The combat group was disbanded, and the 67th Guards, 23rd and 321st Infantry Divisions were all returned to their organic form, leaving only the 41st Guards Division and Colonel Bely's tank brigade.
Sokov discussed with Ivanov, Sidorin and others: "Deputy Division Commander, Chief of Staff, now that the Battle of Stalingrad has ended successfully, we may not have much time to rest before we will re-engage in a new battle, so we must hurry up It’s time to adjust the organization of the troops.”
"Adjust the establishment?" Ivanov asked curiously: "What kind of adjustment method?"
"Our division originally had four regiments," Sokov said: "I plan to cancel the downsizing of the regiment and organize all the soldiers into three other regiments."
"The commanders and fighters of the downsizing regiment are all combat backbones who have experienced hundreds of battles." After Sidorin understood Sokov's intention, he said to Ivanov: "Even if all the recruits given to us by our superiors are new recruits, we will have to enrich the various forces." With these combat backbones of the regiment, the troops can quickly form combat effectiveness."
"The original three Guards regiments have suffered heavy casualties among their commanders in recent battles, so they can be supplemented by the commanders of the downsized regiments." Ivanov waited for Sokov and Sidorin to finish talking, then said Expressing his own concerns: "Then, Lieutenant Colonel Belkin, the regiment leader, how should we arrange for him?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Belkin used to be the political commissar of the infantry brigade," Sokov said: "I think he should be sent to a certain regiment to serve as the regiment's political commissar."
"Well, since you have already considered where to place him, then do as you say." Ivanov replied: "It happened that the political commissar of the 124th Regiment was injured during the battle and withdrew from the battle. I think it is Let Comrade Belkin take his place."
"Comrade Commander," Anisimov, who had no sense of presence, asked Sokov curiously after the three of them had discussed the organizational adjustment: "I would like to ask, where can we possibly go next?"
"Needless to say, it's naturally heading west." Sokov pointed at the map and said to everyone: "Go and teach Manstein's troops a lesson."
"I guess Manstein will have a hard time like this." Anisimov said confidently: "Now he is being besieged by the Voronezh Front and the Southwest Front. I don't think it will take long for him to follow Paulus's footsteps." Following in their footsteps, they were completely annihilated by our army.”
Sokov did not expect that just after the Battle of Stalingrad, Soviet commanders and soldiers would develop the idea of underestimating the enemy. He asked expressionlessly: "Comrade Political Commissar, why do you say that?"
"Comrade Division Commander, I got some inside information." Anisimov said mysteriously: "The Southwestern Front Army commanded by General Vatutin and the Voronezh Front Army commanded by General Golikov are launching an attack on Manstein. .
The Southwest Front launched an offensive from the lower reaches of the Donets River and rushed all the way to the Dnieper River, trying to recapture the Donbass Industrial Zone and cut off the connection between the German army in the Caucasus and the Ukrainian army.
The Voronezh Front, in accordance with the battle plan formulated by Marshal Zhukov, attacked due west. "
"Is this news reliable?" Sidorin asked impatiently as soon as Anisimov finished speaking.
"Of course it is reliable." Anisimov nodded, leaned forward slightly, and whispered to everyone: "I know this information through reliable channels."
As the chief of staff, Sidorin is very familiar with the combat map. After listening to Anisimov's words, he immediately leaned down to look at the map in front of him. After looking at it for a while, he raised his head and said to Sokov: "Comrade Division Commander, according to my analysis, it is entirely possible for our army to regain the territory in the near future." Kursk, Belgorod and Kharkov.”
Sokov couldn't help being surprised when he heard what Sidorin said. You must know that he only knew what happened next based on the historical data he had, while Sidorin was able to analyze the cities that the Soviet army might capture from the fragmentary information Anisimov had. It surprised him a bit.
"Chief of Staff, you are right. The cities you just mentioned will definitely be recovered by our army." After Sokov said this, he asked: "But have you ever thought about it? After taking these cities, is it possible to hold them?”
"Comrade Division Commander, have you made a mistake?" Hearing Sokov's question, Sidorin's face showed a look of astonishment: "You know, Manstein's troops have at most a hundred thousand troops, but there are still Distributed in such a vast area. And the two front troops of our army are at least several times his number. Could it be that a few of us can't defeat him alone?"
"A war does not rely on large numbers of people." Sokov scrawled on the map with a pencil: "Look, because our army is advancing too fast, the frontline troops and the supply points in the rear are already far apart. If the Germans discover This weakness of our army has cut off the supply line, so can the troops who have lost fuel, ammunition and food supplies can continue to fight?"
"If our army is cut off from its supply line, won't it face the same fate as the Germans who were just annihilated by us?" Ivanov said thoughtfully: "Comrade division commander, do you think we need to put this Report the matter to the commander of the front army?"
"It's useless." Even though Sokov is now the division commander, among those officers who have never dealt with him before, Sokov is still a smooth-talking and unreliable character. Because he clearly realized that even if he issued a warning at this time, no one would believe him. "First of all, we don't belong to the same army, and I have no way to get in touch with them. Secondly, this kind of thing must be reported to the front army headquarters first. After getting their nod, they can continue to report to the superiors and transfer the information between the Voronezh Front Army and the Southwest Front Army. Please report the situation to the headquarters."
"Then report it immediately," Anisimov urged: "Comrade Division Commander, don't you have a close relationship with Comrade Commander? I believe that he will definitely believe in your analysis."
"Comrade Political Commissar, this is just an analysis and cannot be reported casually." Sidorin immediately stopped Anisimov's adventurous idea: "If you rush to report beyond the level, and the actual situation is different from the judgment, things will happen by then." I’m afraid it won’t be easy to deal with.”
"The chief of staff is right." Sokov knew very well that he knew many historical processes. If he said it too early, it would be counterproductive. Therefore, he very much agreed with Sidorin's safe approach and would not report it to his superiors for the time being: "Everything is just my analysis. No one knows what will happen. I think we should study it and replenish the troops' ammunition and military supplies as soon as possible."
"Comrade Division Commander, when it comes to replenishing military supplies, I remembered an important thing." Sidorin said.
"what's up?"
"If I remember correctly, all the officers and soldiers of the downsized regiment use German weapons." Sidorin reminded Sokov: "If they are broken up and organized into various regiments, I am afraid they will have to change their uniforms. "
"What you said makes sense." Sokov said calmly: "If a unit is equipped with two different weapons, it will cause trouble in logistics and supply."
"Then what should we do?" Sidorin asked tentatively: "Shall we replace all the German weapons in the hands of the soldiers with our army's standard weapons?"
"Chief of Staff, judging from the current situation, this method can really only be adopted." Sokov emphasized: "Only by using unified weapons for the entire division can we reduce the supply pressure on logistics. By the way, our entire division How many more people are there?”
"Including the wounded, there are more than 6,300 people in total."
Hearing the numbers Sidorin said, Sokov couldn't help but be shocked. He didn't expect that after such a brutal battle, there were still so many people in the division. In other words, as long as Rokossovsky can supplement himself with three thousand troops, he can gather tens of thousands of troops.
"After these months of fighting, the commanders and fighters are exhausted." Sokov said to everyone: "While no major battles have occurred yet, let them take turns to rest. They must return to normal in the shortest possible time. At its best.”
"Comrade division commander," seeing Sokov solemnly handing over tasks to Sidorin, Ivanov couldn't help but asked with a smile: "Do you really think that our division will go into battle soon?"
"Comrade Deputy Division Commander, although we have annihilated the besieged Paulus Group, the battle with the enemy has not stopped yet." Sokov knew very well that in half a month, the German army would launch an attack on Kharkov In the counterattack, a hundred thousand people defeated the Soviet army of half a million people. "We need to be prepared in advance so that we can go into battle at any time. We must let the soldiers establish the belief that 'use me in the first battle, and use me to win', so that they can be invincible in the battle with the enemy."
"Use me in the first battle, and you will win with me." Sidorin heard what Sokov said and said excitedly: "Comrade division commander, your slogan is so good that it makes people's blood boil."
Hearing Sidorin's praise for him, Sokov couldn't help but blush, and quickly changed the topic and asked: "Chief of Staff, have you sent anyone to search for the remaining German officers and soldiers in the ruins?"
"Comrade division commander, we not only need to search for the hiding stragglers, but also some missing persons." Anisimov said to Sokov: "According to the intelligence we have, many residents fell into the trap of the Germans. They were imprisoned in some ruins once occupied by the Germans. I think we should seize the time to search for their whereabouts. If we don’t take action, it will be too late.”
When Sokov heard what Anisimov said, he couldn't help but smile bitterly. He thought to himself: The Germans had already run out of food when they were besieged. Imagine that even the Germans were not full, so they would take out the extra food and distribute it to Civilians in controlled areas.
Thinking of this, Sokov nodded and said to Anisimov: "Comrade Political Commissar, since you raised this matter, you must have a complete treatment plan. From now on, I will I'll leave it to you to take full responsibility."
"Comrade division commander," Maxim called Sokov in the corner while several people were discussing work: "Comrade division commander, this is a call from General Chuikov, commander of the group army."
Sokov walked over and picked up the phone, and sure enough he heard Chuikov's voice coming from it. He quickly and respectfully said: "Hello, Comrade Commander, what are your instructions?"
"Instructions? What instructions can I have?" Chuikov said with a chuckle: "I called you just to have a casual chat. After all, we have fought side by side for such a long time."
Sokov knew that Chuikov would not chat with him for no reason. He must have heard some rumors related to him, so he called him specifically. Thinking that he had just discussed with Sidorin not long ago about replacing equipment for the downsized regiment, he said into the microphone: "Comrade Commander, I just have something to ask you for help."
"You need my help with something important?" Chuikov repeated Sokov's exact words and asked, "What is it?"
"It's like this. We have just made a decision to cancel the downsizing regiment and split all the commanders and fighters into three Guards regiments." Sokov said into the microphone: "Now the problem is, this regiment was originally equipped with All of them are German-style weapons. In order to reduce the burden of logistical supplies, I plan to replace all the original German-style equipment with the standard equipment of our army."
"Colonel Sokov, I support your decision." Chuikov learned that Sokov only wanted some common equipment, so he said readily: "Some time ago, the East Bank sent us a batch of firearms. You can Transfer some of it to equip your troops."
"Thank you very much, Comrade Commander."
"You're welcome." Chuikov said mysteriously on the other end of the phone: "Colonel Sokov, I also heard something, and I plan to say hello to you in advance."
"Comrade Commander," when Chuikov said this, Sokov realized that something big might be going on and asked quickly, "Did something happen?"
"It's a good thing." Chuikov said on the other end of the phone: "I heard General Malinin reveal to me that the superiors are planning to combine your 41st Guards Division, as well as the 37th and 39th Guards Divisions to form a Guards."
"It's a good thing to form a Guards." Sokov said with a smile: "I wonder who the superiors plan to appoint as the division commander?" He asked because the other two division commanders once defended Stalingrad. fight side by side in the battle. No matter who is in charge, they are very suitable. "Colonel Sokov, I support your decision." Chuikov learned that Sokov only wanted some common equipment, so he said readily: "Some time ago, the East Bank sent us a batch of firearms. You can Transfer some of it to equip your troops."
"Thank you very much, Comrade Commander."
"You're welcome." Chuikov said mysteriously on the other end of the phone: "Colonel Sokov, I also heard something, and I plan to say hello to you in advance."
"Comrade Commander," when Chuikov said this, Sokov realized that something big might be going on and asked quickly, "Did something happen?"
"It's a good thing." Chuikov said on the other end of the phone: "I heard General Malinin reveal to me that the superiors are planning to combine your 41st Guards Division, as well as the 37th and 39th Guards Divisions to form a Guards."
"It's a good thing to form a Guards." Sokov said with a smile: "I wonder who the superiors plan to appoint as the division commander?" He asked because the other two division commanders once defended Stalingrad. fight side by side in the battle. No matter who is in charge, they are very suitable.
