Red Moscow

As the acting commander of the 328th Division, Sokov felt that it was necessary for him to visit the troops below. Only by understanding the real situation at the grassroots level can we formulate targeted measures to improve morale. Bindasov's 1135th regiment was stationed on the banks of the Zhizdra River, across the river from the German army on the opposite bank. It was the unit closest to the German army, so this regiment became his first inspection target.

Hearing that Sokov came to his place for inspection, Bindasov hurried out to greet him with the political commissar and chief of staff. After saluting Sokov, he smiled and said, "Comrade commander, you are welcome to visit our regiment."

After the group returned to the regiment command post, Bindasov winked at his chief of staff, signaling him to report to Sokov on the situation of the troops. The understanding chief of staff waited for Sokov to sit down and said, "Comrade commander, let me introduce to you the deployment of our regiment."

The purpose of Sokov's inspection here was to find out the defense situation of the 1135th Regiment. Therefore, upon hearing what the chief of staff said, he nodded and indicated that he could start reporting.

Pointing to the map on the table, the chief of staff introduced to Sokov: "Comrade commander, please look at the map. Our regiment is deployed on the Zizdra River line. The first battalion is at the front. Their positions and The German positions are facing each other across the river, and the nearest place is less than 200 meters away..."

"Wait a minute, Chief of Staff." Hearing this, Sokov quickly raised his hand to interrupt the Chief of Staff, looked at him and asked, "How wide is the river, and the current is very fast? How many troops are there in our troops stationed here?" , what kind of force is the enemy?..."

Facing a series of questions from Sokov, the chief of staff hesitated for a moment, but he quickly replied: "The narrowest part of the river is only 50 meters, and the water depth is more than three meters. After a while, the river is still piercing, and the enemy and us are temporarily unable to swim across; the first battalion is standing by the river, and their strength is 192, while the enemy on the other side is about the same as us..."

After listening to the chief of staff's introduction, Sokov stood up and said to Bindasov: "Comrade Colonel, accompany me to the position of the first battalion. I want to see the situation of the enemy on the other side."

Bindasov originally thought that when Sokov came to his regiment, he would just sit in the regiment headquarters and listen to the report just like the previous leaders. Who knew that he wanted to go to the front to have a look, so he quickly persuaded him: "Comrade Commander, the enemy's position there is too close, and life may be in danger. If you want to know anything, we will report to you truthfully."

"Comrade Colonel, as the head of the first division, I need to be familiar with the situation in my defense zone." Sokov waved his hand and said to Bindasov: "Besides, after a while, we will launch an attack on the enemy. , if I am not familiar with the terrain, how can I command the battle?"

Seeing that Bindasov was rendered speechless by his own words, Sokov shook his head at him and said, "Let's go, Comrade Colonel, accompany me to the frontier."

Seeing that Sokov had ordered his own life, Bindasov had no choice but to nod, and said helplessly, "Okay, Comrade Commander, since you want to go to the frontier, I will accompany you."

The defense area of ​​the first battalion is only five or six hundred meters away from the regiment headquarters, and it can be reached through a small forest. The original commander of the first battalion died in the battle, and now he is replaced by Captain Jetrov, the commander of the third company.

When Sokov and Bindasov came to the first battalion, Captain Jetrov was staying in the observation post, observing the situation on the opposite side with a telescope. Seeing the head of the regiment coming in, he hastily put down the binoculars and went up to greet him and raised his hand to salute: "Comrade head, Captain Jetrov, the acting battalion commander of the first battalion, is reporting to you that I am observing the enemy situation on the other side, please give instructions!"

After Bindasov raised his hand to return the salute, he introduced to Jetrov, "This is the new division commander, Major Sokov. You should report to him."

Knowing that the young major standing beside the regimental commander was the new division commander, Jetrov opened his eyes wide in surprise. But he quickly returned to normal, raised his hand to salute Sokov, and repeated what he just said.

After returning the salute to Jetrov, Sokov went straight to the lookout and asked casually, "Comrade Captain, is there any movement from the enemy on the other side?"

"No, Comrade Commander." Jetrov replied bluntly, "The enemy is the same as usual. It seems that they will not launch an attack in the short term."

While Jetrov was speaking, Sukov suddenly saw a carriage parked on the opposite bank of the river, and two German soldiers were fetching water from the river with buckets. Seeing the German soldiers struggling to put the bucket full of water onto the carriage, Sokov couldn't help frowning. He turned his head to look at Jetrov and said sternly, "Comrade Captain, I would like you to explain to me what happened to the two German soldiers fetching water from the opposite river."

Jetrov obviously saw the two German soldiers a long time ago. After hearing Sokov's question, he replied without hesitation: "Report to Comrade Division Commander, those two Germans should be cooking soldiers. They are here. fetching water from the river."

"Water fetchers?!" Sokov walked around Jetrov and said with a sneer, "Comrade Captain, I want to remind you that whether they are cooking soldiers or not, they are our enemies first." He paused for a moment, then asked again, "But what should we do when we see the enemy?"

Although Jetrov didn't understand the purpose of Sokov's question, he still replied very simply: "Destroy them resolutely."

"That's right." Sokov said blankly, "Since you know that the enemy is going to be eliminated, why do you see the enemy going to the river to draw water under your nose, but you don't do anything about it?"

Faced with Sokov's questioning, Jetrov blushed and replied with some embarrassment: "Comrade commander, that is the enemy's cooking soldier..."

"As I said just now, no matter what kind of arms, as long as they are enemies, we must resolutely destroy them." The observation post of the first battalion is only more than two hundred meters away from the German positions. Through the telescope, Sokov could also clearly see the German sentries standing guard on the opposite position. Pointing to the German positions in the distance, he continued: "Also, the enemy's sentry is like a telegraph pole, standing within the range of your rifles and machine guns, and you turn a blind eye..."

Jetrov waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and immediately asked with some guilt: "Mr. Comrade, what should we do?"

"What else can we do? Form a sniper team as soon as possible to snipe and kill the enemy who is exposed to our army's guns." Sokov looked at Jetrov and said with a serious expression: "I hope to come again next time." When inspecting here, there is not a single active German on the opposite side. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Although Jetrov still had some resistance to Sokov's order in his heart, he still replied loudly: "I will immediately draw sharpshooters from the battalion and form a sniper squad." Detachment, to snipe and kill those enemies who have entered the range of our army."

Regarding Jetrov's statement, Sokov nodded in satisfaction, and said: "Comrade Captain, since you already know what to do, act as soon as possible. I will wait for your good news at the division headquarters. Good luck!"