In this battle, the 8th Infantry Regiment captured a total of 7 officers, 6 of whom were school-level officers, 9 major generals, and one lieutenant general.
In addition to Attanase, the Romanian Army Chief of General Staff, there is also an Italian Lieutenant General... This Italian Lieutenant General is even just a division commander.
But this doesn’t seem to be surprising. The Italian army is not good at fighting, but they always like to fiddle with some superficial things. For example, the Italian army has the best military posture and the neatest marching queue. At the same time, in order to occupy the space among its allies,
It's cheaper, and the military rank of their commander will be relatively higher.
Anyway, if you have a high military rank, you have nothing to lose.
The 7th Infantry Division of the Italian Expeditionary Force is said to be an elite force in the country, but Shulka had no feeling at all when fighting this battle. No one even reported to Shulka that they encountered the Italian division until the end of the battle.
So much so that Shulka thought the team had escaped, and asked specifically: "Where are the Italians? Why didn't they find this team?"
Andrianka made a phone call and got the news from Captain Kharichev.
"We may have encountered Italians!" Captain Kharichev replied: "This direction of the bus station!"
"Why didn't you report it?" Shulka asked.
"Sorry, Comrade Major!" Captain Kharichev replied: "We can't tell the difference, because we can't understand Romanian or Italian! It's dark and we didn't notice the difference in their uniforms!"
"How is the situation?" Shulka asked again.
"They have surrendered!" Captain Kharichev replied: "When we walked in, they were grilling bacon. Yes, they were surrounded by black cloth to prevent light from leaking. I thought it was the headquarters who thought they could capture a few officers.
, and as a result... they invited us to try their food!"
"Have you tasted it?" Shulka asked.
"Of course! It tastes good!" Kharichev replied: "So we confiscated all the food, and the wine they got from nowhere!"
Shulka couldn't help but smile. Italians never forget their food.
The Italian Lieutenant General was captured at the General Headquarters in Prodovitoje. The location of the General Headquarters was revealed by a Romanian officer, so Shurka asked Vavilovic to lead a company to carry out the beheading operation.
The commander, staff officers, and adjutants there were quickly brought to the table.
Shulka did this just to further paralyze the Roman and Italian army's command system, although this actually didn't make much sense, because Prodovittoye was actually out of control.
But there is a saying that sails with caution, and his long military life taught Shulka that he should not let down his guard at any time, especially when winning a battle.
Once the battle was over, those officers didn't mean much to Shulka... Compared to ordinary soldiers, they just had more embellishments on their shoulder straps, and the work they sent to Siberia might not be as good as that of a strong man.
There are many soldiers.
If anything, it's a credit to Shulka's list of credits.
"Now..." Khrushchev asked in the telegram: "What do you think we should do?"
Shulka understood the meaning of Khrushchev's words. What he said was actually admitting that it was wrong not to accept Shulka's suggestion before, but now he just put it forward in another way.
"I think we should rest near Prodovetoye, Comrade Khrushchev!" Shulka replied: "I mean, we need time to surround or drive away the German troops who have rushed into the defense line. In addition, we need time to surround or drive away the German troops who have rushed into the defense line.
We still need to wait for the tank troops to arrive and coordinate with them!"
"I'll do as you say!" This time, Khrushchev agreed without thinking.
In fact, the German troops who inserted themselves into the Soviet supply line did not need to worry at all... The equipment of the German army and the Romanian army were different and ammunition was not interchangeable, which meant that the German army's supplies had to be transported by rail or road from the direction of Stalingrad.
But now Prodovitoje, an important node between Stalingrad and the German intersecting troops, has been occupied, which means that the German army's supplies have been completely cut off.
At this time, the German army had only two choices: either stay put and wait to be surrounded and annihilated, or withdraw from the war zone.
The German army chose the latter. They used the fastest speed to withdraw from the theater before the Soviet army had time to organize a counterattack and encirclement...The direction of retreat was the Caucasus, where they could get sufficient supplies.
Paulus was embarrassed at this time.
The current situation has become obvious. The German 6th Army was fighting fiercely with the Soviet army in Stalingrad. Suddenly the Soviet army broke through Luo from both wings, and the Italian army's defense line was encircled in depth. If this continues, the 6th Army will
The Army Group will be trapped in Stalingrad with no way out.
Thinking of this, Paulus immediately called Hitler.
"Dear Head of State, although I don't want to admit it, I think our plan to attack Stalingrad has failed..."
Paulus thought Hitler would scold him as usual, but he did not expect Hitler's tone to be very gentle.
"The outcome is still unknown, my general!"
Hitler's voice was infectious, but to Paulus's ears it was a bit creepy.
"But Your Excellency the Führer!" Paulus said: "We must retreat, otherwise hundreds of thousands of our troops will be besieged in Stalingrad..."
"I promise you, my general!" said Hitler, "you will be well supplied!"
"Adequate supplies? This is impossible!" Paulus said: "We are about to be surrounded!"
"Of course it is possible, everything is possible!" Hitler replied: "We may indeed be surrounded by the enemy, but you should know that we have air superiority, and air transportation of supplies is not restricted by the enemy's encirclement!"
"No, Your Excellency the Führer!" Paulus almost screamed: "But we are a group army, and it is impossible for our air power to transport such a huge supply to us!"
"Göring assured me that he could do it!" Hitler replied: "He also proposed a plan to me, and I think it is indeed feasible!"
Paulus's heart sank instantly. He realized that Hitler was so obsessed with not giving up Stalingrad that he even went against the common sense of war.
"The geographical location of Stalingrad is very special!" Hitler continued on the phone: "It is flanked by the Volga River and the Don River, which provide the 6th Army with two natural lines of defense and defensive depth, and from the Don River
There are more than 100 kilometers between the Volga River and such a wide area for transport planes to land..." (To be continued)