Chapter 1875 The temporary predicament of the troops
From the moment he became the division commander, Balzen counted the time. He was always ready to accept orders from his superiors. No matter whether the troops were really ready or not, he would lead the troops to the front line without any complaints. In fact, he suddenly stayed in the safe rear.
Balzen was not used to it anyway.
This nearly forty-year-old man who has been fighting for fourteen months still longs for fighting, as if dying on the battlefield is his destiny.
He has been waiting for orders from his superiors, and this wait has become more and more urgent since October.
After all, he needs to know when his troops will be trained and transferred to the battle order of the 20th Army.
It wasn't until early in the morning on October 6 that the communications troops of his division received a lengthy order report from the military district headquarters.
"Is this your new appointment? Will you go to the front line soon?"
Balzen read the telegram excitedly and was surprised to find that his 324th Division, the troops of two old friends, and three infantry divisions were going to join the 39th Army.
That's not all. Balzen is also ordered to recruit a group of recruits with special skills. These people will be recruited directly from Perm University and many middle schools in the city.
After reading the lengthy command document, he already knew everything.
Finally, he handed the document to the division political commissar Borisov: "Please read it, urgent message. Destroy it immediately after reading it."
Borisov, a division political commissar who was only two years younger than Balzen, took a closer look and lost his composure on the spot: "Commander, maybe we shouldn't destroy it."
"Why?"
"This is Comrade Stalin's order, we..."
"That's right, it's just being kept under strict supervision for the time being." Balzen thought about it, "Now we still have more than a month, and we have got an extremely critical development time. Besides, we will also get brand-new weapons. We will
Get General Berekov’s new invention!”
"Is he your old boss?" Borisov asked.
"Yes! Only a few dozen days ago, I experienced a victorious and fierce battle under his command. My efforts throughout September were to hope that our 324th Division would become as good as the 284th Guards Division. I could not have imagined
, General Berekov thought so too. A comprehensive replacement of new weapons? Very interesting, dear Comrade Borisov, I think after new operations, our troops will have the title of Guards or Red Banner.
.Before that, nothing can go wrong."
Borisov nodded. After reading the document, he threw it into the safe in the headquarters office in front of Balzen.
Only a few senior personnel from the division headquarters have the keys to the safe.
It is not necessary for extra people to know the matter. It is enough for the two highest-ranking personnel of the 324th Division to know.
Because of this order, Balzen had to make some adjustments to his subsequent work.
The content of the order is gratifying. It indicates that it is very likely that he will meet General Berekov again. After all, Balzen now feels that as the commander of the 324th Division, no matter what the future holds, he will rarely have the opportunity to meet his old boss.
I met my close comrades-in-arms.
The reality was far beyond his expectation. It was obvious that the 324th Division and the other two divisions must be used as experimental units and must show their prominence in future wars.
The order document did not mention the specific launch time of "Operation Mars" in this time and space, but only mentioned a general concept of time, that is, the training time of the 324th Division would be no more than two months.
As a result, the newly formed 324th Division has three more months of training time, which is very rare in the current situation.
Time! What Balzen lacks most is time.
Now I have gained a very critical time, and I have also received another major good news. I went to the University High School in Perm City to recruit a group of volunteers over the age of 18, and they will serve as technical troops.
Inheriting the efficiency of the 284th Guards Division, after receiving the new order, Balzen hurriedly held a division meeting that morning.
At the meeting, he explained the emergency order from his superiors, which undoubtedly caused an uproar.
The people who came were all senior personnel from the division, and the number of them was only a handful.
After hearing the order, everyone's expressions were surprisingly unanimous and excited.
The army needs to be equipped with the latest weapons? Does it need to reach the level of the 284th Guards Division that has made great achievements in combat?
In fact, in the current 324th Division, except for some grassroots officers who are veterans who have been on the battlefield, the rest are almost all recruits who are shooting for the first time. The recruits do not know what the 284th Guards Division exists. The officers who know a little bit about it have never known it.
I got a taste of some of Division Commander Balzen's strange operations. To be able to compete with that legendary unit, you must first go through Spartan-style physical training!
But to the regimental commanders, Balzen was happy to tell them about the battles of the 284th Division. To be honest, Balzen was not a qualified storyteller. His simple words shocked everyone and made some people suspicious.
The deputy division commander and several other senior personnel completely believed it. If he had not experienced a war, how could the division commander describe the battle so vividly?
Facing the noise in the hall, Balzen banged the table hard: "Comrades, our army is facing many problems now. There are insufficient ordnance problems, logistics support problems, and problems such as weak communication systems. Even if we pass high-intensity training,
A large number of new recruits are trained to be good at running. Without the above conditions, their level will still be poor.
Perhaps, General Belekov's new weapons can arrive. Before we see the real thing, we should not have full hopes. We must be pragmatic. At this stage, we are still training with the existing equipment.
Regarding logistical issues, our superiors have been strengthening our efforts on this point, and we should rest assured."
At this time, Deputy Division Commander Semyonov raised his hand.
"Comrade, do you have any opinions?" Balzen asked.
"Yes, it is still about our logistics issues. Now, soldiers have to undergo rigorous physical training every day. Everyone can understand your difficulties, but because of this reason, our food consumption is always very large. We are now
The Perm region is responsible for the food supply, and they have made many protests against us, for example, criticizing us for not feeding the bears preparing to hibernate."
Everyone knows what this means. Bears eat like crazy before hibernating to ensure they have enough fat to survive the long cold winter.
The command office burst into laughter.
Balzen shrugged, pretending to be regretful and said: "There's nothing we can do, unless all they give us is bread. Unfortunately, because we haven't gone to the battlefield yet, the logistics department has given us a lot of potatoes. Even so, training cannot be delayed.
of."
"However, eating potatoes will make you feel full, and that kind of food is not as energy-rich as bread. Comrade Commander, for this reason, the scenes in the public toilets in various camps have always been very spectacular."
As soon as this statement came out, the office burst into laughter again.
Division political commissar Borisov suppressed his expression and finally laughed out loud...
Balzen couldn't help but laugh when he saw this. He really knew the terrible conditions in each camp, and finally choked out a sentence: "At least, there are a lot of good things in the fertile fields."
This sentence caused the strongest laughter.
This is the current situation of the newly formed 324th Division. There are few high-level intellectuals in the army. Those soldiers are often forced to drop out of school after a few years of schooling and do farm work on collective farms. The Soviet Union has been working hard to achieve the foundation of a universal
Education, but in the past Tsarist Russia, almost everyone was illiterate.
It takes time to popularize education, so in the difficult stage of the Great Patriotic War, with the catastrophic losses of the initial troops, the newly recruited and newly built troops should not be expected to have high quality.
Currently, those with the highest overall quality in the army are Borisov and his close comrades who are responsible for building ideological awareness, followed by Balzen.
Balzen, after all, was in the seventh grade. He joined the army directly because he was too old. He had a long military service and served as company commander on the day the war started.
After the atmosphere calmed down, Balzen cleared his throat and shouted: "Let them complain as they like! This is how we train, because I trained soldiers like this in the Belarusian swamps. In that terrible place, I ate potatoes for more than a year."
This issue ends here! Comrade Semyonov, I will focus on the training of the troops, and you and Comrade Borisov will be responsible for other matters."
"Okay, I'll keep asking them for bread."
Balzen nodded with satisfaction: "Oh~ that's right. I'm also a little worried, just because of our conversation just now, a toilet problem made everyone laugh. It's better to say less of such vulgar jokes. I
Reflection, I shouldn’t laugh.”
"Yes." Borisov calmed down and said, "This shows that the ideological consciousness building and moral quality of our troops are lacking, and I need to review it."
"You don't have to blame yourself." Balzen shook his head, "We are the troops that are about to go to the battlefield, comrades. When the time comes, our ten thousand people will have to fight the enemy desperately. I am sorry that many soldiers may die. We are sure
There is no time to train everyone to become moral saints, just like Yaroslav, that is unrealistic. I only hope that everyone can become brave and worthy of the expectations of the country and the people.
Of course, I am not saying that moral construction and ideological and moral study can be weakened. The construction of study groups in the army must be strengthened. This is your job, Borisov."
"Yes, I will try my best to do it well."
"Well, in the final analysis, we lack a group of intellectuals. Obviously our superiors have noticed this. Our superiors want us to go to Perm City to recruit a group of students of appropriate age to join the army. This is something that needs to be done immediately. I think these high-quality
When talented people join, the situation will change."
"Ah! Do you really want to accept a group of boys who are only 18 years old?" Deputy Division Commander Semyonov asked.
"Yes, this is an order from our superiors and we must execute it."
"Indeed, we must implement it, but... I doubt that these so-called intellectuals can be of any use. They are just children."
"Do you think of them like this?" Balzen immediately shook his head: "In the swamps of Belarus, those fifteen-year-old boys are often the bravest fighters, including Speroskina. Everyone has heard of that child."
"I know!" Semyonov also shook his head: "She is your former subordinate, you have said it too many times. I admit that many boys are brave, but is it really right to recruit them to join the war?
This is not a guerrilla army, we are at the rear. Is the current situation so dangerous that we must recruit children into the army?"
"So, our superiors want us to recruit students who are over 18 years old. Besides, we are recruiting technical troops, not front-line warriors who charge into battle. Such people can only be recruited in schools."
"The division commander is right." Division Political Commissar Borisov corrected him: "As to whether it is reasonable to recruit boys who have just grown up to serve as soldiers, after all, they have grown up, and it is time to fulfill the obligations of Soviet citizens to defend the country. We are going to
The school recruits volunteers, and I think that quite a few students of this age have already joined the Lenin Communist Youth League, and they will definitely join the army enthusiastically."
Regarding the recruitment of volunteers into schools, the description of the terms of this task in the "Order" is relatively vague.
Volunteers are to be recruited. There are no clear standards for how many people to recruit and which schools to recruit from. The most important point is that they require recruitment at Perm University and various middle schools. The same order
It's not just given to the 324th Division.
Balzen responded immediately: "So, we should respond to their patriotic enthusiasm and give them the opportunity to serve the motherland and the people. We need technical arms, the army needs communications troops, and the artillery also needs talents who understand mathematics. I'm sorry, my knowledge level
Very limited. I need your advice on this matter, Comrade Borisov."
In the entire 324th Division, only Division Political Commissar Borisov has received higher education, which is why he can hold the current important position.
Borisov thought about it and said: "Now, I have another question to ask you, Comrade Commander."
"Please tell me," Balzen replied.
"We need to formulate a brief recruitment regulation, which I will personally compile into a document. Now I need to get a number on how many people we want to recruit."
How many people should be recruited? Balzen had no time to think about it when things happened suddenly.
Balzen said casually: "Then let's have a hundred people! If not, at least there must be more than fifty people."
One hundred people! Due to the teacher's face, Borisov did not tell Balzen's lion's mouth to his face.
He is also a person who thinks quickly, so he said: "We should indeed work hard to recruit talents. In my experience, we should not expect to recruit many talents at Perm University. If there were talents there, they would have already
Enlisted in the army. Most of the remaining college students are engaged in majors that have nothing to do with military construction. It makes no sense for us to recruit such people to join the army."
"Ah?" Balzen panicked; "What should we do? Then we can't even recruit fifty people? The order from the superior is..."
"Don't worry, we can only recruit from middle schools at the moment. According to the current situation of our army, we actually need to recruit a group of students with good scores in mathematics or physics, or other students who are beneficial to the construction of the army. So.
Our recruitment is not random. Even if the students of the right age are very willing to sign up, we still only want the talents among them. On this issue, we must rather have a shortage than an overabundance."