Chapter 910 Assault on the Bridge

  With the cooperation of the air force, the ground troops attacked smoothly. The blocking troops left by the retreating German army were quickly wiped out by the Soviet tanks and infantry who rushed over. If Sokov hadn't worried about his lack of troops and pushed the enemy into a hurry, he would have made the enemy jump over the wall in a hurry, and ordered the troops to stop the attack in time, and it is estimated that they could penetrate five to ten kilometers away from the German army.

   After learning that the troops had built a defensive position for the night, Sokov sent a telegram to the front and group army headquarters with the results of the battle in the form of telegrams.

   Regarding the results of Sokov's troops, Cuikov kept calling to inquire during the counterattack, so he had a clear understanding of the progress of the entire battle. At this moment, I saw the telegram sent by Sokov, and after reading it carefully, I handed it to Krylov, and told the other party: "Comrade Chief of Staff, send the results of the 41st Guards Division to the entire army. The troops will be briefed to boost the morale of our army."

   After the Front Army Command received the telegram from Sokov, it was a different situation. After reading the telegram several times, Khrushchev frowned and said: "I don't understand, since the counterattack of the troops is going so smoothly, why don't they continue to push forward? You know, where they are now, the distance The Don River is only more than 30 kilometers away, and the tank will take two to three hours at most."

  Hearing what Khrushchev said, Major General Varennikov, the chief of staff, said bitterly: "Comrade Military Commissar, I think Colonel Sokov and the others are very correct in stopping the attack in time."

   "Why?" Khrushchev asked briefly.

  Valennikov did not immediately answer this difficult question, but cast Yeremenko for help. The latter looked at him for a moment, and said to him in an encouraging tone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please report the actual situation to the Military Commissioner."

With Yeremenko's authorization, Varennikov said boldly: "Comrade Military Commissar, this is the situation. Please look at the map. Before the friendly forces on the periphery launched a major counterattack, Chuikov's 62nd Army was in the city. The defense line was formed into a thin line, and the defense depth was only 300 meters to 1,000 meters. Even if the German offensive was a little bit stronger, this thin line might break at any time."

   "I know this." Khrushchev urged impatiently: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please get straight to the point."

"The only exception is the Mamayev Hill controlled by Colonel Sokov's 41st Guards Division. The defense in this area is three to five kilometers deep to ensure that the central ferry in the city can be used normally." Valen Nikoff continued: "Their two counterattacks increased the division's defense depth to more than ten kilometers. However, when the division launched the counterattack, our troops on the left and right flanks did not take corresponding actions, which led to The area controlled by the division became a salient."

When Valennikov said this, he paused intentionally to observe Khrushchev's expression. Seeing the bewildered look on his face, he added: "They moved too far ahead, and they didn't have strong troops to protect their flanks. .Once the Germans regain their strength and attack from the left and right sides of the division, they will be in danger of being cut off and encircled. At that time, however, the entire army is in danger of being wiped out. Even the commanding heights of the city— There is also the possibility of losing Mamayev Gang.”

  Sokov took the initiative to stop the attack on the German army when the offensive situation was very good, so that the German army, which was retreating in a hurry, had a breathing space. Khrushchev was very dissatisfied with Sokov because of this incident. But after listening to Varennikov's analysis, he realized that he was a bit too whimsical. Even if Sokov's troops can fight again, he only has one division after all, and he has to deal with several times the number of German troops. It is good to be able to hold the position, let alone attack.

   "Comrade Commander." Khrushchev looked up at Yeremenko on the opposite side, and asked tentatively, "If we send enough reinforcements to Misha, can they continue to move forward?"

"It's very difficult, Comrade Military Commissar." Hearing Khrushchev's question, Yeremenko sighed and said, "You should know that I sent him four full infantry battalions and two The tank battalion, this may be the only mobile force I have. I'm afraid I won't be able to send him new reinforcements until the superior replenishes us again."

  Elyomenko's words poured cold water on Khrushchev's face and made him wake up. He knew very well that in order to ensure the victory of the counter-offensive, no matter whether the superiors did not replenish the troops on the left bank, even the troops originally assembled here were transferred to the south of Stalingrad to participate in the counter-offensive launched from that direction. Even if he called the Supreme Command in person before the situation of the attack outside became clear, he might not be able to get reinforcements from one soldier to another.

  Since no new reinforcements could be obtained from the Supreme Command, Khrushchev tried to consider whether the troops that were going north could adjust their attack direction and let them send a troop north to join Sokov's troops. In this way, the left wing of the 41st Guards Division can be guaranteed, and they can deploy more troops to face the German attack head-on.

With such doubts, Khrushchev asked: "Comrade Commander, can you see if you can order a certain unit of the 64th or 57th Army to change the direction of attack and rush directly to the direction of Mamayev Post, and fight with Solskjaer? Cove's guards join?"

"My Comrade Military Commissioner, the situation you mentioned is not easy to handle." Yeremenko replied with a wry smile: "Now the Northward Army Corps is attacking the enemy according to the original route, and it has been severely punished." It is a huge obstacle. If they are ordered to change the direction of attack at this time, I am worried that it will cause unnecessary confusion. Moreover, the deployment of troops will also lead to the weakening of the frontal offensive force and affect our next combat operations."

As soon as Yeremenko finished speaking, Varennikov added: "Even if the left wing of the 41st Guards Division has been strengthened, the right wing is still threatened by several German divisions. In a word, if the superior does not give We add new troops, let us use it to strengthen the strength in the city, if you want Sokov's troops to continue to advance westward, that is to let them die."

Although his proposal was unanimously opposed by the commander and the chief of staff, Khrushchev still said unwillingly: "In my opinion, we should report this matter to our superiors immediately to see if the Supreme Command can make another exception." Send us reinforcements. As far as I know, in order to ensure that Moscow is no longer attacked by the Germans, there are still seventy elite infantry divisions stationed there. If two or three of them can be transferred to us, the situation in the city will be greatly improved. It immediately becomes beneficial to our army."

"It will take four or five days at the earliest to deploy troops from Moscow." Regarding Khrushchev's proposal, Varennikov said cautiously: "Maybe when the reinforcements arrive, the situation in the city will have a new situation." The change…"

   Sokov, who was far away at the headquarters of the Mamayev Division, naturally did not know what happened at the headquarters of the Front Army. At this moment, he himself is sitting at the table, staring at the map on the table in a daze, thinking in his mind that the mechanized 4th Army of Major General Volsky Tank Corps will reach the Don River in the early morning of tomorrow, and take advantage of the fact that the Germans have not returned. God's work occupied the bridge across the banks of the Don River in one fell swoop; and at four o'clock in the afternoon of the same day, it joined forces with the 4th Tank Army of the Southwest Front Army commanded by Major General Kravchenko, who was heading south, completely cutting off the retreat of the German army. Paulus's Sixth Army was completely encircled by the Soviet army.

  Ivanov saw Sokov staring at the map in a daze, guessing that he must be thinking about some important issue, so he sat quietly by the side without disturbing him. After finally watching Sokov look away from the map and reaching for the tea mug on the side, he asked, "Comrade commander, I think you have been thinking just now. Can you tell me what you were thinking about?" something?"

Sokov pointed at the map with his hand, and said to Ivanov: "Comrade deputy division commander, according to the changes in the situation of the enemy and ourselves on the map, I think the troops going north and south will probably join forces within a few days. of."

   "What, our peripheral troops will join forces within a day or two?" Ivanov asked with surprise when he heard Sokov say this: "Is this true?"

"This is just my analysis." Sokov didn't dare to speak too much. After all, since he appeared, many of the original histories have deviated. He dare not guarantee that the troops going south and north will be like the real Meet teachers on time as in history. He could only answer vaguely: "According to various indications, this possibility is very large."

"I agree with the division commander." Sidolin, who had just finished his work, just heard Sukov's words behind him, and echoed him: "According to the report from the superior, the troops going north and the troops going south are no more than two meters apart. More than ten kilometers. Even if the terrain is complex and the enemy has many defensive areas, it may take them two days to realize the meeting."

  ...

At ten o'clock in the evening, in a forest more than ten kilometers away from Karachi, Volsky, the commander of the 4th Mechanized Army, was convening his subordinates for the final battle mobilization: "Commanders, we are still far away from Karachi. There are more than ten kilometers, as long as you rush across the river in one breath, you can occupy the bridge on the river and rush to the other side to join the friendly troops going south. I know that after two days of fighting, the commanders and fighters are very tired, but in order to win, please go back and do it. Good propaganda and agitation work, calling on soldiers to overcome fatigue and all difficulties to make meritorious deeds."

   "Comrade Commander," as soon as Volsky finished speaking, the tank brigade commander asked: "You plan to let that brigade serve as the vanguard to complete this glorious task."

"It's your tank brigade." Volsky pointed at the tank brigade commander with his hand and said, "At one o'clock in the morning, your tank brigade will adopt a marching formation and move towards the Karachi Bridge. It must be done in the shortest possible time. , take control of the bridge."

   Regarding the order issued by Volsky, the tank brigade commander seemed very hesitant: "Comrade commander, is our brigade acting alone?"

"In order to prevent the target from being exposed, the other brigades will keep a distance of more than five kilometers from you." In order to dispel the concerns of the tank brigade commander, Volsky comforted them and said: "You drive towards the bridge along the kilometers, and there are no infantry behind you. Follow, the Germans are likely to regard you as their own tanks, which is very beneficial for you to seize the bridge."

After assigning the task, Volsky ordered him directly without waiting for the other party to say more: "Okay, Comrade Colonel, you rush back to your troops immediately and get ready to go. Time is running out, you must Take the Karachi Bridge quickly and decisively before the Germans come to their senses."

  The tank brigade drove towards Karachi along the road in half an hour. The commander of the tank brigade sat in one of the tanks and thought anxiously: "I hope the judgment of the commander is accurate. The enemy standing on the bridge is not prepared for our arrival. Otherwise, our tank brigade will have all The danger of annihilation of the army."

What happened next was indeed as Volsky expected. The German checkpoints along the way saw a tank column approaching, and they thought it was an armored division that had retreated from the front line. It was released directly.

When he just passed the first two checkpoints, the commander of the tank brigade was still beating drums in his heart. He was afraid that the enemy would find out his identity. If the enemy sent out anti-tank fighters to attack, he would have no power to fight back. More than half will be reimbursed. But after passing through several checkpoints in a row, there was no obstacle at all. The commander of the tank brigade had a lot of confidence. He ordered all the tanks through the car radio: "Every tank pay attention, every tank pay attention, speed up, speed up, speed up! occupy the Karachi Bridge over the Don."

   There was only one platoon of German troops guarding the bridge. When the sentinel heard the roar of tank engines in the distance and saw countless car lights, he quickly reported to the platoon leader.

  After the German platoon leader got the report, he instinctively thought it was the armored troops withdrawn from the front line, and quickly ordered his subordinates: "Immediately turn on the lights on the bridge, and use searchlights to illuminate the armored divisions that are coming."

  His order was quickly and faithfully carried out. The German platoon leader even came out of the warm hut and stood on the bridge to look at the approaching tank column. When the tanks were still more than 200 meters away from the bridge, the German platoon leader found that the tanks that came were not the No. 3 or No. 4 tanks he was familiar with, but all T-34s. He was shocked and broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly turned his head and shouted to the back: "It's a Russian tank, turn off all the lights immediately, and prepare the machine guns to shoot."

  The soldiers who heard his order rushed to the power distribution room at the head of the bridge, pulled down the switch, and plunged the entire bridge into darkness again. The two machine guns behind the sandbag fortifications at the bridgehead also opened fire on the approaching Soviet tanks. However, for the armored vehicles of the T-34 tank, these machine gun bullets did not pose any threat to them at all. The leading tank stopped and aimed at the sandbag fortification at the bridgehead and fired a shot, directly blowing up the soldiers and machine guns behind the sandbags. .

  (end of this chapter)