Chapter 347
In the early morning, bright sunlight shines into the room through the clear floor-to-ceiling windows. Just outside the window sill, two sparrows landed on the railing of the terrace. They chirped one after another, and no one knew what they were saying.
Outside the courtyard of the villa, a convoy of eight cars was parked quietly on the corridor. Twelve soldiers in military uniforms were divided into two rows, standing beside the convoy with their chests puffed out and their heads held high, quietly waiting for today's protagonist to appear.
In the living room on the second floor of the villa, Yuri had already put on a brand new military uniform. He stood beside the coffee table, chest puffed out, waiting for his wife Angelica to hang the medals one by one on his chest according to the prescribed positions.
For a soldier like Yuri, wearing medals is really a troublesome task. It takes at least twenty minutes to half an hour to complete this work. Fortunately, Angelica is a very careful woman. Of course, to be precise, she is a very vain woman. Arranging her husband's medals is one of her few hobbies.
Almost every once in a while, she would take out Yuri's medals and wipe them carefully. She even made a velvet box and placed each medal in the box according to its different level and hanging position. In this way, when her husband needed to wear these medals, she could take them out one by one and hang each medal on his chest quickly and accurately.
At this time, Angelia already had obvious dark circles under her eyes. When Yuri came back yesterday, he told her a piece of news that a medal awarding ceremony would be held in the Kremlin today, and he would be awarded the rank of Soviet Marshal in this medal awarding ceremony. The corresponding procedures have been completed, and if nothing unexpected happens, this matter is set in stone - from this point, it can be seen how much he values this rank. He seems to be worried about not getting the Marshal star.
Angelica was so happy when she got the news that she called all her relatives. Unfortunately, Yuri was an orphan and didn't have many relatives, so the people she contacted were all from her mother's side. Then she kept talking and thinking about all kinds of things, saying that she wanted to prepare the most handsome clothes for Yuri, but the military uniforms that needed to be worn at the awarding ceremony were delivered by the honor guard team the next morning, so this excited woman wiped the medals again.
At night, Yuri fell asleep under the gaze of his wife's big eyes. This morning, he woke up under the gaze of the same big eyes. After asking, he found out that the woman had not slept a wink all night.
Yuri heaved a sigh of relief only after all the medals were hung up meticulously. Although the awarding ceremony was scheduled for ten in the morning, he still had to rush to the Kremlin for a meeting before that. If he delayed any longer, he might be late.
The military dress sent by the honor guard is the special military dress for Soviet marshals, but there is no marshal star on the collar at this time. The color of the dress is navy blue, and the top is a double-breasted design with two rows of twelve gold-plated buttons with the Soviet national emblem. The collar of the dress is a standing rounded stiff collar with red piping and golden oak leaf embroidery decoration, and the outer edge of the front is also red piping. The cuffs are straight sleeves with double seams, also with red piping and golden oak leaf embroidery decoration.
The material of the pants is the same as that of the top, but the most gorgeous part is the belt, a pure gold belt with an oval belt buckle made of gold-plated brass, carved with oak leaf laurel wreaths and patterns of the Soviet Parliament, which is very beautiful.
Wearing such a marshal's uniform, coupled with various medals that almost covered his entire chest, Yuri's overall appearance and temperament improved a bit. Most importantly, the aura he exuded was very powerful.
This is the youngest marshal in the history of the Soviet Union. At the same time, he is also a marshal whose military achievements are absolutely worthy of this rank. Every medal on his chest was earned through real military merit. The title of "Hero of the Soviet Union" three times is well deserved. It is precisely because of this that he received unanimous support in the election of commanders of the major military regions in the Soviet Union, two votes higher than Soklovsky.
Although he and Zhukov were rivals and their conflict was deep and difficult to resolve, even Zhukov thought it was very reasonable to award him the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union and felt that he was qualified.
Looking at her husband in a marshal's uniform, Angelica's face flushed, like a blooming peach blossom. She thought to herself that in the past she always put on the uniform to please her husband, but now it seemed that it was time for her husband to repay her. Tonight, she would make her husband wear this uniform and do it with her once... no, it should be many times.
Yuri didn't know what was going on in his wife's little head. Unlike her previous nervousness, after putting on the dress, he seemed to be in a much calmer mood. All those thoughts of worrying about gains and losses disappeared, as if they had never appeared.
With a serious expression, he went downstairs, walked through the courtyard of the villa and walked to the corridor outside the courtyard. The guards of honor on both sides of the corridor raised their hands and saluted. For any Soviet soldier, Yuri's harvest today was the ultimate goal of their efforts. However, everyone knew that with the end of the Great Patriotic War, anyone who had not participated in this war would not be able to obtain the honor of Soviet Marshal.
The convoy slowly drove away from the villa area. On the way to the Kremlin, one could hear the loudspeakers on both sides of the street broadcasting a series of experiences of military commanders, including Yuri and Sokolovsky. Among them, the report about Yuri was obviously the longest.
This kind of publicity, tonight, all TV stations and radio stations will broadcast the news that Yuri and Sokolovsky were awarded the rank of Soviet Marshal, and tomorrow, the relevant news will spread to other countries outside the Soviet Union. Those Western countries may give congratulations, or they may not, but socialist countries in Eastern and Southeast Europe, including Romania and Poland, will definitely send congratulatory telegrams and gifts, and the countries where Yuri had fought will also award him a series of medals and awards. These are all due, considering that he had also gone to Tokyo to deal with some issues in the Far East war, and he might also receive medals from China, North Korea, and Mongolia.
Ten minutes later, the convoy entered the Kremlin. Unlike in the past, today there was a soldier in military uniform standing every few meters on both sides of the corridor leading to the Grand Kremlin Palace. Obviously, this was all in preparation for today's award ceremony.
When the convoy finally stopped in front of the Grand Kremlin Palace, Yuri saw Comrade Stalin standing at the bottom of the stairs through the car window. Beside him, all the members of the Presidium of the Central Committee were present, even Comrade Molotov, who had been running around Eastern European countries.
Speaking of which, Comrade Stalin attached great importance to his generals and marshals. Almost every time a Soviet marshal was awarded a title, he would personally greet them at the steps of the Grand Kremlin Palace, and this time was obviously no exception.
However, although Comrade Stalin respected his marshal very much, as a marshal, it was best not to accept this respect frankly, otherwise the consequences would be difficult to predict, for example... Comrade Zhukov.
So, when the convoy stopped, Yuri did not wait for the guard to open the door for him. He pushed the door open first and got out of the car as soon as possible. Then he stood beside the car and quickly straightened his military uniform and cap, and then walked quickly towards where Stalin and his party were.
Comrade Stalin was also coming towards this side. What Yuri needed to do was to make Comrade Stalin walk as few steps as possible, while he himself had to take as many steps as possible.
Yuri hurried to the front of Comrade Stalin and his party, stopped, stood at attention, saluted, and then stood at ease, shaking hands with Comrade Stalin who stretched out his hand. He thought that was enough, but unexpectedly Stalin made a gesture of hugging, so he quickly opened his arms and hugged Comrade Stalin, kissing him on the cheek.
At this time, there were a large number of reporters taking pictures around. Comrade Stalin gave some words of praise, affirming Yuri's outstanding contribution in the Great Patriotic War, and specifically praised his important role in disarmament work after the war.
These words were actually spoken to the reporters, and they were not very long, finishing in less than a minute. Afterwards, Yuri shook hands and hugged the rest of the members of the presidium, and the whole process took only four or five minutes.
It was not until the end of the process that Yuri saw the group of people behind this line. Almost all of them were wearing military uniforms. Sokolovsky was among them. It was estimated that these people, like himself, were preparing to receive medals today.
Yuri was obviously the last one to arrive. It was not because he was late, but because he was arranged to arrive last . In this process, those who may receive the rank of major general, lieutenant general, brigadier general, or general should be the first to arrive. When all these people are here, Comrade Stalin should appear here, followed by Comrade Sokolovsky, and finally Yuri.
Therefore, the only two people who could be personally welcomed by Comrade Stalin were Sokolovsky and Yuri, and Yuri was the real highlight.
With Yuri's arrival, today's welcoming drama was completely over. Comrade Stalin was the first to turn around and step onto the steps in front of the Grand Kremlin Palace. The members of the Presidium were one step behind him, and then it was Yuri. Sokolovsky, who was supposed to walk side by side with him, fell one step behind him - the sense of hierarchy was immediately apparent.
