After thinking about it, Shulka walked to the desk and looked at the map, and then said to Mikhailovich and Andrianka who were following him: "The enemy's focus of attack may be here, Mamaev Hill!
"
In fact, this does not require historical knowledge, only military knowledge can be analyzed.
Major Mikhailovich agreed: "It is the only commanding height in Stalingrad, and capturing it will split Stalingrad in two!"
Stalingrad is roughly a rectangle, consisting of the New City and the Old City.
The old city is in the southern half and is where residents gather.
The new city is in the northern half, almost all of which are factories and corresponding workers' residences... The workers' residence is called a certain new village. For example, opposite the "Red October" metallurgical factory is the "Red October" new village where the workers live.
.
Mamayev Kurgan is located between the New Town and the Old Town, and is close to the Volga River.
It is conceivable that once Mamayev Heights is occupied by the Germans, it will not only cut off the connection between the new and old cities, but also set up artillery here to hit the "No. 1 Station" and the port about ten kilometers away.
This will obviously cause a lot of trouble for Stalingrad's defense.
"We only have one infantry battalion there!" Major Mikhailovich said: "We must reinforce Mamayev Heights and not let it fall into the hands of the enemy!"
"Comrade Major!" Andrianka said: "But we have too few troops, and the troops in Stalingrad are fighting independently and there is almost no unified command!"
"But what else can we do?" Major Mikhailovich said: "Are we just going to watch the strategic location fall into the hands of the enemy?"
"I think we should find the headquarters!" Andrianka said: "That is, the 62nd Army Command, find Comrade Golikov, and then establish a unified command to fight the German army, otherwise we are just a piece of scattered sand... Like this
Not only will Mamayev Heights not be able to be saved by fighting, but even if it is saved, it will soon fall into the hands of the Germans again and even lead to the collapse of the entire defense line!"
It should be said that both of their opinions are reasonable.
It is urgent to defend Mamayev Heights, and establishing a unified command in Stalingrad is the basis for long-term operations.
but……
"Do we know where the 62nd Army headquarters is?" Shulka asked.
The two of them couldn't help but be stunned, and then Andrianka shook her head and replied: "No, we don't know!"
At this time, Stalingrad was in a state where "the generals did not know the soldiers, and the soldiers did not know the generals" to a certain extent. This was mainly due to the backward communication equipment of the Soviet army, coupled with the German army's communication interference and the low morale of the commanders.
React negatively.
In fact, the main reason for this is that the commander reacted negatively or lost confidence in this battle.
Once people lose confidence, they will think that everything they do is in vain, so they simply do nothing and just wait for the retreat order from their superiors.
For example, as the commander of the 62nd Army, Golikov led an army of more than 100,000 people and was easily defeated by the Germans. So it was easy for him to think that Stalingrad was hopeless, and the only way to resist the Germans was to retreat.
Rely on the river channel to the east bank of the Volga River.
As for collecting the scattered troops in the city... what's the point? Hundreds of thousands of people can only stand in front of the German attack for a few days. If this regiment and that regiment gather together, they will gather together to destroy the enemy faster.
So it became the current situation.
Otherwise, even if radio and telegraph communication fails, it is still the time for the communications troops to issue orders everywhere to assemble troops.
But now, Shulka and others don't even know the location of the 62nd Army Headquarters, and there is no place to report if they want to.
"Maybe it's a good thing that we can't find the headquarters!" Shulka said.
"A good thing?" Mikhailovich looked at Shulka doubtfully.
"If the headquarters is found, what do you think they will do next?"
"Collect the troops!" Andrianka said: "Then unified command of the operation!"
"Then what?" Shulka asked again.
So the two of them understood what Shulka meant. After unified command, it was nothing more than moving the troops to the contact line between the enemy and ourselves to build a line of defense, then defending and charging...The urban street fighting trained by the 82nd Infantry Regiment would not be able to work at all.
.
"I think the important thing is confidence, Comrade Mikhailovich!" Shulka said: "The most fundamental problem in Stalingrad is that everyone from top to bottom has lost confidence in this battle, that is, they do not believe that we can
To guard it, it can even be said that quite a few people are waiting for orders from their superiors to retreat, so they have various negative reactions!"
"I agree!" Major Mikhailovich replied: "But what can we do? Now let alone others, even I have lost confidence in this battle!"
"It's very simple!" Shulka said: "We should fight and win the war!"
Shulka's guess was correct.
The headquarters of the 62nd Army is located in a basement on the banks of the Yelishanka River in the old city.
The reason why the headquarters is located here is because they don't even know the direction of the enemy's attack or the location of their attack. They are worried that the Germans will suddenly appear in front of them and surround them... If it is located on the riverside, at least there is one direction that is safe.
, and at the same time, if possible, you can also rely on ships to retreat.
The equipment in the basement was very basic. A wooden table covered with a map was illuminated by a kerosene lamp, and there were a few chairs next to it, but no one was sitting on them.
Army commander Golikov was scolding his subordinates.
"You are the commander of the Tank Corps, and you moved the headquarters to the bank of the Volga River without my consent! In other words, my headquarters is still in front of you. Do you know what this means?"
"Sorry, Comrade Golikov! We couldn't get in touch at the moment..."
"Face your mistakes bravely!" Golikov interrupted his subordinates: "We all know what it means to move the headquarters to the bank of the Volga River, or you can just do it because you can't contact the headquarters.
Move the headquarters to the east bank of the Volga River?!"
After taking a few steps angrily, Golikov continued: "No, you are not moving the headquarters, you are running away, a shameful escape, do you understand? According to Order No. 227 of the People's Commissar of Defense, your actions should be
How do you evaluate it? Do you want me to execute Order No. 227?"
There was fear in the commander's eyes, and he begged: "No, Comrade Golikov, I hope you can give me another chance!"
"Then move the headquarters back with your soldiers!" Golikov said: "From now on, we will resolutely implement every one of my orders!"