Red Moscow

Three days later.

Sokov bid farewell to Asya at the station and officially set off for Vienna, the capital of Austria, Europe.

In addition to Seryosha and Vaserigov, he was accompanied by two guards who had been to Siberia with him. In order to prevent possible dangers encountered on the way, all four people are equipped with assault rifles. Sokov originally wanted to bring an assault rifle, but Vasergov refused.

The officer responsible for protecting Sokov's safety said plausibly: "Comrade General, we are the guards to protect your safety. Even if we encounter danger, we will deal with it. How can we let you take risks?"

Seryosha also echoed: "Misha, Comrade Major is right. You are a senior commander now. Even if you encounter danger on the way, it should be the guards around you who charge into the battle. How can you be allowed to risk your life?" I think you’d better not bring a gun and just accept our protection.”

Now that Seryosha and Vaserigov had reached an agreement, Sokov could not refute and could only hold his nose and admit it.

As the train left the station and headed toward the far west, Seryosha said: "Misha, we are going to stay on the train for several days. Can you tell us something interesting?"

"Interesting things?" Sokov began to think in his mind, what interesting things can he tell Seryosha and Vaserigov? After thinking for a while, he asked tentatively: "Do you want to hear stories about Vienna?"

"Stories related to Vienna?" Sokov's words aroused Seryosha's interest: "Misha, tell me quickly and listen."

Sokov waited for Vaserigov, who was standing at the door, to come and sit down next to Seryosha, and then he said, "I'm just going to talk about the relationship between Vienna and mustaches."

"In 1907, the 18-year-old Mustache came to Vienna. He only went to school for a few years, and his academic performance was a mess. There were very few ways to improve his studies. But with the little painting skills he learned when he was a child, he thought, maybe when An artist will have a life of excellence.

In 1907 and 1908, he took the exam for the Vienna Academy of Arts for two consecutive years, but was never admitted.

Mustache has always been bitter about not being admitted to the Vienna Academy of Arts, and even wrote in the book "Mein Kampf": The world must have suffered a great loss if the Academy of Arts did not admit him."

Later history confirmed that he was right.

The Vienna art professors never imagined that if they had admitted Mustache back then, there might have been one more lunatic in the art circle filled with lunatics, and the world would have lost one war madman, averting a huge disaster - you know, Mustache It provoked the Second World War, which resulted in the massacre of 6 million Jews and the death of more than 40 million people on the battlefield. This was the craziest war in human history. "

Seryosha and Vaserigov obviously knew very little about the history of the mustache. After listening to Sokov's story, both of them had shocked expressions on their faces.

Seryosha took advantage of Sokov's speech and asked tentatively: "Misha, how did that mustache become the head of Germany?"

"Although he failed to apply for the Vienna Academy of Arts, Mustache still insisted on his dream and was unwilling to leave Vienna. He lived in the basement and even lived in a shelter. In order to continue to survive in Vienna, he painted a lot of still lifes and buildings were sold to tourists to earn a meager income. From time to time, he visited bars and cafes frequented by literati and painters, hoping that Bole would appear, but this opportunity never came.

In early 1913, Mustache made the first correct decision in his life: immigrating to Germany.

In this way, he left Vienna and headed for Munich.

When the First World War broke out in 1914, Mustache threw away his paintbrush and signed up to fight in the Bavarian Army, becoming a soldier in the 16th Regiment of the Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment. His unit fought against the British and French forces on the Western Front and participated in the First Battle of Ypres, the Battle of the Somme, the Battle of Arras, and the Battle of Baschenda.

In 1917, he was promoted from orderly soldier to private, and was awarded an 'Iron Cross First Class' and an 'Iron Cross Second Class' for his bravery in combat.

During the Battle of the Somme in 1916, his thigh was wounded by a cannonball, and he returned to the battlefield on March 1, 1917. On October 14, 1918, Mustache was attacked by mustard gas near the village of Welwick and was briefly blinded. While recovering from his injuries, Germany declared its surrender to the Allies.

After being baptized by the smoke of the battlefield, he completely gave up his dream of using art to transform mankind, and gradually evolved into a war madman. "

"Comrade General," Vaserigov asked tentatively: "Is Mustache's painting skills very poor? Otherwise, he would not have been admitted to the Vienna Academy of Arts for two consecutive years."

"Michael Liversidge, the honorary dean of the School of Art at the University of Bristol, expressed his opinion after seeing the mustache paintings: Even from the perspective of the 1920s, his painting skills were too Conservative. At first glance, the paintings are typical works of art candidates. They are very uncertain when using pencils and pens, and they are not sure about the position of the perspective point. Such candidates are not admitted to the Vienna Academy of Art. Within reason.”

Seryosha said thoughtfully: "If, I say if. If the Vienna Academy of Arts admitted Mustache, this damn war might not have been fought, and we wouldn't have lost so many relatives and friends."

"I hope that such a war will not happen again in the future." Vaserigov also added: "Although I have never been to the battlefield, there are many friends around me who have come down from the battlefield. Although the war is over, they have returned to the battlefield after they retired. They all have stress disorders.”

Hearing what Vaselgov said, Sokov couldn't help but be startled. He thought to himself that stress disorder is not a name that only comes from later generations. Why did it appear in this era?

Seryozha asked in confusion: "Major, what is stress disorder?"

"For example, every time someone calls your name, you shout it very loudly." Vaserigov explained to Seryosha: "When someone taps you on the back, you get used to it. He would throw him over his shoulder sexually, or he would dig traps around his house to prevent sneak attacks, and he would wake up if there was even the slightest movement in the middle of the night.”

"Major is right." Sokov waited for Vaserigov to finish, then nodded in agreement: "Commanders and combatants with this disease, even if they retire, will take several years to barely overcome this disease. disease."

While the three of them were chatting, it soon came time for lunch.

"Comrade General," Vasergov asked Sokov for instructions: "Would you like to go to the dining car to eat, or should someone bring it to you here?"

"Let's go to the dining car." Sokov said to the two of them: "The train takes several days to reach the destination. It would be too boring to stay in this box all day. If you have the chance, you should go out for more walks. "

Just like that, the three of them arrived at the dining car.

As soon as we sat down, a female conductor came over and asked politely: "Comrade General, what do you need?"

Sokov took the menu handed over by the female conductor, ordered two dishes at random, and then handed the menu to Seryosha and Vaserigov sitting opposite: "Take a look, what do you want to order?"

Seryosha did not take the menu, but said casually: "I want the same thing as him."

Vaserigov took the menu, looked at it, ordered two of his favorite dishes, and said to the female conductor: "Let's order this much first. If it's not enough, we'll order more."

Perhaps because there were not many people in the dining car at the moment, the female conductor quickly brought the food to the three of them.

She placed the food on the tray on the dining table in front of the three of them one by one, said, "I wish you a good appetite!" and then left with the tray.

While Sokov and others were eating, they suddenly heard someone calling him: "Misha, Misha!"

Hearing this familiar shout, Sokov's heartbeat suddenly accelerated. He really didn't expect to meet her here.

"Misha," Seryosha, who was sitting opposite Sokov, turned his head and looked in the direction of the sound. After seeing the person clearly, a shocked expression appeared on his face. He turned his head and said to Sokov who was eating: "It's your ex-girlfriend Kopalova who is here!"

Sokov only knows the original owner of the body, and there seems to be some story between him and Kopalova, but since he has not inherited the other person's memory, he cannot know the answer he wants to know. But when he heard Seryosha say this, hope surged in his heart. Since Seryosha knew that Kopalova was Sokova's ex-girlfriend, he must know a lot of things. If he finds an opportunity another day, he will surely Ask him secretly.

Sokov raised his head, pretending to be surprised, and said to Kopalova who was walking in front of him: "So it's you, Kopalova! I really didn't expect to meet you here, you Where do you plan to go?”

"Where else to go, of course, is to Vienna. Our newspaper office received an interview assignment to go to Vienna to cover the upcoming large-scale military operation. I am also a member of the interview team." Kopalova briefly explained what she wanted to do. After going somewhere, he asked: "Misha, where are you going?"

"Kopalova, what a coincidence, I am also going to Vienna." Sokov laughed dryly: "I didn't expect that we actually went to the same place."

"Yeah, it's quite a coincidence." Kopalova sat down next to Sokov and continued: "Maybe the troop commander we want to interview is someone you know."

"I wonder which unit commander you want to interview?" After Sokov asked this question, he suddenly thought that Kopalova's interview might involve confidentiality, and quickly added: "If it involves confidentiality, it's not convenient to talk about it. , just don’t tell me.”

"This is not a secret, and it doesn't matter if I tell you." Kopalova said openly: "The first unit we want to interview is the 4th Guards Army. It is said that in the upcoming military operation, the superiors have arranged for this This unit is equipped with a powerful commander. As for who he is, we will not know until we arrive in Vienna."

Seryosha originally wanted to tell Kopalova that Sokov was the new commander of the 4th Guards Army, but he stopped talking and found that his superiors kept the interview team secret about the appointment of the new commander. She swallowed her words and did not tell Kopalova about Sokov's new identity.

"Kopalova, have you had lunch?" Sokov promptly changed the subject in order to prevent his identity from being exposed: "If you haven't eaten, how about eating with us?"

"Okay, okay!" Kopalova nodded and said, "I came to the dining car to have lunch. I thought I was going to be alone, but I didn't expect to meet you, so let's eat with you. Conductor! "She raised her hand to greet the female conductor on the other side, "Please come here."

The female conductor came to Kopalova, handed over the menu, and asked politely: "Lesbian, what do you plan to eat?"

Kopalova looked through the menu and selected a few of her favorite dishes. When he handed the menu back to the conductor, he also emphasized: "The bill will be paid together with the general's lunch."

The female conductor stood there without moving, but looked at Sokov, wanting to confirm whether he was willing to check out with Kopalova.

"Conductor," Sokov said, looking up at the conductor: "This girl is my friend, and all her expenses will be borne by me later."

The conductor who received Sokov's reply nodded, then left with the menu in his arms.

"Misha, which box do you live in?" Kopalova asked curiously: "I will go over to see you later."

After Sokov told the box he was in, he asked: "Then where is your box?"

Kopalova pointed her finger in the direction she came from, pouted and said aggrievedly: "I live in a box for four people. I don't know how the logistics worked, so that I and three strangers were allowed to live in the same box. What’s even more outrageous is that except for me, the rest are all men.”

When Sokov heard what Kopalova said, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows: "You have a girl and three grown men crowded into a box, and they have to spend almost a week together. Isn't your leader worried about you?" Will something happen?"

"That's not true." Kopalova complained to Sokov: "I went to the group leader to respond, hoping that he could help me change the box, but he refused."

"Why did you refuse?" Seryozha interjected.

"He said that the box each member of the interview team would stay in was arranged by the newspaper leader, and he had no right to change it." Kopalova grabbed Sokov's arm, shook it hard twice, and twisted it. The body said: "Misha, do you think he is going too far?"

"It's too much, of course it's too much." Sokov said this, not because he was perfunctory with Kopalova, but because he was worried about her. Such a long journey made a young and beautiful girl like Kopalova and three strangers The men crowded into a box and said they were not worried about anything happening, which was a lie. He thought for a while and asked tentatively: "How about you move to my box. Although it is also a four-person box, the box you are in is more spacious. More importantly, everyone is acquaintances, so you don't have to worry. Will your personal safety be harmed?”

"Okay, okay." Kopalova had obviously been waiting for Sokov to say this, and said hurriedly: "After lunch, I will move the luggage to your box."

"Kopalova," Seryosha volunteered when he saw that Kopalova was moving to live with Sokov: "You will take me to your box later, and I will help you pack all your luggage." Move them all over.”