If it was a telegram sent by someone else, especially one that was so feeble-minded and had a commanding tone, Khrushchev would have thrown it aside and even ordered his dismissal on the spot... In the Stalingrad area,
Who dares to send a telegram to Khrushchev in a commanding tone? That is no different than seeking death.
But since it was sent by Shulka, Khrushchev would think about it before making a decision.
While holding the telegram, Khrushchev stared at the map to find Shulka's location, wondering what the words "bombing the enemy's reinforcements to prevent their advance" meant.
After thinking about it, Khrushchev had an idea. Although he was not sure, Khrushchev was not an ordinary person and he could guess almost everything.
So a series of orders were immediately issued:
"Order the air force to use all its strength to prevent the enemy's reinforcements and bomb the first half of the railway line!"
"Order the troops surrounding Prodovitoje to prepare for a full-scale attack!"
"Get in touch with the 81st Cavalry Division immediately!"
…
"What's going on?" Yeremenko asked doubtfully.
"I'm not sure!" Khrushchev replied: "But it is possible for us to get out of this predicament!"
Khrushchev indeed guessed what Shulka was going to do, because several of the orders he issued were related to the plan Shulka was about to implement.
Seeing that it was getting dark, Shurka ordered the soldiers of the 8th Infantry Regiment to each take a set of German military uniforms from the warehouse, put them in their backpacks, and prepare for battle.
"Can you tell me your plan, Comrade Shulka?" Mikhailovich asked curiously: "Don't keep us in the dark!"
"The plan is very simple!" Shulka raised the telegram in his hand and said: "German reinforcements, take a train from the direction of Stalingrad to the German reinforcements in the direction of Prodovitoye!"
These words made Mikhailovich and Andrianka confused, and they didn't understand what this had to do with the battle plan.
While helping the staff organize the documents, Shurka explained: "The enemy is composed of armies from three different countries: the Romanian army, the Italian army, and the German army, so it goes without saying that there must be communication between them and poor identification.
weakness!"
Hearing this, Andrianka couldn't help but say "Oh", and Denisokov shouted excitedly: "We disguised ourselves as Germans and entered Prodovetoye?!"
"Yes!" Shulka nodded: "And it's not just a disguise. If possible, we will take a train directly to Prodovittoye train station, and then attack Prodovittoye quickly from both inside and outside!"
This time everyone understood.
Andrianka looked at the map with surprise and joy and said: "If we can capture Prodovitoje in one fell swoop, then all the problems will be solved. The length of the German supply line will be increased by hundreds of kilometers. Not only will we cut off the German
With the supply line, we can also liberate a large number of troops from Prodovitoje, and even counter-encircle the German army!"
Andrianka was right, especially with regard to the force attacking Prodovitoje, which consisted of three mechanized divisions plus one infantry division.
It may take four divisions to attack a well-fortified city, but only one infantry division is needed to garrison a city. The remaining three divisions can either attack or encircle, which can cause great trouble to the German army.
"When shall we set off?" asked Mikhailovich.
Shulka looked at his watch and replied: "In half an hour, as soon as it gets dark, we will launch an attack deep into the enemy, with the target at Tsaritshensky!"
The troops set off on time half an hour later. Before departure, they also replenished a batch of equipment and supplies... This was also an order given by Khrushchev.
Every order given by Khrushchev was useful.
Needless to say, bomb the German reinforcements with all their strength... If the German reinforcements arrive at Prodovitoje first, then the credibility of the Soviet army disguised as German reinforcements will decrease. At the same time, because there are German troops in the city, the difficulty of occupying the city will increase.
rise.
The troops surrounding Prodovitoje were ordered to prepare for a full-scale attack at any time, in order to coordinate with Shulka's troops infiltrating inside.
The reason for getting in touch with the 81st Cavalry Division is because the 81st Cavalry Division is active in the northwest. If Shulka's troops disguised themselves as Germans and encountered the 81st Soviet Cavalry Division, or Shulka's train was intercepted by the 81st Cavalry Division,
If it explodes... then it's an unjust fight.
Needless to say, the supplies sent to the 8th Infantry Regiment. The 8th Infantry Regiment will have an expedition, and fuel, ammunition, etc. need to be replenished.
This is especially true for ammunition.
In terms of fuel, the Soviet army planned to capture a train entering Prodovitoje, so it did not require much fuel.
The food is completely sufficient, because it is expected that this battle will not last long.
There is only ammunition... The 8th Infantry Regiment will penetrate all the way to the northwest, and finally enter Prodovitoye to fight a big battle, and it will need three basic ammunition.
This batch of ammunition was intercepted from the 115th Regiment.
This made Kamilov, the commander of the 115th Regiment, very angry, because it was obvious that the 115th Regiment's attack on Jingguta Railway Station consumed a lot of ammunition and needed to be replenished, while the 8th Infantry Regiment only fought a small battle and occupied it.
After reaching the station 74 kilometers away, the ammunition consumption was not much.
Now, the superiors are uncharacteristically replenishing ammunition for the 8th Infantry Regiment instead of the 115th Regiment.
So Kamilov couldn't hold it in any longer and made a phone call to the brigade headquarters.
"Comrade Grassilov!" Kamilov said: "I firmly disagree with this approach. When our ammunition is almost exhausted, we will still give priority to supplying ammunition to the 8th Regiment... Once our army is attacked
If you attack, you will be in danger!"
Grassilov was also a little confused, because this order was given directly by Khrushchev to the logistics troops and did not even pass through the headquarters.
So Grassilov once thought that the logistics supplies were sent to the wrong location. When he found out that it was Khrushchev who gave the order, he swallowed all his dissatisfaction... No one dared to question the doubting military commissar.
The command.
What Grassilov was puzzled about was why, as a military commissar, Khrushchev directly directed the delivery of supplies across levels.
Even if Khrushchev reused Shulka, he would not be able to do this, because it is obvious that the 8th Infantry Regiment does not lack supplies at all.
Therefore, Grassilov was sensitive enough to realize that there might be some plan here that he didn't know about.
Although Grassilov was a little unhappy, he still didn't dare to ask anything, and settled the matter with Kamilov with a few perfunctory words.
Sure enough, as soon as it got dark, Grassilov got the 8th Infantry Regiment to launch an attack on the enemy's defense line without any orders from superiors. (To be continued)