It's no wonder that Andrei would highly appreciate Shulka's plan. The plan proposed by Shulka can be said to be the best arrangement for the current situation.
If the Romanian army at the 74-kilometer station is small and poorly prepared... this can be seen from the fact that the enemy just started building fortifications and laying mines not long ago. If they had been prepared, these things should have been waiting at the 74-kilometer station.
The Soviet Army.
Therefore, there is no need to worry about the 74 kilometers itself. What needs to be worried about should be the enemy's reinforcements, artillery, etc.
At the same time, it is difficult for infantry to detect and stop reinforcements and artillery in time due to mobility issues. These are the strengths of the air force, and using the air force for reconnaissance is just right.
As a result, the Air Force discovered the situation before the 8th Infantry Regiment launched an attack on the target.
"Comrade Shulka, we have discovered the enemy's supply train!" Andrei reported: "It may be shipped from the direction of Stalingrad!"
"Supply truck?" Shulka felt a little strange.
"Yes!" Andrei replied: "We destroyed it and dropped the entire load of ammunition!"
This may be simple on the battlefield, but in Shulka's view it is not.
Even Shulka felt a little strange.
Because if normal, the enemy train should first transport reinforcements or equipment, not supplies.
The reason is very simple. When the defense line is attacked and the Romanian army is about to collapse, the most lacking thing on the front line is definitely men and equipment rather than supplies. It can even be said that when the battle does not go smoothly, more supplies are sent to the front line.
It's for the enemy, not for your own people.
Moreover, these supplies were shipped from the direction of Stalingrad.
Can Germans be that stupid?
When supplies were in short supply in Stalingrad, would supplies be sent to the Romanians for them to pass on to the Soviet army?
Suddenly, Shulka realized the reason: German reinforcements had arrived in Prodovitoje. These supplies were given to the German reinforcements. Because the German army's equipment was inconsistent with the Romanian army's equipment and the ammunition was not universal, the German army had to
Transport supplies to meet the requirements of your own troops, even if it means transporting ammunition from Stalingrad.
Thinking of this, Shulka immediately called the headquarters.
The person who answered the phone was the political commissar Viktorovich. He seemed to be waiting for a call from the 8th Infantry Regiment, even if there was just a little trouble.
"How is the situation?" Viktorovich asked first: "Is the attack going well?"
"We haven't started the offensive yet, Comrade Comrade Comrade!" Shulka said: "But there is a situation that I think needs to be reported to you. The pilot blew up an enemy supply truck heading from Stalingrad to Prodovitoye.
car!"
"Awesome, congratulations to you!" Victorovich praised: "You have made a great contribution, which will obviously reduce the pressure on our army's main attack direction!"
It was the easiest compliment Shulka had ever received, and Shulka hadn't even done anything.
"No, Comrade Comrade Comrade!" Shulka said: "That's not what I'm talking about. The supplies shipped from Stalingrad to Prodovitoje... Does this mean that German reinforcements are already waiting at Prodovitoje?
Our main force? Otherwise, why would they transport supplies?"
Viktorovich was stunned when he heard this, and then replied: "No, this is impossible, Comrade Shulka, it has only been a few hours since the war started... But I will convey your thoughts to the headquarters for them to
I'm going to do reconnaissance! You continue to pay attention to the battle at the 74-kilometer station, do you understand?"
"Yes, Comrade Political Commissar!" Shulka replied.
The political commissar was being polite to Shulka. If it had been Brigadier Grasilov who answered the call, he would have scolded Shulka for meddling in his own business.
Victorovich thought about it and thought that what Shulka said was not a trivial matter, but also reasonable, so he called the army headquarters and conveyed Shulka's guess.
Major General Trufanov dismissed this.
"It's the 'breakout hero' again, right?" Major General Trufanov replied: "Don't be too nervous, Comrade Viktorovich! It's just a truck of supplies, which doesn't mean anything. The 'breakout hero' is just because
I’m just upset that his suggestions were not adopted!”
If you are biased against someone, it is easy to bring this bias or personal feelings to the judgment of the war. This is also one of the quality requirements of a commander. Obviously Major General Trufanov failed to do so.
make it happen.
Since Major General Trufanov had such an attitude, it was hard for Viktorovich to say anything else.
On the other side, Shulka's 8th Infantry Regiment has launched an attack on the 74-kilometer railway station.
The attack was not as easy as imagined. The main reason was that the information given by Viktorovich was not very accurate...
The intelligence said there was one battalion of Romanian skirmishers, but there were actually two companies of German troops.
However, this does not seem to be blamed on Victorovich's intelligence, because the German troops of these two companies may have just withdrawn to the 74th kilometer railway station. This can be seen from the fact that they came in waves for reinforcements.
...This is because the marching speeds were different, and some troops were left behind, so reinforcements were sent to the front one after another.
After the German troops arrive, the defense capabilities of the entire 74-kilometer train station will immediately be raised to a higher level.
This is not to say that there are too many people but not enough. Two companies of German troops are actually nothing.
The problem is that if there were no German troops, the Romanian army would easily choose to retreat as soon as it was attacked.
But if there are German soldiers fighting with them, the situation will be different. No matter how weak the Romanian army is, under the encouragement or supervision of the German army, the Romanian army will still resist for a while, especially the command ability of the German commanders is usually
It's all good.
Secondly, these two German companies are anti-aircraft artillery companies withdrawn from nearby, equipped with 88MM anti-aircraft guns.
The 88MM anti-aircraft gun is a magical weapon against infantry, especially against mechanized infantry. All cars, armored vehicles, and tanks are like paper in front of it.
Just like now, several armored vehicles sent for reconnaissance were blasted into parts before they even saw the enemy's position.
Occasionally, a few anti-aircraft artillery shells will be fired... Anti-aircraft artillery shells use delayed fuzes, which means they will explode in the sky at a certain distance calculated.
This was originally used to attack aircraft at designated altitudes, but now it is equally effective when used to attack infantry. The Soviet soldiers who were advancing in the rain and fog were unexpectedly attacked by several artillery shells in the air. The shrapnel flew into the air and spread to a considerable distance.
The huge noodles made the soldiers suffer a lot. (To be continued)