Sokov was eager to report the news of the German mobilization to Rokosovsky, but he did not have a contact information and seemed particularly anxious. After finally Yelemenko and Khrushchev finished speaking, he couldn't wait to say: "Comrade Commander, comrade Military Commissioner, I have important information to report to you."
"Col. Sokov, we are no longer your superiors." Yelemenko waved his hand when he heard Sokov say this, and said, "If there is any situation to report, you should report it directly to Cuikov."
"Comrade Commander," Sokov said with a raised voice: "I have reported this information to Commander Cui Kov, but he is powerless,..."
"He can't solve it, and there is Rokosovsky." Before Sokov finished speaking, Khrushchev interrupted: "When encountering problems that the army cannot solve, you can report to the Front Command."
"We want to report, but we can't contact the new Front Command." Sokov looked at Khrushchev and said in embarrassment: "So we hope to help us contact the new Front Command through the two leaders."
"Nikita Sergeevich," Yelemenko asked, looking at Khrushchev, "When we handed over all our troops to the Don Front, have you handed over all the contact codes to Malining?"
Khrushchev turned his head and looked 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 Commissioner, this is the army contact code handed over to the Don Front."
Khrushchev took the piece of paper, quickly browsed the contents on it, and asked the officer with a frown: "Why is there no 62nd Army above?"
The officer didn't know how to answer Khrushchev's question, and his face showed an embarrassing expression. Fortunately, Yelemenko promptly relieved him: "Nikita Sergeievic, don't blame the comrades below. It should be because of our negligence in work that we missed the 62nd Army. I think so, let Colonel Sokov call Cuikov and ask him to come here, and we apologize to him in person."
"Commander Choikov is coming here." Sokov reported to the two: "It's probably coming soon."
After waiting for about ten minutes, Cuikov, who was in a hurry, came to the division command center. He raised his hand to salute Yelemenko and Khrushchev, and said anxiously: "Two leaders, I finally saw you. I have something important to you..."
"Comrade Cuikov, you need not say anything." Yelyemko raised his hand and interrupted Cuikov's words and explained to him: "Col. Sokov has told us the matter." He whispered to an officer standing behind him, saying, "This is the communications staff of the Front Army. He will help you contact Rokosovsky. If there is any situation, let him help you report."
With the help of the communications consultant, the emergency information was sent out through the radio. While waiting for the other party to call back, Yelemenko asked Cuikov: "Comrade Cuikov, how long do you think it will take us to eliminate the besieged enemies."
"This is hard to say," Cui Kefu 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. Now the factory area in the north and the enemy are engaged in small-scale battles, and the distance forward is calculated in meters every day."
Hearing Cuikov say this, Sokov couldn't help but think in his heart: "When the German army rushed into the city, they were forced to start street fighting with the Soviet army. The speed of their advancement every day was calculated in meters. Unexpectedly, the Soviet army will encounter the same problem when it launches a counterattack."
"Col. Sokov," Yelemenko accidentally caught a smile on Sokov's face and asked curiously, "What are you laughing at?"
"I was thinking, if the superiors supplemented the troops of the 62nd Army." Sokov quickly replied: "Then our attack speed can be accelerated, and then the time to eliminate the enemy can be shortened."
"Now the enemy is gathering westward and preparing for a breakthrough." Khrushchev has seen many battles in which the German army was besieged by the Soviet army and finally escaped danger. Therefore, he did not have too high expectations for the troops that destroyed Paulus: "I am worried that the German army will successfully break through before our final general attack was launched."
Khrushchev's words reminded everyone that everyone 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 eliminated, but also severely damaged the attacking troops. Thinking of this, everyone except Sokov couldn't help but feel heavy.
After receiving the telegram from Trikov, Rokosovsky quickly called Malining and asked, "Chief of Staff, how credible do you think the telegram from Trikov is?"
Malining had read the telegram for a long time. When he heard Rokosovsky's question, he thought for a moment and replied truthfully: "Comrade Commander, I think General Cuikov's telegram is very accurate. It seems that the German army gathered troops in the southwest direction of the encirclement and was indeed preparing to break through and join Hot's troops."
"Then tell me, can the troops in the southwest stop the enemy who broke through?"
"Comrade Commander, please be honest." Malining replied with a wry smile: "According to information, during Hort's attack a few days ago, the 57th Army, which was responsible for defending this area, was defeated step by step. If Hort's troops were not limited, the defense line would have been broken long ago. If the German army launched an attack on the 57th Army's defense zone from two directions at the same time, then our encirclement would be opened by the enemy."
"Once the gap is opened, Paulus's troops will have a pit to jump out of our encirclement." Rokosovsky pointed at the map and said in a stern tone: "This situation is something we and the Supreme Command do not want to see. Therefore, we must find a way as soon as possible to crush the Germans' attempt to break through."
"But what should we do?" Malining asked in embarrassment: "General Batov's 65th Army is hundreds of kilometers away from the 57th Army, and there are many defense lines for the German army to defend. In less than a week or two, the two troops may not be able to meet."
"Yes," Rokosovsky drew a need in the middle of the two armies with a red and blue pencil, and said with emotion: "With our combat effectiveness, it is very difficult to continuously break through the German defense lines and rush over and strengthen the defensive power of friendly forces."
"Comrade Commander, I have an idea." Seeing Rokosovsky's helpless look, Malining said tentatively: "I just asked the communications consultant who received the telegram, and he said it was sent out by the radio station of the 41st Division of the Guards..."
Rokosovsky knew Sokov's current position and heard Malining say that the telegram was sent out through the radio station of the 41st Guards Division, and his eyes lit up: "Chief of Staff, what do you mean is, ask Sokov's opinion and see if he has any good suggestions?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." After expressing his agreement, Malining said with great concern: "But he is just a division commander, and he will give advice to the head of the front army. Is this appropriate?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," said Rokosovsky seriously, in the face of Malining's concerns: "As long as you can defeat the enemy, no matter what the person who gives us the identity is, I think it is appropriate."
"Okay, since you agree with Comrade Commander, I will call back the 41st Guard Division immediately."
After receiving the call from Malining, the communications consultant quickly handed over the copied telegram to Trikov. After reading it, he showed a surprised expression on his face. He handed the telegram to Yelemenko and Khrushchev and said in surprise: "Two leaders, look at it. General Rokosovsky called back. He said that judging from the current situation, the possibility of the 65th Army and the 57th Army meeting was slim, so he wanted Sokov to come up with an idea to delay the speed of the German armored troops moving southwest."
"Ask me your opinion?" Sokov was stunned when he saw Rokosovsky handing the problem over to himself: "A few leaders, I am just a division commander. I am afraid I have no say in this kind of front-level combat."
After reading the telegram, Khrushchev smiled and said to Sokov: "Misha, since General Rokosovsky values ​​you so much, if you have any ideas, just say it without any scruples."
Since Khrushchev said this, Sokov understood that it would be too pretentious if he refused again, so he nodded and said, "Although there is a difficulty in meeting the two armies, we can use the power of the air force to solve this problem. In order to transport supplies to the besieged troops, the enemy changed a large number of bombers into transport aircraft, so that the air supremacy over Stalingrad has been firmly held by our air force. I suggest dispatching a group of bombers to bomb the German armored forces during the transfer process."
"This is a good idea." After hearing this, Cui Kefu nodded slightly and said, "I don't believe that the Germans dare to mobilize their troops to move to the southwest when they are violently bombed by our army."
So, the plan proposed by Sokov was formulated as a telegram and sent to the Front Command. After receiving the telegram, Malining immediately reported to Rokosovsky: "Comrade Commander, Sokov's call has arrived. He suggested that we dispatch the air force to carry out air strikes on the German armored forces during the transfer."
"Spread bombers to bomb the enemy's armored forces." Rokosovsky said thoughtfully: "Why can't we think of such a simple method?"
Malining smiled and smoothed out Rokosovsky: "Comrade Commander, not only did you not expect, but even I, the chief of staff, did not expect it. After all, in the past few months, all the people who have mastered air supremacy are all Germans. It will take some time for us to adapt to this sudden change."
"Contact the commander of the Air Force Group immediately." Rokosovsky said to Malining: "Let them dispatch aircraft of no less than one aviation division to bomb the German armored forces during the transfer. The German armored forces in our encirclement may be able to obtain fuel and ammunition supplies, but they cannot obtain any tank supplies. As long as one is blown up, they will have one less tank. If you have such bombings a few more times, I guess the Germans will have no tanks."
With the order issued, more than 100 bombers roared from seven or eight field airports at the same time and rushed towards the transfer route of the German armored forces. The first one to be bombed was Rensky's 24th Armored Division. Bombs falling from the sky fell into the tank marching queue and exploded, occasionally blew the tanks into fireballs, and the explosion air waves overturned the tanks. The remaining surviving tanks hurriedly left the road and headed towards the forest next to them, trying to avoid the bombing of Soviet aircraft.
Sitting in the armored vehicle, Rensky immediately ordered the driver to increase the accelerator at the beginning of the bombing and rushed towards the nearest forest. As for what fate his troops would suffer, he didn't care at all, and just hoped that the farther away from the bombing area, the better.
Paulus soon knew the news that the armored troops were bombed. He asked Schmidt in a panic look: "How is it, is Rensky also in the marching queue? Will he be in danger?"
The reason he asked this was because the last time the commander of the infantry division was severely injured due to bombing by the Soviet army when he was transferred without permission, which led to the troops that had lost command falling into panic. Otherwise, Sokov's troops would not have easily seized their third line of defense.
"Don't worry, Commander." Although Schmidt didn't know the specific details of the bombing, he comforted Paulus: "General Rensky is very smart. If he finds that the situation is wrong, he will retreat in time. You don't have to worry."
As soon as Schmidt finished speaking, a communication officer came in from outside, saluted him, handed him a question, and said in a official manner: "Chief of Staff, this is a telegram just sent from Berlin."
Berlin's telegram? Both Schmidt and Paulus were shocked by the word Berlin. Paulus snatched the telegram from Schmidt and read it quickly. After reading the above content, Paulus looked as if he was ashamed. He said to Schmidt with a frustration: "Chief of Staff, the telegram was sent by the Firm. He ordered us not to obey Marshal Manstein's orders and continue to stay in the existing area for defense."
"What, keep staying to defend?" Schmidt was startled: "But, Mr. Commander, we are now facing a shortage of supplies. We can only barely delay the time of being wiped out."
Chapter completed!