On the way, they encountered several Romanian troops and fought a few small battles with German reconnaissance troops. The leading troops of the 51st Group Army finally arrived in Karachi at around 11 o'clock that night.
Trufanov ordered to rest on the spot, and then the exhausted soldiers immediately lay on the ground, in the car, and in the driver's seat of the tank and fell asleep.
Among them, the infantrymen riding in cars seem to be the easiest, because they do not need to drive a car or a tank, they only need to hide in the car to "recharge their batteries."
But this is not the case. Due to the muddy roads, tanks, cars and artillery have to get stuck in the mud, dragged out, and stuck in the mud again almost all the way, even if the troops are advancing along the railway line.
This is because the railway line will inevitably be blown up by enemy bombers, and in order to avoid enemy bombing, it is necessary to leave the railway line, so it is common for tanks and other tanks to get stuck in the mud and be unable to move.
This is when the infantry comes into play. They use self-rescue logs, fill with sandbags, and pile stones... Everyone gets themselves covered in mud. Sometimes it is difficult to tell whether a vehicle is carrying people forward or a person is carrying them.
The car goes away.
Therefore, when the first batch of troops, the 4th Mechanized Army, arrived in Karachi, Shulka suggested taking an hour's rest to regain some strength or let the soldiers eat something.
"Only one hour?" Trufanov said: "Isn't it too short? They have been marching for one day and two nights!"
"Now is an extraordinary time!" Shulka said: "The enemy's reinforcements are gathering in Miloway, and it will only take about twenty hours or even less for them to reach Karachi. We must win before then, otherwise the consequences will be
Unthinkable!”
Zolotarev nodded in agreement with Shulka's statement.
"Although this is a bit cruel to the soldiers!" Zolotarev said: "But time is everything now. We finally got about twenty hours, and we should make every effort to maximize its benefits!"
Trufanov nodded in agreement.
In fact, it's not that he doesn't know this, he is worried about whether the combat effectiveness of the troops will be affected in this situation.
But in this regard Trufanov's worries are unnecessary.
This is not to say that the 4th Mechanized Army has experienced hundreds of battles and has a firm will, but that if people's fatigue reaches a certain level, they will often be in a state of numbness. When they are in this state, they will be confused and do not know how to think.
And mechanically, habitually obey orders and charge towards the enemy.
So sometimes this kind of fatigue is a good thing, but it seems that they are not suitable for hand-to-hand combat, because the overall physical strength is definitely not comparable to that of the German soldiers who are waiting to work.
The commander of the 14th Infantry Brigade of the 57th Group Army panicked and ran into the headquarters to report to Trufanov.
Trufanov just said a cold "Yeah" and left him alone.
Shulka found it a little strange. The 14th Infantry Brigade was located on the outskirts of Karachi and was in contact with the German troops. In other words, they had a lot of information that the 51st Army needed, such as the enemy's firepower deployment, the position of the defense line, etc., and
These are very important for the 51st Army to attack in the dark.
Therefore, Trufanov should not be so indifferent to the brigade commander.
Later Shulka found out that the brigade commander's name was Vladislavich, who was originally a regimental commander of the 51st Army.
After the 51st Army was considered by everyone to be an unfortunate force to be "sacrificed", Vladislavich was transferred to the 57th Army based on his connections.
As mentioned before, being transferred to the 57th Army to participate in the battle to liberate Stalingrad would not be considered a shame by the superiors, but rather an honor.
On the other hand, the 57th Army suffered heavy casualties when it was attacked by Manstein's Don Army, so Vladislavich was promoted to brigade commander not long after.
"How many troops do you have?" Zolotarev asked.
"Report to Comrade Political Commissar!" Vladislavich replied: "We still have more than 3,700 people, divided into two infantry regiments!"
"Where are the supplies?"
"Not much left!"
This is understandable, because all the supplies have been sent to the 51st Group Army, and the troops in other directions are basically in a state of "cut off supply" during this period.
"We...we didn't know you were coming!" After a moment of silence, Vladislavicz added: "I didn't receive any orders..."
"You don't need to know this!" Zolotarev interrupted: "These are military secrets!"
"Yes, Comrade Political Commissar!"
This is also understandable, because the changes in the strategic objectives of the 51st Army were not reported to the Supreme Command, so of course Vladislavich of the 57th Army would not know this... This is a bit ironic. The Soviet Army itself did not know about this.
The real movements of the 51st Group Army were clearly known to the Germans.
Trufanov may have been very interested in this Vladislavich, so he directly ordered: "Keep the information you know and leave!"
"Yes, Comrade Trufanov!" Vladislavich left a document, stood up, saluted and left.
Looking at Vladislavic's back, Trufanov cursed: "This traitor!"
Zolotarev asked in confusion, and then he learned that Vladislavich was originally Trufanov's most important subordinate.
Shulka also found it a bit funny. It seemed that Trufanov was still a little emotional. Otherwise, things like "people go to high places and water flows to low places" should be said to be more common and more realistic in the army.
, because this is not related to external things such as money and position, it is directly related to wealth and life.
There was nothing wrong with these originally. Vladislavic left all the intelligence he knew, and also left a staff officer and several communications soldiers... This is the standard mode of coordination between troops. The staff officer is used to interpret the intelligence.
There were some unclear points in the information, and he was responsible for contacting Vladislavich's brigade headquarters. Trufanov might also be able to issue orders to the 14th Brigade through this staff.
The problem was that Vladislavivich was puzzled by the sudden appearance of the 51st Army here, so he reported the matter.
So the high command soon learned about it.
"What's going on?" Vice Chairman of the Supreme Command Motolov called the 51st Army headquarters angrily: "We always thought you were in Miloway, but they told me you were in Karachi! Where are you?
?”
"Karachi, Comrade Motolov!" Zolotarev replied.
"Withdraw immediately!" Motolov ordered without thinking.
"It's too late!" Zolotarev replied: "Listen, Comrade Motolov..."
As he spoke, he raised the microphone, and bursts of artillery fire were heard outside the headquarters. It was the artillery fire of the 51st Army attacking the German defense line. (To be continued)