Shulka guessed right. After Manstein's last phone call with Major General Ellen, he immediately contacted Hitler who was in Wolfsburg.
"Your Majesty the Führer!" Manstein reported: "I am sorry to tell you that Sulovkino has been lost, and it will take three hours for my reinforcements to get there! In other words, the Russians are now blocked.
The only ones in front of us are the Romanian Army and an infantry division of our army! We can no longer let the war situation develop like this!"
Hitler was stunned for a moment, then raised his fist and cursed: "These bastards! These cowards! That's Sulovkino, the 9th Panzergrenadier... They used to be our most elite unit! Once! They took over everything
We have a good location, but we can’t hold on for a few more hours!”
Manstein knew that this was not the case. The 9th Panzer Grenadier had tried their best and they had acted very bravely, especially Major General Ellen. They were able to successfully organize a defense under those circumstances. Even Manstein was not convinced.
Surprised.
But Manstein said nothing.
Because Manstein knew that it would be useless to say it.
The Führer wanted to find someone or a unit to take the blame... The order was given by the Führer. His previous judgment was that the 9th Panzergrenadier Division could at least hold on until Manstein's reinforcements arrived and organized a defense.
.
But now the facts gave Hitler a hard slap in the face.
Of course Hitler would not admit his mistakes, so this must be the fault of the 9th Panzergrenadier.
From this aspect, Hitler's command was quite similar to that of a Soviet political commissar: everything during the battle was to mobilize troops and punish generals according to his requirements. If he won, it was because he was wise and commanded well, if he lost, it was because the soldiers were not brave enough.
Afraid of fighting.
This is probably one of the reasons why groups will appear in the German army to assassinate Hitler in the future... The generals of the Wehrmacht will definitely be dissatisfied with Hitler's command.
Hitler on the other end of the phone got angry, but he also knew that getting angry at this time would not be of any use, so he stopped after a while and asked Manstein: "My general, what kind of help do you want to change?"
This situation?"
This was Hitler's art of speaking. He considered himself a "military genius", so he would not ask his subordinates what to do next, but would ask "what help do you need?"
Although they are talking about the same thing, their nature is completely different.
At this time, Manstein dared not care about this with Hitler. He replied: "I need the air force, Your Excellency the Führer! Only by regaining air supremacy can we stop the enemy from advancing, otherwise the consequences will be disastrous!"
At this time, Hitler was no longer willful, because he knew what it would mean if the enemy broke through from the flanks and outflanked the Don Army... Even if Göring's air force could really transport supplies to the 6th Army, it would never be able to provide supplies to the Don Army.
River Army Group transports supplies, not to mention that the Don River Army has no defensive depth at all and even transport planes cannot land.
So, Hitler agreed without thinking: "You will get the air force you need! Stop them and drive them back!"
"Yes, Your Excellency the Führer!" Manstein replied.
After Manstein hung up the phone, he stared at the map in a daze.
He seemed to have no choice but to retreat.
Because Manstein knew that the enemy's troops used to penetrate or outflank were equipped with many tanks... The 51st Group Army had been fighting on the battlefield for some time, and its equipment and even organization were no longer suitable for the German army.
secret.
It is obviously unrealistic to rely on the Romanian army to resist these tanks. The Romanian army seriously lacks anti-tank equipment.
It is impossible to rely entirely on the air force to block this army, because it can be seen from the previous battles that the Russian army's tactics at this time have been updated. They will strive to use the air force to fight for air supremacy in the direction of Surovino. That is to say
At least for a while, the Luftwaffe would compete with the Russian Air Force for air supremacy and would be unable to focus too much on enemy tanks.
It is of course a fantasy for an infantry division to block the Russian army... The reason why the 9th Panzergrenadier Division was able to block the Russian army was entirely due to the recruitment of a large number of air defense units to enhance its anti-tank capabilities and the strategic location on the chokepoint.
The other line of defense obviously does not have these benefits, so they will soon be overwhelmed by the influx of Russian troops.
Therefore, it seems that there is only one option to stop the enemy, and that is armored forces.
But Manstein only had two armored divisions in his hands... It was undoubtedly dangerous to transfer the armored divisions to the direction of Surovino, because the Russian army in Karachi should not be underestimated. The Don Army Group, which was already short of troops, still had one division per division.
The armored division's troops were mobilized to turn back and block the gap. If they failed to block the enemy's counterattack in Karachi, they would be immediately defeated by the enemy's counterattack and then be defeated thousands of miles away.
The adjutant seemed to see through Manstein's thoughts. He suggested: "Your Majesty Marshal, we should postpone the attack on Karachi! Order the infantry to build a defense line to fill the gap, and then transfer the armored division to Surovino..."
"Do you think our weak defense line can block the enemy's counterattack?" Manstein asked: "Especially on the flanks, the infantry defense line will be attacked from both sides by the enemy!"
The adjutant fell silent when asked this question.
After thinking for a while, Manstein said: "No, we should continue to attack!"
"Continue to attack Karachi?" The adjutant couldn't believe what he heard.
"Yes!" Manstein replied.
"Then Surovino..."
"If the attack on Karachi continues, the Russians will not counterattack, do you understand?"
The adjutant said "Oh", then looked horrified and asked: "What if the Russians counterattack?"
"No, they won't!" Manstein ordered: "Do as I say!"
Manstein was building a plank road to cross Chencang secretly. On the surface, he was still attacking Karachi to stabilize the enemy on the front. However, the attacking force unknowingly changed from an armored division to an infantry division... The infantry division also has a small number of tanks.
Urban street fighting originally did not require many tanks, so it was difficult for the Russian army to distinguish whether the attacker was an infantry division or an armored division.
At most, Manstein told the German soldiers that he would give the armored division number once he was captured, so that the fake could be mistaken for the real one, at least for a period of time.
The real body of the armored division fled from Karachi and rushed to Surovino overnight, including a heavy armored battalion equipped with "Tiger" tanks.
With these tanks, Manstein believed that he could at least fight the enemy.
By then, when German reinforcements from other directions arrive, the crisis in the Surovino direction will be over. (To be continued)