red moscow

Chapter 2696

"Kopalova, I'm the one looking for you." Sokov took a step forward and looked at his old lover, feeling mixed emotions. "I want to ask you about some things in the past."

When Kopalova saw that the person she was talking to was a foreigner, her expression suddenly turned cold and her tone was also aloof: "I don't know you, there is nothing I can say to you."

Sokov was not discouraged after hitting a snag. He coughed lightly and cleared his throat: "Although you don't know me, I know a lot of stories about you..."

Kopalova glanced at Victoria standing next to her and said coldly, "You heard everything about me from Lida, right?"

"No." Sokov shook his head and said slowly, "When I heard the story about you, I hadn't met Lida yet."

"Oh, it wasn't Lida who told you." These words aroused Kopalova's interest: "I want to know, what do you know?"

"For example, you were attacked by gangsters on your way to Vienna with General Sokov." Sokov felt that he should say something special, so as to increase Kopalova's trust in him: "Almost all the passengers on that train died under the guns of the gangsters, and you were able to survive. In addition to those guards, General Sokov also played a huge role in it."

As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Kopalova showed a shocked expression on her face. She asked with trembling lips: "How did you know this?"

The reason why Kopalova was so shocked was simple. Almost all the passengers on the train died, and only a handful of people survived. The young man in front of him knew about this, and it was obvious that someone in the know had told him about it. But what Kopalova could not have imagined was that these things were all experienced by Sokov himself, not heard from others.

Victoria looked at Sokov with some surprise. Although he once told her that he had memories of his past life, she always thought that he might have made it up to comfort his great-grandmother. But now it seems that this matter is very likely to be true.

"I'm sorry, Kopalova, I promised someone not to tell anyone the source of the news." Sokov felt that it would take a lot of time to explain it to Kopalova, so he found an excuse to get by, and then went straight to the point and asked: "I came to you today because I want to know how General Sokov got out of danger after he arrived in Vienna and served as the commander of the 4th Guards Army. He was injured in an accident. I know that you have a close relationship with him and you came to Vienna together. You should know some things in more detail than others."

When Kopalova heard Sokov ask this question, she looked at the photo frame hanging on the wall. Her eyes became empty, as if she was recalling what happened that year.

Regina brought two cups of hot tea and said to them, "Don't stand, please sit down. Have a cup of hot tea!"

After sitting down on the sofa next to each other, the two focused their eyes on Kopalova, wanting to hear what she would say next.

Kopalova woke up from her reverie, looked at Sokov and asked, "What should I call you?"

"My Russian name is Mikhail, you can call me Misha!"

"What a coincidence, his name is also Misha!"

Sokov knew who Kopalova was talking about. It was his past self. In order to find out what happened in that era after he returned to the present, he cautiously asked, "Can you tell me what happened later?"

"Misha, I mean that Misha." After Kopalova made her statement, she began her meeting: "Back then, as a member of a special correspondent team, I went to Vienna to set up a foreign correspondent station. As a result, I was attacked by bandits on the border between Austria and Hungary. It was all thanks to Misha and his guards that I was able to reach Vienna alive.

After arriving in Vienna, he arranged for someone to escort me to the press station, while he went to meet the then garrison commander, General Malinin, and officially took over the post of commander of the 4th Guards Army. After taking office, he immediately went to the headquarters of the 20th Guards Infantry Army to inspect the work, but on the way back to the headquarters, he was attacked by bandits and was unfortunately seriously injured.

"Excuse me, I'll interrupt you." Victoria couldn't help interrupting Kopalova's story and asked curiously, "You said it was March 1946, and the war had been over for almost a year. Where did these bandits come from?"

"I think they are some stragglers who escaped the net," Kopalova said thoughtfully. "Maybe they received secret assistance from the British and American forces. It is said that the firepower used in the attack was very strong, otherwise a commander like Misha who has experienced many battles would not be easily injured."

Sokov murmured to himself that when they were attacked, the bandits used mortars and machine guns. If it were wartime, they would have been able to use the combat power of an airborne team at best, but they were caught off guard at the time. In addition, the troops responsible for protecting his safety were temporarily transferred and lacked sufficient experience, otherwise he would not have been injured.

Kopalova continued, "After he was wounded, he was immediately sent to the field hospital. General Malinin personally arranged for the best doctors to perform surgery on him. General Malinin ordered the doctors to do everything they could to save Misha."

"Did he survive?" Victoria couldn't help but ask. After asking, she realized that she was talking nonsense: "How long did he stay in the hospital?"

"About three months," Kopalova said. "After the operation, he stayed in the hospital for a month. His injuries were basically healed, but strangely, he was still in a coma. The doctor did a lot of tests on him and found that he was almost normal, but for some reason he didn't wake up.

Later, his wife Asia, Marshal Zhukov, Marshal Rokossovsky, and his good friend Yakov..."

“Wait a minute,” Victoria interrupted Kopalova again, “Yakov’s name sounds familiar.”

"The name Yakov certainly sounds familiar to you," Kopalova explained. "He is Stalin's eldest son, Yakov."

"Impossible, this is absolutely impossible." Victoria said in shock, "Stalin's eldest son Yakov died in a German concentration camp in April 1943. How could he have visited General Sokov in 4?"

"Officer, I am also confused about this question." Kopalova said with a wry smile: "According to historical records, Stalin's eldest son Yakov died in the Sacklin concentration camp on April 1943, 4. But I did see Yakov, and I saw Yakov in the city as early as during the Battle of Stalingrad. According to common sense, he should be in a German concentration camp at this moment."

"What on earth is going on?" Victoria looked at Sokov, then looked at Kopalova again and asked, "What on earth is going on?"

"That's what puzzles me," Kopalova said. "Sometimes I even wonder if Misha really exists in the world. Maybe he is just a figment of my imagination."

"Kopalova, please continue to tell us how General Sokov woke up." "Although many people came to visit him, he never woke up." Kopalova said, "Until one day in mid-June, when the doctor was making rounds, he unexpectedly found Misha, who was supposed to be lying in bed, standing in front of the window in a hospital gown, seemingly looking at something.

Upon hearing the news that Misha had woken up, the hospital director and some important figures rushed to Misha's ward, wanting to witness this miracle with their own eyes.

But what was unexpected was that Misha had no impression of the people in front of him at all, and asked others stupidly: "Where is this place, who are you?"

"Ah, the general has lost his memory?" Victoria said in surprise, "Does he still recognize you?"

Kopalova shook her head slowly and said, "Although he looked at me with surprise, he couldn't remember my name. I don't know if he was attracted by my appearance or if he thought I looked familiar but couldn't remember who I was."

"What about the others?" This time it was Sokov's turn to ask: "Can he recognize them?"

Kopalova shook her head first, then nodded and said, "He didn't recognize his wife Asia. But he recognized Marshal Zhukov, Marshal Rokossovsky and General Malinin at a glance. I guess he saw the photos on the wall to recognize who these senior commanders were at the first time."

When he learned that Sokov had lost his memory after recovering from his injury in 1946, cold sweat broke out on his forehead. If what Kopalova said was true, and he had amnesia after waking up, wouldn't he have forgotten all the information he had memorized during this period?

"What happened next?" Sokov hesitated for a long time and finally asked in a hoarse voice.

"In June 1946, Marshal Zhukov was demoted for various special reasons and transferred to Odessa as the commander of the military district. In July, Misha was also relieved of his post as commander of the 6st Guards Army and transferred to the Odessa Military District as deputy commander."

"Isn't the deputy commander of the Odessa Military District Lukin?" Victoria turned her head to look at Sokov and asked curiously, "How come it turned out to be the Misha you know?"

"The Odessa Military District has more than one deputy commander. Misha is the first deputy commander, and Lukin is only an ordinary deputy commander because his rank is lower than his."

"Oh, I see."

This was the second time that Sokov heard such remarks. He muttered to himself that if he really became the first deputy commander of the Odessa Military District in 1946, he would use this time to build a good relationship with Zhukov so that he could benefit from his position when he was reinstated.

"What happened next?" Sokov continued, "Kopalova, what happened to General Sokov you mentioned?"

"I don't know how to answer your question," Kopalova said. "I am old now and my mind is confused. I always dream about many things that happened during the war, so much so that I can't figure out whether it is real or just a dream."

"The end of science is metaphysics," Sokov said to Kopalova with a smile, "Many things that science cannot explain should be treated as metaphysics."

After a pause, he asked the most crucial question: "By the way, I heard from Lida that when you returned to Moscow in the 1950s, you brought back a little boy. Can you tell me who the father of that child is?"

Kopalova hesitated for a while, then said: "It's my and Misha's child. Unfortunately, my son and eldest grandson died in a car accident many years ago."

Sokov keenly caught a key word from Kopalova's story: "The person who had a car accident with your son was your eldest grandson. Can I understand that you have another grandson?"

"That's right." Kopalova did not deny Sokov's question, but answered truthfully: "My other grandson is now in his fifties, and Regina is one of his children."

After getting Kopalova's confirmation, Sokov was extremely excited. He didn't expect that he would have the opportunity to meet his descendants here. The charming Regina in front of him was his great-granddaughter.

But this was obviously not the time to reveal the truth. Sokov asked two simple questions, then turned to Victoria and asked, "Vika, it's getting late. Should we go back?"

Since Sokov wanted to leave, Victoria would not contradict him. She quickly stood up and said to Kopalova, "Kopalova, it's getting late. Let's go back first and visit you another day."

"Little girl," Kopalova held Victoria's hand and said softly, "If you have time, bring your great-grandmother over. I want to chat with her. After all, we were once comrades in the same trench."

Before answering this question, Victoria gave Kopalova a shot of prevention: "No problem. But I want to remind you first, my great-grandmother is very old and has Alzheimer's disease. It is still unknown whether she can come to you."

"Yes, she is old after all." Kopalova expressed her understanding of Victoria's statement: "We still don't know when she is awake."

After leaving Kopalova's house, the two got into a car parked on the side of the road.

"Vika," Sokov turned his head and looked at Victoria and asked, "Are you really going to let Lida meet her?"

Victoria thought for a moment, then said, "From today's conversation, my great-grandmother and this Kopalova should have a good relationship. I'll tell her about this when I get back. As for whether to come here to see Kopalova, I'll just have to try my luck."

"Vika, your consideration is correct." Sokov was also very worried about Lida's current physical condition: "We can tell her about today's meeting. As for whether she is willing to come here, it should be her choice."

(End of this chapter)