Chapter 1644

  The award application form of the 98th Guards Division appeared on the desktop of the headquarters in less than an hour. In order to show the importance attached to this matter, it was Chuvashov who sent it in person.

   Sokov took the application form from Chuvashov, glanced at it casually, and handed it to Lunev. There is a specialization in the field of surgery, and Lunev has always been responsible for awarding honors or awards to commanders and fighters. Even if Sukov wanted to ask, he didn't know how to do it, so he simply let the other party freely.

   "Colonel Chuvashov," Sokov asked Chuvashov curiously after he sat down, "This kind of application form can be sent by a messenger at random. Why do you need to go there yourself?"

   "Comrade Commander, I was worried that the road would be unsafe and the correspondent might be in trouble, so I sent it here myself."

  Sokov couldn't help frowning when he heard this, and said to himself that the city of Klemenchug is your division's defense zone, and your division headquarters is less than two blocks away from me. Are you safe on my way? The defenders in the City of Emotions are all decorations, so they can't even guarantee the safety of the two blocks along the way?

Seeing Sokov's serious expression, Chuvashov realized that his far-fetched excuse was seen through by the other party, so he could only laugh a few times, and then explained: "Comrade commander, I just returned to the headquarters, and I heard that Uzako Lieutenant Colonel Fu said that in recognition of the achievements of the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion, you will not only award honors to the combatants, but even promote their ranks. I came here to verify the accuracy of this news."

"That's right, Comrade Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov is right, we have indeed informed you that way." Seeing that Chuvashov moved his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, Sokov added: "However, in addition to awarding honors and promotions, we have other considerations for the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion."

   "What consideration?"

   "I plan to expand them into a women's anti-aircraft artillery regiment so that they can have a stronger strength to ensure the air defense work in the defense zone."

"Great, this is really great." Chuvashov couldn't help brows happily when he learned that the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion would be expanded into a regiment, and said repeatedly: "For us, this is really great news. "

   "Colonel Chuvashov," Sameko walked over from the side, stared at Chuvashov with strange eyes and asked, "The women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion has expanded into a regiment. What are you happy about?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Chuvashov did not understand what Sameko said, and explained to him solemnly: "Have you forgotten that the Women's Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion belongs to the 239th Guards Artillery of our division?" group."

"The reason why the Women's Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion belongs to the 239th Guards Artillery Regiment is simply because when the troops were reorganized, there were not enough artillery in your division." Sameko considered this matter sooner or later and told Chuvashov. Here at this moment, I simply told him the next step of the headquarters: "Now that they are going to be expanded into a regiment, they will naturally be transferred from your division and reassigned to the headquarters for direct command."

  The smile on Chuvashov's face gradually disappeared, and soon he asked Sameko with a bitter face: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is what you said true? You can't make a joke about this kind of thing."

"The chief of staff is not joking, this is all true." Sokov said: "The reason why the enemy plane was able to break into the city so smoothly today is that the air defense units along the way did not perform their duties well. In order to avoid similar When the situation arises, I think the headquarters should have an anti-aircraft artillery unit under direct command, and Major Lida's women's anti-aircraft artillery regiment is undoubtedly the best candidate."

   "Not Major Lida, but Captain..."

Sameko interrupted Chuvashov, who was about to correct Sokov, and explained to him: "We have already greeted Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov. Promote them to the military rank. Captain Lida will soon become Major Lida, and Comrade Commander will call her that in advance, so there should be no problem."

   "No, no." Chuvashov didn't dare to refute, so he could only echo: "Of course you can call her Major Lida."

   "Comrade Commander," Lunev, who had reviewed the application form, raised his head and said to Sokov, "My work is done, we can go to the Women's Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion."

  Anyway, various medals have been prepared long ago, so Sokov said straightforwardly: "Okay, then let's set off now."

Seeing Chuvashov sitting at the table in a daze, Sokov naturally would not leave him behind: "Comrade Colonel, you can go with us too. Anyway, the Women's Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion is still under the organizational structure of your division." within."

  Since Sokov called his name, Chuvashov had no choice but to stand up, bite the bullet and replied: "Okay, Comrade Commander, I will go with you to the Women's Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion."

  Ten minutes later, Sokov and others arrived at the station of the Women's Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion.

  Lida and Ulanova, who had heard the news long ago, led the entire battalion commanders and fighters, and lined up to welcome the arrival of Sokov and his party. With them were Lieutenant Colonel Dobrushin, the deputy division commander, and Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov, chief of staff.

  After the jeep that Sokov was riding stabilized, Dobrushin and Uzakov hurried forward to help Sokov open the door. But the front door of the jeep opened, and division commander Chuvashov got out of the car, went to the rear door first, and opened the door. And block the upper part of the door with one hand to prevent Sokov from bumping his head.

   Seeing the teacher behave so attentively, both Dobrushin and Uzakov were surprised. But their first task was to meet Sokov, and there was no time to think about other things. After Sokov stood up straight, the two raised their hands in salute and said in unison: "Comrade Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Dobrushin (Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov) of the 98th Guards Division is reporting to you. , welcome to the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion."

After Sokov and Lunev shook hands with the two, Lida and Ulanova also came over. They followed the example of the two division chiefs and raised their hands to report to Sokov: "Comrade Commander! , Captain Lida (instructor Captain Ulanova) of the Women's Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion reports to you, we welcome you on behalf of all commanders and fighters, and welcome you to the Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion for inspection."

Looking at the two young female commanders in front of him, Sokov put on a straight face on purpose and said solemnly: "It's not Captain Lida, but Major Lida. From now on, you are not the battalion commander, but Captain. And you, Captain Ulanova, from now on, you are the political commissar of the Women's Antiaircraft Artillery Regiment. You all report to me again!"

  Hearing that their military rank had been promoted to one level and their positions had also been promoted, Lida and Ulanova blushed with excitement. They hurriedly re-reported their military ranks and positions according to Sokov's request.

   After waiting for Lida and Ulanova to report, Sokov turned to Lunev who was beside him and said, "Comrade Military Commissar, start announcing orders."

   Lunev nodded, took out a folded piece of paper from his clothes pocket, took two steps forward, and then began to announce the order of honors and promotions to the Women's Antiaircraft Artillery Battalion.

  The female soldiers in the queue burst into cheers when they learned that not only could they receive medals, but their military ranks had also been promoted.

  Facing the reaction of the female soldiers, Sokov just watched with a smile on his face, not intending to stop them at all. After finally calming down in the queue, Sokov officially announced: "The medals will now be awarded."

  Because there are no pins in this era, to wear a medal, you must use an awl to drill two holes in the clothes, and then fix the medal on the clothes. If there were only a few or even a dozen commanders who received the medals today, Sokov would definitely arrange special staff to help them wear the medals. However, there are hundreds of people awarded this time. Considering the large amount of work and the fact that Sokov could not stay here for a long time, he adopted a compromise method, sending the medal directly to each commander, so that they could Wear it yourself.

   Lunev brought more than 20 political workers over this time. Following an order, these political workers with large backpacks began to distribute medals to the female soldiers. In less than five minutes, hundreds of red silk boxes containing medals were distributed to each female soldier.

Seeing that the awarding work was completed, Lida finally had time to ask Sokov her own questions: "Comrade Commander, you just said that I am the head of the regiment, and Ulanova is the political commissar of the regiment. I would like to ask, do you Which unit are you going to transfer us to?"

"Since you are anti-aircraft artillery, it is obviously inappropriate for you to be the commander of the infantry." Sokov explained to Lida and Ulanova: "So I plan to expand the women's anti-aircraft artillery regiment into a regiment. At the same time, it was reassigned to the direct command of the headquarters."

  After listening to Sokov's explanation, Lida and Ulanova looked at each other, and they both saw surprise in each other's eyes. Then Lida asked again: "Comrade Commander, I wonder where you plan to replenish the necessary troops for us?"

"I don't have soldiers in my hands, everything depends on you." Sokov said to Lida: "From now on, you can start recruiting new soldiers. Remember, only recruit female soldiers, and recruit as many as you can. , I hope you can fill up the newly expanded troops in a short time."

   "Comrade Commander, how much time can you give me?" Lida asked tentatively.

  Sokov thought for a while, then stretched out three fingers: "Three days, I will give you three days at most."

   "Ah, there are only three days." Lida said with some surprise, "I'm afraid I won't be able to make up the two newly added battalions in such a short period of time."

"I would like to give you a little longer, too, but I can't, Major Lida." Sokov smiled wryly and explained to Lida: "In three days at most, we will hand over Klemenchug to the friendly army. Wait This has become a defense zone for friendly forces. I am afraid that it is not suitable for us to conscript. In this way, you will have to wait until the main force takes other big cities before you have a chance to conscript. Therefore, you must seize the only three days Time, recruit as many recruits as possible to enrich your anti-aircraft artillery regiment."

  Sokov's words gave Lida a sense of urgency. If she couldn't recruit enough people within three days, she would have to wait until the troops captured the new city before they had the chance to replenish again. However, judging from the current situation, the German army is constantly attacking the landing field, and whether it can hold the landing field is a problem, let alone capture new cities.

   "Comrade Commander," Ulanova, who had been silent all this time, finally found a chance to speak: "Recruiting recruits is certainly important, but we don't have enough anti-aircraft weapons, so even recruiting more recruits is useless."

Lida was reminded of Ulanova's words, she nodded her head and echoed: "Yes, Comrade Commander. If there are not enough anti-aircraft weapons, no matter how large our anti-aircraft artillery regiment is, at best it can only be equivalent to the current establishment."

"You two don't have to worry about the anti-aircraft weapons." Sokov said with a smile: "The superior has promised to provide us with 24 85mm anti-aircraft guns and 36 14.5mm quadruple anti-aircraft machine guns in the near future. How is it, so many weapons are enough to equip your whole regiment?"

   "Enough is enough." Hearing the data reported by Sokov, Lida nodded happily: "With so many anti-aircraft weapons, not to mention enriching the whole regiment, even forming another regiment is enough."

Although Sokov rejected Sameko's proposal to form two anti-aircraft artillery regiments when he was at the headquarters, his thoughts changed at this time. If he really had two women's anti-aircraft artillery regiments in his hand, It means that the air defense force has been greatly improved. Thinking of this, he tentatively asked Lida: "What do you think about forming two women's anti-aircraft artillery regiments?"

Facing Sokov's inquiry, Lida hesitated for a few seconds, and then replied cautiously: "Comrade Commander, it is entirely up to you to set up several women's anti-aircraft artillery regiments. To form a strong anti-aircraft firepower, the antiaircraft artillery unit Naturally, the more the better, I'm just worried that under the current circumstances, it may be difficult to recruit enough soldiers."

"No hurry, no rush, I just asked casually." Sokov didn't expect to get a satisfactory answer from Lida, so he said with a smile on his face: "I think that if we want to recruit troops on a large scale, we need to form two or more More women's anti-aircraft artillery regiments, we need to capture more big cities on the right bank of the Dnieper to do this."

Uzakov learned from Chuvashov that Sokov planned to assign the women's anti-aircraft artillery unit to the direct control of the group army, so he came over and asked: "Comrade commander, I heard that you plan to transfer the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion. Walk?"

   "Yes, I do have this plan." Sokov tilted his head and glanced at Chuvashov who was talking to Lunev in the distance, and added: "Your division commander should be very clear about this."

   "The division commander told me this news." Uzakov asked anxiously: "If the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion is transferred away, how should we solve the air defense problem of our division?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov, your division will be deployed soon. There is very little chance of being attacked by enemy planes, so it doesn't matter whether there is an air defense force or not." Sokov said here, and found that Uzako The husband's face was livid, so he comforted him and said: "If you feel that you must retain a certain amount of air defense force, you can form another anti-aircraft artillery company or even an anti-aircraft artillery battalion in the division."

  Uzakov stared at Sokov for a long time, finally nodded slowly and said: "It seems that this is the only way. I wonder if the superior can provide us with some anti-aircraft weapons?"

Sokov thought that Lida's women's anti-aircraft artillery regiment would not be able to use up the anti-aircraft weapons he was about to obtain from the Front Army Command. Even if a part was allocated to the 98th Guards Division, it would be insignificant, so he nodded and replied straightforwardly: "No Question, after the women's anti-aircraft artillery battalion leaves, I will replenish some anti-aircraft weapons for you as soon as possible."

  (end of this chapter)