Sokov originally thought that collecting bicycles would be a very difficult task. After all, except for a few people who own cars, most Russian residents travel by public transportation or horse-drawn carriages. There are very few places where bicycles can be used.
But as soon as the collection work began, residents of the city began to enthusiastically donate their bicycles, saying that they would contribute to the elimination of the Germans. Originally, Lunev ordered the names of these donors to be registered so that their bicycles could be returned in the future. But many people just put their cars there, turned around and left, leaving no chance for the soldiers to register.
In this way, in less than half a day, Lunev collected more than 1,300 bicycles. He returned to the headquarters happily and reported the good news to Sokov.
However, the first time he met Sokov, he did not immediately report the results of the morning. Instead, he deliberately asked in a pretentious manner: "Comrade Commander, guess how many bicycles we have collected so far?"
Sokov looked at Runev, trying to read the answer on his face. But there was no sadness or joy on Lunev's face. Sokov asked hesitantly: "A hundred vehicles were collected?"
Lunev did not speak, but shook his head slightly.
Seeing Lunev shaking his head, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little panicked. He could only lower his expectations: "Is it eighty cars?"
But Runev still shook his head.
Sokov was almost desperate. After searching the city for a whole morning, he found that there were not even 80 bicycles. He said desperately: "Comrade Military Commissar, you won't tell me that you don't even have fifty bicycles collected, right?"
Seeing Sokov's expression, Lunev couldn't help but laugh: "Comrade Commander, look at how anxious you are. If you really haven't collected fifty bicycles, am I still embarrassed to come back and report to you?"
Luniev's words raised hope in Sokov's heart, and he quickly asked: "Comrade Military Commissar, please tell me truthfully, how many bicycles have been collected?"
"Thirteen hundred vehicles." After Lunev told this data, he saw Sokov's eyes almost falling to the ground. He couldn't help but said proudly: "Comrade Commander, does this data scare you?" Jump?"
"Yes, it really shocked me." Sokov did not hide his true thoughts at all. He asked curiously: "Commissioner, where did so many bicycles come from?"
"General Sokov, I think I should know the answer." Before Lunev could speak, Managarov interrupted: "You also know that Kremenchug is located on the bank of the Dnieper River, with complex terrain and roads. The conditions are so bad that it would be inconvenient for urban residents to travel solely by buses and horse-drawn carriages. Therefore, I don’t know since when, more and more families in the city have purchased bicycles, and this form of transportation has become a The first choice for family travel.”
Sokov thought that he had hardly seen cyclists in Moscow except for postmen, so he asked in confusion: "But even in the capital Moscow, there are not many cyclists on the streets, right?"
"General Sokov, there is a reason why there are so few cyclists in Moscow." Managarov explained to Sokov: "The production of bicycles is planned in advance. Anyone who buys bicycles in department stores , all need to provide bicycle tickets to the salesperson..."
Managarov's words reminded Sokov of the era when almost everything was supplied by ticket: buying rice required food stamps, eating required food stamps, buying oil required oil stamps, buying sugar required sugar stamps, and buying cloth You need a cloth ticket, you need a TV ticket to buy a TV, and you need a bicycle ticket to buy a bicycle. This is still the case decades later, let alone the 1940s when supplies were in short supply.
Sokov was silent for a while, remembered something, and asked Managarov tentatively: "Comrade General, if you need a ticket to buy a bicycle, how come the citizens of Klemenkoug have so many vehicles?" Woolen cloth?"
Managarov turned and looked at his military commissar Gorokhov, and said with a smile: "General Sokov, my military commissar went to the bicycle factory this morning to learn more about the bicycle factory here every year. Half of the production is supplied to Moscow, and the remaining half is sold locally or in nearby cities, so I am not surprised that more than 1,300 bicycles were collected in half a day."
Managarov's words ignited hope in Sokov's heart. If the bicycle factory can produce eight hundred to one thousand bicycles, then there will be two thousand people in the army who can ride bicycles to fight. Thinking of this, he asked Gorokhov cautiously: "General Gorokhov, since you have been to the bicycle factory today, I would like to ask, can the factory resume operations in the near future?"
"I talked with the factory director and most of the skilled workers in the factory are still there. As long as the raw materials are complete, we can start work at any time." Gorokhov said with some complacency: "The factory director assured me that the daily output can be Less than a hundred.”
The daily output at any time is only about a hundred units, but Sokov knows that under the current situation, this is probably the limit of the bicycle factory. Even if you issue any mandatory orders to the other party, it will not be of much help in increasing production. He nodded and said: "Under the current situation, being able to produce a hundred bicycles every day is already very impressive. We cannot force the other party to blindly increase production to avoid adverse effects."
"Then we should send someone to supervise." Gorokhov reminded Sokov. "In any case, they have been producing in enemy-occupied areas for two years. We have no way of knowing what they are thinking. I'm worried that if When they are producing, there may be saboteurs hiding in them to sabotage the factory."
"You can rest assured about this." Sokov comforted Gorokhov and said: "The factory is also our key prevention area. We have arranged a lot of manpower to serve as guards, and we will never let the enemy cause damage."
"Comrade Commander," Lunev said when he saw Sokov handing over the task of supervising production to Gorokhov, he was not only secretly relieved. This kind of thing is offending to others, and there are many trivial matters. Now that Gorokhov was willing to accept this chaotic stall, he simply couldn't ask for more: "Then what is my next task?"
"Supervise the soldiers learning to ride bicycles."
If it had been a day ago that Sokov had proposed that the soldiers learn to ride bicycles, someone might have questioned it. But after he issued this order at this time, Lunev immediately replied readily: "I immediately arranged for the troops directly under the headquarters to start strengthening patrols to prevent enemy destruction."
Sokov warned: "Comrade Military Commissar, after the bicycles come back, let the soldiers who can ride bikes get familiar with the conditions first. After they are familiar with them, teach those soldiers who can't ride bikes to ride."
Sokov originally thought that collecting bicycles would be a very difficult task. After all, except for a few people who own cars, most Russian residents travel by public transportation or horse-drawn carriages. There are very few places where bicycles can be used.
But as soon as the collection work began, residents of the city began to enthusiastically donate their bicycles, saying that they would contribute to the elimination of the Germans. Originally, Lunev ordered the names of these donors to be registered so that their bicycles could be returned in the future. But many people just put their cars there, turned around and left, leaving no chance for the soldiers to register.
In this way, in less than half a day, Lunev collected more than 1,300 bicycles. He returned to the headquarters happily and reported the good news to Sokov.
However, the first time he met Sokov, he did not immediately report the results of the morning. Instead, he deliberately asked in a pretentious manner: "Comrade Commander, guess how many bicycles we have collected so far?"
Sokov looked at Runev, trying to read the answer on his face. But there was no sadness or joy on Lunev's face. Sokov asked hesitantly: "A hundred vehicles were collected?"
Lunev did not speak, but shook his head slightly.
Seeing Lunev shaking his head, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little panicked. He could only lower his expectations: "Is it eighty cars?"
But Runev still shook his head.
Sokov was almost desperate. After searching the city for a whole morning, he found that there were not even 80 bicycles. He said desperately: "Comrade Military Commissar, you won't tell me that you don't even have fifty bicycles collected, right?"
Seeing Sokov's expression, Lunev couldn't help but laugh: "Comrade Commander, look at how anxious you are. If you really haven't collected fifty bicycles, am I still embarrassed to come back and report to you?"
Luniev's words raised hope in Sokov's heart, and he quickly asked: "Comrade Military Commissar, please tell me truthfully, how many bicycles have been collected?"
"Thirteen hundred vehicles." After Lunev told this data, he saw Sokov's eyes almost falling to the ground. He couldn't help but said proudly: "Comrade Commander, does this data scare you?" Jump?"
"Yes, it really shocked me." Sokov did not hide his true thoughts at all. He asked curiously: "Commissioner, where did so many bicycles come from?"
"General Sokov, I think I should know the answer." Before Lunev could speak, Managarov interrupted: "You also know that Kremenchug is located on the bank of the Dnieper River, with complex terrain and roads. The conditions are so bad that it would be inconvenient for urban residents to travel solely by buses and horse-drawn carriages. Therefore, I don’t know since when, more and more families in the city have purchased bicycles, and this form of transportation has become a The first choice for family travel.”
Sokov thought that he had hardly seen cyclists in Moscow except for postmen, so he asked in confusion: "But even in the capital Moscow, there are not many cyclists on the streets, right?"
"General Sokov, there is a reason why there are so few cyclists in Moscow." Managarov explained to Sokov: "The production of bicycles is planned in advance. Anyone who buys bicycles in department stores , all need to provide bicycle tickets to the salesperson..."
Managarov's words reminded Sokov of the era when almost everything was supplied by ticket: buying rice required food stamps, eating required food stamps, buying oil required oil stamps, buying sugar required sugar stamps, and buying cloth You need a cloth ticket, you need a TV ticket to buy a TV, and you need a bicycle ticket to buy a bicycle. This is still the case decades later, let alone the 1940s when supplies were in short supply.
Sokov was silent for a while, remembered something, and asked Managarov tentatively: "Comrade General, if you need a ticket to buy a bicycle, how come the citizens of Klemenkoug have so many vehicles?" Woolen cloth?"
Managarov turned and looked at his military commissar Gorokhov, and said with a smile: "General Sokov, my military commissar went to the bicycle factory this morning to learn more about the bicycle factory here every year. Half of the production is supplied to Moscow, and the remaining half is sold locally or in nearby cities, so I am not surprised that more than 1,300 bicycles were collected in half a day."
Managarov's words ignited hope in Sokov's heart. If the bicycle factory can produce eight hundred to one thousand bicycles, then there will be two thousand people in the army who can ride bicycles to fight. Thinking of this, he cautiously asked Gorokhov: "General Gorokhov, since you have been to the bicycle factory today, I would like to ask, can the factory resume operations in the near future?"
"I talked with the factory director and most of the skilled workers in the factory are still there. As long as the raw materials are complete, we can start work at any time." Gorokhov said with some complacency: "The factory director assured me that the daily output can be Less than a hundred.”
The daily output at any time is only about a hundred units, but Sokov knows that under the current situation, this is probably the limit of the bicycle factory. Even if you issue any mandatory orders to the other party, it will not be of much help in increasing production. He nodded and said: "In today's situation, being able to produce a hundred bicycles every day is already very impressive. We cannot force the other party to blindly increase production to avoid adverse effects."
"Then we should send someone to supervise." Gorokhov reminded Sokov. "In any case, we have no way of knowing what they are thinking after they have been producing in enemy-occupied areas for two years. I'm worried that if When they are producing, there may be saboteurs hiding in them to sabotage the factory."
"You can rest assured about this." Sokov comforted Gorokhov and said: "The factory is also our key prevention area. We have arranged a lot of manpower to serve as guards, and we will never let the enemy cause damage."
"Comrade Commander," Lunev said when he saw that Sokov had handed over the task of supervising production to Gorokhov, he was not only secretly relieved, but this kind of thing is offending to others, and there are many trivial matters. Now that Gorokhov was willing to accept this chaotic stall, he simply couldn't ask for more: "Then what is my next task?"
"Supervise the soldiers learning to ride bicycles."
If it had been a day ago that Sokov had proposed that the soldiers learn to ride bicycles, someone might have questioned it. But after he issued this order at this time, Lunev immediately replied readily: "I immediately arranged for the troops directly under the headquarters to start strengthening patrols to prevent enemy destruction."
Sokov warned: "Comrade Military Commissar, after the bicycles come back, let the soldiers who can ride them familiarize themselves with the conditions first. After getting familiar with them, teach those soldiers who can't ride them to ride."
