red moscow

Chapter 2605

Sokov had originally planned to stay here for a while so that he would have a chance to have a good chat with Zhukov and find out what his current situation was.

But his wish was doomed to fail, because this year was the first day of the New Year in 1946, and many people came to pay their New Year's greetings to Zhukov, including generals and marshals in the army and comrades working in the local area. Because there were too many people, Sokov and Yakov could only sit in an inconspicuous corner to make room for the important people who kept coming.

"Misha, you are here to wish Marshal Zhukov a happy new year! You are here really early." After Rokossovsky finished his New Year's speech to Zhukov, he saw Sokov and Yakov sitting in the corner, and walked over to greet them: "Yasha, you are here too."

"Hello, Comrade Marshal." Sokov and Yakov quickly stood up and saluted Rokossovsky.

Rokossovsky waved his hands at the two men and said, "Don't be so polite. If you salute every time you meet someone, I guess you won't be able to put your hands down today."

Sokov chuckled twice and said, "Comrade Marshal, I had planned to visit you to wish you a happy new year after I left here, but I didn't expect you to come here." Now that he had met Rokossovsky, he should have said the blessings he had prepared: "Comrade Marshal of the Soviet Union, I wish you a sunny life, a successful career, good health, and eternal happiness!"

"Thank you, Misha!" Rokossovsky shook hands with Sokov and thanked him. Then he asked, "I just heard someone say that you seemed to have given Comrade Khrushchev some advice, which made him very unhappy. Is that true?"

"That's right, Comrade Marshal. I did make a suggestion to Comrade Khrushchev just now, but I didn't expect it to make him unhappy."

Sokov's words aroused Rokossovsky's curiosity. He asked tentatively: "Misha, what suggestion do you have? Why don't you tell me?"

"Comrade Marshal," Sokov didn't want too many people to hear what he said, so he looked around and said cautiously, "There are too many people here, it's inconvenient to talk, can you come outside and talk with me?"

In front of Zhukov's villa is a huge swimming pool, but because it is winter, there is no water in the pool.

Sokov and Yakov accompanied Rokossovsky around the swimming pool and came to a location away from the villa.

"Okay, there are only three of us here, just say whatever you want to say." Rokossovsky said, "I am very curious about what kind of suggestion could make Khrushchev angry."

"Comrade Marshal, the situation is like this." Sokov said without hesitation: "I told Comrade Khrushchev that because of the war, Ukraine lacks enough manpower, resulting in a large amount of land being barren. If the weather is good after the spring, there will naturally be no big problem. But if there is a persistent drought, it may lead to a large area of ​​crop yield reduction. Therefore, I suggested to Comrade Khrushchev that a large number of drought-resistant potatoes and corn should be planted, so that even if the worst happens, there will be enough crops to avoid famine."

After listening to Sokov's story, Rokossovsky smiled and said, "Misha, only you can say such things. If it were someone else, Comrade Khrushchev might have ordered the Ministry of Internal Affairs to arrest him. Do you know that your remarks are spreading panic? Since Khrushchev regained control of Ukraine and was about to make a big move, you suddenly told him that there might be a drought after the beginning of spring this year, which would lead to a large-scale reduction in grain production. It would be strange if he was not angry."

Seeing that Rokossovsky was also indifferent to the matter, Sokov felt a little anxious, but he could not tell the other party directly that he was a man from the future and knew the historical events that were about to happen. In 1946, due to drought, Ukraine's crop production dropped sharply. Coupled with the million poods of grain levied by Stalin, a large-scale famine occurred in Ukraine. In the end, nearly a quarter of the people died of hunger.

"Comrade Marshal, although the situation I described is based on my analysis of various information, I can tell you for sure that the drought will lead to a significant reduction in grain production." Sokov said tactfully: "If there is no large-scale planting of drought-resistant crops such as potatoes and corn, once Ukraine's grain production is greatly reduced, there may be a large-scale famine, and the situation will be difficult to deal with."

"No way." Although Rokossovsky thought that Sokov's statement was nonsense, considering that he had known him for such a long time and his judgment was always amazingly accurate, he asked cautiously: "The situation is not as bad as you think, right?"

"Comrade Marshal, the actual situation may be much more serious than I guessed." Just because the person standing in front of him was the trustworthy Rokossovsky, Sokov dared to speak out his worries boldly: "Although the war is over, there are still a large number of hostile forces in Ukraine. These enemies who were originally dependent on the Germans, although their masters, the Germans, have been defeated, they are unwilling to fail and continue to engage in various sabotage activities, and it is difficult for our army to completely eliminate them in a short period of time.

Think about it, if a drought really hits Ukraine in the spring, and these hostile elements destroy farmland everywhere and snatch food from collective farm members, will it cause problems with food supply? "

After listening to Sokov, Rokossovsky became more cautious. "Misha, I also know a little about what you said. Although our army has stepped up its crackdown on gangs in Ukraine, Poland and other regions after the war, it is very difficult to eliminate them because they are all locals, familiar with the terrain, and have people tipping them off. The most optimistic estimate is that we may have to wait until the end of this year or next year, that is, the beginning of 1947, to completely eliminate them."

"Comrade Marshal, you should know that Ukraine is the granary of our country. The grain produced here needs to be supplied to other parts of the country." Sokov continued, "Some people say that during the period when Ukraine was occupied by the Germans, even if it was affected by the war, the grain produced could still meet the needs of most areas. But those who say this seem to have forgotten that in order to build the Dnieper River defense line, Manstein fortified the left bank of the Dnieper River. He not only forcibly moved a large number of residents to the right bank, but also took away the farm animals, burned farmland, blew up factories and enterprises, and destroyed bridges and roads. These places were severely damaged during the war and are not suitable for resuming agricultural production in a short period of time..."

When Rokossovsky heard Sokov laying out the facts one by one, he was silent. He originally thought that Sokov had become a little arrogant because of his many military achievements, and that he did not take his words seriously in front of an important figure like Khrushchev. But now it seems that Sokov was right, and the situation in Ukraine is much more serious than he thought.

"So what's the solution?"

"First, we need to find a way to solve the problem of labor shortage," Sokov said. "After solving the problem of labor shortage, we can plant drought-resistant crops such as potatoes and corn in large quantities."

"Wait a minute, Misha, you said we need to solve the problem of insufficient manpower first." Rokossovsky looked at Sokov and asked, "Since the end of the war, large-scale reconstruction work has begun in various places, and the problem of insufficient manpower exists to varying degrees. You said we need to solve the problem of insufficient manpower, so I want to ask you, where will the manpower come from?" "Comrade Marshal, we actually have a lot of manpower that can be used."

"Tell me, where are these people?"

"In Siberia," Sokov replied. "Let's not talk about the hundreds of thousands of Kwantung Army captured in the August storm last year. If these enemies who have just laid down their arms are released into Ukraine, they may become a destabilizing factor. Therefore, I think we should consider sending all the German prisoners of war detained in Siberia to Ukraine to work, so that they can help the local residents grow potatoes and corn to survive the famine."

"Misha, you've already said that the hundreds of thousands of Kwantung Army soldiers held in Siberia by our army would be a destabilizing factor if they were transferred to Ukraine." Rokossovsky frowned and said, "Will they not become a destabilizing factor if the German prisoners of war are transferred here?"

"Their situations are different." Sokov said with a smile: "The German prisoners of war were detained in Siberia for as long as four years and as short as one year. After they learned that the war was over, they couldn't wait to return to their hometown as soon as possible. If we transport them from Siberia and place them in Ukraine, and tell them that if they work hard for labor reform, they can be released early and return to their homeland to reunite with their families. With such a promise, I believe they will work hard to go home and reunite with their families as soon as possible."

Unexpectedly, after listening to this, Rokossovsky turned his eyes to Yakov beside Sokov and said, "Misha, your proposal is very bold. I suggest that you let Yasha come forward and contact his father to give you a chance to make suggestions in person. As long as Comrade Stalin agrees with your proposal, then in a short time, tens of thousands of German prisoners of war will be transported from Siberia and settled in various regions of Ukraine."

"Misha, I also think your proposal is too bold." Yakov waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, then said cautiously: "I can talk to my father and ask him to meet with you, but it is hard to say whether your proposal will gain his consent."

"Yasha, I'm counting on you. Please make sure your father agrees to see me." Sokov looked at Yakov and said in a pleading tone, "Otherwise, there may be a large-scale famine during the wheat harvest season this year."

"Come on, let's go in." Rokossovsky said to Sokov and Yakov, "We have been out for a long time. If Marshal Zhukov finds out that we are missing, he will definitely find it strange."

As Rokossovsky expected, after Zhukov had a few words with his old subordinates, he unexpectedly found that his old comrade Rokossovsky had disappeared. Sokov and Yakov also disappeared with him. Zhukov realized that the three of them must be discussing something, so he hid in a quiet place.

Seeing the three people coming in, Zhukov immediately went to meet them. He said to Rokossovsky, "Koschka, where have you been? I was just looking for you. I thought you just left without even saying hello."

"How could that be, Georgy Konstantinovich!" Rokossovsky affectionately called Zhukov by his real name and father's name, and said with a smile: "I haven't seen Misha and Yasha for a long time, and I wanted to chat more. Because there are too many people here, we found a quiet place outside and chatted for a while."

Zhukov waited for Rokossovsky to stare at Sokov and Yakov for a while, and found that there was nothing unusual on their faces. He thought he was being too suspicious, so he said casually: "If you want to find a quiet place to chat, you can tell me directly, and I will arrange for you to go to an empty room upstairs. Don't you think it's too cold to talk outside?"

Rokossovsky laughed and said, "During the entire war, I basically stayed in my own headquarters. The environment at that time was similar to that of today. A little bit of severe cold is nothing to me."

Zhukov put a hand on Rokossovsky's shoulder and said to him with a smile: "Koschka, Comrade Malenkov is here and he wants to see you. Come with me."

As Zhukov and Rokossovsky walked towards Malenkov at the other end of the living room, Yakov could not help but say with emotion: "I never thought that even Comrade Malenkov would come to wish Marshal Zhukov a happy new year."

"Do you know Comrade Malenkov?" Sokov asked curiously.

Yakov nodded vigorously and said in a positive tone: "He is a person my father trusts very much. If my judgment is correct, his position in the future may be second only to my father."

Hearing Yakov say this, Sokov couldn't help but secretly give him a thumbs up. He didn't expect Yakov's guess to be so accurate. After Stalin's death, Malenkov did take over his position. Unfortunately, his ability was limited and he was soon replaced by Khrushchev.

"Misha," Yakov looked away, looked at Sokov and asked, "I'm going to leave. Will you come with me?"

"Of course," Sokov nodded, "Since we came here together, we should leave together. But before we leave, we should say hello to Marshal Zhukov. It would be rude to leave without saying goodbye."

It happened that at this time, after Zhukov introduced Rokossovsky to Malenkov, he walked towards where Sokov was.

Sokov hurried over and said politely, "Comrade Marshal, Yasha and I are about to leave. We came here to say goodbye to you."

Zhukov nodded slightly, then said, "Misha, there are too many people here today, and many things are hard to talk about. You'd better come back in two days, and we can sit down and talk."

"Okay, Comrade Marshal." Sokov nodded and said, "I will find time to visit you again in a couple of days."