Red Moscow

When Sokov and Rokossovsky were playing a combat game on the map, a general wearing the rank of lieutenant general came over. After looking at it for a long time, he expressed his opinion: "Comrade General, if you automatically use As for the troops of Army Group South, I can completely transfer the troops deployed in the direction of Belarus and the three Baltic countries to strengthen the defense in the direction of Moscow, so that the situation on the battlefield will fall into a stalemate. "

Sokov looked up at the other person and found that it was an unfamiliar face that he had never seen before, so he didn't want to talk to him. But Rokossovsky smiled and said: "General Horvath, if you really do this, you will just fall into Misha's trap, which will cause your entire defense line to collapse."

Lieutenant General Horvath, who was called Lieutenant General Horvath, asked in confusion: "Comrade Marshal, I don't understand what you mean. Can you make it clearer?"

"Look," Rokossovsky pointed at the map and said to Horvath: "The two army groups placed near Belarus and the three Baltic countries not only play a role in containment and deterrence. Once our military deployment is discovered, If we send troops to reinforce the south, they will launch a surprise attack and break through our defense line. It won't be long before the enemy's troops will threaten Moscow's security from three directions at the same time, especially the one that invades the Kursk region. Once the troops see their friendly forces approaching Moscow from the west and northwest, they can change from a feint attack to a main attack, and Moscow will become precarious. "

"Comrade Marshal," Horvat said cautiously: "Back when you commanded the incomplete 16th Army, you stubbornly blocked the German attack and shattered their attempt to break into Moscow. Are you confident in defending this city today? Have you lost confidence?"

"General Horvat, I want to correct you first. Although the 16th Army under my command fought tenaciously, due to its limited strength and the open front of defense, there were actually many loopholes in the defense line. The enemy had a reconnaissance squadron. The detachment passed through the gap in our defense line and rushed directly to Moscow." When Rokossovsky said this, his eyes were fixed on Sokov: "If it weren't for the garrison squad commanded by Misha, we would have been in time. I am afraid that the enemy's boots will be on the streets of Moscow. If this happens, even if I am dismissed from my post, I may not be able to make up for the mistakes I have committed."

After hearing what Rokossovs said, Horvat turned to look at Sokov and said in surprise: "Comrade Marshal, was it the troops commanded by this general that blocked the German troops trying to break into Moscow?"

"Yes, that's him." Rokossovsky nodded and then asked, "Haven't you heard of it?"

"Of course I've heard of it." Horvath nodded and said, "But I just heard that a garrison squad stationed in Khimki Town, with the cooperation of the instrument factory militia, wiped out a group that tried to occupy Khimki Town. The small German army. I don’t know exactly who commanded this battle.”

"Yes, that battle was commanded by Misha." Rokossovsky continued: "Although the scale of this battle is so small that it can be ignored, its significance can be recorded in history. . Their tenacious resistance completely shattered the German conspiracy to set foot on the streets of Moscow."

The few people chatted for a while, and they stopped talking until Antonov, Zhukov and others walked in from outside.

At today's meeting, Shtemenko first announced the exercise plan, and then announced the candidates for senior commanders to participate in the exercise.

Seeing the generals sitting in different positions, when their names were called, they all stood up and answered loudly "yes", Sokov became uneasy. Although he also knew that he could participate in this military exercise, he had no idea which unit to command.

"Misha," Rokossovsky, who was sitting next to him, whispered: "Although I wanted you to go to my northern cluster, Zhukov refused. He said that he had arranged a suitable position for you. It’s more promising than coming to me.”

Sokov originally thought that since it was Rokossovsky who called him to inform him of the meeting, he would have a greater chance of joining his northern cluster. Unexpectedly, Zhukov assigned him to assume command positions in other clusters.

After a while, Sokov heard Shtemenko calling his name, and immediately stood up, straightened his back and looked at the other person, wanting to hear which unit his superiors assigned him to. Just listen to Shtemenko read: "General Sokov, you have been assigned to the 4th Guards Army under the Central Cluster as the commander."

Hearing that he had been assigned to the central cluster, Sokov felt at ease. That unit was now commanded by Malinin, and he would surely take better care of him. Thinking of this, he loudly agreed: "Yes!"

After all the lists were announced, Zhukov stood up and said: "Comrade commanders, although our exercise is not scheduled to start until a month later, as commanders, you should rush to the location of the troops as soon as possible to familiarize yourself with your troops. and combat areas to ensure the smooth conduct of the exercise.”

"Comrade Marshal," someone asked loudly while Zhukov was speaking: "Then when should we go to our combat positions?"

"I can give you three to five days to hand over the work in your hands to others." Zhukov said: "After five days, regardless of whether you still have work that has not been handed over, you must leave for Europe immediately. Do you understand? ?”

"Understood!" the commanders present responded sparsely.

"What's going on?" Zhukov said with a straight face: "Didn't you eat?"

"Understood!" The voice that answered this time was not only neat but also louder.

Zhukov nodded with satisfaction and immediately announced: "Then let's all go back and make preparations. The meeting is over!"

When Sokov left, he wanted to ask Zhukov something. When he saw that he was surrounded by a group of generals asking questions, he had to give up the idea and followed Rokossovsky outside.

"Comrade Marshal," when he came to the parking lot outside, Sokov looked around and saw that no one was around, then asked Rokossovsky in a low voice: "Do you think this exercise can be implemented as planned?" The reason he asked this was because in real history, the Soviet army in the late 1940s had never conducted any exercises involving millions of people in Europe. In other words, even though there was such a plan, in the end, for some reason, the exercise was not carried out.

"Misha, do you know what you are talking about?" Rokossovsky said with some surprise: "As far as I know, this exercise plan was revised five times before it was finally approved by Comrade Stalin. Since it’s the Supreme Commander’s decision, do you think it will be abandoned halfway?”

"Comrade Marshal, I have a bad feeling that this exercise may be suddenly canceled for some reason."

"Some reason?" Rokossovsky asked puzzledly: "What reason?"

"I don't know." Sokov shook his head and said, "This is just my intuition."

Rokossovsky laughed after hearing this: "Misha, your intuition this time is wrong. You think that in the military meeting that just ended, the commanders of the participating units have been designated, and you are among them. One person. Think about it, will the exercise be canceled in this case? I think you may be thinking too much."

"Maybe." Sokov had no concrete evidence and naturally could not refute Rokossovsky. He could only change the topic in time: "Lieutenant General Lukin returned to Moscow with me yesterday. As soon as he got off the train, he He was picked up by people sent by Marshal Zhukov, but he has not contacted me yet. Do you know where he went? "

Hearing Sokov's question, Rokossovsky showed an unexpected expression on his face: "Why, don't you know that your superiors have assigned him a new position?"

"New position? What position?"

"I also heard from Marshal Zhukov that Comrade Stalin appointed Lukin as deputy commander of the Odessa Military District." Rokossovsky said, "I will take office tomorrow."

"Do you know where he is?"

Rokossovsky spread his hands, shrugged his shoulders, and said helplessly: "I'm sorry, Misha, I really don't know where Comrade Lukin is now."

"That's such a shame."

After chatting with Rokossovsky for a few more words, Sokov said goodbye and left.

Returning home, I found that Seryosha and Vaserigov were back.

"Seryozha," seeing Seryosha's depressed look, Sokov guessed that when he went home today, he must have seen the most undesirable situation, so he asked tentatively: "How did you go home today?" Sample?"

"Hey, that's terrible." Seryozha sighed and said, "My original house has been assigned to other people by the street housing management department. I have no choice but to continue living here with you. I hope you don't mind it. I hate it, throw me away."

"How could it be, Seryosha?" Sokov raised his hand and patted Seryosha on the shoulder, comforting him and saying, "This is your home, you can stay as long as you want."

"Misha, I heard that there will be military exercises in Europe in a while. I wonder when you can go there?" Seryosha asked cautiously: "If you want to go to Europe, can you take me there with you? "

"Of course." Sokov was worried that there were too few people he could trust around him. Since Seryosha took the initiative to ask for help, he naturally wanted it. But he also knew in his heart that it was obviously impossible to restore Seryosha's original military rank, so he vaccinated him in advance: "But I want to remind you, even if you follow me to Europe, you can only be a A soldier, I don't have the ability to make you an officer again."

"Even an ordinary soldier will do." Unexpectedly, Seryozha didn't care about this at all. Instead, he said carelessly: "It's better to find something to do than to stay at home every day."

"Now that you have made up your mind, prepare as soon as possible." Sokov said to Seryosha: "At today's impromptu military meeting, I was appointed commander of the 4th Guards Army of the Central Cluster. Member, we will leave for Europe in three days.”

"Great, that's a great thing to say." Seryozha was overjoyed when he got the news. But after a moment, he looked at the stairs not far away and asked Sokov in a low voice: "Misha, does Asiya know about this?"

"I just came back and I haven't seen her yet. She definitely doesn't know." Sokov shook his head and said, "But I will tell her about it as soon as possible."

"Hey, Misha, I think you and Asya have been spending less time together and more separation since you got married. I don't know how long it will take to see each other again after this separation." After Seryozha expressed his worries, he took the initiative again. A suggestion was made: "How about you take her to Europe?"

"I'm afraid that won't work." Sokov said hesitantly: "Even if it's just an exercise, I'm afraid I can't take Asya with me, otherwise other commanders will definitely gossip when they see it, and they might get into trouble. To cause unnecessary trouble."

"By the way, where is Lieutenant General Lukin?" Seryosha suddenly asked: "He was your deputy commander during the Far East Campaign. This time you went to Europe to participate in actual military exercises. Did your superiors appoint him as your deputy? ?”

"No. I have already inquired about Comrade Lukin. He has been officially appointed as the deputy commander of the Odessa Military District. He will take office in two days." Sokov couldn't help but sigh when he said this. He took a breath and said, "It's a pity that I don't know where he is now, otherwise I really want to see him. Because of this separation, I don't know if I have to wait until the year of the monkey before I have the chance to see him again."

"Misha, Odessa is only more than a thousand kilometers away from Moscow." Seryosha said with a smile: "If you want to see him one day, just take the train to see him. You can reach your destination in two days, which is very convenient. ”

Sokov was anxious to see Lukin, not because he was worried that he would not see him for a long time after parting with him, but because he was preparing to tell him about the impending famine in Ukraine and ask him to arrange for manpower outside the city. Plant more drought-tolerant crops such as potatoes and corn in the wasteland to alleviate the crisis of food shortage.

Thinking of this, Sokov turned and asked Vaserigov who was standing next to him: "Comrade Major, do you have any contact with the people around Marshal Zhukov now?"

"Yes, Comrade General." Vaserigov looked at Sokov in surprise and asked blankly, "What can I do for you?"

"That's it. I want to inquire about Lieutenant General Lukin and where he lives now. I want to visit him." Sokov looked at Vasergov and asked: "Comrade Major, can you help?" Am I busy?"

Vaserigov originally thought that Sokov would entrust him with a particularly difficult task, but now that he learned that he was just asking about the whereabouts of Lieutenant General Lukin, he felt much more at ease. He patted his chest and assured Sokov: "Comrade General, don't worry, I will go to my old friends later and ask them about Lieutenant General Lukin's situation. As soon as there is news, I will report it as soon as possible." Reported to you.”

"Without further ado, you can go now." Sokov waved to him: "Lieutenant General Lukin will leave Moscow in two days. If we don't find him as soon as possible, he may leave for Odessa. "

"Then I will go find my friends now and inquire about the whereabouts of Lieutenant General Lu Jin."

Not long after Vaserigov left, Asya came down from upstairs. Seeing Sokov and Seryosha sitting in the living room, she said with some surprise: "Misha, Seryosha, you two People came back so quickly.”