red moscow

Chapter 2608

After arriving at the place mentioned by traffic policeman Misha, Sokov indeed saw a duty point. There was a traffic policeman standing at the door, looking around anxiously.

Seeing Sokov driving over, the traffic police quickly raised his hand to salute and gestured to Sokov to drive the car into the yard of the duty point.

When Sokov passed by a traffic policeman, he stopped his car to make sure whether the policeman was waiting for him and asked tentatively: "Comrade traffic policeman, are you waiting for me?"

"Yes, Comrade General." The traffic police said respectfully: "My colleague told me that a general who drives a bucket truck needs to find a place to refuel his car. And you are a general, and the car you drive happens to be a bucket truck, which means the person who needs to refuel is you."

And so, Sokov drove into the yard of the duty point.

There were a lot of oil drums piled up in the yard. When a traffic policeman wearing the rank of lieutenant saw Sokov's car coming in, he ran up quickly, saluted Sokov who had just got out of the car, and said respectfully: "Comrade General, please go to the house to rest first. I will arrange for someone to refuel."

"No need, I'll wait here." Lieutenant Sokov said politely, "I have to return to Moscow immediately for urgent matters. I will set off as soon as the car is filled with gas."

After hearing this, the lieutenant did not dare to delay and immediately asked his men to draw gasoline from the oil barrel and add it to the oil truck of the barrel truck.

Soon, the traffic police finished refueling. Sokov thanked them and drove away from the traffic police duty point. He soon left Vladimir and drove along the road towards Moscow.

Some people in later generations said that there was no defense force near Moscow, and an army composed of prisoners could easily attack the city. In fact, people who say this are ignorant. Moscow is a city built in the forest, and there are only a few fixed roads that can pass through the forest to enter the city. The defense along the way is quite strict. Sokov found at least three anti-aircraft artillery positions and some armored units along the way. Not to mention a small number of prisoners, even elite troops such as the German Imperial Division and the Skeleton Division would not have an easy time breaking into Moscow.

It was already two o'clock in the afternoon when we arrived at Zhukov's villa.

When Sokov entered the villa, he was greeted by Zhukov's adjutant, who politely said to Sokov, "General Sokov, the Marshal is taking a nap and will probably not get up until after three o'clock. Please sit in the living room and rest for a while. I will prepare tea and cakes for you."

"Then please hurry up," Sokov said, since this was Zhukov's territory. "I haven't eaten anything today, and I'm starving."

"Okay, wait a moment, the food will be brought to you soon."

After the adjutant brought the food, Sokov finished it all in the shortest possible time, then leaned back on the sofa and closed his eyes to rest.

He originally just wanted to rest and relax, but he accidentally fell asleep and didn't even know when Zhukov appeared in front of him.

Sokov felt someone shaking his shoulder while he was sleeping. He opened his eyes with difficulty, wanting to see who dared to disturb his sleep. When he saw the familiar face clearly, his sleepiness was instantly scared away. He hurriedly stood up, staggering to his feet, and raised his hand to salute the other person: "Hello, Comrade Marshal!"

Seeing that Sokov had regained consciousness, Zhukov said unhappily, "Where have you been these past two days? Why is there no one answering the phone at your home?"

"Comrade Marshal, Asia has gone back to her parents' home and won't be back until the 5th at the earliest."

"I'm asking you, where have you been and why didn't you answer the phone?"

Sokov replied somewhat awkwardly: "I'm going to Vladimir."

"Vladimir, what are you doing there?" Zhukov had just finished saying this when he suddenly remembered a piece of gossip he had received: "I heard that you have a female friend in Vladimir, and it is said that you have a good relationship with her. Is this rumor true?"

Seeing that Zhukov had figured out the reason why he went to Vladimir, Sokov did not dare to hide it and could only nod and say, "Yes, Comrade Marshal, the rumor is true. I went to Vladimir this time to see her."

"Nonsense, it's just nonsense." Zhukov said with a sullen look on his face: "You have an Adelina in Berlin and another in Vladimir. If Asia knew about this, how would she react? Have you ever thought about this?"

Facing Zhukov's rebuke, Sokov did not dare to refute and could only stand there and accept the criticism. Fortunately, Zhukov did not dwell on this matter. He walked to the sofa and sat down, then waved to Sokov: "You sit down too, I have something to ask you."

  Sokov quickly sat down in his original seat and stared at Zhukov intently, wanting to hear what he would say.

"Misha, on New Year's Day, you told Comrade Khrushchev in front of me that Ukraine might experience drought this summer, which would lead to a significant reduction in crop yields. Therefore, you suggested that he arrange for manpower to plant more cold-resistant crops such as corn and potatoes. Do I remember it correctly?"

"That's right, Comrade Marshal, that's what I said." Sokov did not deny this at all. He even took the initiative to say, "You also know that the residents of Moscow go to their villas in the suburbs for vacation in mid-to-late May, and at the same time they open up the open space in front of their houses, sow seeds of potatoes, corn, tomatoes, carrots and cabbage, water them twice, and then leave them alone, just waiting until early September to harvest them."

"Well, I know about this." Zhukov waited for Sokov to finish speaking before expressing his own opinion: "Do you think the planting method used by Moscow residents is suitable for promotion in Ukraine? Also, do you know how much these crops, which are planted and left alone, produce each year?"

In his later life, Sokov had dealt with some people who came to Russia to farm, and he heard a lot from them. For example, the vegetables planted by Russians and Chinese in the same area had a huge difference in yield when it came to the harvest season. At first, the Russians thought it was a problem with the seeds, but they asked the Chinese for the planting methods of the vegetables and planted them according to their original methods. When it came to the harvest season, the yield was still speechlessly low.

The real reason for this situation is that the Russians are too lazy. After they planted the seeds, they basically ignored them, while the Chinese stayed in the fields and worked hard every day. You reap what you sow. When the harvest season comes, it is self-evident who will get a better harvest. At this moment, hearing Zhukov's question, Sokov didn't know how to answer. Although he had been to Ukraine, he was commanding operations there, and every day he only needed to think about how to defeat the enemy. But now that the war is over, the issue to consider is no longer how to defeat the enemy, but how to rebuild the city as soon as possible, how to get factories and enterprises back to work, and how to make the land that has been abandoned for several years produce food again.

"I don't think you know that." Seeing that Sokov didn't say anything, Zhukov continued to criticize him, "You are indeed very good at fighting wars. But agricultural production is not war. If you apply the war methods to agricultural production, there will be problems."

Sokov felt a little confused. He thought to himself, I just suggested planting more drought-resistant potatoes and corn to prevent the great famine that may occur this summer. Why did you bring up the war? However, he did not dare to refute Zhukov's words and could only listen to his teachings quietly.

After Zhukov spoke for a while, he took a sip of the tea on the table and said, "Misha, do you have anything else to say?"

"Comrade Marshal, please listen to my argument, no, listen to my explanation." Sokov finally waited for a plan that allowed him to speak, and said quickly: "I have a hunch that Ukraine may encounter a once-in-a-century drought this summer, which will lead to a large-scale reduction in grain production or even a total crop failure. Therefore, we need to prepare in advance to avoid a serious situation at that time."

"You mentioned a serious situation." Zhukov looked at Sokov and asked, "Then tell me, what kind of serious situation will it be?"

Sokov hesitated for a moment, and then thought that Zhukov should be someone he could trust, so he said decisively: "I think there may be a severe famine, similar to the severe famine in 1932-1933."

"Misha, do you know what you are talking about?" Zhukov said angrily, "If the Ministry of Internal Affairs hears your assumption, someone will send you to the Lubyanka prison tonight and let you reflect on your actions."

"I know, Comrade Marshal." Sokov nodded, agreeing with Zhukov's statement: "But I cannot choose to remain silent knowing the possible serious consequences. My conscience will not be at peace with that."

"Misha, a famine like the one in 1932-1933 will never happen again," Zhukov said confidently. "Even if Ukraine suffers a severe drought this summer, which leads to a large-scale crop yield reduction, the famine you mentioned will not occur. Because Ukraine's granaries have enough food stored to help the people survive the famine."

"Comrade Marshal, you are talking about normal situations, but what if an accident happens?"

"Accident, what accident?" Zhukov asked back.

"You know, since the end of the war, there are several more countries that we are protecting." Sokov explained, "They also paid a huge price in this war, and the people are having an extremely hard time. I think after the superiors understand their difficulties, they may take the initiative to provide them with material assistance including food.

As you know, Ukraine is the granary of our country. If we want to provide food to those protected countries, the first place to collect food is definitely Ukraine. If it is a normal year, it doesn’t matter, but if they really encounter a drought and their own food is seriously insufficient, the consequences will be very serious if a large amount of food is collected. "

"I have discussed this matter with Comrade Khrushchev," Zhukov said. "He told me that if Ukraine suffered a drought that happened once in a century this summer, then when it came time to collect grain, the higher authorities would certainly reduce the amount as appropriate. Tell me, if the amount collected was reduced, would the famine you are worried about still happen?"

Sokov remembered very clearly that the 1946 million poods of grain collected from Ukraine in were the collection standards set by Stalin after considering that Ukraine had just ended the war and its grain production had seriously decreased. It was these million poods of grain that became the last straw that broke the camel's back, leading to the inevitable famine.

"Comrade Marshal, please believe me." Seeing that Zhukov didn't believe him at all, Sokov became anxious. "What I am worried about now is that even if the collection standard of summer grain this year is reduced, it is still beyond what Ukraine can bear, leaving the people with no surplus grain."

Zhukov was very angry when he saw Sokov was so stubborn. He wanted to scold him again, but then he thought that Sokov had always been very perceptive in judging the situation. Since he repeatedly emphasized this, it seemed that the problem he was worried about might really happen.

After figuring this out, Zhukov asked, "Misha, then tell me, is there any way to deal with it?"

"I think we should hurry up and deploy manpower. After May, we should plant drought-resistant crops such as potatoes and corn on those abandoned lands. Even if wheat production is greatly reduced or even fails, there will be enough food to help Ukrainians get through the difficult days and avoid famine."

"Whether famine will occur or not, I cannot discuss this with you for the time being. After all, it is still early in May, and whether there will be drought is also an unknown." Zhukov said, "I want you to tell me, if we really want to grow cold-resistant potatoes and corn on those barren lands, we will definitely need a lot of manpower. I wonder where these people will be drawn from?"

"Siberia, of course."

"Siberia?!"

"Yes," Sokov nodded and said, "As far as I know, many of our released prisoners of war were sent to Siberia. I think we can let them grow potatoes and corn in Ukraine, which will solve the problem of shortage of manpower."

After he made this proposal, seeing that Zhukov remained silent, he cautiously said: "Comrade Marshal, since you do not agree to use our released prisoners of war, you can consider the German prisoners of war."

"What, German prisoners of war?" Zhukov's brows twisted into a knot: "You mean, let those German prisoners of war held in Siberia be sent to Ukraine to grow potatoes?"

"That's right, Comrade Marshal, that's what I think." Sokov said, "Since the Far East Campaign of August Storm, we have captured more than 600,000 Kwantung Army soldiers and sent them to Siberia one after another. The influx of so many prisoners of war must have brought huge pressure to the management agencies of the local prisoner-of-war camps. If we can take the opportunity to transfer all the German prisoners of war to Ukraine, we can reduce the pressure on the prisoner-of-war camps."

"Misha, you are just kidding. Have you ever thought about this?" Zhukov said angrily, "If we really transfer all the German prisoners of war in the Far East to Ukraine, it means that we need to build a large number of prisoner-of-war camps in the region to detain these German prisoners of war from Siberia. Do you think Comrade Stalin will agree?"