The commendation application form of the 98th Guards Division appeared on the desktop of the headquarters in less than an hour. To show that he attached great importance to the matter, Chuvashov personally sent it.
Sokov took the application form from Chuvashov's hand, glanced at it casually, and handed it to Lunev. There are specialties in the art, and Lunev has always been responsible for awarding medals or awards to commanders and combatants.
Even if Sokov thought about asking, he didn't know how to start, so he simply let the other party do what he wanted.
"Colonel Chuvashov," Sokov asked curiously after asking Chuvashov to sit down: "It's enough to just send a communications soldier to deliver this kind of application form. Why do you need to go there in person?"
"Comrade Commander, I was worried that the road was unsafe and the correspondent might make mistakes, so I sent it here in person."
When Sokov heard this, he couldn't help but frowned and said to himself that the city of Kremenchug is your division's defense area, and your division headquarters is less than two blocks away from me. Are you unsafe for me on the road?
The defenders in the City of Love are just decorations, can't they even guarantee the safety along the two blocks?
Seeing Sokov's serious expression, Chuvashov realized that his far-fetched excuse had been seen through by the other party. He could only laugh twice and then explained: "Comrade Commander, I just returned to the headquarters when I heard that Uzako
Lieutenant Colonel Husband said that in order to commend the achievements of the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion, you will not only award medals to the combatants, but also promote their ranks. I am here just to verify the accuracy of this news."
"Yes, Comrade Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov is right, we did inform you like this." When Chuvashov moved his mouth and seemed to want to say something, Sokov added:
"But in addition to awards and promotions, we have other considerations for the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion."
"What considerations?"
"I plan to expand them into a women's anti-aircraft artillery regiment so that they can have stronger strength to ensure the air defense work in the defense zone."
"Great, this is really great." When Chuvasov learned that the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion was going to be expanded into a regiment, he couldn't help but beam with joy and said repeatedly: "For us, this is really great news.
"
"Colonel Chuvashov," Samyko came over from the side and stared at Chuvashov with strange eyes and asked, "The women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion has been expanded into a regiment. What are you happy about?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Chuvashov did not understand the meaning of Samyko's words, and explained to him seriously: "Have you forgotten that the Women's Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion belongs to the 239th Guards Artillery Regiment of our division?
group."
"The reason why the Women's Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion is affiliated with the 239th Guards Artillery Regiment is simply because when the troops were reorganized, your division did not have enough artillery." Samyko considered this matter and had to tell Chuvasov sooner or later. Since he
Now here, I simply told him the headquarters' next plan: "Now that we want to expand them into a regiment, they will naturally be transferred from your division and reassigned to the direct command of the headquarters."
The smile on Chuvashov's face gradually disappeared, and he soon asked Samyko with a grimace: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is everything you said true? You can't joke about this kind of thing."
"The Chief of Staff is not joking, this is all true." Sokov said: "The reason why the enemy planes were able to break into the city so smoothly today is that the air defense units along the way did not perform their duties well. In order to avoid similar incidents
When the situation arises, I think the headquarters should have an anti-aircraft artillery unit under direct command, and Major Lida's women's anti-aircraft artillery regiment is undoubtedly the best candidate."
"It's not Major Lida, it's Captain..."
Samyko interrupted Chuvashov, who was about to correct Sokov, and explained to him: "We have already greeted Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov. While conferring medals on the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion, we will also
Promote them to military ranks. Captain Lida will soon become Major Lida. Comrade Commander, there should be no problem in calling her that in advance."
"No, no." Chuvasov did not dare to refute, so he could only agree: "Of course you can call her Major Lida."
"Comrade Commander," Lunev, after reviewing the application form, raised his head and said to Sokov: "My work is done, we can go to the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion."
Anyway, all kinds of medals had been prepared, so Sokov said readily: "Okay, let's set off now."
Seeing Chuvashov sitting at the table in a daze, Sokov naturally would not leave him behind: "Comrade Colonel, you can also come with us. In any case, the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion is still under the organization of your division.
within."
Now that Sokov called his name, Chuvashov could only stand up helplessly, bite the bullet and reply: "Okay, Comrade Commander, I will go to the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion with you."
Ten minutes later, Sokov and others arrived at the location of the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion.
Lida and Ulanova, who had already received the news, along with the entire battalion commanders and fighters, lined up to welcome Sokov and his party. Also with them were deputy division commander Lieutenant Colonel Dobrushin and the chief of staff.
Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov.
After the jeep Sokov was riding in stabilized, Dobrushin and Uzakov quickly stepped forward to help Sokov open the door. But the front door of the jeep opened, and the division commander Chuvashov got out of the car and got there first.
He went to the rear door and opened it. He blocked the upper part of the door with one hand to prevent Sokov from hitting his head.
Dobrushin and Uzhakov were both surprised to see their division commander being so attentive. However, their first task was to greet Sokov, and they had no time to think about other things. They waited until Sokov stood up straight.
After that, the two men raised their hands in salute and said in unison: "Comrade Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Dobrushin, Deputy Commander of the 98th Guards Division (Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov) reports to you, welcome to the Women's Anti-aircraft Artillery
Come to camp."
After Sokov and Lunev shook hands with the two, Lida and Ulanova also came over. They also imitated the behavior of the two division chiefs, raised their hands and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander,
, Captain Lida (instructor Captain Ulanova), commander of the Women’s Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion, reports to you that on behalf of all the commanders and combatants, we would like to extend our welcome to you and welcome you to inspect the anti-aircraft artillery battalion.”
Looking at the two young female commanders in front of him, Sokov deliberately said with a serious face: "It's not Captain Lida, but Major Lida. From now on, you are not the battalion commander, but the battalion commander."
Commander. And you, Captain Ulanova, from now on, you are the political commissar of the Women's Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment. You all report to me again!"
When they heard that their military rank had been promoted to one level and their positions had also been promoted, Lida and Ulanova flushed with excitement. They quickly re-reported their military ranks and positions in accordance with Sokov's request.
After Sokov waited for Lida and Ulanova to finish reporting, he turned to Lunev and said: "Comrade Military Commissar, start announcing orders."
Runev nodded, took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket, took two steps forward, and then began to announce the order of medals and promotions to the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion.
The female soldiers in the queue cheered immediately when they learned that not only would they receive medals, but their military ranks would also be promoted.
Regarding the reaction of the female soldiers, Sokov just watched with a smile and had no intention of stopping them. After finally regaining calm in the queue, Sokov officially announced: "Now the awarding of medals will begin.
"
Since there were no safety pins in this era, to wear a medal, you had to use an awl to drill two holes in your clothes, and then fix the medal on your clothes. If only a few or even a dozen commanders and fighters received medals today, Sokov would definitely arrange it
Specialized personnel helped them wear the medals. However, there were hundreds of people to be awarded this time. Considering that the workload of the project was too large and Sokov could not stay here for a long time, a compromise was adopted to put the medals directly on them.
Issue it to each commander and combatant and let them wear it themselves.
Lunev brought more than 20 political workers over this time. With an order, these political workers carrying large backpacks began to distribute medals to the female soldiers. In less than five minutes, hundreds of them
The medal's red silk box was distributed to each female soldier.
Seeing that the awarding of honors was completed, Lida finally had time to ask Sokov her question: "Comrade Commander, you just said that I am the regiment leader and Ulanova is the regiment political commissar. I want to ask you,
Which unit do you plan to transfer us to?"
"Since you are anti-aircraft artillery, it is obviously inappropriate for you to serve as infantry commanders." Sokov explained to Lida and Ulanova: "So I plan to expand the women's anti-aircraft artillery regiment into a regiment.
At the same time, it was reassigned to the direct command of the headquarters."
After listening to Sokov's explanation, Lida and Ulanova looked at each other, and both saw surprise in each other's eyes. Then Lida asked: "Comrade Commander, I don't know where you plan to give us this
Replenish the necessary troops?"
"I don't have any soldiers, so you have to rely on yourselves for everything." Sokov said to Lida: "From now on, you can start recruiting new soldiers. Remember, only female soldiers are recruited, and you can recruit as many as you can."
, I hope you can fully staff the newly expanded troops in a short period of time."
"Comrade Commander, how much time can you give me?" Lida asked tentatively.
Sokov thought for a while, then stretched out three fingers: "Three days, I will give you three days at most."
"Ah, there are only three days." Lida said with some surprise: "I'm afraid I won't be able to make up for the two additional battalions in such a short period of time."
"I also want to give you a little longer, but I can't, Major Lida." Sokov explained to Lida with a wry smile: "In three days at most, we will hand over Klementchug to friendly forces. Wait.
This has become a defense zone for friendly forces. It may not be appropriate for us to recruit troops again. In this case, you will have to wait at least until the main force takes over other big cities before you have the opportunity to recruit troops. Therefore, you must seize the only three days.
Use time to recruit as many new soldiers as possible to enrich your anti-aircraft artillery regiment."
Sokov's words gave Lida a sense of urgency. If she could not recruit enough people within three days, she would have to wait until the troops captured a new city before they would have a chance to replenish them. But from now on
Judging from the current situation, the German army is constantly attacking the landing site. It is a question whether it can hold the landing site, let alone seize new cities.
"Comrade Commander," Ulanova, who had remained silent, finally found an opportunity to speak: "Recruiting new soldiers is important, but we don't have enough air defense weapons, so it will be useless no matter how many new soldiers we recruit."
Ulanova's words reminded Lida, and she nodded and agreed: "Yes, Comrade Commander. If there are not enough air defense weapons, our anti-aircraft artillery regiment, no matter how many people it has, can only be equivalent to the current one at best."
Establishment.”
"You two don't have to worry about air defense weapons." Sokov said with a smile: "The superiors have promised to provide us with 24 85mm anti-aircraft guns and 36 14.5mm quadruple anti-aircraft machine guns in the near future.
How about it, so many weapons are enough to equip your entire regiment, right?"
"That's enough, that's enough." After hearing the data reported by Sokov, Lida nodded happily: "With so many anti-aircraft weapons, let alone replenishing the whole regiment, even forming another regiment is enough."
Although Sokov rejected Sameko's proposal to form two anti-aircraft artillery regiments when he was at the headquarters, his mind changed at this time. If he really had two women's anti-aircraft artillery regiments,
This means that the air defense force has been greatly improved. Thinking of this, he tentatively asked Lida: "What do you think of forming two women's anti-aircraft artillery regiments?"
Faced with Sokov's inquiry, Lida hesitated for a few seconds, and then replied cautiously: "Comrade Commander, it is entirely up to you to establish several women's anti-aircraft artillery regiments. To form a strong anti-aircraft firepower, the anti-aircraft artillery force
Naturally, the more the better, I'm just worried that under the current circumstances, it may be difficult to recruit enough soldiers."
"There's no rush, I'm just asking casually." Sokov didn't expect to get a satisfactory answer from Lida. He said with a smile: "I think if we want to replenish troops on a large scale, we need to form two or more soldiers."
More women's anti-aircraft artillery regiments require us to seize more big cities on the right bank of the Dnieper River to achieve this."
Uzakov learned from Chuvashov that Sokov planned to transfer the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion to the direct jurisdiction of the group army, so he came over and asked: "Comrade Commander, I heard that you plan to transfer the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion to the group army."
Walk?"
"Yes, I do have this plan." Sokov tilted his head and glanced at Chuvashov, who was talking to Lunev in the distance, and added: "Your division commander should be very aware of this matter."
"This news was told to me by the division commander." Uzakov asked anxiously: "If the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion is transferred, how will the air defense problem of our division be solved?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov, your division will be mobilized soon. The chance of being attacked by enemy aircraft there is very small, so it doesn't matter whether there are air defense troops or not." After Sokov said this, he discovered that Uzakov
The husband's face turned livid, so he comforted him and said: "If you feel that you must retain a certain amount of air defense power, you can set up another anti-aircraft artillery company or even an anti-aircraft artillery battalion in the division."
Uzakov stared at Sokov for a long time, and finally nodded slowly and said: "It seems that this is the only way. I wonder if the superiors can provide us with some air defense weapons?"
Sokov thought about the air defense weapons he was about to receive from the Front Army Headquarters. Lida's women's anti-aircraft artillery regiment would not be able to use them all. Even if some were given to the 98th Guards Division, it would be insignificant. He nodded and replied cheerfully: "No.
Question, after the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion leaves, I will replenish some of your anti-aircraft weapons as soon as possible."