When Sokov left the division headquarters, the troops involved in the attack on the villages and towns of Popkovo had already withdrawn one after another. He quickly ordered people to summon the company commanders of each company and deploy new combat tasks to them.
"Comrade Battalion Commander," Andrei came to the command post and the first thing he said when he saw Sokov was: "I wonder what tasks our superiors have assigned us?"
When Sokov heard Andre's question, he looked at each other and Belkin who was standing aside smiled, and then said: "Captain Andre, you are really extraordinary. You guessed it before I even spoke. New combat mission."
Andrei asked casually, but when Sokov gave him a positive answer, a sad look appeared on his face: "The troops arrived here overnight, took a short rest, and then launched an attack on the village of Popkovo. I thought our superiors would let us rest for two days before assigning tasks, but who would have thought that a new task would come down so soon."
"Comrade Captain," Belgin waited for Andre to finish speaking and immediately reminded him: "As a commander, you should not say such complaints casually, otherwise it will have a bad impact if the soldiers hear it. "
Seeing that all company commanders had arrived, Sokov announced: "Now that everyone is here, we will hold a meeting immediately."
After he finished explaining the new tasks assigned by the division to everyone, he briefly asked: "Does anyone have any questions?"
"Comrade Battalion Commander," the first person to ask the question was Sergeyev, the commander of the cannon company. In today's attack on Popkovo, due to the help of artillery from the group army, his company did not win a fight. He was thinking Feeling worried. At this moment, when he heard that he was going to attack Makrakki Village, he was the first to stand up and ask: "I wonder what the German army's troop deployment and firepower distribution in Makrakki Town are like. Do we need to prepare artillery fire before attacking?"
For Sokov, the town of Maklaki is a code name on the map. The task he received is to get there before dawn and build an offensive starting position. As for the terrain there, what is the enemy's defensive deployment? How, he had no idea. Therefore, he could only reply with a wry smile to Sergeyev's question: "I'm sorry, Comrade Lieutenant, I can't answer your question because I know nothing about the situation there."
Seeing the disappointment on Sergeyev's face, Sokov turned to Christopher who was sitting in the corner and said to him: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, you immediately take the reconnaissance platoon to Maklachi Town. , to understand the enemy's troop distribution and firepower deployment there, so that the battalion can formulate a combat plan based on the specific situation."
The soldiers of the reconnaissance platoon did not participate in today's attack and were on standby in the shelter near the battalion command post. After receiving Sokov's order, Christopher set off with a squad of scouts less than five minutes after coming out of the battalion command post. The remaining scouts will also follow the deputy platoon leader in half an hour.
After deploying the mission, Sokov asked each company commander to go back and gather the team and be ready to set off at any time. When he announced the adjournment of the meeting, the company commanders stood up and left the command post one after another. Only the first company commander, Vanya, was still sitting there without moving.
Seeing Vanya's gloomy look, Sokov immediately understood in his heart that the other party was in a low mood because he did not win the battle well today. He could understand Vanya's mood very well: according to the battle plan, Vanya should lead a company of commanders and fighters to intercept the enemies trying to escape from the village of Popkovo near the cemetery. Unexpectedly, because the road was too far and rugged, it took the commanders and fighters of the first company almost an hour longer to reach the blocking point in the northeast. As a result, most of the enemies escaped.
Sokov walked up to Vanya, raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder. When the other party raised his head, he smiled and said: "Captain Vanya, are you still sad about letting the Germans escape?" Seeing the other party nodding in affirmation, he continued: "Remember the lesson this time. Well, just don’t make similar mistakes next time.”
"I understand, comrade battalion commander." Vanya saw that Sokov did not criticize himself for letting the enemy go, but instead encouraged himself. He quickly stood up and replied: "I promise you that I will never do something like this again in the future. It’s a mistake.”
Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch and urged: "Comrade Captain, please hurry back to the army. We will set off before dark. You gather the troops first and get ready to set off."
Vanya said nothing more, raised his hand and gave a ring salute to Sokov and Belkin, turned around and strode out of the command post.
Looking at Vanya's leaving figure, Belkin smiled and said to Sokov: "Comrade Battalion Commander, I thought you would severely criticize Captain Vanya at today's meeting. Who would have thought that not only did you not Criticizing him actually encouraged him, which is really beyond my expectation.”
"Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander," Sokov explained while looking at Belgin: "The enemy escaped, and I felt very uncomfortable. But it is not only Captain Vanya who is responsible for this, I am also responsible. It is precisely because of me The deployment was not perfect, which gave the German army a chance to escape. Simply blaming his subordinates would not help, but would make him fearful in the next battle, which would have a negative impact on the troops. .”
After hearing this, Belkin chuckled and said: "Comrade Battalion Commander, I think you are not only good at military command, but also have your own unique insights into political work. I think even if you become a political worker now, The achievements achieved are not necessarily worse than being a military officer."
While Sokov and Belkin were chatting, Rokossovsky said to the artillery commander Kazakov who had just arrived at the division headquarters in Chernyshev: "Comrade artillery commander, we An attack will be launched on Makrakki Town tomorrow. You should mobilize two to three artillery regiments and the same number of rocket launcher battalions in that direction as soon as possible to cooperate with the infantry attack."
"Comrade Commander," Kazakov said with some embarrassment after waiting for Rokossovsky to finish: "We have three artillery regiments near the town of Maklaki, but we don't have many artillery shells. We want to serve the infantry There may be a problem with providing artillery cover.”
"How many shells are left?" Rokossovsky asked with a frown.
"An average of five shells per gun." After answering this data, Kazakov, perhaps fearing that Rokossovsky would blame him, added: "Our artillery has not received a supply of shells for a long time. .”
"There should be some shells in the warehouse." Rokossovsky thought for a moment and said to Kazakov: "I'll give you a note immediately. You take people to get all the shells and hand them over to participate in the shelling." artillery unit."
