USSR 1941

Manstein's guess was correct. At this time, the main force of the 51st Army was on its way to attack Karachi.

This was a dramatic change. Manstein pulled his armored division to Miloway, while the Soviet 51st Army went straight to Karachi... The strength of the enemy and us seemed to be reversed.

"Why don't we attack Karachi?" Shulka said to Trufanov and Zolotarev. "Our goal is to crush the enemy's rescue of Stalingrad! If, I mean if... the Germans Send an infantry division and an armored division from Karachi to Miloway to deal with us, then their strength in Karachi will only be one armored division and four infantry divisions!"

(Information from the Soviet Army is actually five infantry divisions, but there is not much difference between four and five infantry divisions, because two of them are Romanian divisions).

"Yes!" Trufanov exclaimed excitedly: "And there are two railway lines leading to Karachi... We can advance from two directions at the same time, which will allow us to invest more in a short period of time. troops!"

Most of the railway lines of the Soviet Union in this area are south and north. Because the oil from the Caucasus direction is continuously transported to Stalingrad, there are more railway lines, and the same is true for roads. East and West are better.

"But the order of the Supreme Command..." Zolotarev hesitated.

It is no wonder that Zolotarev would have such a reaction, not to mention that soldiers take obedience to orders as their bounden duty, not to mention that this is the order of the Supreme Command and even Stalin, and disobeying his orders is no joke.

"We need to report to the Supreme Command!" Zolotarev said.

"What if the Supreme Command disagrees with this plan?" Shulka asked back.

Zolotarev was stunned when he heard this.

"Will the Supreme Command disagree?" Trufanov couldn't believe it: "This is a good plan, and it can be said to be the best choice under this situation!"

Shulka turned his eyes to Zolotarev.

Zolotarev was silent for a while, then replied: "Yes, they will most likely not agree to the plan!"

Trufanov was at a loss for words for a while, because Zolotarev had more say in this matter, and he knew better the thoughts of those people in the Supreme Command.

In fact, it is not difficult to guess,

The generals of the Supreme Command were never "intimidated" by difficulties, and at the same time they would pursue greater results... So, if they get this plan, they are more likely to answer:

"We can't be intimidated by the difficulties in front of us. We should overcome all difficulties and resolutely fight to the end! The Southwest Front Army is tens of kilometers in front of you. As long as you speed up and advance bravely, victory will definitely belong to us..."

There is also a subtle issue of face.

Originally, Shurka insisted on a large encirclement, and the Supreme Command wanted to make a small encirclement eager for quick success. Facts have proved that the small encirclement is not as easy as they imagined. Then, under the leadership of Shulka, the flooded Seventh Army brought the plan of the large encirclement back to life. So the Supreme Command saw the wind and turned to the big encirclement.

Now, Shurka has shifted his strategic direction to a small encirclement, which is to attack Karachi... If the Supreme Commander follows up like this, it is inevitable that Shurka will be led by the nose.

"You can fight wherever you say, I don't have face", which convinced Shulka that it would be very difficult for this plan to get the support of the Supreme Command.

After a moment of silence, Trufanov asked, "So, what should we do?"

This question is mainly for Zolotarev, because Trufanov is undoubtedly on the side of Shulka... This does not mean that he is biased towards Shulka, but he knows that this plan is correct and can A plan that achieves the greatest results at the least cost is a plan that can reduce the casualties of subordinates and even affect one's own life and future.

Trufanov sees this very clearly.

He knows that the most important thing on this battlefield is to win the battle... Trufanov has seen a lot about this, and he will only obey orders to no avail. The command of the Ministry, but once the battle is lost, all the blame will fall on the shoulders of the commander.

Therefore, when Trufanov faced this problem, he stood on the side of victory without hesitation, even if he disobeyed the military order.

Zolotarev did not see this clearly.

Or it wasn't that he didn't see this clearly, but that he didn't need to take this risk... His identity was different, he was a political commissar, and he was here to supervise the operations of the 51st Army, although the command was actually in his hands.

From this perspective, as long as he firmly implements the orders of the Supreme Command, he will not be wrong, even if the 51st Army is defeated in the end...it has almost nothing to do with him.

However, if he did not carry out the order of the Supreme Command and "deceived" the Supreme Command with Trufanov and others, then he would be in trouble, and he might be in big trouble.

That's why Trufanov turned his attention to Zolotarev, and even looked a little unfriendly... In the Soviet army system, the interests of political commissars and commanders were often opposed, which was a quasi-hostile state.

Zolotarev smiled and said, "If I disagree, are you going to draw your pistol again and put it to my head?"

Shulka smiled and replied: "No, Comrade Zolotarev! I believe in you!"

"Trust me in what?"

"I believe you will consider the fate of the officers and soldiers of the 51st Army!" Shulka said: "Consider the fate of Karachi, and the fate of Stalingrad! So, there is no need for me to draw a gun to your head!"

Zolotarev nodded.

What Shulka said is correct. The current battle situation is indeed as Shulka said. The situation in other places seems to have reached a certain balance... The Southwest Front Army was blocked by the German army in the north and could not move. The front army was deeply mired in the quagmire of Stalingrad and the German 6th Army was exhausted from both sides. The 57th Army's mutual offense and defense in Karachi was also in jeopardy.

In other words, the battle situation in these directions has fallen into a stalemate.

Thus, all hopes of victory rested on the 51st Army.

To put it further, it was actually a decision made by Zolotarev.

If Zolotarev had made the wrong decision, it would have led to the defeat of the 51st Army which would have led to the defeat of Karachi and, like dominoes, the defeat of the Battle of Stalingrad.