Red Moscow

Chapter 2478

 “Hello, I’m Sokov, who are you?!”

“General Sokov,” Werner’s laughter came from the receiver: “I’m Werner, how are you? Are you home?”

"Yes, comrade screenwriter, I have been home long ago. I just finished eating and was ready to go out for a walk, and then I went to bed to rest." After Sokov briefly explained his situation, he asked: "You guys have finished your wine. Already?"

"Yes, we finished it." Werner said proudly: "We drank five bottles of vodka, and Xie Keluo was already drunk and unconscious."

“It seems that you have a really good drinking capacity.” Sokov said with a smile: “If I attend your party tonight, I will definitely be the first person to be drunk.”

When Sokov put down the phone, he saw Asiya standing aside. He quickly stood up and helped her sit down, and said with concern: "Asiya, you are pregnant now. You need to rest more and avoid strenuous exercise. To avoid moving the fetus."

 “Who called you just now?” Asiya asked.

"It's the screenwriter who came back from Vladimir with me." Sokov replied: "Originally, they asked me to go for a drink, but considering that I promised you to go home for dinner, I declined their offer. Fortunately, I didn’t go. If I had gone, I might have been drunk and unconscious by now.”

“Misha, I remember you said that the person who came back from Vladimir with you was the screenwriter of the movie you were filming. Right?”

“Yes.” Sokov nodded and asked in confusion, “Is there something wrong?”

"Misha, you rarely watch movies, so naturally you don't know the importance of screenwriting." Asiya explained to Sokov: "When movies just started, it was a photographer-centered system. Everything on the shooting scene was said by the photographer. Forget it. The film industry in our country now belongs to the screenwriter-centered system. In other words, the screenwriter has very great rights and can dictate to the director and actors. Because in the minds of the audience, the story is the core of the movie, and the movie uses The director is the one who tells the story, and the screenwriter is the one who makes up the story, so the director can be changed, the actors can be changed, but the screenwriter cannot be changed casually.”

Hearing what Asiya said, Sokov immediately thought that in this era of filmmaking, not all directors have the final say. In addition to the familiar director-centered system, there are also star-centered systems, photographer-centered systems, and screenwriter-centered systems. system. After the filming of the 1949 version of "The Battle of Stalingrad" was completed, Stalin also played the role of screenwriter, because this role held the final editing rights of the film, which is a treatment that only top directors in later generations can enjoy.

"Oh, that's it." Sokov understood what Asya wanted to express: "You asked me to have a good relationship with Werner, so that the novels I write in the future can be adapted into wonderful movie scripts by him. Is my guess right?"

"Yes." Asiya had not read the book written by Sokov, so she naturally had no confidence in her heart. At this moment, knowing that Sokov knew the screenwriter of "The Battle of Stalingrad", he grabbed a life-saving straw and began to persuade Sokov to have a good relationship with him. This way, the novel he wrote would have a greater chance of being adapted into a movie. Some.

 While Asya was talking, Sokov was thinking to himself: Despite Simonov’s fame, none of his books have been adapted into movies. On the contrary, Vasilyev's "The Dawns Here Are Quiet", in addition to being adapted into plays and operas, has also been remade many times after being adapted for the screen, in addition to movies and TV series. The adapted TV series was actually co-produced by Russia and China.

The Soviet novel "How the Steel Was Tempered" was remade at the same time and was independently filmed by China, with several Ukrainian actors participating in the filming. This drama can be said to be an unprecedented hit. Except for some viewers watching it when it was broadcast on Chinese TV channels, when it came to Ukraine, no one paid any attention to it. Even Andrei Salminin, who plays Paul Korchagin, is still an unknown actor in Ukraine despite being popular in China.

 The Siege, which I plan to write, is also the only one of Chakovsky's works that has been adapted for the screen.

I used to find it quite strange, why aren’t the works of these outstanding writers adapted into movies or TV series? After listening to what Asiya said at this moment, he realized that it might be because these writers were so famous that they were not polite to the screenwriters of the studio. As a result, no screenwriter was willing to adapt their novels into scripts. It seems that Asiya is right. Having a good relationship with the screenwriter will be of great help in adapting her work into a movie script in the future.

"Misha, we have nothing to do now, why don't you read the novel you wrote to me." Asiya suggested to Sokov: "Maybe I can point out the shortcomings in the book to you. .Do you read the letter?”

Although the manuscript was not in his own manuscript, Sokov knew the book "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" by heart, and since Asya wanted to listen, he began to recite it.

When Asiya first listened, she still had a perfunctory smile on her face, but after listening to it for a while, the expression on her face changed. First shocked, then surprised, she said with emotion: "Misha, is this book really written by you?"

Hearing Asiya's question, Sokov couldn't help but blush, and then shamelessly admitted: "Yes, Asiya, this is the book I wrote."

 “What’s the name of the book?”

""Dawns Here Are Quiet"."

“This is a great title.” Asiya urged: “Misha, I really didn’t expect you to write such a wonderful book. Please hurry up and continue reciting. I want to know how the plot develops.”

Since Asiya likes to listen to the books she wrote, Sokov naturally fulfilled her small wish and recited the contents of the novel leisurely.

According to Sokov's idea, Asiya was just on a whim, and she might have fallen asleep after listening to it for a while. But what happened next was far beyond Sokov's imagination. Not only did Asiya not doze off, but she became more and more excited as she listened, and even continued to express some of her own opinions. When Sokov carried Lida on his back and shot down an enemy plane with an anti-aircraft machine gun. When he saw the enemy pilot parachuting, he remembered his husband Oshanin who was killed by the Germans and shot the pilot without hesitation. Got to be smashed to pieces. So angry that Vaskov next to him stamped his foot and said repeatedly: "You stepped on a medal and wiped out a medal."

“Misha, why did Warrant Officer Vaskov say that?”

"The anti-aircraft machine gun used by Lida and the others is a four-gun 14.5 mm large-caliber machine gun. When shooting, you don't pull the trigger, but step on the firing button below. That's why Vaskov said this."

"Misha, I heard that pilots cannot parachute. But I saw on the battlefield that after the enemy's paratroopers parachuted, our soldiers were still shooting at them. What on earth is going on?"

"Asiya, you first need to understand one thing: pilots and paratroopers are two different things." Seeing that Asiya didn't understand this, Sokov explained to her: "Pilots don't have much combat effectiveness. They became our prisoners, so there is a saying not to shoot at pilots. Paratroopers are warriors who fall from the sky. They will form combat effectiveness after they land. If we don’t kill them while they are still in the air, they will attack us as soon as they land. poses a huge threat.”

"Oh, that's it." After Asiya figured out the difference between pilots and paratroopers, she nodded vigorously, and then asked nervously: "Lida shot the parachuting pilot and beat him into pieces. She wouldn't be affected by it." Punishment?"

"No." Sokov shook his head and said: "The rules are dead, but the people are alive. Under the circumstances at that time, I think it is completely understandable to kill the parachuting pilot and avenge the sacrifice of his relatives. Yes. If I were in her position at that time, I would shoot without hesitation." He was thinking in his mind that not shooting at the parachuting pilot was just a conventional proposal, and not everyone abided by it. It was not until the introduction of the international convention on market competition in 1977 that this became an iron rule.

When Sokov said this, Asya seemed to have thought of something. She pondered for a moment and then asked: "Misha, I remember that during Stalingrad, a women's air defense unit also came to our defense zone. The leader The commander’s name seems to be Lida. Is there any connection between the Lida in your book and the female commander?”

Sokov didn't expect Asiya to ask such an embarrassing question, so he could only say perfunctorily: "There is a certain connection. When I was writing the book, I was thinking about what names to give those female soldiers, and I remembered I picked up the women’s air defense force you just mentioned and gave their names to the female soldiers in the book.”

“That’s it, no wonder the name sounds so familiar.” Asiya nodded and continued: “You can continue.”

Sokov looked up at the clock on the wall and found that it was already two o'clock in the morning. He smiled bitterly and said to Asiya: "Asiya, it's getting late. I think we should rest first and wait until tomorrow." Time, I will continue to tell you the story. Okay?"

"Not good." Asiya shook her head and said, "I got excited about what I heard. Even if I go to bed now, I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep. Instead, I will keep thinking about the fate of those people in the book." She grabbed Sokov's hand. He shook his arms from side to side and said, "Misha, just keep telling me, I want to hear a complete story."

Since Asiya made such a request, Sokov naturally could not object and could only bite the bullet and continue to recite the second half of the book.

When she heard that Lida took a military bus in order to go to a nearby small city to see her son, and when she passed the checkpoint, she was arrested as a deserter because she had no documents on her body. Asiya became nervous again. He grabbed Sokov's arm tightly and asked emotionally: "Misha, what are the officers at the checkpoint going to do with Lida? They won't shoot her, right?" What Asya said was not unfounded. After all, she He is also a person who has been on the battlefield and knows that if a deserter is caught, he will be shot without giving you a chance to defend himself. So when I heard that Lida was caught by people at the checkpoint because she had no documents, I was worried that something would happen to her.

Sokov rubbed the arm that was so painful from Asya's grip, poked her forehead with his finger, and said: "Little fool, Lida is an important character in this book, how could she be allowed to die?" It's in the hands of our own people. If she dies, the rest of the plot will not be able to develop."

Asiya originally wanted to ask how Leda's death at the checkpoint would affect the subsequent plot, but she was worried about disrupting Sokov's train of thought, so she opened her mouth and did not ask the question in the end. However, she heard the officer at the checkpoint ask Lida to sing a few songs for them, and after they were let through smoothly, she waved her fist excitedly and looked particularly happy.

As the story unfolds, Asiya finally understands why Sokov just said that Lida's life and death is related to the development of the subsequent plot. Lida visited her son again. When she returned at dawn, she met two German paratroopers in camouflage uniforms in the woods. They were carrying submachine guns and a large box in their hands, which should be filled with explosives. some type of. After the two of them were gone, Lida quickly ran out of the village and reported the situation to Vaskov.

Hearing this, Asiya couldn't help but speak again: "Misha, I understand what you just said. If Lida was really deserted on the spot and died at the checkpoint, the German airborne troops would appear behind her Then no one would report to Warrant Officer Vaskov."

"Yes, it is indeed like this." Sokov explained to Asiya the reason why he wrote this: "Because when the female platoon was stationed at the headquarters, Vaskov had given them an order, and no one was allowed to Entering the forest without permission. In this way, as long as the Germans do not enter the village, it is impossible for the female soldiers stationed here to find traces of the enemy. And because Lida had to sneak out at night to visit her children, she had the opportunity to meet them. Germans passing by.”

"Well, I understand." Asiya nodded, stood up, poured a glass of water, and handed it to Sokov: "Misha, you must be thirsty after talking for so long. Take a rest first and drink a glass of water. Moisten your throat and tell me the rest of the story later."

Sokov almost shed tears when he heard what Asya said. I started telling Asiya a story at ten o'clock, and now it's four o'clock in the morning. I've been telling it for six hours, but Asiya looks like she still hasn't finished it. She will definitely not finish it if she doesn't listen to the whole novel. Sleeping posture. Her behavior seems to be a bit like those of later generations who follow dramas.

However, since it was Asiya's request, Sokov had no reason to refuse. He could only continue to tell the story behind it.

Since Sokov did not tell Asiya in advance that all the female soldiers participating in the pursuit of the enemy would die, Asiya listened happily and even asked: "Misha, where did the female soldiers go when the Germans passed by?" Setting an ambush on the road, I wonder if all the enemies will be killed or captured alive? Or, as Warrant Officer Vaskov said, each prisoner will be killed?"

Sokov did not answer her question immediately, but continued. When the female soldiers discovered that there were not two enemies but 16 enemies coming out of the forest, Asiya was stunned: "What, not two enemies, but 16 enemies. Where did they come from?" Did it come out of nowhere?"

"The enemy parachuted after entering our defense area. Because they took off at different times, they will definitely not land in the same area." Seeing that Asiya was very curious about this issue, Sokov explained to him: "They are scattered in After landing, they will rush to the designated location to assemble, and then move towards their destination.”

 (End of this chapter)