The next day, from dawn, Lyudnikov was in a state of excitement. He either raised his hand to look at the watch or walked to the door to look at the sky, and saw when the sky could be dark.
Seeing that Lyudnikov was so incompetent, Sokov couldn't help laughing. After he waited for Lyudnikov to come back from the door, he smiled and said to him: "Comrade Colonel, now there are still a few hours before darkness. No matter how anxious you are, you won't be dark in advance."
After sitting down opposite Sokov, Lyudnikov asked in an uncertain tone: "Col. Sokov, do you really confirm the agenda of today's meeting and it is related to the great counterattack?"
"Comrade Colonel," Sokov knew the specific counterattack time, and Cuikov held a military meeting at this time. It was obvious that the agenda of the meeting was related to the major counterattack. However, considering that he had changed a lot of history, some uncertain factors would appear, he said cautiously: "I am not sure about whether the agenda of this meeting is related to the major counterattack, although I cannot tell you that this possibility is very high."
"Maybe your judgment is correct." Lyudnikov actually knew in his heart that although he was organizing a counterattack against the German army every month, the results achieved were minimal. In the past, before the counterattack, the headquarters only notified the leaders of the participating troops on the phone and assigned offensive combat tasks to them. This was the first time that a group-level and above commanders had called for a meeting. He said a little embarrassedly: "Actually, I am in a relatively nervous mood, so I am so worried about gains and losses."
…………
After finally staying until four o'clock in the afternoon, when he saw the sky darkened, Lyudnikov couldn't wait to hand over the command to the 544th Regiment, and urged Sokov and his team to set off.
I thought I might encounter enemy stragglers on the road, and some battles occurred. Unexpectedly, because the patrol team sent yesterday patrols in this area continuously, the sporadic German soldiers who were wandering here avoided far away, so that Sokov and others rushed to the group army headquarters without any danger.
The meeting was a newly dug hole in the cliffs by the engineers on the riverside, which could accommodate forty or fifty people. A long distance away, Sokov and his friends were stopped by several fully armed soldiers. After verifying their identities, the people who were qualified to attend the meeting were approved. As for the accompanying Samoilov and the soldiers of the guard platoon, they were placed elsewhere.
Sokov walked into the cave and saw a long table next to the wall opposite, and three people sat behind the table. In the middle was Trekov, Krelov sitting on his left and Grov sitting on his right.
Sokov and others were at the location near the entrance of the cave. When they were sitting, Lieutenant Colonel Gusman, the leader of the 650th Regiment, whispered: "It's so cold to sit here."
Since no one spoke in the cave, Guzman's voice was not loud, but Cuikov, who was sitting behind the long table, could hear it. He looked here and said, "Comrade Commander, after everyone is here, we will pull the curtains, and you won't feel cold at that time."
After waiting for a while, Krelov stood up and made a gesture to the soldiers standing at the door. When the soldiers saw Krelov's gesture, they immediately lowered the rolled-up curtain and brought in a few charcoal basins from outside. After doing all this, they disappeared outside the cave.
He pulled up the curtain and put on the charcoal basin. The temperature in the cave suddenly increased a lot. Cui Kefu stood up, and then a few illuminated gas lamps in the cave, and his eyes swept over the commander attending the meeting one by one. When his eyes stopped, he smiled on his face and said in a loud voice: "Hello, comrades in command! I called you here today, and there is important news to announce to you."
After saying these words, Cuikov turned his head and nodded to Krelov who had already sat down, and said, "Chief of Staff, let me tell you what you next."
"Comrade Commander, Hello!" Krelov quickly stood up, put his hands on the edge of the table, leaned forward slightly, and said to the commanders attending the meeting: "First of all, I want to tell you a great news. Our army is about to launch a comprehensive counterattack against the enemies attacking Stalingrad. I believe that in this counterattack, the enemy who is fighting us will be buried under the city of Stalingrad..."
When Krelov said this, the cheering scene he imagined did not appear. The commanders present stayed in the city for a long time. Since the counterattack in early September, they have experienced several large and small counterattacks. However, not only did not repel the enemy's attack, but instead suffered losses. In everyone's mind, they remained silent before understanding the scale of the counterattack.
"Comrades, the Supreme Command ordered the Southwest Front, the Don Front and the Stalingrad Front to switch from defense to attack, smashing the German attack on Stalingrad." Krelov saw everyone's cold expression and couldn't help but smile bitterly. He picked up a small wooden stick and pointed to the map on the wall and said to everyone: "The code name of this counterattack is 'Operation Uranus'. According to the order, the Southwest Front of Vatutin and the Don Front of Rokosovsky will launch the first attack on November 19.
The main attack troops commanded by Lieutenant General Vatujing include the 1st Guards Army, the 5th Tank Army and the 21st Army. They are composed of 18 infantry divisions, 8 tank brigades, 2 motorcycle brigades, 6 cavalry divisions and 1 anti-tank brigade, and are supported by the 2nd and 17th Air Forces. Their attack target is the Romanian 3rd Army responsible for defending the flank security of the 6th German Army.
At the same time, the Don Front will carry out two auxiliary assaults, with the 65th Army from the area east of Kretskaya to the southeast, and the 24th Army from the Kachalinskaya area to the southward along the left bank of the Don River to the direction of Vergage, cutting the connection between the German army and the German army in the small bend of the Don River. The 66th Army defended on site in the area north of Stalingrad. Their operations will be supported by the 16th Army of the Air Force..."
Hearing this, the commanders present couldn't help but lit up. They found that this counterattack was several times larger than the previous counterattack. If it were just one front army to carry out a counterattack, it would probably be difficult to defeat the enemy attacking the city. But now with three fronts, it means that the chance of driving the enemy out of the Stalingrad region has greatly increased.
While Krelov was speaking for a while, Ruolujeff, the commander of the 37th Division of the Guards, couldn't help but ask: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I have heard you talk for a long time and are talking about the Southwest Front and the Don Front. Then when will our Stalingrad Front launch a counterattack?"
Regarding Jolugef's questions, Krelov continued: "According to the order, the 51st, 57th, and 64th Army of the Stalingrad Army will enter a counterattack in the south on November 20, breaking through the defense line of the Romanian 4th Army that defended the area, and then quickly head northward to Karachi, joining the Southwest Front to cut off the Germans' retreat."
Everyone did not hear the 62nd Army Group in the number that Krelov said, and they couldn't help but show a puzzled expression on their faces. Colonel Sokolov, the commander of the 45th Infantry Division, asked loudly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, why is there no number of our Army Group in the counterattack sequence of the Stalingrad Front? Does the base camp think we have been annihilated by the enemy?"
A stone stirred up a thousand waves, and Colonel Sokolov's words immediately resonated with everyone: "Yes, why are there no army in the sequence of this counterattack force? Did the superiors forget us?"
"We have persisted for so long in the enemy's powerful offensive. We finally hope for a big counterattack, but we didn't have anything to do with it. What's going on? We should ask our superiors to give us an answer."
“…”
When the cave was as lively as a vegetable market, Lyudnikov tilted his head towards Sokov, leaned close to his ear and asked loudly: "Col. Sokov, tell me, what's going on? Why don't the superiors let us participate in the counterattack?"
"It's not that we don't let us participate in the counterattack, but that we can participate in the counterattack in another form." After Sokov finished speaking, he also approached his ear and said loudly: "I guess the superiors decided not to let us participate in the counterattack because they considered that our army suffered heavy casualties and could not replenish enough troops in a short period of time, so they decided not to let us participate in the counterattack, but to stick to the existing positions and not allow the enemy to occupy the city."
"Comrades, be quiet, please be quiet!" Seeing the commanders sitting below in a fierce crowd, Gurov quickly stood up, raised his hands and pressed down hard: "I'll explain to you what's going on."
Seeing that it was military commissioner Gurov talking, the originally noisy cave had returned to silence.
"Comrades, I know that when you hear the number of our army, you have not been included in the sequence of counterattack troops by your superiors, you will definitely feel some emotions in your heart." Gurov said slowly: "But have you ever thought that your troops have lost their offensive ability after a long battle due to a large number of reductions in personnel. If you cannot get supplementary recruits, you will order you to participate in the counterattack. This is equivalent to an act of letting you die."
After Gurov said this, everyone suddenly became quiet. Everyone thought about it carefully in their hearts and found that this was the case. Nowadays, many divisions basically have an empty number. Before they get supplementary to the soldiers, using such forces to attack is purely a death sentence.
Seeing that the calm in the cave had returned to its original state, Gurov made a gesture to Krelov, signaling him to continue speaking. Krelov nodded slightly and continued: "After our counterattack begins, the enemy will definitely continue to attack the factory area to gain sufficient defense depth. Therefore, we cannot take it lightly just because our counterattack is about to begin. I here remind everyone that if the area in charge is occupied by the Germans, then there is no need to send you to the military court, and the headquarters will send someone to implement battlefield discipline on you."
It was the first time that everyone had been in Stalingrad for so long that they heard Krelov speak in such a stern tone, so everyone's expressions became serious.
Seeing that the atmosphere in the cave became awkward, Gurov stood up again to smooth things over: "Comrades, although your troops have been seriously weakened in the battle, don't worry, you only need to persist for one or two days, and the main force of the counterattack can rush into the city to meet you and fight against the enemies in the city together. How about it, do you have the confidence to defend your position?"
"Be confident!" After Grov finished speaking, a sparse response sounded in the cave.
"What's wrong with you, commanders?" Seeing that everyone was weak in answering, Krelov asked dissatisfiedly: "Do you have no confidence to hold your position? If you don't have confidence, I don't mind changing a group of confident commanders to take over your position."
Seeing that Krelov was angry, everyone hurriedly agreed: "Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff, we will definitely be able to defend our position."
"Very good!" Krelov nodded with satisfaction in everyone's statement, and then asked again: "Do you have any questions?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I want to ask, when will we get supplies?" An infantry brigade commander stood up and said respectfully: "Our ammunition and supplies can last up to three days. If we cannot get supplies as soon as possible, I am worried that we may not support the day of the counterattack."
Krelov's face showed a embarrassed expression when he heard the question of the infantry brigade commander. He was silent for a moment and said, "Comrade Brigade Commander, when you come to the meeting, you should see that the river surface has frozen and the ships of the Volga River Fleet cannot pass through at all. The ice layer on the river surface is too thin, and even the weight of people cannot bear it, let alone the convoys that transport materials."
"General Lobov," said Cuikov to the logistics minister sitting not far away: "After the meeting, you and this brigade commander will study the supply issues. No matter what method you use, I must ensure that each unit that holds its position has enough ammunition and supplies. Do you understand?"
"I understand, Comrade Commander." Lobof quickly stood up and replied, "I will chat with the brigade commander alone later."
Next, the commanders of each unit began to ask many questions to Krelov. Krelov seemed to have expected that everyone would ask these questions in advance, and they all gave simple and clear answers one by one.
Lyudnikov took advantage of everyone's question to Krelov and asked Sokov in a low voice: "Col. Sokov, the three fronts launched a counterattack against the enemy at the same time. I wonder who will send to command the base camp? Do you think it will be General Zhukov?"
"No." Sokov knew that Zhukov had been transferred to other directions by Stalin before the counterattack began, and replied: "If all three fronts were commanded by Zhukov, the Chief of Staff would have mentioned this when he was just talking about the counterattack deployment. However, he had never mentioned this matter at all, so I boldly asserted that General Zhukov would not participate in this counterattack."
Sokov's answer made Lyudnikov feel very dissatisfied: "Why, in my opinion, this counterattack plan may be from General Zhukov. It would be too unreasonable to not let him command this battle."
"Comrade Colonel, don't be excited." Seeing that Lyudnikov was so upset about Zhukov's inability to command this counterattack, Sokov said vaguely: "The base camp will not allow General Zhukov to command this battle, and there must be more important tasks to hand over to him."
Chapter completed!