"The 75th Guard Division?" Merkulov thought for a while, feeling that he really didn't know what the Guard Division was. He shook his head gently and turned around and asked his political commissar: "Comrade Political Commissar, do you know?"
Sheyko shrugged her shoulders, spread her hands, and said with a wry smile: "I don't know either. I only know that General Lyudnikov's 138th Division was adapted into the 70th Division of the Guards."
"Comrade Commander," Sidolin saw Sokov's look of contemplation and persuaded him: "Don't worry, after they come in two days, you will know which unit it is."
"Comrade Commander," a staff officer came over to report to Sokov: "A plane landed near the division headquarters."
"Airplane, what plane?" Sokov asked in surprise.
The staff officer quickly replied: "The soldiers there reported that they seemed to be a commander from the Army Command. But he didn't know who it was."
"Who will the commander from the group army be?" Sokov knew that he could not find any useful information from the staff, so he waved to him and sent him away.
"Misha," Bere reminded Sokov: "Didn't the order of the Front Command say that Colonel Vitkov, deputy chief of staff of the 62nd Army, be the chief of staff of the combat cluster? Could it be that he was here?"
"Come here!" Sokov heard what Be Lei said, and felt that there was such a possibility, so he hurriedly shouted outside the door.
Soon, Samoilov trotted into the door and asked Sokov respectfully: "Comrade Commander, do you have any instructions?"
"That's right, comrade Lieutenant." Sokov ordered Samoilov: "A plane from Stalingrad just now landed near the division headquarters. There was a commander on the plane, probably Colonel Witkov, deputy chief of staff of the 62nd Army. You can bring him here immediately."
"Yes!" Samoilov agreed, then turned around and ran out.
A few minutes later, Samoilov indeed walked in from outside with Vitkov.
After saluting both sides, Vetkov gave Sokov a bear hug. His eyes were glowing, and he was extremely excited, and he said incoherently: "Col. Sokov, I really didn't expect that we will meet again." While saying that, he patted Sokov's back hard.
Sokov knew that this was Russian etiquette. The more power the other party used, the more it represented the other party's enthusiasm. Therefore, even though he grinned in pain, he still gritted his teeth and persevered.
After Sokov broke free from Vitkov's clutches, he immediately called the other party to sit down at the table, poured him a cup of hot tea, and asked tentatively: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I want to ask, do you know which unit of the 75th Guard Division changed?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Vitkov grinned: "Col. Sokov, I've guessed you're going to ask this question. Originally, the Front Command planned to transfer the 321st Infantry Division, but the superiors considered that if this ordinary infantry division was replaced with a Guard Division, then your combat cluster can be directly changed to a Guard Army or even a Guard Army in the future."
When Sokov learned that the combat cluster he commanded might become a Guards or Guards Army, he couldn't help but shine. But he quickly returned to normal and continued to ask: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please tell me which unit was this Guards Division adapted from?"
"The 75th Guard Division was adapted from the 95th Infantry Division." Witkov was very familiar with the situation of this unit. Before Sokov asked again, he took the initiative to say: "The division commander Colonel Gorishne and political commissar Colonel Vlashenko, the division was formed in Tula Prefecture on the basis of the 13th Motorized Infantry Division of the People's Commissar of the Internal Affairs and the People's Commissar of the Internal Affairs Department. They entered the city of Stalingrad at the end of September. On October 16, the remnants of the division were organized into the 161st Regiment and remained in the city to continue fighting. The division headquarters and two other regiments under them were ordered to retreat and rest.
Now that they have completed the replenishment, the troops are fully equipped and can undertake combat tasks of any intensity, the superiors will assign the division to you."
If someone else heard the word "full of full members", he didn't know how happy he was. But Sokov was worried. He knew that the division was crippled in the battle to defend Stalingrad. Even if it was supplemented, he might be all the recruits who were replenished. The number of troops increased, but their combat effectiveness was diluted. I'm afraid that they would not be able to count on them at critical moments.
"It turned out to be this division." Although Sokov's troops did not fight side by side with the 95th infantry during the Stalingrad defense battle, in front of everyone, they still have to say what they should say: "They performed very bravely and tenaciously in the battle to defend the city. I believe that in the next battle, they will definitely be able to make greater contributions."
Vitkov did not notice that Sokov said this in a perfunctory tone. He also took the initiative to introduce Sokov to Sokov: "The three infantry divisions assigned to you have their own artillery regiments, plus the artillery division and two guards rocket battalions given by the Front Command, which means that we will not be at a disadvantage in artillery fire."
"In addition to artillery, there are three tank brigades, which is also a force that cannot be underestimated." Sokov added: "But the superiors did not seem to have considered providing us with air cover. If the enemy dispatched air force in the next battle to cover their ground attack forces, no matter how many tanks and artillery we had, it would be useless. As soon as these things appeared, they would become targets of attack by German aircraft."
"What?" Weitkov said in surprise when he heard Sokov complaining that there was no air cover: "Can we not be able to fight without the air force?"
"It's not that we can't fight." Sokov said bitterly: "Only our tanks and artillery have air defense capabilities. If we are attacked by enemy planes, we can only be passively beaten. If the tanks and artillery are destroyed in battle, then what kind of firepower will we use to suppress the German offensive forces in the next battle?"
Bere found that Sokov and Weitkov seemed to have a dispute, so he hurried out to smooth things over: "Two, now our superiors have suddenly given us so many troops, so I think the original defense deployment should be adjusted. Only by placing the troops reasonably can we cooperate with each other when attacked by the enemy."
Chapter completed!