red moscow

Chapter 2840

"The 16th Army?" After hearing this, Jenna's face was immediately filled with surprise. "But, they, like the 20th Army I am in, were surrounded by the German army in the Vyazma area. When did they break out?"

Sokov was stunned when he heard what Jenna said, but then he realized that the other party was too low-ranking and had no idea that Rokossovsky had left the original 16th Army and went to Vyazma to take over several non-existent infantry divisions because of Konev's transfer order before the outbreak of the Vyazma Battle. As for what happened later, not to mention an ordinary assistant military doctor like Jenna, even a commander at the division level might not know.

"Jenna." Since Sokov was planning to turn Jenna and the remaining personnel in the field hospital into his subordinates, there was no need to hide some things from them. "I think you may have made a mistake. The 16th Army today is completely different from the 16th Army you know."

This time it was Jenna's turn to be surprised: "Comrade Major, what do you mean? I don't understand."

"The reason is very simple." Sokov said calmly, "Long before our army started fighting with the German army in the Vyazma area, General Rokossovsky received an order from the commander of the Western Front, General Konev, to transfer the command of the troops to the commander of the 20th Army, General Yershakov. He led members of the army headquarters to the Vyazma area to receive several infantry divisions sent by his superiors..."

Hearing this, Jenna couldn't help but interrupt and asked, "Comrade Major, do you mean that the current 16th Army is composed of several infantry divisions that General Rokossovsky received in Vyazma?"

"No, it's not what you think." Sokov corrected him, "Rokossovsky followed orders and rushed to Vyazma with his staff, only to find that there were no troops there. The German vanguard had already entered the city, so he had no choice but to leave. As for the current 16th Army, it is composed of troops taken in along the way."

Sokov did not tell Jenna in detail which troops were currently in the 16th Army. After all, their main job was to treat the wounded, so there was no need to know so much.

Everyone returned to the infantry brigade’s base, and Sokov took Jenna to the brigade headquarters.

When Belkin saw Zhanna coming in with Sokov, he showed a surprised expression on his face: "Comrade Brigade Commander, who is this female comrade?"

"Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, let me introduce you. This is Comrade Zhanna, the assistant military doctor. She is from the field hospital of the 20th Infantry Division of the 18th Army." Sokov introduced the two people: "Zanna, this is Deputy Brigade Commander Lieutenant Colonel Belkin, and the one next to you is Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Karsokov."

When Zhanna shook hands with Belkin and Karsokov respectively, she couldn't help but look at Sokov with a strange look, thinking to herself, the deputy brigade commander and the chief of staff are both lieutenant colonels, so how come you, the brigade commander, are still a major? Isn't this a bit too strange?

"Deputy Brigade Commander, Chief of Staff." Sokov waited for Jenna to shake hands with the two men before speaking, "Our brigade was established not long ago. We don't even have a medical team, let alone a field hospital. Soldiers who are injured in battle can bandage their wounds themselves if they are slightly injured, but the wounded must be sent to the rear hospital for treatment. I'm considering letting Jenna and the others stay and set up our field hospital. What do you think?"

When Karsokov learned of Jenna's identity, he was wondering why Sokov would bring an assistant military doctor to the brigade. Was he planning to form a medical team? He was shocked to learn that Sokov actually wanted to build a field hospital. However, he thought it was a good thing. In the future, when soldiers were injured in battle, they would receive timely treatment. He naturally would not object to such a good thing: "I agree with the brigade commander that the field hospital should be established as soon as possible."

Belkin naturally also wanted a field hospital, but he considered the problem much more comprehensively than Karsokov. He looked at Zhanna and asked, "Comrade Zhanna, can you tell me how many medical staff are left in your field hospital now?"

"The field hospital was dispersed by the Germans during the transfer." Jenna replied with a complicated expression: "So far, I am the only assistant military doctor and a dozen nurses left in the field hospital."

"Ah, just these few people?" Belkin asked disappointedly.

"Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, don't worry." Sokov said to Belkin with a smile, "We can apply to our superiors to ask them to send us medical staff, or directly recruit doctors or nurses from local hospitals to strengthen our field hospitals."

"Comrade Brigade Commander, if only it were that simple." Belkin saw Sokov's self-righteous look and couldn't help but laugh and cry: "Now it's wartime, doctors have become a scarce resource. You want to recruit medical staff from local hospitals to join the army, but others don't think of it? If you don't believe me, you can go to the nearby towns to see if you can find a doctor?"

"I remember there is a small town nearby. When it gets light, I'll take Comrade Jenna there to see if we can find a doctor."

"Comrade Major," Jenna interrupted, "Didn't you say you had a lot of medicine here? Some of the wounded have inflamed wounds, and since we don't have medicine, we can only use salt water to clean their wounds. Some of the weaker ones have died because of severe infection."

"Comrade Zhanna, don't worry, we have plenty of medicines here." Belkin was a little excited when he heard Zhanna say that. After comforting her, he came to the door of the tent, called a sentry over, and ordered: "Go and find the quartermaster!"

Hearing Belkin's words, the sentry seemed a little hesitant: "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, it's not even daybreak yet, and the quartermaster should still be sleeping."

"I know he's still asleep. Tell him that there's something important and ask him to come to the brigade headquarters immediately."

The sentry didn't dare to refute, so he could only respond and turn to run to find the quartermaster.

"Comrade Zhanna," Belkin returned to the tent after the sentry left and said to Zhanna, "I have sent someone to call the quartermaster. When he comes, if you need any medicine, just ask him and he will provide you with what you need."

"Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, on behalf of the wounded, thank you." After saying this, Zhanna did not salute Belkin, but bowed deeply.

Judging from Jenna's behavior, Sokov guessed that she had not been in the army for long, otherwise she would not have chosen to bow instead of saluting when expressing her gratitude to Belkin.

The quartermaster soon followed the sentry and saluted Belkin, then asked nervously, "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, what instructions do you have?"

"Comrade Quartermaster," Belkin pointed at Zhanna standing next to him and said to the quartermaster, "This is Comrade Zhanna, the assistant military doctor of the field hospital. They have a lot of wounded soldiers to treat, but they have run out of medicine. I called you here to provide them with medicine and treat the wounded."

After figuring out what was going on, the quartermaster's expression became relaxed. He turned to Jenna and asked, "Comrade Assistant Military Doctor, what medicine do you need?"

"Let me give you a list." "Okay, I'll give you the medicines you need according to the list."

Just as Jenna was about to find paper and pen to write the list, Sokov raised his hand to stop her: "Comrade Assistant Military Doctor, there is no need to be so troublesome. Now follow the quartermaster to the place where the medicines are stored. If you need any medicine, just ask someone to move it away."

"is this okay?"

"If I say yes, then yes." Sokov said to the quartermaster, "Quartermaster, why are you standing there? Hurry up and take the assistant military doctor to get medicine. You know, some of the wounded are seriously injured and urgently need medicine to save their lives."

"I'll go now." After saying this, the quartermaster turned to Jenna and said, "Comrade Jenna, please follow me."

After the quartermaster took Jenna out of the tent, Karsokov asked Sokov curiously, "Comrade Brigade Commander, didn't you lead the troops to attack the enemy's camp tonight? Why did you come back so soon?"

"Don't mention it." Sokov shook his head, walked to the table, pointed at the map spread out on it and said, "We have penetrated nearly ten kilometers into the enemy's controlled area, but we haven't seen a single enemy. I don't know what's going on."

"Ah, is there such a thing?" Belkin said in surprise.

"Yes, we didn't see any enemies." Sokov said, "But we unexpectedly came across a field hospital. I thought we wouldn't encounter any enemies tonight, so I brought them and the wounded back here."

"Comrade Brigade Commander, you can actually arrange for some soldiers to escort the medical staff and wounded from the field hospital back, and the rest of you can continue to carry out your mission."

Sokov disagreed with Belkin's statement: "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, I once had such an idea, but soon found that it would not work. Think about it, the German uniforms worn by our soldiers were all collected from the battlefield, and basically have bullet holes and bloodstains. If it is at night, it can barely hide from the Germans. But if it is during the day, the Germans will see a group of people with bullet holes and bloodstains on their uniforms, which will definitely arouse suspicion. Before we get close, they may discover our identities, so I decisively ordered to return."

"Comrade Brigade Commander is right." Karsokov agreed with Sokov's approach: "Since we have penetrated nearly ten kilometers into the German-controlled area and still have not found any trace of Germans, this means that there may not be any Germans in this area at all."

Karsokov's words surprised both Sokov and Belkin.

Before Sokov could speak, Belkin asked his own question: "Comrade Chief of Staff, why do you say that there are no Germans in this area? Don't forget that we once fought with the Germans, and the First Battalion even suffered heavy casualties."

"Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, you are right. We did fight the enemy here, and the First Battalion even paid a heavy price." Karsokov looked at Belkin and said, "But this fact does not conflict with the Germans' withdrawal from this area."

Sokov immediately became interested. He asked curiously, "Comrade Chief of Staff, can you tell me your reasons?"

Karsokov nodded and continued, "The area we are in is not an important defensive zone. After the Germans failed in their attempts to attack, they will give up here and choose important areas to attack. For example, Borodino Heights on our left wing and Volokolamsk on the right. Taking either of these two places can become a capital for the Germans to brag about how great a victory they have achieved in our country."

"Are the Germans just going to watch the existence of a military force here and do nothing?" Belkin asked unconvinced.

Sokov now understood what Karsokov meant, so he helped him answer Belkin's question: "I think I may understand what the chief of staff meant. The Germans know that there is a military force here, but they simply ignore us. That's because the Germans think we pose no threat to them."

"How is this possible?" Belkin was unhappy after hearing what Sokov said: "If I were the commander of the German army, how could I ignore such a large enemy? You know, this force has more than 4,000 people. Once we attack them, we will definitely cause them considerable losses."

"Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, I want to ask you a question."

"what is the problem?"

"If you were the commander of an infantry brigade, without receiving orders from your superiors, even if you saw friendly forces being attacked by the enemy, would you take the initiative to lead your troops to attack and help relieve the pressure on your friendly forces?"

After hearing Sokov's question, Belkin was silent for a long time, and finally said slowly: "Theoretically, if I see friendly forces under attack by the enemy, I will definitely send troops to reinforce them. But the premise is that my superiors will not take any action against me for acting on my own initiative."

Sokov smiled and said, "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, look, you know that our friendly forces are in trouble, but you seem hesitant about whether to send troops to rescue them. I am sure that if this situation really happens, your final choice will definitely be to stay put."

Belkin smiled, uglier than crying. "Comrade Commander, I have no choice. If you act on your own initiative and attack the enemy without orders from your superiors, it is a risky thing. If you destroy the enemy, your superiors may not say anything; but if the attack fails and the troops suffer huge losses, I think at that time, the superiors will definitely hold the commander responsible."

"The Germans knew that our commanders would not dare to act without orders from their superiors. Even if the positions of our friendly forces were about to fall, they could only stand aside and watch helplessly without orders." Sokov continued, "I think they must have considered this point, so they dared to withdraw our frontal troops with confidence and concentrate their forces to attack our friendly forces. After we became an isolated force, they surrounded and annihilated us."

"Comrade Brigade Commander's analysis is good," Karsokov waited for Sokov to finish speaking, then nodded and said, "That's what I meant. The Germans feel that our presence poses no threat to them, so they can safely and boldly withdraw our frontal troops."

(End of this chapter)