Red Moscow

Chapter 2260: Yuanjia road is narrow

  Sokov was going to continue inspecting the defense areas of other divisions, and after chatting with Nikitin for a while, he was about to leave, but at this moment Lunev snorted suddenly, covered his abdomen with his hands, his face turned livid, and his expression looked particularly happy.

   "Comrade Military Commissar, what's the matter with you?" Seeing Lunev's sudden illness, Sokov couldn't help feeling a little flustered, and asked with concern, "What's wrong with you?"

   "Misha, if I'm not mistaken, it may be acute appendicitis." After Lunev said this to Sokov, he looked up at Nikitin: "General Nikitin, can I trouble you to call some military doctors?"

   Seeing Lunev's sudden illness, Nikitin was also taken aback. If something happened to the Military Commissar of the Army Group Army, it would be impossible to walk around. At this time, listening to Lunev talking to himself, he nodded vigorously and said, "No problem, I will call the military doctor right away."

  The chief of staff standing next to him said to Nikitin: "Comrade commander, the military doctor may be too busy at the moment. I will go there in person and invite the director of the field hospital over so that he can conduct an examination for comrade military commissar."

   A few minutes later, a middle-aged military doctor, led by the chief of staff, walked into the division headquarters.

  Seeing the military doctor coming in, Nikitin immediately greeted him, and said anxiously: "Comrade President, you are here! The military commissioner of the group army has a sudden illness, which may be acute appendicitis. Please help him check it."

  After learning that the person who came was the director of the field hospital, Sokov also greeted him, and said politely: "Hello, Comrade Director! I am Sokov, Commander of the Army Group. My military commissar may be suffering from acute appendicitis. Please do an examination for him."

  The dean nodded after hearing this, and then asked someone to find a stretcher, let Lunev lie on it, and then began to examine him.

  During the inspection, Sokov, Nikitin and the others were very anxious, but they didn't dare to speak casually, so as not to interrupt the director's diagnosis.

  After the dean checked Lunev, he said seriously: "Comrade Military Commissioner, your guess is correct, it is indeed acute appendicitis."

   "I'm in a lot of pain." Lunev said, "Can you give me some painkillers?"

   "Comrade Military Commissioner, just prescribing painkillers is useless." The dean shook his head and said, "I suggest you perform an operation immediately, otherwise it may be life-threatening."

   But Lunev said with a lot of worries: "But now we are still fighting. Is it appropriate for me to have surgery at this time?"

  As Sokov from later generations, he naturally understands that acute appendicitis may seem like a minor ailment, but if he doesn't pay attention, once suppurative infection, it may really be life-threatening. Thinking of this, he said, "Comrade Military Commissioner, I think you should obey the director and perform the operation immediately, otherwise your life may really be endangered."

   "If I have an operation, I'm afraid I won't be able to cooperate with your work for quite a long time."

   "It doesn't matter, Comrade Military Commissioner." Sokov thought that he seemed to be able to carry out his work normally without Lunev's cooperation, not to mention that the small appendix operation would not take long to recuperate, so he comforted him and said: "After the operation, you can recuperate for a week at most, and then you can return to normal and return to the command post. Comrade Dean, am I right?" He said the last sentence to the dean.

   "That's right, Comrade Commander, you are right." The dean nodded in approval of Sokov's statement: "Appendix surgery is a minor operation. You can get out of bed and walk around on the day of the operation, and the wound will basically heal within seven days."

   Seeing that everyone was persuading him to have an operation, and the pain in his lower right abdomen was getting worse, Lunev felt that if he didn't have an operation, he might really be in danger of his life, so he nodded slowly and said, "Okay, Comrade Dean, please perform the operation quickly."

  When Lunev was lying on a stretcher and being carried outside by several soldiers, Sokov wanted to follow, but Lunev said to him: "Misha, don't you still have to go to inspect, then don't worry about it. After I have the operation, I will stay in the field hospital of the 120th Guards Division. You can come and see me at any time."

  Since Lunev was unwilling to affect his inspection work, Sokov no longer insisted. However, Lunev’s operation was not a trivial matter. Before leaving the division headquarters, Sokov called Sidolin and told him: “Comrade Chief of Staff, let me tell you something. When we were inspecting the division headquarters of the 120th Guards Division, Comrade Military Commissar suddenly had acute appendicitis. He has already been sent to a field hospital for surgery. After the operation, he will be here for a period of time to recuperate.”

   "Comrade Commander," Sidolin said, "The conditions of the division's field hospital are no match for the group army's field hospital. I think it's better to send the military commissioner back for surgery."

   "The director of the division's field hospital is going to perform surgery on the military commissar himself. I don't think there is any need to go back and forth." Sokov said into the microphone: "Besides, in a few days, the group army field hospital will also move forward, so I will choose the location here."

   "That's fine." Sidolin nodded and said, "In this way, Comrade Military Commissar won't have to move his nest until he recovers. By the way, Comrade Commander, where are you going to inspect next, I will say hello to the commander of the unit in advance."

   "I'm going to go to the 118th Infantry Brigade and the 202nd Tank Brigade next." Sokov thought of the enemy sneaking in now. Although he has a guard company with him, who can guarantee that no accidents will happen? If you greet the commanders of the units to be inspected in advance, they can arrange some things in advance to minimize the possibility of danger. It was precisely because of this consideration that Sokov agreed with Sidolin to disclose his whereabouts to the following commanders: "You and the two brigade commanders say hello."

   "Okay, Comrade Commander." Sidolin said: "I will call them immediately."

  Because Lunev stayed in the division field hospital for surgery, there was a vacant seat in the jeep. When Sokov sent another invitation to Rednikova, she did not refuse, but sat next to Sokov graciously.

  After the car started, Rednikova tentatively asked Sokov: "Comrade General, the chief just now is from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, right?"

  Sokov knew that Rednikova was asking about Lunev, so he nodded, and without waiting for her to ask again, he took the initiative to say: "Yes, General Lunev is the deputy minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and he is the military commissar sent to me by the Supreme Command."

   When Rednikova and Lunev exchanged passwords, they only knew that the other party was from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but they did not expect that his position was so high, only one or two levels lower than Beria. Thinking of this, she asked a little nervously: "He knows about us being assassinated by German secret agents today, will he punish us next?"

  Rednikova's worry was correct. A group of agents from the Ministry of Internal Affairs came out to carry out a mission, but they were assassinated by German agents disguised as Soviet troops, and even took away their weapons and documents. This group was almost shot dead by their own people as enemies. If the superiors really wanted to hold them accountable, I'm afraid none of the team members would be able to run away.

    "Second Lieutenant Rednikova," Sokov saw Rednikova's worries, and comforted her, "Don't worry, Lunev is now my military commissar, not a deputy minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. I don't think he will pursue this matter any more. Just put your heart in your stomach."

   "Really, Comrade General?" Rednikova asked in surprise and joy: "Will he really not hold us accountable for our mistakes?"

   Sokov was worried that Rednikova would not believe his words, so he pouted at Koshkin, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, and said, "This captain was a subordinate of Comrade Military Commissar at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and he knew General Lunev's character very well. If you don't believe me, you can ask him to see if you will be punished?"

   "No, Second Lieutenant Rednikova." Koshkin half turned around and said to Rednikova who was sitting in the back row: "Comrade Military Commissar is a very kind person. When you were rescued, he didn't say anything. Naturally, he won't punish you afterwards. Don't worry."

  After receiving Koshkin's confirmation, Rednikova felt more at ease: "That's good, that's good, I can feel relieved now."

   "Koshkin," Sokov said to Koshkin, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, after the convoy continued to drive forward for a certain distance, "Did you see the supply point on the way?"

  In today's large corps operations, several supply points are usually set up along the way to refuel the passing vehicles, and provide food for the commanders and fighters on the roadside, etc. Hearing Sokov's question, Koshkin immediately realized that he left too early this morning and hadn't eaten yet, so he quickly replied, "Comrade Commander, I haven't seen the supply point yet. But please rest assured, it won't be long before you can see the existence of the supply point."

  Sokov nodded and didn't speak, but he was thinking in his heart: the number of supply points is still too small. We have traveled so far, but we didn't see any of them. Those soldiers who marched on foot may have to go hungry many times. It seems that we should say hello to the logistics department of the group army and ask them to increase the number of supply points.

  The convoy drove forward for a few minutes. Koshkin suddenly turned half-turned, pointed to the front, and excitedly said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, there is a supply point by the road ahead. We can have something to eat there before rushing to the troops to be inspected."

   "Well, I think it's okay." Sokov was already so hungry that his chest was pressed against his back at this moment. Hearing that there was food ahead, he immediately regained his energy, but he still reminded Koshkin: "Koshkin, ask the convoy to find a suitable place to stop. Don't block the normal driving of other vehicles, understand?"

   "Understood, Comrade Commander." Koshkin said confidently: "The location chosen for the supply point is very open, even if there are twenty or thirty trucks parked, it will not appear crowded."

  When the convoy stopped in the open space next to the supply point, the soldiers of the guard company got out of the car one after another. After a simple formation, they were ready to go to the place where the supply point provided food to receive food. After eating, they could go to the nearby tent to rest for a while.

   Just as Sokov was about to walk over, he was grabbed by Rednikova: "Wait a minute, Comrade General, please wait a moment."

   Sokov turned his head to look at Rednikova, and was about to ask her what was going on, why she suddenly pulled him, but saw the other party saying in horror: "Comrade General, I saw it, I saw him."

   "He? Who is he?" After Sokov said this impatiently, he suddenly thought of a possibility, and an expression of disbelief suddenly appeared on his face: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, you said it was the Germans who attacked you?"

   "That's right, that's right." Rednikova nodded vigorously, and said in an affirmative tone: "Look at the crowd standing by the tent over there eating, there is a major with a bandaged arm hanging on his chest, and he led the team to attack us."

   Sokov looked in the direction Rednikova said, and sure enough, he saw a major with a wounded arm, his bandaged arm hanging on his chest, and a few pieces of bread in the other hand gnawing. But he was not alone, there was a soldier-like man beside him, holding a lunch box in his hand, which seemed to be filled with soup. After the major finished eating the bread, he took a spoon from the soldier and scooped up a spoonful of soup in the lunch box...

   "Comrade Second Lieutenant, please tell me." Sokov asked Rednikova with a serious expression: "Did the soldier next to him also participate in the attack on you?"

  Rednikova stared at the soldier carefully, then shook her head and said: "Among those who attacked us, there is no such soldier."

   "Then take a look, are there any of them nearby?"

  Hearing what Sokov said, Rednikova searched the dining crowd again. After a while, she said in a positive tone: "Comrade General, there is a second lieutenant five or six steps to the right of the major, and he is in the same group."

   Sokov quickly looked towards the location Rednikova said, and he saw a second lieutenant. Since the second lieutenant is surrounded by ordinary soldiers, it is easy to identify. After confirming the two targets, Sokov continued to ask: "Is there any more?"

   "No more." Rednikova shook her head and said, "At least in the crowd, no one found them again."

  Sokov hurriedly called Koshkin over, told him what Rednikova had discovered in a low voice, and then ordered him to lead someone to pretend to have dinner, approach the major and second lieutenant quietly, and control them by surprise.

   After listening, Koshkin looked at Rednikova and asked: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, are you sure that there are only two of them here, and the other accomplices are not there?"

   "Yes, Comrade Captain, I'm sure." Rednikova said in a firm tone, "Don't forget, I'm from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and it's my basic ability to remember people after seeing people. There is absolutely no mistake in this."