Chapter 907 Paulus' Choice

"The Germans are going to run?" Hearing what Sokov said, Samoilov couldn't help but look out from the firing holes, and saw the enemy attacking the position retreating hastily, thinking that Sokov was talking about this. , Then echoed: "That's right, Comrade Commander. The German attack on us was shattered, so we can only retreat back to the original starting position in a panic."

   "Comrade Lieutenant, that's not what I'm talking about." Sokov shook his head, and then said decisively: "Come on, let's return to the battalion command post immediately. I want to call Chief of Staff Sidolin."

   "Comrade Commander," Samoilov reminded Sokov, "There is a walkie-talkie here, and you can talk directly to the division headquarters."

Sokov shook his head again and said: "This matter is very important. We cannot use the walkie-talkie to talk, lest the enemy eavesdrop and make our plan fail. To be on the safe side, I'd better go back to the battalion command post to make a call. "

Seeing Sokov coming in from the outside, Starcha immediately got up to meet him, and said excitedly: "Comrade commander, you have seen it. The enemy's attack was crushed by us. They discarded countless soldiers in front of our position." Hundreds of dead and wounded."

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Sokov waited for Starcha to finish speaking, and asked bluntly: "How are the casualties of the first and second battalions? Can you continue to fight? If you can't, immediately transfer your third battalion. Come up."

Sokov's nonsensical words made Starcha look puzzled. He didn't know why Sokov asked such a question, but he replied truthfully: "The first battalion and the second battalion are here. In the battle, there were nearly two hundred casualties, and we can continue to fight."

   Seeing that Starcha didn't understand what he meant, Sokov further explained: "The Germans may want to escape, and we can take the opportunity to pursue them to obtain greater results."

   "The Germans are going to escape?" Starcha couldn't help being taken aback when he heard Sokov say that, and then asked tentatively, "Comrade commander, where did you get the news from?"

   "Where did I get the news from?" Sokov replied while reaching for the phone on the table, "I judged it based on the reaction of the Germans."

   Without further explanation to Starcha, he let the signaler connect to the division headquarters. After hearing Sidolin's voice, Sokov immediately said without hesitation: "Comrade Chief of Staff, according to my observation, the Germans may flee, you should immediately notify the 122nd and 125th regiments to prepare for the attack. In addition, the two tank battalions that retreated behind Mamayev Post were all transferred to the front line, and they can be of great use when chasing the enemy."

  Sidorin was puzzled by Sokov's order, and he asked in amazement: "Comrade commander, on what basis do you make such a judgment?"

"The enemy who just attacked the 124th Regiment's position was repulsed. When I was observing their movements, I unexpectedly found a lot of billowing black smoke behind them." Sokov replied on the phone: "According to the peripheral friendly forces They couldn't have gotten any closer at the moment, so the black smoke was made by the Germans."

   "But what does the black smoke behind the enemy mean?" Sidolin asked puzzled.

"Don't you understand, my Comrade Chief of Staff?" Seeing that Sidolin couldn't keep up with his train of thought, Sokov was somewhat disappointed: "If the enemy wants to escape, he will definitely throw away the supplies that cannot be taken away." and equipment. If my judgment is correct, the black smoke is that the enemy is burning materials that cannot be taken away, and some important documents that cannot fall into the hands of our army.”

  After Sokov finished speaking, before Sidolin could make any move, Golikov, who was sitting by the side, reached out and snatched the microphone from Sidolin's hand. He asked solemnly: "Colonel Sokov, do you really think that the Germans are preparing to retreat in a big way?"

   "Yes, Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army." Hearing Golikov ask himself, Sokov quickly replied in an affirmative tone: "I'm sure the enemy is preparing to flee."

   "Are you sure?"

Sokov remembered that in another 20 hours, the Soviet troops going north and south would join forces in Karachi, completely cutting off the retreat of the German Sixth Army, so that those troops who fled from the city had to return to the original place. of the station. It was precisely because of his understanding of this period of history that when he heard Golikov's question, he immediately replied unequivocally: "Yes, Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, I am absolutely sure."

   Seeing Sokov's answer so affirmatively, Golikov also gained confidence in his heart. He quickly asked into the microphone: "Colonel Sokov, do you have any plans?"

   "I plan to take advantage of the opportunity of the enemy's retreat to launch another counterattack." Sokov replied: "Try to expand the area controlled by my division."

   "Are there any difficulties?" Golikov continued to ask.

"We can't get artillery support from the left bank during our attack." Sokov thought for a moment, and thought that since he couldn't get artillery support, he could try to ask for the cooperation of the air force. After all, today's weather is suitable for fighter jets to fly into the air. . "Comrade Deputy Commander of the Front Army, can you ask the Air Force to provide the necessary air support for our offensive forces?"

"Colonel Sokov," Golikov felt that if Sokov's troops did not receive any fire support during the attack, it would inevitably increase the casualties of the troops. After a short thought, he said decisively: "I Immediately report the matter to Commander Yeremenko and request the assistance of the Air Force."

  ...

   Time went back to a few hours ago, and the headquarters was moved to Paulus in the Gumrak area, and reports were received from various defense areas. After reading these contents, he found sadly that the scale of the Soviet counterattack this time far exceeded his imagination. If the Soviet offensive is allowed to continue, there is a possibility that our troops will be encircled.

  Paulus put down the documents in his hand and asked his chief of staff Schmidt: "Chief of staff, tell me, what should we do now?"

Schmidt quickly replied respectfully: "Your Excellency, I think that under the current circumstances, it is best to withdraw all troops from the city immediately and order them to move westward quickly so as to jump out of the Russians. The encirclement formed."

   "Retreat?!" After hearing Schmidt's words, Paulus couldn't help but replied with a wry smile, "Do you think Berlin will agree with us to abandon the existing defensive zone and retreat westward?"

Regarding Paulus's question, Schmidt was silent for a long time before answering: "Your Excellency, please forgive me for speaking bluntly. I can get the consent of Army Group B to issue an order to withdraw the troops; but on the side of Berlin, it is absolutely No. Do you remember our defeat at Moscow?"

   Seeing Paulus nodding to express his memory, Schmidt went on to say: "At that time, General Guderian took the initiative to order the troops to withdraw from the dangerous area in order to be encircled by the Russians, but he was reprimanded by the head of state."

"That's right," Paulus nodded and said, "Although Guderian was reprimanded, he preserved most of his troops. Otherwise, it is still unknown who will win the battle of Kharkov. .”

"Your Excellency, Commander, you are now facing two choices just like General Guderian at the time." Schmidt said solemnly: "One is to follow Berlin's order and continue to stick to the existing area and wait Surrounded by the Russians; the second is to make up your own mind and order the troops to quickly turn westward to preserve as much vitality as possible. It is up to you to decide how to choose.”

In fairness, Paulus did not want his troops to fall into the siege of the Soviet army, but if he ordered the troops to retreat without asking for instructions, he would definitely be held accountable by Berlin in the future, and even be sent to prison. Possibility of court martial. It was because of this consideration that Paulus was hesitant to give the order to retreat.

Seeing that Paulus has been hesitating, Schmidt guessed what was on his mind, and said tactfully: "Your Excellency, if you really can't make up your mind, you might as well send a telegram to the headquarters of Army Group B and send us Report the situation to General Weicks and ask him what to do?"

   "What about Berlin?" Paulus was still a little moved by Schmidt's proposal, but he couldn't help trembling when he thought of that mustache in Berlin. He forced himself to ask calmly: "Chief of Staff, if Berlin pursues the matter, how should we respond?"

"We can completely ignore it, as if we have not received the telegram from Berlin." Schmidt wished that the troops would retreat immediately, so he persuaded Paulus: "If the higher-ups pursue it, we will say that the troops are marching and cannot receive the telegram for the time being. Wait. When the troops stopped advancing and began to receive reports, all the troops had already withdrawn from the original garrison area. In this case, even if the Berlin side wants to pursue responsibility, you can find a reasonable explanation.”

"You're right." Paulus nodded and said, "Then you should send a telegram to General Weikers and tell him that the situation here is critical, and since we continue to stay far away, we may be in danger." Encircled by the Russians, our forces must immediately move west."

   After seeing Schmidt recorded the telegram, Paulus added: "Tell the troops to throw away everything except ammunition and dry food for two or three days, including the soldiers' military coats."

"What, let the soldiers throw away their military coats?!" Schmidt thought he had heard it wrong, and quickly reminded Paulus: "Your Excellency, in such a cold weather, if you throw away your military coats, the soldiers will easily be frozen." Stiff."

"Chief of Staff, look at the map." Paulus slapped the map a few times and said angrily, "The distance we have retreated is probably several hundred kilometers. Marching, I am afraid that they will be overtaken by the Russians who are coming from behind. Let them throw away their military overcoats so that the troops can march forward lightly. As for the severe cold weather, you are worried that soldiers without military overcoats will suffer from frostbite. You can rest assured that as long as our troops withdraw to the right bank of the Don River, there will be a lot of our material warehouses along the way, so that the soldiers can put on new military coats again."

   "Understood, Your Excellency Commander." Hearing that Paulus had considered all the issues that should be considered, Schmidt quickly replied: "I will pass on your order immediately."

   A few minutes later, the order to transfer lightly arrived at the headquarters of the 71st Infantry Division. After reading the telegram, the division commander, Major General Rosskai, specially called the communications staff over and asked, "What's the matter with this telegram of yours? There are no mistakes in the records, right? Why did you order the soldiers to throw away all the military coats?"

"That's right, Your Excellency, Division Commander." The communications staff quickly replied, "When I first received this telegram, I was worried that the content on it was wrong, so I checked it out. That's right, this is the order issued by the Army Group Command. "

Roskai handed the telegram to his chief of staff, and said with some embarrassment: "Chief of staff, the headquarters ordered us to immediately gather troops to transfer, and in order to get to the Don River as soon as possible, we also ordered us to throw away those that could not be taken away. Supplies."

The chief of staff of the division took the telegram and saw clearly that there was a sentence about throwing away the military coat on it, and he couldn't help saying to Rosekai in surprise: "Master Commander, asking soldiers to throw away their military coats in such cold weather will cause a lot of frostbite. of."

   "There is no way, my chief of staff." Roskai said with some helplessness: "This is an order from Your Excellency the Commander, and we must implement it unconditionally."

"But wouldn't it be cheaper for the damned Russians to let the soldiers throw down their military coats?" The division chief reminded Roskey: "We can't let the Russians chase our retreating troops in warm clothes. "

   "Then what do you think we should do with the materials we throw away?"

   "Since you can't take it away, you can't leave it to the Russians." The division chief said through gritted teeth, "I think we can completely burn all these supplies.",

   "Burn it?!" Roskai replied hesitantly, "Will this cause panic in the troops?"

"Your Excellency, Division Commander, I can't take care of so much anymore." The Division Chief of Staff replied: "Our sneak attack on the Russians has now turned into a strong attack. After fighting for several hours, we have not been able to seize the position from the Russians. , Our soldiers have already become a little panicked. Even if they see us burning supplies, the situation will not get worse."

"Chief of staff, immediately arrange for manpower to burn down those warehouses where supplies are stored." Roskai ordered his chief of staff: "Except for weapons, ammunition and dry food needed along the way, throw away everything else. In addition, when the troops retreat On the road that must be passed, several fires were lit, and the soldiers who passed by threw their military coats into the fires and burned them."

  After recording the order, the chief of staff of the division asked Roskey for instructions: "Your Excellency, what about the troops that are attacking the Russian positions? Let them stop the attack and withdraw immediately?"

"No, let them continue to attack." Roosevelt thought for a while, shook his head and said, "As long as their offensive continues, the Russians will not find out our intention to retreat, which will help us send more Troops withdrew to a safe area."

   After dawn, the main force of the 71st Infantry Division began to retreat. On both sides of the road they retreated, several fires were lit, and the soldiers standing by the fires tirelessly shouted at the passing officers and soldiers: "Take off your military coats and throw them all into the fire."

  Although the German soldiers did not know why their superiors gave such an order, they still obediently took off their military coats and threw them into the burning fire. As more and more coats were thrown into the fire, the flames and black smoke rose higher.

  (end of this chapter)