The two Soviet front armies met at the Soviet farm in the Don River Valley, successfully cutting off the German army's retreat and encircling Paulus' Sixth Army and Hott's Fourth Armored Army in the Stalingrad area.
After Volsky and Kravchenko met at the Soviet farm, they guessed that the German army would definitely launch a crazy counterattack in this area in order to open a retreat, so they ordered their respective troops to deploy on the spot to prepare for the German attack.
.But until dark, the German army did not take any action, seeming to turn a blind eye to the Soviet army's move to join forces.
Not only the senior commanders of the Soviet army were confused about this, but even the German commanders stationed nearby were also confused. They did not understand why the Russians cut off their retreat, but their superiors did not order a counterattack.
Order to re-open the traffic lines.
In fact, the reason for this situation is very simple. For the whole day, Paulus and his headquarters members were running around on the road and had no intention of commanding the troops. Not long after staying in the Gumlak area, Paulus felt that there was no place for him.
It was safe and he learned that another headquarters in Nizhny Chilskaya was ready, so he ordered his headquarters to be moved to the new headquarters on the Nizhny Chir River.
After arriving at the new headquarters, Paulus immediately ordered Schmidt to contact his subordinate troops to find out what the situation was like outside. After making several phone calls, Schmidt reported to Paulus: "Commander
Your Excellency, the current situation is not good for us. The Russians have occupied Karachi, controlled the Don River Bridge, occupied and destroyed the outpost airport of the 8th Air Force, and cut off our army's retreat route.
However, to the north of Karachi, General Deboy's 44th Infantry Division still held fast to the positions that had been established on the west bank of the Don River to resist the crazy Russian attack."
Paulus's heart froze when he learned that Karachi and the Don River Bridge were occupied by the Soviet army. But when he heard that the 44th Infantry Division was still holding its position on the west bank of the Don River, a glimmer of hope ignited in his heart, and he quickly asked
: "Chief of Staff, can the 44th Division block the Russian attack?" According to his idea, as long as this division can hold its position on the west bank of the Don River, it can conduct a front-to-back attack with its own troops and break through the Russian encirclement.
.
Unexpectedly, Schmidt shook his head and said with a grimace: "Your Excellency, Commander, their logistics supply lines have been completely cut off by the Russians, and they were attacked by the 4th and 4th Guards Guards of Batov's 65th Group Army.
The 24th Infantry Division and General Deboy's 131st Regiment have suffered more than half casualties."
Paulus quickly came to the wall and looked up at the map on the wall. After looking at it for a while, he turned to Schmidt and said: "Immediately order the 384th Division to reinforce the 44th Division, and be sure to block the Russian attack.
.”
"Understood, Commander!" Schmidt nodded and said respectfully: "I will call the two division commanders immediately and ask them to carry out your order."
"Also," Paulus stopped Schmidt just before he was about to leave the room: "Send another telegram to Berlin, inform them of our situation here, and ask for permission to retreat."
When Schmidt heard this order, he couldn't help but have a trace of bitterness on his face. Although he had obtained the permission to withdraw from Army Group B commander Weikes two days ago, Paulus did not get the consent of Berlin, so he
When executing the retreat order, it was not carried out neatly, otherwise the Russians would not have been able to occupy Karachi so easily and cut off the army's retreat. However, since Paulus emphasized the matter again at this moment, Schmidt could only agree with a wry smile.
He said: "I will send a telegram to Berlin immediately."
Schmidt returned to his room and asked the communications staff to send a report to the High Command in Berlin, requesting permission for the group army to withdraw from the Stalingrad area. He also called the commanders of the 44th and 384th divisions to ask for permission to withdraw the troops.
Luce's order was conveyed to them. After doing all this, Schmidt sat in his seat, tilted his head back, leaned on the back of the chair and stared at the ceiling in a daze, thinking about how Berlin would reply to him.
A combat staff officer walked in, bowed slightly to Schmidt, and reported: "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, General Pickett, commander of the 9th Anti-aircraft Artillery Division, is outside. Do you want to see him?"
Schmidt and Pickett once studied under the tactics expert Oswald at the General Staff College in Königsberg. They were both classmates and friends for many years. Now that they heard that their old friend was outside, they quickly sat up straight.
Body, ordered the staff: "Hurry up and bring General Pickett in!"
When Pickett walked into the room, Schmidt stood up, walked around the desk to greet him, and said with a smile: "Hello, Pickett, nice to see you here."
"Hello, Chief of Staff." Pickett reached out and shook Schmidt's hand, and said stiffly: "But I don't want to see you here."
Pickett's words confused Schmidt, and he asked confusedly: "Pickett, my old friend, why did you say that?"
"According to the information I have, the troops of Rokossovsky's Don Front are advancing here along the Lower Chir River." Pickett said with a wry smile: "I estimate that they will be here in two or three days at most.
We can reach outside the city of Nizhny Chilskaya. At that time, your headquarters will have to be transferred."
Pickett's words surprised Schmidt. After all, he and Paulus had just arrived at the new headquarters and had not yet had time to understand many situations. As a result, he had no idea about the news of the Soviet army advancing along the Lower Chir River.
He couldn't help but asked in a panic: "Pickett, tell me, what should we do?"
"If I were you," Pickett said seriously, "I would get out of here."
After thinking for a while, Schmidt nodded and said: "Pickett, you are right. If the Russian army is really advancing here, we should indeed move immediately, otherwise the headquarters will be put in danger.
middle."
Seeing that his old friend had followed his advice, Pickett nodded and then asked: "Schmidt, what are your plans after the headquarters is transferred to a new area?"
"Look," Schmidt pushed the map on the table towards Pickett and said to him without hesitation: "I plan to build a solid line of defense in the west and south to protect the group army when it is threatened.
Rear area. At the same time, gather forces again and be prepared to break out to the southwest."
"My old friend, please forgive me, your plan is very difficult." As a friend of Schmidt, Pickett said bluntly: "What the troops lack now is fuel. Without fuel, our tanks
and artillery tractors could not move at all and could only park on the ground, becoming targets for Russian aircraft bombing."
"You don't have to worry about this." Schmidt replied confidently: "We can ask the Air Force to transport fuel for us. After all, there are many airports in the area we control that can take off and land a large number of transport aircraft."
Pickett smiled bitterly again and said to Schmidt: "My old friend, I doubt the capabilities of the Air Force. I don't think they can provide enough fuel supplies. In my opinion, we should organize troops to break out as soon as possible.
While the Russian encirclement is not secure yet, we can rescue as many troops as possible from the Russian encirclement."
While the two were talking, the communications staff officer came in from outside, handed Schmidt a telegram, and said: "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, this is a telegram sent by the Berlin High Command through the Army Group Headquarters."
Schmidt took the telegram and only glanced at it a few times. He was suddenly shocked. He looked up at Pickett and said: "Pickett, Berlin has rejected our request for a breakout and ordered us to stay in the existing area and hold on.
to wait for further orders. He stood up, stretched out his hand to Pickett, and said apologetically, "I need to report to the Commander immediately, and I won't leave you alone. I wish you good luck, and I hope we can get rid of the Russians as soon as possible."
Jump out of the circle."
After seeing off Pickett, Schmidt quickly came to the room where Paulus was and handed him the telegram he had just received. Paulus took the telegram and browsed it quickly. When he saw the troops
When he stayed where he was, his expression changed greatly; after reading all the content, he fell down in his seat, as if all his strength had been drained away.
"Your Excellency, Commander!" Schmidt asked cautiously: "The head of state has rejected your request to prepare for a breakout in the telegram. What should we do next?"
Paulus looked up at Schmidt standing in front of him, and replied with a wry smile: "What else can we do? Send another telegram to the head of state, explaining our situation here, and asking again for permission to take a breakout action. Chief of Staff,
Please record the message."
After Schmidt prepared paper and pen, Paulus began to dictate a message to Hitler: "My Führer, the situation here has deteriorated sharply. Due to the inability to obtain sufficient supplies, the troops' ammunition and fuel are about to run out, and many artillery pieces
and anti-tank weapons were out of ammunition. The army group faced the danger of imminent destruction unless it could hit all available forces and decisively defeat the Russian attack from the south and west. This would require an immediate start from Stalingrad
Withdraw all troops, as well as the powerful forces on the northern defense line, and then break out to the southwest... Admittedly, doing so will result in the loss of a large number of soldiers and equipment, but it will allow more valuable combat personnel and technical equipment to be preserved
…In view of the current situation, I once again request for freedom of movement.”
After Schmidt recorded Paulus' message, he reported to him what Pickett had just said, and finally asked for instructions: "Your Excellency, Commander, what should we do?"
Knowing that Nizhny Chilskaya, where he was located, might be attacked by the Soviet army, Paulus seemed a little flustered, but he still forced himself to calm down and said: "Chief of Staff, as soon as the message to the head of state is sent, the headquarters
Make the transfer immediately. In order to prevent the troops from losing unified command and falling into chaos, we have no right to put the headquarters in danger."
Hearing Paulus say that the headquarters would be transferred, Schmidt was secretly relieved, and then asked cautiously: "Where should we transfer to?"
"The Gumlak area." Paulus said hurriedly: "Immediately transfer our headquarters to the Gumlak area."
"But, Your Excellency, Commander." Schmidt was stunned when he learned that Paulus was going to transfer the headquarters back to the Gumlak area that he had just left in the morning, and quickly reminded Paulus kindly: "We just left there in the morning.
ah?"
"I know." Paulus nodded and said, "But there is a ready-made headquarters there. As soon as we move there, it can be put into use immediately. Okay, don't delay, go and send a telegram to the Führer immediately, and by the way
Arrange people to prepare for the transfer."
Considering that the last time he moved from Grubinskaya to the Gumlak area, Paulus used a trick to confuse the Soviet scouts in order to prevent the Soviet scouts from discovering his whereabouts.
Then he asked tentatively: "Do we need to send out suspicious soldiers again to divert the attention of the Russians?"
"No need," Paulus waved his hand, rejecting Schmidt's proposal: "Even if we build a fake headquarters to attract the attention of the Russians, as long as the real headquarters contacts the outside world, Russia will
The human telecommunications interception department can still accurately determine the exact location of our headquarters based on the intensity of radio signals."
As soon as the telegram to Berlin was sent, the German headquarters in Nizhny Chilskaya began to move. Because all communication equipment was dismantled, Paulus did not immediately obtain the two Soviet fronts on the Soviet farm.
Information on the rendezvous. As the commander of the group army, he did not understand the changes in the battlefield situation and naturally would not give any orders to his troops. As a result, the German troops stationed near the Soviet farm could only watch the Soviet army complete the rendezvous.
Finally, build defense in that area leisurely.
By the time Paulus arrived in the Gumlak area, it was already dark. As soon as he turned on the communication, he learned the bad news about the meeting of the two Soviet fronts. Before he could issue any orders, the radio station
Received a telegram from Berlin. Hitler ordered in a strong tone in the telegram: Stay in the Stalingrad area, establish a defense line for the encirclement, and at the same time, immediately withdraw all the troops on the west bank of the Don River across the Don River into the encirclement.
Defend the existing area at all costs. The supply of troops will be provided by airlift from the Air Force.
Paulus was dumbfounded when he saw Hitler's message. He knew very well that the troops remaining on the west bank of the Don River could still play a role in containing the Russians, so that they would not dare to concentrate all their forces and use them against themselves.
The siege. But once these troops are withdrawn into the encirclement, they will be attacked by the Russians from all directions, and then their own troops will be in danger.
"Your Excellency, Commander," seeing Paulus holding the telegram in a daze, Schmidt quickly asked for instructions: "What should we do next?"
Paulus looked up at Schmidt and said with a wry smile: "Since it is an order issued by the head of state himself, we can only execute it unconditionally. You immediately notify all troops to stop the transfer and return to the original defensive area. At the same time,
Then order all the troops on the west bank of the Don River to withdraw across the Don River, rush over to join the headquarters, and build a strong defense line in the Stalingrad area."
Knowing that this was a death order, but seeing that Paulus had already surrendered, Schmidt knew that it was useless to say anything else. He could only nod slightly and said with a wry smile: "Yes, Your Excellency, Commander. I will send you immediately."
