Red Moscow

  Chapter 206 Drawdown of the whole battalion

   Sokov followed the soldier Berezhkov into the forest, and soon saw tents connected to each other in a clearing. Quite a number of soldiers were warming up by the fire in the open space outside the tent, when they suddenly saw Sokov approaching, they quickly stood up and saluted Sokov while standing at attention, with surprised expressions on their faces.

   "Hi, comrades!" Seeing the soldiers standing near the tent, Sokov greeted them with a smile. Berezhkov stopped in front of a tent, turned to Sokov and said, "Comrade battalion commander, this is the battalion command post."

   After thanking Berezhkov, Sokov raised his hand and opened the curtain and walked in. There were only Belkin and a radio operator in the tent. Seeing Sokov, Belkin was in a daze for a few seconds, then stood up from his seat in a panic, grabbed Sokov's hand, excitedly Said: "Comrade battalion commander, when did you come back?"

  Sokov shook Belkin's hand, and then asked straight to the point: "Just came back. How is the situation in the camp?"

  Before introducing the situation of the troops, Belkin first asked: "Comrade battalion commander, I guess you just came from the headquarters of the group army?"

   "That's right." Sokov nodded and said with certainty: "As soon as I left the army headquarters, I rushed back to the camp. Tell me, what's the current situation in the camp?"

"Since you are from the headquarters, you must know that we lost a battle not long ago." Belkin said solemnly: "Our two infantry divisions fell into the encirclement of the German army. Our battalion fought desperately, and finally A gap was opened in the encirclement of the German army, and the surrounded troops rushed out of the encirclement. Although the encirclement was successfully broken out, our battalion also suffered heavy casualties."

   "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, I know that the troops suffered heavy casualties in the battle." Seeing Belkin talking to himself in an official tone, Sokov couldn't help feeling a little anxious: "But can you tell me the specific casualties of the troops?"

Belkin knew that he could not avoid Sokov's question, so he could only bite the bullet and answer: "Two-thirds of the first and second companies were killed, more than half of the cannon company's casualties, and the third company..." When it came to the third company, he After a pause for a few seconds, he finally gritted his teeth and said, "The third company has been wiped out. At present, the total strength of the whole battalion is only more than two hundred people."

"What, the total strength of the whole battalion is only more than 200? The third company has been wiped out?" Sokov couldn't believe his ears. His 800-strong troops, in less than a month, They actually lost three-quarters of their troops, and they were all veterans. But at this moment, he still tried his best to control his emotions and asked, "What about Captain Savyev, the commander of the third company, and Stepan, the instructor? How are they doing now? Are they still alive?"

Belkin heard the anger in Sokov's tone, and quickly explained: "Comrade battalion commander, don't worry, Captain Savyev and Instructor Stepan are still alive, they are currently being sent to the A military hospital in Moscow. They will be able to return to the front in a maximum of two months."

   "Comrade deputy battalion commander, gather all the commanders above the platoon level, I want to talk to you."

Just when Belkin ordered someone to summon the commanders above the platoon level to a tent for a meeting, the female health worker Maria rushed into a tent, came to Asiya who was feeding water to the wounded, and said a little excitedly: " Asiya, Battalion Commander, Battalion Commander is back!"

   "What, Misha is back?" Assia was overjoyed when she heard what Maria said, and hurriedly asked, "Where is he now?"

"As soon as he came back, he went directly to the battalion command post." Maria took the things in Assia's hand and urged, "I'll do the work here for you. You should go see the battalion commander first, after all You haven't seen each other for a month."

  Athea quickly walked towards the tent of the battalion command post. Unexpectedly, as soon as they walked halfway, they saw groups of officers walking towards the tent of the battalion command post. Assia had not been in the army for a short time. Seeing this situation, she immediately guessed that Sokov was going to call the officers in the battalion for a meeting. It would be very inappropriate for her to meet him at this time. Thinking of this, Asiya stopped, stood there for a while, then turned over and walked back to the tent of the health team.

  Maria saw that Assia came back so soon, she couldn't help asking curiously: "Assia, why did you come back so soon? Isn't the battalion commander at the command post?"

Assia shook her head and said: "He should be in the command post, but I saw many officers heading towards his tent. It is estimated that an important military meeting will be held soon. It is a bit inappropriate for me to go to him now. .”

Seeing Assia's unhappy face, Maria quickly comforted her and said, "Assia, don't worry, Comrade Battalion Commander has just come back, so he must understand the current situation in the battalion. It's not too late to find him."

Although the Istria Battalion suffered huge losses in the battle that took place not long ago, the number of platoon-level and above commanders who came to the battalion command post for a meeting still reached 20, which made the originally not spacious tent even more spacious. crowded.

"Commanders, hello!" Seeing that it was almost time for them to arrive, Sokov said, "I am very happy to be among you again and to be with you again." He said in front of everyone I am very happy, it is not a cliché, but the truth from the bottom of my heart. If he hadn't insisted on going back to the front line, he would have become a member of the weapons and equipment department at this moment.

  Sokov glanced over every commander in the tent, and found that some familiar faces had disappeared, and he didn't know whether they were injured and sent to the rear hospital, or died in the battle? After taking a deep breath, he continued: "The commanders who came to the meeting today know that our battalion paid a huge price and sacrificed hundreds of good comrades in order to cover the breakout of friendly troops in the battle not long ago. I am very saddened by this…”

  When the commanders at all levels saw Sokov appearing, they were very happy and felt that they had finally found the backbone, but at this moment when they heard him mention the battle of the previous few days, their expressions became gloomy.

"...Because our battalion suffered too much loss in the battle, it seems a little inappropriate to continue to maintain the original organizational system." While waiting for the arrival of commanders at all levels, Sokov learned from Belkin about the Regarding the situation of the remaining troops, I feel that it is not appropriate to maintain the original organizational system with the existing troops, so I plan to temporarily reduce the troops. "Today, everyone is called here for a meeting. Drawdown."

"Comrade Battalion Commander," the commanders present couldn't help muttering to Sukov when they heard Sokov say this. They were discussing in low voices what the troops would be drawn down to, and Andrei, who was a little impatient, represented everyone He was the first to ask: "How do you plan to downsize our team?"

"Now there are only more than 200 people left in the whole battalion." Sokov looked at the crowd and said: "For the convenience of command, the troops directly under the battalion only retain the guard platoon and the communication platoon, and the two platoons are merged into the police platoon. Lieutenant Sha served as the platoon leader, and Second Lieutenant Maxim served as the deputy platoon leader; the engineering platoon and the reconnaissance platoon were merged into the first company to form a new company, with Captain Vanya as the company commander; Captain Siri as company commander, Captain Andre as deputy company commander..."

  After announcing the downsizing plan, Sokov asked as usual: "Does anyone have any different opinions?"

  As soon as his voice fell, he replied in a random manner: "I have no opinion."

  Hearing everyone's tone of voice was weak, he raised his voice and repeated the question just now: "Do you have any different opinions?"

  When everyone heard Sokov repeating the question, they immediately understood in their hearts that his answer just now did not satisfy the battalion commander, so they all replied in unison: "No opinion!"

   "Since there is no objection, let's go back to our respective units first and tell the soldiers about the downsizing." Seeing that everyone left the tent in file, Sokov added: "The company commanders stay here."

  The commander of the first company, Vanya, stayed behind, as did the commander of the second company, Vasili, while Andrei, who had just been appointed as the deputy commander of the second company, stood in a dilemma at the door of the tent. Seeing Andrei's embarrassed look, Sokov waved his hand at him and said, "Captain Andrei, please stay and listen."

After calling the three company commanders to sit down, Sokov said to them: "Comrades company commanders, I have revealed an inside information to you." He took out a pen and paper, glared at him quickly, and said, "Don't record." Vanya was startled by Sukov's tone, and quickly stuffed the pen and paper he had just taken out back into his briefcase .

"Company commanders," Sukov said, not knowing whether Rokossovsky would be able to return to the front in time to fulfill his duties as commander before Timoshenko transferred himself to the Southwestern Front, so there was something, You must greet your company commanders: "Next month, our army will launch a decisive offensive somewhere, and our battalion may also participate in this offensive."

  Hearing Sokov's vague statement, Andrei asked curiously: "Comrade Battalion Commander, may I ask, where is the upcoming offensive?"

"I'm sorry, Captain Andre, I can't tell you the specific attack position until the superior's attack order is issued." When Sokov said this, he saw embarrassing expressions on the faces of several company commanders. , and explained to them: "This attack will determine the situation of the enemy and us on the battlefield. For the sake of secrecy, no one can disclose the direction of the attack, the possible force, etc. in advance..."

   Fortunately, several company commanders have a sense of secrecy. Hearing what Sokov said, they didn't break the casserole and ask the bottom line. Instead, they sat quietly in their seats and listened to the next task assigned by Sokov.

   When only Sokov and Belkin were left in the tent, Belkin suddenly asked, "Comrade Battalion Commander, did you see Asiya when you came back?"

   "No," Sokov shook his head and said, "I rushed here as soon as I got back to the camp, and I didn't even care about the health team. How is she doing recently?"

"She did well." Belkin said approvingly: "During our breakout battle, she braved the hail of bullets to rescue the wounded on the battlefield, even Savyev and Stepan risked her life, It was memorized from the battlefield."

   "What, Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, what did you just say?" According to Sokov's thinking, it is a remarkable thing for a health worker to bandage the wounded wounded by the enemy's bullets in battle. Being able to risk his life to carry two wounded soldiers stronger than himself off the battlefield, that has almost reached the standard of awarding honors.

  After receiving Belkin's affirmation, Sokov couldn't help asking: "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, I don't know if Asiya's behavior has reached the standard of being awarded for meritorious service?"

Hearing Sokov's question, Belkin took out a stack of documents from his briefcase, put it in front of Sokov, and said to him: "Comrade battalion commander, these are the forms for applying for awards, Assi Ya's award application is also included. But..."

   Seeing Belkin hesitate to speak, Sokov asked anxiously: "But what? Comrade deputy battalion commander, there are only you and me here. If you have anything to say, you can just say it."

   "That's right, Comrade Battalion Commander." Belkin said with a bitter face, "During this battle, many heroes emerged in our battalion, but all the applications for awards I submitted to my superiors were rejected."

   "The award applications have all been rejected?" Sokov heard this, and asked in wonder, "Why?"

Belkin shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said helplessly: "Why else, it is because of this battle that our army failed and did not complete the target set by the superior, so all applications for awards have been rejected. Rejected."

Sokov looked at the thick stack of application forms in front of him, and seeing that there were more than a hundred, he couldn't help saying indignantly: "Damn it, is it because the superiors failed this attack that the meritorious service established by our battalion will be dismissed?" , all wiped out?"

"Comrade Battalion Commander," seeing Sokov's reaction, Belkin hesitated for a moment, then said tentatively: "Look, can you come forward and submit these application forms to the Political Department of the Army Group again, and see if we can Was it approved?"

   "Can this work, Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander?" Belgin's words gave Sokov a glimmer of hope, but he still asked worriedly, "Will it be rejected by the leadership of the Political Department again?"

"I don't think it will happen this time." Belkin from the Political Department of the Army Group said in an uncertain tone: "You must know that Chief of Staff Malinin is in command of the Army Group Army now, and he is more powerful than the dismissed General Zakharov. Easy to talk to. As long as he nods, the Political Department will not embarrass us."

  (end of this chapter)