Under the careful treatment of the military doctors and the careful care of Asya, Sokov's body recovered quickly.
Seeing that October Festival will be here in a few days, the songs played on the radio in the hospital have become all military songs. The inspiring songs made Sokov's blood boil while lying on the hospital bed.
He felt that if an enemy appeared in front of him at this moment, he could jump off the hospital bed, swing the chair next to the bed and hit the enemy.
When Sokov and Asiya were chatting that day, he suddenly saw Lunev coming in from outside. He quickly greeted him: "Hello Lunev, why do you have time to see me today?"
"Hello, Misha." Now neither of them holds positions in the army, so they no longer use the original title. Runev walked to the bedside, stretched out his hand to Sokov, and said: "I
I’m here today to visit my colleagues, so I stopped by to see you and chat with you.”
At this time, Sokov's injury had healed and he could sit up halfway. When he saw Lunev reaching out to him, he quickly raised his right hand and shook it, and said to him: "Lunev, please sit down, what do you want?"
Let’s talk after you sit down.”
Seeing Lunev sitting down on the chair next to the bed, Sokov called to Asya again: "Asya, give General Lunev a cup of hot tea, remember to put more sugar."
Asya agreed and turned around to pour tea. But Lunev said to Sokov with a smile: "Misha, I didn't expect you still remember my habits and know that I like to put more sugar in my tea.
"
"We are partners, so it is normal to remember your habits." Sokov said jokingly: "I remember that you are the one who consumes the most sugar cubes every month."
Amidst the laughter of the two, Asiya came to Lunev with hot tea and said politely: "General Lunev, please drink tea."
Lunev took the tea cup from Asiya's hand and asked with a smile: "Asiya, are you tired of taking care of Misha here every day?"
"He is my husband, and he is willing to do it no matter how tired he is." After Asiya said this, he tentatively asked Lunev: "General Lunev, do you have anything important to say to Misha?
Should I avoid it?"
"No, no need to avoid it." Lunev waved his hand towards Asiya and said randomly: "You also sit down and listen. You will also be interested in what I am going to say next."
After Asiya sat down on the chair next to him, Lunev turned to Sokov and asked: "Misha, do you know about the adjustment of the unit's designation?"
Sokov was stunned for a moment when he heard what Lunev said. Then he thought that it was already November. In his memory, the Soviet army changed the designations of all units on October 20, 1943. For example, Konev
The designation of the Steppe Front was changed to the Second Ukrainian Front.
Although he knew the details of the change of number in his heart, he still pretended to be confused on the surface. After all, he had been lying in the hospital, and it was impossible for anyone to tell him such an important matter. If he said that he knew, it would probably cause trouble.
It would cause unnecessary trouble, so he pretended to be confused and asked: "How to adjust the number?"
"The Central Front commanded by General Rokossovsky was renamed the Belarusian Front. It consisted of the 3rd, 48th, 50th, 61st, 63rd and 65th Armies and the 16th Air Force Army;
General Vatutin's Voronezh Front was renamed the 1st Ukrainian Front, consisting of the 13th, 27th, 38th, 40th, 47th, 60th Army, 3rd Guards Tank Army and 2nd Air Force Army;
General Konev's Steppe Front was renamed the 2nd Ukrainian Front and consisted of the 4th, 5th, and 7th Guards Armies, the 37th, 52nd, 53rd, and 57th Guards Tank Armies, and the 37th, 52nd, 53rd, and 57th Guards Tank Armies.
5th Army and 5th Air Force;
General Malinovsky's Southwestern Front was reorganized into the Third Ukrainian Front."
After Sokov waited for Lunev to finish speaking, he said with some surprise: "Our 27th Army is now under the command of General Vatutin?"
"Yes." Lunev nodded and said: "Misha, you can tell from the number that General Vatutin is obviously more valued by the Supreme Command, and he has incorporated a unit with strong combat effectiveness like the 27th Group Army into the organizational structure.
, which is a matter of course.”
When Lunev mentioned Vatutin, Sokov remembered that in a few months, the Soviet general would be ambushed and injured while inspecting the troops, and eventually died of wound infection. According to unofficial history
According to records, his wound became infected while he was hospitalized. The doctor said that the wound infection could only be solved by using penicillin provided by the Allies. However, because Stalin was not confident about this new anti-inflammatory and antibacterial drug, he firmly refused to use it, which indirectly led to the war.
Tuking's death.
Regardless of whether this incident is true or not, Sokov realized that as he took the lead in using penicillin, this new and unsafe drug has now become the first choice drug to prevent wound infections. Maybe Vatutin will not
Just like in real history, he unfortunately died of postoperative wound infection.
"There is another important news." Lunev continued: "Because General Konev was in the battle of Kursk, the liberation of Kharkov, Belgorod, and the Dnieper River front that broke through Manstein,
He has achieved great results and has been promoted to the rank of general."
"Oh, Comrade Commander of the Front Army has been promoted to general. This is a happy event." Sokov thought to himself. By February next year, General Konev, who had never been promoted during the war, will be the same as General Konev.
Rokossovsky, who had great military exploits, was promoted to Marshal of the Soviet Union. He smiled at Lunev: "It's a pity that I'm still lying in the hospital and can't get in touch with him, otherwise I would definitely congratulate him on getting a higher rank."
Military rank."
"When the war broke out, Konev's military rank was that of general and he was appointed commander of the Western Front, while Rokossovsky was only a major general and one of the many group army commanders under him." Lunev lamented.
Said: "But I didn't expect Rokossovsky to perform so well in the subsequent battles that he obtained the rank of general before the battle of Kursk."
"Lunev," Sokov couldn't help but interject after hearing this; "I will definitely continue to develop according to the current trend. Maybe by the beginning of next year, General Rokossovsky and General Konev will both have
May be promoted to marshal."
Regarding Sokov's statement, Lunev only thought about it for a moment and nodded in agreement: "Not only the two generals Rokossovsky and Konev have the possibility of being promoted to marshal, I think
Vatutin and Malinovsky also have the possibility of becoming marshals."
In Sokov's memory, Malinovsky was promoted to marshal in September 1944. After Germany surrendered, he was sent to the Far East. In August 1945, he commanded the troops of the Transbaikal Front against the Japanese.
The Kwantung Army launched an offensive and defeated as many as 600,000 Kwantung Army troops within ten days.
And Vatutin was very highly regarded by Stalin. If he had not had any accidents, he might have been promoted to marshal earlier than Rokossovsky and Konev.
"How is the war in the Dnieper River area?" Sokov asked.
"Manstein's defense line deployed on the Dnieper River has been broken through by our army in many places." Lunev said with a relaxed expression: "The Belarusian Front Army and the First Ukrainian Front Army have already launched an attack on Kiev on October 3.
Now that General Rokossovsky's troops have reached the eastern suburbs of Kiev, I believe it won't be long before Rokossovsky can lead his troops into Kiev and liberate this great city."
"General Lunev, you said that General Rokossovsky's Belarusian Front has reached the eastern suburbs of Kiev?" Sokov couldn't help but be stunned when he heard what Lunev said. In his memory, he captured the
Kiev's troops were Vatutin's 1st Ukrainian Front, not Rokossovsky's troops. Could there be any problem? With this question in mind, he asked curiously: "Is there any mistake?"
"How could this be wrong, Misha?" Lunev said with some displeasure: "Have you forgotten what I do? We basically receive the battle reports from the frontline at the same time as the General Staff. The frontline
If there is any trouble, I will know it as soon as possible."
Sokov realized how stupid his question was. Lunev was now a member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Naturally, he knew the battles and personnel changes on the front line very well. How could he make a mistake? The reason why in real history, it was Vatutin
The troops entered the city of Kiev first. It may be that an accident occurred that they were not aware of.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel sorry for Rokossovsky. In the battle to attack Kiev, his troops were the first to attack, but the first troops to enter the city were Vatutin's 1st Ukrainian Front.
In October 1944, when he commanded the First Belarusian Front to prepare for the Battle of Warsaw, he was transferred to the Second Belarusian Front by Stalin, and the vacated position was taken over by Zhukov. Since the main offensive direction of the Second Belarusian Front in the later period was Germany
area of East Prussia, thus making him miss the honor of liberating Berlin.
"General Lunev," Asia, who was sitting aside, asked tentatively while Lunev was speaking: "Can I ask you a question?"
"Asia, if you have any questions, just ask." Lunev said with a smile: "We are all so familiar with each other, so there is no need to worry."
Asiya glanced at Sokov who was lying on the hospital bed, and asked cautiously: "My Misha has made many achievements in the past two years, but he is still a major general. Do you know when he can be promoted to military rank?"
?”
After asking this question, Asiya saw Lunev's expression change, and she couldn't help feeling a little less confident. She quickly added: "General Lunev, I'm just asking casually. If it's not convenient for you to say it, you don't have to say it."
Already."
But Lunev sighed and said leisurely: "Asia, to tell you the truth, there is a document in my desk drawer that General Konev gave to the Supreme Command, requesting them to promote Misha to the post of
Lieutenant General. But for some reason, this application submitted as early as today in May was rejected by the Supreme Commander himself."
"Ah, General Konev's application for promotion was rejected?" Asia quickly glanced at Sokov and asked Runev in surprise: "Why?"
"Misha is my partner, so when I saw things about him, I was naturally very interested." Lunev explained to Asiya: "After many inquiries, I learned that someone in the Supreme Command said that Misha
Shah is too young, and if he is promoted too quickly, it will be detrimental to his future growth. It is for this reason that General Konev’s application was rejected.”
Sokov was really dumbfounded when he learned that the reason why he could not be promoted was because he was too young.
"Misha, I feel the same as you about your inability to be promoted to military rank." Lunev comforted Sokov and said, "But don't worry, I believe this is only temporary. With the merits you have established on the battlefield,
, it will be a matter of time before you are promoted to military rank. If you are lucky, you may become a marshal in the future."
"Is this true?" Sokov looked like this when he heard Lunev said that he might become a marshal in the future. After all, this kind of thing was too far away and no one could tell. But Asiya stared in surprise.
With wide eyes, he stared at Lunev and asked: "General Lunev, is this really possible?"
"Yes, I think so." After Lunev expressed his attitude, in order to prevent Asiya from being blindly optimistic, Hart deliberately vaccinated her, "But if Sokov wants to become a marshal, he must at least
It will take five to eight years."
After listening to Lunev's conclusion, Sokov really wanted to cry without tears. The war will end in a year and a half. Without the war, he will naturally have no chance to make contributions. So becoming a marshal is just for him.
It can only be the moon reflected in the flowers and water in the mirror, which is elusive.
However, Sokov did not dwell on this matter for long, and promptly changed the topic: "Lunev, will there be a military parade in Red Square this year during October Festival?"
"Needless to say, Misha." When it came to the Red Square military parade, Lunev became a little excited: "Don't forget, in November 1941, the German troops came to Moscow, and we all held it in the Red Square.
A great military parade ceremony was held. After the troops participating in the military parade passed the Red Square, they boarded the trucks parked there by the Moskva River and went directly to the front line."
"What a pity." Sokov sighed softly and said regretfully: "I can't even get out of bed now, otherwise I would also like to see this exciting military parade."
Lunev reached out and patted the back of Sokov's hand twice, comforting him and saying: "Misha, don't worry, you can rest here to recover. It doesn't matter if you missed the October Day military parade. You will still be there for next year's May Day military parade."
There is a chance to participate.”
"Next May, my injury should be almost healed by then." Sokov said thoughtfully: "But by then, will I, a major general without any position, have the opportunity to participate in such a military parade?
"
"This matter will be taken care of by me." Regarding Sokov's worries, Lunev dismissed Sokov's worries.
Bring a viewing stand so you can watch the military parade live."
"That's great," Sokov couldn't help but feel ecstatic when he heard Lunev's promise to him, and said quickly: "Then we'll make it a deal."
