Phrase "it was just Companies 6 and 7"

[Klpno]

Hello everyone,
I'd like to ask about the phrase "it was just Companies 6 and 7" in the following passage (it's a description of military operation).

By the time they reached the upward-curving drive-way that led to one of the many hotels that serviced the convention center, it was just Companies 6 and 7.

What does the phrase imply?

[Yankee]

Hi KLPNO

Your sentence suggests that there were more than the two companies mentioned (6 + 7) prior to "the time they reached the upward-curving drive-way".

I'm not quite sure who the word 'they' refers to, however. Additional context is needed to say anything more about the sentence.
.

[Klpno]

[Yankee]

Hi KLPNO

'They' apparently refers to Captain Henry and the soldiers in Companies 6 and 7.

When Captain Henry and Companies 6 and 7 reached the upward-curving drive-way, there were no other companies (soldiers) with them. Companies 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 were somewhere else.
.

[Klpno]