Red Moscow

After hearing Lin Hua's affirmative reply, the captain glanced at the long queue of Istria Company again, and said with emotion: "Comrade Lieutenant, your company has quite a lot of people!"

"Yes, Comrade Captain." Lin Hua replied with a smile, "There are more than 400 people in Quanlian now."

"What, more than 400 people?" The captain was obviously frightened by the number Lin Hua said, and hesitated for a while before saying, "My God, the number is almost as large as an infantry brigade."

Lin Hua was not surprised at what the captain said, because he once learned in Rokossovsky's memoirs that due to the huge losses of the 16th Army in the long-term defensive battle and the later counter-offensive, There are only 1,200 to 1,500 people left in each infantry division, including artillery, mortarmen, engineers, signal corps, and division staff. As an infantry brigade smaller than the divisional system, it is not surprising that there are only a few hundred people left.

After the captain sent away the motorcycles, he led Lin Hua and his troops forward. After walking a few hundred meters, he stopped, pointed to a forest on the side of the road, and said to Lin Hua: "Comrade Lieutenant, you must be tired, hungry and cold after walking such a long distance. Arrange Go there and rest your warriors, and let them eat and drink hot soup to keep them warm."

Lin Hua looked in the direction of the captain's finger, and saw a vague open space in the forest. Not only could he see the commanders coming and going, but he could also see several tents, which should be a supply point for the right wing to quickly gather. Just as Lin Hua raised his hand to salute the captain and was about to call the soldiers into the forest, he was stopped by the captain: "Comrade Lieutenant, just ask your deputy to take the soldiers there, you need to come with me to see the commander immediately Comrade."

Hearing that the captain was going to take him to see Remizov, Lin Hua didn't dare to neglect, so he quickly called Vanya and other platoon leaders, and told them, "Take the soldiers to the forest to rest for a while. Let the soldiers eat something, drink some hot soup, enjoy the fire, and warm up. Go and execute it!"

When Lin Hua followed the captain to a nearby village, he pointed to the tanks parked by the side of the road and asked curiously, "Comrade captain, do these tanks belong to our right-wing group?"

The captain quickly glanced at the tanks, then looked away, nodded and said, "That's right, these tanks belong to the 27th Tank Brigade, and Comrade Commander is also the brigade commander of the brigade."

When Lin Hua heard Remizov's name just now, he felt that the name seemed familiar, but he couldn't remember where he heard it. At this moment, when he learned from the captain that the other party was actually the brigade commander of the 27th Tank Brigade, the memory floodgates seemed to be washed away by a flood, which reminded him of something about this general: from Rokossovsky Since the commander of the 16th Army Group, Remizov's 27th Tank Brigade has been in the establishment. Due to heavy losses in the defensive battle, it was withdrawn to the rear for repairs; after the fall of Volokramsk, the brigade resumed Returning to the 16th Army, and within the army system, participated in the following series of arduous and excellent defensive battles and counter-offensives, and made illustrious military exploits.

Lin Hua followed the captain into Remizov's room, and saw a bald general sitting opposite a hulking lieutenant colonel on both sides of the wooden table. Both of them had serious expressions, as if they were worrying about something.

The captain took a step forward and reported loudly to the general: "Comrade Commander, I have brought Lieutenant Sokov, the company commander of Istria Company!"

The general turned around abruptly, looked Lin Hua up and down, and asked blankly, "Are you Lieutenant Sokov?"

"Yes, Comrade General." Lin Hua knew that the general in front of him was Major General Remizov, the commander of the right-wing rapid group, and quickly replied, "I am the commander of Istria Company, Sokov."

Remizov waved to the captain and motioned him to leave. Then he stood up, walked slowly behind Lin Hua with his hands behind his back, and asked abruptly, "How many people are there in your company?"

Lin Hua hurriedly turned to face Remizov and replied, "Report to Comrade General, there are 439 people in the whole company."

A surprised expression appeared on Remizov's face. Before he could speak, the lieutenant colonel who was sitting at the table couldn't help blurting out: "I really didn't expect that there are so many people in your company. About the same number of soldiers in a brigade?"

In order to answer the lieutenant colonel's question, Lin Hua quickly turned around, facing the lieutenant colonel and replied: "Comrade lieutenant colonel, according to the order of the superior, we have organized several guerrillas to assist in the execution of the mission, so the whole company can have So many people. Our original number is less than a quarter of the total number."

After learning that the composition of Istria Company's soldiers is mainly guerrillas, the lieutenant colonel showed a disappointed expression on his face. Remizov returned to his seat and sat down, and introduced to Sokov: "This is Lieutenant Colonel Andryushenko, commander of the 115th Infantry Brigade, and your company will be placed under his command from now on."

Lin Hua quickly saluted his immediate superior: "Hello, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel."

Andryushenko nodded at Lin Hua, and asked casually, "How is your company's equipment? Do you have machine guns?"

"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Lin Hua replied: "The whole company has three infantry platoons, one engineer platoon, and one machine gun platoon. The equipment in the company is mainly German weapons, and each infantry platoon is equipped with three Machine guns, eighteen machine guns in the machine gun platoon."

After learning about Istralian's equipment, Andryushenko couldn't help but turned his head and glanced at Remizov, and then said in surprise: "Damn it, where did you get so much German equipment? "

Lin Hua grinned and said, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, according to the orders of our superiors, we have been collecting weapons, ammunition and supplies discarded by the Germans for the past few days. I think the equipment of the guerrillas is too poor, so I decided to give them Change them all."

After Lin Hua finished speaking, Remizov said with a straight face: "Comrade Lieutenant, you use the weapons and equipment you have collected to change the guerrillas without authorization. This is a violation of discipline. If the chief of the army knows, it is even possible Send you to a military court."

"Comrade General," Remizov's reaction was somewhat beyond Lin Hua's expectations, and he explained with some aggrievedness, "I did this to improve the combat effectiveness of the guerrillas so that they could better attack the enemy. Now that the weapons and ammunition have been distributed, if the superior wants to dispose of me, I have no complaints. But I have a request, can the commanders and fighters in the company continue to keep these weapons and ammunition?"

Unexpectedly, after listening to Lin Hua's words, Remizov actually had a smile on his face, "Comrade Lieutenant, you should have been seriously criticized for your act of making decisions without authorization. But considering that you Improve the combat effectiveness of the troops, forget it. If the superiors want to blame it in the future, I will bear the responsibility."

Andryushenko glanced at Remizov with a smile on his face, then turned to Lin Hua and said, "Lieutenant Sokov, I am relieved that you have such good equipment. Come to me, I will Give you a combat mission."

Lin Hua came to the table and saw a map of Volokramsk on it. Pointing to the northeast of the city, Andryushenko said to Lin Hua: "Comrade Lieutenant, the task given to our brigade by the superior is to capture the German army's outlying positions on the Rama River in the northeast suburb of the city, and cross the river to cooperate with the friendly forces to take the city. Since there are only two battalions left in the whole brigade, with a total strength of less than 500 troops, your company will be responsible for the main offensive task."

Knowing that his troops will be the main attack mission, Lin Hua was silent for a moment, and said, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I would like to ask, can our company get the necessary artillery support when we attack?"

"It goes without saying, there must be." Andryushenko further explained to Lin Hua: "Before the offensive begins, the artillery units of the group army will shell the enemy's positions for half an hour, and then you will launch an offensive. Don't worry, you are not fighting alone, the 27th Tank Brigade and the 50th Cavalry Division will cooperate with you."