Back to two hours ago, after receiving Paulus's order, Schmid immediately returned to his office and called the commanders of each division. His first call was to Major General Leiser, commander of the 29th Motorized Infantry Division.
Unexpectedly, as soon as Schmid gave the order to switch to defense, Leiser became angry. He asked angrily, "Your Majesty, Chief of Staff, half of my division's officers and soldiers are in the large granary south of Stalingrad and the Russians are..." If we start fighting for it, maybe in half a day or even a few hours, we will be able to completely occupy this area, but you asked me to dispatch troops to clear out the guerrillas in the rear. These damn Russians should not be handed over to the SS. Are you going to deal with it?”
Hearing that Leiser was so disgusted with the order issued by Paulus, Schmid said helplessly, "General Leiser, I don't want to hide the current real situation from you. There are several small Russian troops that have penetrated deep into our army's territory. The defense zone has caused a lot of casualties to our army. It is the commander's order to dispatch troops to clear out the Russians in the rear of our army. Therefore, you are ordered to suspend the attack and deploy troops to clear out the Russians in the rear."
"Your Majesty, Chief of Staff," Leiser heard Schmid say, and couldn't help but curiously asked, "Can I ask what kind of troops the Russians who sneaked into the rear of our army have, so that they can actually make the Commander stop the attack?" decision?"
Schmid smiled bitterly and replied, "According to reliable intelligence, there are about fifty or sixty Russians who have sneaked into the rear of our army."
"What, only fifty or sixty people?!" After hearing what Schmid said clearly, Leizer immediately jumped up from his seat, with an expression of disbelief on his face. "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, there are only a few dozen Russians, Isn’t it a bit too fussy for us to go to war in such a big way?”
"General Leiser, don't underestimate these dozens of Germans. They caused huge losses to our army last night." Schmid saw that Leiser was a little uninterested in the order to mobilize troops to clear the rear. , quickly introduced to him the losses suffered by the troops last night, as well as the removal of a regiment headquarters of the 295th Infantry Division, and finally said, "They can achieve such results because they have A new type of rocket can attack from a long distance, causing huge casualties to our army, and then quickly moves, making it impossible for our troops to find it. In order to avoid a similar situation from happening again, each division must mobilize troops. Search behind our respective defense zones to bring out these pesky Russians from where they hide."
After learning that there was actually a regiment headquarters that was quietly taken away by the Soviet army at night, Leiser couldn't help but took a breath of cold air. "Chief of Staff, you just said that they sneaked into the rear of our army. Do you know where they are?" Location?"
"According to the intelligence we obtained, they sneaked into the rear of our army from the defense areas of the 71st, 76th and 295th Infantry Divisions." Schmid patiently explained to Leiser, "We don't know anything except these three. In addition to the division's defense area, which divisions' defense areas did they sneak into? In order to prevent the troops from suffering further unnecessary losses, the commander decided to temporarily stop the attack on Stalingrad, transfer to defense on the spot, and mobilize enough troops troops, to search for the Russians in the rear.”
After listening to Schmid's explanation, Leiser finally realized the seriousness of the problem and quickly replied, "Understood, Chief of Staff, I immediately ordered the troops to stop the offensive and mobilized enough manpower to attack the Russians in the rear. Conduct a cleanup."
"Remember, Mr. General." Schmid warned Leiser, "Even if there is no Russian squad infiltrating your defense area, you can still take the opportunity to clear out the guerrillas operating behind you."
…………
Two hours later, after Schmid came out of Paulus's office, he picked up the phone again, and the first call he made was still Leiser's number.
Leiser heard Schmid's voice and reported to him with some pride, "Chief of Staff, according to your order, I have mobilized two battalions from the front. Now they are fifteen to fifteen kilometers away from the original combat location." Twenty kilometers.”
"General Leiser," Schmid suddenly became anxious when he heard that Leiser's troops had begun to move to the rear. "Immediately order them to stop and return to the original defense area as soon as possible to prepare to attack the Russians again?"
"Chief of Staff, what did you say?" Schmid's words shocked Leiser. "Didn't you order us to deploy troops to the rear to suppress the guerrillas?"
"Yes, General Leiser," Schmid replied with a grimace, "I did issue such an order two hours ago, but now the situation has changed. You must immediately move these troops back to the front line and re- Launch an offensive against the Russians.”
"Chief of Staff, are you kidding me?" Leizer was unhappy when he heard Schmid say this. He thought to himself that he had finally mobilized two battalions of troops from the front and went to the rear to clear out the Soviet troops. The detachment and the guerrillas, but halfway through, Schmid ordered himself to move the people back, and he suddenly became angry. "Do you know how much effort it took me to withdraw the troops from the front? Now? When the troops were halfway there, you ordered me to return them to their original combat positions. Isn't this teasing us?"
Schmid knew that this kind of change of orders from day to day would definitely arouse the resentment of the division commanders below, but letting the troops launch the offensive again was an order given by Hitler himself, and no one could violate it. Seeing that Leizer was angry at this moment, he could only bite the bullet and explain, "General Leizer, ordering the divisions to deploy troops to clear the rear is a decision made by the Commander based on the current situation. But to let the troops return to the offensive, But it’s an order just issued by the head of state.”
Leiser originally wanted to scold Schmid a few more times, but when he heard that the renewed attack on Stalingrad was an order issued by the Führer himself, he swallowed the words and could only say helplessly, "Okay, Staff Sir, I will immediately notify the troops and ask them to return to the front line."
Considering that even if the troops return to the front line, it will take a certain amount of time to deploy, he euphemistically said, "But after the troops return to the front line, it may still take time to adjust their deployment before they can launch another attack on the area occupied by the Russians. Hope you understand."
"I understand, I understand." Schmid didn't know what kind of trouble it would cause if the troops returned to the front and launched another attack, so he understood and said, "As long as you can attack your enemy head-on before dark, When the Russians attack, they are obeying the orders of the Führer.”
When Schmid called other division commanders, he also received unanimous complaints from everyone. However, when he said that the renewed attack on Stalingrad was an order given by the Führer himself, all the division commanders were silent and helpless. He immediately recalled the troops who were preparing to go to the rear to clear out the Soviet troops, and then returned to the front to prepare for the attack.
…………
At dawn, the Soviet commanders and fighters discovered that the German troops did not launch an attack as usual, and were even withdrawing troops in some areas. They thought this was a German conspiracy, and while reporting to their superiors, they increased their vigilance. But not long after, they received a notice from the army headquarters that the German rear had been attacked. They might temporarily stop the attack on the city and deploy troops to the rear so that everyone could continue to closely monitor the enemy's movements.
After learning the truth that the German army had stopped attacking and started a small-scale withdrawal, most of the commanders and soldiers felt relieved. Except for a few soldiers who are monitoring the enemy on the opposite side, the rest of the soldiers are resting in bunkers or fortifications.
Sidorin also received the same notice. He asked Sokov for instructions: "Comrade Brigade Commander, since the German army's attention has been attracted by our small team, can we order the soldiers to rest. Two people in a row The soldiers are very tired after months of fighting.”
"Yes, Comrade Brigade Commander." Vitkov also agreed with Sidorin's statement. "The soldiers were already exhausted after such a long battle. Now they finally caught up with the Germans and stopped their attack. Let them have a good rest." After he said these words, without waiting for Sokov's response, he turned to Sidorin and said, "Chief of Staff, when arranging for the soldiers to rest, you must leave enough observation posts. , monitor the movements of the enemy on the opposite side."
"Wait a minute, Comrade Chief of Staff." When Sokov saw Sidorin picking up the phone, he was about to call several battalion commanders, and quickly stopped him. "I think the Germans will stop attacking only temporarily. Maybe when The attack has resumed. I know the soldiers are very tired, but if we let them rest now, they will easily fall asleep and not wake up. Once the Germans suddenly launch an attack, how should we respond?"
"But, Comrade Brigadier." Although Sidorin felt that Sokov's statement made sense, he still felt reluctant when thinking of those exhausted soldiers, "We don't know when the Germans will It may take a few hours or a few days to restart the attack. Isn't it a pity to let the soldiers give up this hard-earned rest opportunity?"
Sokov stared at Sidorin intently, his mind running at high speed, thinking about how to solve this problem. After a while, he said, "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, call the battalion commanders and tell them that the Germans may not attack us in a short period of time and ask them to arrange for half of the soldiers to rest and wait." After dark, arrange for the other half of the soldiers to rest."
Sidorin thought Sokov's arrangement was very reasonable. He arranged for half of the soldiers to rest. Even if the enemy suddenly launched an attack, there would still be enough manpower to block the enemy's attack. So he nodded and said, "Understood, Comrade Brigade Commander, I will convey your order to the battalion commanders immediately."
After the order was issued, half of the defenders of Mamayev Heights stayed in the tunnels to sleep, while the remaining people were still repairing fortifications on the high ground in preparation for possible German attacks.
In the evening, the phone on the table rang suddenly, startling Sokov awake from his nap while sitting at the table. He was about to reach for the microphone, but Sidorin had already picked up the microphone first, put it to his ear and said, "I am Lieutenant Colonel Sidorin, where are you?... What, the enemy is attacking again?... Yes How many troops?...I know, I will report to the brigade commander."
Sokov heard that the Germans had launched another attack. Before Sidorin put down the phone, he couldn't wait to ask, "Chief of Staff, have the Germans launched another attack on Mamayev Heights?"
After Sidorin heard Sokov's question, he was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Comrade Brigadier, the call was from Captain Andrei, commander of the third battalion. He said that the German army had launched another attack on the city. During the attack, the area they occupied was bombarded by fierce German artillery fire. Because the artillery fire came so suddenly, many resting soldiers had no time to move and were buried in the ruins of collapsed buildings."
Knowing that many soldiers of the Third Battalion were buried in the collapsed ruins due to enemy shelling, Sokov's mouth twitched violently. He felt sad for these sacrificed soldiers. But there is nothing that can be done. After sniffing hard, he said to Sidorin, "Comrade Chief of Staff, call the observation post on the top of the hill and ask if there is any movement from the German troops opposite us?"
Sidorin nodded, picked up the phone and contacted the observation post on the top of the hill. After asking a few questions, he held the microphone and said to Sokov, "Comrade Brigadier, I just asked the observation post. He said that the German troops on the opposite side are still the same. The transferred troops have not returned to the front line and there is no sign of an attack." signs.”
"Chief of Staff," Sokov heard this and quickly ordered Sidorin, "Ask the observation post, apart from the German shelling in the direction of the city, what is the situation in the factory area on the right side of Mamayev Heights?"
"The brigade commander asked," Sidorin waited for Sokov to finish speaking and immediately asked into the microphone, "How is the situation in the factory area on our right wing? Has it been shelled by the Germans?"
After listening to the observation post's report, Sidorin put down the microphone and said to Sokov, "Comrade Brigade Commander, I have already understood that except for the calm situation here at Mamayev Heights, the friendly defense areas on the left and right flanks have been attacked by German artillery fire. .”
"Comrade Brigadier, tell me, what is going on?" Sidorin asked curiously, "Why did the Germans only shell the positions on the left and right flanks of Mamayev Hill, but there was no movement at all on our front?" "
Regarding this strange imagination, Sokov frowned and thought for a long time, and finally said quietly, "I guess the reason why the German troops in front of us did not attack us is because they used all their main forces to deal with our small army." The detachment is gone. Once they eliminate the detachment, they will turn around and launch a new attack on us."
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