Bere opened his arms and hugged Sokov with a warm hug. He patted Sokov's back with both hands and said excitedly: "Misha, I really didn't expect that I could see you alive. How about you, are you planning to fight back against the enemy?"
Although his back was slammed and the pain made Sokov almost burst into tears, he could only grit his teeth and endure it. After all, this way of hugging was the most enthusiastic expression between friends. After finally waiting for Bele to let go, he immediately took a step back, pointed his hand at Golikov not far away, and said, "Col. Bele, I'll introduce it to you. This is General Golikov, the deputy commander of the Front Army. He came to us to designate the counterattack work."
Berekov knew Golikov, so he quickly stepped forward and raised his hand to salute and prepared to report to the other party according to the regulations. Unexpectedly, Golikov raised his hand and pulled down his hand that was raised to the forehead. While shook hands vigorously, he said enthusiastically: "Hello, Colonel Berek, welcome to Mamayev's hill."
After greeting Believe to sit down at the table, a clever staff officer quickly brought a cup of hot tea and placed it on the table. Sokov nodded to the staff officer and expressed his gratitude, and said to Believe: "Comrade Colonel, it must be quite cold on the road. Have some tea to warm up your body."
After Belle picked up the teapot and took a sip, he looked at Sokov first, and then looked at Golikov, not knowing who to speak to. Fortunately, Golikov saw his embarrassment, pointed at Sokov with his hand, and said, "Col. Bellei, it was Comrade Sokov who asked Cuikov to transfer you over. If you have any questions, just ask him."
Hearing Golikov say this, Bere put down the tea tank in his hand, stood up to face Sokov, and asked respectfully: "Col. Sokov, I wonder how your plan is to let my troops cooperate with you to launch a counterattack? You must know that the tanks in our brigade have basically been lost, and only a few of them are now buried in the Derzhinsky factory as fixed firepower points."
"Don't worry, Colonel Bilei." Hearing the last question that Bilei emphasized, Sokov replied with a smile: "I still have more than 20 tanks now, hidden in the ruins of the Workers' New Village, and can be handed over to you. There is also a new T-34/85 tank."
"The new T-34/85 tank?" Bereth couldn't help but ask in surprise when he heard Sokov mention the new tank, "So, Director Peter gave you all the newly produced 85mm artillery tanks?"
"Yes." Sokov nodded affirmatively, and then asked, "How many troops do you have in your hands?"
"There are 139 people, except for a dozen logistics personnel, the rest are fighters." Beret emphasized to Sokov: "By the way, your original tank company commander is still alive. If I hadn't had too few people under my command, I would have wanted him to be the battalion commander when rebuilding the tank brigade."
"Since the troops are insufficient, let him be the company commander first." Sokov said rationally: "It will not be too late to let him be the battalion commander after the tank brigade is replenished in the future."
"General Golikov," Bere looked at Golikov and said with some embarrassment: "I have participated in the counterattack in the Mamayevgang area and knew that if the number of tanks is too small, it will be difficult to achieve ideal results. Even if Colonel Sokov handed over all the tanks to me, I would only have more than twenty tanks in my hand. If I want to break through the German defense, I am afraid..."
Bere stopped halfway, but Golikov had understood what he wanted to express, so he waved to him and said, "Okay, OK, Colonel Bere, don't complain in front of me. The superiors have decided to send two tank battalions to Sokov. Then I will place these two tank battalions under your tank brigade command. Is this okay?"
Bere complained in front of Golikov, just to get some supplements. Unexpectedly, Golikov was so generous that he actually gave himself two tank battalions directly. In this way, the tank brigade was reorganized. He quickly saluted Golikov and said gratefully: "Thank you, General Golikov, I promise you..."
"Col. Bilei, don't assure me of anything." Golikov interrupted his later words without waiting for Bilei to finish his words. "No matter how beautiful the words are, if they cannot be implemented, they will be empty talk. I know that your brigade has performed very well in the battle to defend the Derrensky factory. I hope you can continue to maintain and achieve more brilliant results in the next counterattack."
"General Golikov, I want to ask a question." Bere after Golikov finished speaking, he asked tentatively: "Is it OK?"
"If you have any questions, just ask." Golikov waved his hand and said carelessly: "As long as I can answer, I will definitely give you a satisfactory answer."
"According to the deployment some time ago, the troops on the periphery of our army should have launched a counterattack against the enemy." Bi Lei asked carefully: "I want to ask, what are their results?"
"Shortly after launching a counterattack, the Southwest Front and the Don Front successfully broke through the enemy's defense line in the Don River Basin and defeated the Romanian troops deployed there." Golikov guessed that Bere might not know the results of the battle outside, so he said carelessly: "Our Front launched a counterattack from the south side of the city yesterday. Although the counterattack time was repeatedly postponed due to the weather. However, after the battle started, Major General Wolsky's mechanized 4th Army successfully broke through the enemy's defense at 13 noon; at 16 o'clock, Colonel Tanashishen's tank 13th Army quickly developed into the depth of the enemy's defense on its own location. At 22 o'clock, Lieutenant General Shapukin's cavalry 4th Army followed the mechanized 4th Army and developed an attack westward..."
"Great, this is great." Hearing the series of good news that Golikov said, Bethleigh was excited and applauded: "Since our army has dealt a heavy blow to the enemy in the west and south, then I believe that the counterattack after dawn will be able to successfully break through the frontal defense of Mamayev's Gate."
"Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army," Sokov asked Golikov again after he finished speaking, "I want to ask, when will the two tank battalions given to us be entered into the designated position?"
If Sokov asked this question yesterday or the day before yesterday, he would definitely be teased by Golikov. But at this moment, Golikov couldn't laugh. The time for the two tank battalions to cross the river was delayed again and again. Even whether they could reach Mamayev's hill before the counterattack began was a question. Golikov was silent for a while, and finally said, "I think you should be able to arrive before the counterattack begins."
Bere heard something was wrong from Golikov's tone, and quickly interrupted, "General Golikov, the tanks are prone to malfunctioning in such cold weather. Even if they arrive before counterattack, they still need special personnel to maintain them before they can enter the battle."
"What? The tank needs to be maintained before it can be put into battle?" Golikov asked in surprise.
"That's right." Bi Lei nodded and said in a positive tone: "According to the regulations, after driving fifty kilometers, tanks should be inspected and maintained to avoid failure and breaking down. If it is in summer, we can maintain them after driving 100 kilometers. However, the weather is too cold now, and the chance of tank failure is greatly increased. Therefore, after the tank camp crosses the river, it must be inspected and maintained."
"So that's the case." Golikov raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said thoughtfully: "If I asked the Tank Camp to cross the river now, I should be able to arrive at Mamayev's hill by 7 o'clock in the morning. Then I will spend another hour or two to inspect and maintain it, I think it would be too late."
"It will take at least five hours for the two tank battalions to cross the wide river surface." Bere continued: "Even if they are ordered to cross the river now, they may have to be around nine o'clock when they arrive at Mamayev. If they are inspected and maintained, they will have to be at least eleven o'clock before they can all be put into battle."
"Only at 11 o'clock can I get into the battle?" Not only did Golikov not only dissatisfied with the time that Bere said, but also Sokov was not satisfied. Although he had barely pieced together a tank battalion, it might not be enough to break through the German positions. Therefore, he shook his head and said, "In that case, the movement would be too slow. We cannot let the tank troops enter the battle so late."
When Golikov heard Sokov say this, he nodded first, and then asked: "Col. Sokov, do you have any way to shorten the attack time of the tank troops?"
"There are solutions." Sokov had just thought about a set of methods in his mind. At this moment, he heard Golikov's question and said directly: "Let the tank troops cross the river one after another in a company. Come over to have a maintenance worker inspect and maintain the tanks of this company. I think that before the counterattack begins, all tanks should be able to attack."
After hearing Sokov's proposal, Golikov couldn't help laughing. He nodded and said, "Col. Sokov, you really have many solutions. In this way, we will solve the problem that the tanks cannot enter the battle for a long time after completing the crossing of the river. Then do this. I will immediately call Commander Yelemenko and ask him to order the tank camp to cross the river."
While Golikov called the Front Command, Sokov said to Bere: "Col. Bilei, I will send someone to take you to the Workers' New Village to receive the tanks later. Now, I will tell you the route of attack first." After seeing Berei nod, he continued to say, "There are two routes of attack: one is to attack from the Workers' New Village and break through the west; the other is to attack from the canyon between the two north and south hills of Mamayev hills, trying to advance to the southwest, cooperate with the troops in the central city, and join the enemies in the city..."
…………
At dusk on the 20th, Paulus received news that the Romanian army and the German reserve team in the Don River Basin were completely wiped out by the Soviet Southwest Front and the Don River Front. When he first heard this news, Paulus did not believe it. According to his ideas, the attack launched by the Russians was nothing more than a restraining action, which prevented him from concentrating his troops to capture the city.
But after repeated verification by Chief of Staff Schmidt, Paulus seemed a little panicked when he found out that this was not a rumor, but a fact. He hurriedly ordered people to take over the phone call of the commander of the B Army Group Von Weix, and said in panic: "Mr. General, my situation seems to be a little bad. The Romanian army and our reserve team deployed in the Don River Basin have been annihilated by the Russians."
When Weix answered Paulus' call, he thought the other party was reporting the execution of the order to him, but he heard such bad news. He asked in surprise: "General Paulus, haven't you seen the order I gave you on the evening of the 19th? I asked you to stop all offensive operations against Stalingrad and draw troops to protect your flanks. Didn't you execute it?"
"No, Mr. General," Paulus replied in a panic: "My officer reported to me that the Russians were almost exhausted, so I felt that the offensive should be continued so that this damn city can be taken down in the shortest time."
"Stop the attack immediately and withdraw the troops from the city." Weix said in a stern tone: "And use these troops to counterattack in the direction of the Don River. You must drive away the damn Russians so that you can protect the safety of your flanks. Do you understand, my General Paulus?"
"I understand, Mr. General." At this time, Paulus dared to defend himself and said timidly: "I will immediately give the troops a retreat order to withdraw from the city overnight."
Paulus immediately passed Schmidt and issued an order to the troops responsible for attacking the factory area, allowing them to withdraw from the city overnight, and ensuring that the retreat was not discovered by the Russians.
However, the plan could not keep up with the changes. The 305th Infantry Division and four engineer battalions stationed in the barricade factory had exchanged fire with the Soviet army in the factory shortly after the retreat. The news soon reached Paulus's command center. Paulus grabbed Schmidt's arm and said in panic: "Chief of Staff, it seems that the Russians had already decided that we would retreat overnight before ordering the defenders in the factory to launch a counterattack at this moment."
"What should we do?" Schmidt asked.
"Order the troops to stop retreating and organize resistance on the spot." Paulus raised his hand to wipe away the cold sweat from his forehead and ordered Schmidt: "Also, those areas that have not been attacked for the time being should also be vigilant to prevent possible attacks by the Russians."
"I understand, I will immediately convey your order to the commanders of each division." After Schmidt said this, he reminded Paulus: "Now the troops in the Don River Basin are basically finished, and the Russians are not more than ten kilometers in our location. Once they launch an attack, they will probably rush to the Army Command in less than two hours."
Chapter completed!