As soon as the Soviet artillery and bombing of the German frontline ended, the two infantry divisions participating in the offensive of the 24th Army went into battle. The 173rd Infantry Division attacked the defense zone of the German 113th Infantry Division; the 173rd Infantry Division attacked the German 60th Motorized Division.
In the defense zone is the 233rd Infantry Division.
In order to make the Germans think that the Soviet army had really launched a counterattack, Army Group Commander General Kalanin even put the only tank 217th Brigade on the battlefield to cooperate with the 233rd Infantry Division to attack the German motorized division defense area.
A series of actions by the Soviet army convinced Paulus that the Russians were preparing to take major military operations in the area. He kept asking Schmid to urge the two division commanders under attack to move as quickly as possible.
, and throw the follow-up troops into the battle for forward positions.
Kalanin knew that the attack ordered by his superiors was just a diversionary operation, and there was no need to consume too much of his own strength. Therefore, after the two divisions successfully captured the German forward positions, he ordered his troops to be on the spot.
Switch to defense, reinforce existing fortifications, and prepare for German counterattacks.
Although the two infantry division commanders and a tank brigade commander who participated in the attack were puzzled by Galanin's order, they were accustomed to obeying and did not question their superiors' orders. Instead, they promptly ordered the troops to stop attacking the Germans.
The second line of defense advanced and switched to defense on the spot.
Fortunately, Kalanin's order was issued in time, otherwise the attacking troops would have met head-on with the German reinforcements. On the open ground with no fortifications to rely on, no matter how heroic the Soviet commanders and fighters were, they could not
The German infantry could not be protected by tanks and armored vehicles.
The Soviet commanders and fighters who promptly switched to defense relied on the favorable terrain to tenaciously block the German troops who tried to regain their positions, and successfully repelled two consecutive attacks launched by them.
After Paulus received calls from the two division commanders one after another, he immediately asked Schmid to summon the commanders of the 4th, 7th, 11th and 51st Infantry Corps, as well as the commander of the 14th Armored Corps to the headquarters.
Study possible troop movements in the future.
After several army commanders had arrived, Paulus said to them straight to the point: "My Excellencies, military commanders, two hours ago, the Russian 24th Army launched an attack on our army in the Katchalinskaya area.
A sudden attack. From the analysis of the battlefield situation, they tried to isolate our troops located in the small bend of the Don River and coordinate with the 66th Group Army on their left to annihilate them..."
"Your Excellency, Commander," since the 60th Motorized Division is affiliated with the 14th Armored Corps, the commander of the corps, Army Lieutenant General Helmut Schlemmer, waited for Paulus to finish speaking, and immediately stood up and said: "
I would like to ask, why was our intelligence unit not aware of this attack launched by the Russians in advance?" After he arrived at the headquarters, he learned from Schmid that the Russians had occupied the forward positions of two divisions.
and repelled two of his own counterattacks. Regarding the sudden attack by the Soviet army, he raised his own doubts, "If the intelligence department cannot give a reasonable explanation, I am worried that similar situations will occur again in the future.
Our situation will be even worse."
"General Schlemmer, don't be anxious, please sit down first." After Schmid saw Schlemmer say these words, Paulus's face was particularly ugly, and he quickly came out to smooth things over: "We are against the Russians.
Reconnaissance relies on collective farm members who are close to Germany or some residents who have escaped from the city. However, in areas controlled by the Russians, the activities of these civilians are greatly restricted, so they are unable to provide us with information in a timely manner.
Useful information."
"Don't worry, General Schlemmer." Paulus looked at Schlemmer and said: "I have ordered the 289th and 295th Divisions of the 51st Infantry Corps to start gathering immediately and prepare to rush to the fighting area to reinforce you.
The 60th Motorized Division."
Paulus's words made Kurtzbach, commander of the 51st Infantry Corps, unable to sit still. After all, the two divisions mentioned by the other party were both from his infantry corps. Regarding Paulus's overstepping of command,
He felt very dissatisfied. After coughing slightly, he said to Paulus: "Your Excellency, Commander, the strength of the two infantry divisions you mentioned has been greatly reduced after a long battle.
Weakened. Four of the seven infantry battalions attached to the 289th Division have become weak, and three have been basically exhausted. The situation of the 295th Infantry Division is even worse, with all six infantry battalions attached to it already in a weak state, and
The engineer battalion has been depleted."
"General Kurtzbach," Paulus said with a displeased expression when he saw Kurtzbach questioning his deployment: "I am going to use your two divisions to attack the flanks of the Russian army attacking the 14th Armored Corps defense area.
. You should know that when the Russians attack, they always focus on the head rather than the tail. Their flanks are usually very fragile. Even two regiments, not to mention two divisions, can cut them off in the middle."
After listening to Paulus's words, Kurtzbach thought about it carefully, and it seemed that this was really the case. Even if the Russians had more troops than themselves, if they competed on the battlefield, a severely reduced infantry battalion would be able to defeat them.
It can block the fierce attack of a regiment of the opponent. Now the commander uses two divisions to deal with the two Russian divisions, which is overkill.
Thinking of this, Kurtzbach was no longer so disgusted with Paulus's overstepping of command. He asked tentatively: "Your Excellency, Commander, I would like to ask, after crushing the Russian attack this time, can you give us any additional information?"
Troop strength?”
"Don't worry, General Kurtzbach." The person who answered him this time was Schmid. The army chief of staff said with a smile: "After crushing the Russian attack, the commander will recruit from the reserve army."
, I will replenish at least half of your troops."
Seeing that Paulus was willing to replenish his troops, Kurtzbach stopped talking and listened quietly to Paulus's next deployment: "...In addition to dispatching the 289th and 295th Divisions to move westward for reinforcements,
The troops attacking the Barricade Factory and the Dzerzhinsky Factory temporarily stopped attacking and switched to defense on the spot, preparing to reinforce areas in critical situations when necessary..."
…………
Just as Paulus was at his headquarters, deploying measures to respond to the Soviet offensive to his several military commanders, the guerrillas hidden in the Nadezhda area, under the command of Guchakov and others, moved toward the enemy.
Movement of the 564th kilometer station and Kot Luban station occupied by the Germans.
Guchakov never dreamed that he originally planned to command hundreds of people to launch an attack on the station where the German army was hoarding supplies. However, after the battle plan was reported, things developed beyond his imagination. Not only the group army headquarters and the front army
The headquarters knew about this, and even the base camp personally asked about it. In order to ensure the success of this offensive, the base camp even used regular troops to launch a feint attack in the north to contain the main force of the German army and create favorable conditions for the guerrillas.
Guchakov divided the offensive force into two. One half was commanded by Mishiga, the eldest brother of the Ignatov brothers, and was responsible for attacking the 564th kilometer station; while the other half was commanded by the second brother Vovka.
Go with yourself to attack Cote Luban Station. Of course, other guerrilla captains also have their own tasks. For example, a captain with a beard is responsible for leading people to block possible enemy reinforcements in the east; the blocking task in the west,
It was a red-haired captain in charge.
When the two captains were about to leave with the guerrillas who were blocking the attack, Guchakov specifically emphasized to them: "Comrade captains, the troops you can use are limited, and the combat effectiveness is not strong. If you and Germany
If we fight head-on, the whole army will probably be destroyed."
When the two captains received the order to stop the attack, they learned that there were only seventy or eighty guerrillas accompanying them in the battle, and their hearts went cold. They knew very well that their small number of troops was not enough to squeeze the teeth of the Germans.
It was an almost impossible task to prevent German reinforcements from arriving before the station fell.
Hearing Guchakov say this to them at this moment, it seemed as if he saw a glimmer of hope. Bearded man quickly asked: "Comrade commander, do you have any good ideas so that we can block the enemy without destroying the entire army?"
?”
"There is a way." Guchakov nodded and replied: "Just use your guerrilla tactics to deal with the enemy." When he said this, the two of them looked confused.
He deliberately explained to them, "You only need to destroy the railways and lay mines on the roads to block the enemy."
"But, Comrade Commander." The red-haired man said with a grimace: "Even if we destroy the railway and lay mines on the highway, the effect is very limited if we want to slow down the advance of the German army. The Germans on the train are far away.
If you can see the bombed rails, they can quickly repair them with the rails carried on the train; as for the mines on the roads, as long as the Germans have engineers, it won't take them long to clear all the mines..."
After listening to the red-haired complaint, Guchakov was shocked. Because of the concerns of the other party, Sokov proposed solutions one by one in the telegram sent to him. He said: "Comrade Captain
, Don’t worry, listen to me slowly. To destroy the enemy’s rails, you don’t need to blow up the tracks. You only need to remove the screws connecting the rails and sleepers at the turning section, so that the German train will derail when turning.
You can inflict heavy casualties on them without firing a single shot.
As for the enemy's engineers, there is no need to worry. Find some soldiers with accurate marksmanship and ambush on both sides of the road. Once you see the enemy's engineers clearing mines on the road, kill them. As long as you kill the enemy's engineers,
Engineers, the rest of the infantry are nothing to worry about."
Guchakov's explanation made the two guerrilla captains' eyes light up. They never dreamed that there was such a good way to deal with the enemy that scared them, and they suddenly felt a little more confident. After all, the two of them were behind enemy lines.
Having fought guerrillas for a long time, he still has some experience in how to use guerrilla tactics. Lu Xihu said excitedly: "We can also bury more enemies in the area where the train derailed. Even if all the enemies on the train are not dead,
If they want to leave the scene of the incident, they will inevitably step on the mines we have laid. In this way, we can block the enemy for several hours or even a day without any problem."
"Now that you understand what to do, let's set off as soon as possible." Guchakov raised his hand and looked at his watch: "It will take a lot of time to buy landmines." After saying that, he stretched out his hand to the two of them, "
Wish ya'll good luck!"
A large number of guerrillas moved in the direction of the two stations. No matter how concealed they were, there were still so many people and they would still be discovered by the defenders of the station. Regardless of the troops who stayed at the station, most of them were headed north.
Although they were mobilized, one company of troops was still left in the station.
As soon as he discovered that a large number of guerrillas were moving towards the station, the German company commander responsible for guarding the Cote Luban Station realized something was wrong and quickly called the battalion commander to report: "Mr. Major, I am the company guarding the Cote Luban Station.
Commander, I found a large number of armed men approaching the station from several directions at the same time."
"What, a large number of armed personnel?" When the German battalion commander heard the news, he couldn't help being shocked. He quickly asked: "Can you confirm their identities?"
"I saw from the telescope that except for a few of these people who were wearing Russian military uniforms, they were all wearing civilian clothes, and they had all kinds of weapons in their hands." After the company commander said what he saw, he acted decisively.
He made a judgment: "I think they are guerrillas! And there are quite a few of them, probably thousands of them."
"Damn it, Captain, you're not awake yet, are you?" When the battalion commander heard this, he immediately asked in a skeptical tone: "Do you think a bunch of guerrillas have the guts to attack our heavily guarded station? And
,How could the Russians assemble so many guerrillas in a short period of time?"
"Mr. Major, don't you know?" the company commander quickly replied: "An hour ago, it was said that the northern defense zone was attacked by the Russians. The situation was very critical. Most of the defenders in the station had been transferred.
Now there is only one company left under my command."
The company commander's words made the battalion commander realize the seriousness of the problem, but his men did not have many troops to use. After a brief consideration, he said into the microphone: "Captain, I still have a platoon in my hand.
You send them over immediately to support you. Also, I will report this matter to my superiors immediately and get more reinforcements for you."
After the German battalion commander put down the phone, he immediately called and reported the matter to the regimental commander. After the regimental commander heard the news, his first reaction was that his subordinate was not awake or was drunk.
Before he could make the correct conclusion, the regiment chief of staff came over and reported to him, "Mr. Colonel, I just received a call from the 564th kilometer station. A large number of armed men were found outside their station. They seem to be preparing to launch an attack on the station."
attack."
If there were just armed men outside Cote Luban Station, the regiment leader could interpret it as the station commander was awake or drunk. However, the same information came from the 564th kilometer station, and the problem became serious.
He pondered for a moment and said into the microphone: "I understand, Major. I will report this matter to the division headquarters immediately."
Seeing the regiment commander put down the phone, the regiment chief of staff asked tentatively: "Mr. Colonel, a large number of hostile armed personnel suddenly appeared near the two stations. What does this mean?"
The regiment leader glared at his chief of staff and said angrily: "Don't you know what it means? It's obvious that the Russians are planning to launch an attack on our station. You know, there is a large amount of military supplies stored there.
, once it is occupied by the Russians, it will be a disaster for our army."
This chapter has been completed!