Early the next morning, Sokov woke up from his sleep, feeling refreshed. He sat up and was about to get out of bed for a walk, but someone opened the door and walked in.
After seeing clearly that it was Vera who came, Sokov smiled and greeted her: "Good morning, Vera!"
Unexpectedly, Vera was shocked when she saw Sokov sitting up, and said repeatedly: "Misha, who told you to sit up? Lie down quickly, I want to check you."
After Sokov lay down obediently, he smiled and said to Vera: "Vera, you have to check me quickly, I'm going to go out later!"
Vera sat down on the chair next to the bed, took out the blood pressure monitor and thermometer, and prepared to measure Sokov's blood pressure and temperature.
While Vera was busy, Sokov asked: "Where is Asiya?"
"Don't talk." Vera, who was measuring blood pressure, raised her voice and said, "Otherwise it will affect the accuracy of blood pressure."
After hearing this, Sokov quickly closed his mouth to avoid inaccurate blood pressure measurement later.
Soon, Vera finished measuring her blood pressure. While packing her things, she said to Sokov: "Asiya is making breakfast in the kitchen. After I finish checking you, you can go out to have breakfast."
Vera spent more than half an hour doing a series of examinations on Sokov, and found that his physical indicators were normal, and she felt much more at ease. She packed up the various instruments for examination, and then said: "
Okay, Misha, we can go out for breakfast."
When the two came to the living room, Asiya had already placed breakfast on the table. When she saw the two coming out, she asked with a smile: "Is the examination done?"
"Yes, Asia, it's done." Vera replied briefly: "Misha's all indicators are normal. After breakfast, you can go anywhere you want."
The three of them had just started eating breakfast when they heard someone knocking on the door.
Asiya walked over and opened the door. Seeing that the person knocking on the door was Koshkin, she quickly let him in.
"Comrade General," Koshkin came to Sokov and said respectfully: "I was ordered to pick you up. I wonder when you plan to leave?"
"Lieutenant Koshkin, even if you drive me out, you still have to eat breakfast." Sokov greeted the other party and said: "Sit down and have something to eat first."
Asya placed a set of tableware in front of Koshkin and said: "Please sit down, Lieutenant Koshkin, and please have something to eat."
Koshkin stared at Vera intently. After hearing Asiya's words, he just replied casually: "Okay."
Seeing the exchanges between Koshkin and Vera, Sokov couldn't help but smile calmly, and then said to Koshkin: "Lieutenant Koshkin, when we go out later, we will take Vera back to the hospital first, and then
Let’s go to our destination.”
Koshkin was originally worried about the fact that the hospital and Zhukov's home were not in the same direction. At this moment, when he heard Sokov's words, he couldn't help but be overjoyed and said quickly: "Okay, Comrade General, I will send the troops to the maintenance department first later."
Take me back to the hospital."
A few minutes later, everyone finished breakfast. Before Asiya went into the kitchen to wash dishes, she was ready to make tea for everyone, but Koshkin refused: "Asiya, I think Vera may want to return to the hospital as soon as possible.
I don’t have time to drink tea, so let’s talk about it next time.”
Zhukov's residence and the hospital where Vera works are located in the city center and the other is in the east direction of the city. Starting from Sokov's home, you must first drive west. After delivering Asiya to your destination, you need to turn around and head east.
Only then can we get to Zhukov's villa.
If Sokov had arranged such a route, even if Koshkin obeyed on the surface, he would still be murmuring in his heart. But this time he was sending Vera to work, and Koshkin felt unusually excited.
After sending Vera to the place, Koshkin turned the car and drove towards Marshal Zhukov's villa.
"Lieutenant Koshkin," Sokov asked Koshkin tentatively: "Do you know where Comrade Marshal lives?"
"It goes without saying, Comrade General." Koshkin said excitedly: "If I can't find it, how could Comrade Deputy Minister entrust me with such an important task?"
There were no outsiders in the car, so Sokov asked confidently: "Lieutenant Koshkin, tell me, what is Marshal Zhukov doing in the villa now?"
"What else can he do?" Koshkin said casually: "I think he must be planting vegetables and raising flowers in the yard of the villa. Apart from that, I can't think of anything else he can do."
"That's not necessarily the case, Comrade Lieutenant." Unexpectedly, as soon as Koshkin finished speaking, Asiya retorted: "If it is late spring or early summer, the situation you mentioned is still possible. It can be cold now
In winter when the ground is freezing, even if Marshal Zhukov wants to grow vegetables and flowers, the conditions in the yard do not allow him to do so."
"Yes, Asya is right." After Asya heard this, Sokov also realized that Koshkin was taking it for granted. The weather was more than 20 degrees below zero, not to mention the frozen land.
It is difficult to dig, and even if you manage to plant vegetables and flowers, they will all be frozen to death: "How can you grow vegetables outside in such weather?"
"Comrade General," Koshkin quickly looked back and asked Sokov: "Tell me, what should Marshal Zhukov be doing at the moment?"
"I think he was either reading battle reports and studying the battlefield situation in the house, or chopping firewood in the yard."
After driving for more than half an hour, we finally arrived in the east direction of the city.
Koshkin drove the car off the street and into a forested area.
Other cities plant trees in the city, but Moscow is a city built in the forest. A quarter of the entire city is covered by forests. Many street trees on both sides of the streets are natural rather than artificially planted.
.
At this moment, Sokov saw the car driving into the forest, swaying forward along a snow-covered path, and asked casually: "So Marshal Zhukov lives in the forest?"
"Yes, Comrade General." Koshkin replied without looking back: "It is quieter in the forest, which is conducive to Marshal Zhukov's recovery."
Regarding Koshkin's statement, Sokov couldn't help but sneer secretly: He was obviously being idle, but he still claimed that he was recuperating here. Fortunately, such idle days would not last long, as long as he waited for the tiles
After Tutin was injured and left the front line, Zhukov would be given the opportunity to pay his dues and take over the command of the 1st Ukrainian Front from Vatutin.
"Misha," Asiya looked at the uncleared snow on the trail outside and asked Sokov with some worry: "The snow is so deep, what should we do if our car gets stuck in the snow and cannot move?
?”
"Don't worry, Asiya." Sokov smiled and comforted Asiya and said, "No matter what, we are still in the city. If something happens to the car, we can go out on foot to ask for help."
"With such deep snow, if a vehicle really gets stuck, it may not be easy to rescue."
"Asiya, don't worry." Seeing Asiya's worried look, Koshkin comforted her and said: "Snow rescue teams are usually equipped with sleds and tracked armored vehicles, let alone those who are just stuck in the snow.
A car, even if it's stuck in a swamp, can be pulled out."
The car driven by Koshkin drove into a villa area while the three of them were chatting.
There was a sentry post at the entrance. Seeing a car approaching, an officer in a military coat and two soldiers carrying submachine guns ran out of the duty room and stopped the car.
As soon as the car stopped, the officer stepped forward and bent over and said to Koshkin: "Comrade Lieutenant, this is a restricted area. No one can come in or out at will."
"Do you see what this is?" Koshkin became anxious upon hearing this. He pointed at the special pass on the windshield and said angrily: "I am a car of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and I have important things to do here.
"
After the officer clearly saw the special pass on the windshield, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. He quickly changed his face and said with a smile: "Comrade Lieutenant, may I ask, what is the purpose of your coming here?"
"
"I'm sending General Sokov to see Marshal Zhukov." Seeing that the other party gave in, Koshkin asked with an air of dignity: "Do you know where he lives?"
"I know, Comrade Lieutenant, of course I know." The officer approached Koshkin, pointed forward and said, "You drive down this road. The third villa on the left is Marshal Zhukov's residence."
As the car drove forward, Sokov carefully looked at the villas on the roadside. The villas here were different from the country villas he had seen before. Those villas were basically built with wood, while the villas here were made of strips.
Made of stone, even if it is hit by one or two cannons, it can still remain roughly intact. In front of each villa is a yard enclosed by a wooden fence, and the trees and shrubs inside are covered with snow.
Arriving outside the villa where Zhukov lived, Sokov looked through the gap between the wooden fence and saw that there was no one in the yard. He shook his head at Koshkin, who had just got out of the car, and motioned for him to go forward and ring the doorbell.
Koshkin, who understood the situation, quickly stepped forward, walked to the door and rang the doorbell.
After the doorbell rang more than a dozen times, the door of the villa was opened from the inside, and a major wearing an otter fur hat and a long black fur coat walked out.
He came to the entrance of the courtyard and asked Koshkin who was standing outside through the door: "Lieutenant, what can I do for you?"
Koshkin sensed vigilance from the other party's tone. In order to prevent misunderstanding, he quickly explained: "Hello, Comrade Major, I am accompanying General Sokov to visit Marshal Zhukov."
Sokov waited for Koshkin to finish speaking, took two steps forward, looked at the major across the door, and said: "I am Sokov, is Marshal Zhukov here?"
After the major's eyes quickly glanced at Sokov's epaulettes, he said respectfully: "I'm sorry, comrade general, Marshal Zhukov is not at home at the moment."
"Not at home?" Sokov asked in confusion: "Then where is he?"
"Went out fishing."
"Going out to fish?" Sokov's eyes widened in surprise when he heard what the major said: "In such a cold weather, Marshal Zhukov went out to fish?"
"Yes, Comrade General." The major nodded and replied, "This is a hobby of Comrade Marshal."
"Do you know where it is?" After Sokov said this, he saw the major nodding. He understood that he knew where Zhukov was fishing, so he said to the major in a sincere tone: "Can you come to me to find him?
?”
"Okay, Comrade General." The major opened the courtyard door and said to Sokov: "Please come with me, and I will take you to find the marshal."
The major's pace was very fast, and it was very difficult for Sokov, who had not yet recovered from his leg injury, to keep up with him.
After the major walked forward for a certain distance, he saw that he had left Sokov far behind. He slowed down, approached Sokov and asked curiously: "Comrade General, have you ever injured your leg?"
"Yes, Comrade Major." Sokov made no secret of his injuries. He nodded and said: "I was attacked by a German bomb and was seriously injured. I lay in the hospital for several months. Now,
My injuries have basically recovered, but unfortunately I still can’t walk smoothly enough.”
"Comrade General, don't worry, your injuries will be healed before long."
After walking for a few minutes, the major pointed forward and said: "Comrade General, here, Comrade Marshal is fishing on the ice."
Sokov looked in the direction of his finger and saw several people in front of him. The man sitting wearing a mink military cap and a long black fur coat and fishing was naturally Marshal Zhukov. And standing next to him was Marshal Zhukov.
The two men wearing cotton military caps and military coats, who were as cold as grandsons, were undoubtedly the guards protecting Marshal Zhukov.
The two guards stood not far from Zhukov, their cheeks turned purple from the cold. However, they were worried that too much movement would scare Zhukov's fish away, so they did not dare to stomp their feet to keep warm. They could only rely on their own integrity.
Come and fight the cold.
"Comrade Major," Sokov saw this and couldn't help but ask the major: "It's such a cold day. Those two soldiers seem to be frozen. Why don't you prepare a place to keep warm for them?"
"Marshal Zhukov also wanted to go fishing on an impromptu basis," the major replied with some embarrassment: "We didn't have time to prepare anything to keep out the cold, so we had to make do."
Sokov looked around and found a military green tent nearby. He pointed there with his hand and said: "Comrade Major, you can definitely move that tent over so that the soldiers have a place to keep warm."
.”
"That tent is to process the fish caught for Marshal Zhukov. The fish produced in this way is fresh and tastes good." The major explained to Zhukov: "Besides, our soldiers are protecting the safety of Marshal Zhukov and cannot leave too far. If
They all went to that tent to keep warm, who will be responsible for the safety of Comrade Marshal?"
"Comrade Major," Sokov waited for the major to finish speaking, then pointed at the tent and said to him: "Since your people cannot leave their posts without authorization, you can order people to move the tent over and place it in a position where Comrade Marshal is fishing.
In this way, Comrade Marshal can sit in a warm tent and continue fishing."
"What, fishing in a tent?" After the major waited for Sokov to finish speaking, he shook his head with a wry smile: "Comrade General, you are really good at joking. I have never heard that you can fish in a tent.
.”
"If I say it's okay, it's definitely okay." Sokov said confidently: "Comrade Major, you first order someone to move the tent over, and I will explain it to the marshal. I'm sure he won't be angry."
"Okay, Comrade General." Seeing Sokov's confidence, the major no longer hesitated. He waved to the two soldiers in the distance and made a few gestures to signal them to come to him.
