USSR 1941

"Why?" Lieutenant General Goldov asked.

It's no wonder that General Gordov was so surprised, because Shulka could tell at a glance that the Soviet army's defense focus was on the north of Stalingrad rather than the south.

This is actually not difficult to guess. The Soviet Army placed a 4th Tank Army in the Stalingrad Front in the north, while the Southeast Front in the south had only a few tank divisions.

Another obvious point is that to the north is the newly formed Stalingrad Front.

The so-called "Stalingrad Front Army" is the front army defending Stalingrad, so of course it is the focus of defense.

From this, we can also see how nervous the Soviets are. The German army can see where their main force and main defense direction are just from the naming of their troops.

"This is impossible!" Major General Filipovich said, "The terrain in the south is complicated and there are many rivers, which is not conducive to the attack of the German mechanized troops! But the north is flat!"

"The Germans know this too, Major General Filipovich!" Shulka said, "That's why they attacked from the vulnerable south!"

The officers could not help but look at each other.

This is actually not difficult to guess. It is basically impossible to launch an attack from the front of the Don River. As I said before, the ice and snow have melted at this time, especially attacking the river when the ice and snow are melting. When will the ice cubes crack, even if people step on it, plus there are bullets and shells from the enemy... Risking crossing the river is almost death.

On the other hand, because the ice has not completely melted, crossing the river with rubber boats, assault boats, etc. is not feasible.

On the north side is the stronger Stalingrad Front Army, and the German army will not be so stupid as to confront it head-on.

So only the southeast front army, which is weaker in the south, is left.

This is indeed the case, because after two months of fighting, the Soviet army's development of the Stalingrad Front in the north did not play a role in defending Stalingrad at all, because it was blocked by the German army using the passage of the Don River and the Volga River. Unable to attack.

Instead, the weaker Southeast Front Army has been undertaking the main defensive tasks.

Then, not surprisingly, the Stalingrad Front was renamed the Don Front, because its main task was to defend the Don River.

The Southeastern Front was renamed the Stalingrad Front.

Of course, these are all things to say later. At this time, the Soviet army made this mistake in the defense in the direction of Stalingrad. They did not hide their strength at all before the German attack. They took it for granted that the complex terrain in the south was not suitable for the Germans to attack. .

"That is to say, we should transfer the main force to the south?" Lieutenant General Goldov said.

"I'm afraid it's too late to mobilize now!" Major General Filippovich replied palely: "The Germans have been bombing our army's railway lines, especially around Stalingrad... If we want to move our troops to Turning from the north to the south, it may be necessary to bypass Stalingrad from the rear!"

Major General Filipovich was telling the truth.

Although Stalingrad is stuck in the narrow throat between the Don River and the Volga River, because it is only 100 kilometers wide, several railway lines and bridges passing through here can easily become the bombing targets of the German army and be destroyed. It is not difficult to block the traffic of this throat.

Therefore, if the Stalingrad Front Army in the north wanted to reinforce the Southeast Front Army, it had to make a big circle from the rear.

The German army obviously would not give the Soviet army such a long time to prepare.

"Order them to get ready immediately!" Lieutenant General Goldov ordered.

But this order doesn't really have much effect... because the southeast front army has been making preparations, it doesn't make much difference whether there is this order or not.

After a pause, Shulka went on to say: "I think the German army will continue to blockade Stalingrad with air power. On the one hand, it will cause panic in Stalingrad and it will be difficult to get reinforcements. On the other hand, it can also initially cut off the north and south. The connection between the two fronts. So we seem to have two fronts, but in fact there is only one front facing the German attack!"

Facts have proved that in this era of air force, the dangerous place where one man guards the gate and ten thousand men cannot open it will also be used by the enemy.

"Is there a solution?" Major General Filippovic looked up and asked.

"I don't think the Southeastern Front Army can stop the enemy's attack!" As he said, Shulka turned his attention to Major General Filipovich.

Major General Filipovich nodded in agreement.

The Southeast Front Army was the main force to attack Kharkov. The vast majority of the hundreds of thousands of people who were surrounded and wiped out were the elite of the Southeast Front Army. At this time, the Southeast Front Army was a second-line force with poor combat effectiveness and a temporary mobilization. Troops, some even militias drawn from Stalingrad... The Soviet army has a strong mobilization ability, mainly because Soviet workers and peasants are conducting necessary military training in their free time. A rifle can become a soldier on the battlefield.

But such a force will obviously not be an opponent of the German army under the coordinated combat system of air, infantry, and tanks.

"So!" said Shulka, "if there is any way, I think we should withdraw in a planned and gradual way..."

"Retreat?" Lieutenant General Goldov interrupted Shulka: "What do you mean by retreat?"

"Comrade General!" Shulka replied: "It is very difficult for the Southeast Front Army to resist the enemy's attack in the wild. The result of this is to send batches of equipment, ammunition and soldiers to the front line and hand them over to the enemy!"

This is also one of the reasons why there will be a shortage of equipment and supplies in the Battle of Stalingrad.

On the one hand, Stalingrad was almost surrounded by the German army and lost contact with the outside world.

"Almost" is used here because Stalingrad is backed by the Volga River, so it cannot completely cut off its connection with the outside world for a while.

However, the German army can use the air force to block ports and rivers, so the equipment that can be transported to Stalingrad through the Volga is very limited.

This led to a situation where two people even used one rifle in the later stages of the Battle of Stalingrad.

On the other hand, the Soviet army continuously sent Stalingrad's precious materials to the hands of the miscellaneous troops on the front lines in the field... With the defeat of the miscellaneous troops, these materials were almost transferred and given to the enemy.

"Why don't we retreat in a planned way?" Shulka: "In this way, we can minimize the casualties of soldiers and the loss of supplies, and then use Stalingrad to block the enemy!"

"No, Comrade Shulka!" Lieutenant General Gordov refused without thinking: "That's Stalingrad, we should defend it like Moscow. Any retreat in the direction of Stalingrad will be given to Stalin." Gele increases the danger!"