Sidolin put down the phone and reported to Sokov, who was sitting next to Vitkov, "Comrade Brigade Commander, the commander just reminded us on the phone that the enemy might draw superior forces, but encircle and suppress the small teams we sent behind the enemy. What should we do now?"
"What else can I do?" The squad was surrounded by the German army, which was already as expected by Sokov, but he did not expect that the enemy would react so much that he would stop the attack on Stalingrad and draw troops from the front to carry out the siege. However, under the current circumstances, he did not have the ability to help these troops. He could only find ways to remind them and keep them vigilant enough so that they could survive in the rear of the enemy for a longer period of time. "Immediately send a report to several squads, let them deal with the enemy based on the terrain, and actively look for fighter jets to turn the enemy's rear into earth."
When Sidolin heard Sokov's decision, the arrangement was similar to that of Cuikov, he nodded quickly and said, "Okay, comrade brigade commander, I will send a report to the team, asking them to deal with the enemy immediately with the terrain, and actively look for fighter jets to attack the enemy fiercely."
After Vitkov walked away, he said with emotion: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I really didn't expect that you just sent four teams to the rear of the enemy. There were only sixty people in full swing, but they could easily disrupt the original deployment of the German army. So much so that they had to stop attacking the city and draw troops to the rear to clear our troops."
"Oh, it's a pity." Sokov sighed softly after he finished speaking, saying, "If we have enough strength now, we can take the opportunity to launch a counterattack in some areas, drive the enemy out of the city, and drive away."
When he heard Sokov say this, Vitkov couldn't help but blush and thought to himself: He wasn't talking about me? I commanded him for half a month and gave more than 3,000 casualties to the infantry brigade. If the infantry brigade still has nearly 5,000 people, he could launch a counterattack against the enemy in the Mamayevgang area... He was thinking, but he heard Sokov continue to say: "The vital forces of the army were exhausted from the two counterattacks at the beginning of the month. Otherwise, with the cooperation of the artillery on the other side and the rear air force, it is still very possible for us to gain a certain advantage in some areas."
When Vitkov heard this, he realized that Sokov was not talking about himself, but about the army unit. He couldn't help but smiled self-deprecatingly. Seeing the smile on his face, Sokov couldn't help but ask strangely: "Comrade Deputy Brigade Commander, why are you laughing?"
Naturally, Vitkov would not tell Sokov what he was laughing at, but instead said: "We consumed the living power we had accumulated too early in this kind of ineffective counterattack. As a result, when the Germans launched a new attack, they found that we did not have enough strength to block them, resulting in most areas of the city being occupied by the enemy in a short period of time."
"Comrade of the Deputy Brigade Commander," Sokov thought that Vitkov had summarized the two failed counterattacks in early September, and echoed: "Our counterattack was organized in a very hasty manner, lacking the necessary supplies to support the counterattack, which led to the inability of the counterattack troops to carry out effective combat. As a result, the counterattack not only failed, but also resulted in the consumption of precious living forces and the loss of a large amount of equipment being seized by the German army."
After sending a phone call to the squad behind enemy lines, Cidolin came over to report to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, the telegram has been sent. Whether these troops can survive the encirclement and annihilation of the German army can only depend on their luck."
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov nodded and said with certainty: "We have done what we should do. What will happen next? Whether the commanders and fighters of the squad can return safely from the rear of the enemy after completing the mission depends on their respective luck."
…………
The German army temporarily stopped the attack on Stalingrad, which made the Soviet commanders and fighters who were standing in the city breathe a sigh of relief. Even Yelemenko, on the left bank of the Volga River, was discussing this issue with Khrushchev: "Military Comrade, tell me what's going on? The German army launched an attack across the city yesterday, but why did there be no movement today?"
Khrushchev was also puzzled by this situation. He said to Yelemenko: "Comrade Commander, the troops outside Stalingrad did not seem to have taken any offensive actions. How could the enemy stop the attack and retreat from some frontier areas? What's going on?"
Yeliaumko spread his hands, shrugged his shoulders, and said, "I don't know either." He paused for a moment and asked Khrushchev tentatively: "Or, let's call the Supreme Command and ask what's going on?"
"I don't think there is any need to call the Supreme Command," Khrushchev said, shaking his head. "They are all learning about the situation in Stalingrad through us. They probably don't know what's going on today."
"I think Cuikov should know what's going on," Seeing Khrushchev oppose calling the Supreme Command, Yelemenko thought for a while and felt that the one who knew the situation on the battlefield best was Cuikov. After all, the troops that were stuck in the city were the 62nd Army commanded by Cuikov. Thinking of this, he suggested to Khrushchev again: "Khrushchev, I think, I'd better call Cuikov and ask what happened in the city."
"I agree." After Khrushchev agreed to Yelyemko's proposal, he took the initiative to propose: "I will call Cuikov and find out what happened in the city."
Cuikov was very surprised when he received a call from Khrushchev. After hearing the other party's questions clearly, he quickly replied: "Military Comrade, I am planning to report this to you. According to our analysis, the reason why the enemy stopped attacking today may be related to the squad sent by the 73rd Infantry Brigade last night."
"Infantry Brigade 73rd Infantry Brigade?" Khrushchev heard this familiar number and asked tentatively: "Is it Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's troops? I want to ask, how many people he sent to the enemy's rear last night, which forced the Germans to stop attacking the city?"
"There are not many people," Cui Kefu replied, although he did not know the specific number of the team, "There are probably only a few dozen people, divided into four teams, and went deep into the enemy's rear from different locations. Since each team carries new rockets, he achieved good results last night and early this morning."
"Comrade Cui Khov," Khrushchev heard that the squads that were deep behind enemy lines were carrying new rockets. He seemed to understand something, so he interrupted and asked, "If I was not wrong, the results achieved by the squad are related to the rockets they carried?"
"Yes, comrades of the military committee, this is the case." Cuikov briefly reported the results he knew to Khrushchev and said: "Now the enemy may be aware of the threat posed by the squad to them, so he suspended the attack on the city today and drew troops from the troops to the rear to carry out encirclement and suppression."
"The team did a good job!" Khrushchev said with praise after hearing the team's results: "Their active actions completely disrupted the German offensive deployment, and firmly held a considerable part of the German army's livelihood, thereby reducing the pressure on the city defenders."
"Comrade Military Commissioner," Cui Kefu said with some concern about the safety of the commanders and fighters fighting behind enemy lines: "The enemy has drawn troops from the front and encircled them. They must have been trapped in the enemy's encirclement, which may lead to the destruction of the entire army."
However, Khrushchev did not express any concern about the safety of the enemy's squad, as Cuikov imagined, he just said: "Comrade Cuikov, the troops who go deep into the enemy's rear should be prepared to sacrifice when accepting tasks. As long as they complete the tasks assigned to them by their superiors, even if they sacrifice them all, they will be considered valuable. I have an idea that since you can disrupt the German offensive deployment after sending troops deep into the enemy's rear, once the small teams that are operating behind the enemy are annihilated by the enemy, you should immediately send new teams so that the enemy cannot concentrate their efforts on the attack on the city. Do you understand what I mean?"
When Cui Kev heard that Khrushchev didn't care about the life and death of the commanders and fighters, he felt a little disappointed, but after hearing his question, he still answered instinctively: "I understand, comrade of the military committee, I will continue to send operational teams behind the enemy to harass the enemy in order to disrupt the enemy's combat deployment."
…………
Paulus stopped his attack on Stalingrad, and drew troops from the front to clear out the Soviet army behind him. The news quickly came back to Berlin and reached Hitler's ears. The short man with a toothbrush beard suddenly furious after hearing the news. His face looked extremely ferocious because of his rage. He yelled hysterically at several senior generals in the room: "What did Paulus think? One of his feet had already stepped into Stalingrad, but he stopped attacking at this time. Didn't this give the Russians a chance to breathe?"
He pointed with his hand at the Chief of Staff Zetzler, who had just replaced Hard's position, and said in a short and urgent voice: "Call Paulus immediately and order him to attack Stalingrad immediately. You must tell him that the attack on Stalingrad cannot stop for a moment. We must turn the city into a ruin, and then flood it with the Volga river water, and turn it into a swamp without people..."
Hitler did not like the General Staff to be led by a person with strong independence. He hoped that the person who occupied this position would be someone he could trust and always fully obey him. Zeitzler happened to meet this standard, so after he removed Halder from his post, he immediately appointed Zeitzler as the chief of staff.
Zeitzler dared not refute, but asked respectfully: "My head of state, General Paulus, was threatened by the Russians. If he wanted to continue attacking the city, how should he deal with those damn Russians?"
"Zezler, what's wrong with you? Haven't you seen the intelligence sent back from the front?" Hitler said angrily at Zezler: "Based on the intelligence analysis, the Russians who posed a threat to Paulus' rear were just a small force from Mamayevgang. He only needed to use a small part of the infantry's 71st, 76th and 295th Infantry Divisions to destroy them."
Zeitzler knew that Hitler had amazing memories, and he could clearly say the numbers of the frontier troops and the names of their commanders. Since he said so, he must have had a relatively comprehensive idea. He quickly asked for instructions: "My head, I beg to issue more detailed orders to convey to General Paulus."
Hitler was satisfied with Zeitzler's respectful attitude, and his anger was somewhat reduced. He walked to the wall and picked up the explanation stick and said to Zeitzler: "The troops currently attacking Mamayevgang are the 71st, 76th and 295th Infantry Divisions. These three troops were attacked by the Russians. Paulus asked him to draw troops from these three divisions to destroy the annoying Russians behind him. He ordered him to immediately launch an attack on the factory area north of Stalingrad with the 16th Armored Division, the 60th Motorized Infantry Division, the 389th Infantry Division and the 100th Hunter Division; and attack the urban area of ​​Stalingrad from the south with the 24th Armored Division, the 94th Infantry Division, the 14th Armored Division and the 29th Motorized Infantry Division, and take Stalingrad from the south. Be sure to take Stalingrad before October 1st."
"I understand, my head of state." After recording Hitler's orders, Zeitzler bowed slightly to the other party and said respectfully: "I will convey your order to General Paulus immediately."
When Hitler heard him say this, he waved at him impatiently and signaled him to send a telegram as soon as possible. Zeitzler bent his waist slightly, took a few steps back before straightening his back and turning around and walking out of the office.
More than ten minutes later, Paulus received a telegram from the German Command in Berlin. After reading it, he couldn't help but smile bitterly, then called Schmid in, handed the telegram he received to the other party, and said, "Chief of Staff, look, this is a telegram sent by the Chief of Staff General Zeitzler. He asked us to immediately resume the attack in the Stalingrad region."
"But, Your Excellency Commander." Schmid took the telegram, and before he could see it, he heard Paulus say this, and quickly reminded the other party: "If we continue to attack Stalingrad, what should the Russians behind us do? You must know that their threat is too great."
"The Head of State Order," Paulus said to Schmid: "Except for the suspension of the attack in the direction of Mamayevgang, the troops used to ask the Russians in the rear, the rest of the areas should immediately restore the fortifications against the Russians, and be sure to take Stalingrad before October 1."
"What?! Take Stalingrad before October 1st?!" Schmid couldn't help but laugh and cry when he heard this order: "Master Commander, it's September 28th. Judging from the current situation, I think it's impossible to occupy the entire city within two days."
Chapter completed!