Red Moscow

The combat group was disbanded, and the 67th Guards, 23rd and 321st Infantry Divisions all returned to their organizational structures, leaving only the 41st Guards Division and Colonel Bely's tank brigade in the Mamayev Hill area.

Sokov discussed with Ivanov, Sidolin and others: "Deputy division commander and chief of staff, now that the Stalingrad battle has ended successfully, we may not have much time to rest before re-entering a new battle, so we must hurry up Time to adjust the formation of the troops."

"Adjust the establishment?" Ivanov asked curiously, "What kind of adjustment?"

"Our division used to have four regiments," Sokov said. "I plan to cancel the downsized regiment and divide all the soldiers into the other three regiments."

"The commanders and fighters of the downsizing regiment are all experienced combat backbones." After learning about Sokov's intentions, Sidolin said to Ivanov: "Even if all the recruits from the superiors are recruits, with the enrichment of each With these combat backbones of the regiment, the troops can quickly form combat effectiveness."

"The commanders of the original three guard regiments suffered heavy casualties in recent battles, so they can be supplemented by the commanders of the reduced regiment." Ivanov waited for Sokov and Sidolin to finish speaking, and said. Out of my own concerns: "The regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Belkin, how should he be placed?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Belkin used to be the political commissar of the infantry brigade," Sokov said, "I think he should be assigned to a certain regiment and serve as the political commissar of the regiment."

"Well, since you have already considered where to put him, then do as you said." Ivanov replied: "It happened that the political commissar of the 124th regiment was in the battle and withdrew from the battle due to injury. Let Comrade Belkin take his place."

"Comrade Commander," Anisimov, who had no sense of presence, asked Sukov curiously after the three of them discussed the adjustment of the establishment, "I want to ask, where might we go next?"

"Needless to say, it's westward." Sokov pointed to the map and said to the crowd, "Let's teach Manstein's troops a lesson."

"I guess it's hard for Manstein to live like this." Anisimov said confidently: "Now he is being besieged by the Voronezh Front Army and the Southwest Front Army. His footsteps were completely annihilated by our army."

Sokov did not expect that just after the Battle of Stalingrad, Soviet commanders and fighters would have the idea of ​​​​underestimating the enemy. He asked blankly: "Comrade political commissar, why do you say that?"

"Comrade Commander, I have some inside information." Anisimov said mysteriously: "The Southwest Front Army commanded by General Vatutin and the Voronezh Front Army commanded by General Golikov are launching an attack on Manstein. .

The Southwestern Front launched an offensive from the lower reaches of the Donets River, all the way to the Dnieper River, trying to retake the Donbass industrial zone and cut off the German army in the Caucasus and the Ukrainian army.

The Voronezh Front Army, in accordance with the combat plan formulated by Marshal Zhukov, attacked due west. "

"Is this news reliable?" Sidolin waited for Anisimov to finish speaking, and asked impatiently.

"Of course it's reliable." Anisimov nodded, leaning slightly forward, and whispered to everyone, "I got this information through a reliable channel."

As the chief of staff, Sidolin is very familiar with the combat map. After hearing what Anisimov said, he immediately leaned over to look at the map in front of him. After looking at it for a while, he raised his head and said to Sukov: "Comrade commander, according to my analysis, it is entirely possible that our army will recover the map in the near future." Kursk, Belgorod and Kharkov."

Sokov couldn't help being surprised when he heard Sidolin say that. You know, I know what happened next based on the historical data I have, and Sidolin can analyze the cities that the Soviet army may capture from the fragmentary information that Anisimov has. One thing surprised him.

"Chief of Staff, you are right. Those cities you just mentioned will definitely be recovered by our army." After finishing this sentence, Sokov asked back: "But have you ever thought that our army After taking these cities, can it be held?"

"Comrade Commander, did you make a mistake?" Hearing Sokov's question, Sidolin showed a stunned expression on his face: "You know, Manstein's troops are at most a hundred thousand, but there are still more than 100,000 troops under him. Distributed in such a vast area. And the two front armies of our army have at least several times the number of him. Could it be that we can't beat him with one of us?"

"Wars are not based on the large number of people." Sokov scribbled on the map with a pencil: "Look, because our army is advancing too fast, the forward troops and the rear supply points are already far away. If the Germans find out This weakness of our army has cut off the supply line, so can the troops who have lost fuel, ammunition and food supplies continue to fight?"

"If our army is cut off from the supply line, won't we face the same fate as the Germans we just annihilated?" Ivanov said thoughtfully: "Comrade commander, do you think we need to put this Report the matter to the head of the front army?"

"It's useless." Although Sokov is now the division commander, but in the face of those officers who have never dealt with him harshly, Sokov is still a character with no hair on his mouth and can't do things well. Because he clearly realized that even if he issued an early warning at this time, no one would believe him. "First of all, we don't belong to the same unit, and I have no way to get in touch with them. Secondly, this kind of thing must be reported to the headquarters of the Front Army. After getting their nod, we can continue to report to the superior. The Voronezh Front Army and the Southwest Front Army Situation, report to the High Command."

"Then report it immediately," Anisimov urged: "Comrade commander, don't you have a good relationship with the comrade commander? I believe that he will be convinced of your analysis."

"Comrade Commissar, this is still just an analysis, and you can't report it casually." Sidolin immediately stopped Anisimov's adventurous idea: "If you leapfrog the report rashly, and the actual situation differs from the judgment, when the time comes I'm afraid it won't be easy to clean up."

"The chief of staff is right." Sokov knew very well in his heart that he knew a lot about the historical process, and if he said it too early, it would be counterproductive. Therefore, he very much agreed with Sidolin's safe approach and did not report to his superiors for the time being: "Everything is just my analysis. No one knows what will happen. In my opinion, let's do some research. Let's replenish the ammunition and military supplies of the troops as soon as possible."

"Comrade commander, when it comes to replenishing military supplies, I think of an important thing." Sidolin said.

"what's up?"

"If I remember correctly, all the officers and soldiers of the downsizing regiment use German weapons." Sidolin reminded Sokov: "If they are broken up into regiments, I am afraid that they will have to change their equipment. "

"What you said is very reasonable." Sokov said kindly: "A troop equipped with two different weapons will cause trouble for logistics supplies."

"Then what should we do with it?" Sidolin asked tentatively, "Should we replace all the German-style weapons in the hands of the soldiers with our army's standard weapons?"

"Chief of Staff, judging from the current situation, this is really the only way to go." Sokov emphasized: "Only by using a unified standard weapon can the whole division reduce the supply pressure on logistics. By the way, our whole division How many more?"

"Including the wounded, there are more than 6,300 people in total."

Hearing the number mentioned by Sidolin, Sokov couldn't help being startled. He didn't expect that after such a brutal battle, there would be so many people in the whole division. In other words, as long as Rokossovsky can replenish himself with 3,000 troops, he can gather tens of thousands of troops.

"After these months of fighting, the commanders and fighters are all exhausted." Sokov said to everyone: "Because there is no major battle happening now, let them take turns to rest. Be sure to recover to the level in the shortest possible time. Top form."

"Comrade commander," Ivanov couldn't help asking with a smile, seeing Sokov explaining the mission to Sidolin solemnly, "do you really think that our division will go into battle soon?"

"Comrade Deputy Division Commander, don't look at us annihilating the besieged Paulus Group, but the battle with the enemy has not stopped." Sokov knew very well that in half a month, the German army would launch an attack on Kharkov. In the counterattack, with 100,000 people, the 500,000 Soviet army was beaten to the ground. "We need to make preparations in advance so that we can go into battle at any time. Soldiers must establish the belief of 'use me in the first battle, use me to win' in order to be invincible in the battle against the enemy."

"Use me in the first battle, use me to win." Sidolin said excitedly when he heard what Sokov said: "Comrade Commander, your slogan is so good that it makes people's blood boil."

Hearing Sidolin's praise for him, Sokov couldn't help but blush, and quickly changed the subject and asked, "Chief of Staff, have you sent any manpower to search for the remaining German officers and soldiers in the ruins?"

"Comrade Commander, we need to search not only for the stragglers who are hiding, but also for some missing persons." Anisimov said to Sukov: "According to the information we have, many residents have fallen into the hands of the Germans." In the hands of the Germans, they were imprisoned in some ruins once occupied by the Germans. I think we should hurry up and search for their whereabouts, otherwise it will be too late.”

Hearing what Anisimov said, Sokov couldn't help but smile wryly. He thought to himself: The Germans had already run out of food when they were besieged. Imagine that even the Germans couldn't get enough to eat. They would take out the extra food and distribute it to the civilians in the controlled area.

Thinking of this, Sokov nodded and said to Anisimov: "Comrade Political Commissar, since you brought up this matter, you must have a complete set of treatment plan. From now on, I will put this You are solely responsible for the matter.”

"Comrade Commander," when several people were discussing work, Maxim called Sokov from the corner: "Comrade Division Commander, a call from General Chuikov, commander of the Army Group."

Sokov walked over to pick up the phone, and sure enough, he heard Chuikov's voice coming from inside, and quickly said respectfully, "Hello, Comrade Commander, what instructions do you have?"

"Instructions? What instructions can I have?" Cuikov said with a chuckle: "I called you just to chat casually. After all, we have fought side by side for such a long time."

Sokov knew that Cuikov would not chat with him for no reason, so he must have heard something about him, so he called him specifically. Recalling that not long ago, I had just discussed with Sidolin about replacing the equipment for the downsized regiment, so I said into the microphone: "Comrade Commander, I happen to need your help with something."

"Is there something important you need to ask me for help?" Chuikov asked after repeating what Sokov said: "What is it?"

"It's like this. We just made a decision to revoke the organization of the downsized regiment and split all the commanders and fighters into three guard regiments." Sokov said into the microphone: "Now the problem is coming. This regiment originally equipped All of them are all German-style weapons. In order to reduce the burden of logistical supplies, I plan to replace all the original German-style equipment with our army’s standard equipment.”

"Colonel Sokov, I support your decision." Knowing that Sokov only wanted some common equipment, Cuikov said readily, "Some time ago, the East Bank sent us a batch of firearms. You can Use some of it to equip your troops."

"Thank you very much, Comrade Commander."

"You're welcome." Chuikov said mysteriously on the other end of the phone: "Colonel Sokov, I heard something else and I plan to call you in advance."

"Comrade Commander," Sukov realized that there might be something serious when he heard what Chuikov said, and quickly asked, "Did something happen?"

"It's a good thing." Chuikov said on the other end of the phone: "I heard from General Malinin that the higher-ups are planning to combine your 41st Guards Division, 37th Guards Guards and 39th Guards Guards Division together to form a Guards."

"It's a good thing to form a guard army." Sokov said with a smile: "I don't know who the superior plans to appoint as the division commander?" He asked because the other two division commanders had once defended Stalingrad. side by side in battle. No matter which of the two division commanders is in command, it is very suitable.

"Some people say that Guriyev, the commander of the 39th Guards Division, is suitable for the post of commander; others say that General Zholudev, the commander of the 37th Guards Division, is an ideal candidate." Cuikov said cautiously: "But it is said that this After the appointment of the two people was reported, they were directly rejected by their superiors."

"What, the superior directly vetoed the killing of the two division commanders?" Sokov asked in surprise: "They did this, are they planning to parachute a division commander?"

"It's definitely impossible for the airborne army commander. It's not like you don't know that there are serious vacancies in the commanders of the various units. Where can we find the ideal manpower to serve as the commander of the Guards Army." Chuikov explained to Sukov: " Therefore, you are the most ideal candidate for the new army commander."

"Choose me?" Sokov asked with a look of disbelief: "This is not possible, you know, I am only a colonel, how can I command two generals? What's more, they have served in the army for more than 20 years." Years, an excellent commander with rich combat and command experience."

"Although it is still a gossip at the moment." Cui Kefu said seriously: "But I think, among the three division commanders, you are the best candidate for the army commander."