Sokov and Anne stayed in the Lenin Library until lunch time before getting up and leaving.
After leaving the library, Sokov felt a little hungry, so he turned to Anne and asked: "Annie, let's go somewhere to have something to eat."
"Misha, come with me!" Anne took the initiative to hold Sokov's hand, pulled him forward, and said: "I know a place where the baked potatoes taste delicious, I will take you
Go and eat.”
Baked potatoes are a Russian snack. Usually, the potatoes are washed and dried first, then some small holes are poked on the surface of the potatoes with a fork, and corn oil and salt are applied to the surface of the potatoes. Use tin foil to wrap the potatoes
Wrap it well and bake it in the oven for an hour and a half until it is soft. When you want to eat it, open the tin foil wrapping the potatoes, cut the potatoes in half with a knife, put a piece of butter on the surface, stir it evenly with a spoon, and then
Add to vegetable salad and serve with it.
Sokov often ate this kind of baked potatoes in later generations, and he naturally liked the taste very much. When he heard Anne say that he would take him to eat baked potatoes, he couldn't help but move his fingers.
Crossing a street, they came to the famous Arbat Street. As Sokov and Anne were walking hand in hand, a patrol came face to face. The second lieutenant officer leading the team glanced at Sokov, and then stopped him.
He stood in front of him, raised his hand in salute, and said politely: "Comrade Colonel, please show me your ID!"
Sokov quickly let go of Anne's hand, unbuttoned his military coat, took out his military ID card from the pocket of his hoodie, and handed it to the second lieutenant.
The officer took the military ID card, opened it, checked it, and asked casually: "Comrade Colonel, where is your unit stationed?"
Sokov heard this question and asked alertly: "Second Lieutenant, why are you asking this?"
The second lieutenant raised his head and glanced at Sokov, pointed to the epaulettes on his military coat and said: "Comrade Colonel, haven't you noticed that we are all wearing new military ranks?"
After being reminded by the second lieutenant, Sokov discovered that the patrol team next to him, from officers to ordinary soldiers, wore new military ranks. Their military ranks were all worn on the epaulettes, and his own rank was still worn on the collar.
It seems a little out of place.
Sokov laughed dryly twice and replied: "Second Lieutenant, my troops are in Stalingrad, and I was ordered to return to Moscow to perform a mission."
Hearing that Sokov was returning to Moscow to perform a mission, the second lieutenant frowned slightly and asked businesslikely: "Comrade Colonel, since you said you were ordered to return to Moscow to perform a mission, where is your business trip permit?"
"I'm sorry, I don't have a business trip permit." Sokov was recalled to Moscow temporarily. How could he have a business trip permit? He could only bite the bullet and said: "I was recalled temporarily to perform a secret mission. I don't have a business trip permit at all.
"
"You don't have a business trip permit?!" The second lieutenant was not affected by the fact that Sokov's military rank was much higher than his. He said solemnly: "Comrade Colonel, since you don't have a business trip permit, I'm afraid you have to follow us."
When she heard that the second lieutenant was going to take Sokov away, Anne immediately stopped in front of the second lieutenant and said loudly: "Why? He is a hero who defended Stalingrad. You can't take him away."
"Second Lieutenant," Sokov frowned slightly and said to the Second Lieutenant: "Where is your superior? I want to talk to him."
"Follow me and you can meet your superiors." The second lieutenant put Sokov's military ID card in his pocket and said in an official tone: "Let's go, comrade colonel. After we figure out what's going on,
We will let you back."
"What's going on? What happened here?" Just as the two sides were in a stalemate, a loud voice suddenly came from not far away: "Why did the patrol stop?"
"Comrade Lieutenant," the second lieutenant turned and saluted in the direction of the voice, and replied loudly: "There is a commander here who says he came back from the front line to perform a mission, but he does not have a business trip permit."
Following the sound, Sokov looked towards the front of the street and saw a lieutenant in his thirties, leading two soldiers carrying submachine guns, walking towards his location.
The lieutenant came closer, looked at Colonel Sokov, and unexpectedly raised his hand to salute, saying respectfully: "Hello, Comrade Brigade Commander!"
Hearing the other party call him brigade commander, Sokov guessed that the other party might have been his subordinate before. After looking at the other party carefully, he found that he had a strange face, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade Lieutenant, were you my subordinate before?"
?”
"Yes, Comrade Brigadier." The lieutenant straightened his back and replied respectfully: "I was originally from the Fourth Company of the Second Battalion. Shortly after the Battle of Stalingrad began, I was wounded and was sent back to Moscow. The injury
After he recovered, he was incorporated into the Moscow garrison."
"It turns out it's you, Second Lieutenant Kayugin." Anne on the side said in surprise: "I didn't expect to meet you here."
"Hello, Comrade Nurse." The lieutenant known as Kayugin turned his head and saw Anne next to him. After nodding to her, he explained to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, I was in the military hospital on Lenin Street.
I have been treated for injuries, and this nurse Anne usually takes care of me."
Sokov remembered that he had heard Tonya and Anne mention last night that a group of wounded people from Stalingrad had been treated in the military hospital. The Lieutenant Kayugin in front of him should be one of them, but it was still
Second lieutenant, after being discharged from hospital, he was incorporated into the garrison and was promoted to lieutenant.
"Lieutenant Kayugin," Sokov said to his former subordinates: "Your subordinates said that I don't have a business trip permit and they want to take me back for review. Please tell me, how should we handle this matter?"
"It's nonsense, it's just nonsense." Kayugin walked up to the second lieutenant and said to him with a straight face: "Don't you always want to know the person who commanded us to hold on to Mamayev Hill and prevent the enemy from advancing even a step?
Brigadier? Well, he is right in front of you right now, and you doubt him."
After hearing what Kayugin said, the second lieutenant couldn't help being surprised, and quickly asked Sokov: "Are you Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade?"
"Yes, when I became brigade commander, I was indeed in the rank of lieutenant colonel." Sokov nodded and replied with a normal expression: "I was promoted to the rank of colonel after I became division commander."
"Brigade commander, no, comrade division commander." Kayugin said with a smile: "I apologize to you for my subordinate's recklessness. Please forgive him for his rashness."
"It's true that I don't have a business trip permit," Sokov felt that he needed to explain to Kayugin why he didn't have a business trip permit: "Because it was an emergency recall from the superiors, and there was no time to apply for a business trip permit."
Kayugin was convinced of Sokov's statement. He walked up to the second lieutenant and stretched out his hand: "Do you have Colonel Sokov's ID in your hand? Give it to me."
When the second lieutenant learned that the person in front of him was Sokov, whom he admired, he realized that his behavior just now was a bit reckless. At this moment, seeing Kayugin asking for his ID, he quickly took out Sokov's military ID card from his pocket and respectfully
He respectfully handed it back to Sokov and said apologetically: "Comrade Colonel, I apologize for the inconvenience I have caused you. Please forgive me!"
When the patrol continued to patrol along the street, Kayugin still stood there without moving. He asked Sokov with a smile on his face: "Comrade division commander, where do you plan to go next?"
Sokov glanced at Anne standing next to him and said, "Anne and I are going to eat baked potatoes nearby. If you have something to do, just go ahead and do it."
"It's okay, Comrade Commander." Kayugin waved his hand and said, "I have nothing to do anyway, so I will just accompany you around. If you encounter a patrol checking your ID again, I can still say a few words to you."
Sokov considered that Arbat Street is close to the Kremlin, and the patrols here are the strictest. He did not have a business trip permit, and it would be really troublesome if he was stopped. With Kayugin, a lieutenant of the garrison, by his side, there were many problems
It will be solved easily.
"Okay, let's go together." Sokov nodded to Kayugin and said, "It's just right to catch up on old times while eating."
Seeing that Sokov agreed to accompany him, Kayugin couldn't help but be overjoyed. He quickly said to the two soldiers behind him: "I want to accompany Colonel Sokov around, so you two don't have to follow me."
Under Annie's leadership, the three of them came to a coffee shop at the end of the street. As soon as Annie opened the door and entered, she said to the old lady standing behind the counter: "Aunt Natasha, give us three baked potatoes."
"Okay, Annie." The old lady known as Aunt Natasha said with a smile: "Please cook it for a few minutes. The potatoes will be ready soon."
A few minutes later, three steaming potatoes were placed in front of Sokov and the others. Natasha, the great master, said with a spring breeze: "Annie, and the two commander comrades, you eat slowly. What do you want after eating?"
Eat, and I'll cook it for you." After saying that, she turned and left.
"Annie," Sokov looked at Anne and asked, "do you come here often?"
"Every time I go to the Lenin Library to read a book, I always come here to eat some." Seeing that neither of them used their forks, Anne urged: "Eat quickly, it won't taste good if it's cold."
"Comrade Commander," seeing that there were no other customers in the store except for the three of him, Kayugin lowered his voice and asked Sokov: "How is our army's counterattack in the Stalingrad area going? Can we defeat the enemy?
?"
"Lieutenant, didn't you listen to the broadcast of the Soviet Intelligence Agency?" Sokov asked strangely: "Our army's counterattack in the Don River Basin is going very smoothly. Paulus's troops have been surrounded by our army in Stalinger.
Le area.”
Kayugin was someone who had been on the battlefield and had a certain understanding of the technical and tactical level of the German army. He frowned and asked: "Comrade division commander, even if our army encircles Paulus's troops, do you think we have the ability to annihilate them?"
Ability?"
Sokov knew very well that Kayugin's worries were not unfounded. The Soviet army had encircled the German army many times in the past, but in the end not only did it fail to eliminate the enemy, but he suffered heavy losses. Now Paulus's Sixth Army was encircled by the Soviet army.
Those who know something about the German combat effectiveness do not have much confidence in whether they can annihilate this enemy force.
"Comrade Lieutenant," although there were some things he couldn't say, Sokov still said carefully: "If it were at the beginning of the war, I think your worries would have some validity. But what is the situation now? Our army's commanders and fighters have gone through
After a year and a half of war, they have become mature. The inability to destroy the besieged enemies before does not mean that they cannot be destroyed now. Just watch, the Paulus troops trapped in the encirclement of our army have no choice but to break out of the encirclement.
An easy thing. Even if they resist stubbornly, we will destroy them sooner or later."
As an old subordinate of Sokov, Kayugin admired Sokov very much and always believed in what Sokov said. At this moment, I heard Sokov say that the besieged Paulus troops would eventually
Being annihilated, he couldn't help but smile on his face: "Comrade division commander, if Paulus's troops are really annihilated, then the Germans will have one less general who can fight, and we will become a different person in the next battle.
It’s much more relaxed.”
"Lieutenant Kayugin, you must not underestimate the enemy." Seeing Kayugin's tendency to underestimate the enemy, Sokov reminded him: "Paulus is not a general who knows how to fight in the German army. Even if we are eliminated,
His troops captured him, but the next person to attack him was Manstein, known as the 'Conqueror of Sevastopol', who was much more powerful than Paulus."
"What's the big deal?" Kayugin said carelessly: "If we can capture Paulus, then we can also capture Manstein. When all the enemy's generals and marshals who know how to fight are captured, the Germans will
They are vulnerable, and it will be much easier for us to defeat them when the time comes."
"Misha." Taking advantage of the gap between the two of them speaking, Anne interrupted and asked, "How many days can you stay in Moscow?"
"It's hard to say, it depends on how the superiors arrange it." Sokov replied with a wry smile: "Maybe he will stay here for ten days and a half, or he may return to Stalingrad tonight."
"Comrade Division Commander." After hearing the conversation between Sokov and Anne, Kayugin asked in surprise: "You have returned to Moscow, who will command the troops?"
"When I am not in the army, I am usually commanded by the chief of staff and deputy division commander." Sokov replied: "Besides, in urban areas, due to the lack of troops, it is impossible to launch a counterattack against the enemy except for defensive warfare.
Therefore, even if I am not in the army, it will not have any impact."
"Comrade Commander, I have a request." Kayugin said to Sokov with some embarrassment: "I hope to get your help."
"Whatever it is, just say it." Sokov did not promise Kayugin anything, but said cautiously: "As long as it is within my ability, I will definitely help you."
"Comrade division commander, I want to return to your unit." Kayugin mustered up his courage and said, "I wonder if you can help me?"
"Go back to my army?" Sokov asked in surprise: "You stayed well in the garrison, why do you want to go back to the combat army?"
"Comrade division commander, the situation is like this." Kayugin said with an embarrassed expression: "Although being in the garrison is safer than being at the front, there are fewer opportunities to make meritorious deeds..."
"Oh, so that's what happened." Before Kayujin finished speaking, Sokov understood what the other party wanted to express. For Russians who love honor, if they stay in a unit where it is difficult to make meritorious deeds, seeing themselves
His comrades made meritorious deeds one after another, and he felt very sad. In order to satisfy Kayugin's wish, Sokov nodded and said: "Don't worry, Comrade Lieutenant, I will find a way to transfer you back to my unit.