Although Luhansk will become an important battlefield in a few days, Sokov knew in his heart that it was too early to adjust the actual deployment of troops at this moment.
Although Rokosovsky was so generous, he immediately handed over to his three guard divisions and two tank brigades, take-out artillery divisions and rocket artillery battalions. However, these troops were still on the road, and some were even in a state of assembly and had not left their original defense areas. If they were freed up the defense zone too early, once the battle started and they did not arrive at the battlefield on time, then the defense system here would have the possibility of collapse.
It is precisely for this reason that Sokov told Vetkov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, we can divide the defense zones of each division on the map, but the troops in the existing defense zones will not be mobilized. It is not too late to wait until the troops of each division arrive. The troops originally stationed will be transferred to the defense."
Witkov thought for a while and immediately understood Sokov's intentions. He nodded and asked, "Comrade Commander, I want to ask, which division do you plan to take charge of the city's defense?"
"Colonel Gorishne's Guards 75th Division," Gorishne's troops suffered heavy losses in the early battles. Although they had been supplemented, most of the supplementary soldiers were recruits with no combat experience. If they were placed outside the city to fight positions with the German army, Sokov was worried, so he decided to let them stay in the city, relying on the newly built fortifications to fight street battles with the enemies rushing into the city. However, in front of everyone, he had another reason: "The division had experience in street fighting in Stalingrad. I want them to take on defense tasks in the city, which should be the most suitable."
As the former deputy chief of staff of the 62nd Army, Vitkov naturally agreed with Sokov's arrangement: "Well, that's right, the Gorishne Division once fought in Stalingrad for three months, and their divisions served as the city's defense, which should be very appropriate."
"What about the 67th and 71st Divisions of the Guards?"
"General Merkulov," Since Merkulov, commander of the 67th Guard Division, is here, Sokov still needs to ask for the other party's opinions before assigning the mission to see if he has any ideas: "I plan to deploy your division and the 71st Guard Division in the north or south of the city. I want to ask you, where do you think your division is more appropriate?"
"Comrade Commander," said Merkulov unexpectedly, "Why should we be placed in the north or south of the city? You must know that in both directions, friendly troops are stationed. If our division is deployed here, it is probably impossible to get a war. At that time, the commanders and soldiers will have opinions."
"General Merkulov," Sokov felt that some things must be made clear to these subordinates, so as not to have any ideas: "According to my judgment, if the German army wants to attack Lugansk, the west side will be their main attack direction. My 41st Guard Division is the best at fighting defensive wars, and we are responsible for the defense in this direction, which can completely block the enemy's attack. The reason why you are deployed in the north and south directions is to protect the flanks of our division from the German attack."
Merkulov stood beside Sokov, stared at the map for a long time, and finally said, "Comrade Commander, judging from the enemy-to-me situation on the map, it is possible for the German army to launch an attack from the southwest direction. I think, let my division be stationed here to cover your left wing."
Sokov had seen the battle of the 67th Guards Division with his own eyes and had a certain understanding of the combat effectiveness of the division. Moreover, from various signs, after defeating the Southwest Front, the German army would definitely attack Lugansk. In addition to being directly west, it is also possible that the German army's attacks in the southwest direction may also be the focus of the German attack in the southwest direction. It is entirely necessary to leave a trustworthy army.
"Okay," Sokov stood up straight and said to Merkulov: "Then I will hand over the defenses to you in the south of the city. In the nearby town of Bire, there is a regiment of the 379th Infantry Division. You must establish contact with them as soon as possible. After the battle begins, you can cooperate with each other."
After seeing off Merkulov and others, Vetkov pointed at the defensive positions on the map several times and asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade Commander, what do these troops do? I remember you don't seem to have so many tanks and artillery?"
Bere, who was standing by, heard Vitkov's question, laughed and explained: "Comrade Chief of Staff, our division does not have so many artillery and tanks. All you see are fake positions we prepared for the German army."
"Fake position?" Witkov asked in confusion: "Is this necessary?"
"It's totally necessary." Bere continued: "The German army launched an attack from the west of the city a few days ago, and 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 the positions that were bombarded would inevitably cause great casualties to our army."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I want to take a few days to launch a large-scale attack on Lugansk. If we don't place more fake positions to share the enemy's firepower, there will probably be many commanders and fighters who will be killed and killed in the enemy's shelling and bombing." Sokov emphasized: "We must also ask each division to build more fake fortifications to achieve the goal of confusing the enemy."
"What kind of battle do you think if Lugansk really fights here?" Witkov asked Sokov tentatively: "Do you think you will have another city offensive and defensive battle like Stalingrad?"
"No, there will never be any more urban offensive and defensive battles like Stalingrad here." Sokov explained: "First, the city of Lugansk is too small to stock up too many troops; secondly, the city is not backed by the river like Stalingrad. Once the German army deviates from both wings, we may soon fall into the enemy's encirclement."
"How is the material reserves in the city?" Since Sokov took the initiative to mention that the city might fall into siege, Vitkov asked, "I don't know how long it can last?"
"The original material reserves are enough for our division to use for three months." Cidolin said on the side: "But when the troops sent by our superiors arrive, these materials may only last forty days."
"Does it take to request supplies from superiors?" Witkov asked.
"Even if we apply to our superiors like this, we may not have enough capacity to meet our needs." Sokov said with a wry smile: "When the materials come, the battle here will probably end long ago."
"Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin," considering that Vitkov is now his chief of staff, if he calls Sidolin the chief of staff again, it would probably be confused. Sokov called Sidolin by military rank: "Immediately arrange a residence for the chief of staff. He has been on the plane for so long, so he must be tired. Let him have a good rest."
…………
The next morning, Shivakov and Yegorov also rushed to the cluster headquarters under the protection of the guard platoon and reported to Sokov and Vitkov.
After saluting each other, Shivakov and Sokov came with a warm hug and said excitedly: "Comrade Commander, I really didn't expect that we can fight together again."
"In addition to your division, we are also in the combat cluster troops, and there are also Merkulov's 67th Guard Division." Sokov brought Sivakov to the wall and pointed to the map and said to him: "Their 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, Shivakov said with some regret: "It's a pity that the Makarenko Division was not able to join this time, otherwise our original troops would be complete."
From Sivakov's tone, Sokov heard that the other party seemed to know some of the Makarenji Division's situation, so he asked curiously: "Comrade Colonel, do you know how the Makarenji Division's been doing recently? The superiors were originally planning to organize them into the combat cluster, but later they didn't know what happened, and they temporarily replaced it with the 75th Guard Division."
Chapter completed!