Red Moscow

When Sokov left the division headquarters, the troops involved in the attack on Popkovo villages and towns had gradually withdrawn. He hastily ordered people to gather the company commanders of each company and deploy new combat missions to them.

"Comrade battalion commander," Andrei came to the command post, and the first thing he said when he saw Sokov was to ask, "I don't know what task the superior has assigned us?"

When Sokov heard Andrei's question, he smiled at Belkin who was standing beside him, and then said, "Captain Andrei, you are so extraordinary. You guessed it before I even spoke. New combat mission."

Andrei was just asking casually, but seeing Sokov gave himself an affirmative answer, his face showed a sad expression: "The troops arrived here overnight, took a short rest, and then launched an attack on the village of Popkovo. I thought that the superior would let us rest for two days before assigning tasks, but who would have expected a new task to come down so soon."

"Comrade Captain," Belkin waited for Andrei to finish speaking, and immediately reminded him: "As a commander, don't say such complaints casually, otherwise the soldiers will hear it, and it will have a bad influence. "

Seeing that the company commanders of all the companies had arrived, Sokov announced: "Since everyone is here, we will hold a meeting immediately."

After he explained the new task assigned by the division to everyone, he asked briefly, "Does anyone have any questions?"

"Comrade Battalion Commander," the first person to ask the question was Sergeyev, the commander of the cannon company. Worry about it. At this moment, when he heard that the village of Markalaki was going to be attacked, he was the first to stand up and ask: "I don't know how the German troops are deployed and the distribution of firepower in the town of Markalaki. Do we need to prepare for artillery fire before the attack?"

For Sokov, the town of Marklaki is a code name on the map. The task he received was to rush there and build an offensive starting position before dawn. As for the terrain there, the enemy's defensive deployment was different. How, he knew nothing. 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 don't know anything 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, take the reconnaissance platoon to the town of Marklaki immediately. , Find out the enemy's troop distribution and firepower deployment there, so that the battalion can formulate a combat plan according to the specific situation."

The fighters of the reconnaissance platoon, who did not participate in today's attack, are all on standby in the shelter near the battalion command post. Christopher, who received Sokov's order, set off with a squad of scouts less than five minutes after he came out of the battalion command post. The remaining scouts will follow the deputy platoon leader in half an hour.

After deploying the tasks, Sokov asked the company commanders to go back to gather their teams and be ready to go at any time. When he announced the end of the meeting, the company commanders got up and left the command post in a single file. Only the company commander Vanya was still sitting where he was.

Seeing Vanya's sullen look, Sokov immediately understood in his heart that the other party was feeling depressed because he didn't fight well in today's battle. He could understand Vanya's feelings very well: According to the battle plan, Vanya should lead a company of commanders and fighters to intercept the enemy trying to escape from the village of Popkovo near the cemetery. Unexpectedly, because the road was too far away and difficult to navigate, it took almost an hour longer for the commanders and fighters of the company to arrive at the blocking location in the northeast one after another. As a result, most of the enemies escaped.

Sokov walked to Vanya's side, 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 for letting the Germans go?" Seeing that the other party nodded in affirmation, he continued: "Remember the lesson from this time. Well, just don’t make similar mistakes next time.”

"Understood, Comrade Battalion Commander." Seeing that Sokov did not criticize himself for letting the enemy go, but instead encouraged himself, Vanya quickly stood up and replied, "I assure you, I will never commit similar crimes again in the future." wrong."

Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch, and urged, "Comrade Captain, hurry back to the army, we will set off before dark. Gather the troops first and get ready to go."

Vanya didn't say anything more, raised his hand to salute Sokov and Belkin, turned around and strode out of the command post.

Looking at the back of Vanya leaving, Belgin smiled and said to Sokov: "Comrade Battalion Commander, I thought you would severely criticize Captain Vanya at today's meeting. Criticizing him, but encouraging him, is a bit beyond my expectation."

"Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander," Sokov explained, looking at Belkin, "I also feel very uncomfortable when the enemy flees. But it is not only Captain Vanya who is responsible, but I am also responsible. It is precisely because I The lack of perfect deployment gave the Germans a chance to escape. Simply blaming his subordinates will not help the situation, but it will make him fearful in the next battle, which will have a negative impact on the troops. .”

After hearing this, Belgin smiled and said, "Comrade battalion commander, I think you not only have a good command of military command, but also have your own unique insights in political work. I think even if you come to be a political worker now, The achievements he has achieved are not necessarily worse than being a military chief."

While Sokov and Belkin were chatting, Rokossovsky said to the artillery commander Kazakov who had just arrived in Chernyshov's division headquarters: "Comrade artillery commander, we An attack will be launched on the town of Marklaki tomorrow, and you must quickly transfer two or three artillery regiments and the same number of rocket artillery battalions to that direction to cooperate with the infantry's attack."

"Comrade Commander," Kazakov said with some embarrassment after Rokossovsky had finished speaking: "We have three artillery regiments near the town of Marklaki, but there are not many shells. I'm afraid there is a problem with providing artillery cover."

"How many shells are left?" Rokossovsky asked, frowning.

"On average, each gun has five shells." After answering the data, Kazakov may be afraid that Rokossovsky would blame himself, and added: "Our artillery has not been replenished with shells for a long time. .”

"There should still be some shells in the warehouse." Rokossovsky thought for a moment, and said to Kazakov: "I will send you a note immediately, and you take someone to collect all the shells and hand them over to those who participated in the shelling." Artillery Corps."