Chapter 1050

After the meeting, several commanders left the office one after another. When general frolov wanted to leave like others, he was stopped by yumashev: "Comrade deputy commander, don't worry about me. I have something else to ask you."

Florov, who had already reached the door, immediately stopped, turned and walked back to us. Standing straight in front of yumashev, he asked respectfully, "Comrade commander, do you have any instructions?"

Yumashev glanced at khrushev, then asked frolov with a serious expression, "have you informed the army of the bad incident that happened today?"

"Yes, comrade commander." "I have informed the army forces of my friends and neighbors to make them ready for all battles and prevent any provocative acts that may be suddenly launched by the Japanese nation," frolov replied immediately and simply. At present, in addition to the preparation for defending the landing of enemy troops on the coastline, the garrison troops have entered the defensive positions near the Japanese army's defense area and made all preparations for combat. As long as they dare to act rashly, hundreds of artillery deployed in the defense depth of our army will blast their positions into a sea of fire, and then the huge armored forces will launch a comprehensive counterattack against them. "

"Where are our Navy planes?" Perhaps it was the lesson of Germany's undeclared war against the Soviet Union that left a deep imprint on the hearts of these commanders. After listening to frollov's reply, yumashev continued to ask, "have you evacuated and hidden?"

"Don't worry, commander." "The tragedy of the plane being blown up by the enemy before taking off will not be repeated," said frolov confidently. All the planes were concentrated in military airfields and carefully camouflaged. In order to prevent enemy planes from sneaking attack, the air force will send a two plane formation to conduct 24-hour uninterrupted patrol over the airport. "

"What's this, going to war?" Standing beside me for a long time, khrushiev suddenly interrupted their conversation and asked impolitely.

"I don't know," yumashev replied hastily, "but I think we should make the necessary preparations, because from today's Japanese warplanes intercepting your plane, we can see that they have the intention to provoke us."

"Before receiving the latest order from the supreme command, the Far East region must maintain its original state of preparation for war, and it is not allowed to raise its level of readiness at will." I heard that yumashev's arrangement was more or less flattering to khrushev. Unfortunately, khrushev didn't appreciate it at all. He asked with a strong attitude: "do you understand?"

When khrushiev finished, there was silence in the room.

But after a short silence, khrushiev turned to look at me and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, do you know why I don't allow them to raise their combat readiness level at will?"

I shook my head and answered honestly, "sorry, comrade minister, I don't know. But I know that if I were in the position of commander yumashev, I would not hesitate to give the relevant preparation orders to the troops. " I don't mean to say this casually, but I really don't understand why khrushev did so. You know, Japanese warplanes attacking our special planes without authorization are tantamount to declaring war. There is nothing wrong with the response measures yumashev informed the army.

Khrushiev didn't expect me to answer like this. He raised his eyebrows, looked at me with a strange and discontented look on his face, and said impolitely, "we still have a friendly treaty with Japan. If we arbitrarily raise the level of combat readiness on the border, it will be regarded as a provocative act by the other side, so there is a risk of war. As you know, although we just won the battle of Stalingrad not long ago, we suffered a great loss from the Germans in Kharkov. That is to say, for quite a long time, our defense focus will be on the west, not the Far East. We do not have the strength to fight on two lines. "

After listening to what he said, I retorted angrily: "Comrade minister, after experiencing today's danger, do you think that our tolerance to the Japanese provocation will not encourage their arrogance?"

After my words, the room was quiet again for a moment, and all eyes were fixed on me. Khrushiev, who was close at hand, was staring at me as if thinking about the words I had just said.

After a while, khrushiev sighed and said to me, "Comrade oshanina, I understand what you're feeling at the moment. I was on the plane today, and I was almost knocked down by the Japanese plane? However, we can't use our emotions. I have reported this matter to Comrade Stalin. If we can solve it by diplomatic means, we should try not to use force. "

Perhaps to distract us all, he suddenly asked yumashev, "where's the American pilot?"

Although his question was a bit abrupt, it was clear to all that he asked about the American pilot who landed on the naval base airport. Yumashev turned his eyes to frolov and motioned him to answer khrushev's question. The understanding frollov quickly stepped forward, straightened his back and said to khrushiev: "report to the Secretary, the American pilot is resting in the base of the naval aviation force. Do you need to see him? "

Hearing his question, khrushiev nodded and said definitely, "OK, general frollov, please send the American pilot here as soon as possible. For his bravery, I will personally award him a medal and personally express my gratitude to him. "

"Yes, I'll arrange it right away." Frollov agreed and went out the door.

As soon as frorov left, khrushev asked yumashev, "did you find the pilot who jumped?"

Yumashev shook his head and replied with a bitter smile: "in such cold weather, if the pilot falls into the sea, he will freeze to death even if he doesn't drown."

"Is the search boat back?" I asked anxiously, glancing at the completely dark sky outside.

"I haven't got the latest report, general oshanina." "Yumashev replied politely," but I've informed the coast guard that if there's any news of the search for the speedboat, you'll report it to me immediately. "

"Haven't you called yet?" Asked khrushiev, somewhat dispassionately.

"Didn't call me, Andre vasilievitch." Yumashev replied, "it's been a long time since you came to my office. If there's a phone call, you should know it."

Khrushiev looked at his watch, then looked at me again and said with emotion, "Comrade oshanina, it's been such a long time. If there is no more whereabouts, it's estimated that the pilot will be very dangerous." Then he pointed to the seat next to him and made a gesture to please sit down“ You all sit down. We need to save our energy and wait for the American pilot who saved our lives. "

When the three of us were seated again, khrushev suddenly said to yumashev with a smile, "Dear Ivan stepanovic, I think I would like to congratulate you in advance."

Hearing what khrushev said, yumashev raised his eyebrows and asked in surprise, "are all the rumors from the far east front army headquarters true?"

"Yes," he said. Even though they didn't deal with each other just now, they became good friends again. It seemed that nothing unpleasant had happened“ If nothing unexpected happens, you will be ordered in early May. "

"Comrades of minister and commander," I saw that they talked happily, as if they had forgotten me. I couldn't help asking, "what are you talking about? Why can't I understand you at all?"

After hearing my complaint, they looked at each other. Khrushev made a gesture of invitation to yumashev, and said, "you'd better tell oshanina about this."

Yumashev did not refuse, but said to me with a smile, "general oshanina, it's like this. According to the news from the Far East Front Army, I will be promoted to the rank of general in the near future. "

I heard that yumashev was about to be promoted, so I quickly stood up from my seat, took the initiative to reach out to him, and said in a friendly way: "Comrade commander, please accept my congratulations on your getting a higher rank."

After shaking hands with yumashev, khrushev said, "Comrade yumashev, I want to go back to Moscow with oshanina as soon as possible. Can you arrange a plane for me tomorrow?"

"No problem, Andre vasilievitch." "In addition, I will arrange four fighter planes to escort you to avoid another attack by the Japanese air force," yumashev promised

Although khrushev didn't refuse yumashev's offer, he said casually: "Ivan stepanovic, don't be too nervous. According to my estimation, most of the main forces of Japan have gone south to compete with Britain and the United States for oil and rubber. They don't have the strength to challenge us at the moment."

When I heard khrushiev say this, I couldn't help but admire him. I didn't expect that he had such a thorough view of the situation that he could know that Japan had no strength to go north.

"But what is the explanation for what happened today?" Yumashev was still obsessed with the incident of the attack on the special plane. As soon as khrushev finished talking about it, he immediately raised the issue again.

"It should be just a misunderstanding." He frowned and said in an uncertain tone: "you know, the United States and Japan are at war now. It's reasonable for the Japanese to send planes to block the air routes of the United States and attack the American planes we saw. What's more, what we took at that time was indeed an American airliner."

From khrushiev's tone, I recognized a hint of calming down. Just as I wanted to speak, the telephone on my desk rang. Yumashev stood up, went to the table, picked up the phone and said, "I'm yumashev. What can I do for you?"

"... hey, what are you talking about? Go on, go on!... " When yumashev stopped for a moment, he suddenly exclaimed excitedly.

His abnormal behavior immediately attracted the attention of khrushiev and me. When we turned to look at him, we heard him saying again and again: "great, that's great. Captain smoley, please express my gratitude to your soldiers. They are all good. Send someone to send him here immediately... "

When I heard yumashev say that, my first thought was that the American pilot who parachuted found him. When the smiling yumashev put down the phone and came to us, he asked, "Comrade commander, what's the matter? Did you find the American pilot who parachuted?"“ Yes, yes, general oshanina. " Yumashev excitedly said to me: "just now captain smore called and said that his speedboat had found the American pilot who parachuted at sea." After getting his confirmation, I felt a sigh of relief. At the same time, I also felt that this American pilot's life was so big that he could survive after soaking in the cold sea for several hours. This is a miracle. When I was about to ask for the details, khrushiev was ahead of me and said, "yumashev, where did the pilot find him? It's a miracle that he can survive in such cold weather by soaking in the cold water for several hours. " Yumashev waved his hand and explained, "Comrade minister, you guessed wrong. When you found him, he didn't run in the sea. You know, in such a cold day, even if the gods came down to earth, they would have been frozen. When our soldiers found him, he was on a rock that came out of the water. Although he was covered with a parachute, he was almost frozen when he was rescued from the ship. If it's a few minutes late, it's going to freeze to death. " Hearing that the situation of the American pilots was very bad, khrushiev asked anxiously, "have our sailors taken any emergency measures?"“ Don't worry about that, "yumashev said carelessly." our sailors are very experienced in all this. They stripped the pilot naked and wiped him with vodka until he was warm before they dressed him again. I've ordered captain smore to send the American pilot to my headquarters in person immediately. " Just then the door, which had been closed by general frollov when he left, was quietly pushed open. When yumashev saw the officer on duty at the door, he immediately raised his voice and asked, "what's the matter?"“ Comrade commander, "the officer respectfully reported," the American pilot has arrived. Do you need to let him in immediately? "