Although Sokov was familiar with the various performance parameters of the Tiger tank, he still hesitated for a long time when Bely asked, and then said cautiously: "Colonel Bely, I saw it in an intelligence report before. The Germans are developing a new heavy tank, the Tiger tank, which uses an 88 mm caliber tank gun, has 102 mm of frontal armor, and 82 mm of side and rear armor."
After listening to Sokov's rough data, Belly couldn't help but gasped: "Oh my god, our T-34's frontal armor is 60 mm thick, and the sides are only 45 mm, and it uses a 76 mm gun. It's not at the same level as the German tanks."
"That's right, Colonel Bely." Sokov felt that if Bely's tank troops were to carry the German Tigers, it would be a dead end, so he said euphemistically: "Use medium tanks to deal with the enemy's heavy tanks." Tanks are an act of suicide. I suggest you withdraw the tank troops to the Red October Factory and let the troops deal with the enemy's tanks."
"If the Germans' new tank really has 102 mm armor as you said, I'm afraid no anti-tank gun can destroy it." Regarding Sokov's suggestion, Bely said hesitantly: "I'm worried that we After withdrawing, the infantry will not be able to stop the enemy's attack."
"Can you block the enemy's tanks if you stay?" Seeing Bely's hesitation, Sokov said in a serious tone: "We don't know how many new tanks the enemy has. If we continue to leave the tanks on the position , the enemy will destroy them one by one like target practice."
Belly knew in his heart that what Sokov said was true, but he ordered his tank troops to withdraw to the Red October Factory without receiving orders from his superiors. This could be regarded as an act of fleeing from the battlefield. If this causes the defense line to collapse and puts Stalingrad into a more dangerous situation, I am afraid that his superiors will directly shoot him without even giving him a chance to go to a military court.
Hearing no movement in the earphones, Sokov understood what Bely was hesitating about. He did not persuade, but reminded the other party: "Colonel Bely, if you can't make up your mind, you can report the matter to Commander Chuikov and see what his opinion is."
Sokov's suggestion is tantamount to handing over the contradiction. As for whether Belly's tank troops should stay on the battlefield as cannon fodder or temporarily withdraw to the factory to preserve their strength, it is up to the group army leaders to decide.
Bely followed Sokov's advice, reported the situation he faced to Chuikov, and finally asked for instructions whether to continue fighting or temporarily withdraw to the factory area.
After listening to Bely's report, Chuikov was silent for a moment, and then asked: "Colonel Bely, please tell me truthfully, does the enemy really have a new type of tank on the battlefield?"
"Yes." Although Bely had just reported to Chuikov, when he heard him ask about it at this moment, he repeated what he had just said: "The enemy's new tank is staying eight hundred meters away from our position. , at such a long distance, the armor-piercing projectiles fired by our tanks cannot penetrate its frontal armor at all, and as long as it fires, it can directly destroy our tanks. One of the seven tanks of the third tank company was destroyed .”
"How many tanks does the enemy have?" Chuikov asked cautiously.
"There are about five such tanks." Belly sighed softly and replied: "If they continue to stay eight hundred meters or more and fire, no matter how many tanks we have, they will not be able to destroy the enemy's tanks. tank."
"Which regiment is building the defense line in the north?" As soon as Chuikov asked this question, he remembered that Gurdiev had reported to him that in order to prevent the German troops in the north from suddenly moving south, he had sent the 351st regiment to garrison in the north. He quickly changed his mind and said, "I remembered, it's the 351st Regiment of Gurdiev's Division. You and Gurdiev have a break, and then lead the tank troops back to the Red October Factory."
Krylov, who had just finished answering the phone, couldn't help but became a little anxious when he heard Chuikov giving Belly the order to retreat: "Comrade Commander, how can you let the tank troops retreat? Once they withdraw from the Red October Factory, Our counterattack is tantamount to failure."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Chuikov looked at Krylov and said with a serious expression: "Do you think our counterattack can continue if I don't let Bely and the others withdraw to the Red October Factory?"
Krylov was immediately questioned by Chuikov. As the chief of staff of the army group, he knew even more about the situation than Chuikov. According to reports from the troops standing east of Orlovka, the German 100th Jäger Division, 94th Infantry Division and 24th Armored Division were moving south. Maybe in a few hours, the three infantry divisions carrying out the counterattack will be surrounded by the German army.
It's one thing to know the current situation, but it's another thing to make up your mind. Krylov knew that if the troops continued to stay at their current position, once they were encircled by the Germans, even if they were not completely wiped out, not many commanders and fighters would be able to return to the starting position. However, considering that this counterattack was a task assigned by superiors, and even Khrushchev, the military commissar of the front army, came to sit in person, if he wanted to terminate the counterattack, he must obtain permission from his superiors.
Seeing the troubled expression on Krylov's face, Chuikov knew very well that this counterattack was forced by his superiors. If the superiors did not nod, no one would have the power to withdraw the troops. Thinking of this, he looked around, but did not see the shadow of Khrushchev, so he called a staff officer and asked: "Have you seen Comrade Military Commissar?"
The staff officer thought that Chuikov was asking about the group army's military commissar Gurov, and quickly replied: "Report to the commander, Comrade Military Commissar Gurov went to the Red October Factory half an hour ago."
When Chuikov heard that the staff member was talking about Gurov, he quickly waved his hand and said, "I'm not asking about Gurov, but Comrade Khrushchev. Have you seen him?"
Regarding this question, the staff officer hesitated for a moment, and then answered in an uncertain tone: "Comrade Comrade Military Commissar of the Front Army seems to have gone to the Dzerzhinsky Tractor Factory. He said he was going to inspect the defense there."
"The 37th Guards Division is stationed at the Dzerzhinsky Factory," Chuikov told his staff: "You immediately call General Zorudev and ask if Comrade Khrushchev is there. If so, call him. Please ask Comrade Khrushchev to return immediately, something unexpected happened here and we need him to come back and make a decision."
When the staff officer went aside to make a phone call, Chuikov turned to Krylov and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please contact Colonel Gurdiev immediately and say that the current situation is very unfavorable to our army. I plan to remove Colonel Bely." The tank troops withdrew to Red October and ordered his troops to continue to hold their positions and wait for my order to withdraw."
"Comrade Commander," Krylov asked in surprise after hearing Chuikov's order: "Are you really planning to withdraw all the tank troops to the Red October Factory? What should we do if the superiors blame it?"
"I didn't withdraw all the troops." Chuikov had obviously expected Krylov to ask this, and he said to himself: "Although the tank troops have withdrawn from the Red October Factory, the infantry is still holding its position. , which means that our counterattack against the enemy has not completely ended, and our superiors cannot blame us."
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Now that Chuikov had said this, Krylov realized that it was obviously inappropriate for him, as chief of staff, to contradict him, so he nodded and said, "I will send you to him immediately. Please convey this message to Colonel Gurdiev."
The large German army rushed over menacingly from the north. If the counterattack troops were to confront them head-on, the whole army would be destroyed. While Chuikov was thinking about how to allow the two infantry divisions on the right wing to smoothly withdraw to the Red October Factory, he also thought about the 41st Guards Division, which had continuously occupied two German positions.
Chuikov asked the communications troops to connect to the headquarters at Mamayev Heights. After contacting Sokov, he asked straight to the point: "Sokov, how is the situation there?"
"The enemy coming from the direction of the concession stand is launching an attack on the 122nd Regiment's position." Sokov reported: "I have given an order to Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko to do everything possible to block the enemy's attack. .”
"What if they can't stop it?" Chuikov asked.
"If we can't stop it, we have no choice but to retreat." Sokov knew the purpose of Chuikov's question and quickly explained to him: "But Comrade Commander, please rest assured that our defense line will not collapse immediately. The 122nd Regiment cannot stop the enemy's attack, and they will find a way to retreat to the 124th Regiment's position, where they will continue to consume the enemy's effective strength. But I'm worried..."
After hearing Sokov's words, he stopped abruptly. Chuikov asked impatiently: "What are you worried about? Don't try to trick me here. Please explain it to me quickly."
"I'm worried that the enemy will move south in a big way. Once they break through the two divisions on the right, the two regiments in front of me will be surrounded." Sokov didn't want his two Guards regiments to be surrounded. They were wiped out in a meaningless war of attrition, so they tried every means to withdraw them. "In order to prevent this situation from happening, Comrade Commander, I request you to order the counterattack troops to retreat across the board and return to their original starting positions."
"Colonel Sokov," Chuikov felt in his heart that Sokov was right, but before getting permission from Khrushchev, he did not have the power to let the three divisions return to their original starting positions, so he could only keep a straight face. Xun Sokov: "What are you talking about? Facing the enemies rushing towards us, we should think of ways to block them instead of thinking about how to retreat. Do you understand?"
Seeing that Chuikov was unwilling to withdraw the counterattack troops, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little chilled. At the same time, he was secretly glad in his heart. Fortunately, he saw that today's counterattack was not going well and did not put the 125th Regiment into battle. Even if the 122nd and 124th Regiments were wiped out, he had preserved some strength. At this moment, facing Chuikov's stubbornness, he could only bite the bullet and said insincerely: "I understand, Comrade Commander. I will immediately call Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko and Lieutenant Colonel Starcha and order them to A person must hold his position tenaciously and never take a step back even if he fights to the last man.”
Chuikov knew that Sokov was speaking out of anger, but he had no choice but to do so. After all, he did not have the power to retreat the troops. He coughed slightly and said into the microphone: "Colonel Sokov, after the enemy's attack is repelled, you can find a way to evacuate the wounded."
As soon as I hung up the phone, I saw Khrushchev walking in from outside. He raised his hand to dust off his shoulders, looked at Chuikov who was standing upright and asked: "Comrade Chuikov, you are so anxious to call me back. Is there anything important you have to do?"
"Comrade Military Commissar, the situation is very unfavorable for our army. According to reports from the troops stationed east of Orlovka, the enemy's main force has begun to move south in large numbers, trying to flank our counterattack force with the Romanian army." Chuikov looked at Heru Xiaofu said cautiously: "I suggest stopping the counterattack immediately and withdrawing the troops to their original starting point."
"Withdraw the troops?" Khrushchev immediately frowned when he heard Chuikov said he wanted to retreat. He said dissatisfied: "As far as I know, our counterattack went smoothly, didn't it? The right-wing troops were in After a fierce battle, they successfully occupied the first line of defense held by the Romanian army; and the troops on the left wing performed even more outstandingly. They not only occupied the enemy's two lines of defense, but also threatened the enemy's holding position. In In this case, I think the offense can continue."
"Comrade Military Commissar, you don't know something. One of the enemy's vanguard units is equipped with new heavy tanks." Seeing that Khrushchev still wanted to continue fighting, Chuikov quickly reported to him the situation reported by Bely: " The enemy's tanks are parked 800 meters away from our position and can easily destroy our tanks. But our tanks are at such a long distance, but they can't do anything to the opponent. The seven tanks of the third company The tanks were all destroyed in a face-to-face battle with the enemy's heavy tanks."
"What, seven tanks fought against one, and they were all wiped out?" Khrushchev asked in surprise: "When did the enemy's tanks become so powerful?"
"It is a new type of tank that the enemy has just put into the battlefield. In order to avoid unnecessary losses, I have ordered Colonel Bely to withdraw all the tanks to the Red October Factory." Chuikov said to Khrushchev: "Now on the position, Only the infantry is left to defend."
"Without tanks, how can the infantry hold their position?" Knowing that Chuikov had made his own decisions and withdrew all the tanks, Khrushchev became increasingly dissatisfied: "General Chuikov, how could you hold the position without my order?" What about making the decision without permission? If you cause the failure of this counterattack, you will be sent to a military court. Send me the tank troops immediately."
Seeing that things had come to this, Khrushchev had no intention of letting the troops retreat. On the contrary, he wanted the tank troops to return to the battlefield to die. In order to avoid unnecessary losses, Chuikov decided to go all out. He held his head high and said plausibly: "Comrade Military Commissar, since our tanks are fighting face to face with the enemy, we cannot take any advantage. It is better to let them withdraw and rely on favorable conditions." Defend according to the terrain, and during the defense, find ways to destroy the enemy's new tanks."
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