Sokov followed the warrior Berezkov toward the forest, and soon saw a tent connected to one another in a clearing in the forest. Many soldiers were cooking fires in the open space outside the tent. Suddenly, they saw Sokov approaching and quickly stood up, saluting Sokov with a look of surprise on his face.
"Hello, comrades!" Sokov saw the soldiers standing near the tent and greeted them with a smile. Berezhkov stopped in front of a tent, turned around and said to Sokov: "Comrade Battalion Commander, this is the battalion command post."
After thanking Berezkov, Sokov raised his hand and opened the curtain and walked in. Only Berkin and a radio operator were in the tent. Seeing Sokov's appearance, Berkin was in a daze for a few seconds, then stood up from his seat in a panic, grabbed Sokov's hand, and said excitedly: "Comrade Battalion Commander, when did you come back?"
Sokov reached out to hold Belkin, and then asked straight to the point: "Just come 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 Army Command, right?"
"That's right." Sokov nodded and said with certainty: "As soon as I left the Army Command, I rushed back to the camp. Tell me, what's going on in the camp now?"
"Since you came from the headquarters, I must know that we had a defeat not long ago." Berkin said with a serious expression: "Our two infantry divisions were trapped in the German encirclement. Our battalion fought to the death, and finally opened a gap in the German encirclement and covered the encircled troops out of the encirclement. Although we successfully broke through, our battalion also suffered heavy casualties."
"Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, I know that the troops suffered heavy casualties in the battle," Sokov couldn't help but feel anxious when he saw Belkin talking to him in an official voice: "But can you tell me the specific casualties of the troops?"
Knowing that he could not avoid Sokov's question, Belkin could only answer with a gritted bullet and said, "The first company, the second company suffered two-thirds of the casualties, more than half of the machine cannon company were killed, and the third company..." When talking about the third company, he paused for a few seconds, and finally gritted his teeth and said, "The third company has been exhausted. At present, the total strength of the entire battalion is only more than 200."
"What, the total force of the battalion is only more than 200? The Third Company has all been exhausted?" Sokov couldn't believe his ears. In less than a month, his troops of more than 800 people actually lost three-quarters of their troops, and they were all veterans. But he was still trying hard to control his emotions at this moment, "Where are the company commander of the Third Company Captain Saviev and the instructor Stepan? How are they doing now? Are they still alive?"
Berkin heard a sense of anger in Sokov's tone and quickly explained: "Comrade Battalion Commander, don't worry, Captain Saviev and Instructor Stepan are still alive, and they are currently sent to the military hospital in Moscow. At most two months, they will be able to return to the front line."
"Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, gather all the commanders at the platoon level and above. I want to talk to you."
Just when Belkin ordered people to summon commanders at the platoon level and above to the tent for a meeting, the female health officer Maria rushed into a tent and came to Asia who was feeding the wounded. She said excitedly: "Asia, battalion commander, battalion commander is back!"
"What, Misha is back?" Asia heard Mariya say this and immediately looked full of joy and asked quickly: "Where is he now?"
"As soon as he came back, he went directly to the battalion command post." Maria took the things from Asia's hand and urged: "I'll take care of you here. You can go and meet the battalion commander first, after all, you haven't seen each other for a month."
Asia quickly walked towards the tent of the camp command post. Unexpectedly, as soon as she reached the road, she saw a group of officers in three or five walking towards the tent of the camp command post. Asia had been in the army for quite some time. Seeing this situation, she immediately guessed that Sokov was preparing to call the officers in the camp for a meeting. It was very inappropriate to see him at this time. Thinking of this, Asia stopped, stood there, stood there for a while, and then turned over and walked back to the tent of the health team.
Seeing Asia coming back so soon, Mariya couldn't help but ask curiously: "Asia, why are you coming back so soon? Isn't the battalion commander in the command post?"
Asia 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 Asia's unhappy look, Maria quickly comforted her and said, "Asia, don't worry, Comrade Battalion Commander just came back, you must understand the current situation in the camp. When he is finished, it will not be too late to find him."
Although the Istria Battalion suffered huge losses in the battle that took place not long ago, the platoon-level and above commanders who went to the battalion command post still had 20 people, making the tent, which was not spacious, even more crowded.
"Hello, comrades in command!" Sokov saw that the people were almost here, so he spoke, "I am very happy to be able to return to your middle and be with you again." He said in front of everyone that he was very happy. It was not a cliché, but a heartfelt truth. If he had not insisted on going back to the front line, he would have become a member of the Weapons and Equipment Department at this moment.
Sokov's eyes swept across every commander in the tent and found that some familiar faces had disappeared. I don't know if they were injured and sent to the hospital in the rear 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 to cover the breakout of friendly forces in the battle not long ago and sacrificed hundreds of good comrades. I feel very sad about this..."
Commanders at all levels were particularly happy when they saw Sokov appearing, and they felt that they had finally found their backbone, but at this moment, they looked dim when they heard him mention the battle a few days ago.
"... Because our battalion suffered too much loss in combat, it seems a bit inappropriate to continue to maintain its original system." While waiting for commanders at all levels to arrive, Sokov learned about the remaining forces of each company and platoon from Berkin, and felt that it was not appropriate to maintain the original system with the existing forces, so he planned to temporarily reduce the troops. "Today we will call everyone here for a meeting. The first thing to discuss is to reduce the existing troops."
"Comrade Battalion Commander," the commander present couldn't help but start muttering to him in a low voice when he heard Sokov say this. They were whispering to discuss what the troops would look like. Andrey, who was a little impatient, asked first on behalf of everyone: "How do you plan to reduce our team?"
"Now there are only more than 200 people left in the battalion." Sokov looked at everyone and said, "For the sake of easy command, the battalion's direct troops only retained the guard platoon and the communication platoon. The two platoons were merged into the police platoon, with Lieutenant Selyosha as the platoon leader, and Lieutenant Maxim as the deputy platoon leader; the engineer platoon and reconnaissance platoon were merged into the first company to form a new company, with Captain Vanya as the company commander; and the second company and the machine gun company were merged, with Captain Vasily as the company commander, and Captain Andre as the deputy company commander..."
After announcing the reduction plan, Sokov asked as usual: "Who has different opinions?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he replied in a scattered manner: "No objection."
Hearing everyone's tone of voices weakly, he raised his voice and repeated the question just now: "Do you have any different opinions?"
When everyone heard Sokov repeat the question, they immediately understood that their reply just now did not satisfy the battalion commander, so everyone answered in unison: "No objection!"
"Since you have no objection, then go back to your respective troops and tell the soldiers about the reduction." Seeing that everyone left the tent in a row, Sokov added: "Let the company commanders stay."
The first company commander Vanya was left behind, and the second company commander Vasily was left behind. Andre, who had just been appointed as the deputy company commander of the second company, stood at the door of the tent and was in a dilemma. Seeing Andrey's embarrassment, Sokov waved his hand at him and said, "Captain Andre, you can stay and listen."
After greeting the three company commanders to sit down, Sokov said to them: "Comrades, I have revealed an inside story to everyone." When he said this, he suddenly saw Wanya take out paper and pen from the briefcase he was carrying. He quickly glared at him and said, "Don't record." Wanya was startled by Sokov's tone and quickly stuffed the paper and pen he had just taken into the briefcase.
"Comrades," Sokov was not sure whether Rokosovsky could return to the front line in time to perform his commander before Temuxingo transferred him to the Southwest Front. Therefore, some things must be said to his company commanders: "Next month, our army will launch a decisive attack somewhere, and our battalion may also participate in this attack."
Hearing Sokov's vague statement, Andrei asked curiously: "Comrade Battalion Commander, can I ask where is the upcoming attack?"
"Sorry, Captain Andre, I cannot tell you the specific attack position before the superior's attack order is issued." When Sokov said this, he saw several company commanders showing awkward expression on their faces, and explained to them: "This attack will determine the situation of the enemy and us on the battlefield. In order to keep it confidential, no one can disclose the direction of the attack, the possible forces, etc...."
Fortunately, several company commanders had a sense of confidentiality. When they heard Sokov say this, they did not break the casserole and ask the whole thing. Instead, they sat quietly in their own position and listened to the tasks Sokov assigned next.
When only Sokov and Belkin were left in the tent, Belkin suddenly asked, "Comrade Battalion Commander, did you see Asia when you came back?"
"No," Sokov shook his head and said, "As soon as I returned to the camp, I rushed here immediately, and I didn't care about the health team. How is her recent situation?"
"She performed well," Belkin said in an approving tone: "In the battle between us, she braved the rain of bullets and bullets to rescue the wounded on the battlefield. Even Saviev and Stepan were the ones she carried off from the battlefield at the risk of her life."
"What, comrade deputy battalion commander, what did you just say?" According to Sokov's idea, it is a great thing for a health officer to bandage wounds in the battle in a rain of bullets. Being able to risk his life to carry two wounded men stronger than him from the battlefield has reached the standard of awarding medals.
After receiving the affirmation of Belkin, Sokov couldn't help asking: "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, I wonder if Asia's behavior has met the standard of meritorious service and rewarding meritorious service?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Berkin took out a stack of documents from his briefcase and placed them in front of Sokov, and said to him: "Comrade Battalion Commander, these are forms for applying for commendation, and Asia's commendation application is also included. But..."
Seeing Belkin's expression but stopping, Sokov asked anxiously: "But what? Comrade of the 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: "In this battle, many heroes emerged in our camp, but the reward application I handed over to my superiors was rejected."
"All the commendation applications were rejected?" Sokov asked in wonder when he heard this: "Why is this?"
Belkin shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said helplessly: "Why else can it be? Because of this battle, our army failed and did not complete the pre-determined goals of its superiors, so all the reward applications were rejected."
Sokov looked through the thick application forms in front of him, and saw more than a hundred copies. He couldn't help but say angrily: "Damn it, did the superiors wipe out all the merits established by our battalion because of the failure of this offense?"
"Comrade Battalion Commander," Belkin hesitated for a moment when he saw Sokov's reaction, and then said tentatively: "Look, can you come forward and hand this application form to the Political Department of the Group Army again to see if it can be approved?"
"Can this work, comrade deputy battalion commander?" Belkin's words gave Sokov a glimmer of hope, but he still asked with concern: "It will not be rejected by the leaders of the political department again, will it?"
Chapter completed!