USSR 1941

At seven o'clock in the morning, as three red flares rose into the sky, the Soviet army's counterattack began.

In an instant, thousands of guns fired into the sky.

Rockets, howitzers, mortars... Shells of various calibers poured across the Don River with different trajectories and different whistles.

At this time, Shulka couldn't tell whether the "rumbling" sound was the sound of the shells popping out of the barrel or the explosion sound of the shells hitting the enemy's position. He only knew that the whole ground was shaking, and there were unbearable loud noises everywhere. , can't hide and can't avoid it.

If it can be avoided, it is to plug the ears with something, but in fact this does not have much effect, because the noise has exceeded the scope of sound insulation.

Before long, you will feel dizzy and nauseous.

At that time, I would think that even if these shells hit the enemy, it would be best to stop.

But the gunfire never stopped, and the shelling lasted for a full 90 minutes.

From this point of view, the preparations of the Soviet army are still very sufficient, and the first round of shelling can last for 90 minutes. This is not easy when the Soviet army's industrial retreat is tense and the battle of Stalingrad is still lively. .

However, this is more because the Soviet commanders think that crossing the river is very important. If they are blocked on the Don River, it will cause a lot of trouble and even be blocked here, so they are willing to spend so much money on this step. Many shells.

As for being fully prepared...it's really hard to say.

Because it didn't take long for Shulka to know that it was actually only the 51st Army that launched the attack.

To be exact, only the 51st Army Group launched the attack on time... Yeremenko, the commander of the Stalingrad Front Army, considered the weather, which is what Shulka considered. Difficulties.

Therefore, Ye Liaomenko temporarily decided to postpone the offensive plan for two hours, that is, until 9 o'clock in the morning.

If it had been at 9:00 in the morning it would not have been a big problem, an hour and a half of artillery preparation would have come to 10:30, when it was light enough to provide better visibility for the attacking force even with light rain.

The problem is that the temporary postponement of the offensive plan was not notified to the 51st Army.

Later investigations revealed that the staff officer had sent the wrong telegram.

Two telegrams of planned delays were sent to the 57th Army thinking one was sent to the 51st Army.

When Shulka knew this, he couldn't help but lamented the nerves of the Soviets again: This is an entire army group, and such an important telegram has not been confirmed.

Then, Yeremenko was taken aback when the guns from the 51st Army's side suddenly sounded, and he immediately called Major General Trufanov, the commander of the army.

"What's going on?" Yeremenko asked angrily, "Who told you to open fire?"

Yelymenko thought it was the 51st Army's lurking exposure, so he didn't hold his breath.

Major General Trufanov was dumbfounded by the training.

"Isn't it time to attack?" Major General Trufanov replied: "We have received an order to attack on time at seven o'clock!"

"Seven o'clock? You didn't receive an order to delay the plan?" Yeremenko seemed to realize where the problem was.

"No, we have not received the delay order, Comrade Yeremenko!" Major General Trufanov couldn't help but change his face. He knew what this meant for the 51st Army, which meant that the 51st Army might have to face it independently. Against the enemy across the river.

Yelymenko also knew the seriousness of the situation, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"Then..." Trufanov asked again after a while: "The new attack time is... shall we stop the bombardment? We are only preparing for artillery fire and have not launched an attack!"

"No!" Yelymenko denied this option without even thinking about it: "You continue to attack. According to the original plan, we will launch an attack in two hours!"

"Yes, Comrade Yeremenko!" Hearing this, Major General Trufanov couldn't help letting go of his heart, because two hours is still an acceptable range.

Yeremenko's decision was correct, because at this time the Soviet army's offensive plan had actually been exposed... A bombardment on the scale of an army group, even a fool knew that it was a full-scale attack.

If the bombardment were to stop at this point, the whole battle would be a lame joke, and the enemy would be able to prepare for two hours of defense without any pressure.

At the same time, with the current communication level of the Soviet army, it is very difficult to notify units that have been dispersed to the front and some units that are still radio silent to stop and delay the attack.

If this is done, it is inevitable that some units in the 51st Army will receive orders and some units will not receive orders. Those who receive orders are fine, and those who do not receive orders will rush to the Don River alone without any coordination. the other side.

Therefore, Yelymenko had no choice but to make mistakes and let the 51st Army continue to fight like this.

In this way, the German army will think that the Soviet army only hopes to open a breakthrough from the direction of Prodovitoye, and the scale of the counterattack is only an army group, so it can play another role in deceiving the enemy.

The problem is that the 51st Army was put on the cusp in an instant... If other troops attack at the same time, the German army will be under great pressure on the entire defense line of hundreds of kilometers including Stalingrad, so even if the German army has The quick-reaction force doesn't know where to send, because rescue is needed everywhere.

On the other hand, if the Soviet army attacked at the same time, the air force would also bomb its communication lines simultaneously, so the German army's transportation would be paralyzed, and its quick reaction forces would of course not be able to maneuver to Prodovitoye, which is the farthest from Stalingrad.

But it's different now.

Romanian 4th Army Commander Dumilerescu asked Paulus for help as soon as he was bombarded.

"Your Excellency!" Dumilarescu reported, "We are under massive enemy attack, I mean... they haven't attacked yet, but they have prepared unprecedented artillery! We need reinforcements! Just like I did before Having said that, we are extremely lacking in anti-tank equipment, and I can't imagine what would happen if enemy tanks appeared in front of us!"

"Don't worry, General!" Paulus said, "I'll send you reinforcements right away, they'll be there in an hour!"

In this regard, Paulus was very straightforward, because he knew that he was not only rescuing his allies but also himself... Once the flank was broken by the Soviet army, the consequences would be disastrous.

As a result, the quick reaction force that Paulus had prepared before came in handy, and an elite armored grenadier division immediately took a train to the direction of Prodovitoye.