Red Moscow

Just as Yakov judged, after the New Year, the phone number left by the city housing management department staff still could not be answered. After Yakov asked someone to investigate, he found out that no one from the housing management department had ever contacted Sokov, and the matter of changing his house was naturally false. There is no other way, Sokov can only continue to live in the current house.

Asiya, who stayed in the hospital for more than a month, was finally discharged and returned home in mid-February.

Since Asiya was still too weak to go back to work, Sokov asked for sick leave from the hospital where she worked, allowing her to stay at home to recuperate.

And Ustinov also took special care of Sokov and asked him to work from home, so that it would be easier to take care of Asya.

Time soon came to the end of February, and that day Sokov received a call from Zhukov.

"Misha, are you bored staying at home lately?"

Nowadays, Sokov rarely goes out except for taking a walk with Asya every day. When he heard Zhukov ask himself this question, he immediately realized that the other party might have some tasks for him, and quickly replied: "Comrade Marshal, I am almost bored. I wonder what tasks you have for us."

"Misha, there is indeed an important task for you to complete." Zhukov said: "If I arrange for you to go out with the troops and leave Asia alone at home, is that okay?"

"Comrade Marshal, even if I'm not at home, my mother-in-law can come over and take care of Asya." After Sokov said this, he felt quite puzzled. Half a year after the end of the Second World War, he hadn't heard anything. There is a war going on somewhere, and Zhukov is preparing to send himself to lead his troops somewhere. He asked tentatively with doubts: "Comrade Marshal, where do you plan to let me take the troops?"

"London!"

"London?!" Hearing the place name mentioned by Zhukov, Sokov couldn't help but be confused: "What are you going to do in London?"

"Misha, it's like this. In London this June, a victory military parade involving all Allied forces will be held." Zhukov said on the phone: "After research, we plan to send you to lead a team to London to participate in this event." The victory parade ceremony has been completed, you can come and take a look tomorrow."

A victory parade in London? ! Sokov quickly recalled the military parade in his mind. It seemed that the Soviet army did not participate. The reason announced to the outside world was because the organizer ranked the Soviet army behind the US military when arranging the order of appearance of the troops. Appears as a second army. The Soviet Union felt that this arrangement made it lose face, so it refused to participate in the victory parade in London.

But when Sokov heard Zhukov's arrangements at this moment, he couldn't help but murmur in his heart: when the British invited the Soviet side to participate in this victory parade, they would definitely inform the troops in advance of their appearance order. Since the Soviet side had already begun to form a reference unit, what? Maybe he refuses to go to London because of the order of appearance? There must be reasons for this that I don't know about.

"Comrade Marshal," Sokov asked tentatively, "I wonder who my deputy is?"

"Who else could it be? Of course it is your good brother Yakov." Zhukov said with a smile: "You two leaders were personally selected by Comrade Stalin. He believes that you two will lead the expedition and will not give me The army is disgraced."

"Comrade Marshal, I wonder where the training ground of the reference troops is?"

"In the Kremlin military camp." Zhukov said briefly: "You can contact Yakov. He has a special pass and can take you in and out of the Kremlin at will."

After finishing the call with Zhukov, before Sokov could call Yakov, the other party called him first: "Misha, I have good news for you."

"Is it about participating in the London Victory Parade?"

"Yes, yes." Yakov said excitedly: "It seems that Marshal Zhukov has called you to inform you. I will pick you up tomorrow morning, and then we will go to the Kremlin together to see the reference troops under our jurisdiction."

"Okay, no problem. Come pick me up tomorrow morning."

"Misha." Asiya asked with concern after Sokov put down the phone, "Are you really going to lead a team with Yasha to London to participate in the Allied Victory Parade?"

"Yes, the superior arranged it this way."

After confirming the news, Asiya asked timidly: "I wonder if you can take me with you? You know, I have heard of London for a long time, but I have never had the chance to go there."

"Asia." Sokov knew that this trip to London would be in vain in the end, but at this moment, no one else knew about it except himself. In order to make Asya happy, he He wrote a verbal check casually: "No problem, I will definitely take you with me when I go to London."

Early the next morning, Yakov drove to pick up Sokov.

On the way to the Kremlin, he seemed particularly excited: "Misha, I really didn't expect that our army would have the opportunity to set foot on the soil of Great Britain. Although it is only to participate in the victory parade, I believe it can be recorded in history."

"Yes, our trip to London to participate in the military parade this time will definitely be recorded in history." After saying this, Sokov said silently in his heart: It is a pity that the trip to London that everyone was looking forward to ended up being It became a bubble.

The car passed through Red Square and came to the entrance of Spas Towers.

Although it was not the first time for Sokov to come to the Kremlin, he still felt a little nervous when he saw the officers of the guard regiment walking towards the car.

I originally thought that the other party would strictly check the documents and order myself and Yakov to hand over the guns they carried. What he didn't expect was that the guard officer just looked down at the car and then waved to let him go.

When Yakov drove on, Sokov asked in confusion: "Yasha, what's going on? When I entered the Kremlin in the past, I had to go through strict interrogation and have my weapons confiscated. But. Why was the inspection so lax today?”

"When you came to the Kremlin before, it was during the war. It is reasonable for the inspection to be strict." Yakov explained: "Now that the war is over, the inspection will naturally not be as strict as before. In addition, I often go in and out of the Kremlin. They gave me up a long time ago, and my face is my passport. As for you, the Kremlin guards are no strangers to you, so the officer just looked into the car and let us go."

Arriving at the parking lot of the military camp, as soon as the car stopped, an officer ran over, opened the car door, and said proactively: "Comrade General, welcome!"

When Sokov saw the officer, he immediately became happy. He turned to Yakov and said, "Yasha, isn't this the Major Bezikov who sent us to the suburban sanatorium?"

"Yes, he is Bezikov, and he was ordered to form this reference unit." After Yakov introduced Bezikov's identity to Sokov, he reminded him specifically: "Also, He is no longer a major, but a lieutenant colonel."

"Lieutenant Colonel Bezikov," Sokov shook hands with Bezikov and said politely: "Tell us about the situation of the reference troops."

"Comrade General." Bezikov said respectfully: "The newly formed reference force consists of 102 officers and soldiers, including 3 flag team members who escort the military flag at the front, followed by 3 command team captains. Behind them is an 8x12 formation of 96 officers and soldiers."

Yakov waited for Bezikov to finish, then smiled and teased: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, how come you forgot Misha and me?"

"I have not forgotten, Comrade General." Bezikov explained: "I am talking about the newly formed reference troops. When London participates in the military parade, you and General Sokov will follow closely behind the flag group and walk In front of the three squad leaders."

"Lieutenant Colonel Bezikov," Sokov waited for the other party to finish speaking, then continued to ask: "I wonder where the reference troops come from?"

"They are all members of the Central Guard Regiment." Bezikov may be worried about what Sokov might have in mind, so he specifically explained to him: "When it comes to experience in military parades, I'm afraid no force can compare with the Central Guard Regiment. ”

Sokov agrees with Bezikov's statement. This unit may be a little weaker when it comes to fighting on the battlefield, but when it comes to the experience of participating in military parades, no unit can match them.

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, when can we start training?"

"You can start at any time, Comrade General!"

"Then let's start." Yakov said: "Misha and I want to see what your real level is."

Following Bezikov's order, the officers and soldiers who were originally scattered on the training ground formed a square formation at an extremely fast speed.

After the formation was completed, Bezikov issued the order again for them to start marching training.

Walking at the front was the flag group holding the military flag. In the middle was a burly flag bearer, and on both sides were flag bearers of similar stature. Behind them are three squad leaders holding command knives. Behind the squad leaders is an 8x12 queue of 96 officers and soldiers.

The uniform troops advanced at a constant speed with a distance of 80 centimeters per step, and the sonorous and powerful footsteps echoed in the square. The soldier held the rifle in the palm of his left hand. His right hand, which was parallel to his shoulder, kept slapping the gun body while swinging, making a crisp slapping sound.

Seeing this neatly-organized army, Sokov couldn't help but nod his head. He turned to Yakov and said: "Yasha, I think the basic training skills of this unit are very solid. Even if they don't conduct training and are directly taken to London to participate in the military parade, they can still amaze the troops of other countries."

"Isn't the US military known as the most powerful army in the world?" Yakov said hesitantly: "Can we compare to them?"

"Yasha, who told you that the US military is the most powerful army in the world?" Sokov retorted: "Their performance on the battlefield is definitely not as good as the Germans who fought bloody battles with us. Don't forget, The vast majority of the German troops were wiped out by us on the battlefield. As for the military parade, they paid even less attention to it. As far as I know, they did not hold any decent military parade ceremony at all. Therefore, this victory parade in London was not held at all. "We must surpass the reference troops of all countries."

"I hope so." Yakov looked at the reference troops marching neatly and said thoughtfully: "If this is really the case, when we return from London, these commanders and fighters will all get their medal."

"Yasha, I agree with you." Sokov nodded in agreement: "These commanders and fighters have no chance to go to the battlefield. They can only obtain their honor through this method. I now hope that the London Victory Parade will If it goes smoothly, these commanders and fighters would be very disappointed.”

Sokov's words caused a shocked expression on Yakov's face: "Misha, what do you mean by saying that? Do you think our troops can't participate in the military parade?"

"Yasha, I'm just giving an analogy." Sokov realized that he had let something slip because he was too distracted, and quickly explained: "I'm worried that the British side will change their minds at the last minute. Don't wait until we are ready to set off, and they suddenly unilaterally announce: the parade is cancelled."

"No way?!" Yakov said anxiously: "The British side has been preparing for this victory parade for more than half a year, spending a lot of manpower and material resources, how can it be cancelled just like that? Misha, I think you are worrying too much."

"I hope so."

After the troops walked around the playground, Bezikov issued another order, asking them to stay where they were. Then he trotted to Sokov and Yakov, raised his hand and said, "Comrades Generals, the troops have completed the preliminary formation training. Please instruct the next action."

"Lieutenant Colonel Bezikov, you must have trained for a long time before we came." Yakov said considerately, "Comrades must be very tired. Let him rest for half an hour, drink some water, eat something, and then continue training."

Bezikov agreed, turned around and ran back to the formation of the troops, and issued a disbandment order to the officers and soldiers.

As the officers and soldiers dispersed, Bezikov returned to the two again and asked tentatively: "Comrade General, I think the current staffing is not perfect enough."

Sokov was stunned after hearing this, and then asked back: "Lieutenant Colonel Bezikov, tell me what is still lacking, and we will fill it in time."

"We are going to London, and there must not be many people there who can speak Russian, so we need to have English-speaking translators." Bezikov said to Sokov and Yakov: "Secondly, when we go to London, there will definitely be officers and soldiers who will get sick due to acclimatization, so they need a team doctor to treat them. Comrade General, I think your wife is very suitable for the position of team doctor."

Sokov's words awakened the dreamer. Although Sokov promised Asia yesterday that he would take her with him when he went to London, it was just a verbal promise, and he didn't know what excuse to use to take her to London. But at this moment, Bezikov's words made him think clearly: Yes, when the participating troops go to London, it is inevitable that they will suffer from acclimatization and the soldiers will get sick. It is reasonable to bring a few team doctors. And among these team doctors, it is also reasonable to add Asia, a military doctor.

Sokov nodded and said approvingly: "Lieutenant Colonel Bezikov, you have considered it very carefully. If our participating troops are going to London this time, it is imperative to add translators and team doctors. I will report this to my superiors later and strive to improve the organization of the participating troops in a short time."