Sokov was eager to report the news of the German troop mobilization to Rokossovsky, but he had no contact information and seemed particularly anxious. After finally waiting for Yeremenko and Khrushchev to finish speaking, he
He said impatiently: "Comrade Commander, Comrade Military Commissioner, I have important information that I want to report to you."
"Colonel Sokov, we are no longer your superiors." Hearing what Sokov said, Yeremenko waved his hand and said, "If there is anything that needs to be reported, you should report it directly to Chuikov.
"
"Comrade Commander," Sokov straightened his body and raised his voice: "I have already reported this information to Commander Chuikov, but there is nothing he can do..."
"He can't solve it, and Rokossovsky is there." Before Sokov could finish speaking, Khrushchev interjected: "When you encounter problems that the group army cannot solve, you can report it to the front army headquarters.
."
"We want to report, but there is no way to get in touch with the new front army headquarters." Sokov looked at Khrushchev and said in embarrassment: "Therefore, we hope that through the two chiefs, we can help us contact the new front army commander.
."
"Nikita Sergeyevich," Yeremenko looked at Khrushchev and asked: "When we handed over all the troops to the Don Front, did you code all the contacts?
Leave it to Malinen?"
Khrushchev turned to look at an officer standing at the door. Before he could speak, the officer came over, took out a piece of paper from his briefcase and handed it to Khrushchev: "Comrade Military Commissar, this is
This is the unit liaison code handed over to the Don Front."
Khrushchev took the piece of paper, quickly read the contents on it, and asked the officer with a frown: "Why is there no 62nd Army on it?"
The officer didn't know how to answer Khrushchev's question, and had an embarrassed expression on his face. Fortunately, Yeremenko came to his rescue in time: "Nikita Sergeyevich, don't blame the people below.
Comrade, it must be our negligence that led to the omission of the 62nd Army. I think so, let Colonel Sokov call Chuikov and ask him to come here, and we will apologize to him in person."
"Commander Chuikov is coming this way." Sokov reported to the two men: "I think he will arrive soon."
After waiting for about ten minutes, Chuikov, who was in a hurry, arrived at the division headquarters. After raising his hand to salute Yeremenko and Khrushchev, he said anxiously: "Two chiefs, I finally see you.
,I have important things..."
"Comrade Chuikov, you don't need to say anything." Yeremenko raised his hand to interrupt Chuikov's words and explained to him: "Colonel Sokov has already told us the matter." He turned to an officer standing behind him.
He pursed his lips and said, "This is the communications staff of the front army. He will help you get in touch with Rokossovsky. If there is any situation, let him help you report."
With the help of the communications staff, urgent information was sent out through the radio. While waiting for a call back, Yeremenko asked Chuikov: "Comrade Chuikov, how long do you think it will take for us to eliminate the besieged enemy?"
."
"It's hard to say," Chuikov replied with a wry smile: "Due to the serious shortage of troops, it is difficult for our troops in the city to launch a large-scale attack. Nowadays, in the factory area to the north, we are fighting small-scale battles with the enemy.
The distance advanced per day is measured in meters."
Hearing what Chuikov said, Sokov couldn't help but think to himself: "When the German army rushed into the city, they were forced to engage in street fighting with the Soviet army. The speed at which they advanced every day was measured in meters. No.
Thinking about the Soviet army launching a counterattack now, they will encounter the same problem."
"Colonel Sokov," Yeremenko accidentally caught a glimpse of Sokov's half-smiling expression and asked curiously, "What are you laughing at?"
"I was thinking that if the superiors replenish the troops of the 62nd Group Army." Sokov quickly replied: "Then our attack speed can be accelerated, and the time to destroy the enemy can be shortened."
"Now the enemy is gathering towards the west, preparing for a breakout operation." Khrushchev had seen many cases in which the German army was besieged by the Soviet army and successfully escaped in the end. Therefore, in his heart, he wanted to destroy Paulus' troops.
He didn't have high expectations: "I'm worried that the German army will successfully break through before our final general offensive is launched."
Khrushchev's words reminded everyone, and everyone invariably remembered that from the outbreak of the war to the present, the German army had been surrounded by the Soviet army many times, but in the end they were not only not wiped out, but also severely damaged the attacking troops. Thinking of this, in addition to asking for help
Everyone except Cove couldn't help but feel heavy.
After receiving the telegram from Chuikov, Rokossovsky quickly called Malinin and asked: "Chief of Staff, how credible do you think the telegram from Chuikov is?"
Malinin had read the telegram a long time ago. When he heard Rokossovsky's question, he only thought for a moment and then answered truthfully: "Comrade Commander, I think this telegram from General Chuikov is very accurate.
It seems that the German army is gathering troops in the southwest of the encirclement, and they are indeed preparing to break out and join Hoth's troops."
"Then tell me, can the troops in the southwest stop the enemy's breakout?"
"Comrade Commander, please forgive me." Malinen replied with a wry smile: "According to intelligence, during Huot's offensive a few days ago, the 57th Group Army responsible for defending this area was defeated steadily. If it weren't for
Huot's troops are limited, and I'm afraid the defense line has long been breached. If the German army attacks the 57th Group Army's defense area from two directions at the same time, then our encirclement will be opened by the enemy."
"Once a gap is opened, Paulus's troops will have a way to jump out of our encirclement." Rokossovsky pointed at the map with his finger and said in a stern tone: "This situation is one that neither we nor the Supreme Command can do."
We are willing to see it. Therefore, we must find a way as soon as possible to crush the Germans’ attempt to break out.”
"But, what should we do?" Malinen asked in embarrassment: "General Bartov's 65th Group Army is hundreds of kilometers away from the 57th Group Army, and there are many German defense lines stationed in the middle. There are not even one or two.
In a few weeks, the two armies may not be able to join forces."
"Yes," Rokossovsky used a red and blue pencil to draw a line between the two armies, and said with emotion: "With the combat effectiveness of our army, we must continuously break through multiple German defense lines and rush over to strengthen friendly forces.
The defense force is very difficult."
"Comrade Commander, I have an idea." Seeing Rokossovsky's helpless appearance, Malinin said tentatively: "I just asked the communications staff officer who received the telegram, and he said that he used the radio of the 41st Guards Division.
dispatched……"
Rokossovsky knew Sokov's current position, and when he heard Malinin saying that the telegram was sent through the radio of the 41st Guards Division, his eyes lit up: "Chief of Staff, you mean to ask Sokov
Let’s see if he has any good suggestions?”
"Yes, Comrade Commander." After Ma Lining agreed, he said with concern: "But he is only a division commander. Is it appropriate for him to advise the head of the front army?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," faced Malinin's concerns, Rokossovsky said sternly: "As long as we can defeat the enemy, no matter what the identity of the person who gives us advice is, I think it is appropriate."
"Well, since you agree, Comrade Commander, I will call back to the 41st Guards Division immediately."
After receiving Malinin's call back, the communications staff hurriedly handed the copied telegram to Chuikov. After reading it, Chuikov showed a surprised expression on his face. He handed the telegram to Yeremenko and Khrushchev. They were surprised.
He said: "Two chiefs, take a look, General Rokossovsky called back. He said that judging from the current situation, the possibility of the 65th Group Army and the 57th Group Army joining forces is slim, so he wanted Sokov to come up with something.
The idea was to slow down the speed of the German armored forces moving to the southwest."
"Ask for my opinion?" Sokov was dumbfounded when he saw that Rokossovsky left the problem to him to solve: "Commanders, I'm just a division commander. I'm afraid I have no say in this kind of front-level operations.
Right."
After reading the telegram, Khrushchev smiled and said to Sokov: "Misha, since General Rokossovsky thinks so highly of you, if you have any ideas, just say it without any scruples."
Since Khrushchev said so, Sokov understood that it would be too pretentious to refuse any more, so he nodded and said: "Although there are difficulties in joining the two armies, we can use the power of the air force to
To solve this problem. In order to deliver supplies to the besieged troops, the enemy converted a large number of bombers into transport aircraft, so that the air superiority over Stalingrad was firmly in the hands of our air force. I suggest dispatching a bomber group
, to bomb the German armored units in the process of transfer."
"This is a good idea." After hearing this, Chuikov nodded slightly and said, "I don't believe that the Germans dare to mobilize their troops to move to the southwest despite being heavily bombed by our army."
Therefore, the plan proposed by Sokov was drafted as a telegram and sent to the front army headquarters. After receiving the telegram, Malinin immediately reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, Sokov's reply has arrived. He
It is recommended that we dispatch the air force to carry out air strikes on the German armored units during the transfer."
"Send out a group of bombers to bomb the enemy's armored forces." Rokossovsky said thoughtfully: "Why couldn't we think of such a simple method?"
Malinin smiled and smoothed things over for Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, not only did you not expect this, but even I, the chief of staff, did not expect it. After all, in the past few months, the ones who have control of the air have been Germans. This kind of
It will take some time for us to adapt to the sudden change."
"Get in touch with the commander of the Air Force Group immediately." Rokossovsky said to Malinin: "Let them dispatch aircraft of no less than one aviation division to bomb the German armored units in the process of transfer. Those in our encirclement
The German armored forces may be able to obtain supplies of fuel and ammunition, but they cannot obtain supplies of any tanks. As long as one is blown up, they will have one less tank. If there are a few more bombings like this, I guess the Germans will not have any.
What a tank."
As the order was issued, more than a hundred bombers roared into the sky from seven or eight field airports at the same time, rushing towards the transfer route of the German armored forces. The first one to be bombed was Lenski's 24th Armored Division, which fell from the sky.
The bomb fell on the marching tank and exploded, occasionally blowing the tank into a ball of fire. The air wave from the explosion overturned the tank. The remaining surviving tanks quickly left the road and drove towards the forest nearby, trying to escape
Bombing by Soviet aircraft.
Lenski, who was sitting in an armored vehicle, immediately ordered the driver to increase the accelerator and rush towards the nearest forest as soon as the bombing began. As for the fate of his troops, he didn't care at all.
I hope it's as far away from the bombing area as possible.
Paulus soon learned the news that the armored forces had been bombed. He asked Schmidt in a panic: "How about it? Is Lensky also in the marching queue? Is he in danger?"
The reason why he asked this was because the last time the infantry division commander was transferred without authorization, he was seriously injured due to bombing by the Soviet army. As a result, the troops who lost their command fell into panic, otherwise Sokov's troops would not have been able to do so.
will easily capture their third line of defense.
"Don't worry, Commander." Although Schmidt didn't know much about the specific details of the bombing, he still comforted Paulus: "General Lensky is very smart. If he finds that the situation is not right, he will retreat in time. You can
Don’t worry anymore.”
As soon as Schmidt finished speaking, a communications officer came in from outside. After saluting him, he handed him a question and said businesslikely: "Chief of Staff, this is the telegram just sent from Berlin."
Telegram from Berlin? Both Schmidt and Paulus were startled by the word Berlin. Paulus snatched the telegram from Schmidt and read it quickly. Waiting until he finished reading
After reading the above content, Paulus looked ashen, and he said to Schmidt with a depressed look: "Chief of Staff, the telegram was sent by the Führer. He ordered us not to obey Marshal Manstein's order and to continue to stay in the current situation."
area for defense.”
"What, continue to stay and defend?" Schmidt was startled: "But, Your Excellency Commander, we are now facing a shortage of supplies. If we continue to stay in the Russian encirclement, we can only barely delay the time of being eliminated.
."
"There is no way. This is an order personally issued by the Führer." Although Paulus was an outstanding general in the German army, his shortcoming was foolish loyalty. Since Hitler ordered him to stay and hold on, he immediately made a decision in his heart.
After making the decision, he resolutely obeyed the orders of the head of state and led the troops to stay here and wait for the situation to change. "Chief of Staff, give an order to all the troops. The original breakout plan is cancelled, and they will continue to stay in the existing position for defense."