Although Sokov was familiar with the various performance parameters of the Tiger tank, he hesitated for a while after hearing Bere’s question, before saying cautiously: “Col. Bere, I saw in an information that the Germans were developing a new heavy tank - the Tiger tank. This tank uses an 88mm caliber tank with an armor of 102mm on the front and 82mm on the side and back.”
After hearing Sokov's general data, Bere couldn't help but breathe: "My God, the front armor of our T-34 is 60mm, the side armor is only 45mm, and the 76mm cannon is used, which is not the same level as the German tanks."
"That's right, Colonel Biele." Sokov felt that if Biele's tank troops were forced to carry the German tiger style, it would be the ending of giving away the enemy's heavy tanks, so he said tactfully: "Using medium tanks to deal with the enemy's heavy tanks is a suicide act. I suggest you withdraw the tank troops back to the Red October factory and let the troops deal with the enemy's tanks."
"If the Germans' new tank, as you said, has 102mm armor, there may not be any anti-tank guns that can destroy it." Regarding Sokov's suggestion, Bere hesitated: "I'm worried that after we withdraw, the infantry will not be able to stop the enemy's attack at all."
"Can you keep the enemy's tanks be blocked?" Sokov saw Bere hesitating and said in a stressful tone: "We don't know how many new tanks the enemy has. If we continue to keep the tanks on the position, the enemy will destroy them one by one like a target."
Berek understood in his heart that all Sokov said was true, but before he received the order from his superiors, he would withdraw his tank troops to the Red October factory. This could be regarded as an act of escape in the face of battle. If this caused the collapse of the defense line and put Stalingrad in a more dangerous situation, he might be able to shoot himself directly and not even give him the chance to go to the military court.
Hearing that there was no movement in the headphones, Sokov understood in his heart what Bo Lei was hesitating. He did not persuade him, but reminded the other party: "Col. Bi Lei, if you can't make up your mind, you can report this to Commander Cui Kefu to see what he thinks."
Sokov's suggestion was equivalent to handing over the conflict. As for whether to leave Bo Lei's tank troops on the position as cannon fodder, or temporarily withdraw the factory to preserve their strength, the army leaders decided.
Bere followed Sokov's advice and reported to Cuikov's situation. Finally, he asked whether to continue fighting or temporarily withdraw the factory area.
After listening to Be Lei’s report, Cui Kefu was silent for a moment, and then asked: “Col. Be Lei, please tell me truthfully that the enemy really has a new type of tank put into the battlefield?”
"Yes." Although Bele had just reported to Cui Kov, he heard him ask, and repeated the content just now: "The enemy's new tank stayed at 800 meters away from our position. At such a long distance, the armor-piercing bombs fired by our tanks could not penetrate its frontal armor at all. As long as it fired a cannon, it could directly destroy our tanks. The seven tanks in the third tank company were destroyed by one of them."
"How many tanks do the enemy have?" Cui Kefu asked cautiously.
"There are about five such tanks." Berrey sighed softly and replied, "If they continue to stay at 800 meters or even further firing fire, no matter how many of our tanks are, we cannot destroy the enemy's tanks."
"Which regiment is building a defense line in the north?" As soon as Cuikov asked this question, he remembered that Gurdiev had reported to himself that in order to prevent the German army from suddenly heading south, he had sent the 351st Regiment to garrison the north. He quickly changed his words and said, "I remember it. It was the 351st Regiment of the Gurdiev Division. You and Gurdiev passed the air, and then took the tank troops to withdraw back to the Red October Factory."
Krelov, who had just answered the phone, heard Cuikov's order to retreat to Berei, and he couldn't help but feel anxious: "Comrade Commander, how can you let the tank troops retreat? Once they withdraw from the Red October Factory, our counterattack will be declared failure."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Cuikov looked at Krelov with a serious expression: "Do you think our counterattack can continue if I don't let Bie Lei and the others withdraw from the Red October factory?"
Krelov was immediately stopped by Trikov. As the chief of staff of the army, he learned more than Trikov. According to the reports of the troops standing east of Orlovka, the German 100th Hunter Division, the 94th Infantry Division and the 24th Armored Division were moving south. Perhaps in a few hours, the three infantry divisions that carried out counterattacks would fall into the German encirclement.
Knowing the current situation is one thing, and what kind of determination is another thing. Krelov knew that the troops would continue to stay in their current position. Once they were surrounded by the German army, even if they were not completely wiped out, there would probably not be many officers and soldiers who could return to the starting position. However, considering that this counterattack was a task assigned by the superiors, Khrushchev, a military committee member of the Front Army, came to take charge in person. If he wanted to terminate the counterattack, he had to obtain permission from his superiors.
Seeing Krelov's embarrassing expression, Cui Koff knew very well that this counterattack was forced by his superiors. If the superiors did not nod, no one would have the right to withdraw the troops. Thinking of this, he looked around, but did not see Khrushchev's shadow, so he called a staff officer and asked, "Did you see the military commissioner?"
The staff officer thought Cui Kov was asking about the military committee member Grov, and quickly replied: "Report to the commander, Comrade Gurov, a military committee member, went to the Red October factory half an hour ago."
When Cuikov heard that the staff officer was talking about Gurov, he waved his hand and said, "I was not asking Gurov, but Comrade Khrushchev. Have you seen him?"
Regarding this question, the staff hesitated for a moment, and then replied in an uncertain tone: "The military committee member of the Front Army seemed to have gone to the Derrensky Tractor Factory, and he said he would go to inspect the defense there."
"The 37th Guard Division stationed at the Derrensky factory," Cuikov ordered his staff: "Call General Joludev immediately and ask if Comrade Khrushchev is there. If you are there, please ask Comrade Khrushchev to return immediately. Some unexpected things have happened here, and he needs to come back to make a decision."
When the staff officer came to the side to call, Cuikov turned to Krelov again and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, please contact Colonel Gurdiev immediately and say that the current situation is very unfavorable to our army. I plan to withdraw Colonel Bere's tank troops back to Red October and order his troops to continue to hold their positions and wait for my retreat order."
"Comrade Commander," Krelov asked in surprise when he heard Cuikov's order: "Are you really planning to withdraw all the tank troops to the Red October Factory? What should we do if our superiors blame it?"
"I haven't withdrawn all the troops." Cuikov obviously had expected Krelov to ask this. He said to himself: "Although the tank troops retreated to the Red October factory, the infantry are still holding their positions, which means that our counterattack against the enemy has not completely ended, and the superiors cannot blame us."
"Well, Comrade Commander." Since Trikov had said this, Krelov realized that it was obviously inappropriate for him to sing against him as the chief of staff, so he nodded and said, "I will convey your meaning immediately to Colonel Gurdiev."
The German army rushed over from the north with great momentum. If the counterattack troops were allowed to fight against them head-on, the entire army would be destroyed. While Cuikov was considering how to allow the two infantry divisions on the right wing to retreat to the Red October Factory smoothly, he also thought of the 41st Guard Division, which had successively occupied two German positions.
Cuikov asked the communications soldiers to connect with the command center of Mamayevgang. After contacting Sokov, he asked straight to the point: "Sokov, how is the situation there?"
"The enemy from the direction of the station is launching an attack on the 122nd Regiment's position." Sokov reported: "I have given orders to Lieutenant Colonel Papchinko to try his best to block the enemy's attack."
"What if they can't stop it?" Cui Kefu asked.
"If you can't stop it, you can only retreat." Sokov knew the purpose of Cuikov's question, so he quickly explained to him: "But Comrade Commander, please rest assured that our defense will not collapse at once. When the 122nd Regiment cannot stop the enemy's attack, they will find a way to retreat to the position of the 124th Regiment and continue to consume the enemy's vitality there. But I'm worried..."
Hearing Sokov's words halfway, it came to an abrupt end. Cuikov asked impatiently: "What are you worried about? Don't keep me in a silence here, quickly explain it to me."
"I am worried that the enemy will go south in a large scale. Once they break through the two divisions on the right wing, the two regiments I came out in the siege." Sokov did not want his two guard regiments to be fought over in a meaningless war of attrition, so he tried every means to withdraw them. "In order to prevent this situation from happening, Comrade Commander, I ask you to order the counterattack troops to retreat across the board and return to their original starting position."
"Col. Sokov," although Cuikov felt that Sokov was justified in his heart, he had no right to let the three divisions retreat back to their original starting positions before obtaining Khrushchev's permission, so he could only scold Sokov with a stern face: "What are you saying? When facing the rushing enemies, we should find a way to stop them, rather than thinking about how to retreat. Do you understand?"
Seeing that Cui Kov was unwilling to withdraw his counterattack troops, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little heartbroken. At the same time, he was also secretly glad in his heart that he had not been able to fight today. Even if the 122nd and 124th Regiments were all eliminated, he had saved some strength. At this moment, facing Cui Kov's stubbornness, he could only bite the bullet and said insincerely: "I understand, Comrade Commander. I will immediately call Lieutenant Colonel Papuqinko and Lieutenant Colonel Starcha and order them to stand firmly, and even if they fight to the last person, they will never take a step back."
Cuikov knew that Sokov was talking angry, but he was helpless. After all, he did not have the right to retreat. He coughed gently and said to the microphone: "Col. Sokov, when the enemy's attack is repelled, you can find a way to remove the wounded."
As soon as he hung up the phone, he saw Khrushchev walking in from outside. He raised his hand to dust off the dust on his shoulders, looked at Cui Kev who was standing straight and asked, "Comrade Cui Kev, are you in a hurry to call me back. Is there anything important?"
"Comrade Military Commissioner, the situation is very unfavorable to our army. According to the report of the troops standing east of Orlovka, the main enemy's forces have begun to move south in large numbers, trying to attack our counterattack forces with the Romanian army." Cuikov looked at Khrushchev and said carefully: "I suggest stop the counterattack immediately and withdraw the troops back to their original starting point."
"Retreat the troops?" Khrushchev frowned immediately when he heard Cuikov say he wanted to retreat. He said dissatisfiedly: "As far as I know, our counterattack has been going well? After a fierce battle, the right wing troops successfully occupied the first line of defense that the Romanian army held; while the left wing troops performed more prominently. They not only occupied the two lines of defense of the enemy, but also threatened that the enemy would stand firm. In this case, I think the attack could continue."
"Comrade Military Commissioner, you don't know that a new type of heavy tank is equipped with a vanguard of the enemy." Seeing that Khrushchev wanted to continue fighting, Cuikov quickly reported to him about the situation reported by Berlei: "The enemy's tanks were parked at 800 meters from our position and could easily destroy our tanks. However, our tanks at such a long distance have no way to do the other side. The seven tanks in the third company of tanks were all destroyed in the face-to-face battle with the enemy's heavy tanks."
"What, seven tanks were killed and they were wiped out?" Khrushchev asked in surprise: "When did the enemy's tank become so powerful?"
"It is a new type of tank that the enemy has just entered the battlefield. In order to avoid unnecessary losses, I have ordered Colonel Bere to withdraw all the tanks to the Red October factory." Cuikov said to Khrushchev: "Now, in the position, only infantry are left to defend."
"How can infantry defend their positions without tanks?" Khrushchev became more and more dissatisfied when he learned that Cui Kov had made a good decision and retreated all the tanks. "General Cui Kov, how can you make decisions without authorization before you get my order? If this counterattack fails, you will be sent to the military court. Immediately transfer all the tank troops back to me."
Chapter completed!