The work of developing hovercrafts was immediately put on the agenda after obtaining Stalin's approval.
Seeing that the research and development project of the hovercraft was approved, Sokov couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and once again proposed to Ustinov that he could refer to the design ideas of the automatic sled to shorten the research and development time of the hovercraft. His purpose for doing this was very simple. He hoped that in the Battle of Kharkov a few months later, his troops could quickly receive supplies from their superiors, so as to avoid being completely wiped out by the Germans because they ran out of ammunition and food.
He originally thought that after staying in Moscow for two or three days, he could return to Stalingrad. Although his troops would not launch a new offensive for the time being, Sokov could always feel at ease by staying with his commanders and fighters. But Ustinov always disagreed with letting Sokov return, saying that some unexpected problems may arise during the development process of the hovercraft, and Sokov needs to help solve them.
The funeral of Sokov's mother was held the day after the research and development work began. When the body was dug out from the rubble, it was already unrecognizable. After seeking Sokov's opinion, Yakov buried him in a corner of the factory together with several other workers who had died.
After handling the funeral, Sokov once again asked Yakov to convey his wishes to Ustinov, hoping to return to the front line as soon as possible, but was rejected by Ustinov. He still said that during the research and development process, you may encounter some difficult problems that require Sokov's help to solve. As for Stalingrad, there will be no major war for the time being, and the work in the division can be left to the deputy division commander and chief of staff.
After recounting Ustinov's original words, Yakov sighed softly and said: "Misha, I understand Dmitri Fedorovich, since he has been unwilling to let you return to Stalingrad. , it must be because of my father. They want to keep you in Moscow, maybe there is some important task for you. "
Sokov was dubious about Yakov's statement. He thought that he was just an ordinary colonel, so how could he deserve such attention from the supreme commander himself. But no matter what, Yakov is Stalin's son. Sokov cannot disbelieve or believe everything he says. The only thing he can do is to continue to stay in Moscow patiently.
Two days later, while he was still sleeping soundly at home, he heard someone knocking on the door desperately. Before he could climb out of the simple bed, Anne, who was sleeping in the bedroom, had already walked to the door in her pajamas and asked warily outside: "Who is outside?"
"I am Yakov, Misha's friend." Yakov's voice came from outside the door: "You are Annie, please open the door for me quickly. I have something urgent to ask Misha."
Hearing that he was Sokov's friend and that his name was called out, Anne opened the door without hesitation. As soon as the door opened, Yakov rushed in with a chill. He asked Anne, who was holding the door, "Where is Misha?"
"In the kitchen!"
Yakov quickly walked to the door of the kitchen, fumbled on the wall for a while, and turned on the light in the kitchen. As soon as the light came on, he saw Sokov sitting on the simple bed, covering his eyes with his hands to block the dazzling light: "Misha, I'm sorry to wake you up. There is something urgent today. Please follow me immediately." Take a trip."
Sokov glanced out the window. It was still dark outside. Then he looked at the clock on the wall. It was only four in the morning. But he didn't get angry, because based on his understanding of Yakov, if something big hadn't happened, the other party would never wake him up at such a time when he should be sleeping.
Sokov got out of bed, washed himself briefly, said hello to Anne and Tonya who were woken up, put on his military coat, and followed Yakov out.
After the two left, Tonya said to Annie in surprise: "Annie, have you seen clearly who the lieutenant colonel who came to Misha is?"
"I can see it clearly, but I don't recognize him." Anne nodded, and after giving Tonya a positive answer, she asked, "Do you know him?"
"Yes, I have met him before when I was in the Western Front." Although she and Anne were the only two people in the room, Tonya still lowered her voice and said: "He is Yakov, the son of the Supreme Commander himself. "
"Ah, it's him?!" Anne covered her mouth with both hands in surprise when she heard Tonya's name: "Oh my God, he is actually a good friend with Misha. This is simply incredible. ”
Sokov followed Yakov outside the building and found a jeep parked beside the building with no one inside. Seeing this situation, Sokov understood that it was Yakov who drove here again, so he sat in the passenger seat without saying a word, waiting for Yakov to drive.
The vehicle started and drove forward along the street. As soon as he left Lenin Street, Sokov saw a traffic policeman emerge from the roadside and raised his hand to stop the car for inspection. But with the help of a streetlight, he saw clearly the pass sticker on the window, then took a step back, stood at attention and saluted the jeep.
"Misha," Yakov didn't pay attention to this episode, but asked the silent Sokov: "Why don't you ask me what happened when I brought you out so early?"
Sokov glanced at the road outside and found that the jeep was heading towards the train station, so he asked casually: "Yasha, who are you going to send me to the train station to meet?"
Hearing Sokov's answer, Yakov had a look of surprise on his face, "How did you know I was going to take you to the train station?"
"I guessed it." Sokov yawned and said nonchalantly: "I guess I need to meet my people, and I'm afraid I'll be leaving by train soon, otherwise you wouldn't bother me at this time. Sleep.”
Seeing that Sokov guessed his purpose, Yakov grinned silently and said: "Misha, you are right, I am going to take you to the Belarusian train station."
"Yasha," Sokov asked Yakov sideways, "Can you tell me who important person wants to see me?"
"It's General Golikov. He will leave Moscow in two hours. He hopes to have a good talk with you before leaving."
"General Golikov?" Sokov said with some confusion: "What can he do to find me? You know, he is the deputy commander of the front army. If he wants to find me, he can wait until I return to the army to find me. Isn’t it more convenient?”
"He is no longer the deputy commander of the front army." Yakov shook his head and said: "Misha, your news has been delayed."
"What, he is not the deputy commander of the front army anymore?" Sokov was stunned when he heard this, and quickly asked: "What happened? Why was he dismissed?"
"It's not removal, but promotion." Yakov replied with a smile: "He was just appointed as the commander of the Voronezh Front not long ago, and he is going to take office today. Before he leaves Moscow, he wants to talk to you As soon as we talked, you called me and asked me to take you to see him."
Sokov was thinking hard in his mind: Since Golikov has served as the commander of the Voronezh Front, what will happen if he wants to see him now?
The jeep drove directly into the Belorussian train station and drove onto the platform. Because there were various passes posted on the windshield of the jeep, there was no one blocking it along the way.
Yakov pointed to the train on the track and said to Sokov: "Misha, General Golikov is in the last carriage. Hurry up and see him. I will wait for you here." Sokov. He opened the door and got out of the car, straightened his appearance, and walked towards the last car.
There were more than a dozen soldiers standing guard outside the carriage. Seeing Sokov walking towards the carriage, a lieutenant stepped forward to block his way and said politely: "I'm sorry, Comrade Colonel, you can't go any further." gone!"
"Comrade Lieutenant," Sokov stopped and said to the lieutenant who stopped him: "I am Colonel Sokov. I am here to see General Golikov. Please inform me."
When Sokov announced his home address, the lieutenant's face showed a joyful expression: "You are Colonel Sokov. Comrade Commander has been waiting for you, please come with me."
Sokov followed the lieutenant into the carriage. He saw Golikov and another general with their backs to the door, leaning over a map on the table. He quickly took two steps forward, raised his hand to his forehead, and reported loudly: "Report to Comrade Commander of the Front Army, Colonel Sokov, commander of the 41st Guards Division, has been ordered to arrive. Please give instructions!"
Golikov stood up straight, turned around, smiled at Sokov, and said, "Hello, Colonel Sokov, I'm sorry to have called you here so early. I didn't disturb your rest."
Sokov was a bit dumbfounded in his heart and said: "You woke me up from my sleep so early. It's strange that you didn't disturb me." However, in front of Golikov, he could only say with shame, " No, it doesn’t bother me at all. You know, on the battlefield, it’s common for us to stay up for days and nights.”
"But this is not a battlefield," Golikov said with a wry smile: "You could have slept until dawn, but in the end, you woke up because of me. Let me introduce to you, this is a front soldier Military Commissar Lieutenant General Kuznetsov.”
It seems that the troops of the Voronezh Front have also changed their military ranks. Now even the military commissar no longer uses the military ranks of political workers. He quickly raised his hand to salute Kuznetsov and said politely: "Hello, Comrade Military Commissar of the Front Army."
"Colonel Sokov," Golikov asked Sokov to sit down, hesitated for a moment, and said with some embarrassment: "I was ordered to rush to the Voronezh Front to command the troops. Before I left, I learned that you were also in Moscow. So I would like to trouble Yakov to find you. I have something to ask your opinion on."
"You want to ask for my opinion on something?" Sokov muttered in his heart: "Could it be that he wants to transfer me to his army?" With this question, he asked respectfully: "Commander of the Front Army, can you Tell me, what is it?"
"I'm going to take up a post in the Voronezh Front Army soon, and I need some excellent commanders to assist me." Golikov said slowly: "And you are the commander I want most. How about, Are you interested in joining my front army?"
"Comrade General," it was unacceptable for Sokov to change jobs when victory in the defense of Stalingrad was imminent. Once he leaves at this moment, his efforts in the past few months will be in vain, so he said euphemistically: "You should know that my troops are currently guarding the Mamayev Heights area, and it is impossible to transfer them."
"Under the current circumstances, I can't transfer the 41st Guards Division to the Voronezh Front." Golikov replied with a smile: "There are plenty of troops, but we just lack an excellent commander. As long as you are willing to join me If the troops come, I can let you continue to serve as the division commander."
Knowing that the other party only asked him to serve as a division commander, Sokov suddenly felt uninterested. He thought that when Rokossovsky tried to poach him last time, he had proposed to let him command an army, and now Goliko The husband can only give himself one teacher. Since he didn't change jobs when someone else offered him the position of army commander, he definitely wouldn't miss the opportunity to go down in history just for the sake of an equal-level division commander position.
After considering the stakes clearly, Sokov stood up, straightened his body and said: "Comrade General, thank you for your kindness, but I may have to live up to your kindness. Before the Paulus German Army Group is eliminated, I will not go anywhere. Go."
Golikov did not expect that Sokov would reject his invitation so simply, and he felt disappointed. However, he still asked reluctantly: "Colonel Sokov, don't you really consider my proposal?" ?”
"Comrade General, I have thought about it very clearly." Sokov said with a serious expression: "My men and I have been fighting in Stalingrad for several months. Now that victory is in sight, I want to leave them and go to other units. Can't do it."
"That's such a pity." Golikov sighed and said: "I thought we had a chance to hit the enemy as hard as we did at Mamayev Heights. Unexpectedly, alas..."
Since Sokov was unwilling to come to the Voronezh Front, Golikov was disappointed but did not force him. After chatting for a while, he waved Sokov away.
Yakov, who was in the jeep, saw Sokov getting back into the car. While starting the car, he asked curiously: "Misha, what does General Golikov want from you?"
"He wanted me to follow him to the Voronezh Front."
"What, asking you to go to the Voronezh Front?" When Yakov heard the news, he instinctively stepped on the brakes, turned around and asked Sokov in surprise: "Then do you agree?"
"No." Sokov shook his head and said, "I will not go anywhere until the enemies in the Stalingrad area are completely eliminated."
"That's good, that's good." Yakov restarted the car and said with lingering fear: "The enemies in the Stalingrad area are about to be wiped out by our army. It is indeed inappropriate to leave at this time. . Misha, I agree with your choice."
