Major General Batrakov was then taken away by guards, who he himself brought with him.
Shulka will never forget the complicated look in Major General Batrakov's eyes before he left.
Regret, begging, resentment, or whatever.
But in the end, Batrakov did not speak.
Batrakov seemed to know that there was no room for change, so he simply did not speak.
This is indeed the case.
Shulka would not and could not compromise on this issue. He would not give Batrakov another chance, a chance to kill more soldiers or even push Stalingrad into a pit of fire.
At the same time, there was no need for Shulka to do this. An NKVD major general who commanded haphazardly and was unjust for his own gain... Shulka could not think of the need to save him, and he would only have a negative effect on the war.
Shulka didn't care what happened to Batrakov, because in Shulka's eyes, Batrakov was insignificant.
Later Shulka learned that Batrakov had changed his unit and continued to serve as commander.
He commanded a penal battalion. According to Colonel Akadiyevich, "His command style is very suitable for the penal battalion, which is a place where you need to charge at the enemy at all costs."
Colonel Dimitri took over as commander of the NKVD 10th Division.
He may not be a good person, and he may not have much combat experience, but one thing is for sure: given ten courages, he would not dare to disobey orders easily. To be more precise, he would not dare to put Shulka's suggestion into
Just do your own thing.
As a result, the Soviet attack on the German army stopped after a few minutes.
Colonel Dimitri even called Shulka's headquarters and asked: "Comrade Captain, what should we do next?"
This made Shulka a little embarrassed and made him seem to be a powerful figure.
"Comrade Colonel!" Shulka replied: "I suggest that we should switch to defense, just like what the 19th Division did before!"
"Yes, I think so too!" Colonel Dimitri replied: "I will arrange it right away!"
To be honest, Shulka didn't like this feeling. He preferred to get acquainted with Captain Kharichev in battle and then form a team naturally.
But after thinking about it, I felt that this seemed impossible.
For ordinary troops, correct judgment on the battlefield can indeed convince people, but for the internal affairs troops... they pay more attention to power, so only power can convince them.
Just like this time, if it weren't for Adikayevich's relationship, even if Shulka was proved to be right in the end, Major General Batrakov's command would have resulted in the meaningless loss of several divisions.
Even if Stalingrad fell in the end, Major General Batrakov would not need to bear any responsibility.
But having said that, whether it is a white cat or a black cat, it is a good cat if it can catch mice. As long as it is beneficial to the war and Stalingrad, it doesn’t matter what method it uses!
Thinking of this, Shulka became indifferent.
On the other side, the German army also relaxed because the Soviet army stopped attacking.
The reason for "relaxation" is not that the fighting has eased, but that preparations for war have become meaningless.
Prior to this, Major General Jonas was happy to see wave after wave of Soviet troops attacking the German defense lines.
Major General Jonas even had a plan for the Soviet offensive.
"I don't understand!" Major General Jonas was a little confused at first: "The performance when they blew up the railway bridge and the current attack are completely different!"
"What?" The adjutant didn't understand what Major General Jonas meant.
"When they attacked the railway bridge, they followed each other closely. They fooled us several times and successfully blew up the railway bridge!" Major General Jonas said, "But now, they are directing the troops towards the railway bridge like a fool.
We collided with each other..."
"Perhaps these are their punishment camps?" the adjutant guessed.
Major General Jonas shook his head slightly. The charge of the punishment battalion would not have such strong fire cover nor such good equipment.
But no matter what it was, Major General Jonas still formulated a counterattack plan.
Now is the time when the German army is worried about insufficient supplies and insufficient offensive troops. The Soviet army's attack can be said to be exactly what they wanted.
The reason is that such an attack allows the German army to inflict as much damage on the Soviet army as possible with the least cost and the least amount of supplies.
Then, after dawn, the German army can cooperate with the main force of the frontal attack to attack the railway station... With the Soviet army losing a lot of troops, coupled with the cooperation of artillery and air power, Major General Jonas believes that he can reduce the consumption of supplies.
Do this before finishing.
However, Major General Jonas's plan failed before it could be implemented.
"What's going on?" Major General Jonas asked, "Why did they stop attacking?!"
The adjutant was speechless. He could only ask the Russians this question.
After a moment of silence, the adjutant asked: "What should we do now, General?"
Major General Jonas was stunned for a moment and asked: "What are the Russians doing?"
"They are organizing defense!" As he said this, the adjutant handed over some photos, which were taken by frontline scouts under flares. In the photos, you can clearly see that the Russian army was pulling up the barbed wire fence.
Jonas sighed and ordered: "Prepare to retreat!"
If the Russian army did not attack, the German army would indeed have only one option: retreat.
Otherwise, with the troops of a German division and the supply line cut off by the Tsaritsa River, if this division attacks the Russian defense line, it will be counterattacked at any time because its supplies are exhausted and the entire army will be annihilated.
The German retreat began after daybreak.
They used artillery to suppress the Soviet positions, and then used fishing boats to transport German troops back to the south bank in batches.
Colonel Dimitri also called Shulka about this.
"Aren't we going to do something?" Colonel Dimitri asked.
"No, comrade colonel!" Shulka replied: "We should let them retreat!"
This was a wise choice. The German army was defeated but not in chaos. Coupled with the air and artillery superiority, any approach to pursue the victory would undoubtedly end in heavier casualties, which was not worth the gain for the Soviet army.
It's not easy to do this.
Because it was like a piece of fat reaching their mouths, but they were helplessly allowed to break free.
But Shulka knew that this was a temptation, a temptation that dragged the Soviet army into the abyss.
"Next..." Captain Kharichev said: "The colonel will ask you what to do again!"
Sure enough, a few minutes later Dimitri called Shulka again.
Shurka and Captain Kharichev couldn't help but smile at each other.
This may be the sequelae of the previous Batrakov incident. (To be continued)