Red Moscow

  Chapter 208 Acting Teacher

  On the third day after Sokov returned to the army, he received a call from Malinin. The chief of staff said on the phone: "Comrade major, you personally bring a few soldiers to the headquarters of the group army and take back the medals belonging to your battalion."

  Hearing what Ma Linin said, Sokov immediately understood in his heart that the award application form sent up for the second time was finally approved. As soon as he put down the phone, he said to Belkin who was sitting next to him: "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, I have some good news for you: our award application form has been approved!"

   "Comrade Battalion Commander," Belkin asked in surprise when he heard Sokov say this: "Is this true?"

  Sokov nodded vigorously, and replied: "It's true, Chief of Staff Malinin informed me on the phone, asking me to take someone to the headquarters to receive the medal."

   "Great, this is really great." Belkin said a little excitedly: "Comrade Battalion Commander, there is nothing to do in the battalion anyway, let me go to the headquarters with you!"

Regarding Belkin's request, Sokov hesitated for a moment, and finally agreed to his request: "Okay, Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, since you and I are going to the headquarters, the battalion will be temporarily headed by Captain Vanya. Take charge."

  After handing over the command of the battalion to Captain Vanya, Sokov and Bergin set off with a guard squad. On the way, Sokov asked Belkin: "Comrade deputy battalion commander, which two divisions did our battalion cooperate with in combat a while ago?"

  Belkin had a surprised expression on his face when he heard Sokov's question: "Why, Comrade Battalion Commander, don't you know which two divisions our battalion is fighting with?"

Sokov blushed, and replied with some embarrassment: "I only heard a brief introduction of the situation by Chief of Staff Malinin that day, and hurried back to the camp without having time to ask in detail. The two men who returned to the camp God, I have too much work to do, and I forgot to ask for a while."

Belkin waited for Sokov to finish explaining, nodded slightly, and said, "I thought you had already learned the details when you were at the Army Group Headquarters, so I didn't mention this matter these two days. On the offensive day During the battle of Zdra, our battalion was fighting with the 324th and 328th Infantry Divisions.

  You already know the result of the battle. Our army was almost wiped out by the German army. Moreover, Colonel Kravchenko, the commander of the 324th Division and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, died in the battle; Colonel Ye Lieming, the commander of the 328th Division, was also injured and was sent to the military hospital behind for treatment. "

Knowing that the two infantry divisions currently have no division commanders, Sokov couldn't help being secretly surprised. He thought to himself that if the German army turned to attack at this time, it would be a big question whether the leaderless troops could hold their positions, let alone counterattack. The problem.

At this moment, Belkin suddenly added another sentence: "Comrade Battalion Commander, there is one more thing that I almost forgot. Due to the achievements of the 328th Infantry Division in the counteroffensive, the Army Command has applied for the award of the The title of the Guards Division. Maybe it won't be long before they will be changed to the XX Division of the Guards Infantry."

  The two came to the headquarters of the group army and met Ma Linin and Lobachev. Lobachev waited for the two of them to finish their salutes, then stepped forward to hold Sokov's hand, and said apologetically, "Major Sokov, due to my negligence in work, the award order you applied for for the first time was rejected by the political party. For this, I would like to express my apologies to you on behalf of the Group Army Military Council and the Political Department.”

After expressing his apology, Lobachev said to Belkin: "Comrade political deputy battalion commander, come with me, and I will take you to receive the medal." After walking a few steps, he saw Belkin Still standing there, he added, "General Malinin has something important to discuss with Major Sokov, so let's not bother them."

After Lobachev left with Belkin, Malinin pointed to the empty seat next to him and said to Sokov, "Major Sokov, please sit down!" After Sokov sat down, a staff officer immediately appeared Walking over with a cup of hot tea, he put the teacup with a silver cup holder in front of Sokov.

   "Major Sokov," Malinin asked with a smile after sitting down opposite Sokov, "did you visit the commander when you were in Moscow?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Hearing Malinin's question, Sokov quickly stood up from his seat, and replied respectfully: "I have visited the commander, and he is in good spirits and recovering from his injuries. It will also be very soon, I believe it will not be long before he can return to the front line."

  After listening, Ma Linin raised his hand and pressed down, signaling Sokov to sit down, and then asked: "Have you found the wife of Comrade Commander?"

   Rokossovsky's wife? Hearing this question from Malinin, Sokov was taken aback for a moment, and then thought that in the biography he read, Rokossovsky was having a hot fight with the movie star Serova at the moment. If his wife was also in Moscow, maybe The story with Serova would not have happened. Thinking of this, Sokov shook his head, and said in an affirmative tone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I probably didn't find her, because when I visited the hospital, Comrade Commander stayed alone in the ward, and no one accompanied her at all."

Malinin waited for Sokov to finish, sighed and said: "I heard that after the war broke out, the commander's wife and daughter left Zhytomir and were evacuated to the rear. First went to Kazakhstan, and then to New Zealand. Siberia, but the specific city is still unknown, I hope they don't have any accidents."

  After the two chatted for a while, Ma Linin finally brought the topic to the main topic: "Major Sokov, do you know the designations of the two divisions that your battalion cooperated with some time ago?"

   Fortunately, before Sokov came to the headquarters, he asked Belkin about this matter on a whim, otherwise he would really not be able to answer this question from Malinin. He nodded and said in a positive tone: "Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, I know: one is Colonel Kravchenko's 324th Infantry Division, and the other is Colonel Yelemin's 328th Infantry Division."

"Look at this map." Malinin pushed the map on the table in front of Sokov, pointed to a certain point with his hand and said, "Although our attack some time ago failed to achieve the expected goal, but We successfully drove the enemy to the opposite side of the Zhizdra River. After rest and replenishment, we will attack the enemy again. The 328th Infantry Division deployed on the right flank of your battalion will become the main force of this attack."

  Sokov waited for Malinin to finish speaking, and said casually: "I don't know when the offensive will start? If there is enough preparation time, I believe Colonel Ye Lieming should be able to recover from his injuries and be discharged from the hospital, and return to the front line to command operations."

"Our offensive will start in half a month." Malinin looked up at Sokov and said, "I think it will be difficult for Colonel Yelemin to return to the army in such a short period of time, so after our research, we plan to In his place, someone else will be assigned to command the 328th Infantry Division."

"The deputy commander and chief of staff of the division are very familiar with the situation in the division." Sukov stared at the map in front of him, and said casually: "Anyone of them can take the position of division commander very easily. Well complete the new round of offensive missions."

"Major Sokov, you made a mistake. If we wanted to find someone to replace the division commander from the existing commanders of the division, I wouldn't have called you specifically to come here." Ma Lining stared Looking into Sokov's eyes, he said word by word: "The result of our research is that you will act as the commander of the 328th Infantry Division."

  (end of this chapter)