Quoted By:
“Captain Hasanaliev, I would like a clear understanding of your unit and its present disposition. How many men and vehicles does the 7th Company have at its disposal?”
Captain Hasanaliev hesitates a bit before beginning his answer, “I would have to check, sir. I have our papers here. But I would want to check them to make sure I am giving you an accurate account.”
As you are about to grant him permission to do so, Shcherbin speaks: “I believe I can answer that question. Permission to speak, sir?” You nod your affirmation. “The 7th Company consists of 110 men and is equipped with 10 APCs, 4 trucks, and 2 jeeps at the present time, sir.”
Good, it sounds like the 7th is a fully staffed and equipped unit. Many units have had their resources scavenged and cannibalized for the war effort, so it is a blessing that this is not true here. And, hopefully, some of the men speak better Republian than Corporal Matsukov.
“Does anyone in the Company speak Republian?” You address this question to both officers. Again it is Shcherbin who answers: “Yes, I think we do. I believe that Krasvyov speaks Republian. He is one of the company’s machine gunners. I can have him fetched for you, if you would like, sir.”
Try not to get your hopes up, Gennady, there is every chance that this Soldier Krasvyov ‘speaks’ Republian as well as Mastukov does, although that the fact that only he was mentioned is promising; at the very least, it is a different situation than Matsukov’s old unit giving every officer a day intensive.
“Yes, I would like to meet with this Krasvyov. Show me to him once this meeting is concluded. Before that, I still have some other matters for discussion. Are you in contact with the army unit in the district, the 216th Independent Motorized Rifle Battalion?”
Captain Hasanaliev and you both turn to Senior Lieutenant Shcherbin, who has been forthcoming with the last two matters, but he just crosses his arms and inclines his head. Hasanaliev responds: “No sir, we were not aware that an army unit had been assigned to Gordon district. If we had known, we would be in contact, of course, sir.”
It is just as you feared. Absolutely no communication between the Army and Internal Ministry. Chances are the 216th is equally unaware of the presence of the 7th Company in Gordon. Without any coordination, the units may have been acting at cross purposes. Establishing a unity of command is going to have to be a priority and the first step towards that is contacting the 216th.
“Hm. Alright then, moving on: how long has the power been out?”
Hasanaliev again looks down, scanning his desk for some piece of information: “I don’t know, sir. That is to say, there was no power when we arrived in Gordon last week. It may have been out before then, but we only arrived last week so I can only speak to it being out when we arrived last week, a week ago.”
