The soldiers who had received Sokov's promise dispersed one after another. When they were almost gone, Sokov found a few people standing still without moving. After a closer look, it turned out that they were several company commanders who had come after hearing the news. . He reached out and pointed at several people, and ordered in a stern tone: "Come inside with me!"
When the company commanders learned that their men were going to surround the battalion headquarters, they were all frightened and hurried over to stop them. But by the time they arrived, the soldiers had already been calmed down by Sokov. Upon hearing Sokov's order, they did not dare to neglect, and quickly passed through the cordon composed of soldiers from the police clearance platoon, and followed them into the battalion headquarters.
As soon as everyone entered, the company commander Vanya admitted his mistake to Sokov sincerely: "Comrade Battalion Commander, we were wrong. After we arranged for these soldiers to stay, we did not do a good job in ideological work in time, so that they adopted this method. An extreme way..."
"Captain Vanya, you don't have to say any more." Sokov didn't wait for Vanya to finish speaking, interrupted him and said to himself: "According to my observation, the bodies of these soldiers cannot adapt to Forced marching, if we bring them along with the troops, it will definitely affect our marching speed."
Sokov's words shocked several company commanders. They had just been outside, but they had personally heard Sokov promise to the soldiers that he would take them into action. Why did he go back on his word now?
Belkin coughed lightly and said to Sokov: "Major Sokov, didn't you just tell the soldiers that you want them to join us in the battle?"
"Yes, I said so." Sokov turned to face Belkin and said: "I will definitely let these soldiers participate in the battle, so our original plan must be adjusted appropriately."
"How to adjust?" Belkin asked curiously.
Sokov's eyes swept over everyone, and then said: "I think everyone should still remember that in the battles in the past few months, the Istria Battalion suffered too many losses, and there were only two hundred people left in the whole battalion. It seemed inappropriate to retain the organization of four companies, so I downsized it and only retained the organization of two companies."
Having said this, Sokov intentionally paused for a moment, and after seeing everyone nodding, he continued: "But after more than two months of reinforcements, the number of people in the entire battalion has returned to more than 400 people. Therefore, I plan to move the battalion to more than 400 people." The company level structure here has been restored to three. Do you have any opinions?"
Regarding Sokov's statement, Second Company Commander Vasily said with some scruples: "Comrade Battalion Commander, we are about to go to war. Is it appropriate to adjust the organization at this time?"
"Captain Vasily, don't worry, this adjustment will not affect the combat effectiveness of the army." Sokov knew very well that Vasily was worried that after the adjustment of the organizational structure, the officers and soldiers in the company would change, and their relationship with each other would change. Cooperation will have a bad impact, so I took the opportunity to introduce to everyone: "I plan to organize those soldiers who were originally scheduled to stay into the new third company, and let them act as the second echelon to follow the battalion. "
"This is a good idea." Sokov's arrangement made Belkin's eyes light up: "The first and second companies formed the first echelon and rushed to the Tim area to perform combat missions at a rapid march speed; and the newly established The third company, as the second echelon, marches slowly behind the main force of the battalion. Even soldiers with poor physical fitness should be able to persevere."
"Comrade Battalion Commander," Vanya and others were still accustomed to calling Sokov his original position as before: "Who do you plan to appoint as the commander of the third company?"
Sokov turned his attention to Andre, who had been silent for a long time: "I saw Captain Andre as the commander of the third company. As everyone knows, he used to be the commander of the second company. Due to the downsizing of the troops, the second company After merging with the machine gun company, I appointed him as deputy company commander. Now, it’s time for him to resume his duties.”
Hearing that Sokov appointed himself as the commander of the third company, Andre's face showed emotion. He quickly expressed his position and said: "Comrade Battalion Commander, please rest assured that I will definitely lead the Third Company and achieve new achievements in this interleaved mission."
After confirming the plan to form a new third company, Sokov once again assigned combat tasks to the three company commanders: "Captain Vanya's company, as the vanguard of the entire battalion, will set off early tomorrow morning and rush to the Tim area quickly. "I will move with Vasily's second company and follow the first company. If the first company encounters the enemy, we can rush to support in time. As for the third company," at this point, he turned to look at Belkin. He added with a smile, "Comrade Belgin and Captain Andrei are co-commanders, marching slowly behind the main force of the battalion."
Early the next morning, Malinin not only sent Sokov and the others the weapons, ammunition and various supplies they needed, but also a squad guide. In this way, even if the Istrian battalion acted in platoon units, Don't worry about getting lost in an unfamiliar area.
When he saw the commanders and fighters of the first company collecting supplies and preparing to set off, Sokov quickly stopped Vanya and asked: "Comrade Captain, have you brought all the batteries for the radio?"
Vanya pointed to the heavy wooden box in the hands of the soldiers beside her, and replied with a smile: "Don't worry, comrade battalion commander, you have repeatedly told us to ensure smooth communication during combat, so when receiving supplies, I also received batteries by the way. I was worried that I might not have enough by then, so I received four specifically. For this reason, the quartermaster sent by General Malinen glared at me."
Sokov knew very well that the fundamental reason for the poor coordination of the Soviet army in many battles was poor communication. Therefore, he used the captured German radio stations to equip each company with one, so that even if the entire battalion was dispersed during the battle, he could still understand the situation of each company in a timely manner. At this moment, he heard that Vanya had brought enough batteries for the radio. He nodded with satisfaction, and then waved to the other party: "Okay, Comrade Captain, since everything is ready, let's set off immediately."
Just as the commanders and fighters of the Istria Battalion were preparing for the expedition, the new commander of the 16th Army, General Bagramyan, arrived at the army headquarters. Accompanying him is a medical team from Moscow, who will stay here to strengthen the medical strength of the army field hospital.
There was a young and beautiful female nurse in the medical team. She grabbed the command officer who received them and asked politely: "Comrade Commander, I want to ask you about someone."
Looking at the beautiful female nurse in front of him, the officer patted his chest and said, "Comrade nurse, who do you want to ask, just ask me. I basically know the names of the commanders at the level of major or above within the group army."
"Major Sokov, do you know him?" The nurse was worried that the surname Sokov was too common and the officer would mistake him for the wrong person, so she added specifically: "His full name is Mikhail Mikhailnovitch. ?Sokov is a battalion commander, do you know him?"
If the nurse was talking about someone else, the officer might hesitate for a moment, but for Sokov, who is so famous, he naturally said without hesitation: "Are you talking about Major Sokov, the commander of the 31st Guards Division?"
"Isn't he a major?" The nurse knew the military ranks and positions very well. When the officer said this, she couldn't help but curiously asked: "How did he become a division commander?"
"He is very good at commanding and fighting. He has never lost a battle. It may be for this reason that his superiors appointed him as acting division commander." After the officer finished explaining, he asked: "I don't know what I should call you. You and I What is his relationship?"
"My name is Anne, and I am a nurse at the Moscow Military Hospital." Anne blushed and replied, "He is my fiancé!"
Hearing Anne call Sokov her fiancé, the officer couldn't help but show disappointment on his face. Although he thought it would be quite romantic to have a battlefield romance with the young and beautiful female nurse in front of him, he immediately gave up the idea when he heard that she was the fiancée of Major Sokov, the commander's favorite.
"Comrade officer," seeing that the officer in front of her seemed to be very familiar with Sokov, Anne quickly asked, "Where can I find him?"
"Comrade Nurse," the officer said dryly with a businesslike expression on his face: "He is no longer in the 16th Army, but has followed General Rokossovsky to the Bryansk Front."
When she learned that Sokov had been transferred, Anne's heart sank suddenly. She quickly asked, "Do you know how to contact him?"
"I'm sorry, Comrade Nurse, I don't know." The officer waved his hand towards Anne and said, "I have other things to do, so I can't accompany you. Please forgive me!" After saying that, the officer raised his hand and saluted. Then he walked away.
After the officer left, a female doctor came over, looked at Anne who was wiping her tears with her hands, and asked curiously: "Annie, what happened? Why are you crying?"
"It's nothing, Doctor Tonya." Anne shook her head vigorously, trying hard to squeeze out a smile on her face, and nuzzled at the back of the departing officer: "I just asked the officer about an old friend, who knew he He has been transferred to other units."
Hearing what Anne said, Tonya also felt sorry for her: "That's such a pity, otherwise you would be reunited." When she said this, Tonya thought to herself, "That Sokov Major, he seems to be in this army group, I wonder when I will have a chance to see him?"
Just when they were both thinking about Sokov, the captain of the medical team suddenly ran over again and said loudly to them: "The vehicle arranged for us by our superiors will be arriving soon. Are you ready to go?"
"We are ready." The two young girls replied in unison.
"Then follow me to the parking lot first." The captain shook his head towards the two girls and muttered, "In case I don't have to wait for the bus to arrive, I have to look for people everywhere."
