Chapter 110: Regrouping
Being the chief of staff of a mechanized army and being the chief of staff of an infantry division are, to a large extent, two completely different things. The former requires a longer-term vision and a broader view of the overall situation. In addition, a chief of staff of a mechanized army also needs to be able to coordinate corresponding personnel relations and be able to suppress those arrogant and powerful soldiers under his command at the business level.
In some ways, the commander of the mechanized army is actually at the transition point from combat to campaign, and his thinking must shift over. That is to say, in the course of a local battle, he must consider things at the entire campaign level.
Especially for a large unit like the 28th Mechanized Army, no matter how bad the personnel situation is, its subordinate units include 5 divisions, 4 brigades and some independent units that are in charge of the battle. There are tens of thousands of troops there, and the war zone it is responsible for is very wide. As the chief of staff, Yuri needs to understand the situation of each of his units, including: where each unit is, the combat effectiveness of the unit, the previous damage, firepower allocation, etc. He must keep almost all the information in mind and keep abreast of the latest developments at any time.
He couldn't just say he didn't know anything when the commander or the higher command department asked him questions. For example, if someone asked: Where is the headquarters of a certain unit? Where is a certain unit now? How many artillery pieces does a certain unit have? Yuri would just answer: I don't know, or I'll go ask first. It's okay if this happens once or twice, but if it happens frequently, his job as chief of staff will be over.
Yuri took the train and arrived in Novosibirsk in the early hours of the next day. The military car was already waiting for him at the station. The person who came to pick him up was a staff officer of the military named Karepov, with the rank of major.
From Karepov, Yuri learned that the Chief of the General Staff, Comrade Vasilevsky, Comrade Rokossovsky and Comrade Malinin were all in the military headquarters and had been holding meetings until now.
Vasilevsky came here on behalf of the General Staff to understand the situation. He first went to Voronezh and then came here. It is said that when Stalin learned that the situation in the southwest was completely corrupted, he was furious and even publicly said that he would send Timoshenko to a military court. However, Budyonny and Zhukov persuaded him, and in the end, Timoshenko was not punished. However, Stalin still gave him an order, requiring him to gather the remnants of the Southwestern Front and rebuild the defense in the shortest possible time.
Since the day before yesterday, the German army, which had annihilated most of the Southwestern Front, launched an offensive in the area north of Orel, aiming at the junction of the Bryansk Front and the Southwestern Front. So far, the 211th and 284th Divisions of the 28th Mechanized Army have been involved in the battle, but the situation is not very good. The troops suffered heavy casualties and were unable to effectively stop the German attack.
Once the German army breaks through the defense of the Bryansk Front, the Tula region will be threatened again. What's worse, it will not only be Tula that will be threatened, but also Moscow.
After an hour's journey, Yuri finally arrived at the military headquarters. Just as Karepov said, the military meeting was still going on. The small conference room was filled with light blue smoke, and the six ashtrays on the table were already full of cigarette butts.
"Report!" Yuri shouted at the door, and everyone in the room immediately turned their eyes over.
"Come in, Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich," Malinin was the first to speak. He stood up and called Yuri in. "Did you just get here from Moscow? Did you have a smooth journey?"
"It's going well, Comrade Chief of Staff," Yuri walked into the conference room, saluted everyone present, then took off his hat and tucked it under his armpit, smiling.
As the newly appointed chief of staff of the front, Malinin introduced everyone present on behalf of Yuri.
This was not the first time Yuri met Vasilevsky. He had already met Vasilevsky when he first entered the Kremlin and attended a banquet specially prepared for him. However, Vasilevsky did not have a deep impression of him at that time. But times have changed. The major has now been promoted to colonel, only one step away from major general. In addition, when Rokossovsky was in Moscow, Stalin asked him who he needed to bring to the Bryansk Front. Among the four people mentioned by Rokossovsky, Yuri's name was one. Vasilevsky remembered that Rokossovsky had a high opinion of this young man at the time, saying that he was good at organizing and mobilizing troops, and that he was sharp-eyed, bold and careful, and was a good commander.
Among the people present, Yuri knew almost none of them except Vasilevsky, Rokossovsky and Malinin. It was not until last night that he got to know the commanders he would be working with, including the army commander Khaliuzin, the deputy army commander in charge of personnel affairs, Denotov, the military commissar, Polyshenenko, etc. However, because the troops had suffered heavy losses before and the military headquarters had been lost, people like the director of the communications corps, the operations staff, and the director of logistics had not yet arrived.
After a brief introduction, Yuri took his seat. His seat was arranged next to Military Commissar Polyshenenko. In fact, in the 28th Mechanized Army, his position should be ranked fourth, and in terms of command level, his position should be above Polyshenenko.
Rokossovsky asked Malinin to report the meeting to Yuri, while the meeting continued.
Because he missed the previous meeting, Yuri had to do two things at once: listen to Vasilevsky and Rokossovsky arguing while listening to Malinin introduce the content of the previous meeting.
After listening for a while, Yuri finally understood the main content of the meeting.
In fact, this should be regarded as a discussion meeting on the allocation of war zones. Vasilevsky brought a proposal from the Supreme Command. According to the proposal, the Bryansk Front will be responsible for the defense of the entire southern suburbs of Moscow, basically from the area north of Orel to the area east of Yelets. The front width of the entire defense line is nearly 230 kilometers.
As you can imagine, Rokossovsky could not accept this plan because the defensive front was too wide and the existing strength of the Bryansk Front was very insufficient, so he needed new and more troops.
Vasilevsky asked him how many additional troops he needed and which troops he needed. Rokossovsky's answer was the 61st Army, the 9th Army and the 16th Tank Army. In addition, he also needed air fire support from Air Force 1. He needed these new forces to hope to hold the entire southern area of Moscow.
Vasilevsky directly rejected this outrageous request. He clearly told Rokossovsky that the German army still had 70 divisions on the western front of Moscow, and it was impossible for the Supreme Command to transfer so many troops to reinforce the Bryansk Front.
The two men have been in a stalemate for a long time and are now preparing to form a final plan and submit it to the Supreme Command.
From Malinin, Yuri finally understood the general situation of the Bryansk Front.
In fact, the Bryansk Front was formed at the beginning of the war, but later, as the situation in Moscow deteriorated, the front was disbanded, and most of its subordinate troops were transferred to the Western Front, and some were incorporated into the Southwestern Front. Now, as the situation in the southwest deteriorated, the Supreme Command decided to reorganize the front to ensure the security of the southern part of Moscow.
As of today, the Bryansk Front's subordinate units include: the 3rd Division commanded by Korzun, the 13th Division commanded by Pukhov, the 38th Division commanded by Chibisov, the 5th Tank Division, the 1st Tank Army, the 16th Tank Army, the 28th Mechanized Army, in addition, there is a cavalry army that has not yet arrived, and the 48th Infantry Division which has also not arrived.
After quarrels and final compromises, a final plan was put forward: Rokossovsky no longer made exorbitant demands, and the Supreme Command allocated some independent troops from the tight existing troop allocations and filled them into the Bryansk Front to support the reorganization of the front.
The reorganization of the Bryansk Front will integrate the various units under the Front to form three combined arms armies. These three armies will be formed on the basis of the 1st Tank Army, the 16th Tank Army and the 28th Mechanized Army. Among them, the army formed on the basis of the 28th Mechanized Army will be the 48th Army.
The entire troop reorganization will be carried out in combat mode. The command organs of each army group will be temporarily served by the command organs of each basic unit, and then detailed adjustments will be made. In other words, the army headquarters of the 48th Army Group will be temporarily served by the army headquarters of the 28th Mechanized Army. This decision is undoubtedly good news for Yuri. As the chief of staff of the will have the opportunity to be directly promoted to the chief of staff of the army group, even if it is only a temporary appointment.
With good things come bad things, and if you want to be promoted, you have to work hard. At the end of the meeting, Army Commander Khaliuzin gave Yuri an order, asking him to stay in Novosili for a period of time to welcome the new troops coming from various regions of Moscow by train, and then, depending on the specific situation, to distribute these troops to the subordinate units of the military headquarters.
The assignment of this task made Yuri somewhat unhappy, because this job should not be the responsibility of him as the chief of staff. He should be more involved in the formulation of combat plans instead of taking care of these logistical matters.
