Before Colonel berey arrived, Xie jerikov and others who learned that I had returned to the headquarters had rushed over.
Shejerikov didn't come alone. He was followed by two commanders. My eyes were sharp. As soon as the three entered the door, I recognized the major on his right hand. It was major basmanov, my former deputy battalion commander of the guard camp; And the man on the left, who looked very nice, I thought a little, and then remembered that this was captain Rosenberg.
The three men came up to me, stopped, raised their hands and saluted. First of all, Sergeant shijerikov reported to me: "Comrade commander, Sergeant shijerikov, the former commander of the 22nd division of the guards, reported to you that we have successfully highlighted the encirclement of the German army. We have come to report to you and are waiting for your orders. Please give us instructions!"
When I saw the old subordinate appear in front of me again, I couldn't control my emotions. I stepped forward, grabbed his arms, shook them hard, and choked back the tears that were about to burst out of my eyes. I said: "Lieutenant Colonel xiejerikov, on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the sixth regiment of the guards, welcome to you." After that, I blinked a few times, and then said, "it doesn't matter if the troops are finished. As long as you are still the commander, then we can rebuild the 22nd division of the guards and let you be the commander again."
Originally thought that he would be blamed, after listening to my words, the guilty expression on his face disappeared. Instead, he was surprised and asked, "Comrade commander, can I really rebuild my regiment?"
"Yes, yes, comrade commander." The independent division is my old army. How can I watch it disappear? As long as it is possible, I will rebuild it as soon as possible. Therefore, I made a special wish to shejerikov: "put it down. It will only take a week at most, and your regiment will be rebuilt again."
After I finished, Xie jielikov asked cautiously: "Comrade commander, if we want to rebuild a regiment, don't we know there are enough commanders and soldiers now?"
Although it was my temporary intention to rebuild a regiment, there was no problem with the soldiers. Just reorganize the nearby militia into a regular army. Anyway, more than 100 people who broke through the encirclement this time can be used as the backbone of the fighting to enrich the army. I believe that this rebuilt army will soon become effective.
After careful consideration, I said to shijerikov, "Comrade commander, I can incorporate the militia of the nearby towns into your new army. And the more than 100 people who broke through the encirclement together with you have been recruited into the army as the backbone of the fighting, so that they can serve as grassroots commanders. In this way, the army can form combat effectiveness in a very short period of time. "
When I said that, I took a look at major basmanov next to him and said apologetically, "Comrade major, originally I wanted you to go to the military and police regiment of the group, but now the new regiment of commander xiejerikov needs you more. You should go to his regiment first to be the chief of staff of the regiment. You don't have a problem, do you? "
When busmanov heard me call his name, he quickly stepped forward two steps and stood side by side with shejerikov. After looking at each other, he turned to look at me and replied, "Comrade commander, I will obey your orders."
Seeing that neither sjerykov nor basmanov had any objection, I turned my eyes to captain Rosenberg again. I only took one look, then I turned my eyes to sjerykov and said to him, "Comrade commander, you must have known captain Rosenberg behind you, don't you?"
"Yes, comrade commander." When shejerikov heard my question, he immediately replied positively, "in the battle of seizing the bridge over the Dnieper River, comrade captain made great achievements. If it wasn't for him to take advantage of the night and risk to cross the river, we would have a front and back attack. Perhaps our army will make greater sacrifice in the battle of seizing the bridge. "
"Comrade commander, since you know captain Rosenberg, it's easy to do." When I saw that xiejerikov knew the details of Rosenberg, I was relieved, so that I could arrange his post: "let him be a battalion commander in your regiment. I don't know what you think?"
Xiejerikov listened to my question, looked back at Rosenberg behind him, nodded his head and agreed: "Comrade commander, I also think that with the ability of Captain Rosenberg, we can hold a higher position."
"Since you don't have any opinions, let's make a decision." After I finished this sentence, I suddenly remembered that I had never seen gramus before, so I couldn't help asking, "by the way, when I just went to the barracks, I heard that you and gramus, the defecting German soldiers, had gone to other places."
"Yes," shejerikov did not deny my question and explained to me, "after the military commissar and chief of staff came to you, a group of officers and men from the Ministry of interior said they would examine captain gramus and his defectors. I was afraid that something might happen to them, so I went with busmanov and Rosenberg. Before leaving, I sent someone to inform the military commissar, but in order to prevent him from worrying, I didn't ask anyone to explain where we went. "
On hearing that, I immediately criticized him: "Comrade commander, do you know? It's totally wrong of you to do so. Why don't you talk to the military commissar about such a big thing. If anything happens to you, we just can't help you. " Although there is a large number of interior troops stationed in the military area, I am not afraid of them at the moment, because I still have the warrant given to me by belia, and I can mobilize the local interior troops at any time as needed.
Xiejerikov immediately blushed, bowed his head and apologized to me in a low voice: "sorry, comrade commander, I was wrong. The reason why I don't explain to the military commissar where we have gone is because I'm afraid that he will be worried and that if anything happens, it will affect you. "“ Come on, stop it. " I impatiently interrupted his explanation, then said to him with a straight face: "Comrade commander, please remember that I am now the commander of the group army, and I have more power than when I was a division commander or a military commander before. No matter what happens to my men, as long as they don't mutiny and flee, I can save you from the house forces. Do you see what I mean? "“ I see He replied with some embarrassment“ "Colonel bezikov," I saw that shejerikov took the initiative to admit his mistake to me, and did not continue to blame him. Instead, I turned around and called bezikov over, and told him, "the reconstruction of the regiment is up to you and lieutenant colonel shejerikov. Remember, troops must be rebuilt in a week and put into training immediately. Do you understand? "“ I see Bezikov readily agreed, and then asked, "what about the weaponry?" Since the equipment of the two divisions of the first line of defense was changed some time ago, there is no shortage of equipment in the reconstruction regiment. I said to bzikov succinctly, "the 51st and 52nd divisions of the guards have just replaced a batch of equipment, so they gave it to Lt. Col. xijerikov."“ OK, I'll arrange it now. " With that, he left the headquarters with the three of them. Not long after they had left, Colonel berey came to the headquarters in a hurry. As soon as he entered the door, he saw captain shamrih standing beside them. They immediately met each other in surprise and took the initiative to greet each other, saying, "my God, I didn't expect you to break out of Kiev."“ Comrade brigade commander, I didn't expect to see you here. " When they saw the deputy commander of the 22nd brigade of their former tank brigade, they were very excited. They crowded to the side of Colonel bere and began to talk with him. After they had exchanged greetings, I called berey in front of me and discussed with him, "Comrade Colonel, do you think we should set up another tank brigade or allocate them directly to the two existing tank brigades?"“ Comrade commander, "after listening to what I said, don't think about it for a moment. Then he replied," at present, our tank army has limited tanks and soldiers. If we want to build another brigade, I don't think it's realistic. " At this point, he saw my face showing an expression of displeasure, and quickly added: "of course, Captain shamrih, I know the abilities of several of them. They are all qualified tank commanders. If they are allowed to serve as infantry again, they will be a bit inferior. How about this? I'll put them in my army headquarters first to adapt. If there are suitable posts, I'll send them to the army immediately. Comrade commander, do you think so? " Since Colonel bierre has said this, I can't refute it any more. I have to follow his meaning and say, "Comrade Colonel, you have considered it very carefully. Let them work in your military headquarters for a period of time, and then send them to the grass-roots units after they have adapted to the environment." Because I know the cruelty of the battle in Kursk, I don't worry that Brey will break his promise at all. When the commanders at all levels of the tank army suffer heavy casualties, excellent tank commanders like Sharm RIH will become hot spots. Seeing that the work of shamrih and others had been arranged, I waved to bierre and said, "well, comrade Colonel, you can leave. We should pay close attention to the training of tank troops. The Germans may attack us in the near future. If our tank forces are too weak, they will not be able to resist the attack of German armored forces. Do you understand? "“ I understand After answering, berey saluted me and left the headquarters with three new subordinates.