"The 8th Infantry Regiment and the 11th Infantry Division will move to Voronezh immediately!" This was the order sent by Beria.
In principle, Beria does not have the authority to command the 8th Infantry Regiment, but now the 8th Infantry Regiment is the instructor regiment of the 11th Infantry Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. It is loaned to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so of course it is the 8th Infantry Regiment of the 11th Infantry Division.
Just go there.
The order was quickly carried out.
This may be because the 11th Infantry Division belongs to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and almost all transportation, logistics and other work in the country are under the control of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, so Sarayev only needs to make a phone call, and several trains will immediately arrive in Miloway and wait there.
them.
It was only then that Shulka truly felt the luxury of internal affairs... Almost all the trains that transported soldiers to the front line were tank cars, the kind with no windows or seats.
This is understandable, because the most important thing for frontline dispatch is to have more, faster and more convenient operations.
Any train pulled out, as long as it is a stuffy can without seats, is universal. It can not only load people but also cargo, and can also load a lot. This will reduce a lot of trouble and unnecessary confusion in the transportation and scheduling process...
The logistics organization does not need to consider which are freight cars and which are passenger cars.
As for whether people are comfortable inside, this is completely outside the scope of consideration by the Soviet military leaders.
But this is not the case for the Ministry of Internal Affairs troops. The four trains Sarayev transferred in one go were all passenger trains, the kind with seats.
Because there are seats, there are fewer people that can be transported, so four rows are needed, that is, one row for each group.
This is nothing, after all, it just has seats, windows, and better air.
What's even more exaggerated is that you can have lunch as soon as you get in the car. Two slices of freshly baked bread that is still warm, a veritable whole wheat bread, plus a box of canned beef and some jam, and you will get it every hour an hour after the meal.
Someone was given an apple... This kind of food was unimaginable before. It would be good to have a few slices of bread mixed with grass seeds and mineral powder to fill your stomach.
During this process, Sarayev complained like Shulka: "Finally I can have a normal lunch! You don't know, Comrade Shulka, we are treated the same as infantrymen and are acceptable in other aspects, just the food."
It’s a bit unbearable…”
Saying this, Sarayev raised the apple in his hand.
Shulka was so surprised that his jaw almost dropped... In their eyes, this was just a normal lunch?!
The train stopped several times on the road. The Ministry of Internal Affairs did not have any special privileges in this regard. After all, it was wartime, and train dispatching was a major matter, and no troops were exempt.
It was seven o'clock in the evening when we arrived in Voronezh.
Of course, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has no shortage of campsites. As soon as they arrived in Voronezh, they were arranged to a barracks converted from a school...Schools were completely closed during the war years, especially on the front line.
Most of the schools have been requisitioned as barracks, warehouses, refugee camps, prisoner camps, etc.
As for the students, all those who are old enough join the army and some even become Shulka's subordinates. Those who are not old enough are either producing armaments and supplies in factories, or are undergoing military training and waiting to join the army.
Of course, after arriving at the military camp, there was another sumptuous dinner, this time there was even ham sausage.
After enjoying dinner, Sarayev said: "Comrade Shulka, if we need to carry out a mission... I think we should change back to the previous organization and uniforms tomorrow. What do you think?"
"Of course, Comrade Sarayev!" Shulka had no reason to object. After all, the previous establishment of the Ministry of Internal Affairs troops was more suitable for performing internal affairs.
Shulka knew what Sarayev was thinking. Sarayev thought that the purpose of transferring the 11th Infantry Division back to Voronezh was to have a mission... just like what the internal affairs forces had done before, searching for guerrillas, catching spies, etc.
wait.
It is not surprising that Sarayev would think so, because Voronezh is already on the second line at this time, some distance from the front line. If there are no internal affairs tasks that need to be performed, there seems to be no need to transfer the 11th Infantry Division here at this time.
But Shulka doesn't think so.
First of all, if the 11th Infantry Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is transferred here to perform internal affairs, then there is no need for the 8th Infantry Regiment to come with it, and it will not even be possible to train normally while the 11th Infantry Division is performing its tasks.
In other words, the training should end here.
Secondly, the "infantry-oriented" training of the 11th Infantry Division was very successful. There was no need for Beria to convert a unit that was developing combat effectiveness into a unit of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. This would disrupt the overall training plan or even waste all previous efforts.
More importantly, Shulka knew what they were doing here... To the west of Voronezh is Kursk.
As a division commander of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, it is not surprising that Sarayev did not know that something big was going to happen in Kursk, but now the top brass of the Soviet army probably guessed that Kursk would become a battlefield.
Then, the transfer of the 11th Infantry Division to Voronezh cannot be to perform ordinary internal affairs tasks, but Beria hopes that the internal affairs troops can play a role in future battlefields to improve the prestige of the internal affairs troops and the "friendship" with the military
.
Therefore, the development of things is likely to be completely opposite to what Sarayev thought.
At least why the top Soviet officials guessed that the future battlefield would be Kursk... This is not what Shulka said.
It’s not difficult to guess. Anyone with a little bit of strategic thinking should know that the German army will choose Kursk as the battlefield. It can even be said that the German army has no choice:
Because the Soviet army was defeated in Kharkov (Kharkov is located directly south of Kursk), the Kursk area became a salient, which meant that the German army formed a natural semi-encirclement of Kursk.
With the German army's arrogance and arrogance, as well as the habit of fighting on the battlefield again and again, they will of course eat Kursk first and then take the opportunity to advance towards the Soviet army's deep defense line and expand the results. Even the attack time can be estimated...
Just next summer and autumn, when the ice and snow melt.
At the same time, the German army was unable to change the direction of the war.
Because the German army was already depleted at this time, they could only use their limited forces to choose the easiest position to attack.
This is also one of the reasons why the German army failed in the Battle of Kursk: their strategic goal was too obvious. The Soviet army had guessed a few months ago that the German army would use Kursk as a breakthrough and prepared accordingly.
Just when Shulka was lying on the bed ready to rest, a jeep stopped at the door of the dormitory with a "chi" sound, and then a familiar voice called: "Shulka, where is Comrade Shulka?"
Shulka sat up from the bed with a "Teng" sound, quickly put on his military uniform and ran out, because he heard that it was Zhukov's voice. (To be continued)