March 20, 1940, the twelfth day of the second lunar month.
In the first battalion command post, the commanders and fighters of the first battalion and the liaison officers sent by the regiment sat around a table and expressed their opinions on the changes in the battle situation.
Two soldiers from the reconnaissance team of the guard company who went out for reconnaissance came back, and a piece of new information obtained from the reconnaissance was held in the hands of everyone in the command post and circulated.
"Well, our comrade said in the report that the enemy's retreating troops were in neat formation, and it doesn't look like they were evacuating in a rout." The instructor analyzed, "Battalion Commander, to be honest, our soldiers are not yet rich enough to pursue such an active retreat.
.I suggest that we continue to send troops to organize reconnaissance to find out the further movements of this enemy."
"The instructor is right, we should do a good reconnaissance." The battalion commander did not pay attention to his partner's euphemistic expression. A full exchange of opinions would help him to understand the truth. He still understood, "The comrades of the guard company who are responsible for the reconnaissance mission marched quickly on the way back and forth.
Thank you for your hard work. Let’s ask a few comrades who have rested to lead the way, and bring all the personnel of the Third Company to assist in the reconnaissance.”
After receiving the verbal order, the correspondent turned around and went to the temporary camp on the reverse slope of the hillside to deliver the message. The battalion commander expressed two main opinions in these words. One is to continue to send a battalion of troops forward, in the name of assisting in reconnaissance. In fact, a company
As the smallest military unit with a command system, it has the power to make emergency decisions; secondly, the company directly under the regiment is asked to take the lead in guiding the reconnaissance. When decisions need to be made, troops in the same regiment share the decision-making risks or convey the operational plan on their behalf. The instructor saw the battalion commander's arrogance and didn't point it out. He just left the battalion command post on the pretext of going to the front line to check defenses.
When the instructor and two correspondents arrived at the forward position, the comrades from the first and second companies who came to support had already cleared the dilapidated fortifications.
In the trenches where the grenade tubes were carefully cared for, the floating soil was lifted to the front of the position by the soldiers with their hands and short-handed shovels. The comrades who were buried alive in the soil were still breathing when they were dug out, which made everyone feel relieved.