I heard that there were nearly a thousand rescued comrades, Andrei and Vasily showed surprise expressions on their faces. Compared with the recruits supplemented by their superiors, they liked this kind of warrior who was rescued from prisoners of war camps, had certain combat experience, and had a deep hatred towards the Germans. Thinking of Sokov's tradition of replenishing prisoners of war into the army, the two of them thought in their minds how many people they could get this time.
Sokov saw the two of them and said with a smile: "Don't worry, two company commanders, after this addition, both of you can reach the scale of the battalion."
"Comrade Battalion Commander," Andrei, who was waiting for Sokov, couldn't wait to ask: "What are you starting to replenish the troops? You must know that our company is responsible for the defense in the east of the city, and its troops are far from enough..."
"Captain Andre," Sokov interrupted his later words without waiting for Andre to finish his words, "not only are your company's insufficient troops, but the other two companies also have insufficient troops. You must know that your company is only responsible for the defense in the east, while the first and second companies of Wanya and Andre are not only responsible for the defense in the north, west, and south, but also to mobilize forces to maintain order in the city. Even if these nearly a thousand soldiers are added to the troops, our defense is still far from enough. As long as the Germans send one or two battalions to attack Kursk, it will be difficult for us to block their attack."
"What should we do?" Andre originally planned to ask Sokov for reinforcements when he was attacked by the German army and asked the first and second companies to help him, but now it seems that this has become a luxury, so he asked worriedly: "Comrade Battalion Commander, how long will our reinforcements arrive?"
"We are more than 550 kilometers away from Moscow, and the road is seriously damaged due to frequent bombings." Sokov tapped the map with his finger a few times, and said with a serious expression: "Even if the reinforcements are in cars, it will take two or three days at the earliest to arrive in Kursk."
"What, it will take two or three days at the earliest?" After hearing Sokov say this, Andre said bitterly: "Comrade Battalion Commander, there have been signs of German activities in the east. I guess their large troops will soon come from the east. If our main force has not arrived when the enemy launches an attack, then the city may fall again."
"Comrades, our superiors ordered us to firmly defend Kursk." Sokov, who had originally wanted to make a fortune in the German warehouse in Kursk, has now begun to seriously think about how to defend the city: "I don't know how many reinforcements the superiors will send us and when the reinforcements will arrive, so we must rely on our own strength to defend the city."
"Kursk is a medium-sized city. To defend this city, we need at least one division's strength." The next speech was the first company commander Vanya. He had a conversation with Sokov before the meeting to understand Sokov's next plan, so he said to the other two company commanders: "Because the reinforcements sent by superiors are difficult to reach before the enemy launches an attack, we can only find ways to supplement the troops ourselves. In addition to nearly a thousand soldiers from the prisoner-of-war camp, we can also set up recruitment offices in the city and recruit residents to join our troops."
"Comrade Battalion Commander, I have another question." Andre continued to ask: "The comrades rescued from the prisoner-of-war camp are all bare-handed; if we recruit residents to join the army again, there are many, and there are definitely thousands of people. I want to ask, how should their weapons be solved?"
Sokov couldn't help laughing when he heard Andre's concern. He turned his head and looked at Vasily and said, "Captain Vasily, you have occupied the German warehouse. Tell Captain Andre about the situation."
"Captain Andre, have you forgotten?" Vasily thought there was something amazing that made Andre embarrassed. After he heard what the other party was worried about, he spoke: "I once said that the supplies in the warehouse were enough to equip two German military advisors, including twenty tanks and hundreds of artillery of various types."
After introducing the situation to Andre, Vasily said to Sokov seriously: "Comrade Battalion Commander, I have a suggestion: After completing the supplement, the troops can restore the original tank platoon and artillery platoon, and arm them with tanks and artillery seized in the warehouse. In this way, our strength can be improved regardless of whether the next battle is defense or attack."
"Captain Vasily, you're very reasonable." If Vasily hadn't reminded, Sokov would have almost forgotten that there had been a tank platoon and artillery platoon in the battalion before. He walked to the door quickly and rushed outside and shouted, "Come here!"
With his shout, Selyosha walked in from outside and asked, "Comrade Major, do you have any instructions?"
Since Sokov had left the troops for a while, because he didn't know if the two platoon leaders were still alive, he asked tentatively: "Seryosha, do you know where the original artillery platoon leader and tank platoon leader were?"
After Seryosha finished speaking, he nodded vigorously and replied, "I know, Comrade Battalion Commander, they are now in our guard platoon."
When Sokov learned that both platoon leaders were still alive, he was overjoyed and quickly ordered Selyosha: "Call them here quickly, I have something to tell them."
Just a few minutes later, the two platoon leaders appeared in front of Sokov. After raising their hands to salute, they said, "Comrade Battalion Commander, Second Lieutenant Porochenko (Alitai) is ordered to come, please instruct!"
Sokov looked at the two and said, "Two platoon leaders, we called you here today because we seized German tanks and artillery when we captured Kursk, so I plan to rebuild the tank platoon and artillery platoon."
"Comrade Battalion Commander," said Porochenko, the former artillery platoon leader, and Sokov, with some embarrassment after finishing his speech: "Even with tanks and artillery, it is impossible to rebuild the tank platoon and artillery platoon."
"Why?" Seeing Porochenko pouring cold water on himself, Sokov said unhappily: "Comrade Lieutenant, tell me your reasons."
"Comrade Major, I will report this matter to you." Seeing his two subordinates with helpless look, Xie Liaosha quickly said first: "In the last battle to cover a friendly breakout, the tank platoon and artillery platoon suffered huge losses. In the end, there were only six people left in the two platoons, and later all of them were organized into the police platoon."
There were nearly a hundred soldiers in the two platoons, only six people left. This situation was indeed beyond Sokov's expectations. He frowned and thought for a while, and then said to the two: "Captain Vanya, the first company commander, rescued nearly a thousand soldiers from our army from the prisoner-of-war camp in the south of the city. You can select some soldiers who have been artillery and tank soldiers from them, and add new tank platoons and artillery platoons."
When Sokov was assembling a task to the two platoon leaders, he suddenly saw Belkin walking in from outside, and there was an uncontrollable excitement in his expression.
"Comrade Belkin, you are back." Sokov didn't expect that Belkin, who was responsible for distributing food to the residents in the warehouse, would come back so soon, so he asked with concern: "Have the work of distributing food to the residents finished?"
Belkin said: "The work of distributing food is carried out by Lieutenant Grissa, the first row leader of the Second Company. I am in a hurry to come back, and there is an important thing to notify you. Congratulations, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov!"
"What lieutenant colonel?" Sokov looked at Belkin and asked in confusion: "What are you kidding?"
Berkin took out a piece of paper from his bag and handed it to Sokov, saying, "Comrade Brigade Commander, not long ago, a plane from Moscow landed on the open space near the warehouse. The pilot sent this order from the base camp. You can take a good look."
Sokov was eager to see the order that Belkin handed him to him, and seemed not to notice that he had called him his position, and had changed from "battalion commander" to "brigade commander". However, the three company commanders beside him could hear it clearly, and the three of them looked at Belkin with surprise, trying to figure out what was going on.
The content of the order is very simple: In order to facilitate combat, from now on, the original "Istria Battalion" will be adapted into the "73rd Infantry Brigade". Sokov was appointed as the brigade commander and promoted the rank of lieutenant colonel; the brigade political commissar was appointed Berkin, and the political rank of political work was promoted from a first-level political instructor to a deputy battalion-level political commissar. The four battalions under the brigade, the appointment of commanders of each battalion-level company level, and the promotion of military ranks below the school level were all decided by Sokov and Berkin.
After reading this order from the base camp, Sokov smiled and said to everyone: "Comrades Commander, from now on, our Istria Battalion will be renamed the 73rd Infantry Brigade, with me as the brigade commander, and Comrade Belkin as the brigade political commissar. Three company commanders, I congratulate you, from now on, you will be the battalion commander with the rank of captain."
Seeing the three newly promoted battalion commanders' faces full of joy, Sokov said to Porochenko and Alitai in front of him: "As for you, from now on, you will serve as the newly formed artillery company commander and tank company commander respectively."
Porochenko and Alitai never dreamed that they would be hit by a pie that fell from the sky. After the two of them were stunned for a while, Porochenko asked foolishly: "Battery Commander, no, comrade Commander, are you all saying true?"
Chapter completed!