After Ma Lining finished speaking, the air in the room seemed to freeze. Sokov looked at Malinin, his eyes widened in surprise, and thought to himself: "Hallucination, it must be hallucination. What I just saw and heard must be hallucination. I am just a little major, how can I act as an agent?" The position of division commander is still the commander of an infantry division that will be awarded the title of Guards."
Malinin may have known the shock his words had brought to Sokov, so after he finished speaking, he did not speak anymore. He just picked up the tea cup in front of him and took a sip, then stared at Sokov and quietly said Observe the other person's reaction.
I don't know how long it took, but Sokov finally woke up from the shock. He rubbed his face with both hands, and then said with a wry smile: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what did you just say? I didn't hear clearly. Can you?" Repeat it again?"
Malinin couldn't help but laugh at Sokov's reaction. He pushed the tea cup in front of him aside, looked at Sokov and called him by his nickname and said: "Misha, you heard it right. The army leaders have studied it. It has been decided to appoint you as the commander of the 328th Infantry Division, and prepare as soon as possible to attack the German forces on the other side of the Zizdra River. However, since you are only the acting division commander, your military rank will not be adjusted for the time being, and you will still be a major."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," although his superiors appointed him as the acting division commander, Sokov did not feel at ease. He said with some embarrassment: "The chief of staff and the three regiment commanders of the 328th Division should be the worst. The rank of lieutenant colonel, right? Let me, a major, command a group of colonels and lieutenant colonels. I am worried that they will not obey my orders."
"Misha, you are worrying too much." Seeing Sokov's uneasy look, Malinin said with a smile: "In the army, the important thing is the position rather than the rank. In the past few years, there were many majors, division commanders, and captains. Yes, they still don’t manage their troops well.”
When he heard Malinin talking about the major division commander and the captain commander, Sokov couldn't help but murmur to himself: That's because the great purge has almost completely purged all the mid-level and senior officers in the army. In order to command the army, they can only be promoted from low-level officers. That's why there is such a strange phenomenon of high military ranks with low military ranks.
However, Malinen had already spoken for this reason, and it was obviously impossible for Sokov to refuse this special appointment. It suddenly occurred to him that the Battle of Kharkov, which ended in failure, would break out in another month. If he continued to serve as the commander of the Istria Battalion, there was a greater chance that the troops would be transferred to the Southwest Front. If he were to act as commander of the 328th Division and Marshal Timoshenko wanted to mobilize him, he would be less willing to do so.
After a fierce ideological struggle in his heart, Sokov nodded and said: "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, since my superiors trust me so much, I can't live up to your trust in me. As acting division commander, I am willing to Go try. I wonder who you plan to send to accompany me to take office?"
"I would like to accompany you to take office, but unfortunately there are too many things at the Army Headquarters and I can't get away." When Malinin said this, seeing a disappointed expression on Sokov's face, he quickly added: "But you When you go to the 328th Division, Military Commissar Lobachev will personally see you off to take office.”
When Sokov heard that Malinin could not accompany him to take office, he felt very disappointed. He thought that if he was only accompanied by a staff officer, it would be difficult to establish his prestige in a short time after arriving in the 328th Division. When he was disappointed, he suddenly heard Malinin saying that Lobachev would accompany him to take office. He couldn't help but asked in surprise: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is this all true?"
"The responsibility is true," before Malinin could answer, Lobachev had already walked in from outside. He came directly to Sokov and said solemnly: "Major Sokov, I will personally accompany you to take up the post in the 328th Division."
When Lobachev was speaking, Malinin glanced in the direction of the door and saw Bergin, who had followed Sokov, standing at the door. He waved to him, called him to him, and said to him: " Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, I want to tell you something. Since the headquarters decided to appoint Sokov as the acting commander of the 328th Division, from now on, you are the acting battalion commander of the Istria Battalion. Any questions? "
"No problem." After hearing that he had been appointed as the acting battalion commander of the Istria Battalion, Belkin, who was a little excited, agreed loudly, turned to Sokov, stretched out his hand to the other party, and said: "Batalion Commander, no, Comrade Acting Division Commander, please accept my congratulations to you on assuming the position of Division Commander."
Lobachev and Malinin whispered a few words, and then said to Belkin: "Comrade Belkin, you should return to the camp now with the medal, and distribute the medal to every soldier who has achieved meritorious service as soon as possible. At the same time, , I also want to tell everyone the news about Major Sokov's acting division commander, hoping it can boost morale." After he finished speaking, he faced Sokov and said, "Major Sokov, it's getting late, I'll accompany you You go to the division headquarters of the 328th Division."
On the way to the 328th Division headquarters by car, Lobachev said to Sokov: "Major Sokov, this division suffered a large reduction in personnel in the battle some time ago. In addition, the division commander was injured and left the unit. As for the low morale. After you take office, you have to find ways to improve the troops as soon as possible. How about it, are there any difficulties? "
Since Sokov did not know the situation of the 328th Division, he did not immediately give a positive answer to Lobachev's question. But after hesitating for a while, he replied: "Comrade Military Commissar, I will do my best to improve the morale of the troops in the shortest possible time."
"Very good!" In response to Sokov's reply, Lobachev smiled and nodded, and said with satisfaction: "Major Sokov, I believe you are fully capable of improving the morale of the troops in a short period of time. After completing the refit, quickly restore the combat effectiveness of the troops and prepare for the next stage of battle."
The headquarters of the 328th Division is located in a small village near the forest. The driver of the car came to the entrance of the division with familiarity and stopped. After the car stopped, he turned to Lobachev and Sokov who were sitting in the back and said: "Comrade commanders, we are here. .”
From the driver's familiarity with the terrain and the tone of his voice at this moment, Sokov knew very well that Lobachev must have been here a lot recently. The purpose of accompanying him to take office was probably to help him as soon as possible. Integrate into this group so that we can carry out various tasks more smoothly.
