushchev and said, "I think you can consider his suggestion."

Khrushchev said expressionlessly: "Let's wait until I return to Kiev and convene relevant personnel to discuss it."