Shulka only slept for about five hours, and then he was woken up by Major Mikhailovich.
"Comrade Golikov asked us to go to the headquarters!" Major Mikhailovich said.
Shulka opened his mouth, rubbed his eyes that were still raw and sore, and stood up. He looked at the soldiers around him who were still lying on the ground and snoring, and he couldn't help but feel envious of them.
The benefits of being an officer are obvious, but there are also many disadvantages. For example, Shulka now has to report to Golikov.
The army headquarters has been moved.
This is because the location of the previous headquarters was too close to the front line... While the 82nd Infantry Regiment was fighting the enemy for Mamayev Hill, the German army had been advancing in other directions.
The new headquarters is located in the basement of a bungalow. Shurka arrived here in a jeep and even took a nap in the car.
People are often like this. If they remain awake all the time, their heads seem to be awake, and sometimes it is even a little difficult to fall asleep.
However, once someone wakes you up from sleep, the sleepiness will flow in like a torrent of water.
Therefore, Major Mikhailovich had to wake up Shulka again.
"Shulka!" Major Mikhailovich reminded in a low voice: "That's Comrade Golikov, the commander of the group army!"
Shulka knew what Major Mikhailovich meant... Golikov wanted to see them, so he had to take it seriously no matter what. How could he sleep so casually?
Shulka was a little helpless.
This is not because he looked down on Golikov. In fact, although Golikov's performance on the battlefield was not very good, for example, when the Southeast Front Army was defeated, he once thought that he could not hold Stalingrad and had the mentality to give up. Chuikov's
Taking office and finally holding Stalingrad proved him wrong.
But Golikov was a popular figure in the Khrushchev era.
The reason why Shurka behaves like this is because he cares more about the war, the battlefield, and life, rather than going to the headquarters to report the results as a formality... If he did this, Shurka would rather continue to lie in the warehouse
Get some more sleep.
However, Shulka soon learned that Golikov had called them to the headquarters for more than just a report.
"Comrade Shulka, Comrade Mikhailovich!" Golikov shook hands with them enthusiastically when he saw the two men: "Thank you, and the 82nd Infantry Regiment, for saving Mamaev Hill.
This almost saved Stalingrad from falling into enemy hands!"
"This is what we should do, Comrade Golikov!" Major Mikhailovich stepped forward and answered.
"Of course, your contribution is more than that!" Golikov said, patting Shulka on the shoulder and said: "We have fully promoted your tactics to the entire Stalingrad, and it has been proven to be effective.
The enemy's advancing speed is almost measured in meters, and we will recapture it at night! Thank you, Comrade Shulka, for giving Stalingrad hope to survive!"
"This is the effort of our entire army, Comrade Golikov!" Shulka replied.
Then Golikov invited the two of them to walk towards the map. Akimovich was standing next to him holding a baton. Seeing Shulka and Mikhailovich, they nodded slightly in greeting.
As a staff officer of the group army, Akimovich should of course return to the formation at this time and apply what he learned from the 82nd Infantry Regiment to the battlefield.
"Tell us about our problems, Comrade Akimovich!" Golikov raised his head towards Akimovich.
"The Stalingrad Front's attack on Kotluban is not ideal!" Akimovich pointed to the position north of Stalingrad and said: "In fact, they suffered heavy casualties and it is expected that they will no longer be able to maintain the offensive soon!
"
This plan was actually proposed by Shulka.
The Stalingrad Front was blocked north of Stalingrad and was unable to enter the battlefield, while the Southeast Front struggled to hold on in Stalingrad.
Therefore, using the Stalingrad Front to attack the German army can share the pressure on the Southeast Front in Stalingrad.
"So fast?" Shulka asked doubtfully after hearing this: "The Stalingrad Front seems to have only been attacking for more than ten days!"
Akimovich nodded and replied: "It has been a total of twelve days so far!"
Shulka frowned.
In twelve days, the elite Stalingrad Front lost the energy to attack, which is a bit incredible.
And all they have to do is share the pressure on Stalingrad, that is, they only need to feint attack, and they will only face the German army.
Akimovich seemed to see Shulka's doubts, so he explained: "They changed their strategic goals!"
"What?" Shulka raised his head in shock.
Having said this, Akimovich did not dare to say any more and turned his attention to Golikov.
Golikov took over and said: "The strategic goal of the Stalingrad Front is not to reduce the pressure on Stalingrad, Comrade Shulka, they are to break through the German defense lines and get in touch with Stalingrad!"
Then Shulka understood.
This is completely different from what he said before.
Because if the strategic goal is to share the pressure on Stalingrad, then it is enough to implement a feint attack and transfer German troops and air power to the north.
But if their goal is to get in touch with Stalingrad, they must break through and occupy the German defense lines and towns stationed north of Stalingrad.
This is indeed very tempting, because in this way, Stalingrad will be relieved. It does not even need to transport supplies and soldiers from the east bank of the Volga River. It can be transported directly from the Stalingrad Front in the north. It can even repair the railway lines and use trains.
Transportation can obviously greatly improve the situation in Stalingrad.
However, attacking the German defense lines without air superiority was terrifying, especially when the Germans were in a favorable location.
Because this first means that the Soviet tanks can hardly get close to the German defense lines... they will be destroyed one by one by German fighters and bombers on the way forward.
Then the German artillery will not be able to play its due role, and they will be completely suppressed by German fighter planes.
Then, the Soviet infantry had to face the enemy's aircraft, artillery, tanks and complete fortifications alone.
Shulka could almost imagine the scene of infantry charging pointlessly under artillery fire, and then falling one after another.
"How many enemies are stationed in the north?" Shulka asked.
"Six divisions..." After a pause, Golikov replied: "In fact, it is five divisions!"
Six divisions was the number Zhukov reported to Moscow. The actual strength of the German army was five divisions.