Red Moscow

From the dawn of the next day, Lyudnikov was in a state of excitement. He either raised his hand to look at his watch, or went to the door to look at the sky to see when it would be dark.

Seeing Lyudnikov lose his composure, Sokov couldn't help laughing. After waiting for Lyudnikov to come back from the door, he smiled and said to him: "Comrade Colonel, there are still a few hours before dark, no matter how anxious you are, it won't get dark earlier."

After sitting down opposite Sokov, Lyudnikov asked in an uncertain tone: "Colonel Sokov, are you really sure that the agenda for today's meeting is related to the big counteroffensive?"

"Comrade Colonel," Sokov knew the exact time of the counteroffensive, and Chuikov held a military meeting at this time. Obviously, the agenda of the meeting was related to the counteroffensive. However, considering that he has changed a lot of history, which will lead to some uncertain factors, he said cautiously: "Whether the agenda of this meeting is related to the big counteroffensive, although I can't be sure. But I can tell you , this possibility is very high.”

"Maybe your judgment is correct." Lyudnikov actually knew in his heart that although he organized counterattacks against the German army every month, the results were minimal. In the past, before the counter-offensive, the headquarters only called the heads of the participating troops and assigned them offensive combat tasks. This was the first time that such a meeting of commanders above the group level had been called. He said with some embarrassment: "Actually, I was nervous, so I acted so concerned about gains and losses."

…………

After finally staying until four o'clock in the afternoon, seeing that the sky was getting dark, Lyudnikov couldn't wait to hand over the command to the commander of the 544th regiment, and urged Sokov and the others to set off.

I thought that we might encounter the enemy's stragglers on the road, and a little battle would happen. Unexpectedly, due to the patrol team sent yesterday to patrol this area without interruption, the scattered German soldiers who fled here escaped far away, allowing Sokov and the others to rush to the headquarters of the group army without any surprise.

The venue for the meeting was a hole newly dug by engineers on the cliff by the river, which could accommodate forty or fifty people. Still far away, Sokov and the others were stopped by several heavily armed soldiers. After verifying their identities, those who were qualified to attend the meeting were allowed to pass. As for the accompanying Samoilov and the soldiers of the guard platoon, was relocated elsewhere.

When Sokov walked into the cave, he also saw a long table on the opposite wall, and three people sat behind the table. In the center sits Chuikov, Krylov sits on his left, Gurov sits on his right.

The location of Sokov et al., near the entrance of the cave. When they were sitting, Lieutenant Colonel Guzman, the head of the 650th regiment, muttered in a low voice, "It's really cold sitting here."

Since no one spoke in the cave, although Guzman's voice was not loud, Cuikov, who was sitting behind the long table, could hear him. He looked at this side and said: "Comrade commander, when everyone is here, we will close the curtain, and then you won't feel cold."

After waiting for a while, seeing that people were almost here, Krylov stood up and gestured to the soldiers standing at the door. Seeing Krylov's gesture, the soldiers immediately put down the rolled up curtain and brought in several charcoal basins from the outside. After doing all this, they disappeared outside the cave.

The curtain was drawn, and the charcoal basin was placed, and the temperature in the cave suddenly rose a lot. Chuikov stood up, followed by several gas lamps in the cave, his eyes swept over the commanders participating in the meeting one by one. When his eyes stopped, he smiled and said in a loud voice: "Commanders, hello! I have called you here today because I have important news to announce to you."

After saying these few words, Chuikov turned his head and nodded to Krylov who had already sat down, and said, "Chief of Staff, let you tell everyone the next thing."

"Hello, Comrade Commander!" Krylov hurriedly stood up, put his hands on the edge of the table, leaned forward slightly, and said to the commanders participating in the meeting: "First of all, I want to tell you a very good news. According to the news, our army is about to launch a comprehensive counterattack against the enemy attacking Stalingrad. I believe that in this counterattack, the enemy who is fighting us will be buried under the city of Stalingrad..."

When Krylov said this, the cheering scene he imagined did not appear. The commanders present had been in the city for a long time. Since the counter-offensive in early September, they had gone through several large and small counter-offensives. In everyone's mind, until the scale of the counterattack is understood, there is silence.

"Comrades, the Supreme Command has ordered the Southwest Front, the Don Front and the Stalingrad Front to switch from defense to offense and crush the German attack on Stalingrad." Seeing the indifferent expressions of everyone, Krylov couldn't help With a bitter smile, he picked up a small wooden stick, pointed to the map on the wall and said to everyone: "The code name of this counterattack is 'Operation Uranus'. According to the order, Vatutin's Southwest Front Army and Rokosovs The Kedidon Front will attack first on 19 November.

The main attacking force commanded by Lieutenant General Vatutin included the 1st Guards Army, the 5th Tank Army and the 21st Army. It consisted of 18 infantry divisions, 8 tank brigades, 2 motorcycle brigades, 6 cavalry divisions and 1 counter-attack force. The tank brigade was formed and supported by the Air Force's 2nd and 17th Army Groups. The target of their attack was the Romanian 3rd Army, which was responsible for defending the flanks of the German 6th Army.

At the same time, the Don Front Army will carry out two auxiliary assaults, the 65th Army will attack southeast from the area east of Kretskaya, and the 24th Army will attack from the Kacharinskaya area along the left bank of the Don River to Vail. Assault southward in the direction of Jiaqi, cutting off the connection between the German army in the small bend of the Don River and the German army in Stalingrad. The 66th Army defended the area north of Stalingrad. Their actions will be supported by the 16th Army of the Air Force..."

Hearing this, the commanders present couldn't help but their eyes brightened. They found that the scale of this counterattack was several times larger than the previous ones. If only one front army launched a counterattack, it would be difficult to defeat the enemy attacking the city. But now there are three full front armies, which means that the chances of driving the enemy away from the Stalingrad area have greatly increased.

While Krylov was talking, Zoludev, the commander of the 37th Guards Division, couldn't help asking: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I have been listening to you for a long time, and you are talking about the Southwest Front Army and the Don River Front Army. What about the Stalingrad Front Army, when will it launch a counterattack?"

Regarding Zoludev's question, Krylov went on to say: "According to the order, the 51st, 57th, and 64th Army Groups of the Stalingrad Front will switch to a counterattack in the south on November 20 and break through the Romania that defends the area. The 4th Army's defensive line then quickly headed north towards Karachi to join forces with the Southwest Front, cutting off the German retreat."

Everyone didn't hear the 62nd Army in the number mentioned by Krylov, and they couldn't help showing puzzled expressions on their faces. Colonel Sokolov, the commander of the 45th Infantry Division, asked loudly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, why is there no number of our army group in the counterattack sequence of the Stalingrad Front Army? Does the headquarters think we have been wiped out by the enemy?"

One stone stirred up waves, and Colonel Sokolov's words immediately resonated with everyone: "Yes, why is our army group not included in the sequence of the counterattack force this time? Has the superior forgotten us?"

"We have persisted for such a long time in the enemy's powerful offensive. We finally expected a big counterattack, but nothing happened to us in the end. What's going on? We should ask our superiors to give us an answer."

"..."

When the cave was as lively as a vegetable market, Lyudnikov tilted his head to Sokov, leaned close to his ear and asked loudly: "Colonel Sokov, tell me, what is going on here, why is your superior?" Don't let us participate in the counterattack?"

"It's not that we are not allowed to participate in the counter-offensive, but that we are allowed to participate in the counter-offensive in another form." Sokov waited for Lyudnikov to finish speaking, and leaned into his ear and said loudly: "I guess the superior is considering Our group army suffered heavy casualties, and we were unable to replenish enough troops for a short period of time, so we decided not to let us participate in the counterattack, but to stick to the existing positions and prevent the enemy from occupying the city."

"Comrades, be quiet, please be quiet!" Seeing that the commanders sitting below were agitated, Gurov stood up quickly, raised his hands and pressed down hard: "Let me explain to you what's going on." .”

Seeing that it was Military Commissar Gurov speaking, the originally noisy cave became silent again.

"Comrades, I know that everyone will have some emotions when they hear that the number of our group army has not been included in the counter-offensive force by the superior." Gurov said unhurriedly: "But do you have any ideas?" I have thought that after a long period of fighting, your troops have lost their offensive capabilities due to a large number of downsizing. If you cannot get new recruits to replenish, ordering you to participate in the counter-offensive is tantamount to sending you to death. the behavior of."

After Gurov said this, everyone fell silent. Everyone thought about it carefully in their hearts, and it was really the case. Nowadays, many divisions basically have an empty designation. Before they are replenished with soldiers, attacking with such a force is purely death.

Seeing that the cave was calm again, Gurov made a gesture to Krylov, motioning him to continue talking. Krylov nodded slightly, and continued: "After our big counter-offensive begins, the enemy will definitely continue to attack the factory area to gain sufficient defense depth. Therefore, everyone should not take it lightly just because our counter-offensive is about to start. ...I am here to remind everyone that if the area in charge is occupied by the Germans, the command will send someone to enforce battlefield discipline on you without sending you to a military court."

After staying in Stalingrad for such a long time, it was the first time they heard Krylov speak in such a harsh tone, so everyone's expressions became serious.

Seeing that the atmosphere in the cave became awkward, Gurov stood up again to smooth things over: "Comrades, although your troops have already been severely weakened in the battle. But don't worry, you only need to persist for a day or two. The main force of the counterattack can rush into the city and join forces with you to attack the enemies in the city together. How about it, do you have the confidence to hold your position?"

"Confidence!" After Gurov finished speaking, there were scattered responses in the cave.

"What's the matter with you, commanders and comrades?" Seeing everyone's weak answers, Krylov asked dissatisfiedly: "Don't you have the confidence to hold your position? If you don't have confidence, I don't mind changing to a batch of more Commanders of faith, come to take your place."

Seeing that Krylov was angry, everyone hurriedly agreed: "Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff, we will definitely be able to hold the position."

"Very good!" Krylov nodded in satisfaction to everyone's attitude, and then asked again: "Do you have any questions?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I would like to ask, when will we get supplies?" An infantry brigade commander stood up and said respectfully: "Our current ammunition and supplies can last up to three days. If we can't get them as soon as possible In terms of supplies, I am worried that I may not be able to support the day of the counterattack."

Hearing this question from the infantry brigade commander, Krylov showed a troubled expression on his face. He was silent for a moment, and then said: "Comrade Brigadier, when you come to the meeting, you should have seen that the river has frozen, and the ships of the Volga River Fleet cannot pass at all. And the ice on the river is too thin, even the weight of a person It’s unbearable, let alone a convoy transporting supplies.”

"General Lobov," Chuikov said to the logistics minister sitting not far away: "After the meeting is over, you and the comrade brigade commander will discuss the issue of supplies. No matter what method you use, you must ensure that every A standing force with enough ammunition and supplies. Understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Lobov hurriedly stood up and replied, "I will chat with the brigade commander alone later."

Next, the commanders of the various units began to ask Krylov many questions. Krylov seemed to have anticipated that everyone would ask these questions in advance, and gave simple and clear answers to them one by one.

Lyudnikov took advantage of the time when everyone was asking questions to Krylov, and asked Sokov in a low voice: "Colonel Sokov, the three front armies launched a counterattack against the enemy at the same time. I wonder who will be sent by the headquarters? Do you think it will be?" General Zhukov?"

"No." Sokov knew that Zhukov had been transferred to other directions by Stalin before the counteroffensive began, so he replied: "If the three front armies are all commanded by General Zhukov, when the chief of staff described the deployment of the counteroffensive just now, would have mentioned this. But he never mentioned it at all, so I boldly assert that General Zhukov will not take part in this counteroffensive."

Sokov's answer made Lyudnikov very dissatisfied: "Why, in my opinion, this counterattack plan may have come from the hands of General Zhukov, and he is not allowed to command this battle. , it’s probably too unreasonable.”

"Comrade Colonel, don't get excited." Seeing that Lyudnikov was so worried about Zhukov's inability to command this counteroffensive, Sokov said vaguely: "It must be because the headquarters does not allow General Zhukov to command this battle." There are more important tasks to be given to him."

"Colonel Sokov, please tell me." Lyudnikov asked persistently, "Is there any task more important than the counterattack in the direction of Stalingrad?"