Red Moscow

Sokov did not speak, but reached out to pull the door. Unexpectedly, he found that the door was locked from the outside. He couldn't help but secretly screamed: "No, the door was locked from the outside."

When Yakov heard this, he immediately became anxious: "Misha, the door is locked, and we can't get out."

Sokov took a look at the furnishings in the room. Most of the piles here were cleaning supplies. The people who frequented this place must be cleaners, so he said to Yakov: "Yasha, don't worry, I think there are cleaning supplies stacked here." The utility room, if my guess is correct, a cleaner will come in every once in a while to get something.”

"Then what if we never come?" Yakov said, "Are we just going to stay here and get cold?"

"Close the window first," Sokov walked to the window, raised his hand to close the window, and said to Yakov with a smile: "If you don't close the window, if there are some more generals like us who climb through the window, the room will be empty. But I can’t squeeze anymore.”

Yakov couldn't help but smile after hearing this.

The two stayed in the house for almost half an hour, and finally heard the sound of the door opening.

Yakov quickly touched Sokov's arm with his elbow and asked: "Misha, it seems that someone came to open the door. Should we wait for the door to open and rush out immediately?"

"We are here to visit Marshal Rokossovsky, but we don't even know where his ward is." Sokov said: "If someone really comes in from the outside, we can ask him by the way." Ask where the marshal's ward is."

The door opened and a private in military uniform walked in from the outside. When he saw the two people in the room, he was stunned.

After a while, the private raised his hand to his forehead and said in a panic: "Two comrades, generals, why are you here?"

"Comrade Private," Sokov stepped forward and pulled his hand from his forehead and said to him with a smile: "We are here to visit Marshal Rokossovsky. When we got here, we got addicted to cigarettes. Why don't you violate the no-smoking rule in the corridor and go inside to smoke a cigarette? Unexpectedly, as soon as the two of us lit up our cigarettes, someone locked the door from the outside. We called for a long time, but no one answered us, and that was it. , we were trapped here. I said, man, is that what happened?”

Yakov, who was next to him, suppressed his laughter and echoed: "Yes, that's it. We originally wanted to come in and smoke a cigarette, but we were locked in here in a daze."

"Comrade generals," seeing Sokov and Yakov saying the same thing, the private looked very flustered: "Maybe my companion accidentally locked you here. I ask you to forgive him. Never report this to the dean, otherwise he will be punished."

"If you want us not to complain, that's not impossible." Sokov put his hands behind his back and tried to put on a serious face: "But you have to answer us a question."

"Comrade General, feel free to ask. As long as I know something, I will tell you the truth."

"Do you know where Marshal Rokossovsky's ward is?"

"Third floor," the private replied without thinking: "Go to the third floor and turn right. There are two sentries standing guard at the door of the seventh room on the left side of the corridor."

"Can I come in and out of Comrade Marshal's ward at will?"

The private thought for a while and replied: "Medical staff have to check their identities when entering and exiting; I don't know about the rest of the generals like you. It is said that all the people who came to visit today were stopped outside the hospital building."

"Okay, Comrade Private, thank you for the information you provided us." Now that Sokov has achieved his goal, he naturally does not want to scare Private anymore: "Your performance has atoneed for the sins of your companions. We will not go there." The dean complained to him."

When they came out of the utility room and walked along the corridor, Sokov said proudly to Yakov: "Yasha, how are you? I figured out where the marshal's ward is without any effort."

"Not very good." Yakov said with a wry smile: "You didn't listen to what the private said. There are two sentries standing guard at the door of Comrade Marshal's ward. Whether we can enter the ward is still unknown, so don't be too happy. It’s early.”

"Yasha, don't worry." Sokov comforted Yakov and said: "We can enter the building and know the location of Comrade Marshal's ward, which is more than half of the success. If we want to enter Comrade Marshal's ward, I'm afraid it's not What a difficult thing.”

"Are you really so confident?" Yakov asked doubtfully.

"You will never go wrong if you follow me."

The military's martial law on the inpatient unit was tight on the outside and loose on the inside. A human wall was formed outside, blocking people who came to visit Rokossovsky at the door. However, there were no soldiers on guard duty inside the building, and those encountered in the corridor were either medical staff or the sick and wounded who had not yet been discharged from the hospital. When they saw the two Sokovs coming towards them, they hurriedly stopped, leaned their backs against the wall, and paid attention to them.

Soon, the two came to the door of Rokossovsky's ward.

Sure enough, there were two sentries standing here. Seeing Sokov and Yakov approaching, a sentry with the rank of sergeant raised his hand and blocked their way: "Two comrades generals, comrades marshal are recuperating inside. , no one is allowed to visit.”

"Comrade Sergeant, I know." Sokov tried to control his emotions and said in a calm tone: "But that refers to ordinary people, not including us. Think about it, if we are banned When I come to visit the marshal, can I appear in front of you smoothly? "

When the sergeant heard what Sokov said, he couldn't help but be a little stunned. Yes, from the time he took up the post until now, except for a few medical staff who entered the ward behind him, he did not see any visitors. They should have been blocked in the ward. outside the hospital building. And the two generals in front of them may have received special permission to appear here. Thinking of this, the sergeant quickly stepped aside, stretched out his hand to push open the door, and made a gesture of invitation: "Please come in, Comrade General."

Sokov and Yakov walked into the room and saw three hospital beds in the room. Rokossovsky, wearing a hospital gown, was lying on the middle bed with his eyes closed and concentrating. Sitting beside his bed was a middle-aged woman who looked to be in her forties and had ear-length blond curly hair.

Hearing the sound of the door ringing, the middle-aged woman stood up, looked at Sokov and Yakov in surprise, and asked in surprise: "Who are you and how did you get in?"

Seeing that the middle-aged woman was so vigilant, Sokov couldn't help turning his head and glanced at Yakov beside him, thinking that he was very familiar with Rokossovsky's family, why was this obviously a marshal? What if the wife’s person doesn’t know him?

Seeing that the middle-aged woman seemed to be going to the door to call the sentry outside, Sokov quickly said: "Don't get me wrong, we are subordinates of Comrade Marshal. We learned that he was hospitalized and came here to visit him."

Sokov's voice woke up Rokossovsky in bed. After he opened his eyes and saw clearly that the people standing by the window were Sokov and Yakov, he said to the middle-aged woman: "Yuliya, don't worry, they are all my friends."

After hearing what Rokossovsky said, the middle-aged woman named Yulia gave up the idea of ​​calling the sentry outside the door, returned to the bedside, and said to Rokossovsky: "They are you." His subordinates, how come I’ve never seen them before?”

"Yuliya, let me introduce to you. The person who carries the rank of general is Misha, my most capable general. In battles with his participation, we not only win faster, but also suffer fewer casualties. It can be significantly reduced." Rokossovsky pointed to Sokov and Yakov and introduced to his wife Yulia: "Next to him is Yasha. He is a good friend of Misha and is also Comrade Stalin. 's eldest son.

When Yulia learned that Yakov was actually Stalin's eldest son, her face was full of shock: "Hello, Yasha, I am Yulia, nice to meet you!"

"Hello, Yulia." Yakov held Yulia's hand and said politely: "I have heard of your name a long time ago, but today is the first time I see you."

After Yulia shook hands with Yakov, she turned to Sokov: "Misha, it is my honor to meet you."

When Sokov heard what Yulia said, he couldn't help but be startled, thinking that he was not a great person, why would she say that?

"Misha, I have heard rumors about you." Yulia said with a smile: "It is said that at the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, German Marshal Paulus and his headquarters were besieged by your troops in a department store. In the basement, knowing that there was no hope of breaking out, you planned to surrender. After you learned the news, you took only a few soldiers to the basement to accept Paulus's surrender.

When the heavy iron door of the basement opened, the German soldiers in the corridor stood up and pointed their guns at the door. You were standing at the door, facing countless guns pointed at you, without any fear, but said loudly: "I am Colonel Sokov, commander of the 41st Guards Division, and I command the troops, just like the gate." Blocked your attack on Mamayev Heights. Now, I am here to accept your surrender. I order you to immediately put down your weapons and surrender, otherwise I will completely and cleanly eliminate you.'

The Germans who were holding weapons were trembling with fear when they heard your name. They threw away their weapons and raised their hands to surrender to you..."

When Sokov heard what Yulia said, his eyes widened in surprise, and he thought to himself, are you sure the person you are talking about is me? Why do I feel that the man who made the German army surrender was more like the reincarnation of Superman, or at worst Captain America reappearing in the world?

"Yuliya, it seems that the person you are talking about is not me." After Sokov waited for Yulia to finish speaking, he said with an awkward expression: "Don't look at it, the troops under my command have been staying in the city since the Battle of Stalingrad. , but the number of Germans who know my name is still very limited.”

"Misha," Rokossovsky, who was lying on the bed, said to Sokov with a smile: "Although the outside world announced that the person who captured Paulus alive was the Chief of Staff of the 64th Army, we all know that it was you. Someone is here for you. Mingbu Ping made up a story about how you captured Paulus alive. My wife heard such stories on many occasions and naturally believed them to be true. "

"Misha." Yulia asked curiously: "Can you tell me what you said to Paulus when you saw him?"

"My words are very simple." Seeing Yulia thinking about the process of capturing Paulus, Sokov said openly: "After I met Paulus, I told him straightforwardly: Marshal Paulus, I It is Colonel Sokov, commander of the 41st Guards Division of the Soviet Army, who has been ordered to capture you. Please give your troops a ceasefire and surrender order to avoid causing more casualties. "

"That's what you said?" Yulia was obviously a little disappointed after hearing this: "You didn't say anything grand?"

"No."

"Misha." Rokossovsky interjected and asked: "I seem to have told the security commander not to let anyone come in to visit me. How did you get in?"

"We climbed in through the window." Yakov rushed to answer.

"He climbed in through the window." Hearing what Yakov said, Rokossovsky glanced at the window on the side unconsciously, wondering whether Misha and the others climbed up along the sewer pipe?

Sokov saw Rokossovsky looking towards the window and realized that he had misunderstood. He quickly explained: "Comrade Marshal, we came here specially to visit you. Unexpectedly, when we walked to the door, we were stopped by the sentry on duty. I thought that since I have come here, I can’t just leave in despair without seeing your face. So Yasha and I went to the back of the inpatient department and tried to enter through the back door. Who knew that this was also the case. The security was tight and outsiders could not enter except for medical staff. As we were walking around the inpatient department, I accidentally saw a window on the first floor open, so I climbed in with Yasha. "

"So that's it." Rokossovsky nodded and said, "You two have really good intentions."

"Comrade Marshal, why are you suddenly hospitalized? What is your illness?"

"It's a stroke." Yulia replied: "Since the end of the war, Koschka's health has not been very good. Although he has been assigned a job, except for reporting to the unit in the morning, he has spent most of his time there. Recuperating at home. But even so, I still suffered a stroke."

Sokov had seen people who had suffered a stroke. Most of them had hemiplegia, crooked mouth and eyes, and speech impairment. However, from the perspective of Rokossovsky lying in bed, he did not seem to have these symptoms, indicating that his stroke was not serious. serious.

"Is it serious?" Yakov asked.

"After emergency treatment, nothing happened anymore." Yulia turned her head and glanced at Rokossovsky lying on the hospital bed, and said softly: "The doctor said, stay in the hospital for observation for two days. If nothing happens, , you can be discharged from the hospital.”

"I said that my illness was nothing, but you made a fuss." Rokossovsky said to Yulia in a reproachful tone: "After the news of my hospitalization spreads, I don't know how many people will come. Visit me. If I hadn’t told the officer on duty in advance that no one was allowed to come in, I’m afraid the room would be full of people right now.”

"Koschka, it's a good thing that you are so sick today." Yulia said with a smile: "At least it shows that your prestige in the army is quite high. When I just went to see the doctor, I looked downstairs. Look, there are at least dozens of generals standing at the door. They all came here specially after hearing the news that you were hospitalized. "

"Misha," Rokossovsky waited for Yulia to finish, then turned to look at Sokov and asked: "After I am discharged from the hospital, I will go to Warsaw to serve as the Northern Cluster Headquarters. Are you willing to come with me? Past, serve as my deputy?"