Red Moscow

   "Comrades, two commanders," Sidolin asked Sokov and Ponejielin after Velimir left the headquarters: "How should we arrange this guerrilla?"

  Sokov did not immediately express his opinion, but asked instead: "Chief of Staff, what do you think?"

   "Since they are guerrillas, I think they can be arranged to carry out some reconnaissance missions, or infiltrate behind enemy lines to carry out sabotage activities." Sidolin said: "Anyway, for them, these are what they are best at."

"Chief of Staff, I don't agree with you." But as soon as he finished speaking, he was immediately opposed by Ponejelin: "Although the Yugoslav partisans are guerrillas in name, they are no different from the regular army. If you let them It is obviously inappropriate to carry out sabotage tasks behind enemy lines."

Just when Sidolin opened his mouth and was about to say something, Sokov interjected: "I agree with Comrade Deputy Commander that the Yugoslav guerrillas are only guerrillas in name, but they are actually the country's regular army. Just now we You have also heard the conversation with Captain Velimir, they are from the most elite 3rd Assault Division in Yugoslavia, it is simply a waste to let such troops engage in guerrilla work."

   Sokov took a sip of water from the teacup on the table, and continued: "Also, they are newcomers and unfamiliar with the place, so they are hurriedly sent to the enemy's rear to carry out missions, no doubt to send them to death."

"In addition to not being familiar with the terrain, I am afraid that there are also great obstacles in terms of language." Pornejelin told the two popular science: "Yugoslavia is a federation with extremely complicated national conditions. It uses two phonetic scripts, Cyrillic and Latin. And three languages: Serbian, Croatian, and Slovenian. I think there are very few people who are as proficient in Russian as Captain Velimir."

"I still can't figure it out." Sukov once again thought of the sudden arrival of this guerrilla, so he said to Ponejielin and Sidolin: "If you really want to send troops to our army for training or exercise, It can be sent to the Ukrainian Third Front Army, so why did it travel thousands of miles to send it to us? I really can’t figure it out.”

   "I can't figure it out either." Ponedelin also had the same idea as Sokov: "I'll call Bogolyubov and ask what's going on."

  As he stayed in the army longer, Pornejelin's style of doing things changed greatly, becoming more vigorous and decisive. No, just said he wanted to call Bogolyubov, the next moment he picked up the receiver and said to the operator: "This is the deputy commander Ponyedelin, help me connect to the front army headquarters, I want to find Chief of Staff General Bogolyubov."

Bogolyubov was talking to Rokossovsky, who had just returned, and he specifically mentioned the guerrilla sent by his superiors: "Comrade Marshal, I would like to ask why the superior sent a Yugoslav guerrilla to You know, if they really want to study and exercise in our army, the Ukrainian Third Front is undoubtedly the best choice, but they are far away and come to us.”

"I specifically asked Chief of the General Staff Antonov about this matter, and he answered me like this." Rokossovsky said: "The Yugoslavs also know Sokov's name and know that the troops under his command killed the Germans." The fight was frightening, that's why I chose the men who chased the elite and came to our front army all the way, just to join Sokov's army and learn some advanced tactics.

  I wanted to come back and tell you about this, but I didn't expect that you had already assigned this unit to the 48th Army. You really had the foresight. "

Hearing what Rokossovsky said, Bogolyubov was a little dumbfounded, and then said: "Comrade Marshal, you have misunderstood. I don't have any foresight, but I thought that since this is a guerrilla, it might be more agreeable to Soko. Because of my husband’s character, I did some reconnaissance and sabotage behind enemy lines, so I sent them directly, and I didn’t think too much about it.”

  As soon as he finished speaking, a staff officer stood up not far away and said to Bogolyubov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, your call is from the 48th Army."

"Take the phone!" Bogolyubov said to Rokossovsky after he had ordered the staff: "Comrade Marshal, if I guessed correctly, it must be Ponedelin calling to ask why I gave They sent a guerrilla force."

  His guess was indeed correct, but after hearing Ponejelin's voice, the other party asked straight to the point: "Old man, I want to ask, what does it mean that the front army sent us a Yugoslav guerrilla?"

Bogolyubov, who had already received the answer from Rokossovsky, replied confidently: "I asked Comrade Marshal specifically, this guerrilla was arranged by the General Staff, and the purpose of their coming to our front is to Think of your group army to learn advanced tactics."

   "Come to us to learn advanced tactics?" Pornegerin said a little puzzled: "How do they know about our army?"

"Old man, the situation is like this." Bogolyubov explained to Ponedelin: "Many German troops who had dealt with you on the Soviet-German battlefield were transferred to Yugoslavia and other European countries. National combat. It may be that they talked about being defeated by you on a certain occasion, so that the senior commander of the Yugoslav guerrillas knew about it. In order to improve the combat effectiveness of the troops, he sent the most effective troops to you Go learn and practice."

   "Old man, you mean, the troops sent to us are the most elite troops in the Yugoslav partisans?"

"Yes." Bogolyubov replied affirmatively: "Although they are guerrillas in name, they are all regular troops from Yugoslavia. They belong to the most elite 1st Division and 3rd Assault Division respectively. He has fought both Germans and Italians in the world and has a lot of combat experience."

   "So that's how it is." Ponegerin asked tentatively, "Then how should we settle them down?"

   "As I said just now, they are guerrillas in name only, but they are actually elite regular troops, so when using them, they cannot be used like ordinary guerrillas. Do you understand?"

"Don't worry, old man." Ponedelin assured Bogolyubov: "Our commander also said that they are elite troops. They should not be regarded as ordinary guerrillas, but should be incorporated into the regular army. Join us in the next offensive battles."

  Bogolyubov asked with some surprise: "Old man, did General Sokov really say that?"

"That's right, that's what he said." Ponegerin said: "He said that these troops had participated in the worst battles and had rich combat experience. They were guerrillas in name, but they were actually elite regular troops. So we should incorporate them into our combat units and let them get tempered in battle."

"Well, since you have already decided how to arrange them, I won't say anything more." Bogolyubov said: "If they have any requirements and you can't meet them, you can contact me directly, and I will It's dealt with."

Rokossovsky roughly heard the conversation between Bogolyubov and Ponedelin, and when Bogolyubov put down the phone, he said with a smile: "I didn't expect Misha's eyes to be so poisonous, and he suddenly turned on me." It can be seen that this unit with the name of guerrilla is not simple, and it is planned to arrange them in the grassroots units to participate in the next combat operations.”

   "Comrade Marshal, I am worried that most of the commanders and fighters in this unit do not understand Russian." Bogolyubov reminded Rokossovsky: "Look, do we need to equip them with a few translators?"

"I don't think it's necessary." Rokossovsky shook his head after hearing this and said, "Since their superiors sent them over, they must have considered language issues. I think they should communicate with our soldiers. No big problem."

   "Comrade Marshal, how long do you think the war between us and the Germans can last?" Bogolyubov asked.

Rokossovsky thought for a while, and said slowly: "According to the analysis of the current situation of the enemy and ourselves, our army will be able to completely defeat the Germans in at most another year. I hope that when the New Year comes in 1946, I can sit quietly in my own home, eat New Year’s dinner, and listen to Comrade Stalin’s New Year’s speech on the radio.”

Although Bogolyubov felt that the possibility of ending the war before 46 years was not great, but in order not to spoil Rokosovsky's interest, he also echoed: "Comrade Marshal, I believe your wish will come true, By New Year's Day '46, you're sure to be able to enjoy family fun at home with your family."

On the other end of the phone, as soon as Ponedelin put down the phone, he reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I have already asked Bogolyubov, and he said that this small force was arranged by the General Staff. .Their real purpose of coming here is to learn our army's new tactics on the battlefield."

"Oh, are they here to learn new tactics?" Sokov said with a wry smile after hearing this: "If you want to learn new tactics, you should send a group of battalion and company level officers over so that I can teach them the new tactics I use. The people sent today are mainly grassroots backbones, they can learn our tactics in battle, and how much useful content can they learn?"

"Comrade commander, is there such a possibility?" Ponejielin reminded Sokov: "These people who come to us, whether they are officers or soldiers, are the Yugoslav partisans who are going to be promoted. When they learn After the new tactics we use, we can assign them suitable positions when we go back."

   "Comrade Deputy Commander, what you said does exist." Sokov nodded and said, "But how much they can learn depends on their personal luck."

  Sidorin interrupted and asked: "Do you need to arrange some translators for them?"

"Why do you need to arrange translation for them?" Sokov said: "The people who sent them here must have Zhou Xiang's consideration, and feel that they are fully capable of communicating with us normally. If there is a real language barrier, how can we learn from us? What about tactics?"

"Well then, I won't consider arranging translators for them." Sidolin said with a smile: "In our army, I'm afraid we can't find a few people who are proficient in their national language. It is really important to be a good translator. It's not easy."

   "Comrade Commander, do you think it is necessary to divide these people into pieces and distribute them to the various units of our army?" Ponejielin asked for instructions: "In this way, they will have the opportunity to learn our army's tactics."

   Regarding Ponegerin's proposal, Sokov thought for a while, but still shook his head and denied it: "They are newcomers and they are unfamiliar with the place. It is better to let them stay together so that they can take care of each other."

   "Which unit are you going to assign them to?" asked Pornegelin.

"How about General Kirillov's 3rd Infantry Division?" Sokov explained to Ponejielin: "He has just taken office and has not yet fully mastered the troops. It will be very helpful for him to control the 3rd Infantry Division in the future."

"That's good." Ponejielin nodded, and volunteered to say: "Tomorrow, I will personally take the comrades of this guerrilla to the 3rd Infantry Division, and explain their situation to Kirillov by the way. Let him know what he knows."

   "I have another question, Comrade Commander." Sidolin suddenly said again.

   "Please tell me, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov said politely: "If you have any questions, please feel free to ask."

  "If the 3rd Infantry Division performs some reconnaissance, or goes deep behind the enemy's rear to conduct sabotage, will this small unit also send personnel to participate in it?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you asked a good question." Sokov said: "Although the deputy commander and I were opposed to using this unit as a guerrilla just now. But if it is to assist friendly forces in carrying out tasks, they will send people Participating in joint operations, I think it is still possible."

   "Well, I know how to do it."

  Early the next morning, Pornejelin took Captain Velimir and his company to the defense area of ​​the 3rd Infantry Division.

   Kirillov learned of Ponejielin's arrival, and personally led the members of the division headquarters to greet him. After shaking hands with Ponegerin, he asked curiously, "Comrade Deputy Commander, why did you come here thinking of coming here?"

   "On the order of Comrade Commander, a unit has been sent to you." Pornegerin pointed at Velimir's unit with his hand and said, "Here, that's them."

After seeing the outfits of Velimir and others clearly, Kirilov couldn't help showing a surprised expression on his face: "Comrade Deputy Commander, where did they come from? Why are the military uniforms on their bodies not from our army? Is it not the uniform of the Polish Army?"

   "The reason is very simple." Ponejielin said with a smile: "Because they are neither our army nor the Polish army. They are guerrilla members from Yugoslavia."

   "Guerrillas?" Kirillov frowned after hearing this, "What are they doing here?"

"They were sent by the General Staff." Worried that Kirillov would neglect Velimir and the others, Ponejielin specifically explained to him the origin of this force: "The purpose of coming is to learn better. The tactics used by our army on the battlefield, as hosts, you must treat them well. Do you understand?"