Under the guidance of Seryosha, Sokov and Belkin came to the conference room on the first floor. When entering, Sokov saw many women wearing headscarves sitting on both sides of the conference table.
There are old women and young girls in their prime.
"Women comrades," Seryosha said to everyone after entering the room: "Our brigade commander and political commissar are here. If you have anything, you can tell them."
When they learned that the brigade commander and political commissar they were waiting for had arrived, the women sitting at the conference table stood up. Perhaps they saw that Sokov was too young and not familiar with military ranks.
Belkin, who looked older, gathered in the middle. An old lady with a slightly hunched back grabbed Belkin's hand and began to speak quickly and excitedly.
Standing outside the circle of people, Sokov heard clearly every word the old lady said: She has three sons, the eldest of whom served in Belarus. After the war broke out, he lost his whereabouts. It is not known whether he was captured or sacrificed.
All in all, there was no news; but when the Germans approached Kursk, her second son also joined the army. When Kursk was recaptured, she sent her third son into the army.
At first Sokov thought that the old lady wanted Belkin to help her find her missing son, but when he heard later, he realized that his guess was wrong. He only heard the old lady say: "... Comrade Commander, my third son
Because my son heard that the army was about to move, he was unwilling to leave my old woman alone, so he planned to leave your army and go to another army so that he could continue to stay in the city. Unexpectedly, he was regarded as a deserter and was almost shot.
Already."
Hearing the old lady say that her son was almost shot as a deserter, Sokov's mind began to recall the five soldiers who were tied up, and he guessed which one was the old lady's third son. Before he could figure it out,
Belkin had already asked first: "Old man, I wonder who among the five soldiers is your son."
"Yelizaveta," the old lady heard Belkin's question and replied hurriedly: "He performed well in the battle some time ago and was promoted to sergeant..."
Sokov didn't hear what the old lady said later. He was thinking about Sergeant Yelizavita. Under the circumstances, the other soldiers looked like they were waiting for death. Only this
A sergeant dared to explain the reasons to himself and Belkin boldly to avoid an unjust case. The army has just been expanded and there is a shortage of commanders at all levels. I will call Grisa later and ask him to focus on training.
This sergeant will be assigned the position of squad leader in the future.
The other women were all relatives of the other four soldiers. When they learned that their relatives would be shot as deserters, they felt that the sky was about to fall. They knew very well in their hearts that if their relatives were really killed
For deserters, not only will they be shot, but their family members will also be implicated and sent to other places to receive punishment.
Because of this, when they heard that their relatives had narrowly escaped death because of the intervention of the brigade commander and political commissar, they made an appointment to come to the brigade headquarters to express their gratitude to their benefactors.
After seeing off the group of women who were grateful to him, Berkin said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, judging from today's situation, there are many soldiers in our army who are reluctant to leave their hometown.
You see, should we send someone to the troops to consult everyone and see who wants to stay? Anyway, there are a lot of troops here, and we can put all the soldiers who don’t want to leave into these troops."
"No, absolutely not." As soon as Belkin's plan was announced, it was opposed by Sokov. Sokov said unceremoniously: "Comrade political commissar, we are an army with strict discipline.
In Kursk, or heading to other areas, we must resolutely obey the orders of our superiors. How can we just let the soldiers choose whether to stay or go with us? Wouldn't it be chaos? "
After a pause, Sokov continued: "When we just went to inspect each company, we also found that many soldiers were unwilling to leave their homes. Fortunately, after the persuasion of the political workers below, they changed their minds. If
You announced to let the soldiers make their own choices, I can guarantee you that there will never be more than 30% of the soldiers left."
Sokov's words startled Belkin. He widened his eyes and murmured: "No way, I give the soldiers the choice of whether to leave or stay. Most of them will not be willing to fight with us."
Shall we leave together?"
"Yes, that's the case." Sokov continued: "Even if the remaining people leave Kursk with us, the morale of the military will be unstable. Once they arrive on the cruel battlefield, some of these people will
There are a lot of deserters, and even if we want to remedy the situation, it will be too late."
"If we take all the soldiers to Stalingrad, won't there be no deserters?" Belgin waited for Sokov to finish and said unconvinced: "You know, the superiors asked us to go there.
If we are resting and have nothing to do, I am worried that some soldiers will be homesick, which will lead to low morale and loss of morale. Rather than wait until then, when the morale of the military is unstable, it is better to nip the problem in the bud now."
"My comrade political commissar, you don't have to say anymore." Seeing that Bergin was stubborn and wanted the soldiers to freely choose to stay or leave, Sokov couldn't help but become a little anxious, so he revealed his identity and said: "I am an infantryman.
As the military commander of the brigade, I have the final say on military affairs. All commanders and fighters of the brigade, whether they are veterans or recruits who enlisted in Kursk, must go to Stalingrad one by one."
"What should we do if there are deserters after arriving in Stalingrad?" Belkin and Sokov have been partners for more than half a year. This is the first time that they have had a dispute over work matters. He is also a bad person.
Those who surrendered, so they frowned and asked: "What should we do if our superiors blame us for this?"
Sokov was a little anxious: "If anyone dares to desert after arriving in Stalingrad, we will shoot every one we find, and we will shoot every squad we find." At this point, he paused again for a moment, took a deep breath, and added
Said, "If a company is deserted, all of them will be shot. If the superiors want to blame, I will bear all the consequences!"
Hearing Sokov say these words in such a domineering tone, Belgin knew that he would not be able to take advantage if the argument continued. He exhaled and said: "Okay, Comrade Brigadier, since you
Having said that, I will do as you say and take everyone to Stalingrad. But as your political commissar, I reserve my own opinion."
This chapter has been completed!