Sokov, who was lying on the hospital bed, did not know that Stalin was discussing his appointment with Vasilevsky. The war on the front line had nothing to do with him for the time being. He just wanted to talk to Asya, who had reunited after a long separation.
heartfelt emotion.
Vera, who was sitting beside her, couldn't stand the two of them spreading dog food in front of her, so she excused herself from work and got up and left the ward, closing the door behind her.
Seeing that there were only herself and Sokov in the room, Asiya could finally speak out the words she had been holding back in her heart: "Misha, there is a question I have always wanted to ask you."
"Tell me, what's the problem?"
"Last time, weren't I and a few sisters captured by a German squadron in a sneak attack?" Asiya asked: "Misha, do you still remember this?"
How could Sokov not remember such an important thing? He nodded quickly and said: "Remember. After learning the news that you were captured, I immediately organized my troops to launch an attack in advance and annihilated the German 19th Armored Division.
." At this point, he paused intentionally for a moment to observe Asiya's expression.
Seeing that the other party's expression was solemn, as if he was worried about something, he asked tentatively: "Asiya, what's wrong with you? Why do you suddenly want to ask about this matter?"
Asiya did not answer Sokov's question, but suddenly wiped away tears.
Sokov didn't expect Asiya to cry, so he suddenly panicked. He raised his hand to wipe her tears. Unexpectedly, as soon as he moved, he pulled the wound on his body. The pain made him grin and he couldn't help but groan.
One sound.
"Misha!" Hearing Sokov's snort, Asiya asked hurriedly: "What's wrong with you? What's wrong with you?"
"I just moved and accidentally pulled the wound." Sokov was eager to know the reason for Asiya's tears and didn't care about his own injuries. He asked with concern: "Asiya, tell me,
What happened? Is someone making a fuss out of this matter?"
"No, no, Misha, you misunderstood me." Asiya saw that Sokov had misunderstood what he meant, and hurriedly explained to him: "I just want to know, if I am captured,
You didn't rescue me in time, so what will happen to me now? Will I die, or will I endure inhuman torture in a German prisoner-of-war camp?"
Asiya's question really stumped Sokov. In the history he knew, although most of the captured Soviet commanders and fighters were detained in prisoner-of-war camps, many were sent to notorious prisons.
The famous prisoner of war camp. Some of the Soviet prisoners of war who entered the prisoner of war camp were left to do hard labor, while others were sent to the gas chambers themselves. Asya was a military doctor. Even if she was imprisoned in a concentration camp, she might die
Because she knew medical skills, her life was temporarily saved.
Out of caution, Sokov did not tell his answer immediately, but asked: "Asia, tell me the truth, why do you ask such a question?"
Asia was silent.
Sokov wanted to raise his hand to grab the other person's hand on the bedside, but after a slight movement, he felt the pain from the wound again, so he had to give up this plan and asked softly: "Asia, we
We are husband and wife, what can't we say? Just tell me why you suddenly thought of asking this question?"
Asiya lowered her head and said with red eyes: "Misha, at the beginning of September, an engineer in charge of tank development came from the weapons and equipment department. One day he came to see a doctor..."
Hearing this, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little in his heart, secretly thinking that this engineer had gained Asiya's confidence and made the hat on his head turn green? But before he could speak, Asiya continued:
"When I was examining his body, I found a gunshot wound on his chest, which was caused by a German pistol. When I asked about the origin of the wound, he told me his tortuous experience."
Sokov realized that there might be something wrong with his guess. There must be no emotional entanglement between Asiya and the other party. It should be something else that touched her, so he couldn't help but interjected and asked: "The gunshot wound on his chest is...
How did it come about? Were you injured in a certain battle?"
Asia shook her head and replied: "He was captured by the Germans when Kharkov fell in 1941, and then was sent to a concentration camp established in Ukraine. In the concentration camp, he saw German officers with his own eyes
Let the weak prisoners of war lie on the ground, and then shoot them in the back of the head with a pistol. Sometimes in order to save bullets, one person is even asked to lie on top of another person, so that two people can be shot through the head with one shot...
…”
Sokov, who comes from a later generation, has watched many documentaries and various film and television works about concentration camps. What Asya said inevitably produced a strong sense of picture in his mind. When he thought of those scenes, Sokov
Kokov couldn't help but be so filled with hatred that he wanted to send all the concentration camp guards he caught to the gas chambers.
Sokov's emotional change was immediately noticed by Asya, who quickly asked with concern: "Misha, what's wrong with you?"
"It's okay." Asiya's voice woke Sokov out of his thoughts. He tried hard to put a smile on his face and said far-fetched: "The story you told reminds me of those who were captured from the prisoner of war camp.
The rescued commanders and fighters suffered all kinds of torture in the prisoner-of-war camp and were filled with hatred for the Germans, so they performed extremely bravely in the battle. By the way, tell me, how did the engineer escape in the end?
From a concentration camp?”
"The engineer's hobby is playing the violin, and this hobby became his capital to survive in the concentration camp." Asiya continued: "In order to whitewash peace, the Germans deliberately selected prisoners of war or Jews from the concentration camps.
A group of people who knew musical instruments were selected and formed into a band. The task of this band was to play at the entrance of the concentration camp when new prisoners of war or Jews entered the concentration camp, so that they would relax their vigilance and then willingly walk into the death gas chambers.
Of course, the members of the band were only able to survive temporarily, but they did not escape the fate of death. Once, they went to a village near the concentration camp to perform for the SS officers who came here to inspect.
Unexpectedly, while we were still rehearsing, a battle broke out just over 20 kilometers away from the concentration camp. Our army launched an attack on the German defensive positions. As the battle started, the officers watching the performance could only leave in a hurry. And the members of the band
He didn't receive the order to stop and continued to play hard.
When an SS officer passed by the band, he drew his pistol and shot a cellist who was playing directly to death. However, he was not satisfied, and called his guards, and asked the soldiers to take turns shooting at the cellist who was playing.
The band members shot. When a guard who led the band out of the concentration camp saw this situation, he was afraid that it would be difficult to deal with him when he returned, so he quickly begged the SS officer, hoping that he would let the remaining band members go. But the officer did not want to do anything.
Ignoring him, he still ordered his men to continue shooting.
The engineer told me that although his companions were shot and fell to the ground one after another, no one dared to stop playing. Because they might be shot to death while playing, and if they stopped, they would definitely be the first to be killed.
.In this way, he continued to play his violin according to the music score despite the sound of gunshots and the constant falling to the ground of his companions.
When only the engineer playing the violin and the band conductor were left in the band, the officer handed his pistol to the guard and ordered him to kill the remaining two band members. The guard had no choice but to shoot the conductor in the head.
, after the other person fell to the ground, he pointed his gun at the engineer who was playing. I don’t know whether it was out of sympathy or for some other reason. When the guard shot the engineer, he did not aim at his head, but at him.
He was shot in the chest, deliberately avoiding the vital parts.
After seeing all the band members fall to the ground, the SS officer was satisfied and left with his men."
"Although most of the guards in the concentration camp were cruel and ruthless, it cannot be ruled out that there were one or two consciences among them." After expressing his emotion, Sokov asked curiously: "How did the engineer survive?
Woolen cloth?"
"If they died in the concentration camp, their bodies would be sent to the crematorium soon, and even if the engineer was not dead at the time, he would still be burned to ashes." Assia said: "But they were shot in the village.
, and there was another fighting nearby, so their bodies were dumped in the village and no one cared about them.
Fortunately, our army's attack went very smoothly. Two or three hours later, a motorized squad arrived here. They found the ground covered with corpses, so they went to check. Unexpectedly, they found that the engineer had not yet died, so they called in a military doctor to treat them.
He received medical treatment and luckily survived."
"What about the prisoners of war and the Jews in the concentration camp?" Sokov couldn't help but interject after hearing this: "Were they all rescued after our army captured the concentration camp?"
"No." Asiya shook her head and said, "Before our army captured the concentration camp, the German guards massacred everyone in the concentration camp. When our commanders entered the concentration camp, they only saw corpses on the ground and not one living person.
None. The engineer was the only one who survived."
Asiya moved the chair she was sitting on towards the bed, then gently rested her head on Sokov's shoulder, and said with emotion: "Misha, if you didn't rescue me in time, I'm afraid I
He had been sent to a prisoner of war camp or a concentration camp long ago, and then either sent to a gas chamber or beaten to death by the Germans. In short, we would never see each other again."
"No, no." Sokov comforted Asiya and said: "As an army commander, how could I watch my wife being sent to a prisoner of war or concentration camp by the Germans? Even if
If I didn't rescue you at that time, I will continue to send people to rescue you until I rescue you. If it doesn't work, I will..."
"What will happen?" Asiya sat up straight, looked at Sokov and asked: "If I were really sent to a prisoner of war or concentration camp by the Germans, what would you do?"
"A two-pronged approach," Sokov said without hesitation since there were only himself and Asiya in the room anyway: "The first is to send a small and capable team deep behind enemy lines to inquire about your whereabouts and try to rescue you. And
The other way is to take risks."
"What method?" Asiya asked curiously: "What kind of risks will it take?"
"If the team can't find your whereabouts," Sokov said through gritted teeth, "I will try to contact Manstein and exchange the captured German general for you. Even if the military is involved in this matter,
I won’t hesitate to go to court.”
"Oh my God." Asiya's eyes widened in surprise after hearing Sokov's thoughts: "Misha, is it worth being sent to a military court for me?"
"It's totally worth it." Sokov recalled that in order to save his wife, Li Yunlong could lead his troops with backward equipment to attack the Japanese pirates' well-defended cities, thus making the Battle of Pinangrad a turning point in World War II ridiculed by netizens. And he commanded nearly ten
How could a well-equipped and well-trained army watch his wife being captured by the Germans, so he said without hesitation: "As long as I can rescue you, I am willing to pay any price."
Asiya's eyes were red again, this time she was moved by Sokov's words. She held Sokov's hand and said with tears of gratitude: "Misha, thank you, thank you. You are so kind to me.
"
Sokov grinned and said: "Asia, do you and I still need to say thank you? I am a man, and you are my wife. Men have the responsibility to protect their wives."
There was a knock on the door. Asiya let go of Sokov's hand and stood up to open the door.
As soon as the door opened, the departing Vera appeared at the door, holding a tray in her hand containing Sokov's dinner. She smiled at Asiya, and then walked straight to Sokov's bed.
He bent down and said, "Comrade General, it's time for dinner. I'm going to rock the bed a little so that I can feed you."
"Vera, let me do it." Asiya came over and said to Vera: "From now on, all these things will be left to me. You just need to help me."
Since Asiya said this, Vera did not refute, but nodded and said obediently: "Okay, Asiya, I will do as you say. If anything happens in the future, just tell me, I will definitely work hard."
Be the best.”
After Sokov finished his simple dinner, Vera took the tableware and left the ward again.
Asiya sat down by the bed, held Sokov's hand, and said, "Misha, Vera was here just now, and there are some things I can't say."
"If you have anything to say, just say it."
"Misha, you were injured on the way to the front line this time." Asiya said to Sokov: "You must promise me that when you return to command the troops in the future, you will try not to run to the most dangerous places.
Okay?"
Sokov didn't know how to answer this request from Asiya. You know, staying in the headquarters all day long can only understand the situation on the battlefield through battle reports from subordinates. For Sokov
It was simply a kind of torture. He preferred to stay at the forefront so that he could grasp the changes in the battlefield in a timely manner.
Seeing Sokov's delay in speaking, Asiya sighed softly and continued: "Misha, I know you are brave and not afraid of any danger. But some things are beyond our control. You can go to the most dangerous place at any time.
If you run somewhere, besides the possibility of being injured, there is also the possibility of being captured by the Germans. I am just an ordinary military doctor. If you are really captured, I have no way to rescue you."