Red Moscow

The bombers that bombed the front of the 113th Infantry Division of the German Army came from the 16th Air Force Army of the Don Front Army. They were ordered by Rokossovsky to bomb the enemy's positions.

While the bombing was going on, in the headquarters of the Front Army more than 100 kilometers away, Chief of Staff Ma Linin learned that the bomber fleet had begun to bomb the front of the German army, and asked Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander, according to the Air Force's According to the report, the enemy's forward position has become a sea of ​​flames, and there is no sign of fighting back on the ground."

Rokossovsky nodded and asked, "Where is General Kazakov?"

"He is at the artillery headquarters at the moment," replied Malinin, "and is waiting for your artillery order!"

"Ten minutes later," Rokossovsky looked at his watch and told Malinin, "I will order the artillery to fire at the front of the German 60th Motorized Division. The shelling time will not be less than half an hour."

"Understood." Ma Linin agreed, picked up the phone on the table, and dialed the artillery headquarters: "General Kazakov, the commander ordered the artillery to fire at the front of the enemy's 60th Motorized Division in ten minutes. The shelling took no less than half an hour."

After giving the order, Malinin looked at Rokossovsky and asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, after the shelling and bombing are over, should you still order General Garanin's 24th Army to attack the enemy's defense line?"

"Yes, if we delay launching a ground attack after bombing and shelling the enemy's front, we will definitely find that we are attacking a feint." Rokossovsky replied with a smile: I have to ask the Germans for some interest.”

"If it weren't for the fact that the assembly of friendly troops and technical equipment hadn't been completed, we could have launched a full-scale attack on the German army in two days." Ma Lining said with regret: "It's a pity, in order to ensure that the general attack in ten days will not be completed." Affected, this time we can only use the severely reduced 24th Army to launch a feint attack on the enemy."

"Chief of Staff, you are right." Rokossovsky nodded in agreement with Malinin's statement: "The divisions of the 24th Army have been severely reduced after a long and arduous battle. However, although the troops They were very tired and suffered heavy casualties, but the commanders and fighters were full of fighting spirit. They clearly realized that their action today will directly support the friendly forces fighting in Stalingrad, making them more confident in defending the city."

As one of the few insiders, Malinin said with a wry smile after Rokossovsky finished speaking: "Comrade Commander, I really didn't expect that before we took any action, it was the guerrillas behind the enemy that cooperated with us. And The reason we made such a big commotion today is to cooperate with the guerrillas in attacking the enemy’s station.”

"The two stations that the guerrillas are going to attack are important material transfer stations for the Germans. Once they are occupied, it means that the German supply line will be cut off." Rokossovsky looked down at the map on the table. He said thoughtfully: "At that time, the Germans may not have the intention to attack the city again, but will have to mobilize enough troops to ensure the safety of their supply lines."

After he finished speaking, he took a sip of water from his teacup, and said a little bit dumbfoundingly: "Chief of Staff, although the superior said that the offensive plan behind the enemy lines was made by a captain of the 41st Guards Division, in my estimation , this matter has nothing to do with Misha. I really didn't expect that although this kid is still a colonel, he indirectly commanded dozens of generals to let everyone mobilize the Germans according to his intention to ensure His men can complete this offensive behind enemy lines."

Rokossovsky did not expect that before the report of this battle plan, Sokov was not aware of it at all. It was all an impromptu combat plan formulated by Guchakov in order to give Sokov a sigh of relief and retaliate against the German bombing of Mamayev Gang. But to everyone's surprise, it was originally just a battle plan for the guerrillas alone. After it was reported to the Supreme Command, the Don River Front Army received an order to cooperate in the battle.

Paulus and Schmid began to study Soviet intentions when the artillery of the Don Front shelled the front of the German 60th Motorized Division. Schmid said: "Your Excellency, we originally thought that the Russians were going to break through from the direction of the 113th Infantry Division, but judging from their actions, it seems that they intend to break through from both the 113th Infantry Division and the 60th Motorized Division. , carry out two simultaneous assaults."

"How is our army's defense in this area?" The military situation is urgent, and Paulus has no longer cared about eating his second breakfast. Now he only cares about whether the existing defensive position can block the Soviet attack: "Yes. Stop the Russian attack?"

"Your Excellency," said Schmid as Paulus's chief of staff. Upon hearing Paulus' question, he immediately replied without thinking: "The defensive positions occupied by these two divisions were built by the Russians before. Not only is the terrain favorable, but it is also very strong, blocking the Russians in a short time." Offensive, there should be no problem."

Paulus waited for Schmid to finish speaking, slapped his hand on the map, and said, "Chief of Staff, call the two division commanders again and order them to speed up the mobilization of troops. According to my estimation, after the bombing and After the bombardment is over, the Russians will attack aggressively, unless there are no defensive troops on the ground."

"Don't worry, Commander." Schmid replied respectfully: "I have already explained the seriousness of the gaffe to the two division commanders. They said that they would use all transport forces to move the troops to the front. but……"

"But what?" Seeing that the chief of staff was halfway through his speech, Paulus suddenly showed a troubled expression on his face, and Paulus urged impatiently, "Why don't you continue talking?"

"The two division commanders are worried that the troops will be bombed by Russian planes during the movement." Schmid reminded Paulus: "Judging from the bombing of the forward position of the 113th Division, the Russians are fully capable of dispatching two planes at the same time." The capacity of three aviation divisions."

"Then call the commander of the Fourth Air Force." Paulus waved his hand at Schmid and said, "Let him dispatch a fighter formation to cruise over the combat area to ensure that the air supremacy of the battlefield is in our hands. "

After Paulus finished speaking, Schmid asked tentatively: "Your Excellency, do you need to report to Berlin immediately about the Russian counterattack?"

"Don't worry." Paulus shook his head and said, "We don't know the scale of the Russian counterattack at the moment. If we report it rashly, we won't be able to tell if the Berlin side asks. Let's find out. It will not be too late to report to Berlin the direction of the Russian counterattack, the troops and technical equipment to be used."

The Soviet bombing of the forward positions of the 113th Infantry Division lasted for nearly half an hour. After all the bombers dropped their bombs, they turned around and flew back to the airport. After they left for a long time, the German fighter formation was long overdue.

A reconnaissance plane operating together with the fighter formation was surprised to find that the forward position where a battalion was originally stationed had been blown up beyond recognition when it lowered its altitude to take pictures. There were blazing flames everywhere, and several kilometers of darkness had been densely covered. Craters, no living creatures to be seen at all.

Shortly after the commander of the 113th Division of the German Army received the telegram from the front, he completely lost contact with the front. Not only did the phone call fail, but the other party did not respond to calls from the radio station. After the division chief reported the situation to the division commander, he sighed and said annoyedly, "Master Commander, I think the battalion standing on the forward position should be completely wiped out."

"What, the whole army is wiped out?" The division commander immediately jumped up from his seat when he heard the division chief of staff say this: "This is impossible, there are seven or eight hundred people, how can there be no one?"

"But we only received a telegram from the front, and then we lost contact with them completely." Seeing that the division commander was angry, the chief of staff of the division said cautiously: "The best situation is that the communication room is hit by a bomb, and the commander Both the system and the troops survived."

"Chief of staff," the division commander ordered his chief of staff in order to find out what was going on, "immediately call the troops on the second line of defense and ask them to immediately send someone to the front to see what is going on. "

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, I think you need to be mentally prepared." The division chief of staff couldn't help but tremble when he thought of the fate of the frontline troops, and said cautiously: "If this battalion has been stationed in the fortifications established by the Russians, the In the air strike that just ended, their losses were much smaller. After all, the Russians had anti-aircraft facilities in their fortifications. But a few days ago, the battalion commander felt that the Russians on the opposite side seemed to be lacking in strength, so he made decisions without authorization. , and the original line of defense was pushed forward by 600 meters."

"What, that battalion commander pushed the defense line forward by 600 meters?" Hearing what the division chief of staff said, the division commander's eyes widened in surprise: "Why didn't anyone report this to me?"

After listening to the teacher's words, the chief of staff of the division really couldn't laugh or cry. He thought to himself, if the Russians hadn't launched a sudden attack today, maybe you would have wished that all the troops would push their defenses forward, further reducing the space for the Russians to move. But he could only think about these words in his heart, but he didn't dare to say them casually in front of the teacher. He paused for a long time before he said vaguely: "Perhaps the battalion commander is eager to make contributions and intends to move the defense line forward to facilitate the next possible attack."

The division commander looked down at the map in front of him, and asked his chief of staff: "If the battalion commander moves the line of defense forward without authorization, the distance between them and the second line of defense will be 1,200 meters away from the original one, instead of the original 1,200 meters." It's 1,800 meters, no wonder the second line of defense can't see what's going on there."

He raised his head and ordered the chief of staff again: "Immediately call the commander of the second line of defense and ask him to immediately send out scouts and rush to the forward position on a motorcycle to find out what's going on there."

"Master, where is the battalion commander?" When the division chief picked up the microphone again, he asked, "How do you plan to deal with him?"

Hearing this question from the chief of staff, the division commander gritted his teeth and said, "When we repel the Russian attack, we will send this battalion commander to a court-martial. If everyone is like him, how can we command the troops?"

…………

After the bombing and shelling ended, the Soviet army mobilized two infantry divisions, under the cover of tanks and artillery fire, to attack the defense areas of the 113th Infantry Division and the 60th Motorized Division at the same time.

This behavior of the Soviet army made Paulus and Schmid even more believe that the Russians were planning to launch an attack in this area to save Stalingrad from the imminent fall. Therefore, Paulus gave combat orders to the two divisions attacked by the Soviet army, and at the same time ordered several divisions in the factory area north of Stalingrad to suspend their offensive and build defenses on the spot. And part of the 289th Infantry Division and the 295th Infantry Division were transferred to the area attacked by the Soviet army.

After adjusting the deployment, Paulus breathed a sigh of relief and said to Schmid: "Chief of Staff, as long as the two divisions attacked by the Russians can withstand the whole morning, then the two divisions transferred back from the factory area A division could attack from the Russian flank under the cover of aircraft and cut off their attacking force in the middle."

From Paulus's words, Schmid seemed to see the dawn of victory. He said excitedly: "You are right, Your Excellency Commander. As long as the 289th and 295th Infantry Divisions act quickly, they will be able to defeat the enemy before noon." , attacking the flanks of the Russian attacking forces. The Russians never take care to protect their flanks when they attack. Our troops can easily cut them off and encircle them.

As long as we hit the Russian counterattack force hard, then in the battle to attack Stalingrad, we don't have to worry about the threat from the flank. "

"Yeah, you're right." Paulus stared at the location of the Soviet troops marked on the map, pointed at the location of the Don River Front Army with his finger, and said with disgust: "Every time we attack the city When the final onslaught is launched, the Russians in the north will suddenly launch an attack to disrupt our offensive steps. I hope that this time, our attack from the flank will seriously damage the Russians and make our north face in a short time. There will be no further threats."

Schmid is a relatively cautious officer. After Paulus finished speaking, he carefully expressed his concerns: "Your Excellency, Rokossovsky is the most capable Russian general. He might have something to counter our attack from the flank."

"Chief of Staff," Paulus said with a sneer, "for the Russians Rokossovsky was a great general. But for us it's just the Russians picking the tall from the short." Don't forget, his opponent is our Sixth Army, and it is impossible to defeat us. Maybe wait a few more days, and you will be able to meet this famous man in our prisoner camp Russian general."

"Your Excellency, Commander, you are right!" Schmid said with a smile, "No matter how powerful the Russian general is, when he encounters your Paulus army, he will either be annihilated or sent to a prisoner-of-war camp."