Chapter 93 Reorganization
The unauthorized retreat of the 133rd Infantry Division in the town of Ruza caused extremely serious consequences. It not only affected the defense line of the 32nd Infantry Division, but also affected the battle situation in the entire area outside Moscow.
On the third day after the 32nd Infantry Division retreated to the Istria region, the Supreme Command issued an order signed by Comrade Stalin himself to all troops: Colonel Gerasimov, commander of the 133rd Infantry Division, and Military Commissar Shabalov had retreated without authorization, causing serious consequences to the war situation in defending Moscow. Therefore, the Supreme Command ordered that the two be severely punished and immediately executed.
On the day the order was issued, Abakumov personally led a small team of Internal Guard soldiers, rushed into the headquarters of the 133rd Division, arrested Gerasimov and Shabalov, and read out the order of the Supreme Command in 2 minutes and 37 seconds outside the division barracks. Then, without giving the two men any time to defend themselves, they were executed on the spot.
That’s not all. After executing Gerasimov and Shabalov, Abakumov took away all the commanders and political commissars at the regimental level and above of the 133rd Division for investigation. The soldiers of the 133rd Infantry Division were sent to temporary transit stations as a whole to await incorporation.
According to Comrade Stalin's original intention, he was going to cancel the designation of the 133rd Infantry Division, but this idea was later dissuaded by Comrade Zhukov. After all, this unit had fought well before, and the incident in Ruza Town had nothing to do with ordinary soldiers. Canceling the designation of the unit would greatly undermine the morale of the soldiers. Under the current circumstances, such a punishment is inappropriate.
Therefore, the Supreme Command's order was changed to reorganize the 133rd Infantry Division headquarters and place it under the command of the 16th Army Group. Only then was this unit finally retained.
Yuri never imagined that by using his identity as a leading member of the Special Operations Department and writing a small report, he not only killed two division commanders, but also pushed himself directly to the position of acting division commander.
On the fourth day after the Supreme Command issued the punishment decision on the 133rd Infantry Division, Yuri received an order from the Western Front Command forwarded by the Army Group Command. The order was: Comrade Lieutenant Colonel Yuri Arkhipovich Kulyokov was required to report to the temporary transfer station in Klin before November 22 to accept the reorganization task of the 133rd Infantry Division and serve as the temporary commander of the division. The reorganization deadline was before December 2, and after the reorganization was completed, he would wait for the next order from the Front Command.
To be honest, Yuri was very reluctant to take up the post of commander of the 133rd Infantry Division at this time for many reasons: first, reorganizing the troops was very troublesome, as he had to collect equipment, organize soldiers for training, do ideological work for the troops, boost morale, and so on; second, commanding a newly reorganized troop was very dangerous, because no one knew the combat effectiveness of the troops, which were even worse than those of new recruits. At least everyone knew that the combat effectiveness of new recruits was weak; third, it would take a long time to reorganize the troops. According to the deadline given in the order, December 2, that meant that Yuri would miss the battle to defend Moscow for the next half month.
Unfortunately, since the order has been issued, Yuri has to do this job whether he is willing or not. Moreover, from another perspective, this is not a bad thing. At least, it is easier to show oneself by independently commanding a unit than just serving as a staff officer. Moreover, it seems that it is not a big deal to miss this stage of the battle. Anyway, the German army is not tired, and its sharp offensive may have to be maintained for a while. Yuri predicts that the German offensive can still be maintained at least until December. Missing the battle during this period can just avoid defeat.
Compared with the bad news of the defeat in Ruza Town, there were also some bright spots on the front battlefield of the Soviet Army during this period. Of course, the most conspicuous one was the victory achieved by the 32nd Infantry Division in the direction of Borodino. It has been confirmed that the German armored unit that was completely wiped out did belong to the most elite Imperial Armored Division of the German Army. In this battle that lasted less than an hour, a total of 48 German tanks were destroyed, and all the soldiers and commanders of the unit were killed. As a result, the Imperial Armored Division suffered heavy losses. Without replenishing its troops and equipment, it has lost the ability to continue fighting.
As the commander of the 32nd Infantry Division, Polosukhin naturally became famous. It was rumored that the Supreme Command was ready to award him a medal, but Yuri was not so lucky. He only received verbal commendation from the Supreme Command.
Of course, for Yuri himself, what he really values is not the reward or not, what he really values is the understanding he gained from this battle .
A commander's military command is a skill. Of course, some people say it is an art. But in today's violent world, a competent commander, or a successful commander, must and must first possess a skill, which is the comprehensive deployment of his own troops.
Any war is a confrontation of forces. Theoretically, the side with superior manpower and equipment can always defeat the weaker side. It is fundamentally impossible for the weak to defeat the strong or the few to defeat the many. The so-called battles of defeating the many with the few must be that the weaker side, in a specific battle, relied on excellent troop deployment capabilities to form a local advantage over the enemy in a short period of time and finally won.
Under modern warfare conditions, the old tactics are no longer very useful on the front battlefield. Therefore, the commander's ability to deploy troops becomes even more important. For example: Both the enemy and our side have only one division of troops. With the support of these limited troops, we need to ensure that our defense line is not broken by the enemy, and we also need to find a way to break through the enemy's position. At this time, what should the commander do? Undoubtedly, this requires the ability to effectively deploy our own troops, to carry out the most effective defense with the least troops, and at the same time, to concentrate the most advantageous forces to break through the weakest link of the enemy.
If you can do these, you can become a qualified, even outstanding commander, but a commander who cannot do these will be eliminated sooner or later.
In total, Yuri has entered military school twice since he joined the army, but both times of study were incomplete. At least he did not form a systematic command idea , let alone have his own unique command methods and combat means. This is Yuri's shortcoming and a problem he urgently needs to overcome.
At the end of November, Yuri returned to the rear from the frontline battlefield in Moscow and entered the transit camp in Klin to reorganize the 133rd Infantry Division. At this time, the transit camp in Klin City had a total of nearly 30,000 soldiers. Some of these soldiers were deserters and were still waiting for the identification of the military discipline department. Those who were determined to be deserters would be punished accordingly. Another part was the defeated soldiers who retreated from the front line. Their original troops were defeated, and even their unit numbers were revoked, so they were waiting for reorganization here. The last part was like the 133rd Division. The troops were temporarily disbanded and the soldiers were waiting for reorganization.
Yuri did not have the final say in reorganizing the troops, nor could he reorganize as many troops as he wanted. The real decision was made by the Western Front Command. According to the plan of the Western Front Command, the reorganized 133rd Infantry Division would command 5 regiments, and would also have a tank battalion and an artillery battalion. Therefore, Yuri could only reorganize his troops within this organization.
Throughout the end of November, Yuri was busy running between Klin and Moscow. He needed to ask for uniforms, supplies, and weapons for his soldiers, and to compile a list of all the soldiers' information and submit it to the Military Committee. In addition, he had to keep an eye on the battle situation outside Moscow, and he was even paying attention to the battles in Leningrad, the Crimean Peninsula, and the Dnieper River.
In the area south of Ukraine, the German offensive on Sevastopol has entered the second phase. The Soviet army, which had suffered huge losses in previous battles, has shown signs of fatigue. According to the forecast of the Supreme Command, Sevastopol, an important air force base for the Soviet army to bomb the Romanian oil fields, is likely to fall in the future.
In the direction of Leningrad, with the German army's siege of Moscow, the pressure on Leningrad suddenly decreased. Although Leningrad was still surrounded for nearly a month, the German attack had obviously weakened. However, after more than a month of siege, the situation in Leningrad was already very bad. The shortage of food, fuel and ammunition directly threatened the defense of the entire city. The Supreme Command was seeking a good way to provide more supplies to Leningrad.
In the direction of the Dnieper River, with the defeat of the Battle of Kiev, the German army advanced in eastern Ukraine with great momentum. By the end of November, with the fall of Kharkov, Belgorod, Kursk and other places were lost one after another. The German army advanced into the Central Russian Highlands, directly threatening Voronezh.
To sum it up in one sentence, the situation faced by the Soviet army on the front battlefield was still very serious. The German offensive did not seem to show any signs of stagnation, and the Soviet army did not seem to have any hope of victory, even a partial victory.
Of course, compared to these bad news, there are also some good news during this period. The most exciting one is undoubtedly the assistance from the United States and Britain. On November 20, a large transport fleet docked in Murmansk. This fleet, mainly composed of oil tankers, brought the Soviet Union urgently needed high-octane fuel, that is, aviation gasoline. Along with this aviation gasoline, there are also a large number of cars, tires, cigarettes, food, and weapons and ammunition. Yuri's current car is a brand new Willys Jeep.
