There was a temporary command vacuum in Stalingrad. On the one hand, it was because Stalingrad was originally commanded by the Stalingrad Front. At this time, the Stalingrad Front was trying to prevent the German army from advancing northward and cutting off its connection with Stalingrad.
On the other hand, this was the time when the power of the front army headquarters was handed over... Lieutenant General Gordorf was demoted from commander-in-chief to only commanding the Stalingrad front army because of his poor command, which allowed the German troops to approach Stalingrad.
The general commander is Yeremenko.
In fact, this was just a means of comfort, because within a few days Lieutenant General Gordov's commander of the Stalingrad Front was also withdrawn.
It is somewhat unimaginable that when the enemy was already approaching the city, the Soviet army was still changing generals on the spot. Especially in such an important city as Stalingrad, there was no independent and unified command structure... In history, it was the German army's defeat of Stalingrad that
The Soviet army realized this only after the Soviet Union launched the offensive, and then hurriedly sent Chuikov to Stalingrad to take charge of the overall situation.
Shurka hoped to have more troops to fight in an organized and planned manner before the German army attacked the city.
But he soon discovered that this was difficult to achieve.
Major Mikhailovich first found the 385th Regiment stationed nearby. This regiment belonged to the 64th Group Army. It was ordered to rush from the east coast to Stalingrad to reinforce the front line, but before they could reach their destination, the front line had been lost.
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"We should establish a unified command!" Major Mikhailovich said to Major Rogakov, the leader of the 385th Regiment: "In this way, we can better coordinate and organize a powerful defense!"
"I don't think so, Comrade Mikhailovich!" Rogakov replied: "The order given to us by our superiors is to wait for orders!"
"This does not affect the orders of our superiors!" Mikhailovich replied: "On the contrary, we are doing it to better complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors, because the difficulties and tasks we will face are already obvious.
To resist the enemy's attack in Stalingrad, we just prepared earlier!"
"Perhaps the superiors have already made arrangements!" Rogakov shrugged and replied: "We don't need to worry about these, do we? Moreover, if the command is unified, should we listen to your orders, or you to listen to our orders?
What? If you hope to obey our orders and join our team, I have no objection!"
Then someone around him laughed: "I know, Comrade Mikhailovich, you have been forgotten by your superiors. This feels very bad!"
The soldiers of the 385th Regiment laughed one after another.
Strictly speaking, there is nothing wrong with Rogakov's answer, because the duty of a soldier is to obey orders. If their superiors order them to stay put, they should stay put.
The problem was that they knew in their hearts that the headquarters of the 64th Army, which had been overwhelmed by the Germans, had no time to command them because the headquarters was in disarray and didn't know how to clean up the mess.
Therefore, the so-called "execution of orders" is just an excuse for Rogakov and others to passively respond to the situation before them.
Sure enough, Rogakov was silent for a while, then lowered his voice and said: "Comrade Mikhailovich, I think it is not a bad thing for us to continue to stay here... This place is only a few miles away from the Volga River, what do you think?
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It is only a few miles away from the Volga River, and the underlying meaning is that if the city cannot hold on and needs to retreat, they can get closer to the water and get to the moon first.
"I don't think so, Comrade Rodakkov!" Shulka interrupted and responded: "We will defend Stalingrad!"
With that said, he left with Mikhailovich and others.
When he walked out of the door, Major Mikhailovich shook his head and said while putting on his military cap: "The situation in other troops is almost the same. None of them seem to be commanded, but they are all commanded... There is
The 62nd Army, the 64th Army, the Navy, the Internal Affairs Corps, the Tank Corps, etc. What should we do?"
However, Shulka did not take this seriously because he knew that Chuikov would arrive soon to clean up the mess.
But it wasn't long before Shulka realized that wasn't the case.
The next day, when Shulka and Major Mikhailovich were analyzing the battle situation on the map, Andrianka nervously took the telegram and reported: "Major, the enemy has begun to attack!"
"You mean they started to attack the city?" Mikhailovich asked.
"Yes!" Andrianka replied: "They launched an attack from the west and south at the same time, investing a large number of assault guns!"
Mikhailovich set his sights on Shulka.
Shulka couldn't help but frowned and asked: "Who commanded Stalingrad?"
"For the time being, we are under the command of Comrade Golikov, commander of the 62nd Army!" Andrianka replied.
"No one else?"
"No!"
Major Mikhailovich asked doubtfully: "Who else could it be?"
Shulka did not answer.
Of course he was thinking of Chuikov, but Chuikov did not arrive as expected, and the commander of the 62nd Army Golikov... he was not a commander who could control the situation.
The reason is that the 62nd Army suffered heavy losses in the previous blocking battle outside the city. The three tank brigades within its organization only had a dozen tanks available, and the mixed force composed of several brigades and divisions only had a few hundred soldiers in total.
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Under this situation, Golikov had completely lost confidence in the defense of Stalingrad.
So, where is Chuikov?
Then Shulka quickly thought that Chuikov might have just returned from China at this time.
(Note: Chuikov was sent to China twice as a military adviser and did not return until March 1942)
To put it simply, due to some reasons, Stalin launched the Battle of Kharkov in advance, which eventually led to the Battle of Stalingrad also breaking out in advance.
At this time, Chuikov was still recuperating, adjusting to the jet lag and adapting to the Russian environment.
If Chuikov hadn't come or had to be brought later... Shulka couldn't imagine what would happen next.
This gave Shulka a blow in the head and he didn't react for a long time.
Shulka originally thought that he could gain more advantages by preparing in advance in Stalingrad, thinking that the focus of the battle to defend Stalingrad was supplies and tactics.
It wasn't until the war came that he realized that none of this was actually important. What was important was Chuikov, Chuikov, Chuikov!
Because only he, only this general who has served as a military adviser in China for a long time and is familiar with the strategies and tactics of the Chinese army, can have confidence in the defeated remnants of Stalingrad and effectively organize them and implement guerrilla tactics to deal with the German army in the city.
But now, it is obvious that Chuikov will not appear here so soon.