As soon as the Soviet artillery and bombing of the German front ended, the two infantry divisions of the 24th Army that participated in the offensive entered the battle. The 173rd Infantry Division attacked the German 113th Infantry Division's defense area; the 233rd Infantry Division attacked the German 60th Motorized Division's defense area.
In order to make the Germans think that the Soviet army had really launched a counterattack, General Kalanin, the commander of the Army Group, even put the only tank 217th Brigade into the battlefield to cooperate with the 233rd Infantry Division to attack the German motorized division defense area.
A series of actions by the Soviet army convinced Paulus that the Russians were preparing to take major military operations in the region. He kept asking Schmid to urge the two division commanders under attack to put the follow-up troops into the battle for forward positions as quickly as possible.
Galanin knew that the attack ordered by his superiors was just a diversionary operation, and there was no need to consume too much of his strength. Therefore, after the two divisions successfully captured the German forward positions, he ordered the troops to switch to defense on the spot, strengthen the existing fortifications, and prepare to meet the German counterattack.
Although the two infantry division commanders and a tank brigade commander who participated in the attack were confused by Galanin's order, they were accustomed to obeying and did not question their superiors' orders. Instead, they promptly ordered the troops to stop attacking the German army. The second line of defense advanced and switched to defense on the spot.
Fortunately, Kalanin's order was issued in time, otherwise the attacking troops would have met head-on with the incoming German reinforcements. In the open ground with no fortifications to rely on, no matter how heroic the Soviet commanders and fighters were, they could not have the German infantry covered by tanks and armored vehicles.
The Soviet commanders and fighters who promptly switched to defense relied on the favorable terrain to tenaciously block the German troops who tried to regain their positions, and successfully repelled two consecutive attacks launched by them.
After Paulus received calls one after another from the two division commanders, he immediately asked Schmid to summon the commanders of the 4th, 7th, 11th and 51st Infantry Corps, as well as the commander of the 14th Armored Corps to the headquarters. Study possible upcoming troop movements.
After several army commanders had arrived, Paulus said to them straight to the point: "My Excellencies, military commanders, two hours ago, the Russian 24th Army launched an attack on our army in the Katchalinskaya area. A sudden attack. Judging from the battlefield situation, they tried to isolate our troops located in the small bend of the Don River and coordinate with the 66th Group Army on their left to annihilate them..."
"Your Excellency, Commander," since the 60th Motorized Division is affiliated with the 14th Armored Corps, the commander of the corps, Lieutenant General Helmut Schlemmer, stood up and said as soon as Paulus finished speaking: "I would like to ask, why did our intelligence troops not notice this attack launched by the Russians in advance?" After he arrived at the headquarters, he learned from Schmid that the Russians had occupied the forward positions of two divisions. , and repelled two of his own counterattacks. Regarding the sudden attack by the Soviet army, he raised his own doubts, "If the intelligence department cannot give a reasonable explanation, I am worried that similar situations will occur again in the future. Then our situation will be even worse."
"General Schlemmer, don't be anxious, please sit down first." After Schmid saw Schlemmer say these words, Paulus's face was particularly ugly, and he quickly came out to smooth things over: "We are against the Russians. Reconnaissance relies on collective farm members who are close to Germany or some residents who have escaped from the city. However, in the areas controlled by the Russians, the activities of these civilians are greatly restricted, so they are unable to provide us with information in a timely manner. Useful information."
"Don't worry, General Schlemmer." Paulus looked at Schlemmer and said: "I have ordered the 289th and 295th Divisions of the 51st Infantry Corps to start gathering immediately and prepare to rush to the fighting area to reinforce you. The 60th Motorized Division."
Paulus's words made Kurtzbach, commander of the 51st Infantry Corps, unable to sit still. After all, the two divisions mentioned by the other party were from his infantry corps. For Paulus's overstepping of command, He felt very dissatisfied in his heart. After coughing slightly, he said to Paulus: "Your Excellency, Commander, the strength of the two infantry divisions you mentioned has been greatly weakened after long-term battles. The 289th Division belongs to Of the seven infantry battalions, four have become weak and three have been basically depleted. The situation of the 295th Infantry Division is even worse. All six infantry battalions it belongs to are in a weak state, while the engineer battalion has been depleted. .”
"General Kurtzbach," Paulus said with a displeased expression when he saw Kurtzbach questioning his deployment: "I am going to use your two divisions to attack the flanks of the Russian army attacking the 14th Armored Corps defense area. . You should know that when the Russians attack, they always focus on the head rather than the tail. Their flanks are usually vulnerable. Even two regiments, not to mention two divisions, can cut them off in the middle."
After listening to Paulus's words, Kurtzbach thought about it carefully, and it seemed that this was really the case. Even though the Russians have more troops than themselves, if they compete on the battlefield, one of their severely reduced infantry battalions can block the fierce attack of one of the opponent's regiments. Now that the commander used two divisions to deal with the two Russian divisions, they were overqualified.
Thinking of this, Kurtzbach was no longer so disgusted with Paulus's overstepping of command. He asked tentatively: "Your Excellency, Commander, I would like to ask, after crushing the Russian attack this time, can you give us any additional information?" Troops?"
"Don't worry, General Kurtzbach." The person who answered him this time was Schmid. The army chief of staff said with a smile: "After crushing the Russian attack, the commander will recruit from the reserve army." , I will replenish at least half of your troops."
Seeing that Paulus was willing to replenish his troops, Kurtzbach stopped talking and listened quietly to Paulus's next deployment: "...In addition to dispatching the 289th and 295th Divisions to go west for reinforcements, The troops attacking the Barricade Factory and the Dzerzhinsky Factory shall temporarily stop the attack and switch to defense on the spot, preparing to reinforce areas in critical situations when necessary..."
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Just as Paulus was at his headquarters, deploying measures to respond to the Soviet offensive to his several military commanders, the guerrillas hidden in the Nadezhda area, under the command of Guchakov and others, moved towards the enemy. The Germans occupied the 564th kilometer station and the Kot Luban station movement.
Guchakov never dreamed that he planned to command hundreds of people to launch an attack on the station where the German army was hoarding supplies. But after the battle plan was reported, things developed beyond his imagination. Not only did the group army headquarters and front army headquarters know about the matter, but even the base camp personally asked about it. In order to ensure the success of this offensive, the base camp even used regular troops to launch a feint attack in the north to contain the main force of the German army and create favorable conditions for the guerrillas.
Guchakov divided the offensive force into two. One half was commanded by the eldest brother Mishiga among the Ignatov brothers, and was responsible for attacking the 564th kilometer station; while the other half was commanded by the second brother Vovka. Go with yourself to attack Cote Luban Station. Of course, other guerrilla captains also have their own tasks. For example, a captain with a beard is responsible for leading people to block possible enemy reinforcements in the east; a red-haired captain is responsible for the blocking task in the west.
When the two captains were about to leave with the blocking guerrillas, Guchakov specifically emphasized to them: "Comrade captains, the troops you can use are limited, and the combat effectiveness is not strong. If you and Germany If we fight head-on, the whole army will probably be destroyed."
When the two captains received the order to stop the attack, they were heartbroken when they learned that there were only seventy or eighty guerrillas accompanying them in the battle. They knew very well that their own strength was not enough to squeeze the teeth of the Germans. It was almost an impossible task to prevent German reinforcements from arriving before the station fell.
Hearing Guchakov say this to them at this moment, he seemed to see a glimmer of hope. He quickly asked: "Comrade Commander, do you have any good ideas so that we can block the enemy without destroying the entire army?" ?”
"There is a way." Guchakov nodded and replied: "Just use your guerrilla tactics to deal with the enemy." When he said this, he saw the two people looked confused. He deliberately explained to them, "You only need to destroy the railway and lay mines on the road to block the enemy."
"But, Comrade Commander." The red-haired man said with a grimace: "Even if we destroy the railway and lay mines on the road, the effect will be very limited if we want to slow down the advance of the German army. The Germans on the train are far away. If you can see the bombed rails, they can quickly repair them with the rails carried on the train; as for the mines on the roads, as long as the Germans have engineers, it won't take them long to clear all the mines..."
After listening to the red-haired complaint, Guchakov was shocked. Because of the other party's worries, Sokov proposed solutions one by one in the telegram sent to him. He said: "Comrade Captain, don't worry, please listen to me slowly. To destroy the enemy's rails, you don't need to blow up the tracks. You only need to remove the screws connecting the rails and sleepers at the turning section, so that the German trains It will derail when turning, and you can cause heavy casualties to them without firing a shot.
As for the enemy's engineers, there is no need to worry. Find some soldiers with accurate marksmanship and ambush them on both sides of the road. Once you see enemy engineers clearing mines on the road, kill them. As long as the enemy's engineers are killed, the remaining infantry will not be a concern. "
Guchakov's explanation made the two guerrilla captains' eyes light up. They never dreamed that there was such a good way to deal with the enemies that scared them, and they suddenly felt a little more confident. After all, the two of them had fought guerrillas behind enemy lines for a long time, and they still had some experience in using guerrilla tactics. The bearded man said excitedly: "We can also bury more enemies in the area where the train derailed, even if there are enemies on the train. If they are not dead yet, they will inevitably step on the mines we planted if they want to leave the accident site. In this way, we can hold off the enemy for a few hours or even a day, and there will be no problem."
"Now that we all understand what to do, let's set off as soon as possible." Guchakov raised his hand and looked at his watch: "It takes a lot of time to buy landmines." After saying that, he stretched out his hand to the two of them, " Wish ya'll good luck!"
A large number of guerrillas moved in the direction of the two stations. Even if they were concealed, there were still so many people that they would still be discovered by the station defenders. Even though most of the troops who stayed at the station had been mobilized to the north, there was still a company of troops left in the station.
As soon as he discovered that a large number of guerrillas were moving towards the station, the German company commander responsible for guarding the Cote Luban Station realized something was wrong and quickly called the battalion commander to report: "Mr. Major, I am the company guarding the Cote Luban Station. Commander, I found a large number of armed men approaching the station from several directions at the same time."
"What, a large number of armed personnel?" When the German battalion commander heard the news, he couldn't help being shocked. He quickly asked: "Can you confirm their identities?"
"I saw from the telescope that except for a few of these people who were wearing Russian military uniforms, they were all wearing civilian clothes, and they had all kinds of weapons in their hands." After the company commander said what he saw, he decisively He made a judgment: "I think they are guerrillas!"
"Damn it, Captain, you're not awake yet, are you?" When the battalion commander heard this, he immediately asked in a skeptical tone: "Do you think a bunch of guerrillas have the guts to attack our heavily guarded station?"
"Mr. Major." The company commander quickly replied: "An hour ago, most of the defenders in the station were transferred away, saying they were going to the north for reinforcements. Now only my company is left in the station."
A large number of guerrillas moved in the direction of the two stations. Even if they were concealed, there were still so many people that they would still be discovered by the station defenders. Even though most of the troops who stayed at the station had been mobilized to the north, there was still a company of troops left in the station.
As soon as he discovered that a large number of guerrillas were moving towards the station, the German company commander responsible for guarding the Cote Luban Station realized something was wrong and quickly called the battalion commander to report: "Mr. Major, I am the company guarding the Cote Luban Station. Commander, I found a large number of armed men approaching the station from several directions at the same time."
"What, a large number of armed personnel?" When the German battalion commander heard the news, he couldn't help being shocked. He quickly asked: "Can you confirm their identities?"
"I saw from the telescope that except for a few of these people who were wearing Russian military uniforms, they were all wearing civilian clothes, and they had all kinds of weapons in their hands." After the company commander said what he saw, he decisively He made a judgment: "I think they are guerrillas!"
"Damn it, Captain, you're not awake yet, are you?" When the battalion commander heard this, he immediately asked in a skeptical tone: "Do you think a bunch of guerrillas have the guts to attack our heavily guarded station?"
"Mr. Major, don't you know?" the company commander quickly replied: "An hour ago, most of the garrison in the station were transferred away, saying they were going to the north for reinforcements. Now only my company is left in the station. troops."
