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Looking at the commander and fighter in front of me, who seemed to be happy after listening to my reply, I politely asked: "Comrade commander, I don't know what to call you?" ”

The commander hurriedly restrained the smile on his face, straightened up, and loudly reported to me with his head held high: "Comrade General, I am the battalion commander of the 147th Infantry Division, Senior Captain Kstrov. ”

When I heard this familiar nickname, I thought about it for a while, and then I remembered that the division was previously subordinate to the 62nd Army, and at that time I worked in the headquarters of the group army, and I also had dealings with the division's commander, Major General Volkhin, and political commissar Kotov. However, in order to make sure that my memory was correct, I still asked, "Is it the 147th Division of Commander Volhin?" ”

"Yes, Comrade General." Kostrov replied: "Our division was routed by the Germans on the west bank of the Don, and our battalion acted as a rearguard to cover the retreat of the whole division. My command post was destroyed by German artillery fire, and I was stunned, and when I woke up, I found myself a prisoner of the Germans. ”

My eyes swept over each of the newly rescued commanders in the conference room again, and suddenly a new thought occurred in my heart: if the commanders and fighters in the prisoner of war camp were scattered into various regiments, their experiences would have some impact on other soldiers, and it would be better to unify them into the same regiment, so that it would be easier to manage. However, the morale of such a unit has been weakened, and there is no combat effectiveness at all, so it must first be reorganized and reorganized. Rely on competent commanders to lead. Only then can the combat effectiveness of the troops be restored.

Come to think of it. I took two more steps forward, came to the middle of the commander, and said: "Commanders, comrades, from now on, you are officially incorporated into the first regiment of our independent division, and comrades who have held positions above the battalion level are invited to come out of the ranks. ”

As soon as I said this, seven ragged commanders emerged from the crowd on the left and right and stood in a row in front of me. I hurriedly shouted, "Please report your rank and life." ”

Following my command, seven commanders, starting with the first person on my left, took turns reporting to me:

"Captain Lipov, the former deputy commander of the 181st Infantry Division, reports to you!"

"Major Telenkov, the former commander of the 184th Infantry Division, reports to you!"

"Captain Meshkovsky, the former deputy commander of the 192nd Infantry Division, reports to you!"

"Former acting battalion commander of the 131st Infantry Division, Captain Mishenkov, reports to you!"

"Captain Glenn, the former battalion commander of the 112th Infantry Division, reports to you!"

"Major Prikhodko, the former commander of the 23rd tank battalion, reports to you!"

"Captain Varginets of the 83rd Regiment of the Former Guards Rocket Artillery reports to you!"

When I heard that there were tank and artillery commanders inside, I was overjoyed and secretly exclaimed that I had really found a treasure, so I would not worry that there were no experienced commanders of artillery and tank troops. I smiled and nodded, and then said: "Comrades, in the past few days of fighting, the commanders and fighters of the whole regiment have suffered casualties, in order to restore the combat effectiveness to the best of their ability. Ensure the security of the defensive area of Mamayev Heights. I officially annought to announce that Captain Kstrov is temporarily the deputy commander of the 1st Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the 1st Regiment; Captain Glenn was temporarily appointed deputy commander of the 2nd Battalion; Major Terenkov was temporarily the commander of the 3rd Battalion, and Captain Mishenkov was temporarily the deputy battalion commander; Major Prikhodko was temporarily the commander of the divisional tank battalion; Captain Varginets was temporarily appointed deputy commander of the artillery battalion; As for Captain Meshkovsky and Captain Lipov. He was temporarily appointed as the company commander and deputy company commander of a newly formed regiment of guard companies. Do you understand? ”

The eight battalion commanders replied in unison: "Understood! ”

I turned my head and called Shederikov over, pointed to the commander standing in front of me and said to him: "I have already arranged the battalion commanders for you, and later you will let them choose their own company commanders among the remaining commanders, and then the company commander will jump the platoon commander, and the platoon commander will go to those commanders and fighters to select their squad leaders and soldiers." I'll give you an hour to put a new group together, do you have any opinions? ”

Sederikov's head shook like a rattle and replied: "No, I obey orders!" ”

I called Captain Nikolai over again, pointed to Captain Kstrov and said to him: "Captain Nikolai, from now on, you and Captain Kstroff will be partners, let's shake hands first." ”

Nikolai nodded, and then stretched out his hand to Kostrov, but he didn't expect the other party to put his hand behind his back like a snake and scorpion, took a step back, and then asked vigilantly: "Comrade division commander, I want to ask, the commander of the first battalion, can't he be the head of the guard of this prisoner of war camp, right?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Captain." Seeing his reaction so strong, I couldn't help but ask curiously, "Is there something wrong?" ”

Kostrov stared at Nikolai as if he were about to burst into flames, and when he heard my question, he gritted his teeth and said: "He is a lackey of the fascist bandits, so I disdain to be in his company." ”

"Yes, comrade division commander, we will not be in the company of the white bandit army."

"You should shoot all these German lackeys!"

Under Kostrov's guidance, the rest of the commanders also roared excitedly.

Nikolai smiled awkwardly at me, then withdrew his raised hands and stood honestly behind me.

Seeing that the scene was showing signs of getting out of control, I hurriedly raised my hand and pressed down, and when the room was quiet again, I said loudly: "Commanders, comrades, please listen to me." Although Captain Nikolai had taken a detour and served as a lackey for the Germans for a while, he had now come to his senses and returned to our camp, so that he was no longer our enemy, but our comrade-in-arms. After I finished speaking, the anger on the faces of many commanders had weakened considerably, and seeing this, I hastened to add while the iron was hot: "Comrades, please think about it, if it were not for Captain Nikolai leading his troops anyway, would you have been able to get out of danger so easily?" ”

"Can't ......," someone in the crowd whispered.

"That's right, comrades," echoed a voice. I know someone who was almost convinced by me. And continued: "The reason why Captain Nikolai will play for the Germans. Because if he didn't agree, he would have been killed by the Germans like his comrades. And you, who are sent to prisoner of war camps in the rear by the Germans in the future, will face a similar choice. I believe that the absolute majority of comrades will choose to be generous, but it is not excluded that there will be people like Captain Nikolai who will serve the Germans for the sake of their lives. Do you understand what I said? ”

"Understood!" The commanders in the room replied in unison.

I turned around and shook my head at Captain Nikolai, who was standing behind me, and said to him, "Comrade Captain. What are you still doing here, why don't you go and say hello to your deputy battalion commander? ”

After Nikolai and Kostrov shook hands and made peace, I suddenly noticed a strange phenomenon: the commanders present were all military officers, and not a single political worker saw them. I hurriedly called Godunov over and asked him curiously: "Comrade Major, what is going on, why are all military commanders, and not a single political worker?" ”

Godunov shrugged his shoulders and replied helplessly: "Comrade division commander." I asked the commanders and fighters who had been rescued, and they said that all the political workers had been captured by the Germans. In a very short time, they were all shot. Therefore, although there were more than 1,000 or 2,000 commanders and fighters rescued, there was not a single political worker alive. ”

"Damn the Germans." After scolding hatefully, I beckoned Major Prikhodko and Captain Varginets over, pointed at Vajim and introduced Prikhodko: "Comrade Major, come, get to know Comrade Vajim, the battalion political commissar of the tank battalion, and I will be your partner in the future." ”

"Hello, Comrade Battalion Political Commissar." Prikhodko raised his hand to salute him, despite his rank being higher than Vajim, and then reached out to shake his hand.

I called two of the guards who had come with me, pointed to Captain Varzinets and said to them: "Comrade soldier, this is the new deputy commander of the artillery battalion, Captain Varginets, and you are responsible for escorting him to Major Morozov. ”

The guard promised and left with Valginets. Watching the three of them leave the conference room, it suddenly occurred to me that since there were artillery commanders among the captured officers, there must be quite a few artillery fighters among the soldiers, so I stopped Captain Valginets and instructed him: "Comrade Captain, you will go to the rescued soldiers later, and if there are artillerymen, you will pick them out and bring them back to the artillery barracks." ”

When Valginets heard my order, he said excitedly: "I understand, comrade division commander, I promise to complete the task." ”

Since I had just given the order for the battalion commander to choose the company commander, the company commander to choose the platoon commander, and the platoon commander to jump the squad leader and ordinary soldiers among the rescued soldiers, several newly appointed battalion commanders and deputy battalion commanders couldn't wait to go down and select their subordinates after selecting their own company and platoon commanders.

Seeing that Shedelikov was leaving, I quickly stopped him. First instructed Godunov: "Comrade Major, in order to avoid confusion, you will send a company of fighters to cooperate with the commanders and fighters under Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov to select fighters." Also, when the regiment is rebuilt, you immediately withdraw your troops from the regiment's original defense area. ”

Godunov replied loudly: "Understood. Then he glanced at Sederikov and asked me tentatively: "Comrade division commander, I see that the uniforms of these commanders under Comrade Lieutenant Colonel are all in tatters, and some of them are even wearing summer uniforms, do you need us to replenish some of them?" ”

If Godunov hadn't mentioned it, I wouldn't have noticed it. Anyway, there are still a lot of cotton clothes left from the batch of cotton clothes that were snatched from the military material warehouse last time, and they are all stored in the defense area of the third regiment. ”

Although he heard that we had solved the winter clothes for his troops, Sedelikov still said with a sad face: "Comrade division commander, the problem of military uniforms has been solved, but what about weapons and ammunition?" You can't let my commanders and fighters fight the enemy armed to the teeth with a rock, can you? ”

The lack of weapons and ammunition in the division is one of my biggest headaches at present. Originally, I wanted to ask Commissar Kirillov to go to an acquaintance in the logistics department to solve part of it, but I didn't expect him to say that the current supply is difficult, and maybe he will not be able to return enough supplies. And my proposal to let the three regiments quietly come back to replenish the troops in the process of helping to unload the ship and transport supplies was also vetoed by him without hesitation. When Shedelikov again put this conundrum in front of me, I smiled bitterly. Rhetorically asked Godunov: "Comrade Major." Does your regiment have any surplus weapons and ammunition? ”

Godunov shook his head. Then he said regretfully: "I'm sorry, comrade division commander, only half of the more than 400 new soldiers recently replenished by our regiment have weapons in their hands. ”

I understand that the new fighters that Godunov is talking about are part of the new division brought over by the deputy division commander Bandereev, and I can't imagine that after such a long time, half of them are still unarmed. Thinking of this, I asked Godunov with some dissatisfaction: "Comrade Major. It's not been a day or two since the new recruits were added to your regiment, but why hasn't even the weapons needed by the fighters been solved until now? When a fierce battle breaks out in your zone, you can't let your warriors charge at the enemy with their bare hands, can you? ”

As soon as I finished firing at Godunov, Sederikov unexpectedly defended him: "Comrade division commander, this cannot be blamed on Major Godunov, the position of the third regiment is not much. Since there is no battle to fight, the capture of the three regiments will be quite limited. ”

"If the enemy doesn't come to the door, won't you send troops to fight the enemy?" I angrily scolded Godunov. Turning his head and asking Sedelikov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, how many weapons and equipment does your regiment still have?" ”

As soon as he heard my question, he immediately reported without hesitation: "At present, the regiment still has 9 pistols, 3 submachine guns, 69 rifles, and all light and heavy machine guns lost in battle. ”

I couldn't help but be slightly disappointed when I heard that there were only so many robberies left in a regiment, not to mention this bit of equipment to attack, even if the Germans came to the strength of a company, they might not be able to stop it. When I was disappointed, I accidentally saw Nikolai and his deputy battalion commander Kstrov, who were still standing next to me, and immediately rejoiced in my heart, and secretly said: How did I forget Nikolai? You must know that he still has three well-equipped infantry companies under his command, and when he came to join us, he also pulled more than a dozen truckloads of military supplies, and no matter how few weapons were in them, it should be no problem to equip Shedelikov with one or two companies.

I called Nikolai to the front and asked, "Comrade Captain, let me ask you, how many people are in the three infantry companies of your battalion, and what equipment do they have?" ”

Nikolai straightened up and replied: "Report to Comrade Division Commander, the infantry companies under my command have 120 people in each company. Among them, Gritsenko's company is estimated to have suffered casualties in the offensive battle just now, but the whole battalion of 300 people can still be guaranteed. As for weapons and ammunition, there are 30 pistols, 270 rifles, 60 submachine guns, 12 light machine guns, and 4 heavy machine guns. Speaking of this, he just wanted to say that the report was over, but suddenly thought that there were more than a dozen truckloads of supplies, and hurriedly added, "By the way, there are still 15 truckloads of military supplies, three of which are weapons and ammunition, and there is no problem in arming a company." ”

"Great," Shedrikov, who heard the good news, took Nikolai in his arms and said excitedly while patting him on the back with both hands: "It's wonderful, thank you, thank you, Comrade Nikolai." Perhaps it was because of the excessive force, Captain Nikolai grinned in pain, but he did not dare to speak, after all, according to Russian custom, when hugging or shaking hands, the greater the force used by the other party, the higher the friendship process.

After Sederikov let go of Nikolai, he suddenly looked at me and said cautiously: "Comrade division commander, I have a request, I wonder if you can agree to me?" ”

"Say, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Although I don't know what kind of conditions Sederikov will put on me, I added an additional condition before agreeing to him: "As long as it is within my ability, I will definitely agree to you." ”

"Comrade division commander, please take a look." Pointing at Nikolai and Kstrov, Sederikov said: "One of them is the battalion commander, and the other is the deputy battalion commander. The deputy battalion commander is a captain with the rank of captain, and the battalion commander is with the rank of captain, which is clearly inappropriate. Look, can you also promote the rank of Captain Nikolai to the rank of captain? ”

"So that's it." Since I was reinstated to the rank of general, I have the right to promote the commanders below the rank of lieutenant colonel in the division, and I readily agreed to Sederikov's reasonable request: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what you said is very right, you can't be a deputy battalion commander is a captain, and the battalion commander is a captain. Speaking of which, I smiled and said to Nikolai: "Comrade Nikolai, from now on, you have been officially promoted to the rank of captain. Later, look for the rank insignia and add it to your collar badge. ”

When he learned that he had been promoted to lieutenant, Nikolai was stunned for a moment, and then his eyes turned red, and he held back the excitement in his heart, raised his hand to salute me with a solemn military salute, and said loudly: "Comrade division commander, thank you for your trust in me. In the days to come, I promise to fulfill all the orders you have given and live up to the trust you have placed in me. ”

I didn't speak, just smiled at him. After talking to Shederikov for a while, I raised my hand and looked at my watch, and when I saw that almost an hour had passed before I knew it, I said to Shederikov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the time is almost up, let's go and see how the new regiment is getting organized." ”

When our group came out of the building, we saw that there were already ten squares lined up outside. I habitually looked up into the air, fearing that such a dense queue would be discovered by the enemy and invite bombardment. But fortunately, today's sky was gray, and there was no battalion commander of the enemy plane, so I was relieved and boldly walked forward.

As soon as they saw us coming out of the building, several commanders standing in front of the queue turned around and ran towards us. I had sharp eyes, and I could see at once that the leader was the commander of the third battalion, Major Terenkov, followed by two other deputy battalion commanders.

After raising his hand to salute us, Terenkov reported loudly: "Comrade division commander, the commander of the second battalion, Major Terenkov, reports to you that the second battalion, the third battalion, and the regimental guard company have been reorganized, please instruct!" ”

After returning the salute, I asked, "Comrade Major, how many people are there in the second and third battalions?" ”

Terenkov reported to me in a clear and coherent manner: "A total of 1,739 people were rescued from the prisoner of war camp, excluding 186 who were treated in the sanitary camp, 48 who were picked up by the tank battalion, 137 by the artillery battalion, and 39 battalion and company commanders. Of the remaining 1,329 people, the 2nd and 3rd battalions had 600 people each, and the guard company had 129 people. Report complete. ”

I nodded with satisfaction at Major Terenkov's report, and at the same time said in my heart that this major was a talent, and if he had not died at the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, I would have promoted him to a new command position. Anyway, last time Yeremenko hinted to me that he would put pressure on me at the right time, maybe then I would command several divisions, and experienced commanders would be in demand at any time, and I would arrange a regiment commander for Major Terenkov, and it is estimated that no one would gossip.

I turned my head to look at Sedelikov beside me, and said to him with a smile: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I have filled you with a regiment, and I hope that you can do your best to make the troops form combat effectiveness and make new contributions in the next battle." ”

"Please rest assured, teacher." Sederikov assured me loudly: "I promise you that I will never fail to live up to the trust you place in me and in all the commanders and fighters of the regiment. (The novel "Burning Moscow" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, and there will also be a 100% lucky draw gift for everyone!) Open WeChat now, click on the "+" sign in the upper right corner to "add friends", search for the official account "qdread" and follow, hurry up! (To be continued......)

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