"Comrade Commander, I was wrong." Gusev, who had insisted on dealing with Sokov seriously, said with shame at this moment: "Although Lieutenant Colonel Sokov's behavior is a battlefield disobedience, from the actual effect, he not only saved the lives of hundreds of commanders and fighters, but also effectively ensured that the enemy could not break through the defense line of our army."
After Gusev finished speaking, Cui Kefu asked, "Military Comrade, didn't you say that if the commanders of other troops learned from him, would we not be able to command the troops below?"
"The current scope of knowledge about this matter is very small, and we can completely control it and will not have much impact." Gusev said sincerely: "Under today's circumstances, if a commander with great military achievements is casually disposed of, it may have a negative impact on our military morale and morale."
Seeing that Gusev was unwilling to hold Sokov accountable, Cuikov couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He nodded and said, "Then this matter will be everywhere, and no one is allowed to spread it, so as not to have a bad impact on Lieutenant Colonel Sokov."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Not long ago, the only ones who studied how to deal with Sokov were Cuikov, Gusev and Krelov. Since Cuikov and Gusev were not planning to hold Sokov accountable at this moment, Krelov naturally said with the flow: "I will definitely keep the secrets strictly and not leak this matter."
Sokov, who was staying in the Mamayevgang command, naturally had no idea what happened in the army headquarters. He was paying attention to the battle in Beigang. While attacking Nangang, the German army dispatched a regiment of troops and launched a group of offensives against the Beigang position held by Brisky Battalion.
For both the Soviet and German sides, Mamayevgang is a place where military strategists must fight for. Since it is a place where military strategists must fight for, after the battle begins, both sides can only do their best to fill it with ammunition and human lives to achieve the goal of seizing or guarding. In order to seize the Beigang position, German officers and soldiers braved the dense rain of bullets of the defenders and rushed forward like a tide under the cover of mortars and machine guns, and then fell in front of the position in batches like cut wheat in the rain of bullets.
Although the German army suffered a lot of casualties, the Fourth Battalion, which was holding its position, was not much better. The casualties of the troops increased sharply. In less than an hour, more than 300 officers and soldiers of the 10th Company who entered the position first were killed or injured, so that Brisky had to urgently send the 11th Company to the position.
"The enemy's offensive is very fierce." Belkin said with emotion: "They are attacking regardless of casualties. If our brigade had not had enough troops, the position would have broken through long ago."
"From all signs, the German army was preparing to seize our city." After making two important calls, Sidolin said to Sokov and Belkin: "I just called and asked my acquaintances in the headquarters that the enemy launched a fierce offensive in Mamayev hills, the factory area in the north of the city, and the suburbs of Mining in the southwest of the city, trying to capture our city in one fell swoop."
"Where is the station?" Sokov asked immediately as soon as Sidolin finished speaking: "If the enemy occupy the railway station, the Army Command will be trapped in the enemy's encirclement."
"It's strange." Cidolin said hesitantly: "It's so strange that the German troops stationed in the north of the railway station have not launched an attack despite frequent mobilizations."
Sokov was also surprised to hear that the German army in the north of the railway station was being mobilized frequently but did not launch an attack. He said to himself: "What the hell are the Germans doing? The other places are fighting fiercely, but the station has been slow to hold its troops. Could it be that there is a conspiracy?"
Sokov never dreamed that the reason why the German army was reluctant to attack the railway station was inseparable from him. Because Colonel Lungek, the commander of the 21st Grenadier Regiment, and Major Haydn, his battalion commander, were sniped by Vasily, the troops were left without a leader and could no longer carry out the mission of attacking the station.
Paulus received a report from the division commander Sild. He knew that the commander of the 21st Grenadier Regiment was snipered by Soviet snipers. The regiment suffered heavy losses in the battle. After discussing with Chief of Staff Major General Schmid, he felt that Sild could not continue to serve as the commander of the 24th Armored Division, so he reported to the commander of the commander Sild and revoked his position and was replaced by Lieutenant General Arnold Vonnsky.
The first thing Lieutenant General Rensky did after taking office was to deploy an attack on the Central Railway Station. Since the commander of the 21st Grenadier Regiment was killed in battle and the troops were also crippled and could no longer continue to take on the task of seizing the Central Railway Station. Therefore, Rensky ordered Colonel Heim's 26th Grenadier Regiment to replace defenses with the 21st Grenadier Regiment and prepare to attack the station.
After receiving the order from Rensky, Colonel Heim quickly promised on the phone: "Sir, please rest assured that as long as our 26th Grenadier Regiment is dispatched, we will definitely be able to seize the Central Railway Station from the hands of the Russians."
Regarding Heim's cliché, Rensky asked calmly: "How long does it take for your group to grab the Central Railway Station from the Russians?"
Although the German army was quite efficient, it only took four hours to change defenses from Rensky to the 21st and 26th Grenadier Regiments, noon was over. After hearing Rensky's question, Heim was silent for a while, and finally hesitantly replied: "Grand Commander, my troops are still changing defenses with friendly forces. It will take as soon as an hour to launch an attack on the station. If everything goes well, we should be able to take the station before dark."
Rensky raised his hand and looked at the watch, and found that the hour hand had pointed at two o'clock, which means that there were still five hours before it was dark. He shook his head and said, "No, Mr. Colonel, there are still five hours from now until it is dark. It takes five hours for you to take down a small station. It's so slow. You know, other troops are attacking Stalingrad at this moment, and your regiment cannot hold everyone back."
Heim looked up and looked out from the window without window frames. He saw the flames in Stalingrad City soaring into the sky, the smoke of gunfire, and the sound of explosions endlessly, indicating that the troops of both sides were fighting fiercely in the city. Judging from all the signs, if his troops could not quickly take the train station, it would be the last unit to enter the city. Thinking of this, he bit his back teeth and said to the microphone: "Sir, after our regiment completes the defense change, my troops will definitely take the train station within an hour."
"Very good, Mr. Colonel." Rensky was very satisfied with Heim's statement: "Then I'll wait for the news that your troops seized the railway station."
In order to quickly seize the Central Railway Station controlled by the Soviet army, Heim ordered the first and third companies that had entered the position to attack the station. Although Heim assured Rensky that he would take the Central Railway Station within an hour, due to insufficient preparations before the attack, the German army quickly organized the attack, which was soon defeated by the 42nd Guards Regiment, who was stuck in the station.
Upon hearing the news of the attack being frustrated, Heim was unwilling to fail and immediately transferred the 5th anti-aircraft artillery company. The anti-aircraft artillery company opened fire at the tanks used as turrets in the station to cover the infantry to charge towards the station.
The Soviet tanks parked in the station did not expect that the German army would use 88mm anti-tank guns as anti-tank guns. In less than a quarter of an hour, the five tanks exposed were all destroyed by the German anti-tank guns one by one. The Soviet army lost the support of the tanks, and the firepower on the position suddenly became much weaker. The German infantry took the opportunity to break through the Soviet army's outer defense line and rushed towards the station building and the platform.
Since the enemy on the north side of the station had not launched an attack for a long time, Rodimtev transferred the main force of the 42nd Guards' Regiment to other locations for combat, leaving only one company of troops in the station. Faced with the fierce attack of the German army, the Soviet commanders and fighters who were standing in the station carried out tenacious resistance, but due to the huge disparity between the two sides, they could not withstand the fierce attack of the German army and all died heroically.
After learning that the station had fallen, Rodimtev was shocked and quickly called the commander of the 42nd Guards Regiment: "Comrade Colonel, the enemy has occupied the Central Railway Station. I order you to lead the troops back immediately and take the station back."
The 42nd Guards Regiment was fighting fiercely with the enemy in the Charicha River area. After receiving the order from Rodimtev to retake the station, the regiment commander couldn't help but feel embarrassed. At this moment, the troops were already dragged by the enemy. Once they withdrew from the battle, as long as the enemy chased them from behind, there would be danger of the entire army being destroyed. However, the order to retake the station by superiors was also necessary. After repeated consideration, the regiment commander barely pulled out two companies with incomplete establishments and asked them to hurriedly return to the station to eliminate the enemies occupying it.
Since most of the commanders and fighters in the 42nd Guards Regiment are recruits, even if the forces of both sides are roughly equal, it is not easy for them to win, not to mention that they are still at an absolute disadvantage in terms of military strength. In this case, their counterattack not only did not make any progress, but also made the German army occupying the station have another result.
Fortunately, the sacrifices of these commanders and soldiers were not completely worthless. It was precisely because of their desperate counterattack that the German army could not quickly expand their results after occupying the station. Seeing that the night was coming, Heim saw that his troops had completed the task of seizing the station, so he ordered the troops to stop attacking and build defense lines in the station to prevent the Soviet army from launching a possible counterattack.
…………
After a day of fierce fighting, most areas in the city of Stalingrad fell into the hands of the Germans. Cuikov's headquarters also showed signs of being surrounded. Seeing this, Cuikov decisively issued an order to retreat in order to prevent his command from being killed by the German army.
He said to Krelov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, our neighborhood is full of enemies, and it is no longer suitable for continuing as a command center. We need to move immediately."
"Transfer?" Krelov was stunned when he heard Cuikov say this, and then asked back: "Comrade Commander, where do you think we should transfer the command center?"
Cui Kefu slapped the ground on the table with his hand and said, "We moved the command to the factory area in the north. According to my estimate, after the German army occupied the city, the next focus of the attack will be the factory area in the north of the city. We can move the command there to command the troops more conveniently."
"Comrade Commander," said Krelov with some embarrassment: "At present, our road to the north has been cut off by the Germans. Unless there are troops who help us open a passage, we will not be able to reach the factory area north of the city at all."
"In order to prevent the army command from being annihilated by the enemy, we can evacuate here in two ways." Cuikov called Gusev and Krelov to himself, pointed to the map and said to them: "All the route is led by the military committee member, mainly staff, carrying important documents and materials, starting from the mouth of the Chalica River, to Krasnosloboda on the left bank of the Volga River, and then take a car north from there to Ferry No. 62 on the opposite bank of Zaitsev Island, then transfer to the armored boat to return to the right bank of the Volga River, and then quickly arrive at the new command center.
The other way, led by me and the Chief of Staff, passed through the streets blocked by the enemy…”
"No, I don't agree with your arrangement, Comrade Commander." Unexpectedly, before Cuikov finished speaking, Gusev interrupted his later words: "You are the commander of the army and have no right to take your own life. I think you should lead the troops on the waterway, so that you can walk through the streets with the Chief of Staff to the new command center."
"Comrade Commander," Krelov immediately agreed with the plan proposed by Gusev: "In order to ensure that our headquarters can continue to exist, I agree with the opinions of the Military Commissioner, and you will lead the staff to carry various important documents and materials, and go to the new command center by water."
"What I made is the final decision, and it cannot be changed." Cuikov was worried that he would argue endlessly about who would go on the water and who would cross the street, so he decisively exercised his authority as the commander of the army and ordered Gusev to take the staff to set off immediately, while he and Krelov would lead the remaining people through the streets blocked by German infantry and tanks, and rush to the new command center in the factory as soon as possible.
Chapter completed!