Belkin walked up to the deserters who were tied behind his back with his hands behind his back. His eyes swept over them one by one, and finally stopped on a sergeant. He asked coldly: "Comrade Sergeant, tell me.
Well, why do you want to be deserters?"
"Does this need to be said?" Vasily, standing next to Sokov, said angrily: "They are all a group of cowards who are afraid of death. They were frightened by the Germans, so they became shameful deserters.
"
"No, comrade battalion commander." Hearing what Vasily said, the sergeant blushed, and he said excitedly to Belkin who was standing in front of him: "We are not cowards or deserters."
"Comrade Brigadier," Griza leaned close to Sokov's ear and whispered: "This sergeant's name is Yelizavita. He was the one who discovered the German army's sneak attack on our position two days ago."
When Sokov heard what Grisa said, he couldn't help but be startled. He thought that since he came here, as the company commander of the person involved, Grisa has remained silent. This is a bit too abnormal. There must be some hidden secret in it.
When Belkin heard the deserters crying out in front of him, he laughed contemptuously and asked: "Sergeant, since you said you were not a coward or a deserter, why did you leave the army without authorization?"
Sergeant Yelizaveta turned his head and glanced at the few soldiers beside him, and summoned up the courage to say: "Comrade Political Commissar, we are all Kursk people. We don't want to leave our homeland, we want to stay here and continue to fight the German devils.
Therefore, we prepared to find other troops to take us in, but unexpectedly we were arrested as deserters."
"Do you think the army is run by your family, and you can be in whichever army you want to be in?" Vasily was furious when he heard what Yelizaveta said: "Since you have become a deserter, no matter what you say,
Don't even think about surviving." After saying these words, Vasily pulled out his pistol and said to Sokov, "Comrade Brigadier, don't talk nonsense with them, shoot them all."
When Sokov heard Yelizaveta's excuse, he knew that there was a big mistake in this matter. These soldiers were all locals. They heard that the troops were going to be transferred, and they were unwilling to leave their hometown and wanted to go elsewhere.
troops, but somehow, they were actually arrested as deserters.
Sokov looked at Belgin and said, somewhat dumbfounded: "Comrade Political Commissar, how do you think this matter should be handled?"
Belkin frowned and thought for a while, then said to Yelizavita: "Comrade Sergeant, I want to remind you that you are a soldier now, not a civilian. It is the duty of soldiers to obey orders, and you can go wherever your superiors ask you to do.
Wherever you have to go, there is no room for bargaining."
"Comrade Political Commissar," Yelizaveta waited for Belkin to finish, then pouted and said, "But we really don't want to leave Kursk. We can still fight against the Japanese invaders by staying here."
"If you don't want to leave Kursk, you can apply to your superiors, who will consider your actual situation." Belkin said with some displeasure: "In view of the negative impact you have caused by leaving the army without permission, we must deal with it
You punish."
Hearing Belgin's words that he and others would be punished, Yelizavita thought that the next step was to announce that he would be shot. After sighing softly, he lowered his head in resignation, closed his eyes tightly and waited for the arrival of death. Who?
Unexpectedly, he heard Belkin continue to say: "But considering that this is your first offense, we will lock you up for two days. If a similar situation happens again, don't blame the ruthless military law."
Yelizaveta did not expect that he could actually escape death. He opened his eyes and looked up at Belkin, and asked in surprise: "Comrade Political Commissar, will you just lock us up for two days and not shoot us?"
"It's not easy to be shot. I will shoot you now." An angry Vasily waved his pistol and wanted to rush towards Yelizaveta, but was stopped by Sokov.
After Sokov grabbed Vasily, he said to Grisa who was standing next to him: "Lieutenant Grisa, order your company to disband. In addition, send two more soldiers to escort them to the solitary room."
Seeing the troops disbanded and several "deserters" who were about to be shot, were also untied and sent to a solitary room not far away, Vasily became a little anxious: "Comrade Brigadier, are you going to let them go like this?"
?”
"If you don't let them go, will you really shoot them?" Sokov looked at Vasily and said: "The matter has been clarified. This was just a misunderstanding. They didn't want to be deserters, but they were unwilling.
Leave your home."
"It's not up to them to decide whether to stay or not." Vasily said angrily: "If everyone was like them and unwilling to leave their hometown, wouldn't our army be in chaos?"
"Captain Vasily, this incident illustrates one thing." Belgin came over and said to Vasily: "The political propaganda work in your camp is not enough."
"Brigade Commander, Comrade Political Commissar." Hearing what Belkin said, Grisa quickly interjected: "The army has just been expanded from a platoon to a company, and the number of people has increased nearly ten times, but we have not been equipped with enough political workers.
.I have an unshirkable responsibility for what happened today."
"Lieutenant Grisa, we are temporarily unable to provide you with political workers. But you can choose among the soldiers. Many of them should have engaged in similar jobs before joining the army." Today's "desert incident" brought Soko
The husband sounded the alarm, and he solemnly said to Grisa: "There may be a big war, and the troops cannot be in chaos. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Brigadier." Grisa quickly replied: "I promise you that a similar situation will never happen again in the company, otherwise you will remove me from my post."
A few people were talking when suddenly a sentry hurried over and reported breathlessly to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, there are several jeeps coming towards us, and there seems to be a big shot in the car."
"Is there a big shot?" The sentry's words aroused Sokov's curiosity. He quickly turned his head and looked in the direction pointed by the sentry, and saw three open jeeps speeding towards him. Although the distance was far away and the speed was fast, Sokov still glanced at it.
Then he saw Chief of General Staff Vasilevsky sitting on one of the jeeps. He couldn't help but murmured: "What the hell, why did Comrade Chief of General Staff come here?" After saying this, he turned around.
He looked at Vasily and Grisa who were standing nearby, wondering in his mind which of them was the one who made the tip to Vasilevsky.
Vasily seemed to have guessed what Sokov was thinking, and said quickly: "Comrade Brigadier, it's not me. I only reported to you alone, and never to my superiors."
"That's right, Comrade Brigade Commander, I can vouch for this to the Battalion Commander." Grisa quickly helped Vasily smooth things over: "After the incident happened, Comrade Battalion Commander has been with me and has absolutely no contact with outsiders.
I estimate that Comrade Chief of General Staff may have his own information channels."
Sokov agreed very much with Grisa's statement. Seeing the jeep getting closer and closer to him, he quickly adjusted his style buckle, pulled the hem of his military uniform, and walked towards the jeep with big steps.
passed.
Before the car stopped, Vasilevsky jumped out of the car, strode up to Sokov, and asked sternly: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, what's going on? Why are you in your unit?"
Will there be shameful deserters here?"
"Report to Comrade Chief of General Staff," faced Vasilevsky's question, Sokov hurriedly and respectfully replied: "There are no deserters, it's just a misunderstanding."
"What, is it a misunderstanding?" Vasilevsky's face showed a surprised expression: "But someone reported to me that there were five deserters in the fourth company. You and Political Commissar Belkin personally
Came to deal with this matter. How come it turned into a misunderstanding in the blink of an eye?"
"That's it, Comrade Chief of General Staff." Sokov waited for Vasilevsky to finish speaking, briefly introduced him to the ins and outs of the matter, and finally said: "Those soldiers were unwilling to accompany the army.
Leaving home and therefore taking the wrong approach to try to stay here."
"So that's it." After figuring out what happened, Vasilevsky's expression softened: "Then how did you deal with them?"
"Tightly shut up for two days." Sokov replied briefly.
Vasilevsky originally wanted to ask why it was not locked up for a few more days, but suddenly he remembered that this unit would be leaving in two days, so he changed the subject in time: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, what will your brigade do in the next half of the year?"
A long journey will begin within a month to a month. If this happens again, how are you going to deal with it?"
"Comrade Chief of General Staff, please rest assured that this incident was an accident." Seeing Sokov's hesitant look, Belkin quickly said, "I assure you that we will strengthen propaganda and mobilization.
The work to eliminate unstable factors in the army in a timely manner was successfully completed by this transfer."
"Very good, Political Commissar Belkin, you said it very well." Vasilevsky was very satisfied with Belkin's statement. He nodded and continued: "I hope that the situation will really be able to
As optimistic as you say."
Vasilevsky came and went quickly. Seeing that the so-called "desert incident" was just a misunderstanding, he chatted with Sokov and others for a few words and left in a car.
Looking at the jeep in the distance, Sokov couldn't help but feel drumming in his heart. He didn't expect that what happened in the Fourth Company would reach Vasilevsky so quickly. It seemed that there must be someone in his brigade.
The internal affairs department has installed spies, and every move you make may be under the surveillance of the other party.
Belkin walked to Sokov and said to him: "Comrade Brigadier, since the matter here has been dealt with, we might as well go back to the brigade headquarters."
Sokov nodded and agreed to return to the brigade headquarters, but before leaving, he once again warned Vasily and Grisa: "We are leaving Kursk soon, and the soldiers' emotions may fluctuate. You must
Pay attention to appease their emotions. If something like this happens again, I will remove you from your posts. Do you understand?"
"Understood." Vasily and Grisa replied quickly and loudly.
When the two of them were halfway there, Sokov was worried that the Fourth Company would appear in other companies, so he and Belkin went on an inspection tour. Fortunately, it was gratifying that although there were some soldiers who were reluctant to leave their hometowns, in the company
With the enlightenment and persuasion of political workers, they all changed their minds and were willing to follow the troops to new areas.
After the inspection, on the way back to the brigade headquarters, Sokov said to Berkin: "Comrade Political Commissar, it seems that new soldiers are reluctant to leave their homes. This is a very common phenomenon. Fortunately, we discovered it in time and carried out the investigation.
Remedy. Otherwise, when we arrive on a new battlefield and face fierce enemies, if our troops' morale is shaken, we will definitely lose the battle."
"Comrade Brigade Commander, you are right. Because there were too many new soldiers in Kursk and we did not have enough political workers, we did a very poor job in political and ideological work. What happened today is very important to us.
For us, this is a lesson..." When Belkin said this, he suddenly paused for a moment, then frowned and asked Sokov, "Comrade Brigadier, what did you just say, new battlefield? Did you really
Do you think we will be able to fight after we get to Stalingrad?"
"Will there be no war in Stalingrad?" Hearing Belkin's question, the muscles on Sokov's face twitched violently, and he thought to himself: "When you go to Stalingrad, you will find out
, All the battles of this life have been gathered together." Although he thought so in his heart, he still tried hard to control his emotions to avoid spilling the beans in a moment of excitement.
The jeep they were riding in stopped outside the brigade headquarters. Before they could get out of the car, the guard company commander Seryosha rushed out of the building and said to the two people: "Brigade commander, political commissar, you are back."
Seeing Seryosha's anxious expression, Sokov asked curiously: "Seryosa, what happened to your life?"
"Comrade Brigadier," Seryosha said, "several local residents have come, saying that they have come specially to see you."
"Come here specifically to see us?" Sokov couldn't help but curiously asked after hearing what Seryosha said: "Seryosa, do you know what they have to do with me and the political commissar?"
"I asked, but they refused to tell." Seryosha said hesitantly: "Later I got some advice from a young girl and found out that they came here to express their gratitude to you."
"Thank us, there is nothing to be grateful for." These uninvited guests aroused Sokov's interest. He shook his head at Seryosha and said: "Seryosa, take me to meet these local residents. I want to do something.