Things can only be said to be one step at a time.

The first thing Shulka did was to recruit troops and recruit food.

This didn't work at all before, but with Shulka it became a trivial matter.

Shulka seized on the misunderstanding of the people about his intentions and personally went to the city to give a speech and publicize it.

The content of his propaganda was exactly in line with the requirements of the army, which was about defending the country and driving the invaders out of the Soviet Union, and Shulka did not even mention the word "rectification".

However, due to their preconceived notions, the people spontaneously thought that this was definitely to rectify the 82nd Infantry Regiment, and even speculated that the 82nd Infantry Regiment would be a heroic unit to set an example for other troops.

In less than a week, the 82nd Infantry Regiment rapidly expanded to 2,000 men, and the rate was growing.

However, with the increase in the number of soldiers, new problems continue to emerge.

The most serious is the problem of guns and ammunition.

Among them, ammunition is relatively easy to solve, and Major Mikhailvich announced lightly at the meeting: "You know, we are now fighting the Germans on our entire defensive line, and the front line is in great need of ammunition, so there is very little ammunition that can be used for our training!" Don't complain about this, they always want you to get every bullet into your enemy's body instead of the target! ”

The soldiers let out a burst of laughter and understood.

But if you don't even have a rifle, it's a bit of a stretch.

"Without rifles, they can't even talk about basic tactical training!" Andrianka said: "What should they take to fight the enemy then?" ”

"It's just a small thing!" Major Mikhailvich lowered his voice and said: "If the rifles are not matched, they will start to suspect 'rectification'!" ”

Shulka understood what Mikhailvich meant.

If the higher-ups had begun to pay attention to the 82nd Infantry Regiment and had to start reorganizing, it would not have been possible that they would not even be equipped with rifles.

If you delay for a few days, you can also prevaricate with excuses such as bad transportation conditions and urgent needs of the battlefield, and if it is ten days or even dozens of days, it can only show that the superiors still do not take the 82nd Infantry Regiment into account.

As a result, the good situation or lie created by Shulka was exposed, and all efforts were in vain in the end.

"We can take some of the soldiers back to the second line!" With that, Shulka put a list of some veterans and disabled soldiers in front of Major Mikhailvich: "For example, train them to drive cars, train them to become sappers, or cook soldiers, and so on!" ”

Mikhailvich nodded: "Good idea, they can play a much bigger role in the second line than in the first line!" ”

In fact, as the so-called soldiers are not expensive, those old, weak, sick and disabled not only do not play a big role, but they will drag down or even kill others.

"The rifles they withdrew were given to the combat troops?" "But that's not enough! ”

"Let's apply for another batch of rifles from our superiors!" Mikhailvich said: "In the case of an expanded establishment, it is reasonable to apply for a rifle!" ”

Andrianka nodded, then stopped talking.

"Any questions?" Mikhailvich asked.

"No, no problem, Major!" Andrianka replied: "But it doesn't solve the underlying problem, I mean...... The higher-ups were still given some dilapidated rifles, and the ammunition supply was still pitiful, especially the lack of heavy equipment. Someday when we go to war......"

I don't need to say anything more.

Nothing that is being done now can change the fact that the 82nd Infantry Regiment is cannon fodder.

At the same time, if there is no heavy equipment entered, such as cars, jeeps, artillery, etc., the same problem will arise from the previous one: over time, the soldiers will become suspicious of the "rectification".

"Although you are right, Comrade Andrianka!" Major Mikhailvich said: "But we have to take it one step at a time, we need time!" ”

"The problem is that we probably don't have time!" Andrianca said.

"What do you mean?" Major Mikhailvich asked.

"I got the news!" Andrianka replied: "We are massing a large number of troops to the south, and it is likely that a major battle will be launched soon!" ”

Shulka didn't speak, Andrianka's fears were right, the Soviet army was massing in the south to launch the Battle of Kharkov.

In this battle, almost all Soviet generals were opposed, including Zhukov, Rokossovsky and other famous generals, who all believed that the time for a large-scale counteroffensive had not yet come, and the Germans were not yet on the verge of collapse.

But Stalin insisted on launching an offensive in May, when the snow melted.

Stalin did not know at all that while he believed that the Germans were dying and were actively preparing for a counteroffensive, Hitler was not resigned to defeat and was accumulating forces for an offensive.

Coincidentally, Stalin chose Kharkov, the southern front, for the counteroffensive, and Hitler secretly shifted the main forces to Army Group South to prepare for an offensive after the ice melted.

This was reasonable for the Germans.

This was partly due to Manstein's series of victories on the Southern Front...... Although the 11th Army failed to capture the Crimea, it held off the easily defended isthmus and stabilized the front, which ensured the security of the German right flank. At the same time, as soon as the ice and snow melted, the Pripyat swamp would cover the left flank of the German army, which allowed the Germans to attack with confidence.

On the other hand, Hitler never gave up on Moscow.

Attacking from the south, if you can successfully take Stalingrad, you can outflank Moscow from the rear if you continue to move north.

When the time comes, Moscow will be taken without much effort.

So, the two fists slammed into each other again.

Objectively speaking, no one expected that the other side would concentrate the main forces in the south in this battle, so they were not prepared.

The problem was that Stalin seriously misjudged the strength of the German army to the point of outrageousness, so the Soviet army rushed in the direction of Kharkov, basically ignoring its own safety...... As a result, it was once again surrounded and annihilated by the Germans.

(Note: The Soviets lost 75,000 casualties, 239,000 prisoners, and lost a lot of equipment in this Kharkiv battle, while the Germans suffered only 20,000 casualties)

In particular, these encircled and annihilated troops were still well-trained veterans of a hundred battles, which directly led to the crisis of the Soviet army in Stalingrad.

"If there's a big battle!" Andrianka said worriedly: "It is very likely that we will be transferred to the battlefield as a feint force, which means that we may not have much time left!" ”