Red Moscow

After handing over the defense of Bilie Town to the 379th Division, Sokov took all the troops and withdrew to the original defense area.

Seeing Sokov and Bely come back, Sidolin reported a bad news to them: "Two division commanders, I just received a battle report forwarded by my superiors. Our army is surrounded by Matveev Kurgan. An army in the area has been wiped out under the powerful German offensive. The defense on the Mius River has been broken by the German army and the Sixth Army in the encirclement will become their next target."

"Misha, what should we do next?" Knowing that an army had been wiped out by the Germans, Bere couldn't help but worry about the future of the Sixth Army: "If the Sixth Army is defeated by the enemy again, then what we hold on to Lugansk, but it will all be exposed to the enemy. At that time, we will have to fight against the enemy who has superior strength and equipment."

"If the German army wants to annihilate the Sixth Army, I am afraid it will not be possible in a day or two." Sokov said to Sidolin and Bely: "That is to say, we still have enough time to adjust the defensive deployment. .”

"Our division only has more than 16,000 people, plus a tank brigade." Sidolin reminded Sukov: "It seems that there are quite a lot of troops, but they are distributed in such a vast area, and the defense forces everywhere are very weak. , and there is no reserve team. Once the German army breaks through in any direction, the overall defense will become precarious."

Just when Sokov and others were at a loss, hearty laughter came from the direction of the door, and then a familiar voice sounded: "One division guards such a big city, but if there are two more divisions, the situation will be much better." gone."

Sokov turned his head and was pleasantly surprised to find that Major General Merkulov, commander of the 67th Guards Division, and his political commissar, Colonel Sheyko, were walking in from the door. He hurried up to meet them, greeted each other and said, "How are you, Major General Merkulov and Colonel Sheyko, what brought you here?"

"Comrade Commander," Merkulov walked up to Sokov, saluted him first, and then reported respectfully: "I have received an order from the Front Army Command. From now on, my The 67th Guards Division is once again under the command of your Sokov combat group."

"What, you reassigned to the Sokov combat group?" Sokov was very surprised when he heard the news. He turned his head and asked Sidolin: "Chief of Staff, have you received the notification from the Front Army Command?"

"No." Sidolin replied blankly, "I haven't received any notification from the Front Army Command during this time."

"Comrade Commander, don't worry, I think the official order from the Front Army Headquarters will come down soon." Major General Merkulov said with a smile: "As soon as the political commissar and I received the order, we immediately rushed to coming."

"Comrade General, are all your troops here?" Sokov couldn't help being overjoyed when he learned that his superior had sent at least one additional division of troops to him: "Where are they all?"

"Unfortunately, Comrade Commander, the only ones who can report to you at present are me, the political commissar, and a guard platoon protecting us. My troops are still on the march." Seeing Sokov's regretful expression, he again Added: "Tomorrow morning at the latest, the 196th Guards Regiment will arrive; and the remaining 199th and 201st Guards Regiments, as well as the 138th Guards Artillery Regiment, will arrive in Lugansk one after another."

"Comrade General," although Merkulov is one of his subordinates, but the other party's military rank is higher than his own, so when Sokov addresses the other party, he always directly refers to his military rank: "I want to ask, this time Luhansk troops, besides your division, are there any other troops?"

"Of course, besides our division, there is the 321st Rifle Division of Major General Makarenko, and the 71st Guards Division of Colonel Sivakov. There are also two tank brigades, four artillery regiments and two rocket artillery battalions , they will arrive in Lugansk one after another.”

Sokov, who was still uneasy about the prospect, learned that so many troops would arrive in Lugansk one after another, and his heart was suddenly filled with hope. When the defender has only one division, they can only stay in the city and resist possible German attacks; when the defender has two divisions, they can use one division to defend and the other to attack. Now there are four infantry divisions, three tank brigades, four artillery regiments and two rocket launcher battalions. Sokov is fully confident that he will have an absolute advantage in the situation and give the rampant German army a head-on blow.

But how many troops can rush to Luhansk? Based on Merkulov's one-sided words, Sokov still couldn't believe it. He hurriedly ordered the messenger to connect to Chuikov's headquarters. He wanted to ask what happened. thing.

After Chuikov received the call, he was still at a loss: "I didn't hear about the establishment of any new combat group. I just informed me that the 62nd Army will go to Moscow in early March and will start the battle after being incorporated into the reserve team of the base camp. Reorganization."

"Ah, the 62nd Army is going to be transferred to Moscow?" Sokov was stunned by what Chuikov said, and he asked tentatively, "Then should our division hand over its defense to the friendly army and rush to Moscow as soon as possible?"

"It shouldn't be necessary." Chuikov said in an uncertain tone: "The deployment order just received does not contain the designation number of your division. I don't know if Commander Rokossovsky has other arrangements for you. It's up to you to call him yourself to find out what's going on."

"Strange, really strange." Sokov put down the phone and said to everyone sitting at the table: "The 62nd Army will be transferred to Moscow soon, but the number of our division is not listed in the list of troops to be transferred. .”

"What, there is no designation of our division?" Bely said with some surprise: "Does it mean that our division will be separated from the 62nd Army?"

"I think it's quite possible." Merkulov has experienced similar things several times and has a lot of experience: "You see, my division is allocated to this army at one time, and then transferred to another army at a later time." To another group army? In a word, the higher-ups will readjust the formation of troops according to the situation on the battlefield."

"I think it's better to call Commander Rokossovsky and ask what's going on." Seeing that everyone was analyzing this confusing matter based on their own understanding, Xi Dorin suggested to Sukov: "Maybe only from him can we get accurate information."

Before Sokov could call, Malinin called first: "Colonel Sokov, on behalf of the Front Army Command, I would like to inform you of two things: 1. Your division has been transferred from the 62nd Army; 2. The Front Army Command has decided to Rebuild the Sokov Combat Group, which will consist of the 41st Guards Division, the 67th Guards, the 71st and 75th Guards Divisions, plus three tank brigades, one artillery division and two rocket artillery battalions, with you as the commander The post of chief of staff was held by Colonel Witkov, the former deputy chief of staff of the 62nd Army Group.”

After Sokov finished recording Malinin's order, he stared at it for a long time, and finally couldn't help asking: "Do you know which original unit the 75th Guards Division is from?"