red moscow

Chapter 2949

"I heard that some of the troops participating in today's parade are from the front lines," Lukin asked. "I wonder which one is from the 16th Army?"

"The 15th unit to pass through Lenin's Mausoleum was from the 16th Army." Sokov, worried that Lukin might not have noticed, specifically reminded him: "That unit was wearing khaki short leather coats, and the members were mostly from Central Asia. The commander at the head of the column was Comrade Klochkov, a first-class political instructor."

Lukin smiled and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, I really didn't expect that you, although you are in Moscow, would know so much about the troops that were drawn back from the front to participate in the parade, and even know who the commanders leading the troops are."

"Comrade General, you may not know this, but my defense zone is on the left flank of Volokolamsk. This participating force comes from the 316th Infantry Division, which is defending this city. And I happen to have met the commander in charge before, so I was able to recognize him at a glance."

After the parade, Stalin and others descended from the top of Lenin's Mausoleum and entered the Kremlin through a side door, officially concluding the October Day parade.

As the people on the reviewing stand gradually left, Sokov squatted down again with his back to Lukin: "Comrade General, let me carry you away."

Sokov carried Lukin back to the entrance of the slope, retrieved the wheelchair there, and helped Lukin sit in it again.

On the way to the boarding point, Lukin turned his head and asked Sokov, "Misha, when are you going back to the front?"

“Tomorrow,” Sokov replied. “Someone came to inform me yesterday that a car would be arranged to take me back to the front tomorrow morning.”

Lukin turned to the side, raised his hand and patted Sokov's hand, saying, "Misha, in my judgment, the fighting will become increasingly intense. You need to be careful about your safety. I hope that the day I return to the army, I will still see you alive and well."

"Don't worry, Comrade General," Sokov said with a smile, "I will not only live to see you return to the army, but also to see the day we achieve final victory."

“You’re right, we can all survive this war and live until the day we completely defeat the enemy.”

……

After sending Lukin back to his ward, Sokov couldn't wait to go find Victoria, because he was returning to the front lines the next day, but there was still one important thing he hadn't done.

When Victoria saw Sokov appear, a sweet smile appeared on her face: "Misha, you're back from Red Square?"

“Yes, Vika, I’m back.” Sokov nodded and asked eagerly, “I’ve come here today because I have something important to ask you.”

"whats the matter?"

"Can you create a face puzzle based on someone else's description?"

“It’s possible,” Victoria said hesitantly, “but it certainly won’t be as accurate as a professional forensic artist’s work.” She looked up at Sokov, puzzled, and asked, “Misha, why are you asking this?”

“It’s like this.” Sokov, seeing that no one was around, told the other party truthfully: “Isn’t there another German who came to this era with Anton, but we currently know nothing about him except his name? So I want Anton to describe Braun’s appearance to you, and then you can draw a face puzzle based on his description.”

When do you want to do the puzzle?

“It would be best to finish drawing it today,” Sokov said seriously, “because I’ve been notified that I have to return to the front lines tomorrow.”

Upon learning that Sokov would be returning to the front lines the next day, Victoria's eyes welled up with tears. As a time traveler from the future, she naturally knew how fierce the fighting would be over the next month. In the well-known film "The Battle of Moscow," after the October Day parade on Red Square, the German offensive seemed so feeble, and the entire battlefield was under the control of the Soviet army.

But what was the actual situation? The Soviet defenses were constantly shrinking under the German attacks, retreating step by step towards Moscow. Leaving aside other fronts, even the 16th Army under Rokossovsky's command was in dire straits, and the army headquarters was almost wiped out by the Germans several times.

She grasped Sokov's hand, her eyes brimming with tears, and said, "Misha, are you sure you won't be in danger going to the front lines this time?"

“Vika, don’t worry.” To avoid making Victoria worry about him, Sokov said calmly, “I am now a brigade commander, unlike junior commanders who need to be on the front lines of battle at all times, so my safety is guaranteed.”

He pulled his hand away from Victoria's, glanced at the time, and said, "I'm going to call Anton and tell him to get to the military hospital as soon as possible. I don't have much time left."

As soon as Sokov entered the hospital building, he encountered Khabarov, who was holding a bouquet of flowers.

"Anton!" Sokov quickly greeted him, "What are you doing here, and why did you bring a bouquet of flowers?"

“Of course I came to visit Vika,” Khabarov replied with a smile. “It’s a holiday today, and I couldn’t come empty-handed, so I bought her a bouquet of flowers at the flower shop by the roadside.”

"The prices must be quite high this season."

“Of course,” Khabarov replied affirmatively, “the price has increased by almost two times compared to the summer.”

“I’ll take you to see Vika,” Sokov said to Khabarov. “And while we’re at it, we’ll finish Braun’s puzzle.”

"Shall we do the jigsaw puzzle today?"

“Yes.” Sokov nodded. “I’m going back to the front tomorrow, and when I’ll be able to come to Moscow again is anyone’s guess.”

“Okay, I’ll try to describe it in as much detail as possible, and hopefully Vika can draw the Braun portrait puzzle more accurately.”

Sokov led Khabarov to the small garden and said to Victoria, who was staring blankly at the sky, "Vika, look who I brought!"

Victoria turned her head and saw Khabarov. She couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Misha, didn't you say you were going to call Anton? How come he's here so soon?"

"I had just walked into the hospital building when I saw him coming with a bouquet of flowers," Sokov replied with a smile, "so I pulled him over."

Khabarov approached Victoria and handed her the flowers, saying, "Vika, I wish you a speedy recovery!"

"Thank you, Anton!" Victoria took the flowers, brought them close to her nose to smell them, and then said, "These flowers smell so good."

“Time is limited, let’s start the jigsaw puzzle now.” Sokov took out a notebook and pencil from his bag and handed them to Victoria. Victoria first handed the flowers in her hand to Sokov, then took the paper and pen, turned to Khabarov and said, “Anton, now tell me what your friend looks like, and I will try to draw him as realistically as possible.”

Next, Khabarov began to describe his friend's appearance to Victoria in detail, while Sokov sat beside him with flowers in hand, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes to rest.

After an unknown amount of time, Sokov suddenly heard Victoria's voice: "Misha, I've finished drawing."

Sokov quickly opened his eyes and saw Khabarov take the notebook from Victoria and carefully examine the portrait puzzle inside. He leaned closer and cautiously asked, "Anton, does it look like him?"

“It’s about 70-80% similar,” Khabarov said, handing the notebook directly to Victoria and pointing to several areas, “The cheeks should be a bit thinner; and the eyebrows should be a bit thicker…”

Victoria accepted the notebook without complaint and, following Khabarov's instructions, corrected the imperfect parts.

After another seven or eight minutes, Khabarov finally nodded in satisfaction: "Alright, that's basically Braun's true appearance."

Victoria looked at Khabarov and asked seriously, "Anton, are you sure this is basically Braun's true appearance?"

“I can confirm it.”

“Alright.” Victoria tore off the page she had finished drawing and placed it on her lap. Then she picked up a pencil and began to draw a new puzzle on a blank page in her notebook, saying, “I’ll keep this one. I’ll draw another one for Misha so that when he returns to the front lines, he can use this puzzle to find the person we’re looking for.”

Despite saying that, Sokov had no hope whatsoever. He remembered how he had gone to great lengths to find Zoya's brother Shura in the Third Belorussian Front, but still hadn't found him until Shura was killed in the battle to liberate Königsberg.

However, Sokov did not dampen their spirits, since having this portrait puzzle piece would give them a better chance of finding Braun.

After Victoria drew a new portrait in the notebook, Sokov carefully put the notebook away, planning to take out the portrait to compare with the German prisoners when he had the opportunity to see them later, in order to see if he could find any trace of Braun.

After taking Victoria back to her ward, Khabarov said to Sokov, "Misha, Yasha would like to invite us to lunch. Would you be willing?"

Sokov glanced at the time; it was already past one o'clock in the afternoon. He frowned and said, "Isn't it a bit too late to have lunch at this hour?"

“No, that won’t happen.” Khabarov shook his head and said, “If we go at this time, we’ll miss the peak dining hours, and we can choose any suitable spot.”

Where are we going?

"Pushkin Square," Khabarov said with a smile. "The martial law in that area was lifted shortly after the parade, and the nearby restaurants all reopened."

“Let’s not delay, let’s go now,” Sokov said. “Don’t keep Yasha waiting.”

The distance from the military hospital to Pushkin Square is not far; it only takes about ten minutes to walk.

Soon, the two arrived at Pushkin Square.

Looking at the sea of ​​people, Sokov frowned and asked, "Anton, with so many people here, where are we supposed to find Yasha?"

"Look!" Khabarov pointed to the statue of Pushkin and said, "Before I went to the hospital, I made an agreement with Yasha that whoever arrived at Pushkin Square first would wait for someone under the statue. That way, no matter how many people are in the square, there won't be any situation where we can't find someone."

Sokov thought Khabarov made sense and urged, "Then let's hurry up and go to the statue."

The two squeezed to the front of the bronze statue and found that many people were taking pictures, but they did not find any trace of Yakov.

Seeing this, Sokov couldn't help but laugh at himself, saying, "I really didn't expect that we would arrive even earlier than Yasha."

"Commander!" As Sokov was talking to Khabarov, a girl wearing a black trench coat, a soft-brimmed hat, and holding a camera said to him, "Please stand a little to the left, so you don't get in my way while I'm taking pictures."

Sokov looked in the direction of the sound and saw a young couple standing not far away, looking at him with helpless eyes. He was indeed not far from them, and was obstructing their photos. He quickly apologized, then pulled Khabarov a few steps to the side, making room for them to take pictures.

After taking photos of the couple, the young woman walked up to them, took out a piece of paper from her bag, and said, "You can pick up your photos at my shop in three days. This is the receipt, please keep it safe!"

After the couple left, the young woman approached Sokov, looked him and Khabarov up and down, and politely asked, "Comrade Commander, I'm the photographer from the photo studio next to the square. On this great day, would you and your companion be interested in having a photo taken to commemorate the occasion?"

If Sokov had encountered a photographer actively soliciting business in Russia, he would have simply waved them off and walked away. But Russia seemed to have a passion for photography. Sokov had witnessed this in his later life: salespeople would return from vacations with stacks of photos to share with their friends, much like posting on social media in China.

Sokov didn't speak, but turned to look at Khabarov beside him, wondering if he would agree to the girl's suggestion.

"Of course," Khabarov replied, just as Sokov had guessed. He then politely asked the young woman, "How many days will it take to pick up the photos?"

“It usually takes three days.” After looking Sokov over again, the photographer continued, “But if you are in a hurry to return to the front, our studio can provide expedited service. You can get it as early as tomorrow afternoon, but the price will be a bit higher than normal.”

Khabarov pointed at Sokov and said, "My friend is going back to the front tomorrow. I wonder if he'll be able to get the developed photos today?"

"You want to pick it up today?" The photographer hesitated for a moment, then said to Khabarov, "Then the price will definitely be higher."

Khabarov pulled his wallet out of his pocket, showing the girl a thick wad of banknotes inside, and said casually, "As long as I can pick up the package today, any amount of money is fine."

When Sokov saw so much money in Khabarov's wallet, he couldn't help but look astonished. He thought to himself, "How did Anton get so much money in just a few days? Did he get lucky and find a bag of banknotes left behind by an armored truck on the street?"
When the female photographer saw the money in Khabarov's wallet, her eyes lit up and she said repeatedly, "Comrade soldier, since money is not a problem for you, I can definitely let you pick up the package today."

After agreeing on the price for the shoot, Sokov and Khabarov stood in front of Pushkin's statue and let the female photographer take their pictures.

(End of this chapter)