Chapter 41: Pioneer Company

  Chapter 41 First Company

"Hello, Lieutenant Sokov!" Batrakov did not return the salute, but directly held Lin Hua's hand, and said with a smile on his face, "You are good, and your subordinates are also good! You successfully prevented the German army from blowing up the dam of the Istria Reservoir, allowing our troops to cross the Istria River smoothly and continue to pursue the fleeing enemy. The outcome of the battle became very favorable to our army ..."

After Batrakov finished speaking, he pulled Lin Hua to the table, pointed to a general sitting by the table and said, "Let me introduce you, this is our division commander Mironov Comrade."

  Hearing that the person sitting in front of him was Major General Mironov, the commander of the Fifth Guards Division, Lin Hua quickly stood at attention and raised his hand in salute: "Hello, Comrade Commander!"

Mironov stood up, stretched out his hand to Lin Hua, and said with a smile on his face, "You are very good, Lieutenant Sokov, this is what I want to tell you." After finishing speaking, he He stretched out his hand to the chief of staff of the regiment standing aside, "Comrade chief of staff, please give me the things."

  Hearing what the division commander said, the chief of staff of the regiment quickly took out a folded piece of paper and a red box from his satchel, and handed them to Mironov. After taking it, Mironov unfolded the paper and read aloud: "The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR confers on Lieutenant Mikhail Sokov the Order of Lenin in recognition of his service on the front lines of the Great Patriotic War, The bravery and heroism shown!"

Hearing that it was the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet who awarded him the medal, Lin Hua couldn't help being a little confused. He instinctively took the medal box handed over by Mironov, and thought to himself: "I can't make a mistake, right? I just How can a small lieutenant, who has just been promoted, alarm the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet?"

   Mironov saw that Lin Hua stood in a daze without saying a word after receiving the medal box, so he asked with some displeasure, "Comrade Lieutenant, don't you know what you should say after you get the medal?"

  Lin Hua heard Mironov say this, and immediately realized that he had lost his composure. Fortunately, it was not the first time he was awarded an honor, so he quickly said loudly: "Serve the Soviet motherland!"

Mironov nodded and said with satisfaction: "Comrade Lieutenant, you have served you very well. It is precisely because you have successfully kept the dam that there is no huge surge of water that has caused great difficulties for our army." In the current situation, if we can achieve the final victory in this counterattack, your company will be indispensable."

  Just as Lin Hua was thinking about how to answer Mironov's words, the other party quickly changed the subject: "Comrade Lieutenant, can you ski?"

  Although Lin Hua couldn't keep up with the teacher's jumping thinking, he still replied truthfully: "I'm sorry, comrade teacher, I don't know how to ski."

"Comrade Lieutenant," Mironov said with some regret when Lin Hua said that he could not ski, "your regiment will march towards the Volokolamsk area next, and your company is the vanguard. The snow was so deep that our engineering troops could barely clear the obstacles on the existing roads with the help of extremely simple tools, and there was no way to build new roads. Therefore, in order to speed up the attack, we had to use the ski squad, but intercepted Those who are retreating, so that our main forces can catch up and destroy them as soon as possible."

  After Mironov's explanation, Lin Hua finally understood why the commander suddenly asked himself if he could ski. It turned out that the next march would be completed by skiing. I don't know how to ski, which means that the remaining dozens of kilometers of roads can only be marched on foot.

  After Mironov finished speaking, he turned to look at Batrakov and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, do you have anything else to add?"

  Batrakov nodded, and then asked Lin Hua: "Misha, do you know the way to Volokolamsk?"

  Although Lin Hua stayed in Moscow for a long time in later generations, he still didn't know where Volokolamsk was. Hearing Batrakov's question at this moment, he certainly couldn't directly answer that he didn't know, which would lower his status in the eyes of the superiors, so he bit the bullet and replied, "I will inquire."

"Is there still a need to inquire?" Batrakov heard Lin Hua's answer, and said, a little bit dumbfounded: "You go out from the west of Istria City and walk west along the road, about 70 kilometers away. , in this kind of road conditions, you have to walk for at least two days. After you return to the company, let the soldiers eat something, take the time to sleep for two hours, and then start immediately. Note that according to the situation we have, the German army The 106th Infantry Division and the 11th Armored Division have retreated to this area, and you must maintain sufficient vigilance during the march."

   "Understood!" After Lin Hua finished speaking, he raised his hand to his forehead, saluted the division commander and regiment commander, and asked politely, "Are you allowed to go back to the army to assign combat missions?"

   "Go, Misha!" Batrakov nodded at Lin Hua and said, "Good luck!"

  Lin Hua walked out of the regiment command post and found his troops outside. Vanya, Andrei, and Vasily immediately surrounded them and asked anxiously, "Comrade company commander, do you know what combat mission the superior has assigned us?"

  Seeing the reaction of his subordinates, Lin Hua couldn't help being a little surprised. In his impression, the troops have been fighting non-stop since they entered Kryukovo Village. He believes that after so many battles, the cadres and soldiers in the company should be concerned about where to rest and reorganize, not what combat tasks their superiors have assigned.

   But seeing the anxious faces of the three platoon leaders, he still told them the combat mission assigned by his superiors. After listening to his superior's mission, the one who reacted most violently was Second Lieutenant Vanya. He said to Lin Hua excitedly: "Comrade company commander, do you know that the 316th Infantry Division we were originally in won the honor of holding the German army tenaciously in the Volokolamsk area for several months? The title of the Eighth Guards Division. I didn't expect that we would fight back soon after we left this heroic city. Comrade company commander, please let us be the vanguard of the whole company. We want to inherit and play Panfilo The fine traditions and brave fighting spirit of my husband and teacher severely hit the Japanese invaders."

   Seeing Vanya's eagerness to fight, Lin Hua readily agreed to his request. Then he ignored the objections of the three platoon leaders and resolutely announced: "All the commanders and fighters of the company will find a place to eat, then rest for two hours, and then advance to Volokolamsk."

  (end of this chapter)