The two left the machinery factory and returned to the hotel room of the engine factory. Just as they were planning to go to the restaurant to eat, they were stopped by a waiter on duty. She came to Yakov and handed a square note to each other, and said, "Comrade Captain, two hours ago, an air force captain came to find you. Seeing that you were not here, she left this note."
After thanking the waiter, Yakov unfolded the note. After looking at it for a while, a knowing smile appeared on his face: "This guy actually came to Nizhny Novgorod."
He stuffed the note into his pocket, turned his head to Sokov who was about to walk towards the restaurant, and said, "Misha, we won't have a meal in the restaurant today, I'll take you to meet someone." After he said this, he saw that the expression on Sokov's face had not changed at all, and added, "It's our common old friend."
"Our common old friend?" Sokov was shocked when he heard Yakov say this. He secretly said that the person who left the note for Yakov was the child of any leader, otherwise he would not be his common friend and Yakov. Thinking of this, he asked, "Who is it?"
But Yakov didn't answer, just smiled, and then said, "You will know when you see someone."
The two came out of the guesthouse and saw the driver standing by the side of the road, chatting with a woman wearing a headscarf. When he saw the two come out, he speeded up his speech and said a few words to the woman, then ran over and asked respectfully: "Two commanders, do you still have to go out?"
"Yes, we need to go out immediately." Yakov asked tentatively: "Do you know how to get to the Dubrolubov Memorial?"
"Of course I know." The driver nodded and gave a positive answer. He looked at Yakov and asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, are you planning to visit the memorial hall?"
"No," Yakov shook his head and said, "we are going to visit a friend who happens to live near the Dubrolubov Memorial."
"I understand, comrade commander." The driver turned sideways and made a call to Yakov and Sokov: "Please get in the car, I'll take you there now."
The jeep soon arrived near the Dubrolubov Memorial Hall. The driver parked the car on the side of the road, then turned his head to ask Yakov for instructions: "Comrade Commander, where will we drive next?"
"We're getting off the bus here." Yakov raised his hand and looked at his watch as he pushed open the door to get off the bus, and said to the driver: "Comrade Driver, we are going to visit a friend nearby. It may take a long time. You can just come here to pick us up at 8 o'clock in the evening."
"I understand, comrade Captain." The driver nodded vigorously and replied, "I will arrive on time!"
After the two got out of the car, Yakov looked around, then chose a direction, pointed his hand forward, and said to Sokov: "Misha, the place we are going is in front. Let's go!"
The two walked forward for a while. Sokov saw a life-sized bronze statue on the side of the road, and he secretly guessed in his heart that this was probably the most famous Russian literary critic Dubrolubov in the 19th century. Behind the bronze statue are two closed wooden doors, and there is a somewhat discolored announcement posted on the door. Unfortunately, the distance is too far, so I can't see clearly what it says.
Yakov noticed Sokov was constantly looking at the two closed wooden doors, and said to him: "Misha, don't look at it. The Dubrolubov Memorial Hall was closed shortly after the outbreak of the war. If it wants to open again, it will probably have to wait until the war ends."
The two passed the memorial hall and walked a distance in front, and finally arrived at a residential area. Yakov took out the note from his pocket, carefully checked the content behind, and looked up at Sokov and said, "Misha, the place we are going to visit is Building 17. Look carefully to see where you are."
Hearing Yakov say this, Sokov quickly checked the numbers of nearby buildings. After looking for a while, he said to Yakov: "The buildings here are all double numbers, and they should be in the opposite direction."
So the two turned around and walked back again. When passing the Dubrolubov Memorial Hall again, Yakov smiled bitterly and said, "It seems that I was wrong. I thought the single-digit building should be in the direction just now, but who knew it was in the opposite direction."
When passing by an officer's shop, Sokov suddenly remembered that he wanted to visit someone else's house and could not go empty-handed, so he stopped and said to Yakov: "Yakov, it's not appropriate for us to come to the door with empty handed." He pointed at the shop next to him, "Why don't we buy something here."
Yakov immediately agreed with Sokov's proposal. He took the lead in coming to the door, pushed open the glass door and walked in. The salesperson who was chatting in the store saw two young and handsome officers walking in from outside, and quickly asked, "Two commanders, do you need something?"
"Is there a vodka?" Yakov asked briefly.
Who knew that after hearing this question from Yakov, the salesperson was silent for a moment and asked back: "Comrade Captain, do you have a letter of introduction issued by your superior?"
"Letter of introduction, what letter of introduction?" Yakov looked at Sokov with a strange look and asked the salesperson in confusion, "I just want to buy a few bottles of vodka. Do you need any letter of introduction?"
"Yes, comrade Captain." The salesperson said in a positive tone: "Since alcohol is included in special supplies, except for general-level officers who can directly purchase it, other officers of other levels need to issue a letter of introduction."
"Hell, this is a hell." Yakov might have encountered the first time he needed a letter of introduction to buy something, so he asked with some amusement: "Then do you have any goods here? Do you don't need a letter of introduction?"
The big and thick salesperson pointed to the shelf behind with his thick palms and said, "Captain, you don't need to introduce the canned vegetables on this shelf."
I heard that canned food can be paid for no money, Yakov pointed at the canned food with his hands, and said, "Give me two of these canned fruits. In addition, give me two hundred grams of butter and cheese..."
After buying things, Yakov and Sokov carried things in both hands and walked towards the residential building not far away. When they were going upstairs, Sokov remembered a joke from later generations: "When someone invited a friend to visit his home, he specifically reminded his friends: Just kick the door when you come. The friend asked in confusion: Why do you need to kick the door with your feet? Someone replied: Because you both hold things with your hands, you can't free your hands to knock on the door."
The two of them came to the door of the house they were visiting and turned the jokes on the Internet into reality. When a young Air Force captain heard the knock on the door and opened the door, he looked at Yakov and Sokov carrying large and small bags outside and asked curiously: "Yakov, why do you kick the door with your feet?"
"Nonsense, haven't you seen me holding things in both hands?" After Yakov finished speaking unhappily, he stuffed the things in his hand into the other party's hand and said, "Get in quickly, I'm almost hungry."
The Air Force Captain looked at Sokov who was standing beside him and asked curiously: "Yakov, is this major..."
Yakov walked into the house without looking back and said, "He is Misha, you and my former good friend."
"You are Misha?" The Air Force Captain showed a surprise expression on his face. He wanted to reach out to shake hands with Sokov, but when he saw a pile of things in his hand, he smiled embarrassedly, and then said politely: "Come in quickly!"
When Sokov walked into the living room, he saw a long wooden table in the middle of the room, which was filled with various food and drinks. Sitting next to the table was an air force lieutenant and four young and beautiful girls. Perhaps seeing Sokov was holding a lot of things, the lieutenant took the initiative to take the things and put them in a suitable position.
As soon as Yakov entered the door, he went to the bathroom. Sokov couldn't help but feel a little restrained when he saw that there were strangers present. The air force captain came over and shook hands with Sokov and said, "Misha, do you still remember me?"
After Sokov looked at the captain in an executive manner, he shook his head and said apologetically: "I'm sorry, comrade Captain, I really can't remember who you are."
Hearing Sokov said he didn't know him, the Air Force Captain showed a disappointed expression on his face. It happened that Yakov came out of the toilet and said to the captain: "Leonid, you can't blame Misha. He had injured his head a few months ago, causing amnesia. Not to mention you, he couldn't even recognize me."
Yakov walked to Sokov, pointed to the air force captain known as Leonid, and introduced to Sokov: "This is Leonid, and his father is Khrushchev."
"Khrushchev's son?!" Although Sokov had long guessed in his heart that Leonid might be the son of a leader, he did not expect that it was Khrushchev's son. He suddenly jumped up from his seat and asked in surprise: "Are you Khrushchev's son?"
"Yes, my father is Khrushchev." Although Leonid felt that Sokov's reaction was a bit exaggerated, he answered truthfully: "You, I and Yakov were very good friends when I was a child, but they separated later for various reasons. I didn't expect that your amnesia was so serious that I couldn't even recognize me."
Next, Leonid introduced five other guests to Yakov and Sokov: the Air Force Lieutenant, his wingman pilot, Lieutenant Victor; the other four girls were Shura, Alra, Garka and Vera, who were all neighbors in the building.
Looking at Leonid sitting opposite, Sokov began to murmur in his heart. He clearly remembered that after the Battle of Stalingrad began, Leonid was sent to the military court because he shot and killed his colleagues in a drunken manner. Perhaps because of his father, he was not sentenced to death, but was deprived of his military rank and demoted to the private.
After the end of the Stalingrad defense war, he disappeared in an air combat. There are two completely different statements about his disappearance. One said that he defected to the Germans in a plane and was later captured and shot by Stalin. The other statement was that he died bravely in the air combat.
Sokov had believed in the theory of defection before, but after coming to this era, his ideas changed. He clearly remembered that before shooting and killing his colleagues, Leonid had participated in the Battle of Kharkov. During the battle, his plane was shot down and he was injured. When he was sent to a field hospital, the doctor saw that his leg was seriously injured and planned to amputate him. After discovering the doctor's attempt, he put a gun on the other party's head and ordered him to send himself back to Moscow for treatment, and successfully saved the leg.
If the defection happened before the end of the Stalingrad defense war, there was still a certain possibility. On the day when Leonid's fighter disappeared, the battle that could be called a meat grinder ended for a month. Manstein, near the Dnieper River, was beaten to tears by the Soviet army. In such a situation where the Soviet army had the upper hand, he would never do such a stupid thing unless Leonid's mind was flooded.
After everyone picked up the wine glass in front of them and drank it, Yakov asked curiously: "Leonid, how did you know that I live in the guesthouse of the engine manufacturer?"
"It's a coincidence." Leonid said after filling the wine glass in front of Yakov: "Victor and I went to the engine to perform the mission, and accidentally met several officers from Moscow. I met one of them. During a chat, I accidentally heard him mention that you were still among the people who came to Nizhny Novgorod with them. Thinking that I had never seen you before since the outbreak of the war, so I went to the guesthouse to find you. Seeing that you were not here, I left you a note with the address here, and asked you to visit."
After the two drank a few more drinks, Leonid suddenly asked a question that made Yakov extremely embarrassed: "Yakov, I once heard the propaganda of the Germans saying that you were captured by them. What is going on? Is it a rumor?"
"Yes, this is a rumor." Sokov saw an embarrassing expression on Yakov's face, and quickly spoke to relieve him: "Yakov was injured in the battle and hid in a local collective farm to recuperate. The German army may have seen Yakov's name from the seized roster, and spread rumors that Yakov was captured in order to achieve the goal of dismantling our army's morale."
Chapter completed!