red moscow

Chapter 2629

"What, the Northern Group?" Before Sokov could say anything, Yakov said, "The one with its headquarters in Warsaw?"

"Yes, Yasha, your guess is correct." Rokossovsky said to Yakov: "According to the Soviet-Polish Friendship, Mutual Assistance and Post-War Cooperation Treaty signed in Moscow on April 1945, 4, the Supreme Command issued Order No. 21, deciding to form the Northern Group on May 11096, 1945 to manage and control the Soviet armed forces in Poland. The headquarters is located in Legnica, Poland, and is reorganized from the headquarters of the Second Belorussian Front.

According to your father's arrangement, I should have taken up the post there last July, but due to too many things in Moscow, I was delayed. After the meeting held in the past few days, I will officially take up the post. In addition, the headquarters has also been moved from Legnica to Warsaw. "

After Rokossovsky briefly introduced the situation, he looked at Sokov and asked, "Misha, what do you think?"

Sokov thought that he had rushed to Berlin a few months ago under Zhukov's arrangement. He thought he could serve as Malinin's deputy, but after arriving, he found that the position promised by Zhukov had been assigned to someone by the Supreme Command, and Malinin was also transferred to Austria to take up a new position. Once bitten, one is afraid of the rope for ten years. The last time he went to Berlin, he came up empty-handed. If he followed Rokossovsky to Warsaw this time, who could guarantee that a similar situation would not happen again?

Sokov was silent for a few words, then he sighed softly and said, "Comrade Marshal, thank you for your kindness. I want to stay in Moscow for the next two years and spend more time with my wife. Since the accident at the beginning of the year, her mental state has been bad. If I am not with her for a long time, I am worried that something will happen to her."

Rokossovsky was also present on the day of the car accident, so he knew exactly what happened. Hearing Sokov using Asia as a shield, he could only sigh helplessly and said, "Well, Misha, since you don't want to, I won't force you. You stay in Moscow and spend time with Asia. I hope that one day in the future, you can come to help me again."

"I'll do my best."

Sokov rejected Rokossovsky's invitation, which surprised Yakov. If Sokov had rejected Zhukov's invitation before, it would be understandable, after all, Zhukov was not Sokov's direct leader. But the relationship between Sokov and Rokossovsky was much closer. According to Yakov's imagination, if he were Sokov, and heard Rokossovsky's proposal, if he hesitated for a second, it would be disrespectful to Rokossovsky.

  But what is surprising is that Sokov actually rejected Rokossovsky's invitation and chose to stay in Moscow. What was he thinking?

However, these questions could not be asked in front of Rokossovsky.

After finally coming out of Rokossovsky's ward and returning to his car, Yakov asked, "Misha, I don't understand why you rejected Marshal Rokossovsky's invitation. In fact, I think it's not a bad thing for you to go to Warsaw. At least it can help you get out of the invisible vortex."

"I'm worried about Asiya here."

"Come on, Asiya is just an excuse." Unexpectedly, Yakov interrupted him and said, "I think you must have deeper considerations. There are only two of us here. If you have anything to say, just say it directly."

"Poland is in too much chaos." Sokov sighed softly and said, "The last time I went to Berlin, I was attacked by gangsters when I passed through Poland. If the reinforcements hadn't arrived in time, I'm afraid I would have died there. Karina's father was originally going to Berlin to take up his post, but unfortunately he died at the hands of gangsters."

"Misha, you didn't hear what the Marshal said. The troops of the Northern Group were reorganized from your former Second Belorussian Front. You have countless familiar people from the headquarters to the grassroots. With their cooperation, it will be very beneficial for your future work." Yakov continued to persuade: "So I think you should think about it carefully. It would be best if you can accept Marshal Rokossovsky's advice."

"Yasha, I just said that the situation in Poland is too chaotic." Sokov said seriously, "Our troops have to face not only the remnant armed forces that colluded with the Germans, but also the Polish people who are hostile to us. Although our propaganda slogans are all about friendly Polish people, there are still many Poles who resist us. If I am asked to command the battle, I have no problem, because I know where the enemy is. But if I am asked to manage these places, I will be a little overwhelmed, because I can't tell who is the enemy and who is the friend. This is why I rejected Marshal Rokossovsky."

Yakov was silent after hearing this, and finally nodded slowly: "Misha, maybe you are right. Managing a place is definitely more difficult than occupying a place."

On the way back to the British Embassy, ​​the car passed a theater. Yakov stopped the car on the side of the road, pointed to the poster on the wall, and said to Sokov: "Misha, look, this theater is also performing the play "The Dawns Here Are Quiet". To be honest, a few days before we entered the barracks, I watched your play in a theater. Although I was one of the earliest readers, I don't know why, but when I saw the five female soldiers sacrificed one by one, I still felt very sad."

Sokov smiled slightly, then said: "Tragedy can leave a deeper impression on people."

Yakov pointed to the gate and asked tentatively, "Misha, how about we go in and watch a show?"

"Forget it," Sokov shook his head and said, "First, time does not allow it, and second, I am worried that I will cry when I see the touching parts. Let's forget it."

When he said this, Sokov's heart couldn't help but skip a beat. He remembered that he had promised Kopalova that he would accompany her to watch the play when he was free. However, more than two months had passed and he hadn't fulfilled his promise. He wondered if Kopalova thought of him as a liar.

Since Sokov didn't want to watch the play, Yakov didn't force him. He restarted the car and drove towards the British Embassy. He asked casually, "Misha, how long do you think we have to stay in this damn embassy?"

"Yasha, if you want to know the specific answer, you can ask your father." Sokov said, "As long as he gives the order, we can withdraw from the embassy at any time."

"Oh, what a pity." Yakov sighed and said, "The elite troops we selected have been training for such a long time. We originally planned to perform well at the victory parade in London, but due to various reasons, the plan to go to the UK was cancelled. When the officers and soldiers learned about this, they were a little depressed."

"Let them be." Sokov said calmly, "Maybe someday some British soldiers will try to rush out of the building. Our soldiers will beat them up and their morale will be high again."

Back in the embassy's duty room, Asia came in and asked with concern: "Have you seen Marshal Rokossovsky?"

"Yes, we did," Sokov replied briefly.

"Asiya, you don't know that the sentry on duty at the door didn't allow anyone to go in to visit the marshal." Yakov said proudly: "Later, Yakov and I climbed through the window and entered the building, and then we successfully met Marshal Rokossovsky."

"How is the Marshal's health?"

"It was just a mild stroke. After rescue, he is fine now. There are no sequelae." Sokov said briefly: "Maybe he can be discharged in two days." "That's good, that's good." After feeling thankful, Asia said to Sokov: "Misha, there is one more thing I forgot to tell you. When you were still in Berlin, Marshal Rokossovsky called home once and said that he hoped you could go to the Northern Group and serve as his deputy. Since you came back from Berlin late, I forgot to tell you about this. I hope you don't mind."

"No problem, no problem." Sokov opened his arms and embraced Asiya. "I don't want to go anywhere. I'll just stay at home with you. For me, no job is more important than you."

"Misha, you are so kind!"

Yakov didn't expect that he would be fed a handful of dog food so suddenly. He quickly stood up and said, "I'm going out to smoke a cigarette, you guys continue." After that, he opened the door and walked out.

When he arrived in the yard, he found Bezikov and asked directly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, has anything happened during the time we were away?"

Bezikov thought for a moment and replied, "The person in the purchasing department of the embassy once wanted to leave, saying that he wanted to buy food for cooking, but I refused."

"Did he say anything?"

"He said that if we don't let him go out, he wants us to buy food for him." Bezikov took out a piece of paper from his pocket, which was full of words. "This is the list he wants to buy. We just need to buy the varieties and quantities listed on it."

"There's only a list, but where's the money?" Yakov saw that Bezikov only took out the shopping list from the embassy's purchasing department, but not the money, so he asked curiously, "Don't they ever use money to buy food?"

"How is that possible, Comrade General!" Bezikov replied, "I asked the staff of the purchasing department why they didn't pay me. He told me that they buy vegetables at designated places and settle accounts every month. When we go to buy vegetables, we just need to tell them that we are buying them for the embassy and give them this list. They will prepare all the ingredients needed by the embassy according to the list."

"Have you sent anyone to buy ingredients?"

"Not yet, Comrade General," Bezikov said, "I will not send anyone to buy food without your instructions."

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you did the right thing!" After praising Bezikov, Yakov turned around and walked back to the duty room. He said to Sokov, who was still flirting with him, "Misha, stop for a moment. I have something to tell you."

"What's the matter?" Sokov let go of Asiya, stood up and walked to Yakov and asked, "What happened?"

"Misha, during the time we were away, the embassy's purchasing department tried to go out, claiming to be buying food, but was stopped by our soldiers." Yakov handed the paper in his hand to Sokov: "This is the list Bezikov gave me."

Sokov took the paper and saw that it was all written in English. He couldn't help but frowned: "Yasha, don't you think there is something wrong with this paper?"

Yakov asked tentatively: "You mean, there might be some information written on this piece of paper using a special potion?"

"We can't rule out this possibility." Sokov held up the paper and shone the light on it. He didn't find anything unusual, but he didn't take it lightly. Instead, he told Asiya, "Asiya, give me your paper and pen."

Seeing Sokov taking the paper and pen from Asiya, Yakov asked in surprise: "Misha, what are you going to do?"

Sokov pointed at the paper and said, "With our current means, we cannot confirm whether there is a secret letter written by the embassy staff using secret writing potion on this shopping list. To be on the safe side, I plan to make a new copy so that their information cannot be passed on. After I finish copying, you can send someone to deliver this list to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and let them check whether there is any hidden content on it."

Yakov felt that what Sokov said made a lot of sense. No matter what means the people in the embassy used to write the intelligence on this shopping list, as long as they were given a different piece of paper, their intelligence would not be able to be transmitted.

He stood by and watched for a while, then found something wrong: "Misha, the list was written in English, why did you change it all to Russian?"

Seeing Yakov's confusion, Sokov explained to him: "Yasha, maybe the British didn't use secret writing potions to write on paper, but used other methods to transmit information. For example, by intercepting the first few letters of one or several words in each line, they can form a detailed intelligence. I just need to change the original English into Russian, and their routine will be useless."

Sokov quickly copied the list. As he tore the copied paper from his notebook, he said to Yakov, "Yasha, if you encounter similar situations in the future, use the same method to deal with them so that their intelligence cannot be passed on."

"Okay," Yakov nodded, "I'll go find Lieutenant Colonel Bezikov and ask him to arrange some personnel as soon as possible to help the embassy purchase food."

After Yakov left, Asiya, who had been silent the whole time, said to Sokov: "Misha, I think one of these points is very strange. Did you notice it?"

"What's strange about that?"

"There should be quite a few Russian translators in the embassy, ​​right?" Asia frowned and said, "But why did they prepare an English list? Do the shops that sell ingredients to them know English?"

Asiya's words made Sokov raise his eyebrows. This seemed to be a problem, but he ignored it. You know, the local people who know English can be basically ignored. If the embassy's purchasing department encounters a guy who doesn't know English when buying food, won't it cause trouble? In this way, there must be something wrong with the place where the embassy's purchasing department buys things.

"Axia, you're right." Sokov nodded and said, "There are indeed not many people who understand English, but the embassy took out an English purchase list, which means there is something wrong with the store that provided them with the food."