The work of developing hovercraft was immediately put on the agenda after obtaining Stalin's consent.
Seeing the establishment of the hovercraft R&D project, Sokov couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, and once again suggested to Ustinov that he could refer to the design ideas of automatic sleds to shorten the development time of hovercraft. His purpose of doing this was very simple, hoping that in the Battle of Kharkov a few months later, his troops could quickly get supplies from superiors, so as not to be destroyed by the German army because of exhaustion of ammunition and food.
I thought I could return to Stalingrad after staying in Moscow for two or three days. Although my troops would not launch a new attack for the time being, Sokov would feel at ease only when he stayed with the commanders and fighters. But Ustinov always disagreed with letting Sokov return, saying that some unexpected problems may arise during the development of the hovercraft and needed Sokov to help solve them.
Sokov's mother's funeral was held the day after the research and development began. When the body was dug out of the ruins, she could no longer recognize her appearance. After soliciting Sokov's advice, Yakov buried him and several other workers in a corner of the factory.
After handling the funeral, Sokov once again asked Yakov to convey his wishes to Ustinov, hoping to return to the front line as soon as possible, but Ustinov rejected it. He still said that during the research and development process, some difficult problems may be encountered, and Sokov needs to help solve them. As for Stalingrad, there will be no major wars for the time being, and the work in the division will be left to the deputy division commander and the chief of staff.
After relaying Ustinov's original words, Yakov sighed softly and said, "Misha, I know Dmitry Fedorovitch. Since he has never wanted to let you return to Stalingrad, it must be my father's fault. They want to keep you in Moscow, and maybe there is any important task to hand over to you."
Sokov was half-believing and half-doubted about Yakov's statement. He thought that he was an ordinary colonel, and why was he worthy of the attention of the Supreme Commander himself? But no matter what he said, Yakov was the son of Stalin. Sokov could not refuse or believe everything he said. The only thing he could do was to continue to stay in Moscow patiently.
Two days later, while he was still sleeping soundly at home, he heard someone knocking on the door desperately. Before he could climb out of the simple bed, Anne, who was sleeping in the bedroom, had already walked to the door in a pajamas and asked vigilantly, "Who is outside?"
"I am Yakov, Misha's friend." Yakov's voice came from outside the door: "You are Anne, please open the door quickly. I have an urgent matter to find Misha."
Hearing that it was Sokov's friend and he called out his name, Annie opened the door without hesitation. As soon as the door opened, Yakov rushed in with a chill. He asked Annie, who was holding the door with his hand, "Where is Misha?"
“In the kitchen!”
Yakov walked quickly to the kitchen door, and after fumbled on the wall for a while, he turned on the electric light in the kitchen. As soon as the light lit up, he saw Sokov sitting on a simple bed, blocking his hand in front of him to cover the dazzling lights: "Misha, I'm sorry to wake you up. If there is something urgent today, please come with me immediately."
Sokov looked out the window and it was still black. When he looked at the wall clock, it was only four o'clock in the morning. However, he did not get angry because, based on his understanding of Yakov, if something big had not happened, the other party would never wake him up at such a time when he should sleep.
Sokov turned over and got out of bed, washed up briefly, greeted Anne and Tonya who were awakened, put on their military coats, and followed Yakov out.
After the two left, Tonya said to Annie in surprise: "Annie, do you see clearly who the lieutenant colonel who came to find Misha is?"
"I saw it very clearly, but I didn't know it." Annie nodded, gave Tonia an affirmative answer, and asked back, "Do you know him?"
"Yes, I met him once when I was in the Western Front." Although there were only two people in the house, Tonya still lowered her voice and said, "He is Yakov, the son of the Supreme Commander."
"Ah, it's him?!" After hearing the name Tonya said, Annie covered her mouth with her hands in surprise: "My God, he is actually a good friend to Misha. This is simply incredible."
Sokov followed Yakov to the outside of the building and found a jeep parked beside the building, with no one inside. Seeing this situation, Sokov understood that it was Yakov who drove here himself, so he sat in the passenger seat without saying a word, waiting for Yakov to drive.
The vehicle started and drove forward along the street. As soon as he left Lenin Street, Sokov saw a traffic policeman flashing out of the roadside and raised his hand to stop the car and checked. But with the help of the street light, he took a step back and stood in front of him to salute the jeep.
"Misha," Yakov did not care about the little episode, but asked the silent Sokov: "Why don't you ask me, what's wrong with me, I brought you out so early?"
Sokov looked at the road outside and found that the direction of the jeep was heading towards the train station. He asked casually: "Yasa, who are you going to take me to the train station to meet?"
Upon hearing Sokov's answer, Yakov's face showed a shocked expression, "How did you know I'm going to take you to the train station?"
"I guess." Sokov yawned and said carelessly: "I guess the person who wants to meet me will probably leave soon, otherwise you wouldn't disturb my sleep at this time."
Seeing that Sokov guessed the destination he was coming, Yakov grinned silently and said, "Misha, you guessed it right. I am just going to take you to the Belarusian Railway Station."
"Yasa," Sokov asked Yakov with a side face: "Can you tell me what important person is going to see me?"
"It's General Golikov. He will leave Moscow in two hours. He hopes to have a good talk with you before leaving."
"General Golikov?" Sokov said with some confusion: "What will happen to him when he looks for me? You must know that he is the deputy commander of the front army. If you want to find me, wouldn't it be more convenient to find me when I return to the army?"
"He is no longer the deputy commander of the front army." Yakov shook his head and said, "Misha, your news has lagged behind."
"What, he is not the deputy commander of the front army?" Sokov was stunned and asked quickly: "What happened? Why was he dismissed?"
"It's not a dismissal, but a promotion." Yakov replied with a smile: "He was appointed commander of the Voronezh Front not long ago and will take office today. Before he left Moscow, he wanted to talk to you, so he called me and asked me to take you to see him."
Sokov thought hard in his mind: Since Golikov has served as the commander of the Voronezh Front, what will happen if he wants to see himself at this moment?
The jeep drove directly into the Belarusian railway station and drove onto the platform. Because the jeep had various passes on the windshield, no one stopped him along the way.
Yakov pointed to the train on the track and said to Sokov: "Misha, General Golikov is in the last carriage. Come over and see him quickly. I'll wait for you here." Sokov pushed open the door and got out of the car, sorted out his military appearance, and walked towards the last carriage with a step.
There were more than a dozen soldiers standing guard outside the carriage. When they saw Sokov walking towards the carriage, a lieutenant stepped forward and blocked his way and said politely: "I'm sorry, comrade Colonel, you can't go forward any more!"
"Comrade Lieutenant," Sokov stopped and said to the lieutenant who stopped him: "I am Colonel Sokov. I am here to meet General Golikov. Please inform me."
Hearing Sokov's self-reported home, the lieutenant's face showed a joyful expression: "You are Colonel Sokov. Comrade Commander has been waiting for you, please come with me."
Sokov followed the lieutenant into the carriage. He saw Golikov and another general leaning towards the door, looking at a map on the table. He quickly took two steps forward, raised his hand to his forehead, and reported loudly: "Report to the commander of the front army, Colonel Sokov, the commander of the 41st Division of the Guards, was ordered to come, please give instruct!"
Golikov stood up straight, turned around and smiled at Sokov, and said, "Hello, Colonel Sokov, I'm sorry I've brought you here so early, and I didn't disturb you to rest."
Sokov said in his heart a little amused: "It would be strange if I woke me up from my sleep so early, it would be strange if I didn't disturb me." But in front of Golikov, he could only say with a swollen face and fat man, "No, I didn't disturb me at all. You also know that on the battlefield, it is common for us to not sleep for days and nights."
"But this is not a battlefield," Golikov said with a wry smile: "You could have slept until dawn, but because of me, I woke up. Let me introduce you to Lieutenant General Kuznetsov, a military committee member of the Front Army."
It seems that the Voronezh Front troops have also changed their ranks, and now even the military committee members no longer use the ranks of political workers. He quickly raised his hand to salute Kuznetsov and said politely: "Hello, Comrade Military Commissioner of the Front Army."
"Col. Sokov," Golikov called Sokov to sit down, hesitated for a moment, and said in embarrassment: "I was ordered to rush to the Voronezh Front to command the troops. Before leaving, I learned that you were also in Moscow, so I asked Yakov to find you, because there was something to ask for your opinion."
"If you have something to ask for my opinion?" Sokov muttered in his heart: "Do you want to transfer me to his troops?" With this question, he asked respectfully: "Chief of the Front Army, can you tell me what's going on?"
"I'm going to take office in the Voronezh Front and need some excellent commanders to assist me." Golikov said slowly: "And you are the commander I want the most. How about it, are you interested in my front?"
"Comrade General," Sokov was unacceptable to changing jobs when the victory of Stalingrad was about to win. Once he left at this moment, his efforts in the past few months would be gone, so he said tactfully: "You should know that my troops are now standing in the Mamayevgang area and it is impossible to transfer them."
"Under the current circumstances, I can't transfer the 41st Guard Division to the Voronezh Front." Golikov replied with a smile: "There are some troops, but they lack an excellent commander. As long as you are willing to come to my troops, I can let you continue to serve as the division commander."
When Sokov learned that the other party was just letting him serve as a division commander, he suddenly felt bored. He thought to himself that when Rokosovsky tried to dig himself last time, he proposed to command an army, but now Golikov can only give himself a division. Since the position of others who gave him the position of commander did not change jobs, he would definitely not miss the opportunity to be famous in history for the position of a division commander of the same level.
After considering the interests clearly, Sokov stood up and straightened his body and said, "Comrade General, thank you for your kindness, but I may have to let you down. I will never go anywhere until I destroy the Paulus German Army Group."
Golikov didn't expect Sokov to reject his invitation so simply, and felt disappointed, but he still asked unwillingly: "Col. Sokov, are you really not considering my proposal?"
"Comrade General, I have considered it very clearly." Sokov said with a serious expression: "My subordinates and I fought in Stalingrad for several months, and now victory is in sight. I cannot do it if I leave them to other troops."
"That's a pity." Golikov sighed and said, "I thought we had the opportunity to attack the enemy as hard as we did when we were in Mamayev. Unexpectedly, alas..."
Since Sokov was unwilling to come to the Voronezh Front, Golikov did not force it even though he was disappointed. After chatting for a few more words, he waved his hand to send Sokov away.
Yakov, who was in the jeep, saw Sokov return to the car and asked curiously while starting the car: "Misha, what's the matter with you, General Golikov?"
"He wants me to follow him to the Voronezh Front."
"What, let you go to the Voronezh Front?" Yakov instinctively stepped on the brakes when he heard the news, turned his head and asked Sokov in surprise: "Then have you agreed?"
"No." Sokov shook his head and said, "I will never go anywhere until the enemies in the Stalingrad region are completely resolved."
Chapter completed!