That is actually very true.
I made the experience that - although they dont follow your exact orders all the time - you seem to have control over the tendency of your comrades actions.
For example, I played as the allied commander on odessa lately and constantly gave my team commands and "pushed" them by using the voice commands. Although many of them didnt react that much, I always had a bunch of people reacting and roughly following my orders:
We rushed and held the apartments quickly, then we capped the square by just getting lots of people in the capzone while stopping new germans from reaching the square by flanking them.
Afterwards I commanded my team to attack the headquarters first and soon afterwards I was capping it with a few comrades - the tower couldnt resist very long afterwards.
Maybe the germans didnt do so well too, but that was an awesome advance of the russians... on publics its enough if just a few people react to the commands, since its the same on the enemys side: There is always a constant "flow" of soldiers in the main areas, but as a commander you try to manipulate this flow.
Don't try to control your fellow men, lead them!