"Commander, what should we do?" Lunev asked Sokov with a wry smile: "The old ones, the young ones, let alone a few days of training, even a few months of training, it will be difficult to form any combat effectiveness.
No, how about we send these new soldiers back and let our superiors replenish us with new soldiers?"
"Comrade Military Commissar, if we send back these new recruits, our superiors will not replenish our troops." Sokov knew very well that today's Zhukov is also a clever woman who cannot make a meal without rice, and soldiers are needed everywhere to replenish the troops.
Where can the superiors find so many soldiers? To give them these old, weak and remnant soldiers is already an act 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 finished his words, an old man standing relatively close spoke: "Even though I am old, I have also been on the battlefield."
When Sokov heard the old man say that he had been on the battlefield, he took two steps forward and asked curiously: "Old man, where have you fought before?"
“Kyiv!”
Kiev?! When Sokov heard this familiar place name, he immediately thought of a large-scale siege there two years ago, the largest siege in history. The Soviet Southwest Front's 5th, 21st, and 4th
37. Most of the 26th Group Army, part of the 40th and 38th Group Armies were annihilated, and 650,000 people were captured. Even the front commander, military commissar, and chief of staff were all killed, as well as many group army-level commanders.
Captured by German troops.
Sokov sighed softly and said to the old man: "Old man, in the Kiev defense war in the past two years, you participated as a militia, right? You are lucky to have escaped 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."
Samyko muttered: "What kind of defense of Kiev was there more than 20 years ago?"
"Wait a minute, Comrade Chief of Staff." Luniev interrupted Samyko and asked the old man tentatively: "Old man, you mean that you participated in the fight against the Polish White Army in Kiev more than 20 years ago.
defense?"
"Yes!" the old man said proudly: "My unit is under the command of General Tukhachevsky. After we crushed the enemy's attack outside Kiev, we immediately launched a counterattack. The troops even reached the gates of Warsaw. If
If I hadn’t been sent to the rear because I was wounded, I might have been able to follow my comrades into Warsaw.”
When the old man was telling the story of the battlefield that year, Sokov and others did not interrupt him. Due to the need of propaganda, this history of the Soviet army's failure could not be seen in the school history books at all, and could only be heard.
Only through the narration of those who have experienced it can we have a vague understanding of that period of history.
After the old man finished speaking, Sokov asked: "Old man, what is your name?"
"Comrade General," the old man straightened his body, raised his chin slightly, and replied loudly: "My name is Serelkov, and I once served as a soldier in Marshal Tukhachevsky's army."
"What was your rank at that time?"
"Where are the military ranks?" Serelkov shrugged, spread his hands, and said: "Those who wear epaulettes are all officers of the White Army. Our army does not have any military ranks, only positions. I am in the platoon
He holds a long position and has more than fifty brothers under him."
Sokov did not expect to find a veteran with combat experience among these old and weak soldiers. This was an unexpected surprise. He coughed lightly, and then said: "Comrade Serelkov, since you have been
Platoon leader, then I will appoint you to the position of platoon leader now. As for the military rank, it is temporarily set as second lieutenant. If you have established military exploits in the future, I will personally promote your military rank and position."
"Comrade General," Serelkov may have never dreamed that he was directly promoted to second lieutenant and assumed the position of platoon leader after just recounting his previous experience. After he raised his hand to salute Sokov to express his gratitude, he hesitated.
He asked: "I still don't know who you are?"
"Second Lieutenant Serelkov," Samyko quickly introduced Sokov's identity to the other party: "This is the commander of our group army, General Sokov."
"So you are General Sokov." Serelkov's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard what Samyko said: "When I was still working in the rear, I heard people mention you more than once."
Sokov was curious about how the people in the rear talked about him, so he asked tentatively: "How did they talk about me?"
"They say that as long as your troops hold on, the Germans, no matter how powerful their troops and equipment are, will not be able to break through your defenses; and wherever you want to attack, even if they are defended by the most elite German troops,
It can’t stop your attack at all.”
"Yes, Comrade Commander." A young boy next to him also said loudly: "I heard from the teacher in school that not only did you personally capture Paulus, but you also annihilated the most elite Imperial Division and Skeleton Division of the Germans.
, captured their division commander, and now the enemy will tremble in fear as soon as 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 the other person and asked: "What is your name and what did you do before joining the army?"
"Report to Comrade Commander," the young man replied: "My name is Lulik. Before joining the army, I was a sixth-grade student at Moscow No. 39 General School."
Sokov knew that schools in the Soviet Union were not divided into primary schools, junior high schools and high schools like those in China. There were only grades one to ten. Grades one to five were equivalent to elementary schools; grades six to eight were equivalent to junior high schools; and grades ninety were equivalent to junior high schools.
It's equivalent to high school. Lulik is a sixth grader, equivalent to a first-year junior high school student. For such a young child to be sent to the battlefield, it shows how scarce the Soviet soldiers are.
"Lulik just stay in your platoon," Sokov said helplessly: "You are his elder, you should pay more attention to protecting his safety in battles in the future..."
"Comrade Commander," before Sokov could finish his words, Lulik interrupted him and said with a stiff neck: "I don't need anyone's protection on the battlefield, I can protect myself."
Sokov said nothing more to him, just nodded, turned around and left with Samyko and Lunev. When he was about to reach the door of the headquarters, Sokov stopped and said to Samyko
: "Comrade Chief of Staff, send someone to find out who among those elderly people has participated in the battle."
Samek knew in his heart that Sokov was asking him to find those who participated in the war more than 20 years ago among the old people, and quickly replied: "Understood, I will arrange for 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, "It just so happened that 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 of these new recruits who have served as commanders, then we can fill the vacancies of grassroots commanders of the 182nd Division."
Not long after the three returned to the headquarters, the 182nd Division commander Colonel Khokhlov and the political commissar Colonel Shepilov both appeared in the room.
When Sokov stepped forward to shake hands with the two, he said with emotion: "Comrade colonels, you came very quickly."
"Comrade Commander," Shepilov replied with a smile: "The enemies from our defense area to the headquarters have been eliminated. The jeep we are riding in can get here as quickly as possible.
.”
Khokhlov was eager to know the purpose of Sokov calling him here, so as soon as Shepilov finished speaking, he asked directly: "Comrade Commander, I wonder why you called us here?"
Something?"
"What?!" Sokov asked in surprise after hearing Khokhlov's question: "Did my guard platoon leader, Lieutenant Samoilov, not clearly explain the purpose of calling you here when he called you?
?"
"No." The two colonels shook their heads in unison and replied, "The lieutenant only told us that we had an important mission and asked us to come over immediately."
"Comrade Commander, please give the order." Khokhlov took a step forward and said: "Our division has made all preparations for combat and can engage in new battles at any time."
"Comrade Colonel, you are mistaken. I did not call you here to assign you any combat missions." Seeing that Khokhlov had misunderstood his intentions, Sokov quickly explained: "The superiors have given us additional information.
We have recruited a group of new soldiers, approximately more than 2,000 people. After research and discussion among the group army leaders, we decided to add all these new soldiers to your division."
When Khokhlov learned that Sokov would add 2,000 new soldiers to him, he was so happy that he could not close his mouth. After he raised his hand and saluted Sokov, he said repeatedly: "Thank you, Comrade Commander, thank you so much."
After this period of fighting, our division has been severely reduced in strength. You can replenish us with so many troops at once. Although it cannot be compared with the full strength, the strength can be restored to at least half of its previous strength."
"Comrade Colonel, don't be blindly optimistic." Seeing that Khokhlov was getting carried away, Samyko poured cold water on him: "We just went to see the batch of new recruits. They were either old men in their fifties or sixties, or ten years old.
Five or six-year-old children, adding such soldiers to your division will not only fail to improve your combat effectiveness in the short term. On the contrary, it will dilute your existing combat effectiveness."
Khokhlov was dumbfounded when he heard what Samyko said. He looked at Sokov, then at Samyko, and finally said with a wry smile: "Commander, Chief of Staff, don't joke with me.
Huh? If old people and children are added to the army, what kind of war can they fight? Isn’t this just asking them to die?”
"Comrade Colonel, what the Chief of Staff said is true." Sokov said helplessly: "The new recruits given to us by our superiors are indeed composed of old people and children."
Khokhlov thought for a long time, and finally asked with difficulty: "Then can we do without these soldiers?"
"Comrade Colonel, I think it is necessary to remind you." Sameko said again: "Although the newly added soldiers are either old people or children, these are the troops that the superiors have put together after their best efforts. 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 it."
Even though Khokhlov didn’t want these old and weak soldiers, when he heard Samyko said that he planned to assign these new soldiers to other troops, he suddenly panicked: "Chief of Staff, Chief of Staff, please stop talking about this.
I want all the new recruits, all at the head office?"
Seeing Khokhlov's frustrated look, Sokov stepped forward and patted him gently on the shoulder, comforting him and saying: "Comrade Colonel, don't be so discouraged. These newly added 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 Army more than 20 years ago. I believe that among the newly added soldiers, such an old man with rich combat experience
, there are quite a few. I have arranged for the chief of staff to send someone to verify, and I believe it will not take long before we can get a more satisfactory answer."
Sameko echoed: "Yes, yes, Comrade Colonel, I have sent people to check. I believe it will not take long to find out how many veterans have participated in the battle among this newly added group of soldiers."
Although Sokov and Samyko were comforting themselves, Khokhlov always felt disappointed in his heart. After all, when such soldiers were added to the army, the number of people increased, but the combat effectiveness was weakened. What do you think about this matter?
, it’s all a loss-making business. He asked reluctantly: “Comrade Commander, is there really no way to provide us with veterans with rich combat experience?”
Seeing Khokhlov's anxious look, Sokov smiled lightly and said, "In fact, it is not difficult to replenish combat-effective soldiers."
"Oh, Comrade Commander, do you have any good ideas?" Khokhlov said to Sokov anxiously: "Hurry up and 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 imprisoned in prisoner-of-war camps by the German army." Sokov said to everyone: "Do you all know this?"
"I know!" Everyone replied at the same time in a low mood.
Sokov had already known this kind of reaction from everyone. Millions of officers and soldiers were captured. This was originally a shameful thing, so naturally they were unwilling to mention it. Normally, it does not mean that everyone did not mention this matter.
Everyone doesn't know.
Seeing that everyone knew what he wanted to express, Sokov continued: "Most of these commanders and fighters detained in prisoner-of-war camps have rich combat experience and a certain level of technical and tactical skills. As long as they are supplemented
After joining the army, I believe they will soon be able to realize their potential and improve the combat effectiveness of the army."
"Use those rescued prisoners of war to replenish the troops?" Sokov's words scared Khokhlov into a cold sweat: "Comrade Commander, this won't make a mistake, right?"
"The victor should not be blamed." Sokov replied confidently: "As long as we can win, as for where we got the soldiers, I don't think our superiors will investigate."
When Samyko heard this, he understood Sokov's intention and quickly helped: "Comrade Colonel, let alone mentioning the distance, many of the commanders brought by the commander when he took office came from prisoner of war camps.
These comrades suffered so much at the hands of the Germans in the prisoner-of-war camps, and they have a deep-seated hatred for the enemy. Once they are allowed to take up arms again and go to the battlefield, the combat effectiveness they will unleash will be astonishing."