Red Moscow

Although Sokov gave Hosenfel 2 minutes, only a quarter of an hour later, Hosenfel reappeared in front of Sokov.

But at this moment, Hosenfeld has changed from what he had just now. The beard on his face has been shaved off, and his messy hair has been combed into a big back. The tattered military uniform on his body was replaced by a neat Soviet military uniform, with an officer's military coat without rank on it. Looking at Hosenfeld's appearance, Sokov suddenly had the illusion that he looked like Andy who had just escaped from the sewers of Shawshank Prison.

Sokov took out the release certificate and special pass that Balanin gave him, slapped it on Hossenfeld's hand, smiled and said to him: "Captain Hossenfel, congratulations, from now on, you Free. I wonder what your plans are next?" Agelina knew that Hosenfeld did not understand Russian and quickly translated what Sokov said to the other party.

Hossenfeld thought for a while and replied: "Mr. General, I want to go back to Germany. I wonder if you can help me?"

"No problem." Sokov replied readily: "The train I am taking is parked at Warsaw West Station at the moment and may depart at any time. If you are willing, take this train with me to Berlin. Wait. When you get to Berlin, it’s your freedom to go wherever you want.”

It was quite a distance from the prison camp to Warsaw West Station, so it was naturally impossible to walk there. But this time, there was only one jeep and a few trucks. There were five people in the jeep including the driver. There was no way for a sixth person to fit in. Instead, Hosenfeld or Spielman and the soldiers were left to squeeze the trucks. Sokov He was not at ease, so after discussing with Baranin, he decided to borrow a jeep from the prisoner of war camp and let Hosenfeld and Spielman take this car to the station.

On the way to the station, Sokov asked Balanin with concern: "Comrade Colonel, will it affect you if I take away a prisoner of war?"

"No, Comrade General." Balanin shook his head and said, "In fact, after the war is over, we will release some prisoners of war from time to time."

Sokov asked in surprise: "Oh, you still release prisoners of war from time to time? I wonder who are usually released?"

Faced with the question raised by Sokov, Balanin hesitated for a moment, and finally decided to tell the truth: "They are all low-level officers, and they have not committed any crimes during the war. If someone comes to bail them out, we will Release certificates and passes will be issued to allow them to return to Germany smoothly."

Hearing what Balanin said, Sokov suddenly felt more at ease. He didn't want a Soviet commander to be punished just because he helped a German prisoner of war.

When the motorcade came to a stop at the entrance of the station, Balanin turned to Sokov and said: "Comrade General, we have arrived at Warsaw West Station. I wish you and your female companion a safe journey!"

After Sokov thanked Balanin, he and Agelina got out of the car. Hosenfeld and Spielman also got out of the car behind them and waited politely on the roadside.

"Let's go, Captain Hosenfeld, Mr. Spielman, let's enter the station." Sokov greeted Hosenfeld and Spielman and asked them to follow him into the station.

The station in Warsaw is the same as the station in Moscow. There is no ticket gate and you can walk directly to the platform.

When Sokov found the train parked on the platform, the conductor who was talking to the conductor under the car saw Sokov and others coming back and hurriedly greeted him and greeted warmly: "Comrade General, you are back! "

"Yes, I'm back." Sokov nodded and then asked, "How is the repair of the train?"

"If we need major repairs, I'm afraid we have to wait until Berlin." The conductor said with some displeasure: "The station told us that they could only replace the glass that was broken during the battle."

Sokov thought that the room he lived in felt freezing cold all because the window glass was broken during the battle. If new glass was replaced, he should still be able to stay in it, so he tried He asked: "Comrade conductor, can I stay in my original compartment?"

"Yes, of course." The conductor nodded and said, "The glass in the compartment has been replaced, and all the bedding inside has been replaced. You can check in again at any time."

"Okay, I'll go to that box now. By the way," Sokov took Agelina's hand and took just two steps when he suddenly remembered something and hurriedly said to the conductor: "I have a Friend, if you are going to Berlin with me, can you arrange for him to stay in the box where I will stay later?”

The train conductor glanced at Hosenfeld and Spielman who were standing nearby and found that one of them was obviously Polish, while the other person, although wearing a Soviet uniform, did not look like a Soviet commander and fighter, and asked curiously. Kov: "Comrade General, you said that a friend accompanied you to Berlin. I wonder which one of them it is?"

"This Mr. Hosenfeld," Sokov said, pointing to Hosenfeld with his hand, "he will go with me to Berlin. Next to him is Mr. Spielman, a famous pianist. Often plays piano on Warsaw Radio."

The conductor was not interested in Hosenfeld, but he was interested in the pianist Spielman: "So you are Mr. Spielman, hello, hello! I am the conductor of this train. I often hear your piano music on the radio, and it’s an honor to see you here.”

When the conductor spoke to Spielman, Agelina knew that he did not understand many words, so she quickly stood aside as a translator. At the same time, she did not forget to remind the conductor: "Comrade conductor, Mr. Spielman does not understand Russian." "More, you spoke too fast, and he couldn't understand it even more."

Sergeant Torba, who was patrolling the car, saw Sokov and others on the platform. He quickly found the nearest door and got out of the car. He quickly ran in front of Sokov, raised his hand and saluted him. Said: "Comrade General, you are back!"

"Well, I'm back." Sokov said to Torba: "Comrade Sergeant, I want to ask you a favor."

"Comrade General, if you have anything to do, just ask me, and I will definitely help you handle it properly."

"I just made an agreement with the train conductor to return to my original compartment, so please find someone to move all my weapons and ammunition there."

"No problem, Comrade General, this is just a piece of cake."

"Also." Sokov nuzzled at Hossenfel and said: "This is a recently released German prisoner of war. I plan to let him live in the box I vacated. In order to avoid accidents, you It's best to have someone guard the door of the box."

"German prisoner of war?" Torba raised his eyebrows and asked in surprise: "Comrade General, where did he come from?"

Sokov laughed dryly and said: "I just rescued him from the prisoner of war camp. Don't worry, he carries a release certificate and pass issued by the prisoner of war camp. Even if there is an inspection along the way, there will be no problem and he will not bring it to you." Here comes trouble."

Ten minutes later, Sokov and others got into the car.

When Torba led people to return Sokov's weapons and ammunition to the original box, Sokov told Hossenfel through Agelina: "Captain Hossenfel, this is a box specially prepared for you. . For some reason, I want to put a sentry at the door of your box. If you have anything, just tell him and he will help you."

"Mr. General." Hossenfeld hesitated and asked, "Can you prepare something to eat for me? I just ate two slices of bread this morning, and now I'm very hungry."

"No problem." Sokov nodded, and then said to the conductor: "Comrade conductor, please send this friend of mine some food. All expenses will be charged to me."

"Comrade General, since I am your friend, there is no reason to ask you to pay for it." The train conductor smiled and said, "I will immediately arrange manpower to bring him food."

Before leaving, Sokov said to Spielman: "Mr. Spielman, before the train starts, you still have time to catch up with Hossenfeld, so I won't disturb you." After that, he reached out and talked to Hossenfeld. Senfield shook hands, and then took Agelina back to his box.

Looking at the leaving figures of Sokov and Agelina, Spielman said with emotion: "Captain Hosenfeld, you are really lucky to have met this general, otherwise you would not have known that you would be a prisoner of war." How long will you stay in the camp?”

Hosenfeld strongly agrees with Spielman's statement. Because his identity was tampered with by registration personnel when he entered the prisoner of war camp. Even if the Soviet army begins to repatriate prisoners of war, it will probably start with officers, and officers who are treated as small soldiers may have to wait for several more years. Thinking of this, he nodded and said with emotion: "Spiman, in fact, I am not only grateful to this general, but also to you, my friend. If you hadn't happened to meet me while you were looking for me, "General, I'm afraid I can only continue to stay in the prisoner of war camp. Whether I can survive until the day of repatriation is still unknown."

Spielman glanced at the soldier standing in the corridor and saw that the other soldier was staring at him with vigilant eyes, so he said to Hosenfeld: "Let's go in and talk, so as not to stand here blocking others from passing by."

Hossenfeld glanced at the carriage. Except for himself, Spielman, and the soldier with a submachine gun on his chest, there were no other passengers. There was no situation of blocking others from walking. But he quickly understood what Spielman meant, nodded, and walked into his own box with the other party.

After entering the box, he lay down on a bed and said with emotion: "I haven't slept on such a comfortable bed for a long time."

Spielman once stayed in the Jewish ghetto, where a dozen people crowded into a room and slept on wooden canopy beds. Naturally, he could guess the accommodation conditions of Hosenfeld and his companions in the prisoner of war camp. After he sat down on the bed opposite, he said with a smile: "Hosenfeld, from now on, you have the opportunity to live a normal life again. By the way, have you ever considered what you will do after returning to Berlin?"

"I don't know either." Hossenfeld shook his head and said, "Look at what Warsaw looks like, and you can imagine what Berlin looks like. I don't know if my home is still there, or if my relatives are still alive."

Hosenfeld's words silenced Szpilman. All his relatives had been killed by the Germans in this damn war. If it weren't for the German captain lying on the bed opposite, he might have starved to death in the ruins where he was hiding.

Besides, Sokov, who returned to his original box, lay down directly on the bed and said to Agelina: "Thank God, we are finally back in this room again."

"Yeah, it's not easy." Agelina nodded and said, "I still like such a spacious box."

Sokov looked around and found that the crater on the wall had been covered with cloth. The original oil painting of a rural scene beside the door was replaced with "Ivan the Terrible Kills His Son".

Seeing that Sokov's eyes were fixed on the door, Adelina followed his gaze and found the replaced painting. She said in surprise, "Damn it, why did the conductor change such a painting?"

"Ivan the Terrible Kills His Son" is an oil painting on canvas created by Repin in 1885. It is collected in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. The replica is hung on the wall.

The painting depicts a picture shrouded in a dark and depressing atmosphere. The dying crown prince leans weakly on his father's chest. Ivan the Terrible hugs his son in horror. He holds Ivan's body with one hand and presses his son's bleeding wound with the other hand. The son's body collapses softly on the carpet, looking at his aging father with a pair of desperate and forgiving eyes, while Ivan the Terrible's eyes are full of regret. The eyes of the two people form a strong contrast, which makes the whole painting have a breathtaking artistic charm.

In the movie "Curse of the Golden Flower", the emperor played by actor Chow Yun-fat beat one of his sons to death with a belt, and the scene is very similar to the content of this oil painting. Of course, the plot of the whole movie is closer to "Thunderstorm".

Seeing that Sokov didn't speak, Adelina stood up and said, "Misha, I'm going to find the conductor."

Sokof retracted his gaze, looked at Adelina and asked, "What do you want to find the conductor for?"

"Ask him to replace this painting," Adelina said indignantly, "This painting is hung in the box, which makes people feel depressed."

"It's okay, just let it hang here." Sokov smiled and said, "Anyway, these are all Repin's works, and you can't see them normally."

Adelina sat down again, looked at Sokov lying motionless, and asked carefully, "Misha, how do you plan to place Captain Hosenfeld?"

Sokof was busy saving people at the time, and he really didn't think about how to place Hosenfeld. Hearing Ajelina asking this question, he passed the buck to her: "Ajelina, if you were in my position, how would you place him?"

"I don't know." Ajelina shook her head and answered truthfully: "If I were you, I wouldn't save him at all. Besides, he saved Jews, not ours, so why should I save him?"

Sokof agreed with Ajelina's statement. No matter what good deeds Hosenfeld had done, only Jews were benefited by him. If other officers encountered such a thing, they would probably choose to stand by and watch. But since he had already rescued the man, he naturally couldn't ignore it. He thought about it, and then said: "Take him back to Berlin first. As for how to place him, it won't be too late to talk about it when we get there."