After handing over the defense of Bile Town to the 379th Division, Sokov took all his troops and retreated back to his original defense area.
When Sidolin saw Sokov and Bere back, he reported a bad news to the two: "Two division commanders, I just received a war report forwarded by my superiors. Our army was surrounded by an army in the Kurgan area of ​​Matviev. Under the powerful offensive of the German army, the entire army was destroyed. The defense on the Mius River has been raided by the German army and the Sixth Army in the encirclement will become their next target of attack."
"Misha, what should we do next?" Berey learned that an army was completely wiped out by the German army, and he couldn't help but worry about the future of the Sixth Army: "If the Sixth Army is defeated by the enemy again, then the Lugansk we are defending will be exposed to the enemy. At that time, we have to fight against enemies with superior forces and equipment."
"It is probably not possible for the German army to annihilate the Sixth Army in one or two days," Sokov said to Sidolin and Bere: "That is, we still have enough time to adjust the defense deployment."
"Our division has only more than 16,000 people, plus a tank brigade." Sidorin reminded Sokov: "It seems that there are quite a lot of troops, but in such a vast area, 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, a hearty laughter came from the door, and then a familiar voice sounded: "A division guards such a big city, but if there were two more divisions, the situation would probably be much better."
Sokov turned his head and saw that Major General Melkulov, the commander of the 67th Guards Division, and his political commissar Colonel Sheiko, were walking in from outside the door. He hurriedly went up to him and greeted the other party, "Hello, Major General Melkulov, Colonel Sheiko, what wind has blown you here?"
"Comrade Commander," Merkulov walked to Sokov, saluted him first, and then reported respectfully: "I have received an order from the Front Command that from now on, my 67th Guard Division will be assigned to your Sokov combat cluster command again."
"What, you re-allocate the Sokov combat cluster?" Sokov was very surprised when he heard the news. He turned his head and asked Cidolin: "Chief of Staff, have you received a notice from the Front Command?"
"No." Cidolin replied with a blank look on his face: "I have not received any notice from the Front Command during this period."
"Comrade Commander, don't worry, I think the official order from the Front Command will probably come down soon." Major General Merkulov said with a smile: "As soon as the political commissar and I received the order, we rushed over immediately."
"Comrade General, your troops are all here?" Sokov was overjoyed to learn that his superiors had sent him at least one division of troops: "Where are they all?"
"I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, the only ones that can report to you at present are me, the political commissar, and a guard platoon that protects us. My troops are still on the march." Seeing Sokov's expression of regret, he added: "At the latest morning, the 196th Guards Regiment will arrive; and the remaining 199th and 201st Regiments, as well as the 138th Guards Artillery Regiment, will also arrive in Lugansk one after another."
"Comrade General," although Merkulov was his subordinate, the other party's rank was higher than himself. Therefore, when Sokov called the other party, he directly called his rank: "I want to ask, is there any other troops in the troops coming to Lugansk this time besides your division?"
"Of course, in addition to our division, there are Major General Makarenko's 321st Infantry Division and Colonel Sivakov's 71st Guard Division. There are also two tank brigades, four artillery regiments and two rocket artillery battalions, and they will arrive in Lugansk one after another."
Sokov, who was originally uneasy about the prospects, learned that there were so many troops and would arrive in Lugansk one after another, and hope suddenly ignited in his heart. When the defender had only one division, he could only stay in the city to fight the possible attacks of the German army; when the defender had two divisions, he could use one division to defend and another division to attack. Now there are four infantry divisions, three tank brigades, four artillery regiments and two rocket artillery battalions, Sokov was fully confident that he would form an absolute advantage in the situation and give the rampant German army a head-on attack.
But how many troops could arrive in Lugansk? Sokov could not believe it just because of Merkulov's one-sided words. He quickly ordered the communications troops to connect with Cui Kov's command center. He wanted to ask what was going on.
After receiving the call, Cui Kefu was still confused: "I didn't hear about the establishment of any new combat clusters, but just informed me that the 62nd Army would go to Moscow in early March and be incorporated into the base camp reserve team and start reorganization."
"Ah, the 62nd Army is going to be transferred to Moscow?" Sokov was stunned by the news that Cuikov said. He asked tentatively: "Then will our division hand over the defense to friendly forces and also rush to Moscow as soon as possible?"
"It shouldn't be necessary." Cui Kefu said in an uncertain tone: "There is no number of your division in the defense adjustment order I just received. I don't know if Commander Rokosovsky has other arrangements for you. I think you should call him personally and figure out what's going on."
"Strange, it's really strange." Sokov put down the phone and said to the people sitting at the table: "The 62nd Army will be transferred to Moscow soon, but there is no number of our division in the list of troops to be transferred."
"What, there is no number for our division?" Bie Lei said in surprise: "Does our division be about to leave the 62nd Army?"
"I think this is possible." Merkulov has experienced similar things several times and has very rich experience: "You see, isn't my division just assigned to this army and then to another army? In short, in other words, the superiors will readjust the organization of the troops according to the situation on the battlefield."
"I think it's better to call Commander Rokosovsky and ask what's going on." Seeing that everyone was analyzing this inconspicuous thing based on their own understanding, Sidorin suggested to Sokov: "Maybe accurate information can only be obtained from him."
Before Sokov could call, Malining called first: "Col. Sokov, on behalf of the Front Command, I will notify you two things: First, your division has been transferred from the 62nd Army; Second, the Front Command decided to rebuild the Sokov combat cluster, which will be composed of the 41st Guards Division, the 67th Guards, the 71st and 75th Guards, plus three tank brigades, an artillery division and two rocket artillery battalions, and you will serve as the commander; the Chief of Staff, former Deputy Chief of Staff of the 62nd Army, Colonel Witkov."
Chapter completed!