26After several months of reorganizing medical units, Yiannis received permission to reduce his rank from colonel to captain and join the Greek Army’s strongest battalion, the 587, where he was most needed as an army field surgeon. Haralambos had followed him, first to army headquarters as his office receptionist, and now to the front as his orderly, reducing his own rank from sergeant to corporal. He was convinced Yiannis could not function properly without him, and without Yiannis functioning properly, Zervas would not be able to perform well. With this convoluted reasoning, Yiannis’ wonderfully wily but somewhat mentally limited assistant rushed with him from one village or camp to another to stem the flow of blood in both soldiers and civilians.
As terror increased throughout the coun
