As soon as the Soviet army's artillery and bombing on the frontier of the German army ended, the two infantry divisions that the 24th Army participated in the attack entered the battle. The 173rd Infantry Division attacked the defense area of ​​the 113th Infantry Division; the 233rd Infantry Division attacked the defense area of ​​the 60th Motorized Division of the German Army was the 233rd Infantry Division.
In order to make the Germans think that the Soviet army really launched a counterattack, General Galanin, the commander of the group army, even put his only tank 217th Brigade into the battlefield and cooperated with the 233rd Infantry Division to attack the German motorized division defense zone.
The Soviet army's series of actions made Paulus believe that the Russians were ready to take major military actions in the region. He kept asking Schmid to urge the two division commanders who were attacked to put their follow-up troops into the competition for frontier positions as quickly as possible.
Galanin knew that the attack ordered by his superiors to launch was just a restraining operation, and there was no need to consume his strength too much. Therefore, after the two divisions successfully seized the frontier positions of the German army, he ordered the troops to move into defense on the spot, strengthen the existing fortifications, and prepare to welcome the German counterattack.
The two infantry division commanders and a tank brigade commander who participated in the attack were puzzled by Galanin's order, but they were used to obeying them and did not question the orders of their superiors. Instead, they promptly ordered the troops to stop advancing to the German second line of defense and turned to the defense on the spot.
Fortunately, the order from Galanin was issued in time, otherwise the attacking troops would face the reinforcements coming from the German army. On the open ground without fortifications, no matter how brave the Soviet commanders and fighters were, they could not have German infantry covered by tanks and armored vehicles.
The Soviet commanders and fighters who moved into defense in time relied on favorable terrain to stubbornly block the German army trying to regain their positions and successfully repelled two consecutive attacks.
After receiving calls from the two division commanders, Paulus immediately asked Schmid to summon the commanders of the 4th, 7th, 11th and 51st Infantry Corps, as well as the 14th Armored Corps to the headquarters to study the possible subsequent troops mobilization issues.
After several commanders arrived, Paulus said straight to them: "My commanders, two hours ago, the Russian 24th Army launched a sudden attack on our army in the Kachalinskaya area. From the situation on the battlefield, they tried to put our troops located in the small bend of the Don River into an isolated situation and cooperated with the 66th Army on their left wing to annihilate..."
"Hisser Commander," since the 60th Motorized Division was affiliated with the 14th Armored Army, the commander of the army, Lieutenant General Helmut Schlemmer and Paulus, finished speaking, immediately stood up and said, "I want to ask why our intelligence forces did not notice this attack launched by the Russians in advance?" After he arrived at the headquarters, he learned from Schmid that the Russians had occupied the frontier positions of the two divisions and repelled two counterattacks from his side. He raised his own doubts about the sudden attack of the Soviet army. "If the intelligence department cannot give a reasonable explanation, I am worried that similar situations will occur in the future, and then our situation will be worse."
"General Schlemmer, don't worry, please sit down first." After Schmid saw Schlemmer say this, Paulus's face looked particularly ugly and hurried out to smooth things out: "Our reconnaissance of the Russians relies on collective farmhouses close to Germany, or some residents who escaped from the city. However, in areas controlled by the Russians, the activities of these civilians were greatly limited, so they could not provide us with useful information in a timely manner."
"Don't worry, General Schlemmer." Paulus looked at Schlemmer and said, "I have ordered the 289th and 295th Divisions of the 51st Infantry Army to start assemble immediately and prepare to rush to the combat areas to reinforce your 60th Motorized Division."
Paulus's words made Kurtzbach, the commander of the 51st Infantry Army, unable to sit still. After all, the two divisions mentioned by the other party were from his infantry army. He was very dissatisfied with Paulus's command. After a light cough, he said to Paulus: "Commander, the two infantry divisions you mentioned have been greatly weakened after a long battle. Four of the seven infantry battalions belonging to the 289th Division became weak, and three were basically exhausted; while the 295th Infantry Division was even worse, and the six infantry battalions belonging to were all in a weak state, while the engineering battalions had been exhausted."
"General Kurtzbach," Paulus said with a dissatisfaction when he saw Kurtzbach questioning his deployment: "I am going to use your two divisions to attack the Russian flanks of the 14th Armored Army Defense Zone. You should know that when the Russians attacked, they always care about their heads and tails. Their flanks are usually fragile. Not to mention two divisions, even two regiments 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. Although the Russians had more troops than themselves, if they compete on the battlefield, their infantry battalion with severe reductions could block the fierce attack of an opponent's regiment. Now the commander used two divisions to deal with the two divisions of the Russians, which was a waste of talent.
Thinking of this, Kurtzbach was no longer so disgusted with Paulus's command overstep. He asked tentatively: "Hiss Commander, I want to ask, after the Russian attack was smashed, can you replenish our troops?"
"Don't worry, General Kurtzbach." The person who answered him this time was Schmid, the chief of staff of the army, said with a smile: "After the Russian attack is crushed, the commander will replenish you at least half of the troops from the reserve army."
Seeing that Paulus was willing to replenish his troops, Kurtzbach stopped talking and listened quietly to Paulus's next deployment: "...In addition to transferring the 289th and 295th Divisions to advance westward to reinforce, the troops attacked the Barrier Factory and the Derrensky Factory, temporarily stopped the attack and moved into defense on the spot, and prepared to reinforce areas where the situation was critical when necessary..."
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Just as Paulus was in his headquarters, deploying measures to the Soviet army's attack to several commanders, the guerrillas hidden in the Nadzezda area were moved towards the 564th kilometer station and Kotluban station occupied by the German army under the command of Guchakov and others.
Guchakov never dreamed that he had planned to command hundreds of people to launch an attack on the station where the German army stockpiled supplies. However, after the combat plan was reported, the development of the matter exceeded his imagination. Not only did the Group Army Command and the Front Command learn about this, but even the base camp personally inquired about it. In order to ensure the success of the offensive, the base camp even mobilized regular troops to launch a feint attack in the north to restrain the main force of the German army and create favorable conditions for the guerrillas.
Guchakov divided the attacking forces into two, half of which were commanded by the eldest brother Mixiga, one of the Ignatov brothers, and was responsible for the attack on the 564th kilometer station; while the other half was commanded by the second brother Vovga, who went to attack Kotluban Station with him. Of course, other guerrilla captains also had their own tasks, such as a bearded captain who was responsible for leading people to block the enemy that might be reinforced in the east; a red-haired captain was responsible for the blocking mission to the west.
When the two captains were about to leave with the guerrillas that were fighting and blocking, Guchakov specifically emphasized to the two: "Comrades in the two captains, you have limited troops and not strong combat power. If you fight head-on with the Germans, you will likely be destroyed."
When the two captains received the blocking order, they learned that there were only seventy or eighty guerrillas who participated in the battle with them, and they couldn't help but feel cold. They knew very well that their strength was not enough to squeeze the Germans' teeth into the Germans. It was almost impossible to stop the German reinforcements from rushing to the station before the fall of the station.
When he heard Guchakov say this to them, he seemed to see a glimmer of hope. He asked quickly: "Comrade Commander, do you have any good ways to prevent us from blocking the enemy and not destroying the entire army?"
"There is a solution." Guchakov nodded and replied, "Just use your guerrilla tactics to deal with the enemy." When he said this, he saw the two of them looking confused and explained to them, "You only need to destroy the railway and lay mines on the road to block the enemy."
"But, Comrade Commander." said red-haired with a bitter face: "Even if we destroy the railway and lay mines on the road, the effect is very limited. The Germans on the train can see the bombed railway tracks from a distance, and they can quickly repair the railway tracks carried on the train; as for mines on the road, as long as the Germans have engineers, they can take no time to drain the mines..."
After listening to the red-haired complaints, Guchakov was shocked. Sokov proposed solutions one by one in the telegrams sent to himself. He said, "Comrade Captain, don't worry, listen to me and say slowly. To destroy the enemy's rails, you don't have to blow up the rails. You just need to remove the screws connecting the rails and sleepers in the turning area, so that the German trains will derail when turning, and you can cause them major casualties without a single shot or bullet.
As for the enemy's engineers, there is no need to worry. Find some soldiers with accurate marksmanship and ambush them on both sides of the road. Once you see the enemy's engineers clearing mines on the road, you will kill them. As long as you kill the enemy's engineers, the remaining infantry will not be worrying."
Guchakov's explanation made the two guerrilla captains' eyes lit up. They never dreamed that there was such a good way to deal with the enemy that scared them, and they immediately felt more confident. After all, the two had fought guerrillas behind the enemy for a long time. How to use guerrilla tactics is somewhat experienced. They said excitedly: "We can also lay more enemies in the areas where the train derails. Even if the enemies on the train are not dead yet, if they want to leave the accident site, they will inevitably step on the mines we buried. In this way, we will block the enemy for several hours or even a day without any problems."
"Since you all understand what to do, then set off as soon as possible." Guchakov raised his hand and looked at the watch: "It will take a lot of time to buy landmines." After saying that, he stretched out his hand to the two, "Good luck to you!"
A large number of guerrillas moved towards the two stations. Even if they were so hidden, after all, there were so many people who were still discovered by the defenders of the station. Although most of the troops staying in the station were mobilized to the north, a company of troops remained in the station.
As soon as I found a large number of guerrillas moving towards the station and the German company commander who was responsible for defending the Kotluban Station, I realized something was wrong and quickly called the battalion commander to report: "Mr. Major, I am the company commander who defended the Kotluban Station. I found that there were a large number of armed personnel approaching the station from several directions at the same time."
"What, a large number of armed personnel?" The German battalion commander was shocked when he heard the news. He quickly asked, "Can they confirm their identities?"
"I saw from the telescope that, except for a few of these people wearing Russian military uniforms, they were all wearing casual clothes, and the weapons in their hands were also varied." After talking about what he saw, the company commander decisively made a judgment: "I think they are guerrillas! And there are quite a few people, about thousands."
"Hey, Captain, you haven't woken up yet?" The battalion commander immediately asked in a suspicious tone: "Do you think a group of gangs of guerrillas have the courage to attack the station we are heavily guarding? Also, how could the Russians gather so many guerrillas in a short period of time?"
"Mr. Major, don't you know?" the company commander quickly replied, "A hour ago, it was said that the defense zone in the north was attacked by the Russians. The situation was very critical. Most of the defenders in the station had been transferred, and now only one company I commanded was left."
The company commander's words made the battalion commander realize the seriousness of the problem, but his subordinates did not have much force to use. After a brief consideration, he said to the microphone: "Captain, I still have a platoon in my hand. You can send them to support you immediately. Also, I will report this matter to my superiors immediately to get more reinforcements for you."
After the German battalion commander put down the phone, he immediately called to report the matter to the regiment commander. After hearing the news, the first reaction of the regiment commander was that his subordinate had not woken up, or was drunk when he was very clear. Before he could make a correct conclusion, the regiment chief of staff came over to report to him, "Mr. Colonel, I just received a call from the 564th kilometer station. A large number of armed personnel were found outside their station, and they seemed to be preparing to attack the station."
If only armed personnel appeared outside the Kotluban station, the regiment commander could be understood as the station commander was not awake or drunk, but the same information was also heard from the 564th kilometer station, which would be serious. He pondered for a moment and said to the microphone: "I understand, Major. I will report this 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. I don't know what this means?"
Chapter completed!