Colonel Chepurtin, the commander of the 379th Infantry Division, received Krelov's order, immediately ordered the troops to gather and prepare to rush to Bili Town to assist the 41st Guards Division to recapture the town.
Who knew that as soon as the troops began to assemble, the Chief of Staff of the Division discovered a serious problem: "Comrade Commander, we don't have cars, how can we get to the designated location within an hour?"
The Chief of Staff's words made Colonel Chepurtin stunned. It was sixteen kilometers from his own defense zone to Bile Town. If all of them were walking, it would take at least three hours. Moreover, after the troops passed such a marching, the commanders and fighters would definitely become extremely tired. It is still unknown whether they have the ability to fight again.
For this reason, he ordered several of his subordinates to hurry up and gather the troops, while calling the Group Army Command, preparing to report the difficulties he faced.
Krelov couldn't help but feel silent after hearing Chepurtin's complaint. He had just been urging the other party to rush to the designated location early, but forgot to ask the other party if there were enough transport vehicles. He still knew the situation of the road outside. Even if he was marching urgently, it would probably take three or four hours. When the commanders and soldiers appeared on the battlefield exhausted, they would not be able to enter the battle without a period of rest.
"Col. Chepurtin," Krelov asked after a moment of silence, "How many troops can you assemble in an hour?"
"Comrade Commander," Chepurtin replied, "Because the troops are too dispersed, it is very difficult to assemble. Within an hour, a battalion can be assembled."
"What, can only gather one battalion of troops in an hour?" Krelov felt a headache when he heard Chepurtin's answer. At this speed of the assembly of the troops, if he encountered a sudden attack from the German army, you can know that the defense line would collapse in a short period of time: "Can you speed up? You must know that the longer you delay, the more prepared the enemy in Bile Town, and when our army launches an attack, we will suffer greater casualties."
"Comrade Commander, this is how I think about it." Chepurtin thought for a while and continued: "I can gather a battalion in a unit, and use transport tools to send them to the battlefield..."
"No, no." Krelov immediately denied Chepurin's proposal: "To eliminate the enemies entrenched in the town of Bile, this kind of oil-adding tactic is absolutely not possible. This will allow the enemy to calmly eliminate more of our living forces. Therefore, your division must have a regiment to fight every day."
"Comrade Commander, can you give me more time?" Colonel Chepurtin asked tentatively: "As long as you give me enough transport vehicles, I can send a regiment to Bilie Town within an hour and a half and assist friendly forces in launching an attack."
Krelov knew very well that he had just taken over as commander, and the commanders below were not familiar with him, and they would inevitably suffer from any discounts in carrying out the mission. Even if he wanted to get angry, he couldn't find any words: "Okay, I'll ask the logistics department to arrange a convoy for you to transport the participating troops."
Under Krelov's compromise, the logistics department of the group army sent eighty trucks to the 379th Division to transport the vanguard regiment to Bili Town. The vanguard regiment commander saw black smoke rising from the direction of Bili Town halfway. He knew that the battle in the town should have started, so he quickly ordered the driver to stop.
The chief of staff sitting next to him, when he heard the commander of the regiment to stop, he couldn't help but ask curiously: "Comrade Commander, why are you parking here?"
"Didn't you see the black smoke rising from the direction of Bilie Town?" The regiment commander pointed in the direction of Bilie Town and said impatiently: "It seems that friendly troops have exchanged fire with the enemy. Such important information needs to be reported to the division commander immediately."
After the radio was turned on, the vanguard leader reported to Chepurin: "Comrade Commander, the battle in the direction of Bile Town has begun."
"Oh, the battle has begun?" After listening to the other party's report, Chepurin asked while lowering his head to look at the map, "Where have you teamed?"
"It's still six kilometers away from Bilie Town." The pioneer leader replied.
"Since there are still six kilometers, hurry up." Chepurtin urged: "After arriving at the designated location early, you can start fighting early."
"Comrade Teacher, I call you this time. There is something important to ask you."
"What's the matter, ask?"
"When we fight in concert with friendly forces, should we establish a unified command?" The vanguard leader said to Chepurtin: "After the establishment of the joint command center, who will command these two divisions? Are you or the commander of the friendly forces?"
The vanguard leader asked Chepurtin. He remembered that when he was accepting the mission, Krelov did not seem to mention who would command the troops. After hesitating for a while, he decided to let the matter go first or let the troops arrive at Bile Town earlier.
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, your regiment's mission is to rush directly to Bile Town and participate in the battle to siege the enemy." Chepurtin said: "As for who will command these two divisions, I think the superiors will have a coordinated arrangement, so you don't have to worry about it."
After the vanguard team leader finished the call, he immediately ordered his driver: "Drive and continue to go to Bilie Town."
On the way, the Chief of Staff of the regiment asked: "Comrade Commander, after we arrive at the local area, should we directly join the battle, or should we join the battle after the subsequent troops arrive?"
The vanguard leader only knew that the German army had occupied Bilie Town, but he knew nothing about the troops and what kind of equipment he had. Therefore, he seemed very hesitant: "I think that after the troops arrived at the designated position, they still needed to reassemble. After the assembly was completed, I believe that the subsequent troops should arrive one after another, and it would not be too late for us to launch an attack."
When the car was less than one kilometer away from Bilie Town, the commander sitting in the jeep suddenly realized that the sound of guns and cannons outside seemed to have stopped. He couldn't help but frown and said, "Strange, why can't the sound of guns and cannons be heard outside? Could it be that the attack of friendly forces was repelled by the Germans?"
"Comrade Commander," the Chief of Staff suggested to him: "I think it's better to let the troops stop first and send scouts to figure out the situation."
The leader agreed to his proposal, so the entire vanguard regiment stopped one kilometer away from Bile Town and began to assemble and prepare for war.
Before the troops could assemble, they saw two jeeps appearing on the road ahead. Seeing this, the chief of staff quickly ordered his soldiers: "Come over and ask, which part of them are?"
A few minutes later, the soldiers sent to question came back in a jeep and reported to the regiment commander and chief of staff: "He is the liaison officer of the 41st Guards Division."
The liaison officer who came was Lieutenant Geria, the commander of the 5th Company of the Second Battalion. He came to the two lieutenant colonels, raised his hand to salute, and said, "Hello, comrades from Lieutenant Colonels. I am Lieutenant Geria, the commander of the 5th Company of the 124th Regiment of the 41st Division of Guards."
"Comrade Lieutenant," the commander returned the salute and stepped forward to hold Geria's hand and asked enthusiastically: "How is the war ahead? If you need help, just speak up, and we are here to fight together."
Chapter completed!