USSR 1941

There was a temporary command vacuum in Stalingrad. On the one hand, it was because Stalingrad was originally commanded by the Stalingrad Front Army. At this time, the Stalingrad Front Army was trying to prevent the German army from advancing north and cutting off its connection with Stalingrad.

On the other hand, it was at this time when the power of the Front Army Command was handing over. Lieutenant General Gordov was reduced from being the commander-in-chief to only commanding the Stalingrad Front Army. Served by Yelyomenko.

In fact, this is just a means of consolation, because the commander of the Stalingrad Front of Lieutenant General Gordov was also withdrawn within a few days.

It's hard to imagine that when the enemy is already approaching the city, the Soviet army is still changing generals, especially in such an important city as Stalingrad, there is no independent and unified command organization. The Soviet army realized this after the attack, and then hurriedly sent Chuikov to Stalingrad to preside over the overall situation.

Shulka hoped that more troops could fight in an organized and planned way before the Germans attacked the city.

But he soon discovered that this was difficult to achieve.

Major Mikhailvich first found the 385th regiment stationed nearby. This regiment belongs to the 64th Army. It was ordered to rush from the east bank to the front line of Stalingrad reinforcements, but the front line had fallen before they could reach their destination. up.

"We should establish a unified command!" Major Mikhailvich said to Major Rogakov, the head of the 385th regiment: "In this way, we can better coordinate and organize a strong defense!"

"I don't think so, Comrade Mikhailvich!" Rodhakov replied: "The order from our superiors is to wait for orders!"

"This does not affect the orders of the superiors!" Mikhailvich replied: "On the contrary, we are in order to better complete the tasks assigned to us by the superiors, because the difficulties and tasks we will face are already obvious, that is, To resist the enemy's attack in Stalingrad, we just prepared earlier!"

"Maybe the superiors have already made arrangements!" Rodhakov shrugged and replied: "We don't need to worry about these, do we? Besides, if the command is unified, should we follow your orders, or you should follow our orders? What? If you want to follow our orders and join our team, I have no problem!"

Then someone around laughed: "I know, Comrade Mikhailvich, you have been forgotten by your superiors. This feeling is very bad!"

The soldiers of the 385th regiment laughed.

Strictly speaking, there is nothing wrong with Rodhakov's answer,

Because the duty of a soldier is to obey orders. If the superior ordered them to stay put, they should stay put.

The problem is that they know in their hearts that the 64th Army Command, which was overwhelmed by the German army, has no time to command them, because the command has been messed up and doesn't know how to clean up the mess.

Therefore, the so-called "execution of orders" is just an excuse for Rodhakov and others to deal negatively with the situation before them.

Sure enough, Rodhakov was silent for a while, then lowered his voice and said: "Comrade Mikhailvich, I don't think it is a bad thing for us to stay here. It is only a few miles away from the Volga River. What do you think?"

It is only a few miles away from the Volga River, and its potential meaning is that if the city cannot defend and retreats, they can get close to the water first.

"I don't think so, Comrade Rodhakov!" Shulka interrupted in response: "We will hold Stalingrad!"

After speaking, he left with Mikhailvich and others.

As soon as he walked out, Major Mikhailvich shook his head, put on his military cap and said: "The situation is similar to that of other troops. They seem to have no command, but they are all commanded by the 62nd Army." There is the army, there is the 64th army, there is also the navy, internal affairs, tanks, etc. What should we do?"

"We can't change anything, Comrade Mikhailvich!" Shulka answered.

But Shulka didn't take it seriously, because he knew that Chuikov would come to clean up the mess soon.

But it didn't take long for Shulka to realize that wasn't the case.

The next day, when Shulka and Major Mikhailvich were analyzing the battle situation on the map, Andrianka nervously took a telegram and reported: "Major, the enemy has begun to attack!"

"You mean they are attacking the city?" asked Mikhailitch.

"Yes!" Andrianka replied: "They launched an attack from the west and south at the same time, throwing a lot of assault guns!"

Mikhailvich set his eyes on Shulka.

Shulka frowned and asked, "Who is in command of Stalingrad?"

"Temporarily under the command of Comrade Golikov, commander of the 62nd Army!" Andrianka replied.

"No one else?"

"No!"

Major Mikhailvich asked suspiciously: "Who else?"

Shulka did not answer.

Of course he was thinking of Chuikov, but Chuikov did not arrive as expected, and the commander of the 62nd Army, Golikov, was not a commander who could control the situation.

The reason is that the 62nd Army suffered heavy losses in the previous blocking battle outside the city. The three tank brigades in its establishment had only a dozen tanks in total, and the mixed force composed of several brigades and divisions had only a few hundred soldiers in total. .

In this case, Golikov has completely lost confidence in the defense of Stalingrad.

So, where is Chuikov?

Immediately, Shulka quickly thought that Cuikov might have just returned from China at this time.

Note: Chuikov was sent to China twice as a military advisor and did not return until March 1942

To put it simply, due to certain reasons, Stalin launched the Battle of Kharkov ahead of schedule, which eventually led to the Battle of Stalingrad breaking out ahead of schedule.

At this time, Cuikov was still recuperating and adjusting to the jet lag to adapt to the Russian environment.

Shulka couldn't imagine what would happen if Chuikov didn't come or would bring the future later.

This gave Shulka a blow to the head, and he didn't react for a long time.

Shulka originally thought that he could gain more advantages by preparing in advance in Stalingrad, thinking that the focus of the defense of Stalingrad was on supplies and tactics.

It wasn't until the war came that he realized that these were not important, what was important was Chuikov, Chuikov, Chuikov!

Because only he, only this general who has served as a military adviser in China for a long time and is familiar with the strategy and tactics of the squadron, can have confidence in the remnants of Stalingrad and effectively organize them and implement guerrilla tactics to deal with the German army in the city.

But now, Chuikov obviously won't appear here so soon.