Red Moscow

Sokov didn't know what happened inside the headquarters after he left. At the moment, he was only concerned about how to form an independent regiment with only himself.

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov asked Malinin politely, "Except for the guard company assigned to me by the commander, how should the rest of the troops be replenished?"

He asked this not because he didn't know how to organize the troops, but because he knew how to recruit defeated soldiers and rescue prisoners of war to strengthen the troops. He was very good at this in his previous life. He asked Malinin at this moment just to show respect for his superiors.

Seeing Sokov's humble attitude, Malinin was very satisfied and told Sokov all the ways to quickly expand the army. "The last time the commander went to Yartsevo to form a combat group, the fastest way was to take in all the troops he saw. Since your rank is too low, it is obviously unrealistic to copy his model directly, so you can only adopt the method of recruiting defeated soldiers, reorganizing militia, and recruiting new soldiers to form your own troops."

Sokov thought that the Vyazma Campaign was drawing to a close, and the Soviet remnants that had not been annihilated by the Germans would gradually escape the encirclement and retreat to Mozhaysk and other places. Among them, the 19th Army had the most complete troops. After retreating to the Mozhaysk area, it was reorganized and later reorganized into the 1st Assault Army. Most of the troops of the 16th and 20th Armies were annihilated by the Germans, and only a few troops escaped the encirclement of the Germans.

Among the three armies, the 19th Army is relatively complete and cannot be incorporated. Otherwise, if they encounter a commander of a higher rank, should they be incorporated by themselves, or will they be incorporated by themselves? Therefore, the best option is to incorporate the troops of the 16th and 20th Army.

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov asked again, "After my independent regiment is formed, how should we solve the problem of weapons and ammunition?" He was worried that Malinin didn't understand what he meant, so he emphasized, "Those officers and soldiers who escaped from the enemy's encirclement must have run out of ammunition and food. Without weapons, we can't fight the enemy. We can't let everyone carry a wooden stick and fight the Germans hand-to-hand, right?"

"Major Sokov, don't worry." After listening to Sokov's concerns, Malinin assured him, "You only need to be responsible for forming the troops. As for weapons, ammunition and various supplies, I will help you solve them."

"Thank you very much, Comrade Chief of Staff."

After a while, the two arrived at the command post of the guard battalion.

Seeing the two men enter the room, a captain sitting at the table stood up and saluted Malinin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what instructions do you have?"

"Major Sokov," Malinin turned to Sokov and said, "Let me introduce you. This is Captain David Jandarov, the commander of the guard battalion, and this is Major Sokov, the commander of the independent infantry regiment directly under the army group."

"Hello, Comrade Major." After saluting Sokov, Jandarov asked Malinin in surprise, "Comrade Chief of Staff, I only know that there is an independent tank regiment. When did an independent infantry regiment appear?"

"It was just formed a dozen minutes ago." Malinin said this briefly and went straight to the point: "Since the independent infantry regiment now only has Sokov, the commander ordered you to select a company from the guard battalion to serve as the base of the infantry regiment."

Upon learning that Malinin was going to withdraw his troops, Jandarov's face twitched. Just as he was about to complain to Malinin, he heard him continue, "Comrade Captain, this matter was personally instructed by the commander, so not only can you not refuse, you must also hand over the strongest company to Major Sokov."

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff," Jandarov replied reluctantly, "I'll arrange it as soon as possible."

"During the war, every minute is precious." Malinin imitated Rokossovsky's tone and said, "Comrade Captain, call the commander of the guard company that is going to support Major Sokov over here so that I can have a good talk with him."

Zhandarov looked at Malinin with a painful look on his face. Although he was unwilling, he had to obey the order. He walked to the door, called a soldier over, and ordered: "Go and call the third company commander over, and tell him that I have something important to talk to him about, and ask him to run over immediately."

A few minutes later, a tall and thin captain appeared at the door and asked breathlessly, "Comrade Captain, may I come in?"

"Of course." Jandarov nodded at him: "Come in, Captain Bobrikov."

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Zhandarov nodded and said in a positive tone: "This is Captain Bobrikov, the commander of the third company. The company he leads is the best company in the guard battalion."

Malinin looked Bobrikov up and down, nodded slowly, and then said to him: "Comrade Captain, from now on, you and your company will be officially assigned to the independent regiment directly under the army group. By the way, this is the commander of the independent regiment, Major Sokov."

After learning that Sokov was his new superior, Bobrikov hurried over and saluted Sokov: "Hello, Comrade Commander!"

"Hello!" Sokov returned the greeting, stretched out his hand to shake the other party's hand, and asked directly: "How many people are there in your third company?"

"There are 115 people in the company."

Sokov originally thought that the company temporarily assigned to him would be good if it had 70 or 80 people. After all, Rokossovsky was seriously short of troops, otherwise he would not have gone directly to the front headquarters to ask Zhukov for a reserve force. But when Bobrikov said there were 115 people, he suddenly felt happy. Although the number was small, they were fully capable of fighting against a small German force.

"Comrade Captain, from now on, you are officially a member of the Independent Regiment." Sokov asked, "Are you familiar with the surrounding environment?"

"I'm not familiar with it yet." Bobrikov didn't understand what Sokov meant by this question, so he asked back: "Comrade Commander, what is the mission of our company?"

"Do you have a map?"

"Uh, no."

Seeing that the other party had no map, Sokov did not get angry. Instead, he took out a map from his bag, unfolded it and put it on the table. He pointed to the middle of Mozhaysk and Volokolamsk and said to Bobrikov, "You arrange for people to set up a checkpoint here to accommodate the scattered troops evacuated from other places."

"What? To take in scattered troops from other regions?" Bobrikov asked hesitantly, "Is this appropriate?"

"There's nothing inappropriate about it." Sokov said with a straight face, "Our independent regiment was established not long ago. There is no one else in the entire regiment except me and your third guard company. Do you think we can fight the enemy on the battlefield with our limited strength?"

In response to Sokov's question, Bobrikov thought about it, then shook his head and said, "If it's just a small group of enemies, we can still deal with it. But if it's a large force reinforced by tanks, we won't be able to hold out for long."

"Since you understand this, that's great." Seeing that the other party understood his intention, Sokov stopped beating around the bush and urged: "Time is running out. Gather your people immediately and set up a checkpoint at the designated location to accommodate the scattered troops retreating from the front."

When Bobrikov went out to gather the troops, Sokov turned to Malinin and asked, "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you think of my arrangement?"

"Not bad, not bad." Malinin nodded with satisfaction and said, "Take in the scattered troops who have retreated and reorganize them so that they can form combat effectiveness in the shortest possible time. In addition, I think you can also quickly expand the troops by recruiting new soldiers."

After Malinin finished speaking, Sokov smiled bitterly and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, I also want to go to Volokolamsk to reorganize the militia and recruit new soldiers, but the actual situation is that with the arrival of the 316th Infantry Division, the militias of several factories have been incorporated by General Panfilov. It is said that they have also established more than a dozen recruitment points in the city to recruit new soldiers. Even if I go to the city, I am afraid I will not be able to recruit the new soldiers I want, so I can only base my hope of forming a unit on taking in the defeated soldiers."

"Comrade Major, how did you know that General Panfilov was recruiting new soldiers?" Sokov's words surprised Malinin. He asked in astonishment: "You know, so far, I haven't received any relevant reports."

Sokov knew very well that the 316th Infantry Division defending Volokolamsk had 15,000 men, but it was far from enough to face the successive attacks of several German armored and infantry divisions. Therefore, Panfilov led his troops into the designated defense area and immediately expanded his forces. The method he adopted was to directly incorporate the militia annihilation battalions of several factories in the city into his troops, and also set up many recruitment points to recruit new soldiers.

He originally thought that Malinin had known about this, but now he realized that he had taken it for granted. Malinin, the army group chief of staff, did not know about this, but he, a low-ranking officer from another unit, also knew about it, which made him wary.

"Comrade Chief of Staff, this is the situation," Sokov said pretentiously, "I used to be General Potapov's adjutant. He sent someone to Volokolamsk two days ago. I heard about the situation there by chance when the comrades who went to the city came back to report."

Sokov's reason was far-fetched, but Malinin believed it without a doubt. After all, as Potapov's adjutant, it was not strange for Sokov to know something that he did not know. He extended his hand to Sokov and said, "Major Sokov, I will be back to the headquarters soon. I wish you good luck!"

After seeing Malinin off, Jandarov came over and asked curiously, "Comrade Major, why haven't I seen you before?"

"It's normal that you haven't seen me." Sokov said lightly, "I was originally in the 37th Army. Not long ago, I was transferred to the 5th Army and served as Potapov's adjutant. Now, General Rokossovsky has transferred me to the 16th Army and served as the commander of an infantry regiment."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Seeing Sokov being so frank, Jandarov also introduced his guard battalion to Sokov: "My guard battalion has three companies in total. Except for Bobrikov's third company, which I brought from Moscow, the other two companies are composed of troops drawn from other divisions."

When Sokov heard this, he immediately understood why Jandarov agreed to hand over the third company to him and why he looked so heartbroken. It turned out that this company was his direct line. If he were in his position, he would probably feel the same pain.

After the two chatted for a few more words, Bobrikov returned to the room and respectfully introduced himself to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the troops have been assembled and are ready to set off at any time."

After saying goodbye to Jandarov, Sokov took Bobrikov out of the command post to check on the officers and soldiers of the third company who had already assembled.

Seeing the neatly-lined Third Company, Sokov was very satisfied. No matter in terms of equipment or weapons, they were considered elite. He nodded, without making any speech, he waved his hand and announced: "Everyone, set off!"

After an hour's march, the troops arrived at the edge of a forest five or six kilometers away from the headquarters.

There was a fork road next to the forest, leading to Volokolamsk in the north and to Mozhaysk in the south. Sokov thought that setting up a checkpoint at this place would be able to stop most of the Soviet commanders and fighters retreating along the road.

Having made up his mind, he called Bobrikov and three platoon leaders over and told them, "You will set up three checkpoints on the road as platoon units. Be sure to intercept our officers and soldiers who are retreating through the road and incorporate them into our troops."

After assigning the positions of the checkpoints to the three platoons, Sokov asked again, "Do you have any questions?"

"Comrade Commander," a platoon leader asked hesitantly, "What should we do if we encounter a commander of a higher rank? Even if we want to take them in, I'm afraid they won't agree."

"That's easy." Sokov had extensive experience in sheltering deserters. After listening to the concerns of the platoon leader, he said carelessly, "If you encounter a commander of a higher rank, you can arrange for someone to bring him to my command post. I will personally negotiate with him."

"I understand, Comrade Commander." The platoon leader felt relieved immediately, and he quickly replied loudly, "If we encounter a commander who is unwilling to cooperate with us, I will arrange for someone to hand him over to you for disposal."

Sokov nodded and continued, "In order to avoid any accidents, you need to dig trenches next to the outpost, set up firing points, and make all preparations for battle."

Bobrikov seemed puzzled by Sokov's arrangement: "Comrade Commander, I don't understand why we need to set up a firing point next to the sentry post?"

"The reason is simple," Sokov replied, "If the Germans follow our retreating troops, our soldiers can use their firepower points to defend and prevent the enemy from advancing all the way."