The four teams that penetrated deep behind enemy lines caused considerable casualties to the German troops in different regions using the rockets they carried. After dawn, reports of Soviet attacks in different regions were placed in front of Paulus.
Paulus put on reading glasses, and after reading these reports carefully, he raised his head and looked at the Chief of Staff Schmid, who was standing opposite him, and asked in confusion: "The Chief of Staff, the survivors of the attacking troops, all said in unison that they were attacked by the Russians. I would like to ask, what artillery did the Russians use to attack our army? You must know that their artillery positions are twenty or thirty kilometers away from the attacking site. What artillery can they shoot so far? Also, if they were carrying out artillery at close range, why did our soldiers not notice when their artillery passed through our defense line?"
"Hiss Commander," Schmid and Paulus said, did not immediately answer this question, and immediately reported to the other party respectfully the incident of an attack on a regiment headquarters two days ago: "Two days ago, a regiment headquarters of the 295th Infantry Division was attacked by the Russians, and the regiment headquarters and the guards were destroyed during the attack."
After hearing the Chief of Staff’s report, Paulus couldn’t help frowning. He took off his reading glasses and threw them on the table, saying unhappily: “One of our regiment headquarters was annihilated by the Russians. Why didn’t anyone report this news to me?”
"The report of Dr. Kofes, the commander of the 295th Infantry Division, in order to find out how the Russians attacked the regiment headquarters, he sent special personnel to the scene for investigation." Schmid said cautiously: "According to the results of the on-site survey, the Russians used rocket launchers to attack, and they also found the launch location of the rocket launchers nearby."
"This is impossible." Paulus couldn't help but shout when he heard this: "The 295th Infantry Division is all located at a depth of more than ten or twenty kilometers in our army's defense. At such a long distance, how could our soldiers not find the Russian rocket launcher that entered our army's defense line?"
"The commander, the rocket launchers used by the Russians who carried out sneak attacks on our army are different from those we know." Schmid analyzed to Paulus based on various information he had: "This should be a new type of rocket. The launch device has a simple and lightweight structure and strong mobility. After the launch is completed, it can be transferred immediately, so that our army cannot detect the location of the Russians."
Paulus gently tapped the table with his fingers, thinking about how to deal with the new type of rockets of the Soviet army. After a long time, he stopped his fingers and looked up at Schmid and asked, "Chief of Staff, is there any way to destroy the small Russian troops behind our army?"
"Hiss Commander." Schmid knew very well that if the Soviet squad continued to attack important targets unscrupulously, it would have a negative impact on the assembly of the troops and thus affect the next stage of the battle. He said cautiously: "Or what if we draw troops to clear the areas where the Russians were found, and then resume the frontal attack after these damn Russians are eliminated?"
Paulus nodded, thought for a moment, and said, "After a long battle, our troops have lost a lot of troops and consumed weapons and ammunition very much. He ordered them to temporarily stop attacking and defend their occupied positions. At the same time, he drew elite troops to clear out the areas where the Russians were infested. It is necessary to clear the threat from our rear before the new round of attacks begin. Now I arrange to draw troops and encircle and suppress the Russians' troops. You can remember..."
Schmid quickly agreed respectfully, picked up the record book and recorded the troops number that Paulus said. After the record was completed, he asked Paulus again: "Commander, when should the clearance of the Russian small troops begin?"
Paulus raised his hand and looked at the watch: "The encirclement and suppression operation will officially start from twelve noon today. You will tell the division commanders below that if you don't want to be attacked by the Russians in the middle of the night, expand the search range." After that, he waved at Schmid and signaled him to execute his order immediately.
With Paulus' order issued, the German army's attack on the Soviet army was stopped, and many troops who were preparing to participate in the attack were drawn back to the rear to participate in the encirclement and suppression of the Soviet army's squad.
The German army's abnormal movement was soon noticed by the Soviet army. After receiving the report, Cuikov looked at Krelof and asked in wonder: "Chief of Staff, tell me, why did the German army's attack stop?"
Krelov was also confused about the German army's abnormal behavior: "It's a hell. No matter how many casualties the German army suffered, their attack never stopped. This is the first time I have seen this situation today."
Gurov, who was rare to express his opinion, couldn't help but interrupt and said, "Can this be a conspiracy?"
"What conspiracy?" Krelov asked back: "It is indeed a puzzling thing for the Germans to stop attacking the city, but what conspiracy can they have?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, see if the Germans pretend to stop the attack, so as to cause a mistake to our army and make us feel that they are powerless to attack the city." Gurov said his judgment without hesitation: "Then our army relaxes its vigilance so that we can catch us off guard in the future."
"This is impossible." Krelov immediately opposed Gurov's statement: "If the Germans deliberately show weakness to us, aren't they worried that we will fight back against them?"
Krelov's words reminded Gurov. He slapped the table with his hand and said with a sudden enlightenment: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I understand that the Germans stopped attacking the city by deliberately showing weakness to us and trying to induce us to attack them, so that they can plan to annihilate the living forces of our army in the city. When our army's strength is almost exhausted, they will attack the city and achieve twice the result with half the effort."
Cuikov did not participate in the argument between Krelov and Grov. He vaguely felt that the abnormal actions of the German army today might be related to the squad sent by Sokov last night. Thinking of this, he raised his hand to stop Krelov and the others from continuing to fight, and said, "Don't argue anymore, I think this may be related to Lieutenant Colonel Sokov."
"It has something to do with Sokov?" Cuikov's words made the two confused. Krelov asked in confusion: "Comrade Commander, why do you say that?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, do you remember I called Sokov last night?"
Hearing Cuikov say this, Krelov vaguely remembered that he seemed to be talking to Mamayevgang, so he nodded to show his affirmation, and then asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, if I was not wrong, do you think the German army stopped attacking today is related to the team sent by Sokov last night?"
"Well, that's what I think." Cuikov nodded and expressed his affirmation. He picked up the phone and asked the operator to connect to Mamayev's gang. He wanted to understand the actual situation himself.
After the phone was connected, although he heard the voice of Sidolin from the receiver, Cui Kefu did not care about greeting the other party, but asked straight to the point: "Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin, I want to ask, is there any news about the several teams you sent last night?"
A moment later, Cuikov heard Cidolin's trembling voice because of excitement: "Yes, Comrade Commander, we just received telegrams from several teams, and they all achieved good results."
"Oh, all achieved good results?!" This may be the good news that Cui Kefu wanted to hear the most. He quickly asked, "Comrade Sidolin, hurry up and listen!"
"Comrade Commander, I will briefly introduce the achievements of each squad." Sidorin picked up the battle report on the table and said to the microphone: "The team of the first battalion attacked a German personnel carrier before dawn, destroying seven or eight trucks and two tanks, causing the death of hundreds of German soldiers; the team of the second battalion fired two rockets at a German material transfer station, causing the entire transfer station to fall into a sea of ​​fire; the team of the fourth battalion attacked a German military camp with rockets. Because the distance was too far, the results could not be counted, but the enemy had at least dozens of casualties; the team of the 192nd battalion..."
After listening to Cidolin's report with enthusiasm, Cuikov said with a smile: "Good, your soldiers are all good. I really didn't expect that they would cause such great losses to the German army in just one night." Speaking of this, he suddenly remembered that the German army did not launch an attack today, so he asked curiously, "Comrade Cidolin, have any abnormal actions taken by the enemy opposite you?"
"Abnormal behavior?" Cidolin considered this question for a while, and then replied: "According to the observation post at the top of the hill, the enemy in the front of our army showed signs of mobilization, and it seemed that something was wrong in their rear."
"I understand, Comrade Sidolin." As an excellent senior commander, Cui Kev could tell the German movements from some clues. At this moment, he heard Sidolin say that the enemy in front of Mamayev's gang was mobilizing to the rear, so he guessed the matter: "The enemy mobilized troops in the rear, maybe to encircle and suppress the small team you sent, so that they had to temporarily stop the attack on the city."
When Cydollin learned that the enemy was about to take action to encircle and annihilate the small team deep behind the enemy, he was a little anxious: "Comrade Commander, what should we do?"
Chapter completed!