"I understand, I will notify the commanders in the factory." Cuikov readily agreed to Sokov's suggestion, but before hanging up the phone, he said hesitantly: "I have something I want to beg you."
When he heard Cui Kov's words, Sokov's first reaction was that he had made a mistake. Cui Kov was his superior. If you had any questions, just give orders to him. How could he beg him? He calmed down and asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, do you mean you have to ask me for help if you have something to do?"
"Yes, Colonel Sokov." Cuikov, on the other end of the phone, lowered his voice and whispered: "If there is any latest news from friendly forces on the south side, I hope you can tell me in time."
Sokov did not dare to agree to Cuikov's request easily, but looked at Golikov, who was sitting next to him with guilt. Although Golikov had not heard what Cuikov said clearly, he guessed something when he saw Sokov's panic expression, smiled, and then said to Sokov: "Comrade Colonel, you can promise him."
"Yes!" Seeing that Golikov offered to let Cuikov understand the war on the southern front, Sokov agreed excitedly and said loudly to the microphone: "Comrade Commander, please rest assured, I will definitely inform you of the war on the southern front in time."
…………
The attack of the 4th Army of the Mechanized Army continued. Although Wolsky distributed some of the troops to restrain the 29th German MoF Division on the flanks to relieve the pressure on the 13th Tank Army that was attacking the northward, they were also continuing to advance towards the target of Schet, the planned northward.
In front of them were the troops of the Romanian Sixth Army. The Romanian commander hiding in the trenches saw the Soviet tanks rushing over and immediately ordered the anti-tank artillery to enter the position and use artillery fire to stop the Soviet attack.
Although the equipment of this unit cannot be compared with the German army, the quality of the artillery was not bad. Hearing the commander's shout, they only took two or three minutes to point the muzzle of the anti-tank gun at the moving Soviet tanks, and fired without hesitation based on the firing parameters provided by the artillery observers.
The shells fell into the formation of Soviet tanks and exploded. Mud pillars with snow powder soared into the sky, and the flying shrapnel hit the tank's body. Unfortunately, they had too few anti-tank guns. Although more than a dozen guns were firing desperately, the damage caused to the Soviet tank troops was minimal. Except for an unlucky tank that was blown off the track, the rest of the tanks still rushed to the Romanian army's positions at full speed.
When the Romanian position was still three hundred meters away, the Soviet tanks stopped one after another, aimed at the anti-tank guns in the distance and fired back. Dozens of tanks fired at the same time, and the artillery fire immediately covered the exposed Romanian anti-tank artillery positions. The artillery bombardment took only two rounds, and all the anti-tank guns on the position were killed. The shells that had exploded blew the artillery near the explosion point into pieces. The remaining artillery soldiers dared not stay, so they ran away from behind, just wanting to escape as far as possible.
The anti-tank gun positions were destroyed, and the infantry hiding in fortifications became lambs to be slaughtered. The machine guns in the civil and firepower point had just fired half a shuttle bullet, but were bombarded into the sky by Soviet tanks. Seeing that their companions were constantly thrown into the sky by the waves of artillery shell explosions, they were thrown into pieces, and the living Romanian soldiers were either curled up in the trenches and shook, or they stretched out a white flag to shake desperately, indicating that they would surrender to the Soviet army.
Seeing a white flag rising in the trenches ahead, the Soviet tanks that stopped to shoot were activated again, quickly crossing the enemy positions that stopped resisting and continued to advance towards the people being pushed. As for the surrendered Romanian officers and soldiers, they were taken by the infantry following behind.
The smooth advancement of the 4th Army of the mechanized made the German officers and soldiers of the 29th MoF Division panic. They were afraid that the Soviet army would detour to their rear and cut off their retreat, so they drew more troops to strengthen the defense on the side and rear. Colonel Tanahishen, who had just commanded the troops to break through the enemy's defense line, saw that the enemy's troops on the front began to decrease and felt that this was the best opportunity for a full-scale attack, so they issued combat orders to several brigade commanders via radio, using a tank brigade and a MoF Brigade to make a frontal breakthrough. The other two tank brigades detoured from the left and right wings, trying to break through the German defense in the shortest time and wedge into the enemy's defense depth.
Although the officers and soldiers of the 29th German MoF Division drew a lot of troops to consolidate their side and rear, there were still quite a lot of troops on the front. In addition, some fleeing Romanian soldiers were driven into the trenches by them, so they had enough troops to fight against the Soviet attack.
The Tanashishen soldiers divided into three groups and launched a fierce attack on the enemy's defensive positions. The Germans defended on the positions not only used 75mm anti-tank guns to bombard the marching Soviet tanks, but also sent a large number of Romanian soldiers to rush up with explosives bags and die with the Soviet tanks.
The German army's approach, which was not responsible for casualties, caused the Soviet army to lose more than 20 tanks and more than 300 commanders and fighters in less than a quarter of an hour. As for the enemy's losses, in addition to the nearly 200 Romanian soldiers who were cannon fodder, the German casualties were single-digit. Seeing that the attack was not smooth, Tanashishen ordered the troops to suspend the attack and retreat first to re-adjust.
After the tank army retreated to a safe area, Tanahishin summoned the four brigade commanders under him and asked with a stern face: "Comrades in the brigade commanders, what did you do? It's been so long, why haven't you broken through the German defense yet?"
The commander of the Mo's brigade said with a bitter face: "Comrade Commander, the enemy's artillery fire is too strong and poses a great threat to our truck carrying soldiers. If the tanks cannot kill the enemy's artillery, our Mo's brigade will not be able to rush up at all."
"Yes, Comrade Commander." A brigade commander of the tank brigade also complained, "Our morning's defeat in the offense has a great impact on the morale of the soldiers. They are worried that the situation will happen again in the morning, so they seem a little unrelaxed during the attack."
"I don't want to hear your difficulties. I just need to know when you can break through the enemy's defense, go forward to the designated position, and occupy overnight positions?" Tanahishin said dissatisfiedly: "If it's dark and you can't break through the enemy's defense line, then wait to go to the military court."
Seeing that the 13th Tank Army was unable to break through the enemy's defense for a long time and opened a gap for the follow-up troops, not only Tanahishun was anxious, but even Major General Tolbuhin, the commander of the 57th Army, could not hold back. He called Tanahishun himself and asked dissatisfiedly: "Comrade Colonel, when will your tank army break through the enemy's defense and open a breakthrough for the follow-up troops?"
"Comrade Commander," Tanaheshin replied embarrassedly: "The enemy has strong defensive power in the area where we are advancing, so that our two assaults have not succeeded. I am now summoning several brigade commanders to discuss how to break through the enemy's defense."
"Comrade Colonel, it's getting late, I hope your army's movements can be faster." Tolbuxin said impatiently: "If you cannot open a breakthrough on the enemy's defense line in the shortest time, then the subsequent troops will only stay in their current position and do nothing. If you miss the opportunity to fight, what consequences will be brought about? Even if I don't say it, you should understand it in your heart, right?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Tanahishin seemed panicked when he heard Tolbuhin's words: "We will definitely break through the enemy's defense in the shortest time and open a breakthrough for the subsequent troops of the army."
"It's great that you have such confidence." Tolbuhin said briefly on the phone: "I'm waiting for your good news."
Seeing Tanashishen dropping the microphone and acting as the frontal attack, the tank brigade commander hurriedly said: "Comrade Commander, if we do not get the support of artillery, it will be very difficult to break through the enemy's defense line. You must know that they not only have anti-tank guns, but also send a large number of Romanian soldiers carrying explosive packs or anti-tank grenades to deal with our tanks..."
"Comrade Brigade Commander, I have eyes." Tanahishin waved his hand to interrupt his words: "In order to deal with our tanks, the Germans asked Romanian soldiers to act as cannon fodder and carry explosive bags to blow up our tanks. Although the machine guns on the tanks can destroy these enemies, the Germans' anti-tank guns often destroy our tanks while we deal with Romanian infantry. It is indeed a big problem to continue to break forward if the German anti-tank guns are not eliminated."
Seeing that his brigade commanders were silent, Tanaheshin realized that his tone might be too harsh. Who wouldn't want to break through the enemy's defense quickly and relieve the precarious Stalingrad? They had done their best, and they were still demanding on them. He slowed down and said to the four brigade commanders: "Comrades in the brigade commanders, you all go back to their respective troops. After fighting for so long, the commanders and fighters should be hungry. Let them hurry up and eat something, drink some water, and prepare to continue fighting against the enemy." He raised his hand and looked at his watch, "The next round of attack should start in one hour and thirty minutes."
"Yes!" After agreeing neatly, the four brigade commanders turned around and returned to their respective troops.
The news that Tolbuhin's attack here was soon fed back to the Front Command. After reading the battle report, Yelemenko handed it to Khrushchev, who was sitting opposite him, looked at Major General Valenikov standing aside and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, how do you think we should help the 57th Army to break through the enemy's defense?"
"Comrade Commander." Varennikov replied respectfully: "It takes too long for artillery troops to move their positions forward. I am afraid that by the time they feel the designated position, the system of the 13th Tank Army will be incomplete. Therefore, I suggest to dispatch the air force to attack the enemy's fortifications and cover the forward assault of the 13th Tank Army."
"Detect the Air Force?" Khrushchev, who had read the battle report, turned his head and looked at Varennikov and asked, "Is the weather suitable for the Air Force to participate in the war?"
"Comrade Military Commissioner!" Hearing Khrushchev's question, Varenikov quickly replied in a respectful tone: "The fog outside has dissipated. Although the sun has not yet appeared, the visibility is still very high, which is completely suitable for the Air Force to enter the battle."
"Well, since the Chief of Staff said that the Air Force could be dispatched, let the Air Force help the 57th Army." After Khrushchev finished speaking, he turned to Yeliumenko and asked: "Comrade Commander, see, can you call General Heliujin, the commander of the 8th Army of the Air Force, and ask him to dispatch one or two aviation divisions' attack aircraft to assist the 57th Army in breaking through the enemy's defense?"
"No problem." Yeliaumko nodded and said, "I will call General Heliujin and ask him to dispatch the air force to attack the enemy's defensive positions and cover the 57th Army to assault northward."
A few minutes later, General Heliujin, who was staying in his command, received a call from Yeliumenko. When he heard Yeliumenko's voice coming from the receiver, he instinctively looked out the window to see if the weather outside was suitable for the fighter plane to take off. Although the sky outside was still gloomy, there should be no big problem to let the fighter plane take off to fight. After confirming this, he asked with confidence: "Hello, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, do you have any instructions?"
"Hello, General Heliujin!" Yeliaumko said politely: "Major General Tolbuhin's 57th Army was stubbornly blocked by the enemy when he was advancing north. I would like to ask, can you send out a powerful attack aircraft and rush over to support them?"
"How many attack aircraft do you need to be deployed?"
"If possible, it is best to dispatch one or two aviation divisions." Seeing that Heliujin did not complain, Yelemenko knew that today's weather was completely suitable for fighter jets to take off, so he said with confidence and boldness: "Because you not only need to support the 57th Army, which was frustrated, but also provide air cover for the 51st Army, which was slow to attack."
"No problem, Comrade Commander of the Front." Heliujin replied readily: "I immediately sent Colonel Mironenko's 290th Strike Air Force Division and Colonel Vitruk's 290th Strike Air Force Division to rush to the combat site for support."
After putting down the phone, Heliujin immediately said to his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, inform Colonel Mironenko and Colonel Vitruk to come to me, and I will assign combat missions to them."
After receiving the call, the two aviation division commanders rushed over with their own adjutants and prepared to accept combat missions from Heliujin. Seeing the two division commanders appear, Heliujin got up and walked around the desk, went up to shake hands with the two of them one by one, and asked with a smile: "Comrades in the division commanders, I must be very anxious, I haven't participated in the battle for so long."
Chapter completed!