Chapter 1166: Dress Up Program

  Chapter 1166 Dress Up Plan

Sameko, who was criticized by Sokov, said with shame on his face: "Comrade Commander, this is all negligence in my work, because considering that the troops have just arrived in a new area and the daily movements are frequent, if Koski Town strengthens If we are vigilant, it will affect the transfer work."

  Sokov knew very well in his heart that Sameko was the chief of staff of the group army, but most of the time he was just an executor of orders, and the previous commander, Major General Ozerov, arranged the work. However, his answer made Sokov very satisfied, which showed that the chief of staff was a very responsible person and would not easily blame others.

"Because the army has just been formed and has come to a new area, the safety of the army headquarters is the top priority at the moment." Sokov said calmly: "Didn't I bring a guard company with me? Starting tomorrow, they will be responsible for the security of the headquarters."

"That's really great." Sameko agreed with Sokov's statement: "The guard company you brought must have rich security experience. It's really great for them to be responsible for the security of the headquarters. All right."

"Report!" When the two were discussing how to strengthen the security of the headquarters, a commander walked in from outside the door. After raising his hand to salute the two, he reported to Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, Guard Tank Major General Poluboyarov, the commander of the 4th Army, has been ordered to come here, I am at your command, please instruct!"

"General Poluboyarov, you came just in time." Sameko smiled and walked forward, took Poluboyarov's hand, brought him to Sokov, and introduced him: "Let me introduce you to the new commander."

   "The new commander?" Poluboyarov looked at the young Sokov in front of him, and the corner of his mouth twitched quickly: "Is he the new commander?"

"Hello, General Poluboyarov." Without waiting for Sameko to make an introduction, Sokov offered to extend his hand to Poluboyarov and said, "Let's get to know each other, I'm Major General Sokov , has just been transferred from the commander of the Sixth Army to the commander of the 27th Army."

"Sokov?!" Now that Sokov had already stretched out his hand, Poluboyarov couldn't be too impolite. He quickly took Sokov's hand and said thoughtfully, "I seem to be I heard this surname somewhere, but I can't remember it for a while."

"General Poluboyarov, of course you have heard of it." Sameko interrupted and said, "General Sokov has not been the commander of the Sixth Army for a long time. 41 division commander."

"The 41st Guards Division?" Hearing the number of this unit, Poluboyarov raised his eyebrows and asked in surprise, "It was the one that stood firm on the Mamayev Post and kept the German army from approaching the ferry. One step, and finally captured Paulus's 41st Guards Division."

Hearing Poluboyarov's question, Sokov and Sameko glanced at each other. He saw approval in each other's eyes, then turned to Poluboyarov, and replied affirmatively: "No Wrong, Comrade General, the unit I command is indeed the 41st Guards Division you just mentioned."

  I learned that the young and somewhat unusual new commander in front of me was actually the hero who stood firm on Mamayev Post. Poluboyarov hurriedly stood at attention, straightened his back and saluted: "Comrade Commander, Poluboyarov, Commander of the 4th Guards Tank Army, I report to you, I am waiting for your orders, please instruct!"

"General Poluboyarov, don't be so polite." Sokov raised his hand to salute the other party, beckoned him to sit down, and said at the same time: "In the future, we will fight the enemy side by side. You are so polite, please sit down quickly."

   After Poluboyarov sat down, Sokov asked: "General Poluboyarov, your army has just been incorporated into our army, if you have any difficulties, just ask me."

   "Comrade Commander," hearing Sokov's question, Poluboyarov quickly stood up from his seat, straightened his body and said to Sokov, "I happen to have an opinion and I want to raise it with you."

"Sit down and talk, sit down and talk!" Seeing a general who was much older than himself, Sokov was not used to being so respectful to him, so he quickly asked him to sit down again, and then asked with concern: " Feel free to say anything.”

"As soon as our army entered our defense zone, the Army Command ordered us to build fortifications." Poluboyarov said with some displeasure: "According to the construction drawings distributed by superiors, if we really build fortifications in the defense zone , then our tanks have no room to move, and can only be used as fixed turrets in the fortifications. If this is the case, what else do our tank soldiers need to do? Why not just call in two artillery divisions, maybe the effect will be better .”

Sokov could hear the anger in Poluboyarov's tone, so he comforted him and said: "Comrade General, I understand your feelings. If the tank loses its mobility, it can only be used as artillery." , but due to the caliber of tank guns, their usefulness is far from being comparable to that of artillery."

"Comrade Commander, you are right." Seeing that Sokov actually expressed support for himself, Poluboyarov looked surprised, and said quickly: "Our army now has three tank brigades and one infantry brigade, so Equipped with T-34/76 tanks, if we are used as artillery, at best it can only be equivalent to a 76.2 mm caliber cannon division.”

   "Wait a minute, Comrade General." Sokov heard this, and keenly captured a piece of data: "What did you just say, your army is equipped with old-fashioned T-34/76 tanks?"

"Comrade commander, I think you may have made a mistake." Poluboyarov was taken aback for a moment, and then explained to Sokov: "The T-34/76 tank is already the most advanced tank in our army. The tank is probably still under development..."

"No, no, no, General Poluboyarov, don't argue with me." Sukov interrupted Poluboyarov without explanation, "As early as in the Battle of Stalingrad, he was attached to us to fight Our tank brigade is equipped with the latest T-34/85 tanks, which are very effective against the German Tiger tanks."

   "What did you say, Comrade Commander, the tank brigade attached to you is equipped with T-34/85 tanks?" Poluboyarov asked in surprise: "You are not mistaken, are you?"

   "How could it be wrong." Sokov said with some displeasure: "I saw it with my own eyes when the Red October factory handed over the tanks to the troops. Could it be wrong?"

   As a tank army commander, Poluboyarov naturally hopes that his troops can be equipped with the best tanks, so as to improve the survival rate of the troops on the battlefield. After waiting for Sokov to finish speaking, he tentatively asked, "Comrade Commander, do you know when the superior is going to start changing our outfits?"

Sokov recalled the information about the T-34/85 tank in his mind, and remembered that in order to deal with the German Tiger and other new tanks, the Soviet army began to modify the 85mm gun on the T-34 tank in the autumn of 1943, and added a tank crew. Mass production won't start until December. But thanks to its own appearance, the new tank appeared a year earlier and was tested in the battle to defend Stalingrad.

He looked at Poluboyarov and said: "Comrade General, this new type of tank has not only greatly improved its firepower and armor, but also has an additional tank crew. If you want to change your army, I wonder if you have enough tankers to supplement them?"

"Comrade commander, you don't have to worry about this." Poluboyarov said a little excitedly: "Many of the infantry brigades of our army are tank soldiers. If the superiors really change our equipment on a large scale, I can take out the original tank soldiers from the infantry brigade to enrich the re-equipment units."

  Considering the battle of Kursk that will break out in a few months, Sokov feels that if the 4th Guards Tank Corps can be refitted as soon as possible, then they can play a greater role in the next battle. In order to achieve this goal, he decided to get in touch with Yakov to see if the other party could negotiate with Ustinov and give priority to changing equipment for his tank brigade.

However, considering that this matter may be affected by some uncertain factors, he did not give Poluboyarov an accurate answer, but said euphemistically: "Comrade General, I will get in touch with my friends in the Armament Department as soon as possible." , to see if he has a way to replace some tanks for us..."

Poluboyarov's breathing became rapid: "Comrade commander, even if only one tank brigade is replaced, no, one tank battalion is fine. As long as there is a battalion equipped with T-34 and 85 tanks, then our Combat power can be raised to a higher level."

   "I will contact you as soon as possible about the change of clothes." After Sokov finished speaking, he promptly changed the topic to the matter of building fortifications: "Now, let's continue to talk about the fortifications."

Hearing Sokov mention the fortifications, the light in Poluboyarov's eyes suddenly dimmed, he sighed softly, and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, it would be nice if we didn't repair the fortifications. The mobility of our tanks would not be affected."

   "You are right, Comrade General." Sokov said: "I intend to order the troops to stop the construction of all fortifications."

   "Stop the construction of all fortifications?" Poluboyarov asked in surprise: "Why?"

  Sokov thought that instead of explaining to the commanders of the divisions the reasons for not needing to repair the fortifications, it would be better to call them all together and make a unified explanation during the meeting, which would save trouble. Thinking of this, Sokov told Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately call all division and brigade commanders here for a meeting. I have something important to announce to them."

  (end of this chapter)