Returning to the brigade headquarters, Belkin asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade Brigade Commander, have you really decided to compete with the tank army tomorrow?"
"That's right." Sokov nodded, looked at Belgin with a strange look, and said, "Since we have made an agreement with General Rotmistrov, we will definitely compete."
"Our brigade has been newly established, and almost all of them are new recruits, while the commanders and fighters of the tank corps are mostly veterans. If we want to compete with them, isn't it obvious that we will lose?" Seeing Sokov using such a sure tone when he said that he wanted to compete, don't Erkin said with some concern: "If each side sends ten men, maybe we can draw enough people from the original Istria camp. But now that each side sends fifty people to compete, I'm worried that we will lose." .”
"Since it is a military competition, there must be winners and losers." Regarding Belkin's concerns, Sokov said with a smile: "Although our brigade has many recruits, it does not mean that it is weak. Don't forget, today's Ji The marksmanship of Na and Susanna crushed all the commanders and fighters of the 2nd Battalion and 1st Company. If we win, it can certainly boost morale; even if we lose, it is not a bad thing, it can make our soldiers realize who they are. shortcomings.…”
Although Sokov showed an indifferent attitude towards this competition, Belkin took it seriously: "Comrade Brigade Commander, after all, this is the first battle between our brigade and friendly forces since its establishment. This is a competition. As long as there is a chance to win, we still have to work hard. I will call a few battalion commanders over and discuss with them the selection of personnel. "
When Belgin called several battalion commanders and informed them to come to the brigade headquarters for a meeting, Sokov sat aside and thought: Although there are too many recruits in the brigade, in any case, there are still more recruits in the Istrian battalion. There are many capable people. If they are drawn out of the army, we will still be sure of victory tomorrow.
After receiving the call, the three battalion commanders quickly rushed to the brigade headquarters. Hearing Belkin's description of the military competition between the generals and friendly forces tomorrow, everyone became excited and expressed their opinions: "Comrade political commissar, each of our battalions has more than a thousand people, and only fifty people are assigned to participate in shooting and stabbing. Is it a little short? There are only a dozen people at each camp stall. Do you think you can increase the number of places?"
The words of several battalion commanders shocked Sokov and Belkin. The two originally thought that when the battalion commanders heard the news about the competition, they would complain to them, saying that they could not spare enough men to participate in the competition. But their reaction was just the opposite. They also hoped to increase some quotas so that more skilled warriors could participate in the competition.
Sokov thought to himself: If he had known that the battalion commanders had such a positive attitude towards this competition, he would not have agreed to Rotmistrov's proposal of fifty men each. He should at least increase this number to one hundred. Talent works.
Thinking of this, he raised his hand and pressed down, and then said: "Okay, everyone, stop arguing. After you go back, each of you select thirty warriors who are proficient in shooting and stabbing, and be ready to participate in the competition."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Belkin quickly reminded after Sokov asked the three battalion commanders to select thirty people each: "Rotmistrov said that each of us would select fifty people. If each If the camp selects thirty people, doesn’t that mean there are ninety people?”
"The more people we have, the better we can be prepared." Sokov explained to Berkin: "If General Rotmistrov suddenly changes his mind tomorrow and says that each side will send a hundred men to compete, we will temporarily deploy manpower. A troublesome matter.”
"It makes sense, it makes sense." Hearing what Sokov said, Belkin nodded and said, "Since that's the case, then each battalion commander will allocate thirty soldiers to participate in tomorrow's military competition. "
Just as the three battalion commanders saluted and left, Seryosha suddenly ran in from outside and hurriedly said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, Captain Brisky is back. He is outside the door now."
"Our fourth battalion commander is back." After listening to Seryosha's report, Sokov couldn't help but smile. He quickly ordered: "Invite him in quickly!"
After a while, Briski strode into the headquarters under the leadership of Seryosha. He came to a stop in front of Sokov and Belkin, raised his hand in salute, and said loudly to Sokov: "Comrade Major, Captain Briski, commander of the fourth platoon of the company, has been ordered to come. Please give instructions!"
Looking at Briski with a tired face and mud spots on his uniform, Sokov quickly stepped forward and held his hand: "Thank you for your hard work, Captain Briski. It is precisely because of your active activities in the Tim area , attracted the attention of the German army, allowing us to successfully capture Kursk. I will report your merits to the front army headquarters and apply for awards for you."
Hearing Sokov say that he was ready to apply for a commendation for his troops, Brisky had a look of surprise on his face. Then he straightened his body and said: "Serve the Soviet fatherland!"
"Captain Briski," Belkin asked with concern as he stepped forward to shake Briski's hand, "Have all the soldiers in your platoon returned?"
Brisky shook his head and said with a wry smile: "We fought several small-scale battles with the enemy in the Tim area, and the casualties were considerable. There are less than ten people who came to Kursk with me today."
"Well done, Captain Brisky, you and your men are well done." Belkin grabbed the other person's hand, shook it vigorously and said, "We will remember the merits you have established."
"Captain Briski, on behalf of the brigade headquarters, I officially announce to you." Sokov waited for Belkin to let go of Briski's hand and said seriously: "From now on, you are the fourth officer of the 73rd Infantry Brigade." Battalion Commander.”
"73rd Infantry Brigade? Commander of the Fourth Battalion?" After hearing this, Briskey asked with a blank look on his face: "Comrade Major, what are you talking about, I don't understand!"
"What's not clear about this?" Belkin explained to him with a smile: "After we occupied Kursk, our superiors reorganized our original Istrian battalion into the 73rd Infantry Brigade, led by Sokov Comrade serves as the brigade commander, and I serve as the brigade political commissar. Also, the brigade commander’s military rank has been promoted to lieutenant colonel.”
After learning the true situation from Belkin, Brisky's smile became even brighter. He took the initiative to reach out to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, I congratulate you on your higher military rank and position."
"To each other, Comrade Brisky." Sokov said while shaking hands with the other party: "The person who has also obtained a higher military rank and position is you. From now on, you are not only the commander of the fourth battalion, but also the commander of the fourth battalion. The military rank will be promoted to captain. Based on your performance, I could have granted you a higher military rank, but unfortunately, with my authority, I can only decide on the promotion of officers below the school level."
Although he was only promoted to the rank of captain, Brisky still felt as if he had drunk honey. After a pause, he then asked: "Comrade Brigadier, may I ask where my troops are?"
"That's right, Captain Briski." Sokov replied: "The newly formed fourth battalion, with more than a thousand people, is currently stationed in the city center. I will ask Seryosha to take you to receive it later. force."
"More than a thousand people?" Briskey couldn't help being startled when he heard this number. According to his idea, the Istria Battalion has just been expanded into an infantry brigade. It would be good to have more than a thousand people. He is called the battalion commander, and he only has 200 people at best. He did not expect that his fourth battalion actually has a thousand people. Multiple people. He was very surprised and said: "The number of people is really large, almost equivalent to the number of people in an infantry regiment."
"Although there are many people, they are almost all new recruits with little combat effectiveness." Sokov said to Briski: "Therefore, the people you bring back must be enriched into the army as soon as possible, and let them serve as squads according to their abilities. The position of platoon leader.”
Many of Briski's subordinates were originally officers with rich combat experience and a certain level of command. It would be a waste to let them become soldiers. Now that he learned that these subordinates could serve as squad platoon leaders, Briski couldn't help but be overjoyed and quickly replied loudly: "Understood, comrade brigade commander. I will add them to the army later."
Just when Sokov was about to let Seryosha take Briski away, Briski suddenly asked: "Comrade Brigadier, when I just came here, I happened to encounter three company commanders leaving the headquarters. Look at them. You look serious, has something happened?"
"Three company commanders?" Sokov was stunned for a moment when he heard what Brisky said. Then he realized that he was talking about Vanya, Andrei and others. The other party probably didn't know that these three people were now also battalion commanders. , and said casually: "You are talking about Vanya and the three of them, they are now battalion commanders just like you."
"Yes, yes, they are the three battalion commanders." Briski nodded quickly and repeated the question: "Comrade Brigade Commander, can you tell me what happened? Look at their appearance, what happened Not too young yet!”
"That's it, Captain Briski." Seeing that Briski was so curious, Belgin told Briski about the battle with Rotmistrov's tank army tomorrow, and finally said: "They may be considering which cadres and soldiers should be transferred to participate in tomorrow's competition."
When he learned that he would compete with Rotmistrov's tank army tomorrow, Brisky couldn't hold himself back. He had just become the battalion commander and wanted to perform well in front of Sokov, so he hurriedly Said: "Comrade Brigadier, what about our fourth battalion? How many people should be allocated to participate in this competition?"
Sokov said: "Captain Briski, since we didn't expect you to come back today, we will not allocate manpower from your fourth battalion for this competition for the time being. You can just organize manpower to watch the battle at the scene. ”
"How can we do that?" Seeing that Sokov planned to exclude his fourth battalion from the competition team, Brisky became a little anxious: "Since our fourth battalion is a member of the 73rd Infantry Brigade, a competition like this will How can you not participate?”
"You just came back and are not familiar with the army yet." Sokov understood Briski's mood, but considering that the other party was not familiar with his army yet, he said tactfully: "You are not familiar with the commanders and fighters in the battalion. You still How to allocate manpower to participate in the battle? I think your battalion does not need to participate in this competition."
"Comrade Brigadier." Seeing Sokov rejecting his proposal without hesitation, Briski immediately said with a serious expression: "Although I have not officially taken over the Fourth Battalion, the subordinates I brought back are There are sharpshooters and stabbing masters, so let them participate in the competition, I think it should be okay."
Briski's words reminded Sokov that fighters who can follow Briski to jump out of the enemy's encirclement should have high technical and tactical levels. If they are given two places, they may gain unexpected rewards. Thinking of this, Sokov asked: "Comrade Captain, tell me, how many people can you draw from the soldiers who came back with you to participate in the competition?"
"There is a sharpshooter. When we broke out a few days ago, he killed several German machine gunners at a distance of two hundred meters, allowing us to successfully break through the enemy's blocking position." Briskey heard that he could use his When his subordinates joined the battle, they immediately began to introduce suitable candidates to Sokov: "As for bayoneting, there are two of them. During this period of fighting, no less than twenty enemies died under their bayonets. .”
Belkin couldn't help but beam with joy when he heard what Briski said. He turned to Sokov and said, "Comrade Brigadier, if what Captain Briski said is true, then I think these three soldiers can participate in the competition."
"Okay, Captain Briski." Although Rotmistrov proposed to send fifty soldiers each to participate, Sokov still thought that the more warriors participating, the better. If it is true that only fifty people are recruited, what if Rotmistrov has a whim and wants to conduct a play-off? Where can he recruit people in a hurry? Therefore, when he heard that there were such capable people under Brisky, he immediately expressed his approval: "Since you think your subordinates are capable of participating in such a competition, let them participate tomorrow. Now, you follow Lieutenant Seryosha first Go to the Fourth Battalion to receive the troops.”
Watching Briski's back disappear from the door, Belkin said with emotion: "Comrade Brigadier, didn't you say a few days ago that you wanted your superiors to send you a chief of staff?"
"Yes, I said that." Belkin only said half of what he said, but Sokov immediately guessed what he meant: "Comrade Political Commissar, do you think Captain Briski is suitable to serve as chief of staff?" Position?"
"Yes, I think that rather than letting the superiors send someone to serve as the brigade chief of staff, it is better to select suitable candidates from within." Belkin replied affirmatively: "Compared with other battalion commanders, he has no intention of being the most suitable. candidate."
