red moscow

Chapter 2653

"Comrade General," Bisenbin said respectfully, "a corporal who was patrolling nearby called the headquarters duty room and said that you were coming to the city for inspection and told us your detailed location. The duty officer thought this was a serious matter and reported it to the commander, General Trofimenko. When the commander heard this, he thought that he could not ignore the fact that your predecessor had arrived in Budapest, so he sent me to pick you up with someone."

After saying this, Bisenbin paused for a moment, as if to give Sokov time to digest the information. When he felt that the other party had almost digested it, he continued, "Comrade General, the car is waiting for you outside, please follow us."

"Comrade Captain, I'm so sorry. We just ordered the food, but the restaurant owner hasn't served it yet." Sokov said to Bisenbin in a negotiating tone, "Can we wait until we finish eating before we follow you to the headquarters?"

Bisenbing thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay, Comrade General, it won't be too late to go to the headquarters after you finish your meal."

Sokov called Seryosha over and said, "Comrade Captain, let me introduce you. This is Seryosha, who used to be the commander of the guard battalion of the headquarters."

"You are Seryosha?!" Unexpectedly, Bisenbin's eyes widened in surprise: "Didn't you die in the battle?"

"I didn't die, I was just wounded." Seryosha said with some surprise: "Comrade Captain, do you know me?"

"I don't know him." Bisenbing shook his head and said, "I heard it from another guard battalion commander."

"Who?" Seryosha asked impatiently, "Who is the other guard battalion commander you mentioned?"

"Seryoelkov, Captain Seryoelkov," Bisenbin said loudly, "He is the commander of another guard battalion."

"Seryosha," Sokov had some impression of the name Bisenbin mentioned. "It must be Lieutenant Seryosha, the captain of your guard company, right? I never expected that after two years, he would become a captain."

Seryosha was not sure: "I think so."

A quarter of an hour later, the restaurant owner brought up the dishes ordered by Sokov and others.

When the boss was about to leave, Bisenbing said to him, "Calculate the price. I'll pay the bill."

Hearing that Bisenbin wanted to pay for him, Sokov felt something was wrong and said quickly: "Comrade Captain, I'll pay for it myself."

"Comrade General, when I came here, the commander told me that you are our guest and we must treat you well." Bisenbin said with a smile: "Since you are a guest here, how can we let guests pay for their own meals?"

Since Bisenbin said so, Sokov did not argue with the other party about who should pay the bill, and let Bisenbin follow the restaurant owner to the counter to pay the bill.

"Seryosha, Kopalova." Sokov said to the two people in front of him, "Let's eat quickly, the car is still waiting for us outside."

In fact, even if Sokov didn't say it, Seryosha and Kopalova knew that someone was waiting for them outside, so they naturally ate very quickly.

When they finished eating and stood up to leave, the restaurant owner came over, bowed and escorted them out the door, saying, "Welcome to visit us next time!"

Bisenbin and others who were waiting at the door saw Sokov coming out and hurriedly came over to him: "Comrade General, please get in the car."

Sokov nodded, let Kopalova sit in first, and then sat in the middle of the back row. Seryosha was the last one to enter and sat next to Sokov.

Bisenbin waited until Seryosha closed the car door before getting into the passenger seat and saying to the driver, "Drive, go to the headquarters!"

"Comrade Captain," Sokov asked Bisenbin curiously after the car started, "Besides the army headquarters in the city, is the cluster headquarters also here?"

"That's right, Comrade General." Bisenbing said in a positive tone: "The army headquarters is located in the School of Economics of the Hungarian Royal University of Sciences on the left bank of the Danube in the city center. The main teaching building was built in 1874 in a typical neo-Renaissance style."

Sokov was not very interested in where the headquarters was. After the baptism of war, there were not many buildings that were completely preserved. After coming out of the station, Sokov could see traces of war on the buildings on both sides of the road. Presumably, the main teaching building of the School of Economics of the Hungarian Royal University of Sciences had also been damaged to a certain extent.

Soon, the car arrived at a three-story building near the river.

Bisenbin stopped the car, turned to Sokov and said, "Comrade General, we have arrived."

Seryosha opened the car door and got out first. He stood beside the car and assisted Sokov and Kopalova to get out one by one.

When the men were about to go into the building, a captain came out. When he saw Bisenbin, he took the initiative to greet him, "Captain Bisenbin, where are you coming from?"

"I am here to pick up a guest on the commander's orders." After saying this, Bisenbin suddenly remembered that Sokov and Seryosha seemed to know the captain who greeted him, and quickly added: "Captain Seryokov, the guest who came today is an old acquaintance of yours."

"My old acquaintance?" Shelyokov asked in confusion. "Who is it?"

"Lieutenant Seryokov," Sokov walked out from behind Bisenbin and said to Seryokov, "Don't you recognize me?"

Seryokov stared at Sokov for a long time, then he said as if waking up from a dream: "It's you, Comrade Commander, I am not dreaming, am I?"

"Of course I'm not dreaming." Sokov stepped forward, held his hand, and shook it vigorously a few times. "Since I was injured and left this unit, I thought I would never have the chance to see my former comrades again."

"Comrade Commander," Seryokov said excitedly, "your old friend, Captain Seryosha, died in a battle..." "Who said I died!" Seryosha also came over and said to Seryokov, "Don't you see that I am standing in front of you alive?"

When Seryokov saw Seryosha standing in front of him, he exclaimed, and then asked in surprise: "Seryosha, didn't you die? Did you crawl out of the coffin?"

Seryosha stepped forward and grabbed Seryokov's hand, smiling and saying, "Touch my hand and see if it is warm. If I were dead, my hand would be ice cold."

"Seryosha, you're still alive, still alive." Seeing his former comrade-in-arms appear in front of him again, Seryokov seemed even more excited: "I really didn't expect it, Seryosha, you're still alive, you're still alive, it really surprises me."

"Captain Seryokov," Bisenbin saw how happy they were after the reunion and was worried that they would spend too much time chatting. He had already wasted a lot of time waiting for Sokov in the restaurant. If he continued to delay, the commander would blame him. He quickly said to Seryokov, "Comrade Commander is still waiting to see General Sokov."

"Comrade Commander," Shelyokov realized that he might have delayed Sokov's work, and said quickly, "My residence is not far from here. If you have time before you leave, you are very welcome to come and visit me."

"Well, okay. If I have time, I will definitely visit you and catch up with you." After saying this, Sokov turned to Bisenbin and said, "Captain Bisenbin, take us to see General Trofimenko."

Arriving at the headquarters on the third floor, Sokov met Admiral Trofimenko, who had taken over his position.

"Hello, General Trofimenko!" Sokov extended his hand to Trofimenko and said in a friendly tone: "Nice to meet you."

"Hello, General Sokov!" Trofimenko shook Sokov's hand and said politely, "Welcome to our place."

After Sokov introduced Kopalova and Seryosha to Trofimenko, they sat down and continued chatting.

Trofimenko looked at Seryosha and asked curiously, "Comrade Captain, I remember you. Didn't you die in the battle? How come you are here again?"

"Comrade General," Seryosha quickly stood up and explained to Trofimenko when he heard him ask about this matter, "I was only injured on the battlefield at that time and fainted. As a result, the rescuers thought I was dead and left me lying on the battlefield. When I woke up again, I found that I had become a prisoner of the Germans and was imprisoned in a prisoner-of-war camp."

Trofimenko was surprised to learn that Seryosha was captured because of his wounds: "Then how did you leave the prisoner-of-war camp?"

Seryosha considered that Trofimenko had been his superior and there was no need to hide some things from him, so he told the truth: "Our army occupied the prisoner-of-war camp, liberated all the officers and soldiers imprisoned there, and sent them to Siberia for reform. I was lucky. Not long after I was released from the labor camp, I met Misha who was there to visit Lieutenant General Lukin, and he took me back to Moscow."

After finding out Seryosha's situation, Trofimenko continued to ask: "Then why did General Sokov suddenly appear here?"

Sokov remembered that the 27th Army was also among the troops participating in the exercise, so he said bluntly: "I am here to participate in the live-fire military exercises next month."

"Oh, you are here to participate in the exercise as well?" Trofimenko asked with interest, "General Sokov, which unit you will be commanding?"

"The 4th Guards Army, troops stationed in Vienna."

"Stationed in Vienna?" Trofimenko said, somewhat puzzled. "If you were going to Vienna, how come you were in Budapest?"

"The train we took would stop at the station in Budapest for more than ten hours," Sokov explained to Trofimenko. "As you know, it's very boring to sit on the train, so we came out to take a walk and taste some Hungarian food."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Trofimenko nodded and said regretfully, "It's a pity that today is the weekend. Many famous restaurants are closed. The ones that are open are small restaurants of a small scale. Their food is not authentic. If you can stay a few more days, on Monday, I can personally act as your guide and take you to taste the real Hungarian food and let you eat your fill."

"It's a pity that our train will leave in a few hours." Sokov sighed and said, "We can only talk about it later when we have the chance."

"Budapest and Vienna are less than 300 kilometers apart," Trofimenko said. "If you come by car, it will only take a few hours. I think you will have a lot of free time after the exercise, and you can take time to come to Budapest to taste the food."

"By the way, General Trofimenko, I want to ask, are the old men in the headquarters still here?" Sokov asked tentatively, "I want to see them."

But after hearing Sokov's question, Trofimenko was silent for a long time before he spoke: "General Sokov, I understand your feelings, but the staff in the headquarters have basically been replaced in the past two years, and the commanders of the divisions and brigades have also been replaced by new people. Even if there are one or two who have not been replaced, their bases are too far away from here, and they can't get back in a while."

"That's such a pity." Sokov said with emotion: "I thought I would be able to see a few of my old comrades today when I returned to my old unit, but I didn't expect to see any of them."

"Misha, it's obviously wrong to say that we didn't see anyone." Seryosha reminded him, "When we came in, we met Seryokov. He was the commander of the guard company at the headquarters, so he is also an acquaintance of ours."

"Yes, yes, you are right. Seryokov is the acquaintance we met."

"General Sokov, I have a question for you," Trofimenko said. "Can you give me an answer?"

"what is the problem?"

"The war has been over for almost a year," Trofimenko asked in confusion, "Why did the General Staff suddenly organize such a large-scale military exercise? To be honest, when I called some friends in Moscow, they told me that they were taking a train to Europe to participate in the upcoming military operations."

Sokov knew very well that although Trofimenko was the commander of the army group, he was not able to know a lot of important intelligence due to his position. So he explained: "In early March, during his visit to the United States, former British Prime Minister Churchill delivered a notorious speech full of bad words about our country, even claiming that we are their enemy. In order to protest against this irresponsible speech, Marshal Zhukov planned to hold a massive military exercise in Europe to deter those scoundrels."

This might be the first time Trofimenko heard such content. After a long silence, he asked cautiously: "General Sokov, I heard that this exercise is a live-fire exercise with real guns and live ammunition. There are no outsiders here. Can you tell me the truth, is this live-fire military exercise just an exercise, or is it a preparation for a new attack on Britain, the United States, France and other countries?"

Sokov didn't expect that such a ridiculous idea would come out of Trofimenko's mind. He smiled and said, "General Trofimenko, you worry too much. This is just a military exercise, just a little bigger in scale, but it will definitely not allow the British, American and French armies to launch a real attack. You can rest assured about this."