red moscow

Chapter 2633

The next morning, Yakov drove to pick up Sokov.

On the way, Yakov said to Sokov, "Misha, during the New Year's Day, someone pretended to be a staff member of the city's housing management department and called you, saying that they were going to allocate you a villa. How was it, did the other party contact you later?"

"No, we haven't been able to get in touch with Asiya since the car accident." Sokov said, "We analyzed at the time that this so-called city housing management department staff was fake. Why did you suddenly think of talking about this?"

"I went to that area yesterday and found that many villas were empty," Yakov said. "It turns out that the owner of the villa must have died during the war. Instead of letting such a nice house sit there and collect dust, why don't you use your connections to choose a villa and move in. That way, you will have more rooms, and Marshal Zhukov can legitimately arrange guards for you."

"I would like to move in, but unfortunately I don't have any connections or background."

"Aren't we going to the General Staff today?" Yakov reminded Sokov, "When you meet Marshal Zhukov, talk to him about this matter. He will help you solve the problem later. You know, although the war has been over for a long time, with your rank, it is easy for something to go wrong if you don't have a few guards around you."

"Okay then." Sokov felt that what Yakov said made sense, so he nodded and said, "I will mention this to Marshal Zhukov after I meet him."

"That's right." Yakov said excitedly, "Marshal Zhukov is not a worm in your stomach. If you don't tell him what you need, he won't be able to help you even if he wants to. Don't you think so?"

"That's right." Sokov replied, "Some things do require taking the initiative to achieve the goal in the shortest possible time."

When they arrived at the General Staff, the two first went to meet the Chief of General Staff Antonov.

When he arrived at Antonov's office, Sokov met a general with a big beard.

Antonov saw that Sokov was a little dazed and knew that he didn't recognize the people around him, so he took the initiative to introduce them: "General Sokov, let me introduce you. This is the new Deputy Chief of the General Staff and Chief of Operations, General Shtemenko."

Perhaps worried that Sokov did not know Shtemenko well, he even told him his resume: "Comrade Shtemenko was nominated by Comrade Stalin himself and promoted to General in November 1943. He accompanied the Supreme Commander to the Tehran Conference.

At the end of 1943, he participated in the preparations for the campaign of Andrei Ivanovich Yeremenko's Primorsky Army to liberate Crimea.

From February to March 1944, as the chief of staff of the General Staff representing Timoshenko, he participated in organizing the breakthrough of the German defense line and coordinating the actions of the First and Second Baltic Fronts in the Second Baltic Front. With his humility and talent, he won the admiration of Marshal Timoshenko, who did not trust the General Staff.

1944年4月和6月作为大本营代表先后赴白俄罗斯第三方面军和白俄罗斯第二方面军，为准备和实施1944年莫吉廖夫战役做出了重大贡献。同年7月又前往波罗的海沿岸第三方面军，协助该方面军首长计划、准备和实施1944年普斯科夫—奥斯特罗夫战役。

By the way, he also participated in the formulation of the operational plan called "August Storm" in June 1945 to crush the Kwantung Army. "

Although the other party's military rank was the same as his, because Shtemenko had an official position, Sokov took the initiative to raise his hand and salute him: "Hello, Comrade Deputy Chief of the General Staff!"

"Hello, General Sokov!" Shtemenko raised his hand to return the greeting, then came over to shake hands with Sokov. "I have heard of your name for a long time, but for various reasons, I never had the chance to fight alongside you. Today I finally get to see you in person."

"General Sokov, General Yakov!" Antonov asked curiously, "Why are you here at the General Staff today?"

"Marshal Zhukov, it was Marshal Zhukov who asked us to come here," Sokov replied quickly. "He said that our army will launch a large-scale military exercise in Europe on the eve of May Day, and asked me and Yasha to come here today to participate in the formulation of the plan for this live-fire exercise."

"So that's what happened." Antonov scratched the back of his head and said with some embarrassment, "Yes, we do plan to launch a large-scale live-fire exercise in Europe before May Day. But Marshal Zhukov didn't tell me about your participation, so I can't let you join for the time being. Everything has to wait until Marshal Zhukov arrives."

"Comrade Chief of the General Staff," Sokov politely reminded Antonov, "Can you please call Marshal Zhukov now and ask him about this matter?"

Antonov pondered for a while, then nodded and said, "Okay, I'll call Marshal Zhukov now and hear what he says."

Seeing Antonov holding the phone in front of him and preparing to dial, Sokov asked tentatively: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, do you need us to temporarily withdraw?"

"That's not necessary." Antonov shook his head and said this, then dialed a number. When someone spoke on the line, he got straight to the point and said, "I'm the Chief of General Staff Antonov. Please help me find Marshal Zhukov!... What, Comrade Marshal is not in the office? Do you know where he went?... Well, I don't know!"

Antonov put down the phone and apologized to Sokov and Yakov: "General Sokov, General Yakov, I regret to tell you that Marshal Zhukov is not in his office now. The officers on duty don't know where he went. Therefore, I cannot let you attend the upcoming General Staff meeting. I hope you can understand my difficulties."

"It's okay, Comrade Chief of the General Staff." Although Sokov felt disappointed that Antonov did not allow him and Yakov to attend the meeting, he knew that the other party was also following the rules. For such a large-scale live-fire exercise, it was not in compliance with the rules to let two generals without actual positions participate in the planning. So he said politely: "Then Yasha and I will go out first and wait for Marshal Zhukov to come."

"General Sokov, General Yakov, I'm so sorry." Antonov said politely, "If I have been negligent in any way, please forgive me."

The two of them came to the corridor outside, found a bench to sit down, and began to chat.

"Misha, do you know what position Comrade Malenkov took after this meeting?"

"I don't know." Sokov shook his head and then asked, "Do you know?"

"Of course I know." Yakov nodded and continued, "He was elected as a member of the Central Political Bureau of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (Bolsheviks) and Secretary of the Central Political Bureau. At the meeting of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union, he was appointed as Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union." After hearing this, Sokov couldn't help but laugh, "Yasha, I'm right, your father regarded him as his successor, otherwise he would never have let him serve as Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers."

"Yes, your guess is correct." Yakov said doubtfully, "But the person with the highest voice was Zhdanov, how come it became Malenkov?"

Sokov knew the answer to Yakov's question, but he couldn't tell it, or he might end up in jail. So he just laughed and changed the subject: "Yasha, where did Marshal Zhukov go?"

"I don't know." Yakov said angrily, "I didn't expect that he didn't even inform General Antonov in advance. As a result, we got frustrated. If he didn't show up today, we would have to go home in shame."

"Not really, not really." Although he couldn't contact Marshal Zhukov for the time being, Sokov was not worried at all. He smiled and said, "Since the Marshal told us that he would study and formulate a plan for the live-fire exercise today, he will definitely show up. Be patient, maybe he will show up in front of us someday."

"really?"

"Of course it's true." Sokov nodded and said in an affirmative tone.

"I worry……"

Yakov had just said half of his words when a loud voice came from not far away: "What are you worried about?!"

The two looked in the direction of the voice and saw Zhukov, a short man with a big head, walking towards them with big strides. They stood up quickly and saluted him: "Hello, Comrade Marshal of the Soviet Union!"

Zhukov came up to the two men, shook hands with them one by one, and asked in surprise: "Since you are here, why don't you go in?"

"Comrade Marshal," Sokov said somewhat awkwardly, "Comrade Chief of the General Staff said that he had not received your notice, so he could not allow us to participate in the formulation of the exercise plan."

"Nonsense, I didn't inform him, so couldn't he call and ask me?" Zhukov said angrily.

"He did," Yakov interrupted, "but you were not in the office at the time, and the officer on duty didn't know where you were."

"Oh, so that's how it is. That was my oversight." Zhukov gestured to the two of them and said, "Follow me."

Seeing Zhukov walk into the office, Antonov and Shtemenko, who were sitting at the desk and talking, immediately stood up and saluted Zhukov: "Hello, Comrade Marshal!"

Zhukov raised his hand to return the greeting, and then said: "Comrade Antonov, I notified Misha and Yasha yesterday to participate in the discussion and formulation of the exercise plan. I forgot to inform you, so you knew nothing about it. This is all my fault."

"Comrade Marshal," Antonov said, "I called your office, but the comrade on duty said that you had left and had no idea where you were going. That is why I had to temporarily exclude General Sokov and General Yakov. Since you said so now, let them participate in the formulation and discussion of the plan."

"Is everyone here?"

Antonov did not answer, but turned his gaze to Shtemenko beside him.

Shtemenko stepped forward and reported to Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, so far, the conference room includes Deputy Chief of Staff Ivanov, Marshal Konev, Marshal Tolbukhin, Marshal Bagramyan and others."

Zhukov waved his hand and said, "Let's go, we'll go to the meeting now."

Arriving at the conference room, Sokov saw the people inside. In addition to the marshals Shtemenko mentioned, there were more than a dozen generals, including two generals. In front of these people, Sokov and Yakov were the lowest in rank, so they found a corner to sit down and prepare to listen to the exercise plan.

"Comrades Generals!" Zhukov said when he saw that everyone was already there. "The reason why we gathered you all here today is because our army will hold a real-life military exercise in Europe on the eve of May Day, with the participation of more than one million troops. First, please allow Chief of General Staff Antonov to speak and introduce the situation to everyone."

"Hello, marshals and generals!" Antonov stood up, walked to the wall, pointed to a giant map hanging on it and said, "Just a few days ago, former British Prime Minister Churchill made a very unfriendly statement to our country during his visit to the United States, saying that the Eastern European countries under our protection exist under the 'Iron Curtain'. In order to protest his vicious remarks, we will take a series of countermeasures. For example, we will send troops to surround their embassy and conduct large-scale military exercises in Europe to deter the West."

"Comrade Chief of General Staff." Upon hearing this, Baghramyan raised his hand and asked curiously, "I want to know if we have sent troops to besiege the British Embassy?"

"Yes, Comrade Baghramyan, we have sent troops to besiege the British embassy." Zhukov stood up and said, "The two generals who carried out this mission, Sokov and Yakov, are sitting in this room right now, studying and discussing the upcoming live-fire exercise plan with us."

When the attendees heard what Zhukov said, they looked at Sokov and Yakov with expressions of curiosity and approval on their faces. Even Antonov's eyes flashed with an involuntary smile.

"Okay, Comrade Antonov," Zhukov said to Antonov, "please continue."

"According to the results of the discussion between Marshal Zhukov and I, the troops participating in this exercise, in addition to the German garrison, also include our Central Garrison and Southern Garrison, with a total force of no less than one million. At the same time, a large number of our military's current technical equipment will be used." Antonov nodded and continued, "Everyone knows the German garrison, so I will not repeat it. Now I will introduce the Southern Garrison and the Central Garrison.

南方集群是1945年6月10日在原乌克兰第三方面军的基础上组建的，下辖近卫第4集团军，第26、第27、第46、第57集团军，第17航空集团军。部队驻扎在罗马尼亚、匈牙利和保加利亚，指挥部设在布达佩斯。

The Central Group is the general name for our army's garrisons in Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Hungary, with its headquarters in Milovice, Czechoslovakia. It was formed on June 1945, 6 on the basis of the First Ukrainian Front, and it includes the 10th, 4th, 5th, and 7th Guards Armies, the 9rd and 3th Guards Tank Armies, the 4nd Air Army, the 2st Guards Cavalry Army, the 1th Guards Mechanized Army, the 7th and 7th Artillery Armies, the 10th Tank Army, etc. It is a strong army.