red moscow

Chapter 2584

During the conversation between Sokov and Malenkov, he found that the other was a person who was very good at finding topics. Every time he felt that he was running out of things to say, the other party would easily bring up a new topic, and the two could continue to chat happily.

During the conversation, Malenkov suddenly said, "Misha, I used to know someone with the same name as you."

"Someone with the same name as me?" Sokov asked in surprise, "Who is he?"

"Mikhail Ivanovich Sokov, living on Dimitriyazevsky Street in Moscow."

Sokov's eyes widened in surprise, because the name the other party said was exactly the father of the body he possessed. He asked cautiously: "Comrade Malenkov, do you know my father?"

"What, Mikhail Ivanovich is your father?" Malenkov said in shock, "I thought you just had the same name by chance."

"Yes, Comrade Malenkov, Mikhail Ivanovich is my father." Sokov gave the other party an affirmative answer and repeated the previous question: "Do you know him?"

"Of course, of course I know him." Malenkov said, "I joined the army in 1918 and served as a political worker at the company, regiment and brigade levels. But I never went to the battlefield. I was only responsible for political propaganda in the army. It was at that time that I met your father. He was a cavalry battalion commander and once saved Comrade Stalin's life in battle. It's a pity that he died too early, otherwise even if he couldn't become a marshal, he would be a general of the same level as you."

When Sokov heard what Malenkov said, he grinned, but he was thinking in his heart, even if old Misha had not died young, could he have successfully escaped during the Great Purge?

Malenkov asked unexpectedly: "By the way, where is your father's grave? I want to go and pay my respects to him when I have time."

Sokov had no idea where old Misha's grave was. He was dumbfounded for a moment and didn't know how to answer.

Seeing this, Malenkov asked in surprise: "Misha, don't you know where your father's grave is?"

"Yes, of course I know." Sokov pretended to be heartbroken and said, "He is buried in the Saints Cemetery in Moscow, but because of this damn war, I haven't been to pay tribute to him for many years."

Sokov had planned to leave after staying for only ten minutes, but they got so excited that they forgot the time. To get rid of the embarrassment, he looked at the time and found that he had been with Malenkov for more than two hours. He hurriedly stood up and said goodbye to him: "Comrade Malenkov, it's getting late. I'll take my leave now and visit you another day."

"Misha, it's rare that we have such a pleasant chat, why don't we chat for a while longer?"

Faced with Malenkov's enthusiasm, Sokov could only smile bitterly and replied: "Comrade Malenkov, the guards responsible for my security are still waiting outside. Seeing that I haven't gone out for such a long time, they will be worried."

After hearing what Sokov said, Malenkov no longer tried to persuade him to stay. He took the initiative to extend his hand and said with a smile: "Then we will talk another day."

As soon as Sokov walked out of the building, Vaserigov came up to him. He first looked into the door, then lowered his voice and asked, "Comrade General, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, what can happen to me?"

"Comrade General, you were in there for too long. I was worried that something had happened to you." Vaserigov explained to Sokov, "You know, the conversations with Marshal Zhukov rarely lasted more than ten minutes, but you were in there for nearly three hours. I thought something had happened."

"I met a leading comrade." Sokov said casually, "I chatted with him for a while and unknowingly wasted time."

After the car started, Vaseligov, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned around, looked at Sokov, who was sitting in the back seat, and asked, "Comrade General, which leader did you meet?"

Sokov originally didn't want to tell the other party, but then he thought about it and realized that Vaserigov was the security guard assigned to him by Zhukov. Before that, he had been staying in this building and must know a lot of people. So he said cautiously, "It's Comrade Malenkov. Do you know him?"

"Yes, of course." Vasherigov nodded vigorously and gave Sokov an affirmative answer: "When I was working in the headquarters, I often saw him coming to see Marshal Zhukov. On two occasions, I went in to report. He is a kind person and basically has no airs in front of us. The staff in the building respect him very much."

Sokov was skeptical about Vaseligov's statement that Malenkov was a kind person. In his limited memory, Malenkov was known for his tough tactics and did not know how to conceal his ambitions. A few years later, he would join forces with Beria to fight against the powerful Zhdanov. Although he was once expelled from the core of power by Stalin, he was still a person trusted by Stalin.

It is said that it was Malenkov who first called Stalin "the loving father". In early 1925, Kaganovich discovered Malenkov and arranged for him to work under Stalin's secretary. In 1930, after Kaganovich was promoted to the top leader of Moscow, Malenkov was appointed as the head of the Municipal Party Committee's Organization Bureau. It is said that every time he saw Stalin, he would excitedly say to the people around him: "Seeing Comrade Stalin is like seeing my loving father." He firmly supported Stalin's ideas at all times. Not long after, he was appreciated by Stalin and was entrusted with important tasks.

  After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, although Malenkov's achievements were mediocre, he held an extremely important position in Stalin's mind, which did not hinder his promotion. After the war, he was even appointed as the head of the committee responsible for dismantling German industrial equipment, which shows how much Stalin valued him. Sokov began to wonder whether he should use the friendship between old Misha and Malenkov to deepen their relationship?

Just as Sokov was daydreaming, he suddenly heard Vaseligov say, "Comrade General, I just saw Adelina."

"What, you saw Ajelina?" Sokov asked nervously while looking out the window, "Where is she? Why can't I see her?"

"You misunderstood, Comrade General." Seeing that Sokov kept looking out the window, Vasherigov knew that he had misunderstood what he meant, and hurriedly explained: "I saw Comrade Adelina in the headquarters building. She saw me at that time and asked me about you."

"Why is she in the headquarters building?" Sokov asked in surprise. Seeing Sokov so surprised, Vaserigov was a little surprised: "Comrade General, wasn't Adelina transferred to the translation team? The translation team's work location is in the headquarters building. It's normal for me to see Comrade Adelina here."

After not seeing Adelina for such a long time, Sokov still missed her. For a moment, Sokov couldn't help but want to order the driver to turn around and return to the headquarters so that he could go find Adelina. But then he thought, if he really did that, if someone with ulterior motives saw it and made a fuss about it in the future, it would probably bring him a lot of trouble. The best way is to wait until the next time he goes to see Zhukov, and go to the translation team in the building to find Adelina, so that no one can gossip.

Vaseligov originally thought that after Sokov knew where Adelina was, he would immediately order the driver to turn around and go back to the headquarters to find Adelina. But after waiting for a long time, he still didn't get any order from Sokov. He guessed that Sokov didn't let the driver turn around, maybe for his own considerations, so he didn't ask any questions that would embarrass Sokov.

After the convoy arrived at the hotel, Sokov got out of the car and said to Vaserigov: "Major, I'm going back to my room first. If there is anything, call me directly."

"Understood, Comrade General."

Sokov returned to his room and continued writing his novel.

Just after finishing two pages, the phone on the table rang. Sokov put down his pen, stood up and picked up the phone: "This is Sokov!"

Yakov's voice came from the receiver, accompanied by the crackling sound of electricity: "Misha, it's me, Yakov."

"It's Yasha." Because the sound of electricity in the phone receiver was too loud, Yakov's voice was a little unclear, so Sokov had to say louder: "Yasha, the signal here is not good, please speak louder."

"Misha!" Yakov raised his voice and said, "Comrade Eisenstein asked me to call you and ask if you have any recommendations for the heroine Lida in "The Dawns Here Are Quiet"? "

"Yes," Sokov replied, "I plan to cast Valentina Serova in this role."

"What?" Yakov was shocked when he heard Sokov's order. "You plan to let Valentina Serova play the role of Lida? Is this appropriate?"

Sokov heard the hidden meaning in Yakov's words and said quickly, "Yasha, I understand what you mean. Serova is an excellent actress. No matter how close her relationship with someone is, it will not affect us letting her play the role of Lida."

Seeing that Sokov understood his hint, Yakov hesitated for a moment and said, "Misha, I will convey your opinion to Comrade Eisenstein. But whether he is willing to use Serova to play the leading role is hard to say. Besides, you know that Serova is a famous actress. Even if Comrade Eisenstein doesn't say anything, whether she is willing to play this role is still a question."

"Don't worry." Sokov comforted Yakov and said, "Just convey my intention to Comrade Eisenstein and see if he agrees. If he doesn't agree, we will find another suitable candidate to play this role."

"Okay, Misha." Since Sokov had said this, Yakov didn't know what to say. "I'll pass it on."

After a pause, Yakov continued, "Misha, since we are talking about Serova, I want to tell you one more thing."

Sokov wondered if Yakov was going to tell him that Marshal Rokossovsky stopped outside Serova's house every morning. But he did not rush to answer, but asked, "Yasha, what's the matter?"

"I heard about this. I'm not sure whether it's true or not, but I'm telling you this because you're my friend." Yakov said, "It's said that Comrade Zhdanov admired the writer Simonov's work "Smoke from the Motherland" very much and praised it highly. However, my father's opinion of this work is exactly the opposite.

When Simonov heard the news, he panicked and asked Zhdanov how to revise the work to please my father. But Zhdanov cursed the work and Simonov on the spot and kicked Simonov out of his office.

Sokov heard this and realized that Zhdanov did this just to please Stalin, but his exaggerated performance was embarrassing. His actions were not only useless, but might even have the opposite effect.

Sokov knew very well that Yakov would not tell him about this for no reason, and that he must have something more important to say later, so he asked straight to the point: "Yasha, do you have anything to say to me?"

"Yes, Misha, I do have something to say to you." Yakov kindly reminded Sokov: "My father didn't agree with you to continue writing the novel "The Siege" because the novel involves the group of leaders in Leningrad. If you really write it, you might offend them. I suggest that after you finish writing "An Ordinary Soldier", you should stop writing novels and find something else to do."

Sokov smiled bitterly and said, "Yasha, I am now a general without any real power. If I don't write novels, what else can I do?"

"You can go to the General Armament Department." Yakov said, "Don't forget that Comrade Ustinov once promised you that he would always keep a position for you. He will welcome you whenever you want to join the General Armament Department."

Yakov's words made Sokov fall into deep thought. If he could no longer write novels, joining the General Armament Department and becoming a military engineer seemed to be a good choice. But Sokov knew that the assault rifles, 107 rockets and anti-tank rocket launchers he developed were all copied from later materials. If he was really asked to design a new weapon, he would be exposed immediately.

Seeing that Sokov was still reluctant to speak, Yakov thought that he was still unwilling to join the General Armament Department. He did not want to embarrass himself, so he murmured, "Misha, I am just giving you a heads-up. You still have to decide what you plan to do in the future."

Sokov waited for Yakov to finish speaking, then he said, "Yasha, I may return to Moscow after a while. As for what kind of job I will do in the future, I will decide after I return to Moscow. Do you think this is okay?"

"Ah?! You are finally going back to Moscow. I wonder when you will be back?" Yakov said in surprise: "I will pick you up at the station."