Major General Jonas's tactics put the Soviet army into passive position immediately.
The two artillery regiments were bombed to the point where only fifteen guns and a small number of artillery shells were left. If they had not withdrawn quickly, even these would have been lost.
And these dozen guns played no role in such an artillery battle, so of course what Major General Batrakov said about "suppressing the enemy's artillery fire" could not be achieved.
Batrakov immediately asked the army headquarters for help.
Golikov also knew the importance of train station No. 1, so he immediately agreed: "I will immediately organize an artillery regiment to reinforce you, but it may not arrive until tomorrow night! So you must hold on until night!"
"I understand, Comrade Golikov!" Batrakov couldn't help but sigh.
Batrakov knew what was going on. It was already daylight when he called for help.
Since the Germans would suddenly launch such a large-scale artillery battle against the 10th Division and immediately plan to destroy two artillery regiments... then they would obviously not let the 10th Division get new artillery reinforcements so easily.
This was easy for the Germans because they had air superiority and their fighters and bombers could blockade various streets from the air as soon as it was light.
If it is infantry, German fighters and bombers may not be able to do anything, because the infantry target is too small, and the infantry can also advance against the buildings on both sides of the street, making it difficult for pilots on air fighters to detect them.
But if it's artillery...
Large-caliber howitzers need to be towed by cars, and they also need to be loaded with shells. It is difficult for such a large target to drive on the street without being discovered. German fighter planes can cause a disaster just by casually swooping down and firing a bunch of bullets.
, even burning old tires on the ground will not help.
On the other hand, even if German fighters and bombers failed to stop these artillery pieces, the reconnaissance planes could still inform the artillerymen of the coordinates of these artillery pieces, and then come over with a barrage of artillery fire...these artillery pieces would be blown into the sky before they could enter the preset positions and take effect.
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Therefore, the Soviet artillery can usually only maneuver at night, and is in a state of ambush during the day, even if it fires, it must be very careful.
This also meant that the 10th Division would be without artillery for at least a whole day.
"Comrade Batrakov!" At this time, the staff officer who answered the phone raised his head and reported: "The enemy has begun to attack. It is estimated that there will be at least one armored regiment and two infantry regiments!"
This was the first offensive force of the German army. They placed their main force, an infantry regiment and an armored regiment, in front of the train station.
There are two reasons for this:
One is because the muddy land on the banks of the Tsarica River is not suitable for armored forces to advance.
The Soviet battlefield had this characteristic. In winter, it was freezing cold and the whole world was surrounded by ice and snow. When the ice and snow melted in summer, there was mud everywhere.
The area near Stalingrad is no exception, especially along the river in the suburbs. In comparison, the road condition in the city is much better. Although it is blocked by ruins from time to time, at least tanks can still travel and fight normally.
Another reason is that the German commander Major General Jonas thinks this is more confusing... Usually the main force of the army is the main strategic direction of attack.
Batrakov was indeed fooled.
This is actually not surprising at all. The tasks of the internal affairs troops are more internal, such as quelling rebellions, suppressing bandits, protecting railways, etc.
Its nature is somewhat similar to that of the German Special Operations Forces. Both are internal irregular combat forces and have aloof status.
But it is one thing to have a transcendent status at home, and it is another thing to command operations on the battlefield.
In other words, it is precisely because they have a detached status in the country and are dealing with weak enemies such as guerrillas that they seriously lack combat experience or misjudge the enemy.
This was probably the case for Major General Batrakov. After he knew that the German army deployed an infantry regiment and an armored regiment on the front, he immediately transferred the main force to the front of the train station.
This obviously plays into Jonas's plan.
So, after the battle lasted for more than an hour, there was suddenly another dense burst of artillery fire.
This time, the artillery shells concentrated on the banks of the Charitsa River. Then, a motorized unit suddenly rushed out from the flank and attacked the 4th Infantry Brigade stationed by the river.
The 4th Infantry Brigade is commanded by the 10th Division. It is nominally a brigade, but its strength is less than that of a regiment due to consecutive days of fighting.
The Germans were very smart at this point. They sent out motorized units for a surprise attack instead of armored units:
Motorized troops are equipped with tricycles, armored vehicles and other equipment. They can carry more ammunition, and with certain armor protection, they are more than enough to deal with infantry's light weapons, and at the same time they are not as immobile in the mud as tanks.
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If there is any shortcoming of the motorized troops, it is that they cannot withstand the enemy's artillery fire... But this worry is unnecessary, because most of the Soviet artillery fire has been destroyed by the German army.
So this motorized force broke through the defense line of the 4th Soviet Infantry Brigade in just ten minutes.
When the news reached the 10th Division headquarters, Batrakov realized that he had been fooled and quickly ordered: "Reinforce the 4th Infantry Brigade immediately!"
"Reinforcements are blocked, Comrade Batrakov!" the staff officer replied: "The Germans occupy buildings along the coast, and then use the buildings as a basis to coordinate artillery and air defense defense!"
This is the importance of military quality.
What is often seen on the battlefield is not the number of troops, but the coordination ability.
For example, now, the German army only needs a small number of troops to occupy a building, and then direct artillery and air force attacks to easily block dozens of times the number of enemies from outside the building.
Batrakov looked down along the river bank on the ground, and then big beads of sweat oozed from his forehead.
After thinking about it, he ordered: "Blow up the railway bridge immediately!"
If the railway bridge was preserved before because it could be blown up at any time, then now is the last critical moment.
But after an anxious phone call, the staff officer reported: "Comrade Batrakov! We have lost contact with the railway bridge!"
"Send someone to inform them!" Batrakov shouted angrily: "Right away!"
"Yes, Comrade Batrakov!"
After the staff hurriedly ran out of the headquarters, Batrakov sat down heavily on his chair.
Prior to this, Batrakov may have thought that the situation at Railway Station No. 1 was serious, but he never expected that it would suddenly deteriorate to this extent.
In other words, Major General Batrakov was overwhelmed by these unexpected situations and did not know how to deal with such a situation. (To be continued)