red moscow

Chapter 3068

When Berkin led the fourth battalion into the village, it immediately attracted the attention of the village cavalry, who began to chatter amongst themselves.

"What kind of unit is this? Why are there so many of them?"

"Yes, there are quite a lot of people, at least three or four thousand. They must be some newly transferred infantry division."

A cavalry captain who was watching the commotion from the roadside stopped Vasya as he passed by and politely asked, "Comrade Major, which unit are you from? Are you here to assist us in the battle?"

"I am Major Vasya, the battalion commander of the 4th Battalion of the Infantry Brigade." Vasya replied calmly, "Our mission is to rush to the Ruza River to assist the cavalry corps comrades in breaking through the German defenses and to establish a landing site on the left bank of the Ruza River."

"Ah, you're from an infantry brigade too?" the captain asked in surprise. "The infantry brigade of Lieutenant Colonel Sokov?"

“That’s right, our brigade commander is Lieutenant Colonel Sokov.” After saying this, Vasya looked at the other man and asked tentatively, “Comrade Captain, do you know our brigade commander?”

"Yes, I know them." The cavalry captain replied with a serious expression, "Our successful breakthrough of the German defenses on the left bank of the Ruza River was entirely due to the assistance of the infantry brigade. Without them, we might have paid a much heavier price."

Vasya was taken aback by what he heard. Just as he was about to ask what had happened, the cavalry captain had already turned and left.

"Major!" Just then, Belkin walked up from behind and, seeing Vasya standing there in a daze, casually asked, "What are you looking at?"

“A cavalry captain just told me that without the assistance of our brigade, they might have paid a much heavier price to break through the enemy’s defenses at the Ruza River,” Vasya explained. “I wanted to ask about the details of the battle, but he just turned and left without saying a word.”

Since Sokov and Belkin did not mention in their telegram communication that most of the cavalry corps command members had been killed in battle, Belkin was also puzzled by the cavalry captain's inexplicable departure after hearing Vasha's words.

After learning the location of the brigade headquarters, the commander leading the way immediately sent someone to report to Belkin and Vasya: "Deputy Brigade Commander, Battalion Commander, the brigade headquarters is indeed located in the village. The captain sent me to guide you."

A few minutes later, Belkin and Vasya arrived at the brigade headquarters.

Sokov, who was chatting with Karsokov and several battalion commanders, saw Belkin and Vasya enter the command post and immediately went to greet them: "Deputy Brigade Commander, you've arrived! How was your journey?"

"Except for the company responsible for escorting the commander, which encountered an enemy ambush, the rest of the troops had a smooth journey."

Upon hearing Berkin mention the ambush on the vanguard company, Sokov immediately pressed for details: "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, the 2nd Company of the 4th Battalion was attacked by the enemy during the march, but you didn't explain it clearly in the telegram. Now that you're here, tell me, how large was the enemy force that ambushed the 2nd Company of the 4th Battalion, and what weapons and equipment did they use? How many casualties did their ambush cause to our army?"

Faced with a barrage of questions from Sokov, Belkin turned to Vasya beside him: "Comrade Major, I think you should answer this question, since the attacked troops are your men." Vasya nodded, stepped forward, and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, this is what happened. The 2nd Company's initial mission was to escort the Commander to the Ruza River. However, the Commander's jeep was going very fast, and soon left our troops far behind."

The Second Company advanced another three or four kilometers when they were suddenly attacked by fire from the forest on the right side of the road. The officers and soldiers immediately returned fire. While directing the counterattack, the company commander sent a telegram to the battalion headquarters, reporting the ambush. Upon receiving the news, I immediately dispatched the First Company to the area for rescue.

By the time reinforcements arrived, the battle was already drawing to a close. Some of the officers and soldiers of the Second Company had already rushed into the forest and engaged in close combat and bayonet fighting with the enemy.

After the battle, we cleaned up the battlefield and found more than forty German corpses in the forest. Their weapons were mainly light weapons, including one MG34 machine gun and a few submachine guns. Compared to our troops, the Germans were at a significant disadvantage in both numbers and equipment. As for our casualties, there were more than seventy people, including thirty killed in action.

"The Germans dared to attack our army without authorization despite being outnumbered and outequipped. They are truly courageous," Sokov said sarcastically. "They really thought that our infantry brigade commanders and soldiers were as vulnerable as other units under their surprise attack. They probably never dreamed that they would run into a brick wall this time, losing their own lives in the process."

After saying this, Sokov paused briefly, using the time to reorganize his thoughts. After a while, he spoke again: "Since the battalion commanders are all here, I'd like to say something important."

Upon hearing Sokov say that he had something important to say, the eyes of several battalion commanders immediately turned to Sokov.

Sokov continued, "Our brigade currently has a total strength of about six thousand men, but most of the force is concentrated in the fourth battalion, while the other three battalions are severely understaffed. It is for this reason that I intend to set the strength of each battalion at eight hundred men..."

"Comrade Brigade Commander!" Before Sokov could finish speaking, Battalion Commander Alexa interrupted, "Our battalion suffered more than a hundred casualties in today's battle. I hope the higher command can give our battalion priority in replenishment."

"Your battalion suffered heavy casualties, but didn't our battalion suffer heavy casualties too?" Yefim retorted, unconvinced. "You know, when the cavalry's attack was thwarted and the command headquarters was almost completely wiped out, it was our battalion that braved the enemy's hail of bullets to launch the first attack. If we're talking about replenishing troops, our battalion should be the first to be replenished."

Seeing that Yefim and Alexa were about to start arguing, Sokov quickly raised his hand to stop them: "Alright, stop arguing. Everyone gets a share. You two should first count the number of men your battalions are short of, and then report it to the chief of staff. He will allocate the men according to your actual situation."

As soon as Sokov finished speaking, except for Vasya, the other battalion commanders surrounded Karsokov, reporting on the manpower shortages in their battalions and hoping that he could prioritize replenishing their troops.

But Belkin found Sokov and asked curiously, "Comrade Brigade Commander, the cavalry corps headquarters was almost completely wiped out. What exactly happened?"

Sokov, realizing that Berkin was probably unaware of Dovator's sacrifice upon arriving here, recounted in detail what he knew about the cavalry corps.

After hearing this, Belkin shook his head repeatedly, saying, "What a pity, what a pity. It's such a shame that such an excellent cavalry commander as Dovator has been sacrificed."

“Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, the cavalry corps incident has given me a wake-up call,” Sokov said to Belkin. “From now on, the three of us brigade commanders cannot travel together. That way, even if one of us encounters an accident, the other two can still command the troops normally.”

(End of this chapter)