red moscow

Chapter 3165

Gulia was clearly familiar with the layout of the office building. Without asking anyone for directions, she led Sokov to the elevator not far away.

A female soldier was standing in the elevator. When she saw the two men approaching, her gaze quickly swept over their shoulder insignia before she respectfully asked, "Which floor are you going to?"

Upon hearing the female soldier's question, Gulia replied, "We are going to see Marshal Zhukov."

The female soldier nodded, first closing the elevator door, then pressing the button for the fifth floor.

A moment later, the elevator stopped, and the tightly closed iron doors opened. Sokov thanked the female soldier and stepped out of the elevator.

Two guards carrying submachine guns stood in the corridor. When they saw someone coming out of the elevator, they immediately cast wary glances in their direction.

Upon seeing that one of the two men was carrying the rank of general, they were taken aback at first, then stood at attention and saluted Sokov.

Sokov raised his hand to his ear, returned the greeting, and quickly walked past them down the corridor toward Zhukov's office.

Zhukov's office consisted of two rooms, an inner and an outer one. The two leather-covered doors of the inner room were tightly closed. Near the door was a desk, behind which sat a colonel. Opposite him was a row of benches against the wall, filled with officers of various ranks, seemingly waiting for Zhukov to receive them. Although there were quite a few people, no one spoke; the room was very quiet.

When Sokov and Gulia entered the room, the officers all stood up from their seats and paid their respects to Sokov.

The colonel, who was sitting behind the table, quickly stood up when he saw Sokov appear, walked around from behind the table, and strode over to Sokov.

"Hello, Comrade General!" The colonel saluted Sokov and tentatively asked, "Are you Deputy Commander Sokov?"

"Yes, I am Sokov." Sokov replied briefly, "I have an appointment with Comrade Marshal at ten o'clock."

"The Marshal has already given me instructions," the colonel said respectfully. "Please wait a moment, I will go in and report to the Marshal immediately."

"Go ahead." Sokov gestured to the colonel, indicating that he should go and report to Zhukov.

The colonel strode to the two doors, opened one of them, and slipped inside. As his figure disappeared through the doorway, the door closed silently.

A moment later, the door opened again, and the colonel came out, jogging to Sokov and saying respectfully, "Comrade Marshal, please come in!"

As Sokov followed the colonel into Zhukov's office, the officers waiting outside began to whisper among themselves: "Who is this general? We've never seen him before!"

"I don't know either. I've met all the generals in the military region, but I've never seen this one before. Maybe he was just transferred from another region?"

"If a new general were to be transferred from another region, there would definitely be prior warning. How come we haven't heard a thing?"

A bold major approached Gulia, smiling obsequiously, and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant, who is the general who came with you? We've never seen him before."

Gulia glanced at the man sideways and said coldly, "Major, you've studied the secrecy regulations, haven't you? You should know what you should and shouldn't ask. You're not qualified to inquire about his identity." The major, having been rebuffed by Gulia, gave an awkward laugh and returned to his original seat.

Zhukov's office was spacious, measuring about 60 or 70 square meters, and his desk was placed near the window.

Sokov strode to Zhukov's desk, saluted, and loudly reported according to regulations: "Reporting to Comrade Marshal, General Sokov has come on your orders. Please give your instructions!"

Zhukov looked up, a faint smile on his face, and pointed to a single sofa not far away, saying, "Misha, your injuries haven't fully healed yet, sit down first."

After Sokov sat down on the sofa, Zhukov stood up, came to him, and carefully examined him before saying, "Misha, you look much better. Tell me honestly, is your body really up to the task at hand?"

Upon hearing Zhukov's question, Sokov immediately stood up and replied in a loud voice, "Please rest assured, Comrade Marshal, my health is sufficient for any task. Please allow me to begin work as soon as possible."

Zhukov placed his hands on Sokov's shoulders, gently pressing him back onto the sofa before speaking: "Since you've repeatedly requested to return to work as soon as possible, I will grant your request and allow you to return to your post. However, before that, I will have an office prepared for you and staff arranged to serve you, so that you can better fulfill your duties."

Seeing that Zhukov agreed to let him officially start his work, Sokov's heart, which had been in his throat, was put back down.

He looked up at Zhukov and tentatively asked, "Comrade Marshal, what areas of work do you intend for me to be responsible for?"

“Misha, don’t worry,” Zhukov waved his hand and said, “Your specific work arrangements need to be discussed in a meeting in a couple of days. When I called you just now, didn’t I say that Lunev would be arriving in Odessa this afternoon? Your immediate task is to accompany him on his inspection tour in Odessa.”

"Is Lunev here on some special mission in Odessa?" Although Sokov knew very well that he would hardly get the answer he wanted from Zhukov, he still asked tentatively.

Just as Sokov had predicted, Zhukov, upon hearing the question, slowly shook his head and said, "I only received notification from Moscow that Lunev will arrive this afternoon. As for his mission, I have no idea."

After saying this, Zhukov turned and walked back behind his desk. He casually flipped through the documents on the table before asking, "Misha, how many guards do you have around you?"

“One bodyguard and six guards,” Sokov replied. “However, the guards usually stay in the villa; I actually only have Lieutenant Gulia as my bodyguard.”

"You're recovering at the villa; these men are more than enough to ensure your safety," Zhukov said. "When you go to pick up Lunev this afternoon, I'll assign you another guard platoon to ensure we have enough men to protect you and Lunev."

Sokov was surprised that Zhukov would allocate a guard platoon to him to protect him and Lunev, so he tentatively asked, "Comrade Marshal, is the situation in Odessa really that bad?"

"Misha, you've been recovering from your injuries for the past two months and don't know much about the situation outside," Zhukov said seriously. "Once you officially start working and become familiar with the outside environment, you'll know just how dire the situation in Odessa really is."

Those disrupting public order included not only spies left behind by Germany and Romania, but also British and American agents who entered Odessa under various identities, and gangsters who posed a threat to society.

Sokov had previously offered Zhukov advice on how to deal with gangsters, so he didn't ask further. Instead, he tentatively inquired about how to handle spies: "Comrade Marshal, what do you plan to do with the spies we've captured?"

"The spies left behind by Germany and Romania will be captured and executed immediately," Zhukov said. "As for the British and American agents, they will be repatriated after screening."