Chapter 923 Reunion after a long absence

  Sokov remembered that before he left Moscow, he lent his house to Anne, a nurse in the military hospital opposite, and he didn't know if she was at home at the moment. If he wasn't there, he really wouldn't be able to enter the door.

   "Yasha, I think you should find another place for me." Sokov said with some embarrassment, "I'm worried that I won't be able to enter the door when I get there later."

  Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Yakov said carelessly: "Don't worry, in fact, there are spare keys in the duty room of every house, so that you can avoid the situation that you forget to bring the key or lose the key and cannot enter the door."

   Knowing that he could get the spare key to the room in the duty room downstairs, Sokov felt much more at ease. He heard Yakov say again: "Last year when the Germans approached Moscow, a large number of people were evacuated to the rear, and there were many vacant houses in the city. If there is no duty room in the building you are in, I'm afraid I will wait until you go home." You might find a bunch of strangers living in the house."

   "Ah?!" Sokov couldn't help being taken aback, "Could it be that the vacant houses are not locked, or the spare key of the duty room is not kept properly, so that strangers can come and go at will?"

"The situation is not what you imagined." Yakov explained to the bewildered Sokov: "Although a large number of people were evacuated from the city, there were also residents who were evacuated from other cities and entered Moscow. Due to the number of There are too many, and it is impossible to arrange accommodation for everyone, so they can only find a way to find accommodation by themselves.

  When they find a vacant house, they break in and claim it for themselves. For this kind of situation, the police usually turn a blind eye and close their eyes. As long as there is no trouble, they will generally not ask questions. "

  Ten minutes later, the car came to Lenin Avenue.

  Yakov parked the car downstairs, and asked Sokov with a sideways face: "Misha, do you need me to accompany you up?"

   "No need." Sokov worried that Yakov would go up and see Anne and cause unnecessary trouble, so he shook his head and said, "I can do it by myself."

   Sokov opened the iron door on the ground floor and walked into the corridor. He came to the duty room, looked in through the glass window, and saw a fat aunt sleeping on the table, so he raised his hand and knocked on the glass. The fat aunt raised her head, opened the window, looked at Sokov blankly and asked, "Comrade commander, what do you need?"

   "That's right, I'm a resident on the third floor, and I just came back from the front line today." Sokov said politely, "Can you give me the spare key?"

   "Which room is it?" asked the fat aunt.

After Sokov said the room number, the fat aunt showed a surprised expression on her face: "Comrade commander, I saw your wife come home when it was dark. You can go up and knock on the door directly, no need for a spare key .”

  When Sokov heard that the fat aunt said that his wife was at home, he was taken aback for a moment, thinking that Assia was in Stalingrad, and when did she return to Moscow? But then he realized that the other party must have regarded Annie as his wife, but he did not correct the other party, but thanked the other party with a smile, and turned to go up the stairs.

  When he came outside his house, Sokov's heartbeat suddenly accelerated, and he was even more nervous than he was on the battlefield. He took a few deep breaths in a row before he calmed down a little. He raised his hand and knocked on the door a few times, and soon a voice came from the door: "Who is it?"

  Because the voice was too low, Sokov couldn't confirm whether it was Annie, so he didn't answer, and knocked on the door a few more times. This time the voice from the door was louder, as if the people in the room had already come to the door: "Who is it, who is knocking on the door?"

   "It's me." Sokov heard it clearly this time. The person who asked the question was Annie, and he quickly replied: "I'm Misha, and I'm back!"

  The door swung open, and Annie appeared at the door in her nightgown. After she looked Sokov up and down, she showed an excited expression on her face: "Misha, it's really you, am I dreaming?"

   "No, Anne, you are not dreaming." Sokov replied with a smile: "It is indeed I who have returned."

  Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Annie's face changed. She reached out and grabbed Sokov's arm, and pulled him into the room. After looking outside, she carefully closed the door.

Sokov was confused by Annie's actions. Before he could ask any questions, Annie, who had just closed the door, approached his ear and asked in a low voice and hurriedly: "Misha, why did you come back at such a time? Did you become a deserter?"

   "Annie, who are you talking to?" A woman's voice came from the kitchen at this moment.

  Sokov's eyes widened in surprise. He didn't expect that there were other women in the room besides Annie. He quickly pointed in the direction of the kitchen and asked Annie silently, "Who is in the kitchen?"

   "Don't worry, it's the military doctor Tonya. She is also your friend, and she won't report you to the patrol." After Annie finished speaking, she dragged Sokov to the kitchen involuntarily.

  As soon as she entered the kitchen, Annie said to Tonya inside: "Look, Tonya, who is here?"

   "Ah, it's Misha!" Donia saw clearly that the person who came in with Annie was actually Sokov, she couldn't help exclaiming, and the plate in her hand fell to the ground and shattered. She didn't care about the plate that fell on the ground, but threw herself into Sokov's arms, hugged his waist tightly, and said excitedly: "Misha, I really didn't expect that you are still alive, you are still alive, I thought you were already dead."

  Sokov put his arms around Tonya, and patted her on the back lightly twice. He couldn't find anything to say to comfort Tonya in his arms.

   "Donia, be quiet, don't disturb the neighbors." Annie approached Tonya and whispered, "Misha escaped from a desertion."

"What, came back from a desertion?" Hearing what Annie said, Tonya pushed Sokov away abruptly, and took two steps back. She didn't care to wipe away the tears on her face, and asked with a serious expression: " Misha, did you really desert and escape?"

  Sokov really couldn't laugh or cry. As soon as he saw Annie, the little girl insisted that she came back from a desertion. Before he could explain himself, he told Tonya that he was deserting. Seeing Dongnia's expression now, if I don't explain it clearly to her, maybe she will kill her relatives righteously and report herself.

"Don't talk nonsense, how could I have deserted as a deserter?" Sokov quickly untied his military coat, revealing the pullover inside. He pointed to the medals on his chest and said, "Have you ever seen the medals hanging on them?" A deserter?"

Hearing Sokov saying that he was not a deserter, and seeing those medals and the rank of colonel on the collar badge, Tonya realized that she had wrongly blamed Sokov, her pretty face blushed, her expression softened, she turned her head Glancing at Annie next to her, she said in a reproachful tone, "Annie, it's all your fault. You talked nonsense without understanding anything, which made me blame Misha by mistake."

  Anne on the side also flushed with shame because she had misunderstood Sokov. She lowered her head and said to Sokov, "I'm sorry, Misha, I made a mistake, please forgive me."

Sokov opened his arms and hugged the two girls. Seeing something cooking on the stove and smelling the aroma from the pot, it seemed to be red cabbage soup. He felt a little hungry, so he asked : "Is there anything to eat? I'm starving to death."

   "Yes, yes, we are making red cabbage soup." Tonya raised her hand to wipe away the tears on her face: "Sit down first, we can eat it right away."

  After sitting down at the dining table, Sokov looked at the busy Tonya and Annie, and said with some surprise: "I didn't expect that both of you actually live here."

"No way," Tonya spread her hands and said with a wry smile, "The house I live in was destroyed by a German bomb. It just so happened that Anne said she was staying in your house, which is near the hospital. It’s also convenient to get off work, so let me move here and live with you. By the way, I heard that your troops are not in Stalingrad, why did you suddenly appear in Moscow?”

   "How do you know I'm in Stalingrad?"

"In our hospital, we once treated a group of seriously wounded from Stalingrad." Annie explained with a smile, "I heard from one of the wounded that he was from the 73rd Infantry Brigade, and the commander of the brigade is you, Soko." husband."

   Hearing the number of the 73rd Infantry Brigade, Sokov guessed that these wounded should have been injured at the beginning of the city defense battle, otherwise they would not have been sent to Moscow for treatment. Just when he was about to say a few words, he heard Annie say again: "I heard that you were also injured, are you all healed?"

  Donia, who was serving soup in front of the stove, heard what Anne said, and quickly put down the tableware in her hand, and walked over to lift Sokov's jumper. Sokov, who didn't know why, quickly asked, "Donia, what are you going to do?"

"Look at where you got hurt," Tonya lifted Sokov's clothes and saw several scars on his body, she shed tears and said with a choked voice, "Misha, are you He is a brigade commander, how could he suffer so many injuries?"

Sokov did not correct the mistake in the other party's job title, grinned and replied: "In the battle to defend the city, even the generals took up arms to fight the enemy. Naturally, a small colonel like me cannot lag behind. .”

Annie helped to bring the soup, put a bowl in front of Sokov, and asked again: "Misha, I heard from the news that Stalingrad is now launching a counterattack against the German army, why did you come back suddenly? Woolen cloth?"

Sokov suppressed the smile on his face and said with a serious expression: "Before the superior called me back, he didn't explain the reason. When I arrived in Moscow, he told me that my mother was unfortunately killed by the Germans during the bombing a few days ago. Killed by a human bomb. I was called back to deal with her funeral."

   "Ah, your mother was killed by a German bomb?" Annie was taken aback when she heard that, and hurriedly asked, "I don't know where her body is. I want to go and see."

   "Yes, Misha, where is your mother's body?" Tonya also echoed, "We'll go and see with you."

"I don't know." Sokov shook his head and said with a wry smile: "The superior only told me that the place where she worked was bombed, and she and several workers who died were buried in the ruins, and the remains have not been found yet. .”

Tonya walked up to Sokov, hugged him, and comforted him: "Misha, don't worry, I believe your mother's body will be found in a short time. At that time, Annie and I will accompany you Bury your mother."

  Because of the news of Sokov's mother's death, when the three of them sat down to eat, the atmosphere in the kitchen seemed particularly dull.

  In order to ease the atmosphere, Sokov deliberately changed the topic: "Have you both stayed in the hospital?"

"No." Tonya shook her head and said, "In the first half of the year, Annie and I both went to the Western Front. At that time, we thought we could meet you there, but after we went, we found out that your unit had been transferred to the Western Front. Let's go. As for where it will be transferred to, because it involves confidentiality, we can't find out at all."

"After my troops were transferred from the Western Front, they traveled to many places, and finally went to Stalingrad." Sokov picked up a piece of bread on the table and said while eating: "Responsible for the defense of Mamayev Gang. Task."

"Responsible for the defense of Mamayev Hill?" Dounia and Annie couldn't help but widen their eyes in surprise when they heard Sokov say this: "But according to news reports, isn't the 41st Guards Division the troops standing there?" ?”

"That's right, the unit standing there now is indeed the 41st Guards Division." Considering that these things are not classified as confidential, Sokov boldly said to the two girls: "I commanded the first It was the 73rd Infantry Brigade. After repeated battles, my troops suffered heavy losses. The superiors transferred the 41st Guards Division from outside the city..."

   "The 41st Guards Division will take over your defense." Annie couldn't help interjecting and asked smartly when she heard this, "Am I right, Misha?"

"You're wrong." Sokov shook his head with a smile and said, "After the 41st Guards Division entered Mamayev, the original 73rd Infantry Brigade was reduced to one regiment under the command of the division. The original division commander should As the deputy division commander, I will take up the position of division commander."

   "Wow, Misha, you are really amazing." Annie couldn't help but stare in surprise when she heard Sokov say this: "I didn't expect that you have already arrived at the division commander."

Compared with Anne, Tonya looked much more stable, and she said with a cheerful face: "Misha, I really didn't expect that the heroic army standing on Mamayev Post was actually commanded by you. You may not know , how many young girls, after reading the reports in the newspaper, want to marry the young teacher of the guards!"

   "How do they know that the teacher is a young man?" Sokov asked puzzled.

"Although your name was not stated in the news report for the sake of confidentiality, it is reported that the teacher is a handsome young man in his twenties who is not yet married." Tonya grinned and said with a stiff expression: "Let me ask, in today's environment, is there any girl who doesn't like a hero? What's more, this hero is a young unmarried teacher."

  (end of this chapter)