Chapter 880 Delayed Counterattack

   "That's right, the deputy commander of the front army." Sokov replied truthfully: "In order to ensure the effect of air-ground coordination, it is absolutely necessary to talk directly to the pilot."

"Okay," Golikov did not embarrass him when he heard Sokov say this, but nodded and agreed to his request: "I will report this to the commander and ask him to notify the Air Force to communicate with the Air Force. Your troops establish direct contact."

  After explaining some precautions, Golikov raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said to everyone: "Comrades, it's getting late, you all go back and rest, otherwise you will not be energetic tomorrow."

  Sokov hurriedly called Seryozha in and told him, "Seryozha, take Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army to rest."

   After receiving the order, Serezha came to Golikov and said respectfully: "Please come with me, Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, and I will take you to rest."

  ...

  After Sokov was awakened from his sleep by the staff officer on duty, he raised his hand and looked at his watch. The hour hand had just pointed to six o'clock, and there was still an hour before the artillery preparations before the counterattack began. He sat up from the camp bed, looked at the staff officer on duty in front of him, and asked displeasedly, "Comrade staff officer, what's the matter for you to wake me up so early?"

   "Comrade Commander," the staff officer straightened his body and reported, "The observation post on the top of the hill reports that it's foggy outside?"

   "It's foggy?!" Sokov was shocked, stood up abruptly, grabbed the staff officer's arm, and asked nervously, "How much is the visibility?"

   "According to the report from the observation post," the staff officer replied: "When the fog first started, the visibility was more than 30 meters, but now it can barely see five or six meters away."

   "Damn, if it really is foggy, it will have a negative impact on today's counterattack." After Sokov finished speaking, he immediately ordered the staff: "Immediately notify the chief of staff and the deputy division commander to come to the headquarters."

   "Does the deputy commander of the front army need to be notified?" the staff officer on duty asked tentatively.

"No, no, no." Sokov thought of himself calling Golikov up because of the fog outside. It seemed a little inappropriate, so he waved his hand and rejected the staff officer's proposal: "Let Comrade Deputy Commander sleep a little longer Bar."

  Sidolin and the others were sleeping in their clothes, but they hurried over when they heard Sukov's greeting. As soon as he entered the door, he couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade commander, you called us here in such a hurry, did something happen?"

Hearing his question, Sokov guessed that the staff hadn't told him what had happened when they informed him to come to the division headquarters, so he explained to him: "The observation post above us reported that there was a heavy fog outside. "

   "What, there is a heavy fog outside?" Upon hearing what Sokov said, Sidolin couldn't help but frowned: "Comrade commander, fog in the winter morning is not a good thing."

   "That's right," Sokov nodded, "If the fog doesn't disperse, the front army's artillery preparations before the attack will have to be postponed indefinitely until the fog completely disperses."

When Ivanov and Anisimov came in from the outside, they overheard the conversation between Sokov and Sidolin. Ivanov said in surprise: "What, it's foggy outside? It's too bad. "

Even Anisimov, a political worker who is not familiar with the military, knows the adverse effects of heavy fog on operations. He tentatively asked: "Since there is such a heavy fog, the original attack time will be delayed. ?"

"That's for sure, Comrade Commissar." Sidolin frowned and answered his question: "The visibility in foggy days is low. The attack will certainly be postponed until the fog clears."

"If our army's attack has to be postponed, but the enemy's attack continues, will the troops in the city be able to hold their positions?" Anisimov knew the battle situation of the first day, and he couldn't help but said worriedly: "Yesterday our army and the enemy fought against each other. There is a tug-of-war in many areas, and if the counterattack cannot be launched on time, I am worried that these areas may fall into the hands of the enemy."

"Comrade Commissar, you don't worry too much." Although the sudden fog made Sokov feel very uneasy, but in order not to dampen everyone's confidence, he still bite the bullet and said: "In this weather, I The army cannot attack, and the enemy cannot carry out offensive operations either. What you worry about will not happen."

  Everyone was sitting in the command post discussing the impact of the foggy weather on offense and defense. Time passed by, and no one noticed Golikov, who should have appeared earlier, and no one has been seen until now.

   Fortunately, Anisimov was more careful, and found that Golikov was not there, so he asked curiously: "By the way, why didn't you see the deputy commander of the front army?"

   "He should still be sleeping." Sokov said casually: "When the staff officer on duty reported to me just now, I asked the deputy commander of the front army not to wake up and asked him to sleep for a while."

  The commanders present basically suffered from lack of sleep, so they understood Sokov's order quite well. After a while, Anisimov asked again: "Don't we need to tell the deputy commander of the front army about the fog outside?"

   "Comrade Commissar, I don't think it's necessary." Sidolin interjected, "He should already know the news."

  As soon as Sidolin's words came out, everyone was stunned. Sokov was the first to break the silence: "Chief of Staff, what is going on?"

"Last night, the deputy commander of the front army sent someone to look for me, and I gave him a telephone line in his room that can directly communicate with the front army headquarters." Sidolin replied, "I ordered Second Lieutenant Maxim to bring him a telephone line." telephone line."

  Sokov was very upset when he heard what Sidolin said. He said displeasedly: "Chief of Staff, why didn't you report such an important matter to me? You know, I am the commander of this division."

"I'm sorry, Comrade Master." Sidolin may have realized that his actions were inappropriate at this moment, and quickly apologized to Sukov and said, "I saw that you were already asleep at the time, so I didn't call you to avoid disturbing your rest. Wake up. I meant to tell you today, but I haven't had time to say it..."

"Okay, okay." Sukov knew that Sidolin also had his own difficulties, so he didn't delve into it. He raised his hand and interrupted him, and asked: "Chief of Staff, tell me, Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army Do you know about the fog outside right now?"

"If he had contacted the front army headquarters, he would know about it." After Sidolin finished speaking, he stood up and walked towards the place where the communication equipment was placed. He leaned over and asked a communication soldier in a low voice. A few words, then turned around and walked back to the table, and reported to Sokov: "Comrade commander, I have already inquired. A few minutes ago, after the deputy commander of the front army passed the headquarters, he Should have known."

"Fog in winter is the most annoying thing." Anisimov curled his lips and said, "If you're lucky, it might disperse at ninety o'clock. If you're unlucky, there might be fog all day long." At that time, our army's major counterattack originally planned for today will have to be postponed until tomorrow or later."

"Commanders, hello!" Just as everyone was worried about what Anisimov said, Golikov's voice suddenly came from the door: "What are you discussing?" Seeing Golikov Entering, everyone in the room immediately stood up and raised their hands to salute Golikov.

  Sokov waited for Golikov to come to him and reported to him: "Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, you must have known that there is a heavy fog outside, which may have an adverse impact on our army's military operations today."

   "Yes, I just talked to Commander Yeremenko," Golikov said in a positive tone: "He told me that the fog outside is too thick, and today's attack time may be delayed."

"Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front," Anisimov interjected as soon as Golikov finished speaking: "If our army's offensive cannot be carried out on time, and the enemy continues to launch offensives in the city, will it lead to The situation worsened?"

"You think too much, Comrade Commissar." Golikov said, took out a squarely folded piece of paper from his pocket, handed it to Sidolin, and said to him: "This It's the German telegram we just intercepted, Comrade Chief of Staff, read it to everyone."

  Sidorin took the paper from Golikov's hand, unfolded it, and quickly browsed the content on it. After reading a few lines, a look of surprise appeared on his face. Seeing Sidolin's expression on the side, Ivanov urged him impatiently, "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't dawdle, read it quickly, what is written on it."

Sidolin coughed lightly, cleared his throat, and began to read: "This is a telegram sent to Paulus by Baron von Weickers, Army Group B of the German Army: In view of the situation facing the Romanian Third Army, forcing We are taking resolute measures in order to free up forces quickly to cover the flanks of the 6th Army and to ensure the safety of the railway along the Lihaya and Chir Rivers. To this end, I order:

1. Immediately cease all offensive operations at Stalingrad, with the exception of the operations of reconnaissance detachments. The intelligence of these detachments is essential to organizing defenses.

2. The 6th Army immediately drew 2 motorized corps, 1 infantry division, and 1 auxiliary motorized corps as much as possible from its subordinate formation, and assigned these units to the headquarters of the 14th Tank Army; As many anti-tank vehicles as possible, and assemble these groups in echelons on your left flank for assaults to the northwest or west. "

As soon as Sidolin finished reading the intercepted telegram, Golikov said: "Commanders, you have all heard it. Because the Romanian Third Army suffered a heavy blow from our army in the Don River Basin yesterday, resulting in The German commander became worried about the fate of this unit, so he sent this telegram. As long as the enemy stops the large-scale offensive in the city, even if our army's major counterattack has to be postponed due to the weather, the situation will not change. worse."

   After listening to the telegram read by Sidolin and what Golikov said, both Sokov and Ivanov breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the enemy stops attacking in the city, the situation will develop in favor of the Soviet army.

  Although he knew that the enemy would no longer launch a large-scale attack in the city, Anisimov was still a little worried. He asked again: "I want to ask, how long will our attack be delayed?"

In response to Anisimov's question, Golikov thought for a while and replied: "Comrade Commander just told me that the artillery preparations originally scheduled to start at seven o'clock will be postponed to eight o'clock. If the fog does not clear by then Go, then postpone it until nine o’clock. And so on, until the fog completely dissipates.”

   "However, if the fog persists today, what should we do?" Anisimov continued to ask: "Will today's attack be cancelled?"

"I think so, Comrade Commissar." Golikov nodded, and said rather helplessly: "After all, in the dense fog, our artillery has no idea whether the shells they fired hit the target. In order to avoid wasting precious shells, it is necessary to wait until the thick fog clears before firing preparations."

After Golikov finished speaking, the room fell into silence again. In order to ease the atmosphere, Sidolin laughed and said: "The offensive launched by the Southwest Front Army and the Don River Front Army yesterday was too far away from us. We can neither hear the sound of guns nor see the smoke from the battle. If today’s battle can start, we will be able to hear the rumble of guns and the smoke from the battlefield from where we are.”

"You're right, Comrade Chief of Staff." Ivanov agreed with Sidolin's statement: "Even if we can't hear the sound of gunfire or see the smoke of gunpowder here, but stick to the central city and The commanders and fighters of the third battalion in the residential area, but they can see and hear."

Hearing Ivanov mention the third battalion of Captain Andrei, Sidolin turned to look at Sokov and asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, we haven't informed the commanders and fighters of the third battalion of the good news of the counterattack. You Look, do you need to call the battalion headquarters of the third battalion and tell them the good news?"

"Why, you still have a battalion of defenders in the central urban area and residential areas of the city?" Golikov heard what Sidolin said, with a surprised expression on his face: "Could it be that they are fighting against the enemy? In the intermittent attack, have you not been eliminated?"

Regarding the question raised by Golikov, Sokov nodded and explained: "This battalion still has nearly a thousand troops. Because of the tactics they adopted, instead of fighting the enemy in positional warfare, they used buildings, The ruins and the sewers were in contact with the enemy, so during the two months of fighting, not only were they not wiped out by the enemy, but their strength became even stronger."

   "They are really amazing," Golikov said to Sokov: "Colonel Sokov, if you have the opportunity, you must take me to meet these brave fighters."

  (end of this chapter)