Red Moscow

After dark, an unexpected person came to the division headquarters.

Seeing this person appearing in his headquarters, Sokov was taken aback for a moment, and then led Sidolin and others to greet him. When he raised his hand to salute the other party, he asked in surprise, "Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, why are you here?"

"The counter-offensive will start tomorrow," Lieutenant General Golikov, the deputy commander of the Stalingrad Front Army, said, holding Sukov's hand, "I represent the Front Army Command, and I'm here to get to know you. How are you preparing for the counterattack?"

When Sokov asked Golikov to sit down, he was thinking about it. According to the original history, shouldn’t Golikov have become the commander of the Voronezh Front at this moment, so why is he still in the Stalingrad Front? Could it be that because of his appearance, a lot of the original history has been changed.

The reason why Sokov had such doubts was entirely because the 13th Guards Division, which was supposed to shine in the Battle of Stalingrad, achieved some results in the short period after entering the city. disappeared during the battle. Since the troops did not have any outstanding performance in the defensive battle, presumably there will be some changes in the future promotion of the division commander, General Rodimtsev.

How did Golikov know that Sokov had considered so many issues in a short while, and said with a smile: "The front army headquarters is worried that your division's counterattack force is too weak to break through the frontal German defensive positions. Tomorrow, I will send you two tank battalions..."

"What, two tank battalions?" Hearing what Golikov said, Ivanov couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise: "That's dozens of tanks. With the support of so many tanks, it takes Breaking through the enemy's frontal defense positions is not a problem at all."

Knowing that his superiors will send him two tank battalions, Sokov is naturally very happy, but he has no idea what kind of results the Stalingrad Front will launch from the south of the city tomorrow. end. He poured a cup of hot tea, put it in front of Golikov, and asked respectfully, "Comrade Deputy Commander, I wonder what the results of the battles achieved by the friendly forces in the Don River Basin during the day are?"

Sidolin and others were also eager to know the results of the Southwest Front Army and the Don River Front Army, so they looked at Golikov eagerly, waiting for him to give the answer they wanted to know.

"Our friendly forces fought very well." Hearing Sokov ask about the results of the friendly forces, Golikov showed a sincere smile on his face: "According to the battle report, after 80 minutes of artillery preparation, , Our troops launched an attack on the enemy in a vast area. The enemy never dreamed that our army would launch an attack in such bad weather, and was caught off guard. The tank troops implemented artillery interception, but due to bad weather and low visibility, their shells did not pose any threat to our tanks.

The battle continued until noon, and our army successfully broke through the defense line of the Romanian 3rd Army and defeated the 13th, 14th and 9th Infantry Divisions on the defense line..."

"The 13th Infantry Division of Romania, isn't it the division that was disabled by us?" Anisimov said to Sokov in surprise when he heard this, "I didn't expect that they would be attacked by our army just after they changed their defenses." It's strange to be able to stop the offensive."

As the deputy commander of the Front Army, Golikov naturally knew about the knife-wielding battle that took place on the northern hill of Mamayev Gang, so he did not refute Anisimov's statement, but nodded in agreement: "That's right. This infantry division in Romania used to have good combat effectiveness, and it once caused huge losses to our army. It may be because they have basically lost their combat effectiveness after being beaten by you, so they collapsed so much in the face of friendly offensives. quick."

"Comrade Deputy Commander," Sidolin, as the chief of staff of the division, stares at the map every day. Naturally, he considers the problem from a different angle from others. Taking advantage of the gap between Golikov's speech, he interrupted and asked: "I want to ask Ask, has the friendly army moved forward to where?"

"Our army was on the way to attack, not all the enemies we encountered were defeated at the touch of a button, some still stayed in the position, stubbornly blocking our army's attack." Golikov said with a serious expression: "For example, General Laska The Romanian 1st Cavalry Division and 6th Infantry Division, in the face of our army's powerful offensive, have been stubbornly resisting, making it temporarily impossible for our army to seize their positions."

As the political commissar of the division, Anisimov usually focuses his work on boosting morale and is not familiar with military aspects. Hearing that Golikov kept talking about the Romanian army, he couldn't help asking: "Comrade Deputy Commander, are there any German troops on the offensive route of the friendly army?"

"Yes, there is General Heim's 48th Panzer Corps." Golikov nodded and replied: "According to the battle report, Paulus ordered Heim to command the 48th Panzer Corps and the Romanian Army in order to repel our army's attack. Three divisions of the 2nd Army launched a counterattack against Kletskaya in an attempt to repel the infantry of the 21st Army and stabilize their defenses."

Although the Soviet army fought against the Romanian army very smoothly, Sokov really didn't know what would happen when they encountered the German army. He couldn't help asking: "Did the enemy's plan succeed?"

"No." Golikov replied with some pride: "Our offensive force successfully smashed the German counterattack and severely damaged three Romanian divisions. Before dark, the friendly tank force had successfully broken through the German army. On the Brinov line, the enemy penetrated to a depth of forty kilometers."

The news that Golikov said made everyone present excited. To be honest, except for Sokov who knew the final outcome of this major counter-offensive, the rest of the people did not have much hope for the counter-offensive. They all believed in their hearts that it was nothing more than a containment operation launched to prevent the German army from seizing the city. But he never expected that such a result would be achieved.

"Comrade Deputy Commander," Sidolin suppressed the excitement in his heart, and tried to ask Golikov in a calm tone: "Do you think our front army can achieve the same results as the friendly army when it launched an attack from the south of the city?"

"Colonel Sokov," Golikov did not answer, but threw the question to Sokov: "Do you think we can achieve the same results as our friendly forces?"

"There is no doubt about it, Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army." Now that Sokov knew the final outcome of the Stalingrad Defense War and needed to give everyone some confidence in victory on the eve of the big counter-offensive, he lit the The head said: "I believe that the counterattack starting tomorrow will not only break through the enemy's defenses, but also join forces with the friendly troops heading south in the shortest possible time."

Sokov's words surprised Golikov, and he asked in amazement: "I really didn't expect, Colonel Sokov, that you are so confident in our front army's counterattack."

"After several months of fighting in the German army, their soldiers have become exhausted." Sokov replied truthfully: "In addition, due to our attack some time ago, their supplies have suffered great problems. In this case, in the face of our long-prepared counterattack, their resistance will be destroyed step by step by our army. I believe that it will not be long before we can encircle Paulus's 6th Army in Stalinger Le area, to create conditions for their complete annihilation."

"Colonel Sokov, then tell me," Golikov asked with great interest after hearing this, "Then tell me, where is the most likely location for our front army and friendly forces to join forces?"

"Comrade Deputy Commander, please look at this map." Sidolin pushed the map on the table towards Golikov, and said with a smile: "The division commander has already marked three maps on it." The location of the front army meeting."

Golikov looked down at the position circled by Sokov with a red pen on the map, and said with some surprise: "Colonel Sokov, I really didn't expect that your thoughts are actually the same as those of Commander Yeremenko. It coincides with each other. He is also absolutely sure that our front army and friendly forces will join forces, which is in Karachi."

Those who were surprised were not only Golikov, but also Ivanov and Anisimov. Although Sokov had analyzed the current situation for them, they had doubts about whether the three front armies could join forces in Karachi. Still full of doubts. Hearing what Golikov said at this moment, he couldn't help casting admiring glances at Sokov.

"Colonel Sokov." Seeing that Sokov's analysis coincided with the thoughts of the head of the front army, Golikov was full of confidence in the counterattack that Sokov's department was about to launch, and he continued to ask: "I want to ask Ask, when do you plan to launch an attack on the frontal enemy?"

"Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army," Sokov did not say his plan easily, but said cautiously: "The Front Army will launch a counterattack from the south of the city tomorrow, and the enemies they will face are basically Romanian troops. Combat is easier than we imagined.

When the superiors gave our division the order to counterattack, it was because of the fact that the front of Mamayev Hill was the two Romanian divisions deployed by Paulus. We had the strength to break through their defenses and provide help for the counterattack of the main force. But what we didn't expect was that the Germans suddenly replaced the Romanian army's defense line with two other German divisions a few days ago, which made the situation deviate from our original idea. ..."

Although Golikov knew all about what Sokov said a long time ago, he still listened patiently to Sokov's difficulties before he said: "That's right, the chief of the front army is considering your positive attitude. The enemy has changed from the Romanian army to the German army. I am worried that your strength is not enough, so I specially added four full battalions to you. And tomorrow, when the counter-offensive to the south of the city begins, there will be two tank battalions crossing the river to join Your counterattack forces to augment your counteroffensive forces."

"The support of the tank unit alone is not enough." Sokov shook his head slightly, and continued: "In the process of our division's counterattack, I also hope to get the support of the left bank artillery and air force."

"It's not a big problem to have the artillery provide artillery support for you. After all, there are artillery observers on the Mamayev post, and they can indicate the firing parameters for the artillery on the left bank. But the air force," Goliko said. The husband took off the leather hat on his head, raised his hand and scratched the back of his head, and said with some embarrassment: "Our air force can't be dispatched in such bad weather."

"There is no need to worry about this." Sokov said with a confident look: "It has been snowing for several days in a row. I heard from a veteran who has lived in Stalingrad for a long time that the day after tomorrow at the latest. It should be a sunny day, and then our fighter planes will be able to take off and provide air cover for our attacking forces."

Hearing Sokov's statement, Golikov was silent for a while, and said in an uncertain tone: "But according to the report of the meteorological department, at least in the next week, there will be such heavy snow weather."

"Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Sokov obviously had more confidence in the veterans who had lived in Stalingrad for a long time. He waited for Golikov to finish speaking, and then added: "I just listened to the veterans, so I intend to fight back. The time is set for the day after tomorrow. If the sky is really clear and our army’s fighter planes can take off again, I think it will be a good time to counterattack.”

Golikov stared at Sokov for a while, and finally said: "Colonel Sokov, I can't make any promises to you until Commander Yeremenko agrees. Do you understand?" ?”

"I can understand." Sokov felt that the deputy commander of the other party might not have much real power, and everything needed the consent of Yeremenko and Khrushchev, so he nodded and said, "However, if our Counterattack, without air support, I fear it will be difficult to succeed."

Golikov looked at the several telephones on the table and asked Sokov, "Can your phone communicate directly with the Front Army Command?"

"Yes." Sidolin quickly pushed the high-frequency phone in front of Golikov, and said with a smile: "Comrade Deputy Commander, this phone can directly communicate with the front army headquarters." See Golikov The husband gestured for him to connect to the phone, and he hurriedly called the communications soldier to connect the line so that he could talk to Commander Yeremenko.

The conversation between Golikov and Yeremenko was not long. After reporting what Sokov said to the other party, he asked whether the air force could be dispatched the day after tomorrow to provide support for the 41st Guards Division, which was carrying out counterattack operations. Provide air support. After getting an accurate answer, he put down the phone. Said to Sokov: "Colonel Sokov, I have conveyed your request to Commander Yeremenko. He has promised that as long as the weather conditions permit, he will definitely send the air force to support your operations."

After taking a sip of the tea on the table, Golikov looked at Sokov and asked, "Do you have any other questions, Comrade Colonel?"

"Yes." Sukov considered that the coordination between the air and the ground is a big problem when fighting in an unfamiliar area, so he asked tentatively: "I would like to ask, how can I get in touch with the pilot during the battle?"

"This is very simple." Golikov said lightly: "If you have anything, you can call the Front Army Command, and then the Command will notify the Air Force Command, and they will give the pilots specific combat tasks."

After hearing Golikov say that contacting the Air Force would require two transfers, Sokov shook his head and said, "Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, I think this method of contact is inappropriate. If you communicate with the pilot, If there are two transfers, I am afraid that the fighter plane will be delayed."

"Then what are you going to do?" Golikov asked back: "Could it be that you still plan to talk directly to the pilot?"