Returning to the brigade headquarters, Belkin asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade Brigade Commander, have you really decided to compete with the tank army tomorrow?"
"That's right." Sokov nodded, looked at Belgin with a strange look, and said: "Since we have made an agreement with General Rotmistrov, we will definitely compete."
"Our brigade has been newly established recently, and almost all of them are new recruits, while the commanders and fighters of the tank corps are mostly veterans. If we want to compete with them, isn't it obvious that we will lose?" Seeing Sokov using such a sure tone when he said that he wanted to compete, he didn't
Erkin said with some concern: "If each side sends ten men, maybe we can draw enough people from the original Istria camp. But now both sides send fifty people to compete, I'm worried that we will lose."
."
"Since it is a military competition, there must be winners and losers." Regarding Belkin's concerns, Sokov said with a smile: "Although our brigade has many recruits, it does not mean that it is weak. Don't forget, today's Ji
The marksmanship of Na and Susanna crushed all the officers and men of the 2nd Battalion and 1st Company. If we win, it can certainly boost morale; even if we lose, it is not a bad thing, it can make our soldiers realize who they are.
The shortcomings..."
Although Sokov showed an indifferent attitude towards this competition, Belkin took it seriously: "Comrade Brigade Commander, after all, this is the first battle between our brigade and friendly forces since its formation.
This is a competition. As long as there is a chance to win, we still have to work hard. I will call a few battalion commanders over and discuss with them the selection of manpower."
When Belgin called several battalion commanders and informed them to come to the brigade headquarters for a meeting, Sokov sat aside and thought: Although there are too many recruits in the brigade, in any case, there are still some in the Istrian battalion.
There are many capable people. If they are drawn out of the army, we will still be sure of victory tomorrow.
After receiving the call, the three battalion commanders quickly rushed to the brigade headquarters. After hearing Belgin's explanation that tomorrow they would have a military competition with friendly forces, they all became excited and expressed their opinions: "Comrade political commissar, each of our battalions will
There are more than a thousand people, but only fifty people are selected to participate in shooting and stabbing. Isn't that a little less? There are only a dozen people in each camp. Do you think you can increase the number of places?"
The words of several battalion commanders shocked Sokov and Belkin. They thought that when the battalion commanders heard the news about the competition, they would complain to them, saying that they could not spare enough men to participate in the competition. But they
The reaction was just the opposite, and they also hoped to increase some quotas so that more skilled warriors could participate in the competition.
Sokov thought to himself: If he had known that the battalion commanders had such a positive attitude towards this competition, he would not have agreed to Rotmistrov's proposal of fifty men each. He should at least increase this number to one hundred.
Talent works.
Thinking of this, he raised his hand and pressed down, and then said: "Okay, everyone, stop arguing. After you go back, each of you select thirty warriors who are proficient in shooting and stabbing, and be prepared to participate in the competition."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Belkin quickly reminded after Sokov asked the three battalion commanders to select thirty men each: "Rotmistrov said that each of us would select fifty men. If each
If the camp selects thirty people, doesn’t that mean there are ninety people?”
"The more people we have, the better we can be prepared." Sokov explained to Belkin: "If General Rotmistrov suddenly changes his mind tomorrow and says that each side will send a hundred men to compete, we will temporarily deploy manpower.
A troublesome matter.”
"It makes sense, it makes sense." Hearing what Sokov said, Belkin nodded and said, "Since that's the case, then each battalion commander will allocate thirty soldiers to participate in tomorrow's military competition.
"
Just as the three battalion commanders saluted and left, Seryosha suddenly ran in from outside and hurriedly said to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, Captain Brisky is back, and he is outside the door now."
"Our fourth battalion commander is back." After listening to Seryosha's report, Sokov couldn't help but smile. He quickly ordered: "Invite him in quickly!"
After a while, Brisky, led by Seryosha, strode into the headquarters. He came to a stop in front of Sokov and Belgin, raised his hand in salute, and said loudly to Sokov
Said: "Comrade Major, Captain Briskey, commander of the fourth platoon of the company, has been ordered to come. Please give instructions!"
Looking at Briski with a tired face and mud spots on his uniform, Sokov quickly stepped forward and held his hand: "Thank you for your hard work, Captain Briski. It is precisely because of your active activities in the Tim area.
, attracted the attention of the German army, allowing us to successfully capture Kursk. I will report your merits to the front army headquarters and apply for awards for you."
Hearing Sokov say that he was going to apply for a commendation for his troops, Brisky showed a surprised expression on his face. Then, he straightened his body and said: "Serve the Soviet Motherland!"
"Captain Briski," Belgin asked with concern as he stepped forward to shake Briski's hand, "Have all the soldiers in your platoon returned?"
Brisky shook his head and said with a wry smile: "We fought several small-scale battles with the enemy in the Tim area, and the casualties were not small. There are less than ten people who came to Kursk with me today."
"Well done, Captain Briski, you and your men are all well done." Belkin grabbed the opponent's hand, shook it vigorously and said, "We will remember the merits you have established."
"Captain Briski, on behalf of the brigade headquarters, I officially announce to you." Sokov waited for Belkin to let go of Briski's hand, and then said seriously: "From now on, you are the fourth officer of the 73rd Infantry Brigade.
Battalion Commander."
"The 73rd Infantry Brigade? Commander of the Fourth Battalion?" After hearing this, Briski asked with a blank look on his face: "Comrade Major, what are you talking about, I don't understand!"
"What's not clear about this?" Belkin explained to him with a smile: "After we occupied Kursk, our superiors reorganized our original Istrian battalion into the 73rd Infantry Brigade, led by Sokov
Comrade serves as the brigade commander, and I serve as the brigade political commissar. Also, the brigade commander’s military rank has been promoted to lieutenant colonel.”
After learning the true situation from Belkin, Brisky's smile became even brighter. He took the initiative to reach out to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I congratulate you on your higher military rank and
Position."
"To each other, Comrade Briski." Sokov said while shaking hands with the other party: "The person who has also obtained a higher military rank and position is you. From now on, you are not only the commander of the fourth battalion, but also the commander of the fourth battalion.
The military rank will be promoted to captain. Based on your performance, I could have granted you a higher military rank, but unfortunately, with my authority, I can only decide on the promotion of officers below the school level."
Although he was only promoted to the rank of captain, Briskey still felt as if he had drunk honey. After a pause, he then asked: "Comrade Brigadier, may I ask where my troops are?"
Place?"
"That's right, Captain Briski." Sokov replied: "The newly formed fourth battalion has more than a thousand people and is currently stationed in the city center. I will ask Seryosha to take you to receive it later.
force."
"More than a thousand people?" When he heard this number, Briski couldn't help being startled. According to his idea, the Istria Battalion had just been expanded into an infantry brigade. It would be good to have more than a thousand people. He
He was called the battalion commander, and he only had 200 people under him at most. He didn't expect that his fourth battalion actually had more than 1,000 people. He was very surprised and said: "The number of people is really large, almost equivalent to the number of people in an infantry regiment."
."
"Although there are many people, they are almost all new recruits with little combat effectiveness." Sokov said to Briski: "Therefore, the people you bring back must be enriched into the army as soon as possible, and according to their abilities, let them serve as squads
The position of platoon leader."
Many of Briskey's subordinates were originally officers with rich combat experience and a certain level of command. It would be a waste to let them become soldiers. Now that he learned that these subordinates could be used as squad platoon leaders, Briskey couldn't help but be overjoyed.
, replied loudly and quickly: "Understood, comrade brigade commander. I will add them to the army later."
Just when Sokov was about to let Seryosha take Briski away, Briski suddenly asked: "Comrade Brigadier, when I just came here, I happened to encounter three company commanders leaving the headquarters. Look at them.
You look serious, has something happened?"
"Three company commanders?" Sokov was stunned for a moment when he heard what Brisky said. Then he realized that he was talking about Vanya, Andrei and others. The other party probably didn't know that these three people were now also battalion commanders.
, and said casually: "You are talking about Vanya and the other three, they are now battalion commanders just like you."
"Yes, yes, they are the three battalion commanders." Briski nodded quickly and repeated the question: "Comrade Brigade Commander, can you tell me what happened? Look at their appearance, what happened
Not too young yet!”
"That's it, Captain Briski." Seeing that Briski was so curious, Belgin told Briski about the battle with Rotmistrov's tank army tomorrow, and finally said:
"They may be considering which cadres and soldiers should be transferred to participate in tomorrow's competition."
When he learned that he would compete with Rotmistrov's tank army tomorrow, Brisky couldn't hold himself back. He had just become the battalion commander and wanted to perform well in front of Sokov, so he hurriedly
Said: "Comrade Brigadier, what about our fourth battalion? How many men should be allocated to participate in this competition?"
Sokov said: "Captain Briski, since we didn't expect you to come back today, we will not allocate manpower from your fourth battalion for this competition for the time being. You can just organize manpower to watch the battle at the scene.
Already."
"How can we do that?" Seeing that Sokov planned to exclude his fourth battalion from the competition team, Briski became a little anxious: "Since our fourth battalion is a member of the 73rd Infantry Brigade, a competition like this will
How can you not participate?”
"You have just come back and are not familiar with the army yet." Sokov understood Brisky's mood, but considering that the other party was not familiar with his army yet, he said euphemistically: "You are not familiar with the commanders and fighters in the battalion, so you are not familiar with it."
How to allocate manpower to participate in the battle? I think your battalion does not need to participate in this competition."
"Comrade Brigadier." Seeing Sokov rejecting his proposal without hesitation, Briski immediately said with a serious expression: "Although I have not officially taken over the Fourth Battalion, the subordinates I brought back are
There are sharpshooters and stabbing experts, so let them participate in the competition, I think it should be okay."
Briski's words reminded Sokov that the fighters who could follow Briski to jump out of the enemy's encirclement should have high technical and tactical skills. If they were given two places, they might gain unexpected rewards.
Thinking of this, Sokov asked: "Comrade Captain, tell me, how many people can you draw from the soldiers who came back with you to participate in the competition?"
"There is a sharpshooter. When we broke through the encirclement a few days ago, he killed several German machine gunners at a distance of two hundred meters, allowing us to successfully break through the enemy's blocking position." Briski heard that he could use his
When his subordinates joined the battle, they immediately began to introduce suitable candidates to Sokov: "As for the bayonet, there are two of them. During this period of fighting, no less than twenty enemies died under their bayonets.
."
Belkin couldn't help but beam with joy when he heard what Briski said. He turned to Sokov and said: "Comrade Brigade Commander, if what Captain Briski said is true, then I think these three soldiers can participate in the competition."
"Okay, Captain Brisky." Although Rotmistrov proposed to send fifty soldiers each to participate, Sokov still thought that the more warriors participating, the better. If only five soldiers were sent to participate, the better.
Ten people, if Rotmistrov had a whim and wanted to hold some play-offs, he would have to mobilize people in a hurry. So when he heard that there were such capable people under Brisky, he immediately expressed his approval:
"Since you think your subordinates are capable of participating in such a competition, let them participate tomorrow. Now, you first follow Lieutenant Seryosha to the fourth battalion to receive the troops."
Watching Briski's back disappear from the door, Belkin said with emotion: "Comrade Brigadier, didn't you say a few days ago that you wanted your superiors to send you a chief of staff?"
"Yes, I said that." Belkin only said half of what he said, but Sokov immediately guessed what he meant: "Comrade Political Commissar, do you think Captain Briski is suitable to serve as chief of staff?"
Position?"
"Yes, I think that rather than letting the superiors send someone to serve as the brigade chief of staff, it is better to select suitable candidates from within." Belkin replied affirmatively: "Compared with other battalion commanders, he is not the most suitable.