Red Moscow

"Sokov, wait a moment." As Sokov turned to leave, Potapov called him. He quickly came behind Sokov, put his hand on his left shoulder, and asked with concern: "What's wrong, are you injured?"

After Potapov's reminder, Sokov immediately remembered that when he was fleeing back to his own position, he felt something bite his left shoulder. He reached out and touched it, and sure enough, he felt a hole there, which should be a bullet hole. But for some reason, he didn't feel any pain at the moment.

"Come here!" Potapov called over a staff officer and ordered, "Call the military doctor!"

While waiting for the military doctor, Potapov asked Sokov to sit down beside him and continued to ask: "When was he injured?"

Sokov made an emergency landing between the two army positions and told Potapov how he was hit by a bullet while running towards the Soviet position.

But after hearing this, Potapov frowned: "Sokoff, are you sure you got hurt today?"

"Yes, I was injured today." Seeing that Potapov didn't seem to believe what he said, Sokov emphasized, "Before I took the Ministry of Internal Affairs team to meet General Zhukov yesterday, I was fine and had no injuries."

"Strange, very strange," Potapov said, "There is a pool of blood on the left shoulder of your military coat, and it feels not dry yet, but the wound inside is not bleeding. This is very strange."

The military doctor soon arrived at the headquarters under the guidance of the staff officer. The staff officer reported to Potapov: "Comrade Commander, the military doctor is here!"

"Comrade doctor," Potapov waved to the doctor and said, "Come over and help Major Sokov check his wound."

The military doctor came to Sokov with a medical kit and said politely, "Comrade Major, please take off your uniform and I will check your wound."

Sokov quickly took off his military coat and casually asked, "Do I need to take off my pullover?"

"Of course." The military doctor nodded: "This way I can help you carefully examine the wound."

Sokov took off his pullover again and put it together with his military coat. Only then did he have a chance to check his uniform. There was a bullet hole on the left back shoulder of his military coat. There was a fist-sized bloodstain around the bullet hole, which was still damp to the touch. There was also a bullet hole in the same position on his pullover, and the bloodstain was twice as large, and it was also not completely dry.

Sokov was wondering why he didn't feel any pain when he was clearly injured. Then he heard the military doctor ask, "Comrade Major, when were you injured?"

Hearing the military doctor ask the same question as Potapov, Sokov said with a bit of a smile: "The injury was sustained today, to be exact, less than two hours ago."

"Comrade Major, please don't joke around," the military doctor said seriously.

"I'm not kidding, Comrade Doctor." Sokov replied with a bitter face, "I was really injured not long ago."

"Strange, what's going on?" The military doctor found that Sokov didn't seem to be lying, and a look of disbelief appeared on his face: "The wound was sustained less than two hours ago, but the wound has healed. Judging from the scar, the injury was sustained at least a week ago."

Sokov reached out and touched his left shoulder and found a scar there. It didn't hurt or itch and seemed to have been there for a long time.

Why did this happen? Not only Potapov and the military doctor were surprised, but even Sokov was puzzled. He thought that he was indeed accidentally shot when he fled back to the Soviet position, but how could he recover from the injury in such a short time? This was simply incredible.

After the military doctor left with the medical box, Sokov put on his military uniform and said goodbye to Potapov.

When he was leaving, Alina came up to him and asked with concern, "Sokoff, I just saw a staff officer bring a military doctor in. Is someone in the headquarters injured?"

"Comrade Commander found a bullet hole on my left shoulder and some blood that hadn't dried yet." Seeing that there was no one around, Sokov explained to Alina, "I remember when we were fleeing back to the position, I felt a heat on my left shoulder. I think I was hit by an enemy bullet. But I don't know how it happened. When the military doctor checked me just now, he found that my injury had healed."

After hearing what Sokov said, Alina quickly turned behind him and checked his left shoulder. Sure enough, she saw bullet holes and bloodstains. She was a little surprised and said, "When we were having dinner just now, I saw a stain here. I thought it was mud you rubbed against the wall after jumping into the trench, so I didn't pay much attention to it. Who knew it was actually bloodstains."

"This is too strange to explain in a short time." Sokov was anxious to send Yakov to the front headquarters, so he urged Alina: "It's getting late, we should rush to the front headquarters now, don't let General Zhukov wait anxiously."

Since this place was not far from the front headquarters, no transportation was used and they went there on foot.

On the way, Yakov came to Sokov and asked in a friendly manner: "Comrade Major, have we met before?"

"No." Sokov quickly shook his head and denied: "I have never seen you before."

Sokov smiled slightly. "As his son, he will definitely assign you a suitable position. You don't have to stay at the front line and worry every day."

"I graduated from the Artillery School." Yakov said with a disappointed look on his face, "Maybe I am more suitable to stay at the front line."

"Major Sokov," Romanov also came over and asked Sokov, "How do you think my superiors will deal with me?"

"Comrade General, you greatly slowed down the enemy's advance towards Moscow in the battle to defend Mogilev." Since Romanov died later in history, Sokov didn't know how his superiors would arrange for him after he was rescued and returned to Moscow. He could only say cautiously: "Although you were captured by the Germans, that was when you were seriously injured and unable to move. I think your superiors will take these issues into consideration and make proper arrangements for you."

"If this is really the case as you said, then it would be great."

They arrived at the front headquarters and found that the security was extremely tight. Although the officer on duty at the door had met Sokov and Alina yesterday, he still questioned them carefully before turning around and going in to report to his superiors.

A few minutes later, the officer on duty said to Sokov: "Comrade Major, follow me!"

After entering the building, the officer on duty led everyone into an empty room and said, "You guys take a rest here for a while. Major Sokov, please follow me. I will take you to see the commander."

On the way to Zhukov's office, Sokov asked tentatively: "Comrade Captain, I see that your security here is tighter than usual. What's going on?"

"You may not know this, but this morning the Germans dropped a paratrooper unit nearby." The duty officer explained to Sokov, "Although the headquarters' guards attacked in time and eliminated the paratrooper unit, it is unclear whether any of them escaped. Therefore, the headquarters' security work has been strengthened."

Hearing what the duty officer said, Sokov immediately remembered the scene in the movie "The Battle of Moscow" where the German army parachuted near Zhukov's headquarters and Chief of Staff Sokolovsky personally led the guard troops and engaged in a fierce battle with the German paratroopers.

"Is General Zhukov okay?" Sokov asked.

"Don't worry, he's fine." The officer on duty said excitedly, "Comrade Major, you don't know that when the chief of staff reported to the commander that German paratroopers were airdropped nearby, the commander did not immediately move the headquarters. Instead, he asked the chief of staff to bring him a submachine gun, put it on his desk, and then continued to work. The commander did not leave his desk until the paratroopers who had landed nearby were eliminated."

After hearing this, Sokov nodded slightly, thinking that it was exactly the same plot as what he had seen in the movie.

Arriving at the door of Zhukov's office, the officer on duty stood at the open door and shouted a report: "Comrade Commander, Major Sokov is here!"

Zhukov, who was working hard, heard the officer on duty say this, looked up at him, and said calmly: "Let him in."

Sokov walked into the office and quickly came to the desk. When he was about to raise his hand to salute and report to Zhukov according to the regulations, Zhukov had already stood up, walked out from behind the desk, and shook Sokov's hand: "Major Sokov, I received a call from General Potapov, saying that you have successfully completed the mission. Is it true?"

"Of course it's true, Comrade Front Commander." Sokov asked tentatively: "Do we need to call Yakov over?"

"Don't worry, don't worry." Zhukov waved his hand and said amiably, "Can you tell me about the whole process of your mission?"

"Of course, Comrade Front Commander." Sokov said, "I came here, first, to escort Yakov and others here, and second, to report the details of the operation to you in person." After that, Sokov began to tell Zhukov in detail the entire process of the operation.

After Zhukov finished listening to Sokov's report, he nodded slowly and said with relief: "Major Sokov, to be honest, when I heard that the special operations team of the Ministry of Internal Affairs wanted to take you with them, my first feeling was absurd. You are a military commander, not a member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, why would you be called on for such a mission? However, judging from the actual results, Beria's decision was completely correct. If it were someone else, I'm afraid they wouldn't even be able to get into the prisoner-of-war camp, let alone save people."

Sokov saw a submachine gun on the desk and wondered if the guard troops commanded by Sokolovsky failed to stop the German paratroopers and let them rush in, would Zhukov really pick up a submachine gun and fight them to the death?

Zhukov noticed Sokov's gaze and said with a smile: "A few hours ago, a group of German paratroopers landed nearby and posed a certain threat to the headquarters. I asked the chief of staff to bring me a submachine gun, just in case I had to fight them at the critical moment."

"Comrade General," Sokov looked at Zhukov and said, "You shouldn't take risks. You know, if something happens to you, it will be an irreparable loss to our army."

"Major, you worry too much." Zhukov waved his hand and said confidently: "Anyway, I was on the battlefield and fought face to face with the enemy. If the Germans really rushed in, I would be fully capable of protecting myself."

As the two were talking, a voice came from outside: "Comrade Commander, General Rokossovsky, commander of the 16th Army, is here!"

"Please ask him to come in."

Sokov was very excited when he learned that Rokossovsky was coming. He never expected to see an old friend again. However, considering that his current rank was too low, Zhukov might not need him to stay here when he met with Rokossovsky, so he asked carefully: "Comrade General, since you have something else to do, can I leave first?"

"It's okay, just stay here." Zhukov said with a smile: "Speaking of which, Rokossovsky has a history with your Fifth Army. It's a good opportunity to catch up."

After a while, Rokossovsky's tall figure appeared in the office.

"Georgy Konstantinovich!" Rokossovsky entered the office without noticing Sokov standing next to him. Instead, he walked straight to Zhukov, calling him by his real name and father's name. "My troops are too few. Can you give me some of your reserve troops? I plan to use them to strengthen the existing defense line."