"Commander, what should we do?" Lunev asked Sokov with a wry smile: "The old ones, the young ones, let alone a few days of training, even a few months of training, it is difficult to form any combat effectiveness. No, how about we send back this batch of new soldiers and let our superiors replenish us with new soldiers?"
"Comrade Military Commissar, if we send back these new recruits, our superiors will not give us more soldiers." Sokov knew very well that Zhukov was also a clever man who could not make a living without straw, and soldiers were needed everywhere to replenish the troops. Where can the superiors find so many soldiers? It is considered the most benevolent thing to give them these old, weak and disabled soldiers. "I think it's better to let them stay."
"What, let them stay?" Sameko was unhappy: "Comrade Commander, don't you see that these are old people and children, can they fight?"
"Comrade Commander," Unexpectedly, as soon as Sameko finished speaking, an old man standing relatively close spoke: "Even though I am old, I have also been on the battlefield."
When Sokov heard the old man say that he had been on the battlefield, he took two steps forward and asked curiously: "Old man, where have you fought before?"
"Kyiv!"
Kyiv? ! When Sokov heard this familiar place name, he immediately thought of a large-scale siege there two years ago, the largest siege in history. Most of the 5th, 21st, 37th, and 26th Army Groups of the Soviet Southwest Front, and part of the 40th and 38th Army Groups were annihilated, and 650,000 people were captured. Even the front army commander, military commissar, and chief of staff were all killed, and many group army-level commanders were captured by the Germans.
Sokov sighed softly and said to the old man: "Old man, in the Kiev defense war in the past two years, you participated in the war as a militia, right? You are lucky to escape from the enemy's encirclement."
As soon as he finished speaking, the old man shook his head and said: "Comrade General, I participated in the defense of Kiev more than 20 years ago."
Samyko muttered: "What kind of defense of Kiev was there more than twenty years ago?"
"Wait a minute, Comrade Chief of Staff." Luniev interrupted Samyko and asked the old man tentatively: "Old man, you mean that you participated in the fight against the Polish White Army in Kiev more than 20 years ago. defense?"
"Yes!" the old man said proudly: "My unit was commanded by General Tukhachevsky. After we crushed the enemy's attack outside Kiev, we immediately launched a counterattack. The troops even reached the gates of Warsaw. If If I wasn’t sent to the rear because I was wounded, I might still be able to follow my comrades into Warsaw.”
When the old man was telling stories about the battlefield, Sokov and others did not interrupt him. Because of the need for propaganda, this period of history of the Soviet army's failure cannot be seen in school history books at all. Only by listening to the accounts of those who experienced it can we have a partial understanding of that period of history.
After the old man finished speaking, Sokov asked: "Old man, what is your name?"
"Comrade General," the old man straightened his body, raised his chin slightly, and replied loudly: "My name is Serelkov, and I once served as a soldier in Marshal Tukhachevsky's army."
"What was your rank at that time?"
"Where are the military ranks?" Serelkov shrugged, spread his hands and said: "Those who wear epaulettes are all officers of the White Army. There are no military ranks in our army, only positions. I am in the platoon He holds a long position and has more than fifty brothers under him."
Sokov did not expect to find a veteran with combat experience among this group of old, weak and remnant soldiers. This was an unexpected surprise. He coughed lightly and then said: "Comrade Serelkov, since you have been a platoon leader, I will now appoint you to the position of platoon leader. The military rank is temporarily set as second lieutenant. If you achieve military exploits in the future, I will personally promote your rank and position."
"Comrade General," Serelkov may have never dreamed that he would be directly promoted to second lieutenant and assume the position of platoon leader just by recounting his previous experiences. After he raised his hand to salute Sokov to express his gratitude, he asked hesitantly: "I don't know who you are?"
"Second Lieutenant Serelkov," Samyko quickly introduced Sokov's identity to the other party: "This is General Sokov, the commander of our army group."
"So you are General Sokov." Serelkov's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard what Samyko said: "When I was still working in the rear, I heard others mention you more than once."
Sokov was curious about what the people at the rear were talking about him, so he asked tentatively: "How are they talking about me?"
"They say that as long as your troops hold on, the Germans, no matter how powerful their troops and equipment are, will not be able to break through your defenses; and wherever you want to attack, even if they are defended by the most elite German troops, It can’t stop your attack at all.”
"Yes, Comrade Commander." A teenager next to him also said loudly: "I heard from the teacher in school that you not only captured Paulus personally, but also annihilated the most elite Imperial Division and Skeleton Division of the Germans. , captured their division commander, and now the enemy will tremble in fear as soon as they hear your name."
The young man's words aroused good-natured laughter from all around. The boy's rainbow fart was very useful to Sokov. He looked at the other person and asked: "What is your name and what did you do before joining the army?"
"Comrade Commander," the boy replied, "My name is Lulik. Before joining the army, I was a sixth-grade student at Moscow No. 39 General School."
Sokov knew that schools in the Soviet Union were not divided into elementary, junior high and high schools like those in China. They only had grades one to ten. Grades one to five are equivalent to elementary school; grades six to eight are equivalent to junior high school; grades ninety are equivalent to high school. Lulik was a sixth grader, equivalent to a first-year student in junior high school. For such a young child to be sent to the battlefield showed how scarce the Soviet soldiers were.
"Second Lieutenant Serelkov!"
Hearing Sokov calling him, Serelkov quickly agreed loudly: "Here we come!"
"Lulik just stay in your platoon," Sokov said helplessly: "You are his elder, you should pay more attention to protecting his safety in battles in the future..."
"Comrade Commander," before Sokov could finish his words, Lulik interrupted him and said with a stiff neck, "I don't need anyone's protection on the battlefield. I can protect myself."
Sokov said nothing more to him, just nodded, turned around and left with Samyko and Lunev. When he was approaching the door of the headquarters, Sokov stopped and said to Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, send someone to find out who among those elderly people has participated in the battle."
Samek knew in his heart that Sokov was asking him to find those who participated in the war more than 20 years ago among the old people, and quickly replied: "Understood, I will arrange for someone to deal with this matter later. "Seeing Sokov turn around and walk towards the door of the headquarters, he quickly chased after him and added, "It just so happened that after the 182nd Division went through a series of hard battles, not only the soldiers were severely reduced, but even the grassroots commanders also lost a lot. . If we can find some of these new recruits who have served as commanders, then we can fill the vacancies of grassroots commanders of the 182nd Division."
Not long after the three returned to the headquarters, Colonel Khokhlov, commander of the 182nd Division, and Colonel Shepilov, political commissar, both appeared in the room.
When Sokov stepped forward to shake hands with the two, he said with emotion: "Comrade colonels, you came very quickly."
"Comrade Commander," Shepilov replied with a smile: "The enemies from our defense area to the headquarters have been eliminated. The jeep we are riding in can get here as quickly as possible. .”
Khokhlov was eager to know the purpose of Sokov calling him here, so as soon as Shepilov finished speaking, he asked directly: "Comrade Commander, I wonder why you called us here?" Something?"
"What?!" Sokov asked in surprise after hearing Khokhlov's question: "Did my guard platoon leader, Lieutenant Samoilov, not clearly explain the purpose of calling you here when he called you? ?"
"No." The two colonels shook their heads in unison and replied, "The lieutenant only told us that we have an important mission and asked us to come over immediately."
"Comrade Commander, please give the order." Khokhlov took a step forward and said: "Our division has made all preparations for combat and can engage in new battles at any time."
"Commander, what should we do?" Lunev asked Sokov with a wry smile: "The old ones, the young ones, let alone a few days of training, even a few months of training, it is difficult to form any combat effectiveness. No, how about we send back this batch of new soldiers and let our superiors replenish us with new soldiers?"
"Comrade Military Commissar, if we send back these new recruits, our superiors will not give us more soldiers." Sokov knew very well that Zhukov was also a clever man who could not make a living without straw, and soldiers were needed everywhere to replenish the troops. Where can the superiors find so many soldiers? It is considered the most benevolent thing to give them these old, weak and disabled soldiers. "I think it's better to let them stay."
"What, let them stay?" Sameko was unhappy: "Comrade Commander, don't you see that these are old people and children, can they fight?"
"Comrade Commander," Unexpectedly, as soon as Sameko finished speaking, an old man standing relatively close spoke: "Even though I am old, I have also been on the battlefield."
When Sokov heard the old man say that he had been on the battlefield, he took two steps forward and asked curiously: "Old man, where have you fought before?"
"Kyiv!"
Kyiv? ! When Sokov heard this familiar place name, he immediately thought of a large-scale siege there two years ago, the largest siege in history. Most of the 5th, 21st, 37th, and 26th Army Groups of the Soviet Southwest Front, and part of the 40th and 38th Army Groups were annihilated, and 650,000 people were captured. Even the front army commander, military commissar, and chief of staff were all killed, and many group army-level commanders were captured by the Germans.
Sokov sighed softly and said to the old man: "Old man, in the Kiev defense war in the past two years, you participated in the war as a militia, right? You are lucky to escape from the enemy's encirclement."
As soon as he finished speaking, the old man shook his head and said: "Comrade General, I participated in the defense of Kiev more than 20 years ago."
Samyko muttered: "What kind of defense of Kiev was there more than twenty years ago?"
"Wait a minute, Comrade Chief of Staff." Luniev interrupted Samyko and asked the old man tentatively: "Old man, you mean that you participated in the fight against the Polish White Army in Kiev more than 20 years ago. defense?"
"Yes!" the old man said proudly: "My unit was commanded by General Tukhachevsky. After we crushed the enemy's attack outside Kiev, we immediately launched a counterattack. The troops even reached the gates of Warsaw. If If I wasn’t sent to the rear because I was wounded, I might still be able to follow my comrades into Warsaw.”
When the old man was telling stories about the battlefield, Sokov and others did not interrupt him. Because of the need for propaganda, this period of history of the Soviet army's failure cannot be seen in school history books at all. Only by listening to the accounts of those who experienced it can we have a partial understanding of that period of history.
After the old man finished speaking, Sokov asked: "Old man, what is your name?"
"Comrade General," the old man straightened his body, raised his chin slightly, and replied loudly: "My name is Serelkov, and I once served as a soldier in Marshal Tukhachevsky's army."
"What was your rank at that time?"
"Where are the military ranks?" Serelkov shrugged, spread his hands and said: "Those who wear epaulettes are all officers of the White Army. There are no military ranks in our army, only positions. I am in the platoon He holds a long position and has more than fifty brothers under his command."
Sokov did not expect to find a veteran with combat experience among this group of old, weak and remnant soldiers. This was an unexpected surprise. He coughed lightly and then said: "Comrade Serelkov, since you have been a platoon leader, I will now appoint you to the position of platoon leader. The military rank is temporarily set as second lieutenant. If you achieve military exploits in the future, I will personally promote your rank and position."
"Comrade General," Serelkov may have never dreamed that he would be directly promoted to second lieutenant and assume the position of platoon leader just by recounting his previous experiences. After he raised his hand to salute Sokov to express his gratitude, he asked hesitantly: "I don't know who you are yet?"
"Second Lieutenant Serelkov," Samyko quickly introduced Sokov's identity to the other party: "This is General Sokov, the commander of our army group."
"So you are General Sokov." Serelkov's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard what Samyko said: "When I was still working in the rear, I heard others mention you more than once."
Sokov was curious about what the people at the rear were talking about him, so he asked tentatively: "How are they talking about me?"
"They say that as long as your troops hold on, the Germans, no matter how powerful their troops and equipment are, will not be able to break through your defenses; and wherever you want to attack, even if they are defended by the most elite German troops, It can’t stop your attack at all.”
"Yes, Comrade Commander." A teenager next to him also said loudly: "I heard from the teacher in school that you not only captured Paulus personally, but also annihilated the most elite Imperial Division and Skeleton Division of the Germans. , captured their division commander, and now the enemy will tremble in fear as soon as they hear your name."
