There was a knock on the door. Sokov turned to look at the door and said to Lukin: "Is Yasha back so soon?"

But when he walked to the door and opened the door, he saw Bezikov standing outside. When the major saw that the person who opened the door for him was Sokov, he quickly said politely: "There is a commander who wants to see Lieutenant General Lukin!"

Hearing what Bezikov said, Sokov did not dare to make the decision without authorization. He turned to look at Lukin in the wheelchair: "Comrade Deputy Commander, someone wants to see you!"

Lukin moved the wheel with his hands and came to the door. He looked up at Bezikov and asked curiously: "Comrade Major, who wants to see me?"

"Misha, it's me!" Before Bezikov could speak, a general appeared from behind him and said to Lukin: "I heard you were here, and I came here specifically to see you."

When Sokov heard the other person calling him Misha, he thought he was called him, but when he saw that the other person's eyes were fixed on Lu Jin, he realized that he had made a mistake. Lu Jin squinted his eyes, looked at the other person carefully, then his eyes widened suddenly, and he exclaimed: "Oh my god, Ivanov, is it you? I didn't expect that you are still alive!"

"Alive, alive, of course I am alive!" The general known as Ivanov held Lukin's hand with both hands. After shaking it vigorously for a while, he raised his head and asked Sokov: "Comrade Major, can I go in? ?”

"Of course, Comrade General." Sokov saw the rank of general on the opponent's epaulette and realized that the identity of the person coming was definitely not simple. He quickly turned his body to one side and made way for the opponent: "Please come in!"

After Ivanov entered the room, he turned around and said to Bezikov, who was still standing outside the door: "Comrade Major, thank you for showing me the way. You can leave now!"

Bezikov raised his hand in salute, turned and left.

Ivanov pushed Lukin to the middle of the house, found a chair and sat down. When he saw Sokov closing the door and preparing to come over, he said to Lukin: "Misha, this is your adjutant. Right? Let him leave first, I want to chat with you."

Sokov smiled awkwardly when he heard this. Just when he was hesitating whether to reveal his identity, Lukin had already spoken first: "Ivanov, you are mistaken. He is not my adjutant, but the 53rd Army Commander General Sokov has the same military rank as you."

When Ivanov, who was originally sitting, learned that the major standing in front of him was actually General Sokov, he was so shocked that he stood up from his seat, took the initiative to reach out to Sokov, and said in a friendly tone: " Hello, General Sokov, please forgive me for being rude. I saw you wearing a major’s military uniform and thought you were Misha’s adjutant, but I didn’t expect you to be the commander.”

“Comrade General,” Sokov said politely while shaking hands with the other party: “If you and Comrade Lukin have something to say, I can recuse myself first.”

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter." Ivanov quickly waved his hands and said, "Misha and I are just chatting for a few words. It doesn't matter if you listen nearby."

Since the other party was willing to let him stay, Sokov did not show any pretense. Instead, he walked to the table by the wall, picked up the teapot, poured a cup of hot tea for Ivanov, and placed it in front of him: "Please drink tea. Come on, General Ivanov!"

After Sokov took his seat, Lukin looked at Ivanov and asked: "Old man, why did you show up in Khabarovsk?"

Ivanov glanced at Sokov, and then said: "Since we are all our own, I will not hide it. I now serve as the chief of staff of the Far East Command and am responsible for formulating operations for Vasilevsky." plan."

Learning that Ivanov was actually the Chief of Staff of the Far East Command, Sokov couldn't help but be surprised and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, why didn't I see you in the meeting today?"

"Hey, there was an accident." Ivanov said: "Our deputy commander suffered from an old injury, and I accompanied him to the hospital. For the deployment of combat missions, I asked Zaharo, the chief of staff of the Transbaikal Front. My husband, the general, will do it for you."

Sokov secretly muttered to himself that it would be too unreliable for you, the chief of staff, to not show up for such an important combat meeting, but to have someone else introduce the combat deployment on your behalf.

Ivanov saw Sokov's doubts and explained: "To tell you the truth, the Supreme Command originally appointed General Zakharov as the chief of staff of the Far East Command, but Malinovs Marshal Kyi proposed to the Supreme Command that he would like to send an experienced staff officer to serve as the chief of staff of the Transbaikal Front. After repeated deliberation, the superiors decided to let General Zakharov take this position, and I was temporarily assigned to take the position. Chief of Staff, Far East Command.”

After a moment of pause, Ivanov said bitterly: "I have only been in office for less than a week, and I am not as familiar with combat deployment as General Zaharov. Just before the meeting, the deputy commander had some physical problems. , Marshal Vasilevsky arranged for me to accompany the deputy commander to the military hospital, and General Zakharov was responsible for explaining the combat deployment."

“Ivanov,” Lu Jin asked curiously after waiting for the other party to finish speaking: “I wonder who the deputy commander of the Far East Command is?”

 “It’s Marshal Chernyakhovsky.”

“Marshal Chernyakhovsky?” Sokov and Lukin looked at each other and asked in surprise: “Has he been promoted to marshal?”

“Of course, he was officially promoted to the rank of marshal in June of this year.” After Ivanov said this, he asked: “What, do you know him?”

"I've heard of his name, but I've never seen him." Sokov smiled and said to Ivanov: "It just so happens that my chief of staff, General Yakov, served as the general during the East Prussian campaign. He was the deputy chief of staff of Marshal Chernyakhovsky. Later, when he accompanied the marshal to inspect the troops, he was shelled by the Germans and both of them were injured to varying degrees. Yakov's injury was not serious and he soon returned to the army. After arriving at work, Marshal Chernyakhovsky was sent to the rear after the operation, and we never got any news about him. I really didn’t expect that he had become a marshal, and he was also a marshal. Appointed Deputy Commander of Far Eastern Command.”

When Ivanov learned that Sokov's chief of staff actually had such a relationship with Chernyakhovsky, he couldn't help but curiously asked: "Comrade general, I wonder where your chief of staff is now? If possible, it would be best for him to meet Marshal Chernyakhovsky."

"Ivanov, you're too late." Lu Jin said with a smile: "Before you came here, someone from the military hospital had already come to see Yakov, saying that someone wanted to see him, and he had already hurried to the hospital. . If nothing unexpected happened on the way, I should be reminiscing with Marshal Chernyakhovsky in the ward at this moment."

Unexpectedly, Ivanov frowned after hearing this: "Misha, I wonder who came to call your chief of staff?"

"It's a nurse in the hospital." Lukin replied: "Ivanov, I understand what you mean. The nurse didn't know the true identity of Marshal Chernyakhovsky and thought he was someone." The ordinary general happened to be an old acquaintance of our chief of staff, and he found out that the nurse knew our chief of staff, so he sent a nurse to invite our chief of staff."

"So that's it." After figuring out that Chernyakhovsky's true identity had not been leaked, Ivanov breathed a sigh of relief. He told Lukin and Sokov: "In order to ensure that the battle is launched The suddenness of the attack prevents the enemy from discovering our offensive intentions, so many important commanders have to use pseudonyms and false military ranks. Although this serves the purpose of confusing the enemy, it also encounters trouble when assigning some tasks, because Many lower-level commanders have no idea who is assigning them tasks, so they will compromise when executing orders." "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right." In response to Ivanov's statement, Sokov said Expressed his approval: "Since I changed into this major's military uniform, there have indeed been many misunderstandings. Especially when I go out with Yakov, others will selectively ignore me and focus on Yakov. On the body."

Ivanov laughed after hearing this: "Comrade General, it seems that your disguise is very successful. For example, just now, didn't I think you were Misha's adjutant? You know, you are too old. Light, if you go out wearing a general uniform, it will definitely attract great attention, which will lead to your identity being exposed."

After a few people chatted for a while, Sokov felt that if he continued to stay here, he might completely disrupt Lukin and Ivanov's plan to reminisce about the past, so he stood up and said: "I still have something to do, so let's go first." Let’s go, you can continue chatting.”

After Sokov left Lukin's room, he went to the duty room on the first floor and asked the waiter behind the bar: "Comrade waiter, may I ask for your phone number here so that I can contact Moscow?"

"I'm sorry, Comrade Major." The waiter shook his head and said, "The phone in our guest house can only call Khabarovsk. If you want to call Moscow, I'm afraid you have to go to the post office."

Hearing that the phone in the guest house could not contact Moscow, Sokov felt a little disappointed. He could only ask: "I wonder where the post office is?"

“After leaving the guest house, walk towards the west.” The waiter said, “Walk about two streets and you will see a two-story building, which is the post office.”

Sokov thanked the other party and walked out of the guest house.

Bezikov, who was standing at the door talking to several soldiers, saw Sokov walking out and asked with concern: "Comrade General, where are you going?"

“I want to make a call at the post office.” Sokov glanced at the strange soldiers and asked casually: “Who are they?”

"They are all General Ivanov's guards. They are waiting here for the general to come out." After Bezikov introduced the identities of several soldiers, he asked Sokov: "Do you need me to send two soldiers to protect you? "

Sokov originally wanted to refuse, but then he thought about it. He was not familiar with the place, and if something unexpected happened, Bezikov and the others would be implicated. After thinking about this, he nodded and said: "Okay, Comrade Major, please arrange for two soldiers to go to the post office with me."

Bezikov quickly ran into the guest house and called two soldiers. And he ordered them in front of Sokov: "You remember, from now on, you must stay with Comrade Commander to protect his safety. If anything happens to him, the two of you will carry it." Come back to me with your head. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Major." The two soldiers replied loudly: "We promise to complete the mission."

When Sokov saw Bezikov ordering the two soldiers, his expression was solemn. He knew that the other party was worried about his safety. After all, a lot of things had happened in the past few days. First, there was a shootout in the restaurant, and then today there was a medical incident outside the city. In the case of the attack on the camp, no one can guarantee that there are no spies sneaking into the city. There is nothing wrong with being careful.

As Sokov walked down the street toward the post office, the two soldiers followed closely behind him, their eyes warily watching the pedestrians passing by, their fingers on the triggers.

Sokov took a few steps, turned around and saw the nervous expressions of the two soldiers. He smiled and said to them: "Comrade soldiers, don't be nervous. In any case, the city of Khabarovsk has been taken over by our army." , even if enemy spies sneak in, they would not dare to blatantly attack our army commander. Besides, I am wearing a major uniform. Among the people walking around the city, there are many people with higher military ranks than me. The enemy will not The target is on me."

Hearing what Sokov said, both soldiers breathed a sigh of relief and removed their fingers from the trigger, but they still stared at the four directions with vigilant eyes to prevent someone from suddenly attacking Sokov.

Seeing how vigilant the two were, Sokov smiled and shook his head, and continued walking forward.

After arriving at the post office, Sokov walked to the counter and said to a female staff member sitting inside: "Hello, girl, I want to make a call to Moscow!"

The other party casually pointed to the side: "Go over there and line up."

Sokov looked in that direction and saw that there were quite a lot of people. There were at least forty or fifty people queuing outside the four phone booths. Sokov couldn't help feeling terrified. With so many people calling, he would have to wait until his turn. A soldier following him saw Sokov's troubled expression and said to the female post office worker: "Girl, our commander has something urgent. Can he fight first?"

Unexpectedly, the female staff member raised her head and glanced at Sokov and his epaulettes, and said coldly: "Whoever comes here to call is in an emergency. If I let him call first, what will other comrades do if they see it? explain?"

The female staff member's words angered the soldier, and he asked angrily: "Where is your leader, where are your military representatives?"

"None of them are here." The female staff member said disdainfully: "They have all gone to the city for a meeting. If you want to make comments, you can wait until they come back."

Seeing that the soldier was about to have an attack, Sokov quickly stopped him: "Forget it, forget it. Since there are many people, I won't make this call."

Seeing that Sokov gave up so easily, the soldier said in confusion: "But..."

Before he could finish what he said, Sokov raised his hand to stop him, pointed to several small booths where people made phone calls, and said: "Comrade soldier, listen to the voices inside, are they all outside?" can hear?"

The soldier listened for a moment, then nodded and said, "Yes, I heard it very clearly."

“I think it might be more appropriate to wait until I get back to the army before making the call.”