Chapter 210 First Arrival

   Half an hour later, all officers above the regimental level of the 328th Division came to the meeting. When they received the call, they knew that the new division commander was taking office, so they couldn't help but be full of curiosity, wanting to see what kind of person the superior sent to replace Colonel Ye Lieming. But they saw clearly that sitting with Lobachev was actually a young major, and they couldn't help showing surprised expressions.

Lobachev saw that it was almost time for everyone to come, so he stood up and said, "Commanders, I think everyone knows me, so I won't introduce myself. I'm here today to accompany your new division commander. Yes." After speaking, he turned to look at Sokov who was sitting aside, and said with a smile, "Major Sokov, stand up and meet everyone."

   Sokov stood up, leaning on the edge of the table, nodded to the commanders present, and said, "I am Major Sokov, the new acting commander of the 328th Division."

  The heads of the various regiments sitting below all frowned when they heard that this overly young major was actually the new acting division commander.

Their expressions were all seen by Lobachev. In order to prevent everyone from despising Sukov, he went on to say: "Commanders, I think you still remember that when your division and the 324th Division When you fell into the encirclement of the German army, it was the unit that fought desperately to cut a gap in the encirclement of the German army, allowing you to successfully break out."

"Istria Battalion!" As soon as Lobachev finished speaking, a colonel sitting on the right stood up and raised his voice and said: "If it weren't for them, I think the ending of the commanders here is either sacrifice or death." Captured." The colonel's words immediately resonated with everyone, and everyone said that if it weren't for the Istria camp, it would be impossible to break out of the encirclement of the German army.

   Lieutenant Colonel Potukin, the division chief of staff sitting aside, saw that the room was bustling like a vegetable market, so he quickly patted the table twice with his hands. After the room became a little quieter, he said loudly: "Quiet, please be quiet. Commanders and comrades, please pay attention to your identities. You are regimental commanders, not hawkers in the vegetable market. How can you be so noisy? !"

After Lobachev waited for everyone to regain their composure, he said: "Commanders, I would like to introduce to you now. This Major Sokov is the battalion commander of the Istria Battalion. Under his command, The battalion has achieved brilliant results and became the first grass-roots combat unit named after a place in our army. Letting him serve as the acting division commander of the 328th Division was decided by the group army after collective research and reported to the front army headquarters for approval..."

  When the commanders present learned from Lobachev that Sokov was the commander of the unit that rescued them from the brink of destruction, they looked at him with curiosity and approval. But some people still think in their hearts: Although the Istria battalion he commanded has achieved considerable results, he is a battalion commander after all, and he has jumped a few ranks to become the acting division commander. Is he qualified for this position? ?

   After Lobachev introduced Sokov's identity, he said a few more words and left voluntarily. At the gate of the division, he said to Sokov who sent him out: "Major Sokov, I have done everything I can do for you. Whether you can lead this heroic unit well depends entirely on you." .”

"Don't worry, Comrade Military Commissioner." In order not to disappoint Lobachev, Sokov said with a smile: "As long as the superiors complete the replenishment of troops as soon as possible, I think that in the next battle, the 328th Division will definitely be able to A brilliant record has been achieved.”

   "I believe in you, Major Sokov." Regarding Sokov's statement, Lobachev expressed his attitude without hesitation. He held out his hand to Sokov and said sincerely: "I am waiting for your good news. Good luck!"

   After Lobachev's jeep left, Sokov returned to the division headquarters. Standing in his place, he said to everyone: "Commanders, let's get to know each other." He pointed to the right, "Let's start with the commander sitting on the right."

  The first Chief of Staff Potukin who stood up to introduce himself, sat on his right hand was Colonel Bindasov, the head of the 1135th Regiment, who was also the colonel who stood up and spoke on his own initiative just now. Sokov had a good impression of him, and as soon as he finished speaking, he continued to ask: "Comrade Colonel, how many troops does your regiment have?"

"There are 675 members in the regiment, including 423 combat soldiers." Bindasov immediately replied respectfully when he heard Sokov's question: "When we broke through, all the heavy weapons in the regiment were lost. , I don’t know if the teacher can add some for us.”

Regarding Bindasov's request, Sokov was silent for a moment, and then said: "Comrade Colonel, as far as I know, in the near future, the superior will replenish our division with troops and consumed weapons and ammunition. Provide some. At that time, I will give priority to your group."

"This is really great." After receiving Sokov's promise, Bindasov showed a surprised expression on his face, "Comrade commander, if the superior can replenish us with the necessary heavy weapons, we will be able to fight in the next battle." In the middle, our regiment will definitely achieve results that satisfy you.” The next two people, the political commissar and chief of staff of the 1135th regiment, also expressed their attitudes and talked with Bindasov. Similar words.

When a lieutenant colonel on the left stood up, Potukin hurriedly introduced to Sokov: "Comrade commander, this is Lieutenant Colonel Pavel, chief of staff of the 1137th regiment, the regiment commander died in the battle. "

"Sacrificed?" Sokov couldn't help being stunned for a moment when Potukin said this, and then he looked at Lieutenant Colonel Pavel and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, how did your regiment leader sacrifice? Can you tell me?" say?"

Pavel, who was asked, nodded and said, "During the battles a few days ago, our regiment was the vanguard of the whole division. During our pursuit, we encountered a sudden counterattack from the Germans. They took the regiment by surprise. The headquarters and subordinate troops were separated, and then the tank detachment was used to carry out an assault on the location of the regiment headquarters. When the comrade commander was commanding the retreat, a tank shell fell on his side and exploded. After the smoke cleared, I I saw him lying in a pool of blood..."

   Pavel stopped suddenly when he said this. Seeing the painful expression on his face, Sokov nodded at him and said, "Please sit down, Lieutenant Colonel Pavel, I declare that from now on, you will be the acting commander of the 1137th Regiment. In the offensive battle, we must severely attack the Japanese aggressors and avenge the sacrificed comrades in arms.”

  After the meeting, Potukin saw that only he and the new acting division commander were left in the room, so he asked curiously: "Comrade division commander, will the superiors really replenish our troops, weapons and ammunition?"

   "Yes," Sokov nodded and said affirmatively, "At least that's what the chief of staff, General Malinin, told me."

Hearing what Sokov said, Potukin couldn't help showing a disappointed expression on his face: "Comrade Commander, as early as two months ago, Colonel Yelemin was notified by his superiors that he would replenish our troops, weapons and ammunition. Unexpectedly, after waiting for a month, the superior suddenly said that it was temporarily unable to replenish, and asked us to find a way to replenish the troops from the wounded who were discharged from the hospital. As for weapons, they provided some, but they were all light weapons, and there were no heavy weapons at all. It is because of this that during the recent attack, the artillery battalions of the divisions had no shells at all, so that when they retreated, they had to throw away the artillery without shells."

"Why, there is an artillery battalion in the division?" Sokov always thought that there were three infantry regiments in the division, plus a few directly subordinate troops, but he did not expect that there was an artillery battalion. How many people are left?"

"There are not many people. After all, they lost a lot when they broke through." Potukin silently counted the number of people in his mind, and replied: "There are still more than 60 people left in the artillery battalion, and the rest of the tank battalion. About the same number of people."

  Potukin’s words contained so much information that Sokov asked in surprise, “What, what, there is actually a tank battalion in the division?”

"That's right, there used to be a tank battalion with 28 tanks." When Potukin said this, a regretful expression appeared on his face: "It's a pity that this tank battalion has never been able to get any more tanks since the big counter-offensive under the city of Moscow." Any additions. No, only the few remaining tanks were lost in the previous battle."

The conversation with Potukin made Sokov realize that the 328th Division was different from his own imagination to a certain extent. It not only has three infantry regiments, but also tank battalions and artillery battalions. If these two battalions can be supplemented Standing up can greatly remind the combat effectiveness of the whole division.

  Thinking of this, he pouted at the phone on the table and asked Potukin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, can this phone contact the Army Command?"

   "Yes." Potukin nodded, and then asked back: "Comrade commander, do you want to talk to the headquarters?"

"Yes," Sokov thought of the tank platoon and artillery platoon in his Istria battalion. effect. But before that, the first thing to consider is to supplement the two battalions with the necessary tanks and artillery. "I have something important to talk to Chief of Staff Malinen."

  The phone was connected quickly, and an unfamiliar voice came from the receiver: "This is the Army Group Command, where are you?"

"Hello!" Sokov guessed that the person answering the phone might be a staff officer in the headquarters, so he took the initiative to identify himself: "I am Major Sokov, the acting division commander of the 328th Division, and I have important matters to ask Staff Officer Malinin long."

  After the other party heard Sokov's voice clearly, he immediately said politely: "Comrade Major, please wait a moment, I will help you get through to the chief of staff immediately."

   Soon, Malinin's voice came from the receiver: "Is it Sokov? I'm Malinin. I heard that you have something important to ask me. Tell me if you have anything to say."

"That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff." Although Sokov felt that Orel and Kazakov would be more suitable for tanks and artillery, if he directly passed Malinin, who was in charge of the overall situation of the army group, it would definitely cause trouble. The other party was dissatisfied, so after some consideration, he decided to vent to Ma Lining first: "The 328th Division originally had a tank battalion and an artillery battalion, but all the tanks and artillery were lost in the last battle. Yes. I would like to ask, can the superior replenish the lost tanks and artillery for my division?"

When Ma Linin heard Sokov's question, he couldn't help laughing: "Major Sokov, you entered the role very quickly. You just became the acting commander of the 328th Division, and you started to think about everything for the division. .”

   "Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said with a smile into the microphone, "Since the superior appointed me as the acting division commander of this division, I must stand on the position of this division when I think about it."

"Don't worry, Major Sokov." Malinin looked up at the artillery commander Kazakov who was sitting not far away, and the armored master Orel, and said to the microphone with a smile: "The tanks and tanks that your division needs I will give you all the artillery. However, the supplements given to us by the superior are still on the way, and you still need to wait patiently for a while."

   After saying these words, Ma Lining was silent for a moment, and then asked: "How is it, Misha, how does it feel to be this teacher?"

   Regarding this question from Malinin, Sokov originally wanted to answer: "It's like walking on thin ice when you are facing an abyss." But after searching for vocabulary in my mind for a long time, I unexpectedly found that it was difficult to translate these two words accurately, so I could only change the way of saying: "I feel that I am under a lot of pressure, and I am afraid that I will not be able to lead this army. My superiors trust me."

"Misha, let me tell you a piece of gossip." Seeing that there was no one else around, Ma Lining said in a low voice, "As far as I know, the superior originally planned to award your division the honorary title of the 31st Guards Division. The battle was defeated, so the work of reorganizing into the Guards Division was postponed. If you perform well in the next battle, you will soon change from the 328th Infantry Division to the 31st Guards Infantry Division. But if you cannot If any battle results are achieved, perhaps this glorious designation will be awarded to other troops by the headquarters."

  Malinin's words doubled the pressure on Sokov's shoulders. He knew very well in his heart that if the 328th Division he commanded would not have any dazzling record in the new round of offensive. Not only has his acting division commander come to an end, but even the number of the guard division that the 328th division is about to obtain will also be cancelled. At that time, I will become a sinner in the history of the 328th Division, and my future will become bleak from then on.

Thinking of this, Sokov immediately stated to Malinin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please rest assured. As long as the superiors replenish us with soldiers and weapons and equipment, if I cannot command the troops to achieve brilliant results in the next battle, you I can be court-martialed."

  (end of this chapter)