red moscow

Chapter 2730 Honors and Promotions

When bringing Pokryshkin into the garrison headquarters compound, Sokov deliberately glanced at the medals on his chest. There was only an Order of the Red Banner, which meant that he had not yet received the Gold Star Medal and the honorary title of "Hero of the Soviet Union".

Before the two entered the building, the captain ran out in a hurry, grabbed Pokryshkin's hand, and said excitedly: "You must be Captain Pokryshkin, I am Captain Edip of the garrison headquarters. I just saw your car arrive at the door from upstairs, so I came down to pick you up."

"Hello, Captain Edip." Pokryshkin shook hands with the other party and said with a smile: "You are very polite. Didn't you send Comrade Sokov to the door to pick me up? Why did you have to go there in person?"

"Oh, that's right, that's right." Edip quickly agreed, "This time you come to the garrison headquarters, he will lead people to protect your safety, but I feel uneasy, so I still have to come here in person to explain a few things."

While chatting and laughing, Captain Edip took Pokryshkin and Sokov into the building and came to the room arranged for them.

"Captain Pokryshkin," Edip said, "You came to Moscow this time. I helped you to live in the garrison headquarters for your safety. Comrade Sokov," he turned to Sokov and said, "Please arrange two soldiers to guard Captain Pokryshkin's door to ensure his safety."

"Okay, I'll arrange it right away." Sokov nodded, turned and walked out of the room, going back to arrange for people to protect Pokryshkin. After all, the other party was one of the best pilots in the Soviet Army, and he must not allow any problems to occur in the area under his responsibility, otherwise he would be in trouble.

When he arrived at the yard, he saw Andrei coming back with the patrol team. Sokov went up to him and asked, "Andrei, is the patrol going well?"

"Well, it went well."

"I have an important mission for you." Sokov said, "Find two trustworthy warriors and go with me."

Andrei quickly called two soldiers over and followed Sokov into the building, asking, "Sokov, what's the mission?"

"Today, a very good pilot arrived and will stay at the garrison headquarters for a few days." Sokov said to Andrei, "Your mission is to ensure his safety."

"Sokov, who is the pilot you are talking about?" Andre asked curiously, "Do I know him?"

"Captain Pokryshkin, have you heard of it?"

Sokov originally thought that many people would know about Pokryshkin, a famous pilot in later generations. But after he said his name, Andrei shook his head and asked in confusion: "Which front did he belong to? Why have I never heard of his name?"

Hearing Andrei say this, Sokov realized that he had taken things for granted. Victoria knew Pokryshkin because she was from the future, so it was not surprising that she knew the future Air Force Marshal. And Andrei was just a soldier at the bottom of the group, and it was good enough for him to recognize almost everyone in the regiment, not to mention people from different branches of the army.

Several people came to Pokryshkin's room. Captain Edip had already left. Sokov introduced him and said, "Comrade Captain, this is Andrei. During the time you are staying at the garrison headquarters, Andrei and his two soldiers will be responsible for your safety."

"Comrade Sokov, thank you so much."

"You're welcome. This is my job."

After chatting for a while, Sokov prepared to go out to see if Dennis and the others had returned. Pokryshkin obviously didn't want to stay in the room, so he wanted to go outside to get some fresh air, so he followed Sokov out.

When everyone arrived at the yard, they just happened to see Dennis leading the team back.

"Comrade Captain," Denis raised his hand to salute Sokov and reported, "We have successfully completed the patrol mission and nothing happened along the way."

"Well," Sokov nodded slightly, and then said to Dennis, "You two should go and rest first."

Pokryshkin, who was standing not far away, couldn't help but widen his eyes in surprise when he saw Denis saluting Sokov. When Denis led the team away, he turned around and asked Andrei beside him: "Andrei, am I seeing this correctly? A second lieutenant actually saluted an ordinary soldier and reported to Comrade Sokov as if a subordinate reported to his superior?"

"Comrade Captain," Andrei replied with a smile, "Although Sokov has no military rank, he has already become our company commander due to his outstanding performance in recent battles."

"Why doesn't he have a military rank yet?" Pokryshkin asked in confusion.

"Because, because he has been in the army for too short a time." Andre replied somewhat awkwardly: "To be precise, he has only been in the army for a few days, and his superiors have not had time to award him a rank yet."

"Oh, so that's how it is." After Pokryshkin figured out what was going on, he was surprised but also felt it was normal. Since the outbreak of the war, it has been heard that an ordinary soldier has been promoted from squad leader to platoon leader, company commander, or even battalion commander due to the continuous sacrifice of his superior commanders in battle. Sokov in front of him should be such a person.

"Comrade Captain," Andrei said to Pokryshkin as he watched Sokov leave. "Sokov's lack of rank is only temporary. I believe it won't be long before his superiors will grant him the rank he deserves."

At noon, Edip came to Sokov in person and said, "Comrade Sokov, I just received a notice that you will attend the meeting with Captain Pokryshkin this afternoon."

"What meeting?"

"I don't know. It's not mentioned above." Edip shook his head and said, "But there is a car coming to pick you up." He raised his hand to check the time and continued, "The meeting will be held at 2:30 pm. You should go to the yard at 2 o'clock to get on the car."

Sokov followed Edip's instructions and waited in the yard before two o'clock. Unexpectedly, he had just stood in the yard for a while when he saw Pokryshkin and Andrei and others coming out of the building. He went over to greet them and said, "Comrade Captain, where are you going?"

"It's Comrade Sokov." Seeing that the person who greeted him was Sokov, Pokryshkin also behaved very politely: "Captain Edip just informed me that the superiors want me to attend a meeting and asked me to get on the car here. Why don't you rest in the house?"

"As it happens, Captain Edip also informed me that I had a meeting to attend and asked me to board the car in the yard."

"That's a coincidence. It looks like we're going to a meeting together."

The cars arrived. Two sidecars drove into the yard first, followed by a military bus, and then a police car.

After the vehicles stopped, a lieutenant from the Ministry of Internal Affairs got out of the bus and asked loudly, "Who are Captain Pokryshkin and Sokov?"

"We are!" Pokryshkin and Sokov hurried forward and told each other their names: "I am Captain Pokryshkin (Sokov)."

The lieutenant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs stared at the two men for a while, then shook his head and said, "Get in the car." Because the windows were curtained, Sokov could not see clearly what was going on in the car. After he got in the car, he saw that there were more than a dozen people sitting inside. Although he could not see the ranks on their collar badges for the time being, Sokov knew that these people must be officers.

Seeing that Sokov and Pokryshkin had both gotten in the car, Andrei wanted to get in with his men, but was stopped by the lieutenant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs: "What are you doing?"

"Comrade Lieutenant," Andrei said to the lieutenant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, "we have been ordered to protect the safety of Captain Pokryshkin."

"Don't worry, we will take care of their safety, so you don't have to worry about it."

After the lieutenant got back in the car, the driver closed the door of the bus and turned around to drive out of the yard.

"Comrade Lieutenant," Pokryshkin asked curiously after he saw a lieutenant sitting next to him after the car started. "Do you know where we are going?"

The lieutenant smiled bitterly and shook his head, and replied: "I don't know either."

The lieutenant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who was sitting in the front row, heard the conversation between the second lieutenant and Pokryshkin, turned around and said in a stern tone: "Don't talk."

When the bus fell into silence again, Sokov felt uneasy. The tone of the lieutenant's speech gave him the illusion that he was sitting in a prison van and being sent to a place of execution in the suburbs.

Ten minutes later, the bus stopped and the lieutenant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs asked everyone to get off.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

After Sokov got out of the car and took a good look at the surroundings, a smile appeared on his face. He found that the car was parked next to the racecourse, which meant that the people in the car were all here for a meeting.

The lieutenant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs asked everyone to line up beside the car, then called out the names one by one according to the list, and then led everyone into the racecourse.

When entering, the guard at the door took the order from the lieutenant and called out the names one by one, making sure that the people present matched the names on the list before letting everyone enter the racecourse.

Sokov and Pokryshkin were both sitting in the eighth row. As they were sitting next to each other, they could not help but whisper to each other: "Comrade Sokov, what do you think this meeting is for?"

Sokov knew very well that the people coming here for the meeting were basically grassroots officers from different fronts. The content of the meeting would definitely not be to discuss the next stage of combat deployment, but to commend and award medals to those who had made contributions on the battlefield.

He smiled and said to Pokryshkin: "Comrade Captain, I think the superiors sent someone to bring us here for the awarding of medals."

"Awarding a medal?" Hearing Sokov's words, Pokryshkin showed a surprised expression on his face: "Really?"

"Of course." Sokov nodded and said, "Comrade Captain, I think your recent combat mission must be very busy. At this time, I can't think of any other reason for calling you back from the front to Moscow and asking us to attend a meeting at the racecourse except for the award of honors."

After everyone arrived, the meeting officially began.

Sokov originally thought that the person in charge of the awarding ceremony, even if not a marshal, should be a general. Even after the person in charge came out, Sokov was surprised to find that it was Kalinin.

After Kalinin, who had a goatee, gave a brief opening speech, the awarding ceremony began.

The first person to receive the medal was Pokryshkin, who was beside Sokov.

"For courage and heroism in the fight against the German occupation forces, the Supreme Command decided to award Air Force Captain Alexander Ivanovich Pokryshkin the Gold Star and the honorary title of 'Hero of the Soviet Union'."

When Pokryshkin heard Sokov say that there would be an awarding ceremony here today, he guessed that he would definitely receive a medal, but he did not expect to receive the Gold Star Medal and the honorary title of "Hero of the Soviet Union". For a moment, he was stunned.

"Comrade Captain," Sokov saw Pokryshkin sitting in a daze and pushed him quickly, "Don't be in a daze, come up to the stage and receive the award."

Pokryshkin came to his senses, stood up hurriedly, pulled the hem of his military uniform, and then walked towards the stage with firm steps.

After Kalinin personally helped Pokryshkin pin the Gold Star Medal, he took out a certificate of honor, handed it to him, and said with a smile: "Comrade Captain, I congratulate you on winning the highest-level medal in the army. I hope you can make more achievements in the next battle."

After thanking Kalinin, Pokryshkin walked down from the stage.

When he sat down, Sokov held out his hand to him, smiled and said: "Comrade Captain, I congratulate you."

When Pokryshkin shook hands with Sokov, he quickly glanced at the stage and asked, "Comrade Sokov, I wonder what level of medal you will receive today?"

"I don't know." Sokov shook his head and said, "But I think if I'm lucky, I should be able to get the Order of the Red Banner."

After Kalinin awarded medals to several more officers, he read out Sokov's name: "Mikhail Mikhailovich Sokov, awarded the Order of Lenin."

When he first heard his name, Sokov was a little nonchalant, because he had won several Orders of the Red Banner during his last time traveling. But when Kalinin announced that he had won the Order of Lenin, he was completely stunned. You know, this medal is the highest level, second only to the Gold Star Medal. When the war broke out, Rokossovsky had four medals on his chest, three of which were Orders of the Red Banner, and the remaining one was the Order of Lenin. It can be seen how difficult it is to get this medal.

Seeing that Sokov was in the same situation as himself, Pokryshkin quickly pushed his shoulder and reminded him, "Comrade Sokov, don't just stand there, hurry up and get on stage. Comrade Kalinin is still waiting for you, don't let him wait too long."

When Sokov appeared on the stage, the officers attending the meeting began to whisper, because they were puzzled that the person who received the Order of Lenin was just an ordinary soldier.

After Kalinin awarded Sokov the medal, a general came over with a set of military uniforms on a tray and said, "Comrade Sokov, in view of your outstanding performance on the battlefield, the Supreme Command has decided to promote you to the rank of captain."

After expressing his gratitude to the other party, Sokov walked off the stage holding his new military uniform. He had never expected that he would be promoted under such circumstances, and he felt like he was dreaming.

(End of this chapter)