"Comrade General," Chuklico said solemnly: "I have been with the 37th Tank Brigade since its establishment. From the initial deputy company commander to the current brigade commander, I have already had a deep understanding of this unit.
Very deep feelings. I would rather be demoted by you than stay in the army."
"Oh, you would rather be demoted and stay in the army?"
"Yes, Comrade General." Chukliko was afraid that his request would be rejected by Sokov, so he volunteered: "I am very familiar with everything about the tank brigade. If I are allowed to stay, I can assist the new brigade commander.
Do a good job."
"Okay." Since Chukliko has lowered his stance so low, it would be a bit unkind for Sokov to refuse others, so he nodded and agreed to the other party's request: "Since you want to stay here so much,
Detachment of troops, then stay and serve as deputy brigade commander."
Sokov called Major Bunch who was standing aside and introduced to Chukliko: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, let me introduce to you. This is Major Bunch. From now on, he is the tank brigade.
Acting brigade commander, and you will serve as his deputy and assume the position of deputy brigade commander."
Seeing that his immediate boss was actually a major with a lower rank than him, Chuklik felt a lump in his throat, and he couldn't express the pain in his heart. However, if he wanted to stay in the tank brigade and accept the command of this major, it was already a certainty.
Chuklico had no choice but to raise his hand to salute Major Bunch, and said in an awkward tone: "Hello, comrade brigade commander, deputy brigade commander Lieutenant Colonel Chuklico is reporting to you. On behalf of all the brigade commanders and fighters, Chuklico
Welcome to work in the 37th Tank Brigade."
"What about you, Colonel Atakuz?" After Sokov took care of the tank brigade, he looked at Colonel Atakuz who was standing not far away and asked: "Are you planning to stay and become the deputy division commander?
Assist Colonel Weisbach in his work; or should I order someone to send you to the rear and go to a military court for review?"
"Comrade General," Atakuz's attitude became tough again after hearing the two choices Sokov gave him: "My unit is affiliated with the 5th Assault Army. If you want to remove me from my post, you must
With the consent of General Tsvetaev, commander of the group army, and General Vatutin, commander of the front army, we cannot withdraw just by saying you want to."
"Comrade Military Commissar," Sokov waited for the other party to finish speaking, then turned to ask Lunev who was sitting next to him: "Have you finished drafting the telegram to Marshal Zhukov?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, the draft has been completed." Lunev naturally understood the reason for Sokov's question and nodded: "Do I need to send it out immediately?"
"Is this easy to say? Comrade Military Commissioner, of course, send it out immediately." Sokov stared at Atakuz and said viciously: "I want to let the colonel see if I have the qualifications to remove him.
Position."
Runev called Samoilov and handed him the drafted telegram: "Comrade Lieutenant, go to the communications room next door immediately and send this telegram to Marshal Zhukov."
Samoilov agreed and walked out of the room with the telegram. Sokov looked at Atakuz standing in front of him and ordered the two soldiers who were supporting him: "First take Colonel Atakuz to the next door.
, we will decide how to punish him after receiving a reply from Marshal Zhukov."
Seeing that Chukliko also wanted to leave, Sokov stopped him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, just stay here. Maybe there will be tasks to be assigned to you later."
Sokov turned to Mikhailev again and asked: "Comrade Captain, have you sent any manpower to conduct reconnaissance in the vicinity?"
"Comrade Commander," Mikhailov heard Sokov's question and quickly replied: "Not long after my troops entered here, I sent a reconnaissance team in each of the four directions, southeast and northwest, to let them figure out the surrounding area.
Are there any enemies?"
"Do your reconnaissance teams carry radios?" Lunev asked curiously.
"No." Mikhailev looked at Lunev and replied: "Comrade Military Commissar, the troops under my command are only a battalion-level unit with only one radio station to communicate with superiors. How can it be equipped for each reconnaissance team?
Where’s the radio station?”
Sokov knew that what Mikhailev was talking about was true. In his own army, it was already a great thing for the radio station to be equipped with battalion-level units, but if he wanted the scouts sent by the battalion-level commander to
It was obviously impossible to carry a radio. Since none of the reconnaissance teams had radios, Sokov was worried that they would not be able to feed back the intelligence in time, and he couldn't help but feel a little anxious.
"Comrade Captain," Sokov looked at Mikhailev and asked: "If they discover the enemy's situation, how can they come back and report to you?"
"Each reconnaissance team, I have five soldiers." Mikhailev explained to Sokov: "Once they discover something, they will send one person back to report the situation, while the others continue to stay under surveillance."
"If they discover the enemy's situation and send someone back to report it, how long will it take?"
In response to Sokov's question, Mikhailov answered without hesitation: "Comrade Commander, I asked them to only go five or six kilometers forward. Such a short distance, even if the enemy is really discovered, the reconnaissance team will send back the people
It will take at most an hour to return to the Fisky collective farm."
"Have any reconnaissance teams reported back so far?"
"No, Comrade Commander." Captain Mikhailev said in a positive tone: "Not yet."
After Sokov walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back a few times, he felt a little tired, so he sat down next to Lunev. When he was about to chat with him, a soldier came over with two cups of coffee and put
On the table in front of the two of them, he said respectfully: "Comrade Commander, Comrade Military Commissar, please drink coffee."
Sokov picked up a cup of coffee, smelled the refreshing aroma of coffee in the cup, and asked casually: "Comrade Captain, where does this coffee come from?"
"Didn't Captain Mikhail report to you just now?" Before Mikhail could speak, Runev rushed to say: "He said that among the materials they seized, in addition to various alcoholic drinks, there were also cigarettes.
And cans, coffee must also be among the captured items. Am I right, Comrade Captain?" His last words were asked to Mikhailev.
"You are right, Comrade Military Commissar." Mikhailev replied affirmatively: "There is indeed a large amount of coffee among the supplies we captured."
Hearing Mikhailev mention the captured supplies again, Sokov couldn't help but ask: "Comrade Captain, in addition to these military supplies, are there any weapons and ammunition in the warehouse you occupied?"
Mikhailov was silent for a long time and then said: "According to the information we captured, there are a large number of German warehouses a few kilometers away, which contain weapons and equipment that can be used by the two armies for three months..."
"What, weapons and equipment that can be used by two armies for three months?" Sokov jumped up from his seat: "This is unlikely. If there really are so many supplies, the Germans will definitely send heavy troops to guard them.
This area is to prevent our army from approaching this area. But in the current situation, our army easily occupied the Feski collective farm without encountering any decent resistance from the German army. More importantly, the strength of our two troops
The commanders and soldiers were all drunk, but the Germans did not send any soldiers to harass her. This means that there were no enemies nearby."
"Comrade Commander, after we arrived here, we seized a diary of the quartermaster of the 3rd Armored Division." Mikhailev explained to Sokov: "After translating, we figured out that the Germans were giving up this place.
Before the establishment of a regional warehouse, each army was notified to transport what they needed.
The quartermaster's diary wrote: For a long time, every unit has complained about the shortage of vehicles whenever there is a transportation mission. But this time I heard that these military supplies might fall into the hands of the Russians, and I was notified.
However, the unit found a way to overcome all difficulties and organized a huge transportation team to transport military supplies.
Since each unit was notified, they were asked to take as much as they could and not leave any more supplies for the Russians. Therefore, many units deployed all their transportation tools and transported supplies to their respective defense areas around the clock. Because
Too many vehicles came, causing road congestion and even affecting the normal mobilization of combat troops..."
Sokov waited for Mikhailev's words to come to an end, then immediately interjected and asked: "Did the diary say how much supplies the enemy transported away in the past few days?"
"There is no specific data." Mikhailov shook his head and said: "But according to the contents of the diary, more than ten division-level transport vehicles have transported supplies to the Kef Combat Group. I estimate that at least two-thirds
The supplies have been delivered to the enemies facing our army."
"What about the remaining supplies?" Lunev asked nervously: "Were they destroyed by the Germans?"
"No, Comrade Military Commissar." Mikhailev looked at Lunev and replied: "At least the warehouses in Fisky Collective Farm are generally complete."
"Strange," Lunev said with some surprise after hearing Mikhailev's answer: "Why didn't the Germans blow up the warehouse and destroy the materials inside? Aren't they afraid that these materials will eventually fall into our army?
In your hands?”
"Comrade Military Commissar, I think I understand why the Germans did not destroy the warehouses and supplies."
"Comrade Commander," Luniev suddenly became excited when he heard Sokov said that he might know the answer: "Please tell me what is going on."
"Comrade Military Commissar, the reason why the enemy did not blow up the warehouse and destroy the supplies is because they were too confident." Seeing Lunev's eagerness to know the answer, Sokov did not beat around the bush and said straight to the point.
: "They thought that the Kharkov battle launched by our army this time would be like the previous three times. They thought it would end with our army's defeat and their victory, so they only moved most of the supplies and did not blow up the warehouse.
Lest they have to spend manpower and material resources to rebuild warehouses and hoard supplies when they come back here."
"Yes, Comrade Commander, the Germans did not blow up the warehouse and destroy the materials inside because they felt that they would come back sooner or later." Lunev said: "If it is true that before retreating, all the things will be destroyed.
If they are burned to the ground, then when they come back, they will have to spend energy rebuilding warehouses and hoarding a large amount of supplies to prepare for the next round of attack."
While Sokov and Runev were discussing matters in the German warehouse, Samoilov hurried in from outside, holding a telegram in his hand.
Looking at the telegram in Samoylov's hand, Sokov immediately realized that it might be Zhukov's call back, and quickly asked: "Is it a call back from Comrade Marshal?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander. This is a call back from Marshal Zhukov."
Sokov raised his chin at Samoilov and said: "Read it and listen!"
Samoilov responded, and then began to read the contents of the telegram: "From now on, the 300th Infantry Division will be separated from the organization of the 5th Assault Army and incorporated into the 27th Army; the 37th Tank Brigade will be separated from the organization of the 7th Tank Army.
Incorporated into the 27th Group Army. The positions of Colonel Atakuz, the former infantry division commander, and Lieutenant Colonel Chukliko, the tank brigade commander, were arranged by Major General Sokov, commander of the 27th Group Army.
Signed: Zhukov."
After listening to the telegram, Sokov said to Mikhailev: "Comrade Captain, send someone next door to invite Colonel Atakuz over and let him also listen to the contents of Marshal Zhukov's telegram."
Chukliko, who was sitting next to him, heard Sokov's instructions and couldn't help but secretly rejoice. Fortunately, he saw that the situation was not good and took the initiative to admit his mistake, so he could continue to stay in the tank brigade. As for Colonel Atakuz, he was too unhappy.
Understand the current situation and wait for his fate, which will definitely be sent to a military court.
When Atakuz was brought over, he still had a rebellious expression, but after he heard the full text of Zhukov's telegram, he was stunned.
"Colonel Atakuz," Sokov looked at Atakuz and repeated the question with a cold expression: "Are you going to stay as a deputy division commander and assist Colonel Weisbach?
Should I order you to be sent to the rear and go to a military court for review?"
Atakuz knew that his fate was now in Sokov's hands. He did not dare to be as domineering as before, but lowered his head and replied honestly: "Comrade General, no, it's Comrade Commander.
Comrade Commander, I am willing to stay in the 300th Division as the deputy division commander and assist Colonel Weisbach in all the work of the division."
Now that Atakuz has surrendered in public, Sokov, who is about to hire people, will naturally not kill them all. Instead, he said to him: "Comrade Colonel, it seems that you have made the right choice. I now declare to you: You
Now he is the new deputy commander of the 300th Infantry Division."
Atakuz said with a bitter look on his face: "Comrade Commander, don't worry, I will fully cooperate with the new division commander in the coming days."
At this point, the commanders of the two troops stationed in the Fesky collective farm have all become Sokov's people. In this way, the troops that caused Sokov a headache not long ago are led by the pig teammates who were holding them back.
Becoming a new support, they will also perform more important combat missions in the following battles.