"Comrade Commander," Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov, the newly appointed chief of staff of the division, waited for the division commander to finish speaking, then took a step forward and said with some embarrassment: "There is an artillery regiment in the Guards Division, but now
The combined artillery of the three brigades can only manage two companies. I wonder if the headquarters can give us some additional artillery?"
"Artillery?!" After hearing Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov's request, Samyko was in a dilemma: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, don't you know that the artillery under the command of the Army Group Headquarters now only has two artillery divisions?
What? Moreover, the troops may be transferred away by their superiors at any time. Where can we replenish your artillery?"
"Comrade Commander, Comrade Chief of Staff." Uzakov's request reminded Chuvashov. After his eyes swept back and forth between Sokov and Samyko several times, he politely proposed.
My own request: "The Guards Artillery Regiment only has two mortar companies that are not fully staffed. This is too shabby. I implore you to find a way to help us supplement our troops."
Just when Samyko was about to speak, Sokov raised his hand to stop him. Sokov remembered that Antonov personally said that after the Guards Division was established, his superiors would not replenish his troops and commanders.
He had to find a way to supplement it himself. Looking at Chuvashov's expectant eyes, Sokov thought for a moment, and then made a difficult decision.
"Comrade Colonel," Sokov said to Chuvashov: "I do have an artillery unit in my hands, which can be incorporated into the organization of your division and handed over to your command..."
Chuvashov did not expect that Sokov would agree to his request so readily. He quickly raised his hand in salute and said gratefully: "Comrade Commander, thank you so much. Don't worry, I will definitely live up to your expectations.
In the following battles, we will establish new meritorious deeds."
When Samyko heard Sokov said that an artillery unit would be incorporated into the 98th Guards Division, he couldn't help but be a little anxious: "Comrade Commander, in the troops belonging to the group army, apart from the 1st Artillery Division and the 2nd Artillery Division, there are no other
Where are the other artillery units?"
"Have you forgotten the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion?" Sokov said to Samyko with a side face: "Incorporate them into Chuvashov's Guards Division to temporarily solve the problem of no troops in the Guards Division's artillery regiment.
"
Hearing that Sokov said that the artillery that he wanted to integrate into his army was actually a women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion, the muscles on Chuvashov's face twitched violently for a few times, and then he said in embarrassment: "Comrade Commander, the artillery we want,
What you gave us was an anti-aircraft artillery unit, and it was a women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion. Otherwise, I'd better not give it up..."
Sokov didn't wait for Chuvashov to finish speaking, and then said seriously: "Comrade Colonel, you must not look down on women. The characteristics of women are those who have been on the battlefield. Their performance is no worse than that of male soldiers. The women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion
The battalion commander, Captain Lida, and the instructor, Captain Ulanova, have all fought alongside me. I know very well how capable they are. If I hadn’t seen you make a decisive decision during the battle to liberate Belgorod,
After all, why don't I incorporate them into your army?"
After saying these words, Sokov turned to Samyko and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, call the Women's Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion immediately and order the battalion commander, Captain Lida, and the instructor, Captain Ulanova, to report to me."
Ten minutes later, Lida and Ulanova walked into the headquarters.
When Sokov saw Lida's bandaged right arm hanging on her chest, he couldn't help being shocked. He quickly stepped forward and asked, "Lida, what's going on? Why are you injured?"
"Comrade Commander," the pale-faced Lida replied with a forced smile: "When enemy planes bombed the headquarters during the day, my air defense position also became the focus of the enemy planes' attack. During the battle, although we succeeded
It shot down one enemy plane and damaged two more, but it cost a lot of casualties. 27 girls were sacrificed, 35 people were injured, and two anti-aircraft machine guns and five 37mm twin anti-aircraft guns were blown up.
.”
When Lida first spoke, she tried her best to control her emotions, but as she spoke, her eyes turned red and tears couldn't help but burst out.
Seeing Lida crying, Sokov didn't know how to comfort her for a moment. He could only raise his hand and pat her shoulder gently twice, and then said: "Lida, your performance during the daytime air defense operations was outstanding."
You must be very brave. I will find a way to replenish you with troops and anti-aircraft weapons as soon as possible."
Lida wiped her tears with her uninjured left hand and responded with a choked voice.
"Comrade Commander," Ulanova stepped forward and asked tentatively: "Our weapons suffered a lot of losses in the day's battle. Although we have repaired them ourselves, many of them are still beyond repair. I wonder if you can
Will you send someone to help us repair it?"
"Comrade Captain, don't worry." Sameko responded: "I will say hello to the director of the logistics department and ask them to send specialized maintenance personnel to help you repair the weapons that were damaged in the battle."
"Captain Lida, Captain Ulanova." Sokov waited for Samyko to finish speaking, and then began to introduce Chuvasov and others to Lida and the others: "Let me introduce to you, this is the new appointee.
The commander of the 98th Guards Division, Colonel Chuvasov, the deputy division commander, Lieutenant Colonel Dobrushin, and the chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov.
The three division leaders are Captain Lida, the commander of the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion, and Captain Ulanova, the instructor. Although they are young, they have rich combat experience."
After the two parties had finished the ceremony, Sokov continued to say to Lida and Ulanova: "I called you here today to inform you in person that from now on, your women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion will be officially incorporated into the Guards Division.
98th Division 239th Artillery Regiment."
Sokov's words surprised Lida and Ulanova. After the two looked at each other, Lida raised her own question to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, we are just anti-aircraft artillery, how can we be integrated into the army?"
Where is the artillery regiment?”
"Captain Lida, I know that incorporating your anti-aircraft artillery into the artillery regiment sounds like a very ridiculous thing." Sokov shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said helplessly: "But Chuva
Colonel Schauf's artillery regiment currently only has two under-staffed mortar companies, which is equivalent to an empty frame. I can only ask you to temporarily strengthen the troops. After all, you still have a lot of 37mm twin anti-aircraft guns. That thing
Whether it can hit the enemy's aircraft or deal with the enemy's firepower points, it is also a good weapon."
After Sokov's explanation, Lida immediately understood Sokov's intention and quickly straightened her body and replied: "I understand, Comrade Commander, I will resolutely obey your arrangement."
After Lida finished her statement, Sokov turned to Chuvashov and asked with a smile: "Comrade Colonel, you won't object to incorporating Captain Lida's women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion into your army, right?"
Before Lida and Ulanova appeared, Chuvashov had been thinking about how to reject Sokov's arrangement. But after the two female commanders appeared and reported the results of the day,
However, his thoughts took a 180-degree turn. The reason why he initially rejected the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion was not entirely because the other party was an air defense force. More importantly, he was worried that a women's army would become a burden to him on the battlefield.
At this moment, when Sokov asked him to express his position, he quickly replied: "Comrade Commander, I obey your arrangement!" After saying that, he took the initiative to extend his right hand to Lida and said with a smile, "Captain Lida, you are welcome.
join in."
Lida's right hand was injured and she couldn't shake hands with the other person with her right hand, so she stretched out her left hand, turned it around and grabbed the other person's arm, shook it gently twice, and took it as a handshake.
Seeing Lida shaking hands with him in such a strange way, Chuvashov realized that he had neglected to mention that the other party was injured, and quickly said apologetically: "Comrade Captain, I'm really sorry, I forgot that your right hand was injured." In order to make up for it.
It was his fault that he retracted his right hand and stretched out his left hand again to hold Lida's left hand.
"Comrade commanders, I have another good news to tell you." Sokov waited for the two to finish shaking hands and said with a smile: "To celebrate the victory of Belgorod and Orel on the Northern Front on the same day.
Liberation, the Supreme Command has decided to use a 120-gun salute and fire 12 cannons in Moscow's Red Square at 22:00 tonight to commemorate our great victory."
In real history, the salute was fired in Moscow's Red Square at 24:00 on August 5, but due to Sokov's appearance, both Orel and Belgorod were liberated one day earlier than before.
, so the time for the salute was correspondingly advanced by one day.
After Chuvashov left with his men, Samyko asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, what should we do next?"
"The troops of the Voronezh Front and the main force of the Steppe Front will enter Belgorod tomorrow one after another." Sokov said: "We have to notify the troops to prepare for the handover of defense. After the defense is handed over to friendly forces, the troops of the group army will
Move south, choose a suitable area to station outside the city, and wait for the next order from your superiors."
Samyko hummed, and then asked: "Comrade Commander, when do you think the superiors will launch an attack on Kharkov?"
"The German army has lost Belgorod and its morale is at a low stage. If it launches continuous attacks during this period, the results will be huge." Sokov said to Samyko: "I
It is estimated that our superiors will give us at most two days to launch a new round of attack on the enemies entrenched in Kharkov."
"From the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War to now, we have fought three times in Kharkov." Upon hearing about Kharkov, Samyko seemed unconfident again: "Including this time, it should be
This is the fourth time, and I don’t know if I can succeed.”
Sokov smiled: "Comrade Chief of Staff, why are you always worried about gains and losses? Didn't I tell you before that our army's fourth attack on Kharkov will definitely be successful?"
In order to reassure Samyko, Sokov said earnestly: "The defeats of the first three battles of Kharkov were all affected by various unfavorable factors. But if you look at the current situation, the Germans passed through Stalingrad
During the Defense War and the Battle of Kursk, most of their experienced veterans were consumed in the battle, and the new recruits added to the army caused the combat effectiveness of the entire army to be diluted. As for our army, after two years of fighting,
Both commanders and soldiers have been trained in the war, accumulated a lot of valuable combat experience, and their strength has also been strengthened. Under the ebb and flow, we gradually began to gain an advantage. In the following days, our army
Instead of simply conducting defensive operations, we can also choose to proactively attack the enemy at the right location and at the right time based on the actual situation."
Early the next morning, Klyuchenko's 69th Group Army entered Sokov's defense area. After receiving Klyuchenko's call, Sokov ordered his troops to hand over defense to friendly forces and headed to the south of the city to station.
.
At noon, a large number of enemy planes suddenly appeared in the sky, and they carried out air attacks on the moving troops.
As soon as Sokov received this information, he immediately yelled at Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately notify the moving troops and ask them to do a good job in air defense to reduce the losses of the troops."
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Sameko smiled bitterly and shook his head and said: "Comrade Commander, it's useless. The troops are in the process of being transferred and the radio stations are basically not turned on. We can't get in touch with them at all."
When Sokov heard what Samyko said, all his strength seemed to be drained out of his body. He fell weakly on his seat, staring at the map on the wall not far away in a daze, thinking painfully in his heart: "If the troops cannot be in time
We must conduct air defense on the ground to avoid indiscriminate bombing by enemy planes, which will inevitably cause heavy casualties. As a result, one or two troops will definitely be unable to participate in the next phase of the battle."
But after a moment, Sokov sat up straight, grabbed the high-frequency phone in front of him, dialed a number, and said inside: "Signal Corps, this is Sokov. Get me the front troops immediately.
Headquarters, look for General Konev."
In fact, even if Sokov had not made this call, Konev, who had learned that Belgorod had been bombed by the Germans, had already sent fighter planes to expel the German bombers to reduce the losses of ground troops.
After the enemy planes were driven away, Sokov finally got in touch with his troops. Fortunately, the commanders of each division were experienced. When they saw the enemy planes appearing in the sky and knew that the enemy was going to carry out retaliatory bombings, they promptly sent out air defenses.
Alert. Although the enemy's bombing was fierce, the losses caused to the troops were very small.
Just when Sokov breathed a sigh of relief after reading the reports from each division, Samyko came over with a frown. He handed a telegram in his hand to Sokov and said solemnly: "Commander
Comrade Communist, please take a look at this telegram from friendly forces."
Sokov took the telegram and only glanced at it, then immediately jumped up from his seat. Shaking the telegram in his hand, he asked Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, where did this telegram come from?"
?”
"It was sent by the Voronezh Front Army." Samyko said with a wry smile: "The deputy commander of the Front Army, General Apanashenko, was unfortunately killed due to being bombed by enemy planes on the way to inspect the troops. This news, I
It has been fitted through special channels and it is completely true.”