Red Moscow

  Chapter 66 Istria Battalion

   (Written in the front: From this chapter on, I officially changed the protagonist’s name to Sokov, and the inconvenience caused by this, readers, please forgive me!)

   As soon as Savyev led three rows of soldiers into the prisoner-of-war camp, he saw Seryozha approaching him. He saw that Seryozha seemed to be waiting for him here on purpose, so he asked first, "Seryozha, what's the matter?"

Seryozha came to Savyev, raised his hand in salute, and said: "Comrade platoon leader, Lieutenant Sokov asked me to wait for you here. He said that as soon as you arrive, he will come to him immediately." I’m going to the meeting room.” As he spoke, he raised his chin towards the wooden house with soldiers standing guard at the door, “It’s right there.”

  Saviyev glanced at the soldiers behind him, and said with some embarrassment: "Where are the soldiers in that row?"

"Don't worry, someone will settle them down." Seryozha urged Savyev, "Comrade platoon commander, we need to hurry up. The lieutenant and the rest should be waiting." Savyev called the deputy platoon Stepan, the elder, gave him some instructions, and followed Seryozha into the cabin.

Sokov saw Savyev enter the room, stood up and greeted him, and then announced: "Okay, comrades, everyone is almost here, we are now meeting. Today's topic is how to arrange These rescued comrades-in-arms, next, please express your views.”

"Comrade Company Commander," Savyev was brought here by Seryozha as soon as he entered the prisoner-of-war camp. He knew nothing about the situation in the prisoner-of-war camp, so he couldn't wait to ask Sokov as soon as he finished speaking. : "I want to ask, how many comrades in arms have we rescued in this operation?"

   "801 people." Vanya said lightly.

Hearing this number, Savyev's eyes lit up, and he said to Sokov a little excitedly: "Comrade company commander, didn't the superior say that all the rescued prisoners of war should be incorporated into our company. My God, There are thousands of people in a company, almost catching up with a full infantry regiment."

"Comrade Savyev, you don't know something." Sokov said bitterly: "As far as we know, almost all of these commanders and fighters were captured in November. Due to the harsh environment of the prisoner-of-war camp, some Two-thirds of the comrades had frostbite to varying degrees; even those soldiers who did not suffer from frostbite were very weak and had to rest for at least half a month before they could participate in battle."

"Why hasn't Second Lieutenant Vasily come yet?" Seeing that Vasily was not among the people present, Savyev asked curiously: "The radio operator from the company is lined up with his engineers, when can we get here? "

   "As soon as we occupied the prisoner-of-war camp, we sent someone back to deliver the letter." Vanya said, raising his wrist to look at the time: "I think he will be here soon."

  As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a rush of footsteps coming from the door, and Vasily, whom everyone just mentioned, appeared at the door. He quickly walked up to Sokov and raised his hand to salute, and reported loudly: "Comrade Battalion Commander, Second Lieutenant Vasily, the engineering platoon commander, is here to report to you that my platoon has been ordered to the prisoner-of-war camp. I will wait for your orders." ,Please advise!"

   "What battalion commander?" Sokov, who was worrying, raised his head, looked at Vasily in front of him, frowned and said, "What are you kidding?"

Vasily put his hand down, took out a piece of paper from his pocket, placed it in front of Sokov respectfully, and then said: "As soon as I learned the news that the prisoner-of-war camp was occupied, I immediately reported it to the Army Group Command. I sent a telegram. Who knows, I received a call back from my superiors before I entered the prisoner-of-war camp. This is the call back, you can read it for yourself!"

   Hearing that it was a telegram from the Group Army Command, when Sokov was reading the telegram, several platoon leaders leaned their heads over, eager to know the contents of the telegram.

Sokov stared at the telegram in front of him, and saw that it read: "The Istria Company will be officially reorganized into the Istria Battalion from now on. It will consist of three infantry companies, one machine gun company and one engineering platoon. The battalion Sokov served as the commander, and his military rank was promoted to captain; the former first platoon leader, Second Lieutenant Vanya, was promoted to lieutenant and served as the first company commander; the second platoon leader, Sergeant Andrei, was promoted to second lieutenant, and served as the second company commander; Yev awarded the rank of lieutenant and served as the commander of the third company; the former engineer platoon commander Second Lieutenant Vasily was promoted to lieutenant and served as the commander of the machine gun company; the candidates for the engineer platoon leader and the platoon leaders were all appointed by the battalion commander Captain Sokov himself. The missing soldiers will be replenished from the commanders and fighters rescued from the prisoner-of-war camp..."

After reading the contents of the telegram, Sokov felt as if he was dreaming. It has been less than a month since he came to this time and space, and he has been promoted from a corporal squad leader to a captain and battalion commander. The promotion speed is too fast Let's have a drink.

  Everyone was very happy to see their promotion and promotion. The new company commander, Lieutenant Vanya, said on behalf of everyone: "Comrade battalion commander, I don't know how to organize the new company, please give me instructions!"

Sokov silently calculated the number of troops that could be replenished from the prisoners of war, and then announced to everyone according to his own idea: "Each infantry company has 150 soldiers; the machine gun company has 100 soldiers; The engineer platoon has forty people. In addition, I propose to set up a guard platoon with thirty to fifty people, with Seryozha as the platoon leader. Do you have any comments?"

  The commanders present were all familiar with Sergesha and knew that he and Sokov had a good personal relationship, so they all replied in unison: "No objection!"

  After passing this resolution, Sokov continued: "In addition to the guard platoon, we also need to set up a communication squad and a health team. The required personnel are also selected from the rescued commanders and fighters."

  Seeing that no one objected to his proposal, Sokov waved his hand and said, "You all go and choose the soldiers you need! Remember, the professional soldiers needed by the engineering platoon, communication squad, and medical team must be given priority."

   Everyone agreed and left one after another. Sokov stopped Vasily: "Lieutenant Vasily, wait a moment."

  Vassily stopped in a hurry and stood there waiting for Sokov's order. Sokov walked around the table, walked up to Vasily, and said to him: "The machine gun company needs to provide the necessary fire support for the infantry in future attacks, so we need not only machine gunners, but also artillery. So When you go to select personnel, you should choose more artillery, understand?"

   "Understood, Comrade Battalion Commander." Vasily raised his hand to his forehead, looked at Sokov and asked, "Are you allowed to leave?"

  Seeing that Vasily was about to leave, Sokov suddenly thought of Asiya who was staying in the engineer platoon, and couldn't help asking, "By the way, where is Asiya?"

   "She went to take care of the wounded, and she will probably be back soon." After Vasily finished speaking, he turned and walked out of Sokov's room.

  (end of this chapter)