Over the next two days, five more guerrilla groups arrived one after another. The larger guerrillas numbered hundreds of people; the smaller ones numbered only a dozen. However, they have one thing in common, that is, when the captain reports to Lin Hua, they all have a sad face, as if Lin Hua owes them money and has not paid back.
When Saviev came here on the first day, he had the same look in front of Lin Hua. Later, when Lin Hua asked him, he learned that the guerrillas had received orders from the 16th Army to harass the enemies retreating to the Voloklamsk area. Unexpectedly, when the troops were searching for the whereabouts of the fleeing enemy, their superiors issued new orders, asking them to cooperate with the Istra Company in collecting supplies abandoned by the German army on the road. How could the guerrilla captains be happy when they learned that their superiors had asked them to be porters.
After understanding what the guerrilla captains were thinking, Lin Hua had corresponding solutions. He found that all guerrillas had poor equipment, so after the guerrilla captains reported to him, he announced that they would be replaced with German equipment. Through this move, he immediately gained the recognition of the guerrilla captains, and the orders he issued could be smoothly conveyed to every guerrilla member.
While Lin Hua led the troops to collect supplies, troops successively drove along the road in the direction of Voloklamsk. Seeing the troops heading to the front line, Yakup said enviously: "Comrade Lieutenant, we have been here for three or four days. When will our superiors send us up?"
"Don't worry, Comrade Captain." Lin Hua turned to look at Yakup and said with a smile: "Our battle with the Germans will not be over in a hurry. Sooner or later, our superiors will send us to the front line."
Saveyev, who was passing by here, happened to hear the conversation between Lin Hua and Yakup, so he came over and asked Lin Hua curiously: "Comrade Lieutenant, if I understand correctly, you said that the war between the Germans and us , will it last for a long time?”
"Yes, that's the case." Lin Hua nodded and replied: "Since the day before yesterday, troops have been passing through us one after another, rushing to the direction of Voloklamsk. But as of today, we still haven't heard anything The news of the occupation of the city proves that the German resistance is very tenacious, and the attack launched by our army has not achieved any ideal results for the time being..."
If Lin Hua had said these words to Saviev in the early stages of the war, he might have provoked a rebuttal from the other party, or even been described as a defeatist argument, as he dared to think that the enemy was more powerful than our army, etc. . However, after more than half a year of arduous and outstanding fighting, the Soviet soldiers and civilians truly realized the strength of the German army and learned to use the correct attitude to analyze and understand the true strength between the enemy and ourselves.
That afternoon, when another large force passed through the area where the Istrian chain was working, a jeep stopped on the side of the road, and a general came out of the car. After getting off the bus, he asked the soldiers busy on the roadside: "Comrade soldiers, where is your commander?"
When the soldier saw that it was a general who was asking him a question, he straightened up quickly. After searching around for a moment, he pointed at Lin Hua who was talking to Yakup not far away and said: "Comrade General, our commander Lieutenant Sokov is there!" After the general thanked the soldiers, he led two guards and walked towards Lin Hua and the others.
Lin Hua was discussing with Yakup the establishment of a new storage point for supplies. When he heard the sound of someone approaching from behind, he quickly turned to look. Seeing a general walking towards him with two soldiers, Lin Hua quickly turned around and ran forward, saluting the general: "Hello, comrade general, I am Lieutenant Sokov, commander of the Istria Company. May I ask if you have any questions? What instructions!”
"Hello, Lieutenant Sokov." The general stretched out his hand to Lin Hua and introduced himself at the same time: "I am Major General Kazakov, the artillery commander of the group army! I am here today to convey a message from my superiors to you. Order."
"Please give the order, Comrade General." Lin Hua said respectfully.
"Comrade Commander ordered that all guerrillas be immediately integrated into the Istrian company to form a reinforced company. After completing the reorganization, they immediately rushed to Voloklamsk to participate in the battle." Kazakov conveyed in a concise and concise manner After receiving Rokossovsky's order, he then asked: "Comrade Lieutenant, do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade General." Lin Hua nodded, and then asked: "But Comrade General, our company is on a mission to collect supplies. Once we leave, who should manage these supplies?"
"Isn't there an automatic sled company?" Kazakov raised his chin towards Yakup standing behind Lin Hua and said, "Just leave the supplies to them for management. If I guess correctly, the superiors are very Comrades from the logistics force will be sent soon to take over this batch of supplies."
Lin Hua turned his head and glanced at Yakupu who was standing behind him. Yakupu quickly took two steps forward, lined up with Lin Hua, and replied: "Comrade General, I will definitely obey your order and take good care of this batch of collected supplies." .”
After listening to Yakup's report, Kazakov nodded, looked at Lin Hua and asked: "Lieutenant Sokov, I wonder what kind of technical equipment you have collected?"
"We have collected 126 artillery pieces of various calibers, as well as supporting ammunition." Lin Hua thought that Kazakov was the artillery commander. Since he asked this, he must want to know how many artillery pieces were collected, so he was counting At that time, the first thing mentioned was artillery, followed by other supplies: "31 tanks, 263 trucks..."
Although Kazakov had been mentally prepared for the massive weapons and equipment collected by Lin Hua and the others before coming here, he was still shocked when he heard the number Lin Hua said: "Oh my God, there are actually With so much technical equipment, even if it is used to arm a division, it is more than enough."
After Lin Hua reported to Kazakov, he paused for a moment, and then asked him for instructions: "Comrade General, do you allow me to assemble the troops? We must complete the reorganization as soon as possible before heading to the battlefield."
"Go ahead, Comrade Lieutenant." Kazakov nodded to Lin Hua and said with a smile, "I wish you good luck!"
Lin Hua returned to the company, gathered everyone together, and reorganized the troops according to his own ideas. The organization of the first platoon remained unchanged, with Second Lieutenant Vanya still serving as the platoon leader, and forty soldiers were added to him; the second and third platoons merged to form a new second platoon, and twenty soldiers were added, led by Ander. The martyred sergeant served as the platoon leader; the Saviev guerrillas were reorganized into a new third platoon, with Saviev as the platoon leader and his political commissar Stepan as the deputy platoon leader; the former third platoon leader, Second Lieutenant Vasily, served as the new The engineer platoon leader was formed, with thirty soldiers under his command; a new machine gun platoon was also formed, equipped with eighteen German G34 general-purpose machine guns. The position of platoon leader was temporarily held by Lin Hua.
After completing the reorganization task, Lin Hua led the team and headed along the road towards the city of Voloklamsk.
