[henkster]

One wonders if Capt. Sobel would have been “fragged” if he had actually been allowed to lead his company into combat.

[colorado tanker]

From what I saw of Cpt. Sobel's map reading skills, he probably couldn't have found the combat.

It's curious they are referring to the part of Southern Ukraine near the Crimea as the Nogais Steppe. The Nogais are a mixed Mongol/Turkic people who were named for Nogai Khan, a Mongol general. After the Russians took the region and destroyed the Astrakhan and Crimean Khanates, the Nogai were resettled elsewhere. Some went to Turkey, as they had been loyal to the Ottoman Empire.

In any event, the Russians are still chewing up real estate down there at a very fast pace.