Red Moscow

"Commander, what should we do?" Lunev asked Sokov with a wry smile: "The old ones, the young ones, don't even talk about training for a few days, even if you train for a few months, it will be difficult to form any combat effectiveness. No, how about we send these new recruits back and ask the superiors to replenish us with new recruits?"

"Comrade Military Commissar, if we return this batch of recruits, the higher-ups won't give us any more soldiers." Sokov knew very well that Zhukov is also a clever woman who can't live without rice, and soldiers are needed everywhere to replenish the army. Where did the superior find so many soldiers? To give him these old, weak and remnant soldiers is already the best of benevolence. "I think it's better to let them stay."

"What, let them stay?" Sameko was unhappy: "Comrade Commander, don't you see that these are old people and children, can they fight?"

"Comrade Commander," Unexpectedly, as soon as Sameko's voice fell, an old man standing closer said, "Although I am old, I have also been on the battlefield."

Hearing that the old man said that he had been on the battlefield, Sokov took two steps forward and asked curiously, "Grandpa, where did you fight before?"

"Kyiv!"

Kyiv? ! When Sokov heard this familiar place name, he immediately thought of two years ago, there was a large-scale siege there, the largest siege in history. Most of the 5th, 21st, 37th, and 26th armies of the Southwest Front Army of the Soviet Army, part of the 40th and 38th armies were annihilated, and 650,000 people were captured. Even the commanders, military commissars, and chiefs of staff of the front army were all killed, and many army-level commanders were captured by the German army.

Sokov sighed softly, and said to the old man, "Grandpa, you participated in the defense of Kiev two years ago as a militia, right? You were lucky to be able to escape from the enemy's encirclement."

As soon as he finished speaking, the old man shook his head and said, "Comrade General, I participated in the defense of Kiev more than 20 years ago."

Sameko muttered: "More than 20 years ago, what was the defense of Kiev?"

"Wait a minute, Comrade Chief of Staff." Lunev interrupted Sameko, and asked the old man tentatively: "Grandpa, you mean that you participated in the fight against the Polish White Bandits in Kiev more than 20 years ago." defense?"

"Yes!" The old man said proudly: "My army is under the command of General Tukhachevsky. After we smashed the enemy's attack outside Kiev, we immediately launched a counterattack. The army even hit the city of Warsaw. If I was not sent to the rear because of my injuries, maybe I could rush into Warsaw with my comrades."

When the old man was eloquently telling the stories on the battlefield that year, Sokov and others did not interrupt him. Because of the need for propaganda, this history of the failure of the Soviet army is not seen in the history books of the school at all. Only by listening to the stories of those who have experienced it can we have a half-knowledge about that period of history.

After the old man finished speaking, Sokov asked, "Grandpa, what's your name?"

"Report to Comrade General," the old man straightened his body, raised his chin slightly, and replied loudly, "My name is Serelkov, and I used to serve as a soldier in the army of Marshal Tukhachevsky."

"What rank was it at that time?"

"Where is the military rank?" Serelkov shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said, "All those wearing epaulets are officers of the White Bandit Army. There are no military ranks in our army, only positions. I am a platoon As a senior officer, there are more than fifty brothers under him."

Sokov did not expect to find a veteran with combat experience among this group of old and weak soldiers. This was a pleasant surprise. He coughed lightly, and then said: "Comrade Serelkov, since you have been a platoon leader, I will now appoint you as a platoon leader. The military rank is tentatively designated as a second lieutenant. If you establish military exploits in the future, I will personally promote your rank and position."

"Comrade General," Serelkov may never have imagined in his dreams that he was directly promoted to second lieutenant and served as platoon leader just by telling about his previous experience. After he raised his hand to salute Sokov to express his thanks, he asked hesitantly, "I don't know who you are yet?"

"Second Lieutenant Serelkov," Sameko quickly introduced Sokov's identity to the other party: "This is the commander of our army, General Sokov."

"So you are General Sokov." Serelkov's eyes lit up when he heard Sameko say this: "When I was still working in the rear, I heard you mentioned more than once."

Sokov was curious about how the people in the rear talked about him, so he asked tentatively, "How do they talk about me?"

"They said that as long as your troops stand firm, the Germans will have more powerful troops and equipment, and they will never try to break through your line of defense; and where you want to attack, even if you are defending the most elite German troops, It can't stop your attack at all."

"Yes, Comrade Commander." A boy next to him also said loudly: "I heard from the teacher at school that you not only captured Paulus yourself, but also wiped out the most elite German Imperial Division and Skeleton Division. , captured their division commander, and now the enemy will tremble with fright when they hear your name."

The boy's words aroused good-natured laughter from all around. The boy's rainbow fart made Sokov feel very useful. He looked at him and asked, "What's your name, and what did you do before joining the army?"

"Report to Comrade Commander," the boy replied, "My name is Lulik. Before joining the army, I was a sixth-grade student at Moscow No. 39 Ordinary School."

Sokov knew that the schools in the Soviet Union were not divided into elementary school, junior high school, and high school like in China. They only had grades one to ten. Grades one to five are equivalent to primary school; grades six to eight are equivalent to junior high school; grade ninety is equivalent to high school. Lulik is a sixth grade student, which is equivalent to a junior high school student. Such a young child was sent to the battlefield, which shows how scarce the Soviet Union's soldiers are.

"Second Lieutenant Serelkov!"

Hearing Sokov calling himself, Serelkov hastily and loudly agreed: "Here!"

"Let Lulik stay in your platoon," Sokov said helplessly, "You are his elder, you should pay more attention to protecting his safety in battle..."

"Comrade Commander," before Sokov could finish, Rurik interrupted him and said with a stiff neck, "I don't need anyone's protection on the battlefield. I can protect myself."

Sokov didn't say anything to him, just nodded, then turned and took Sameko and Lunev away. When he was about to reach the gate of the headquarters, Sokov stopped and said to Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you send someone to find out, among those elderly people, who has participated in the battle."

Sameko knew in his heart that Sokov asked himself to find people who had participated in the war more than 20 years ago among those old people, and quickly replied: "Understood, I will arrange someone to deal with this matter later. Seeing Sokov turn around and walk towards the door of the headquarters, he quickly chased after him, and added, "Just after the 182nd Division went through a series of hard battles, not only the soldiers were severely reduced, but even the grassroots commanders also lost a lot. .If we can find some former commanders among these recruits, then we can fill the vacancy of the 182nd Division's grassroots commanders."

Not long after the three of them returned to the headquarters, Colonel Khokhlov, the commander of the 182nd Division, and Colonel Shepilov, the political commissar, both appeared in the room.

When Sokov stepped forward to shake hands with the two, he said with emotion: "Comrades colonels, you came very quickly."

"Comrade Commander," Shepilov replied with a smile: "The enemy from our defense area to the headquarters has been wiped out, and the jeep we are riding in can arrive here at the fastest speed." .”

But Khokhlov was eager to know the purpose of Sokov asking him to come here, so as soon as Sepilov finished speaking, he asked bluntly: "Comrade Commander, I don't know why you recruited us here. something?"

"What?!" Sokov asked in surprise after hearing Khokhlov's question, "Didn't it be clear why my guard platoon leader, Lieutenant Samoilov, called you? ?"

"No." The two colonels shook their heads neatly, and replied, "The lieutenant only told us that we have an important mission and asked us to come over immediately."

"Comrade Commander, please give an order." Khokhlov stepped forward and said: "Our division has made all preparations for battle and is ready to engage in new battles at any time."

"Comrade Colonel, you made a mistake. I didn't call you here to assign you any combat missions." Seeing that Khokhlov misunderstood his intentions, Sokov quickly explained: "The superior will give us an additional A group of recruits, about 2,000 people, after the study and discussion of the group army chiefs, decided to add all these recruits to your division."

Khokhlov was so happy that he couldn't close his mouth when he learned that Sokov would recruit two thousand recruits for him. After he raised his hand to salute Sokov, he said repeatedly: "Thank you, Comrade Commander, thank you very much. After this period of fighting, our division has been seriously downsized. You can add so much to us at once." Soldiers, although they can't be compared to when they were fully staffed, their strength can at least return to more than half of what they were before."

"Comrade Colonel, don't be blindly optimistic." Seeing that Khokhlov was getting carried away, Sameko poured cold water on him: "We just went to see the group of recruits. They were either old people in their fifties or sixties, or ten-year-olds. Five or six-year-old children, after adding such soldiers to your division, it will not only fail to improve your combat effectiveness in the short term. On the contrary, it will also dilute your existing combat effectiveness."

Khokhlov was dumbfounded when he heard what Sameko said. He looked at Sokov, then at Sameko, and finally said with a wry smile: "Commander, chief of staff, don't you joke with me? What kind of battle can old people and children fight if they add troops, isn't it Let them die?"

"Comrade Colonel, what the Chief of Staff said is true." Sokov said helplessly, "The new recruits our superiors gave us are indeed composed of old people and children."

Khokhlov thought for a long time, and finally asked with difficulty: "Then can we not get rid of these soldiers?"

"Comrade Colonel, I think it is necessary to remind you." Sameko said again: "Don't look at the newly recruited soldiers, they are either old people or children, but this is a unit that the superiors have tried their best to piece together. If If you don’t want it, I’ll give it to other divisions, they also suffered a lot of casualties in this battle, and they can’t wait to replenish.”

Don't think Khokhlov didn't want these old and weak soldiers, but when Sameko said that he planned to assign these recruits to other troops, he panicked: "Chief of Staff, Chief of Staff, stop talking. Recruits, I want them, do I want them from the head office?"

Seeing Khokhlov's dejected look, Sokov stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder lightly, comforting him and said, "Comrade Colonel, don't be so discouraged. The newly recruited soldiers are indeed It is composed of old people and children, but it is not useless. We just met a veteran who fought against the Polish White Bandit Army more than 20 years ago. I believe that among the newly recruited soldiers, such an old man with rich combat experience , there are not a few of them. I have arranged for the chief of staff to send someone to verify, and I believe that it will not take long before I can get a more satisfactory answer."

Sameko echoed: "Yes, yes, Comrade Colonel, I have sent someone to check. I believe it will not take long to find out how many veterans who have participated in battles among the newly recruited soldiers."

Although Sokov and Sameko were comforting themselves, Khokhlov always felt lost in his heart. After all, such soldiers added to the army, the number increased, but the combat effectiveness was weakened. What do you think about this matter? , is a loss-making business. He asked unwillingly: "Comrade commander, is there really no way to add veterans with rich combat experience to us?"

Seeing Khokhlov's anxious expression, Sokov smiled lightly and said, "Actually, it's not difficult to replenish soldiers with combat effectiveness."

"Oh, Comrade Commander, do you have a good idea?" Khokhlov said anxiously to Sokov, "Quickly tell me."

"From the outbreak of the war to the present, I am afraid that millions of commanders and fighters of our army have been captured and detained by the German army in various prisoner-of-war camps." Sokov said to the crowd: "Do you all know this?"

"I know!" Everyone replied in a low mood at the same time.

Sokov has long been aware of the reaction of the crowd. It is a shameful thing that millions of officers and soldiers have been captured. Naturally, he is unwilling to mention it. Usually people don't mention this matter, but it doesn't mean that people don't know about it.

Seeing that everyone knew what he wanted to express, Sokov continued: "Most of these commanders and fighters imprisoned in prisoner-of-war camps have rich combat experience and certain technical and tactical levels. As long as they supplement I believe that they will soon be able to realize their potential and improve the combat effectiveness of the troops."

"Use those rescued prisoners of war to supplement the troops?" Sokov's words frightened Khokhlov into a cold sweat: "Comrade commander, you won't make mistakes in this way?"

"The winner should not be blamed." Sokov replied confidently: "As long as we can win, as for where we got the soldiers, I don't think the superiors will pursue it."

Hearing this, Sameko understood Sokov's intentions, and quickly chimed in and said, "Comrade Colonel, not to mention far away, many of the commanders brought by the commander when he took office came from prisoner-of-war camps. These comrades suffered a lot from the Germans in the prisoner-of-war camps, and they have a deep-rooted hatred for the enemy. Once they are allowed to take up arms again and go to the battlefield, the combat effectiveness they will display will be very amazing."