Chapter 265: The new infantry brigade (3)

  Chapter 265 The New Infantry Brigade (3)

Among the nearly 1,000 soldiers rescued from the prisoner-of-war camp, more than 100 had served as tank soldiers and artillerymen. They were all incorporated into tank companies and artillery companies by Sukov, and the remaining soldiers were enriched to three In an infantry battalion. But even so, to defend a city as large as Kursk, there is still a serious shortage of troops.

After learning about the situation, Belkin proposed: "Comrade Brigadier, since the Front Army Command asked us what difficulties we had in the telegram, you can reply that our existing troops are difficult to hold on to Kursk, please arrive as soon as possible. .”

"I don't think it's necessary." Regarding Belkin's proposal, Sokov said disapprovingly: "Comrade Commissar, the importance of Kursk, the superior leaders know better than you and me, they will never let such a city , fell into the hands of the enemy again, I think all reinforcements will rush here as quickly as possible."

"Comrade Brigadier, I think we have all overlooked a fact." Belkin's expression suddenly became serious: "Although it is only 550 kilometers from here to Moscow, many cities along the way were occupied by the Germans. Reinforcements cannot pass through directly, they must find a way to bypass these German-controlled areas. In this way, the time spent on the road will be greatly extended. Now we can only count on the tanks sent by the front command. military."

  Belkin's words made Sokov dumbfounded. When he calculated the arrival time of the reinforcements, he did ignore the German defense zone of nearly 100 kilometers deep behind the enemy in Kursk and Moscow. The reinforcements sent by the headquarters could not pass through these areas, but could only take Yelets and then through forests and swamps to move closer to Kursk. If the reinforcements take this route, it will take four or five days at the fastest.

  Sokov stared at the map spread out in front of him, thinking in his mind: The Germans knew that Kursk was lost, and they would mobilize heavy troops to rush here in the shortest possible time. With their mobility, if they are fast tomorrow, if they are slow, they will be the day after tomorrow, and they will come to the city. According to my original idea, in the face of the German attack, the troops only need to hold on for a day, and reinforcements will arrive. But at this moment, it seems that they must stick to it for more than three days before they can wait for the arrival of reinforcements.

  Belkin saw Sokov's embarrassment, and said to him: "Comrade brigade commander, there are currently only 1,400 people in the brigade. It is very difficult to block the enemy's attack."

"Yes, it is really difficult to hold Kursk." Sokov raised his head and looked at Belkin and said: "But we have no right to hand over this city to the Germans, so we must find a way to hold it. "

  Belkin and Sokov have been partners for a long time. Hearing him speak in such a tone, he guessed that he must have thought of a good idea, and hurriedly asked: "Comrade Brigadier, you have already thought of a good idea?"

"If the Germans want to capture this city, no matter which direction they come from, they will definitely have a lot of troops. If we deploy our troops evenly around the city, the soldiers who are at a disadvantage in numbers and equipment will not be able to stop the enemy at all. Attack." Sokov patted the map twice with his hand, and then said: "So I decided to deploy only a small number of security forces around the city, and place the main force in the city. Once any direction is attacked by the enemy To attack, the security forces rely on the fortifications outside the city to resist the German attack, while we use the ready-made means of transportation to transport the main force to the warring area."

"This is a good idea." Sokov's thoughts made Belkin's eyes light up: "In addition to the large number of cars left by the German army, there are also a lot of buses in the city. Once the battle starts, we can use These vehicles quickly project troops to the combat area. Yes, yes, it is indeed a good way."

"But this method also has many shortcomings." Sokov sighed and said: "If the enemy attacks the city from two directions at the same time, we can only support it by dividing our troops, so that the defense force will be reduced. Appears weak."

   After talking for a long time, they went back to the issue of insufficient troops. After a long sigh, Belkin proposed: "Comrade Brigadier, I think we should immediately set up a conscription station in the city and recruit recruits from the residents."

Although the establishment of a conscription station has been discussed a long time ago, because Sokov worried that the recruits would dilute the combat effectiveness of the troops, and because he believed that reinforcements would arrive soon, he did not set up a conscription station for a long time. . At this moment, when he heard Belkin's old story brought up again, he hesitated for a while, and finally nodded and said: "Okay, Comrade Political Commissar, I will give you full responsibility for the opening of the conscription station. Remember, if you have been a militiaman or participated in the Residents who have received military training can be given priority in being recruited into the army."

After Belkin left, Sokov called the communication company commander Maxim, handed him a telegram he had drafted, and ordered: "Second Lieutenant Maxim, send this telegram to the commander of the front army immediately. At the same time, send a report to Captain Briski who is still active in the Tim area, telling him to break away from contact with the enemy as soon as possible and rush to Kursk to join the main force.”

When it was dark, Belgin came back from the outside with a tired face, and before Sokov could speak, he reported to him first: "Comrade Brigadier, as soon as we opened several conscription stations in the city, there was a queue at the gate The enthusiasm of the residents was very high. According to incomplete statistics, in just over four hours, we recruited more than 5,000 recruits."

"Five thousand recruits?" Although Sokov felt that Belkin would be able to recruit a lot of recruits. After all, Kursk has a population of about 200,000, but it is said that five thousand people have been recruited. Soko The husband was still taken aback: "Have they all received military training?"

"Yes, Comrade Brigadier." Belkin nodded and said in a positive tone: "Most of them have participated in the militia or received corresponding military training. After they are incorporated into the army, as long as they go through a short After training, you will be able to participate in official battles.”

"Great, this is really great." Sokov remembered that in the documentary that later generations watched, those city residents who participated in the defense of Stalingrad, many of them learned how to use guns after they entered the position, but they didn't know how to use guns. It did not affect their enthusiasm for defending the motherland. The Kursk residents participating today have more or less participated in militia organizations or received military training, and their combat effectiveness will be formed much faster. "We have more than 5,000 recruits, and we will be more confident in defending the city."

The two were talking, when suddenly there was a noise outside: "I want to see the commander, I want to see the commander..." Sokov listened carefully, and it was a few women who spoke, he couldn't help frowning, and rushed He shouted outside the door: "Come here!"

  Following the shout, Sergey Sha, the company commander of the guard, came in: "Comrade Brigadier Commander, what instructions do you have?"

"What's going on outside, why is it so noisy?" Hearing that women were making noise outside, Sokov worried that the soldiers below violated military discipline and the victim came here to complain, so he said to Sergesha with a straight face: " You go out and have a look, and bring in the noisy people."

   After a while, Seryozha came in with two young girls in turbans. Seryozha came up to Sokov, raised his hand in salute, and said to him: "Report to Comrade Brigadier Commander, these two girls want to see you, but our sentries won't let them in, and a quarrel ensued. "

  Seeing that it was the two girls who came, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little bit in his heart. He wondered if someone had violated military discipline, and the two of them came to sue as victims, right? Thinking of this, he pretended to be calm and asked: "You two girls, what can I do for you?"

  A tall girl looked Sokov up and down and found that he was a bit too young, so she asked in a suspicious tone: "Are you the supreme commander here?"

   "Yes, I am the supreme commander." Sokov replied truthfully; "All the troops in the city are under my command."

   "Comrade Commander," the tall girl grabbed Sukov's hand and said excitedly, "I want to sue someone against you."

  The girl's words made Sokov tremble, and he felt more and more that his subordinate must have violated military discipline, otherwise, how could this girl use the word "accusation"? He pretended to be nonchalant and asked, "Girl, I don't know which of my subordinates offended you. Just tell me the truth, and I will definitely punish him severely."

"This girl, is your name Zina?" Belkin, who was standing behind Sokov, took a step forward and said to the girl, "If I remember correctly, your name should be that. ,Right?"

  The tall man looked at Belkin and said lightly: "Yes, you remember correctly, my name is indeed Zina."

   "I think the person you are planning to sue is me, right?"

   "That's right, it's you!"

  The dialogue between the two confused Sokov. If the girl was going to accuse someone else, Sokov would never have the slightest doubt, but at this moment, the object of her accusation is actually Belkin, which is too inconceivable. Sokov hurriedly interrupted and asked, "Can any of you tell me what's going on?"

  Zina pointed at Belkin and said angrily: "My friend and I wanted to sign up for the army, but he mercilessly refused."

  Hearing this, Sokov immediately understood in his heart that it was the two girls who wanted to join the army, but they were rejected by Belkin. They were not convinced, so they came to him to seek justice. Sokov turned his face to Belgin and said: "Comrade Commissar, I remember that the relevant departments once sent a general mobilization to girls all over the Soviet Union, calling on them to take off Bragi, put on military uniforms, and use their youth and blood to defend country. Why are you denying their requests to join the army?"

"Comrade Brigadier," Belgin explained to Sokov, "I once suggested that they go to the health corps, or join the air defense unit, but they refused. They only wanted to go to the front, like the male soldiers, to fight the enemy face to face. Fight. But you also know that I have no right to let my future mother die, so I refused their two requests to join the army."

After figuring out what was going on, Sokov said to Zina: "Comrade Zina, I think Comrade Political Commissar is doing the right thing. There will be a big battle soon. We can't let untrained people go to the battlefield to die. , let alone a few young girls. I will give you two choices now: one is to go to the health team or the air defense force; the other is to go back and continue to be your common people."

   "What if we don't choose both?" Zina said disdainfully: "Do you have to go to the combat army?"

"If you don't choose both, then no one in my defense zone will accept your enlistment." Sokov, in order to increase his persuasiveness, quoted what Belgin said: "You are Future mothers, my duty is to reproduce the life of Russia, not to die at the gunpoint of the enemy, I will be responsible for your safety."

"Comrade Commander," another girl of medium build interrupted quickly when she saw that the two of them were talking more and more stiffly, "Please forgive Zina for her recklessness. Her mother, sister and brother all died at the hands of the Germans." , she wants to avenge her family, that's why she wants to join the front-line combat troops."

  After the girl finished speaking, the room fell into silence. After a long time, Belkin said: "Comrade Zina, I understand your feelings. Many people lost their relatives in the war. But we have no right to let you take risks and treat you like male soldiers." on the most dangerous frontier."

Seeing the tragedy of Zina's family, the two commanders were still not impressed. After a moment of silence, the girl went on to say: "Comrade commander, Zina and I were shooters before the war, which can be considered military training. Please, let us join the combat force!"

   "What, you used to be shooters?" Sokov originally wanted to reject their request to join the army again, but he immediately changed his mind when he heard that the two had been shooters. However, just to be on the safe side, he also deliberately asked: "Have you participated in the competition and won the ranking?"

"Of course I won the ranking," the girl heard Sukov's question, and immediately realized that things had turned around, and said proudly: "We won the first two in the shooting competition held in Kursk Oblast last May." name." She glanced at the angry Zina beside her, and added, "Zina is the champion, and I am the runner-up."

Sokov waited for the girl to finish speaking, and immediately asked, "Girl, what's your name?" When he learned that the two were the champion and runner-up in the shooting competition, he had already made up his mind to include them in the sniper team. detachment.

   "My name is Susanna." After saying her name, the girl asked Sokov nervously: "Comrade commander, can you accept us?"

"Seryozha," Sokov called his guard company commander over and told him, "Take the two of them to try out your guns. If you are good at marksmanship, stay and join the sniper squad in your company. .”

  Seryozha was confused by Sokov's words: "Comrade Brigadier, but we don't have a sniper squad?"

   "From now on," Sokov urged the other party: "Okay, Comrade Seryozha. Don't dawdle, hurry up and take Zina and Susanna to test the gun."

  (end of this chapter)