Although Luhansk will become an important battlefield in a few days, Sokov understands that it is still too early to adjust the actual deployment of troops at this moment.
Despite Rokossovsky's generosity, he immediately handed over three Guards divisions and two tank brigades to him, as well as an artillery division and a rocket launcher battalion. But these troops are still on the road, and some are even in a state of assembly and have not yet left their original defensive areas. If the defense area is vacated for them prematurely, and if they fail to arrive on the battlefield on time when the battle starts, then the defense system here may collapse.
It was out of this consideration that Sokov said to Vitkov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, we can divide the defense areas of each division on the map, but the troops in the existing defense areas will not be mobilized. We must wait until the troops of each division arrive. After that, it won’t be too late to hand over the troops originally stationed for defense.”
Vitkov thought for a while and immediately understood Sokov's intention. He nodded and asked: "Comrade Commander, I would like to ask, which division do you plan to use to be responsible for the defense of the city?"
"Colonel Gorishny's 75th Guards Division," Gorishny's troops suffered heavy losses in the early battles. Although they have been supplemented, most of the supplementary soldiers are recruits with no combat experience. If they are added Sokov was worried about being placed outside the city to fight positional battles with the Germans, so he decided to let them stay in the city and rely on the newly built city fortifications to fight street battles with the enemies who rushed into the city. However, in front of everyone, he had another reason: "This division has experience in street fighting in Stalingrad. I want them to perform defense tasks in the city. It should be the most suitable."
As the former deputy chief of staff of the 62nd Army, Vitkov naturally agreed with Sokov’s arrangement: “Well, yes, the Gorishny Division fought in Stalingrad for three months. It should be very appropriate to serve as the city’s defense.”
"What about the 67th and 71st Guards Divisions?"
"General Merkulov," since Merkulov, commander of the 67th Guards Division, is here, Sokov still needs to ask for his opinion before assigning tasks to see if he has any ideas: "I plan to Deploy your division and the 71st Guards Division to the north or south of the city. I want to ask you, where do you think it is more appropriate to place your division?"
"Comrade Commander," Merkulov unexpectedly asked, "Why should we be placed to the north or south of the city? You must know that friendly troops are stationed in both directions. If our division is deployed I’m afraid we won’t be able to fight here, and then the commanders and soldiers will have opinions.”
"General Merkulov," Sokov felt that something must be said clearly to these subordinates to prevent them from having any ideas: "According to my judgment, if the German army wants to attack Luhansk, their main attack will be on the west. direction. And my 41st Guards Division is the best at fighting defensive battles. We are responsible for the defense in this direction and can completely block the enemy's attack. The reason why you are deployed in the north and south directions is to protect our division. Its flanks were protected from German attack."
Merkulov stood next to Sokov, stared at the map for a long time, and finally said: "Comrade Commander, judging from the situation of the enemy and ourselves on the map, it is very likely that the German army will launch an attack from the southwest. Look, let my division be stationed here to cover your left flank."
Sokov had seen the battle of the 67th Guards Division with his own eyes, and he still had a certain understanding of the division's combat effectiveness. Moreover, judging from various signs, the German army will definitely attack Luhansk after defeating the Southwest Front. In addition to the due west, the southwest direction may also be the focus of the German army's attack. It is completely necessary to retain a trustworthy force.
"Okay," Sokov stood up straight and said to Merkulov: "Then I will leave the defense to the south of the city to you. A regiment of the 379th Infantry Division is stationed in the nearby town of Bile. , you must establish contact with them as soon as possible. This way you can cooperate with each other when the battle begins."
After sending Merkulov and others away, Vitkov pointed to several defensive positions on the map and asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade Commander, what do these troops do? I remember you seem to There aren’t that many tanks and artillery, right?”
Bely on the side heard Vitkov's question, laughed out loud, and explained: "Comrade Chief of Staff, our division does not have that many artillery and tanks. What you see are all fakes we prepared for the German army." position."
"Fake position?" Witkov asked puzzledly: "Is this necessary?"
"It is completely necessary." Bely continued: "A few days ago, the German army launched an attack from the west of the city. They regarded one of our fake positions as a real position and concentrated artillery fire for a long time. If there were no fake positions, then they would be attacked The shelling position will inevitably cause huge casualties to our army."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I don't think the German army will launch a large-scale attack on Luhansk in a few days. If we don't set up some false positions to share the enemy's firepower, I'm afraid there will be many casualties among the commanders and soldiers. During the enemy's shelling and bombing." Sokov emphasized: "We also need to let each division build more such fake fortifications to confuse the enemy."
"What scale do you think it will be if a fight breaks out here in Luhansk?" Vitkov tentatively asked Sokov: "Do you think there will be another urban offensive and defensive battle like Stalingrad?"
"No, there will never be another urban offensive and defensive battle like Stalingrad here." Sokov explained: "First, the city of Luhansk is too small to accumulate too many troops; secondly, the city is not as large as With Stalingrad's back against the river, once the German troops outflank from both sides, we may soon be surrounded by the enemy."
"How are the material reserves in the city?" Since Sokov took the initiative to mention that the city might fall into siege, Witkov asked: "I wonder how long it can last?"
"The original material reserves are enough for our division for three months." Sidorin said from the side: "But when the troops assigned to us by our superiors arrive, these materials may only last for forty days."
"Do we need to request supplies from our superiors?" Witkov asked.
"Even if we make such an application to our superiors, I'm afraid there won't be enough transportation capacity to meet our needs." Sokov said with a wry smile: "By the time the supplies arrive, it is estimated that the battle here will be over long ago."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sidorin," considering that Vitkov is now his chief of staff, if he calls Sidorin the chief of staff again, it may cause confusion, so Sokov calls Sidorin by his military rank: "Immediately call him the chief of staff. Please arrange a place to stay. He must be tired after flying for so long, so let him have a good rest."
…………
Early the next morning, Sivakov and Yegorov, also under the protection of the guard platoon, rushed to the cluster headquarters by car and reported to Sokov and Vitkov.
After saluting each other, Sivakov and Sokov gave a warm hug and said excitedly: "Comrade Commander, I really didn't expect that we can fight together again."
"In addition to your division, the troops organized into the combat group also include Merkulov's 67th Guards Division." Sokov took Sivakov to the wall, pointed to the map and said to him: "They The division is responsible for the defense in the south of the city, while your division is stationed in the north of the city."
After accepting the mission, Sivakov said with some regret: "It's a pity that Makarenko's division could not join this time, otherwise our original troops would have been complete."
From Sivakov's tone, Sokov heard that the other party seemed to know something about the Makarenko Division, and asked curiously: "Comrade Colonel, do you know how the Makarenko Division has been doing recently? The superior originally We were going to organize them into a combat group, but for some unknown reason, they were temporarily replaced by the 75th Guards Division."
"As far as I know, Major General Makarenko's 321st Infantry Division will soon be reorganized into the 82nd Guards Division." Sivakov replied: "They will be transferred to Leningrad soon. Our army will be transferred to Leningrad in January." On the 18th, a narrow land passage leading to the city was established, and they will work with the troops there to completely crush the enemies besieging the city."
