Red Moscow

The soldiers who had received Sokov's promise dispersed one after another. When they were about to leave, Sokov found a few people standing still. Looking closely, it turned out that they were the company commanders who had heard the news. . He stretched out his hand and pointed at several people, and ordered in a stern tone: "Follow me inside!"

When the company commanders learned that their subordinates were going to encircle the battalion headquarters, they were all taken aback and hurried over to stop them. But when they arrived, those soldiers had been appeased by Sokov. Hearing Sokov's order at this moment, they didn't dare to be negligent, and hurriedly passed through the cordon formed by the police and platoon soldiers, and followed into the battalion headquarters.

As soon as everyone entered the door, the company commander Vanya sincerely admitted his mistake to Sokov: "Comrade battalion commander, we were wrong. After we arranged for these soldiers to stay, we didn't do a good job in ideological work in time, so that they adopted this method. in an extreme way..."

"Captain Vanya, you don't need to say any more." Sokov interrupted Vanya before he finished speaking, and said to himself: "According to my observation, these soldiers' bodies cannot adapt Forcibly marching, if we take them along with the troops, it will definitely affect our marching speed."

Sokov's words shocked the company commanders. You must know that they were outside just now, but they heard Sokov promise to the soldiers that he would lead them to take action together. Why did they backtrack at this moment?

Belkin coughed lightly, and said to Sokov, "Major Sokov, didn't you tell the soldiers just now that you want them to join us in the battle?"

"That's right, I said so." Sokov turned to face Belkin and said, "I will definitely let these fighters participate in the battle, so our original plan must be adjusted appropriately."

"How to adjust?" Belkin asked curiously.

Sokov glanced over everyone, and then said: "I think everyone should remember that in the battles of the Istria Battalion in the past few months, due to heavy losses, there were only 200 people left in the whole battalion. It seemed inappropriate to keep four companies, so I downsized it and only kept two companies."

Speaking of this, Sokov intentionally paused for a moment, saw everyone nodding, and then continued: "But after more than two months of replenishment, the number of people in the whole battalion has returned to more than 400. Therefore, I plan to divide the battalion The company-level organizational system in the village has been restored to three. I don’t know if you have any opinions?”

Regarding Sokov's statement, the second company commander Vasily said with some scruples: "Comrade battalion commander, we are going to fight soon. Is it appropriate to adjust the organizational system at this time?"

"Captain Vasily, don't worry, this adjustment will not affect the combat effectiveness of the troops." Sokov knew very well that Vasily was worried that after the adjustment of the organizational system, the officers and soldiers in the company would change. Therefore, 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 behind the battalion. "

"This is a good idea." Sokov's arrangement made Belkin's eyes shine: "The first company and the second company formed the first echelon, and rushed to the Tim area to perform combat missions at the speed of marching; and the newly established The third company, as the second echelon, marched slowly behind the main force of the battalion, even soldiers with poor physique should be able to persist."

"Comrade Battalion Commander," Vanya and others used to address Sokov's original position as before: "Who do you plan to appoint as the commander of the third company?"

Sokov turned his gaze to Andrei, who had been silent all this time: "I saw the commander of the third company, so Captain Andrei should be in charge. Everyone knows that he used to be the commander of the second company. Because of the downsizing of the troops, the second company After merging with the machine gun company, he was appointed as the deputy company commander by me. Now, it's time for him to be reinstated."

Hearing that Sokov appointed himself as the commander of the third company, Andrei had a grateful expression on his face. He quickly stated: "Comrade battalion commander, please rest assured that I will definitely lead the third company and make new achievements in this interspersed 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 first company, as the vanguard of the whole battalion, will set off early tomorrow morning and rush to the Tim area quickly. ;I will act with Vasily's second company and follow behind the first company. If the first company encounters the enemy, we can rush to support in time. As for the third company," he turned his head and looked at Belkin. He added with a smile, "Comrade Belkin and Captain Andrei commanded together, 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 leader. Don't worry about getting lost in an unfamiliar area.

Seeing that the commanders and fighters of the company had finished receiving supplies and were about to set off, Sokov hurriedly 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 him, and replied with a smile: "Don't worry, Comrade Battalion Commander, you have repeatedly told us to ensure smooth communication during combat, so when collecting supplies, I also got the battery by the way. I was worried that it might not be enough by then, so I got four yuan specially. For this matter, the quartermaster sent by General Ma Linin glared at me."

Sokov knew very well that the root cause of the poor cooperation of the Soviet army in many battles was poor communication. Therefore, using the seized German radio stations, each company was specially equipped with one, so that even if the whole battalion was dispersed during the battle, he could keep abreast of the situation of each company. Hearing that Vanya has brought enough batteries for the radio, he nodded in satisfaction, and then waved at the other party: "Okay, Comrade Captain, since everything is ready, let's go immediately."

Just as the commanders and fighters of the Istria Battalion were preparing for the expedition, General Baghramyan, the new commander of the 16th Army, arrived at the Army Command. Arriving with him, there is also a medical team from Moscow. They will stay here to strengthen the medical strength of the army's field hospital.

A young and beautiful female nurse in the medical team grabbed the officer of the headquarters 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, just ask me who you want to ask. I basically know the names of the commanders above the rank of major in the group army."

"Major Sokov, do you know him?" The nurse was afraid that the surname Sokov was too common and the officer would mistake him, so she added, "His full name is Mikhail Mikhailnovich Sokov." Cove is a battalion commander, do you know him?"

If the nurse was referring to someone else, the officer might have hesitated for a moment, but to the famous Sokov, he naturally said without hesitation: "You mean Major Sokov, the commander of the 31st Guards Division?"

"Isn't he a major?" The nurse knew the military rank and position of the army very well. Hearing what the officer said, she couldn't help asking curiously, "How did he become a division commander?"

"He is very good at commanding and fighting, and he has never lost a battle. It may be for this reason that his superiors appointed him as the acting division commander." After the officer finished explaining, he asked back: "I don't know what to call you, you and What is his relationship?"

"My name is Annie, and I am a nurse at the Moscow Military Hospital." Annie blushed and replied, "He is my fiancé!"

Hearing Anne call Sokov his fiancé, the officer couldn't help showing a disappointed expression on his face. Although he thought it would be quite romantic to have a war romance with this young and beautiful female nurse in front of him, but when he heard that she was the fiancée of Major Sokov, who was popular in the eyes of the commander, he immediately dismissed the idea.

"Comrade officer." Seeing the officer in front of her, who seemed to be familiar with Sokov, Annie hurriedly 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 went to the Bryansk Front with General Rokossovsky."

Knowing that Sokov had been transferred, Annie's heart sank suddenly, and she quickly asked, "Do you know how to contact him?"

"I'm sorry, comrade nurse, I don't know." The officer waved his hand at Anne and said, "I have other things to do, so I can't accompany you. Please forgive me!" After finishing speaking, the officer raised his hand and saluted Then he walked away.

After the officer left, a female doctor came over and looked at Annie who was wiping her tears with her hand, and asked curiously, "Annie, what happened, why are you crying?"

"It's nothing, Doctor Tonya." Annie shook her head vigorously, tried to force a smile on her face, and pouted at the back of the departing officer: "I just asked that officer about an old friend, who knows Has been transferred to other units."

Hearing what Annie said, Tonya also felt sorry for her: "It's such a pity, otherwise you could be reunited." When she said this, Tonya thought to herself, "That Sokov Major, seems to be in this army group, when will I have the chance to see him?"

Just when both of them were thinking of Sokov in their hearts, the captain of the medical team suddenly ran over and said loudly to them: "The vehicle arranged for us by the superior will arrive soon. Are you ready to go?"

"We are ready," replied the two young girls in unison.

"Then come with me to the parking lot first." The captain shook his head at the two girls, and muttered, "I won't have to wait for the bus to arrive, and I have to look for someone everywhere."