Under Sokov's persuasion, Asiya finally gave up the idea of celebrating for him, but still said reluctantly: "If you don't celebrate such a big event, won't you regret it in the future?"
"It's just a small honor. It doesn't matter whether you celebrate it or not. There's nothing to regret." After Sokov finished speaking, he suddenly thought of Rokossovsky and said casually: " Compared with General Rokossovsky, this matter is really nothing."
"General Rokossovsky?" Asia had a look of astonishment on her face after hearing what Sokov said; "Did something happen to him?"
"Don't you know that the Supreme Command originally arranged for his troops to liberate Kiev. But due to various reasons, after the October offensive failed, he was transferred to the north, and the task of liberating Kiev fell to Vatu On the head of Beijing's First Ukrainian Front." Sokov looked at Asiya and asked: "There was an opportunity that could be recorded in history, but now it has fallen into the hands of others. How do you feel? ?”
Asiya hesitated for a few seconds and then said: "But General Vatutin's troops performed very well. According to the Soviet Intelligence Agency's battle report, his troops liberated Kiev at 6:50 in the morning on the 6th."
"The Russian army has a tradition. As long as the red flag is planted on the top of the city's municipal building during the battle, even if 80% of the city is still in the hands of the enemy, it means that our army has occupied the city." Sokov smiled bitterly. Said: "Maybe the time you mentioned is just the time to put the red flag on the roof."
"Misha," Asia asked in surprise, "Did our army not occupy Kiev at all?"
"Kiev must have been occupied by our army, and the next battle will definitely start to the west of Kiev." Sokov said: "But what I doubt is that our army actually occupied Kiev much longer than the intelligence agency Reports will be late.”
But after Sokov said this, he immediately reminded Asiya: "Asiya, just listen to this and don't say it everywhere, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble."
Asiya knew the seriousness of the problem, so she nodded and said, "I understand, Misha, I won't tell others."
A week later, when the dean brought someone to check the ward, he told Sokov good news: "General Sokov, I have good news to tell you."
"Good news?!" After this period of getting along, Sokov had some understanding of the dean's character. The other party said that there was good news, and it must be related to his injury, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade dean, and Is my injury related?”
"Yes, it is indeed related to your injury." The dean said with a smile: "You have been lying in the hospital bed for a long enough time. You can go outside to breathe fresh air."
"Comrade Dean," Sokov waited for the other party to finish speaking, pointed to his leg with a cast, and said, "My cast has not been removed yet, how can I get out of bed and walk."
"Comrade General, you misunderstood. When I said go out and breathe fresh air, I didn't mean for you to get out of bed and practice walking. I meant for you to go out in a wheelchair and take a look at the surrounding environment."
"Comrade General," Vera, who was standing in the corner of the ward, heard the dean say this and quickly stepped forward and said, "As long as the sun shines outside, I can push you out to get some fresh air."
"Vera, the weather is good today. You can find a wheelchair later and push Comrade General out to get some fresh air." The dean told Vera, "But it's a bit cold outside. It's best to wear more clothes when you go out. To avoid catching a cold."
Half an hour later, Sokov was sitting in a wheelchair and was pushed outside by Vera to bask in the sun. Because he knew the winter in Russia and knew that the sunnier the weather, the colder it would be, so he put on a warm military coat before going out.
The soldiers standing guard at the door were obviously notified. When they saw Vera pushing Sokov out and Asiya who was following the wheelchair, not only did they not feel embarrassed, but they even took the initiative to push Vera out of the wheelchair.
Arriving at the open space, Sokov saw the majestic building opposite at a glance. He tilted his head back and asked Vera: "Vera, is the Lubyanka Ministry of Internal Affairs building ahead of you, right?"
"Yes, Comrade General."
Seeing that there was no camouflage net on the building, Sokov couldn't help but curiously asked: "Strange, why is there no camouflage net on this building? Aren't you afraid that the target will be exposed when the Germans come to air raid?"
When Vera heard this, she smiled: "Comrade General, didn't you listen to Comrade Stalin's speech a few days ago? As the war situation develops in a direction that is beneficial to our army, the threat of war in Moscow has been completely eliminated. Not only here The camouflage nets on the buildings have been removed, and the camouflage nets on most buildings in the city are also being removed one after another."
Sokov nodded and said that it was a good thing to dismantle the camouflage net in the city. At least it meant that the enemy's air force would no longer appear over the city, and everyone no longer had to worry about being attacked by air raids.
Sokov suddenly saw an officer wearing a military coat and an otter fur hat, walking slowly in his direction. He felt that the figure of the other party was somewhat familiar, and after squinting for a while, he turned to Asiya, who was standing next to him and was stamping his feet, and said, "Asiya, hurry up and look at the officer who is walking over. Do we know each other?”
Asiya quickly looked in the direction Sokov pointed, and sure enough, she found that the officer walking towards us did have a familiar figure, so she said thoughtfully: "Misha, tell me, will you?" Could it be that General Runev came to visit you?"
"Well, it's possible." After Asiya's reminder, Sokov found that although the officer walking over couldn't see his face, his forehead, body shape and walking posture did resemble Lunev: "It's a bit like Lunev, what is he doing here? Is he visiting me?"
The officer came over quickly. He was probably thinking about something and didn't notice Sokov and others staying at the entrance, and walked inside with his head buried.
When Sokov saw clearly that the officer was Lunev, he shouted at him: "General Lunev, where are you going?"
When he heard someone calling his name, Lunev stopped and looked in the direction of the sound with some confusion. When he saw Sokov clearly sitting in the wheelchair, he shouted in surprise: "Misha, what a ghost, how could you come out?"
"Comrade Dean said that my injury is recovering well and he asked me to come out and breathe fresh air." After Sokov briefly introduced the situation, he continued to ask: "Are you here to see me?"
"That's right, I just came to the hospital to see you." Lunev said to Asiya and Vera: "It's too cold outside, hurry up and push Misha in. If you get frostbite, it will be serious."
After Sokov was pushed back to the ward, Asya and Vera helped him lie on the bed.
Vera knew Lunev and knew that he would go to the Three Treasures Hall for no reason. After finishing his work, he immediately found an excuse to avoid it. Asiya poured a cup of hot tea and put it in Lunev's hand, then left the ward and closed the door, because she knew very well that there must be something important for Lunev to come in a hurry today. The matter needs to be discussed with Sokov. Given her level, she was not qualified to listen to many things, so she chose to avoid them.
"Lunev, what happened?"
"The German army launched a counterattack in the Zhitomir area, and the situation of our army is very bad..."
"Wait a minute, my comrade military commissar." After hearing Lunev talk about the situation on the front line, Sokov instinctively called him the military commissar: "Without a map, I can't figure out what you are talking about."
Sokov's words reminded Luniev. He took out a squarely folded map from his pocket, unfolded it and spread it on Sokov's quilt. He pointed at it and introduced: "Misha, you Lo and behold, Zhitomir is to the west of Kiev, now held by General Moskalenko's 38th Army.
General Rybalko's 3rd Guards Tank Army is now south of Zhitomir, less than fifty kilometers away from Berdichev. His 7th Guards Tank Corps was blocking the attack of the German 25th Armored Division outside Fastov.
The 60th Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Chernyakhovsky, is attacking Korosten, north of Zhytomir.
General Zhimachenko's 40th Army had just left Kiev and moved south, preparing to block the enemies moving north. "
After Sokov waited for Lunev to finish introducing the situation, he did not immediately express any opinion, but asked: "Where is our 27th Army? Where is it now?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Runev replied with a bitter look on his face: "After the fierce battle in the early stage, they had become exhausted and unable to launch another attack, so they stayed to defend the Bucklin Bend. "
After Sokov clearly saw the position of the 27th Army, he just hummed lightly.
Lunev was very dissatisfied with Sokov's reaction. He said emotionally: "Misha, do you plan to watch the enemy annihilate our troops and retake Kiev?"
"My Comrade Military Commissar, I think you have forgotten an important thing." Sokov spread his hands, shrugged, and said helplessly: "You know, I am just a wounded soldier now, how can I be qualified? What kind of battle situation analysis are you here for?"
"Aren't you going to the General Staff Headquarters?" Lunev asked strangely: "When the situation on the front line is not good for our army, I come over to ask you what countermeasures you have. Is there anything wrong with that?"
"Lunev, when did I agree to go to the General Staff?" Sokov also reminded Lunev specifically: "Didn't I clearly express my refusal when you and General Shtemenko came here last time?"
"Shtemenko convinced Chief of the General Staff Antonov," Lunev said to Sokov: "I have prepared a transfer order for you. I will officially go to work in the combat department as soon as your injury recovers."
Sokov panicked. He dreamed of returning to the front line and did not want to go to a combat department at all. He is very self-aware and knows that he is simply not qualified for the work of the War Department. If he really goes there, his true colors will be revealed in less than two weeks. So he tried his best to evade and said: "Lunev, for the sake of us being friends, help me."
"What can I do for you?"
"Help me reject the transfer order from the War Department." When it came to this, Sokov did not hide it, but said it directly: "I still hope to return to the front line."
"Return to the front line?" Lunev shook his head and said: "The 27th Army is now commanded by General Trofimenko. Although he has problems in command, Vatutin thinks highly of him and wants to put him under the command of General Trofimenko. It will be very difficult to replace him." The implication is, don't think about going back to be a group army commander, just go to the operations department honestly.
From Lunev's words, Sokov realized that Zhukov had not communicated with Antonov, otherwise the chief of general staff would not have issued a transfer order to him so quickly.
"Lunev, my old friend, will not be able to return to the 27th Army. It has long been expected by me." Sokov said frankly to Lunev: "General Rokossovsky once told me We have talked about it and hope that after I recover from my injury, I can join his army. I have already promised him, but you can’t let me be a person who breaks my word, right?”
"What, Rokossovsky invited you to join his army?" Lunev asked in surprise: "When did this happen?"
"He came with Marshal Zhukov a few days ago." When Sokov mentioned Zhukov, he deliberately emphasized his tone, letting Lunev understand that Zhukov was also an insider about his return to the front line after recovering from injury.
If Rokossovsky is the only person who allows Sokov to return to the front line, Lunev feels that the transfer order issued by Antonov still has a chance to take effect. But since Zhukov is involved in this matter, transferring Sokov to the Operations Department is obviously not that safe.
However, he remembered the purpose of coming here today and quickly said: "Misha, whether you return to the front line or go to the combat department, we need to wait until your injury recovers. I came today just to ask you how to crack the crack current crisis."
Sokov remembered that General Balck, commander of the German 48th Armored Corps, soon after the counterattack began, concentrated more than 400 tanks from the Flag Guard Division and the 1st Armored Division to launch a fierce attack on the 38th Group Army, which lacked armor strength. The 7th Armored Division and the 68th Infantry Division were also used to cut off the road from Kiev to Zhitomyr, forming an encirclement of the 38th Group Army.
Thinking that in order to avoid being annihilated by the Germans, the 38th Group Army trapped in Zhytomyr would have to break out sooner or later. Breaking out early could reduce some losses. Wanting to understand this, he said to Lunev: "Lunev, in order to prevent the 38th Army from being encircled by the Germans, they should be ordered to abandon Zhitomir immediately and quickly retreat to Kiev."
"What, give up Zhitomir?" Lunev stared at Sokov with wide eyes, thinking about why Sokov would make such a suggestion. After a while, he shook his head with a wry smile, and then pointed at the map to Sokov: "Misha, look at the map. The three armies of the First Ukrainian Front advanced in parallel: the 38th Army in the middle occupied the day care Mir; the 60th Army on the northern route is besieging Korosten; while the 3rd Guards Tank Army on the southern route is approaching Berdichev. Once Zhitomir is abandoned, the original straight line will become a V-shape. The front is in danger of being split apart by the Germans."
"There is nothing we can do about this, Runev." Sokov said helplessly: "Even if General Moskalenko wants to hold on to Zhitomir, I don't think he can stand it. Rather than wait until then, he will have to pay a lot of effort. It would be better to evacuate Zhytomyr proactively and retain more effective forces than to break out of the enemy's encirclement at a high cost."
