Red Moscow

  Chapter 491 The anger of the head of state

Sidolin put down the phone and reported to Sokov who was sitting next to him with Vitkov: "Comrade Brigadier, just now the commander reminded us on the phone that the enemy may draw superior forces, but encircle and suppress the small troops we sent to the enemy's rear." Team. What do we do now?"

"What else can we do?" Sokov had expected the squad to be encircled by the German army, but he didn't expect the enemy's reaction to be so great that they would stop their attack on Stalingrad and attack from the front. Deploy troops to carry out encirclement and suppression. However, under the current circumstances, I have no ability to help these troops. I can only think of ways to remind them and keep them vigilant enough so that they can survive in the enemy's rear for a longer time. Reporting, let them rely on the terrain to deal with the enemy, and actively look for fighters, turning the enemy's rear upside down."

Sidolin heard that the decision made by Sokov was similar to Chuikov's arrangement, so he nodded quickly and said, "Okay, Comrade Brigadier, I will send a report to the squad and ask them to use the terrain and The enemy circles around and actively seeks opportunities to hit the enemy hard."

After waiting for Sidolin to go away, Witkov said with emotion: "Comrade Brigadier, I really didn't expect that you just sent four small teams to the enemy's rear. There were only sixty people at full strength, but they could easily disrupt the German army. The original deployment. So much so that they had to stop their attack on the city and deploy troops to the rear to wipe out our troops."

"Oh, what a pity." Sokov waited for Vitkov to finish speaking, sighed softly, and said, "If we have enough strength now, we can take the opportunity to launch a counterattack in a local area and drive the enemy out of the city." out of here, and far away."

  Hearing what Sokov said, Witkov couldn't help but blushed, and thought to himself: He couldn't be talking about me, could he? I replaced him in command for half a month, and the infantry brigade suffered more than 3,000 casualties. If the infantry brigade still has nearly 5,000 soldiers, it would be possible to launch a counterattack against the enemy in the Mamayev Hill area...he was thinking , but I heard Sokov continue to say: "The vital forces of the group army were exhausted in the two counter-assaults at the beginning of the month. Otherwise, with the cooperation of the artillery on the other side and the air force behind, we will gain certain advantages in some areas, which is still very important." possible."

   When Witkov heard this, he realized that Sokov was not talking about himself, but about the Army Group, so he couldn't help laughing at himself. Seeing the smile on his face, Sokov couldn't help asking a little strangely: "Comrade deputy brigade commander, what are you laughing at?"

Naturally, Vitkov would not tell Sukov what he was laughing at, but changed the subject and said: "We spent all the hard-earned energy prematurely in this ineffective counterattack. When the people attacked again, we found that we did not have enough strength to stop them, and as a result, most of the city was occupied by the enemy in a short time."

"Comrade deputy brigade commander," Sokov thought that Vitkov was summarizing the two failed counterattacks in early September, and he echoed: "Our army's counterattack was organized very hastily, lacking the necessary supplies to support the counterattack, which caused the counterattack troops to It was impossible to carry out effective combat. As a result, the counter-assault was not only unsuccessful, but also resulted in the consumption of valuable vital forces, and a large amount of equipment was lost and captured by the German army."

After Sidolin made a phone call to the squad behind the enemy, he came over and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, the telegram has been sent, and whether these troops can survive the encirclement by the Germans depends on their luck." .”

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov nodded and said affirmatively: "We have done what we should do, what will happen next, can the commanders and fighters of the squad be safe after completing their tasks?" It depends on their respective luck to return from the enemy's rear."

  ...

The German army temporarily stopped its attack on Stalingrad, which relieved the Soviet commanders and fighters standing in the city. Even Yeremenko, who was on the left bank of the Volga River, was discussing this issue with Khrushchev: "Military Comrade committee member, tell me what's going on? The German army launched an attack across the city yesterday, why is there no movement today?"

Regarding this situation, Khrushchev was also very puzzled. He said to Yeremenko: "Comrade Commander, the troops on the outskirts of Stalingrad don't seem to have taken any offensive actions. How could the enemy stop attacking and continue to attack? In some frontier areas, the troops are withdrawn, what is going on?"

Yeremenko spread his hands, shrugged his shoulders, and said, "I don't know either." After a pause, he asked Khrushchev tentatively: "How about we call the Supreme Command and find out? what's going on?"

"I don't think it is necessary to call the Supreme Command." Khrushchev shook his head and said, "They all learned about the situation in Stalingrad through us. They probably don't know how to respond to what happened today." thing."

"I think Chuikov should know what's going on." Seeing Khrushchev's objection to calling the Supreme Command, Yeremenko thought for a while, and felt that Chuikov should know the battlefield situation best. After all, the troops standing in the city , is the 62nd Army under the command of Cuikov. Thinking of this, he proposed to Khrushchev again: "Khrushchev, I think it's better to call Chuikov and ask what happened in the city."

   "I agree." After Khrushchev agreed to Yeremenko's proposal, he offered: "I'll call Chuikov right away to find out what happened in the city."

Chuikov was very surprised to receive a call from Khrushchev. After hearing the other party's question clearly, he quickly replied: "Comrade Military Commissioner, I am planning to report this matter to you. According to our analysis, the reason why the enemy today The attack will be stopped, and it may have something to do with the squad sent by the 73rd Infantry Brigade last night."

"The 73rd Infantry Brigade?!" Hearing the familiar designation, Khrushchev tentatively asked, "Is it Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's unit? I want to ask, how many people did he send to the enemy's rear last night?" , can actually force the Germans to stop attacking the city?"

"Not many people," Cuikov replied, although he didn't know the exact number of people in the squad. The teams are equipped with new rockets, so they achieved good results last night and early this morning."

"Comrade Chuikov," said Khrushchev, who seemed to understand something when he heard that the squads that went deep into the enemy's rear carried new types of rockets, interjected and asked, "If I'm not mistaken, the results achieved by the squads are all the same. Does it have something to do with the rockets they carry?"

"Yes, Comrade Military Commissar, that's exactly the case." Chuikov briefly reported the results of the battle he knew to Khrushchev, and said: "Now the enemy may realize the threat posed to them by the squadron." Therefore, the attack on the city was suspended today, and troops were mobilized from the army area to the rear to carry out encirclement and suppression."

"The team did a good job!" After hearing the results of the team, Khrushchev said approvingly: "Their active actions completely disrupted the German offensive deployment and firmly held a considerable part of the German army's active force." , thereby reducing the pressure on the city defenders."

"Comrade Military Commissar," Chuikov said worriedly for the safety of the commanders and fighters who were fighting behind the enemy lines: "The enemy has mobilized troops from the front, but encircled them. They must fall into the enemy's encirclement, which may lead to the annihilation of the entire army." Appear."

However, Khrushchev did not express any worries about the safety of the enemy's squad as Chuikov imagined. He just said: "Comrade Chuikov, when accepting tasks, the troops that go deep into the enemy's rear should be prepared to make sacrifices." .As long as they complete the tasks entrusted to them by their superiors, even if they are all sacrificed, it is worthwhile to die. I have an idea, since you send troops deep into the enemy's rear, you can disrupt the German offensive deployment. The detachment has been wiped out by the enemy, and you should immediately send out a new detachment so that the enemy cannot concentrate its forces on the attack on the city. Do you understand what I mean?"

Hearing that Khrushchev didn't care about the life and death of the commanders and fighters, Chuikov was somewhat chilled, but after hearing his question, he instinctively replied: "Understood, Comrade Military Commissar, I will continue to send operations to the enemy's rear." Small units, to harass the enemy, in order to achieve the purpose of disrupting the enemy's combat deployment."

  ...

  Paulus stopped his attack on Stalingrad, and deployed troops from the front to wipe out the Soviet troops behind him. The news quickly spread back to Berlin and reached Hitler's ears. The short man with a toothbrush mustache suddenly became furious when he heard the news. His face was extremely ferocious because of the rage. He shouted hysterically at several senior generals in the room: "Who is Paulus? What do you think? He has already stepped into Stalingrad with one foot, and he stopped attacking at this time. Isn't this giving the Russians a chance to breathe?"

He pointed to Zeitzler, the chief of the general staff who had just taken over from Halder, and said in a short and urgent voice: "You call Paulus immediately and order him to attack Stalingrad immediately. You Tell him that the attack on Stalingrad cannot be stopped for a moment, we will turn the city into ruins, and then flood it with the Volga River, turning it into a swamp with no people in it..."

Hitler didn't like the General Staff to be headed by someone with strong independence. He wanted the position to be occupied by someone he could trust and who would always be completely subordinate to him. Zeitzler happened to meet this standard, so Zeitzler was appointed Chief of the General Staff immediately after Halder was dismissed.

   Zeitzler did not dare to refute, but asked respectfully: "My head of state, General Paulus' rear is threatened by the Russians. If he wants to continue to attack the city, how should he deal with those damned Russians?"

"Zeitzler, what's wrong with you? Didn't you read the intelligence sent back from the front?" Hitler said angrily at Zeitzler: "According to the intelligence analysis, the Russians who pose a threat to Paulus' rear, but It was a small unit from Mamayev Konk, and he needed only a small part of the 71st, 76th and 295th Infantry Divisions to destroy them."

Zeitzler knew that Hitler had an amazing memory. He could clearly say the numbers of the forward troops and the names of their commanders. Führer, I implore a more detailed order to be communicated to General Paulus."

   Hitler expressed satisfaction with Zeitzler's respectful attitude, and the anger on his face somewhat receded. He walked to the wall, picked up the explaining stick and said to Zeitzler: "The units currently attacking Mamayev Gang are the 71st, 76th and 295th Infantry Divisions, and it is these three units that were attacked by the Russians. , let Paulus draw troops from these three divisions to destroy those annoying Russians in his rear. Order him to immediately send the 16th Armored Division, 60th Motorized Rifle Division, 389th Infantry Division and 100th Jaeger Division , to attack the factory area north of Stalingrad; use the 24th Armored Division, the 94th Infantry Division, the 14th Armored Division and the 29th Motorized Rifle Division to attack the urban area of ​​​​Stalingrad from the south. It must be on October 1 Before the day, take Stalingrad."

   "Understood, my Führer." After recording Hitler's order, Zeitzler bowed slightly to the other party and said respectfully: "I will immediately convey your order to General Paulus."

  Hitler heard what he said, and waved at him impatiently, motioning him to send a telegram quickly. Zeitzler bowed slightly, took a few steps back, straightened his back, turned around and walked out of the office.

Ten minutes later, Paulus received a telegram from the German High Command in Berlin. After reading it, he couldn't help smiling bitterly, then recruited Schmid, handed the received telegram to the other party, and said: " Look, Chief of Staff, this is a telegram sent by the Führer to the Chief of the General Staff, General Zeitzler, who told us to immediately resume the offensive in the Stalingrad area."

"However, Your Excellency Commander." Schmid took the telegram, and before he had time to read it, he heard Paulus say this, and quickly reminded the other party: "If we continue to attack Stalingrad, the Russians behind us will How to deal with it, you must know that their threat is too great."

"The head of state ordered," Paulus said to Schmid: "Except for the suspension of the offensive in the direction of Mamayev Post, the troops were used to consult the Russians in the rear, and the rest of the area immediately resumed the fortification against the Russians. Take Stalingrad before January 1."

"What?! Take Stalingrad before October 1st?!" Hearing this order, Schmid couldn't help crying and saying, "Your Excellency, today is September 28th. Look, I don't think it's possible to take an entire city in two days."

"This is an order from the head of state." Paulus said helplessly, "Even if we know we can't do it, we still need to try hard. Alright, chief of staff, you go and convey my order to let the troops mentioned in the telegram , immediately resume the offensive against the Russians."

  (end of this chapter)