Hearing Yakov address him, Sokov felt very happy, indicating that his "old friend" always kept his life-saving grace in mind.
After the two hugged, Sokov asked tentatively: "Yakov, what did you just say? Are you here to pick me up?"
"You are not the only person I want to pick up." Yakov pointed to the staff officer standing behind Sokov and said with a smile: "I'm here to pick up the two of you." After saying that, he turned his body to one side and used
Pointing to the open car door, "Misha, get in the car."
After Sokov got into the car through the open door, Yakov said to the staff officer: "Comrade Captain, you sit in the passenger seat." After the other party nodded to confirm, he bent down and got into the car, and casually walked into the car.
Closed the car door.
Yakov waited for the staff to sit down and closed the door, then told the driver: "Comrade driver, let's drive!"
After the car started, Sokov looked at the unfamiliar scenery outside and asked Yakov curiously: "Yakov, where are you taking us?"
In response to Sokov's question, Yakov smiled and said: "You will know when you get there."
The car drove for more than half an hour, and a walled area appeared on the roadside. Sokov judged from the barbed wire on the wall and the soldiers patrolling with military dogs outside the wall that this must be an important place.
When the car arrived at the gate, Sokov saw that the security here was even tighter. In addition to a dozen soldiers standing guard, the entrance was also filled with wooden shelves with barbed wire, and there were sandbag fortifications on both sides of the door.
, there was a Maxim heavy machine gun inside. Seeing this situation, Sokov thought to himself, if the German army did not have the cover of tanks and armored vehicles, and they tried to rush in, they would inevitably be littered with corpses in front of the machine gun position.
An officer on duty came to the car and said businesslikely: "Please show me your ID!"
Hearing what the officer said, Yakov and the driver both took out their IDs and handed them over. Based on his own feeling, Sokov thought that the officer should know Yakov, but he still carefully turned over Yakov's ID.
After reading it several times, he finally handed the certificate back, raised his chin at Sokov and the staff member who were sitting in the car, and asked: "Comrade Captain, do they have passes?"
"No." Yakov answered simply, "But they are guests invited by Comrade People's Commissar."
When the officer heard what Yakov said, he nodded, then stood up straight and took a step back. After raising his hand to salute the car, he turned around and ordered the soldiers standing at the door: "Move the barricade, open the door, and let the car in."
The car drove through the gate, drove forward for a few minutes, and finally came to a stop in front of a building covered with a camouflage net. As soon as the car stopped, Yakov turned to Sokov and said: "Misha,
We're here."
The three of them got out of the car, were interrogated at the entrance, and after handing over their weapons, finally entered the building. As Sokov followed Yakov along the corridor, he couldn't help but whisper
He asked: "Yakov, where did you bring us?"
"Comrade Major." The staff officer following the two men interjected: "This should be an important ordnance research and development or production enterprise under the jurisdiction of the National Defense Commission. If I guess correctly, the person Comrade Captain intends to take us to see is a weapon
People’s Commissar of the Equipment Committee.”
When Yakov heard what the staff officer said, his eyes widened in surprise. He asked in surprise: "Comrade Captain, how did you know?"
The staff officer smiled at him, patted the briefcase tucked under his arm, and then politely replied: "Comrade Captain, I was ordered to report to Comrade People's Commissar here."
Hearing the exchange between Yakov and his staff, Sokov was a little embarrassed. He thought that his superiors just sent me to escort Rokossovsky to the military hospital in Moscow, but did not ask me to report to the people's commissar in charge of weapons and equipment.
What job? He was considering whether to find some excuse to let Yakov send him out. Yakov had already stopped, turned around and said to Sokov and his staff: "We are here!"
The People's Commissar's office has two rooms, an inner one and an outer one. A major sat in the outer office. When he saw Yakov coming in from the outside, he quickly stood up and asked with a smile: "Yakov, you are back. Has anyone received you?"
"
"Got it." Yakov nodded, turned around, pointed at Sokov and the staff officer, and said, "They are."
The major frowned when he saw Sokov and the staff standing side by side. He said to Yakov: "Yakov, I received the order that only one person will report to the People's Commissar today. How come it appears now?"
Two people?"
"Comrade Major, the order I received is to go to the airport and bring Major Sokov and his companions here." Yakov shrugged and said to the major: "Maybe the superiors changed the plan temporarily.
I haven’t had time to inform you yet.”
The staff officer who came with Sokov quickly stepped forward and said to the major: "Comrade Major, I am the staff officer of the 16th Army. I have been ordered to report to the People's Commissar on the use of frontline equipment."
The major waited for the staff officer to finish speaking, raised his hand and scratched the back of his head, and said with some embarrassment: "Comrade Captain, please wait a moment, I will call the People's Commissar for instructions." After saying that, he picked up the bag in front of him.
After a moment of silence, he said into the phone, "Comrade People's Commissar, Captain Yakov brought back two officers, one of whom claimed to be from the 16th Army and said he was reporting to you on the use of frontline weapons and equipment... I understand.
I'll let him in right away!"
After the major put down the phone, he politely said to the staff: "Comrade Captain, please come with me. Comrade People's Commissar is waiting for you." After he sent the staff into the People's Commissar's office, he turned to Yakov and Soko.
The two Coves pointed to the couch on one side and said politely: "The captain's report may take a long time. You can sit there and rest for a while."
After Sokov followed Yakov and sat down on the sofa, he asked curiously: "Yakov, can I ask, what job are you engaged in now?"
"Didn't you see it?" Yakov said with a smile on his face: "I work in the Weapons and Equipment Committee."
"I'm asking about specific work."
"Responsible for the research and development of new artillery in order to produce various new and more complete artillery that are necessary for the front line."
After Sokov waited for Yakov to finish speaking, he asked curiously: "Yakov, weren't you a tank soldier before? It stands to reason that it is most appropriate for you to study new tanks."
Unexpectedly, as soon as Sokov finished speaking, he saw Yakov looking at him in surprise. He thought there was something on his face, so he quickly stretched out his hand to wipe it and asked: "Is there something on my face?"
What is it?"
Yakov waved his hand and asked: "Who told you that I was a tank soldier?"
"Weren't you in the tank division before?" Sokov did not expect Yakov to ask this, and replied in a panic: "The second lieutenant who informed me of your whereabouts is also a tank soldier himself."
"Yes, I was indeed in the tank division before." Yakov said with some laughter and tears: "But in addition to tank troops, there are also infantry and artillery in the tank division. The position I held at the time was the company commander of the anti-tank artillery company.
