Chapter 1b: Looking for the Allies (Soviet team)
The second company of the BPO regiment - sometimes referred to as Boris, or B Kompaniya or, quite commonly, Vtoraya (the second) - had made it's way around Berlin and was now slowly circling back, ahead of the main force of the pincer movement.
Rumor had it that Konev was furious for having the race lost to Shukov, but what could you do? Konev was relentless... but Shukov was brilliant.
The three vzvod, or platoons, had spread out a little, to cover a wider front, all of them keeping an eye out for German soldiers and other dangers.
The closer they had gotten to the city limits, the quieter the troops had become. There was tension between the platoons and within the company. Impossible to prevent, given so many different backgrounds and stories of them, but they had been through hell together before, and prevailed.
Yelena found herself marching next to Politruk Zholdin Yevgenievich, who gave her a slight nod.
It was getting dark already, but Kapitan Konnikov made no indication of wanting his company to stop. Where were those stupid Americans?
(Giving Zholdin and Yelena a chance to interact.)