Seeing that Lin Hua's Istria company successfully occupied the German position, Andryushchenko couldn't help but be overjoyed and personally led his people over to count the results. After doing all this, he called to report the good news to Remizov.
Rokossovsky, who came to inspect the work of the right-wing cluster headquarters, walked into the headquarters and saw Remizov holding a phone in one hand and a pen in the other, taking notes, so he repeated loudly: "... Our army annihilated a total of 163 enemies and captured 29 alive... What were the casualties of our army?... What? 159 people were sacrificed and 82 were injured... Damn it, how could we pay such a high price?"
When Rokossovsky first heard that the Istrian company had captured the enemy's position, he was quite happy. But when he heard that they suffered such heavy casualties, he couldn't help but frown. He quickly walked to the table, grabbed the microphone in Remizov's hand, and tried to snatch it away. Remizov, who was on the phone, felt that someone was trying to take away his microphone and was about to have a seizure. But when he looked up, he saw that the person standing in front of him was Commander Rokossovsky. He quickly and cooperatively took the microphone away. Passed it over.
Rokossovsky spoke loudly into the microphone: "I am Army Group Commander Rokossovsky, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, please hand the phone to Lieutenant Sokov, I want to speak to him."
Andryushenko heard Rokossovsky's voice suddenly coming from the receiver. He couldn't help but be stunned for a moment. Then he handed the phone to Lin Hua next to him and whispered at the same time: "Lieutenant Sokov, Army Group Comrade Commander wants to speak to you."
Lin Hua took the microphone and said respectfully into the microphone: "Hello, Comrade Commander, I am Sokov!"
"Hello, Misha." Rokossovsky called Lin Hua's nickname affectionately and asked politely: "I heard that you have captured the enemy's position?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Although he successfully captured the position by the Rama River, Lin Hua felt no joy at all when he thought of the 159 sacrificed soldiers. He replied in a heavy tone: "But we The company’s casualties were too great.”
"In order to defend our great motherland, no matter how high the price is, it is still worth it to us." After finishing this cliché, Rokossovsky then asked: "Tell me, why do you Will there be so many casualties?"
"Comrade Commander," when counting the results of the battle, Lin Hua had seriously considered the reasons for the heavy casualties of the troops. Now when he heard Rokossovsky asked, he answered truthfully: "Among the casualties, the main ones are They are mainly former guerrillas who have never fought in a regular battle and lack the necessary battlefield experience, so they will pay greater casualties in such tough battles."
"The guerrillas should become more mature after this battle." After Rokossovsky said with emotion, he suddenly asked: "How many bayonets do you still have now?"
Lin Hua knew that the number of bayonets Rokossovsky asked was a popular question in the army today, which meant how many people could still participate in the battle. He silently calculated in his mind for a moment and replied: "Reporting to Comrade Commander, including the lightly wounded, we still have 210 people who can fight."
"210 people, almost twice as many people as the normal establishment." After Rokossovsky repeated the number, he continued: "I have a difficult task that I am going to give you to complete. I wonder if you have confidence?"
Lin Hua did not dare to make a guarantee easily before he knew what the mission was. He could only ask cautiously: "Comrade Commander, can you tell me what mission we will carry out?"
"Lieutenant Sokov," perhaps because he wanted to assign a task to Lin Hua, Rokossovsky did not call him by his nickname anymore, but called him by his surname and official position: "In Voloklam More than two hundred kilometers southwest of Skopje, there is a small city called Kalmanovo, surrounded by forests and lakes. According to reports from scouts, the Germans established a prisoner-of-war camp there, which held more than 4,000 prisoners. The captured commanders and fighters of our army. Your company's mission is to rush to the area immediately and rescue the commanders and fighters held in the prisoner of war camp!"
After understanding the mission that Rokossovsky wanted him to perform, Lin Hua couldn't help but smile secretly: He didn't expect his superiors to actually use his unit as a special forces or a death squad. Voloklamsk is more than 200 kilometers away from Kalmanovo. If the road conditions are good, it only takes about four or five hours to get there by car. But if you march on foot in an area full of snow, you won't be able to reach your destination within a week. Thinking of this, he quickly said to Rokossovsky: "It's more than two hundred kilometers to Kalmanovo. Even if we march by force, it will take five or six days to reach our destination."
"Don't worry, Lieutenant Sokov." Rokossovsky said on the phone: "I will arrange snow transportation for you so that you can reach your destination as soon as possible."
When it comes to snow transportation, the first thing Lin Hua thinks of is automatic sleds. However, after thinking about it, it is unrealistic for Rokossovsky to equip himself with automatic sleds. First, the equipment is small in quantity and the load is not high. big. Let the soldiers stand on the crowbar and hitchhike. It's okay for a short distance. If you walk one or two hundred kilometers, at least half of the soldiers will get frostbite. Therefore, he asked cautiously: "Comrade Commander, I wonder what kind of snow vehicles our superiors plan to equip us with?"
"Sleigh," Rokossovsky said after naming the means of transportation he planned to allocate. He was afraid that Lin Hua would misunderstand him and emphasized: "It's not an automatic sled, but a horse-drawn sleigh."
Lin Hua felt much more at ease when he heard that it was a horse-drawn sleigh. Although this kind of sleigh was slower, during the march, the soldiers could huddle together on the sled to keep warm, and they could also take a nap. Lin Hua then asked: "Comrade Commander, after we rescue these commanders and fighters, what will be the next task?"
"Find a way to arm them," Rokossovsky said slowly: "You can fight guerrillas nearby. After our army captures Voloklamsk, we will rush over to join you."
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Lin Hua couldn't help but feel a headache when he learned that after rescuing these commanders and fighters, he still had to find a way to arm them. I had the intention to shirk it, but then I thought, since Rokossovsky entrusted such an important matter to you, it shows that he trusts you. If he was pushed back and blocked, his impression score in his mind would inevitably be lowered. Therefore, after Lin Hua thought for a moment, he decisively agreed: "Our company guarantees to complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors."
