|||->->The division chief of staff quickly raised his telescope and looked in the direction Lenski said. Just then, I saw an object dragging white smoke fly out of the crater and directly hit a moving tank, blowing it into a fireball.
"Your Excellency, division commander, this is not a Russian anti-tank gun." The division chief of staff put down the telescope and turned to Lensky and said: "The flight path of the artillery shell cannot be seen. I guess this is some kind of anti-tank weapon newly developed by the Russians. "
"Damn Russians." Lensky heard his chief of staff say something, cursed angrily, and asked: "Tell me, how should we deal with this new weapon of the Russians?"
"Your Excellency, Division Commander, I think our first task is to withdraw the offensive troops." The division chief of staff suggested to Lensky: "It will not be too late to restart the offensive after we figure out how to deal with the Russians' new weapons. "
Lenski looked into the distance. Although his tanks were constantly being destroyed by the Russians' new weapons, the infantry was only three hundred meters away from the opponent's position. If he retreated at this time, the previous efforts would be in vain.
Seeing Lenski's hesitation, the division chief of staff reminded him: "Your Excellency, division commander, due to the shortage of fuel and artillery shells, we have concentrated the fuel and artillery shells of the remaining tanks on these tanks. If they all attack during the attack, If it is lost, our division will have no usable tanks.”
If an armored division doesn't have tanks, can it still be called an armored division? The words of the division chief of staff made Lenski become cautious. After weighing the pros and cons, he finally issued the order: "Let the attacking troops withdraw temporarily."
But by the time Lenski's order to retreat reached every tank, five more tanks had been destroyed by rocket launchers and were left burning on the battlefield. The tank soldiers who escaped from the tank did not run far before they were killed by snipers from the Soviet position. Perhaps in other armies, using snipers to deal with enemy tank soldiers is a bit too luxurious, but in the Belkin Regiment, as long as the enemy can be eliminated, let alone a few snipers, they will not hesitate to use new rocket attacks. . Moreover, tank soldiers are all professional arms. Every time a German tank soldier is killed, there is one less person who can drive a tank. Even if the German army adds new tanks, no one can drive them.
After the German offensive troops withdrew, the infantry did not suffer many casualties. On the contrary, the tanks that opened the way in front suffered heavy losses. Of the twenty tanks, only six were able to retreat. In addition to those destroyed by rocket launchers, two broke down during the retreat. The tank crew was worried about being attacked by Soviet rocket launchers, so they voluntarily abandoned the malfunctioning tank and withdrew with the infantry.
The commanders of the various regiments summoned by Lensky all knew the news of the failure of the attack. At the beginning of the meeting, Baron Edelsheim first raised his own question: "Your Excellency, division commander, I don't understand why the attack on the Russians failed?" What he meant was that in such a situation where tanks are so suitable for combat, In this area, even if they could not break through the Soviet defenses, they would not be beaten so badly.
Lenski glanced at him and said with a wry smile: "Your Excellency, the Russians have a new anti-tank weapon that can destroy our tanks from a long distance. If they don't eliminate this weapon of theirs, we will launch another attack." Repeated attacks may not have any effect."
"New anti-tank weapon?" Since the Soviet army has only used rocket launchers on a large scale in barricade factories so far. The 306th Infantry Division, which was badly beaten by Soviet rocket launchers, naturally would not talk about such embarrassing things everywhere, so that the vast majority of German commanders so far do not know that the Soviet army has a new type of anti-tank weapon. Since Lensky didn’t know, Baron Edelsheim was even more unclear. He even asked in a confused manner: “Your Excellency, Division Commander, is it that the Russian anti-tank guns were regarded by our soldiers as some kind of New weapons."
"It's not an anti-tank gun." The division chief of staff stood up and shook his head. "The Russians who use this kind of anti-tank weapon always hide in the craters in front of their positions. When they see our tanks approaching, they stand up. Carry out an attack. According to my observation, the attack distance of this new weapon is about one hundred meters."
"I called you here today just to work out a way to deal with this new anti-tank weapon of the Russians." Lensky added: "As long as their anti-tank weapon is eliminated, our division will We can continue to advance south and cut off the defenders of Mamayev Heights who are advancing."
If Lensky had not mentioned Mamayev Kurgan, probably no one present would have thought of Sokov. When I heard Lensky talking about it, a grenadier regiment commander immediately remembered the matter and asked quickly: "Your Excellency, division commander, I would like to ask, which Russian unit is blocking us?"
The leader's words stopped Lensky. So far, he really doesn't know who his opponent is. He could only say vaguely: "According to the original reconnaissance information, those holding this area should be the militiamen from the Red October Factory."
After hearing this, the regiment commander sneered, and then said: "Your Excellency, division commander, do you think this improvised mob can stop our tanks' attack? Since they can repel our attack so easily, I think There must be elite Russian troops deployed on the position."
"What, the Russian elite troops?!" The commander's words shocked everyone present. Edelsheim stood up and said tremblingly: "It can't be Sokov's troops, right?"
Edelsheim's words made everyone shiver. For them, Sokov's troops were a nightmare. Not only did they kill a regiment commander and battalion commander in their own division at the beginning of the war. In the fighting in recent months, the troops have suffered heavy casualties. When the troops were transferred away from the area fighting Sokov's troops, there were even officers and soldiers drinking to celebrate. Unexpectedly, after such a long time, he would have to fight Sokov's troops again, which Lensky could not tolerate.
Thinking of this, Lensky quickly ordered the Chief of Staff: "Chief of Staff, immediately send out reconnaissance personnel to conduct reconnaissance on the Russian position in front of our division, and find out which Russian unit is holding this area?"
The division chief of staff realized the seriousness of the problem and did not dare to neglect. He quickly got up and called the division's reconnaissance department, asking them to immediately send personnel to conduct reconnaissance on the Russian garrison in front and find out the number of that unit.
In order to stabilize the morale of the army, Lensky said with a forced smile: "Don't be nervous, everyone. It is unlikely that the Russians on the front of our division are Sokov's troops."
Hearing what Lenski said, Edelsheim couldn't help but asked curiously: "Your Excellency, why do you say that?"
"It's very simple." Lensky walked to the wall, pointed to a map hanging on the wall, and said to everyone: "As far as I know, Sokov's 41st Guards Division has four regiments. Now, His three regiments were used to attack our 71st and 76th Divisions located in front of Mamayev Hill and had occupied most of the areas; while the other regiment was deployed at the barricade factory. Since the four regiments are located It’s been confirmed, do you think Sokov can still create new troops?”
The officers were initially wary of the defenders in front of them, fearing that it was actually Sokov's troops. Not only would their attack not be successful, but they would lose troops and generals. However, after listening to Lensky's analysis, everyone felt that their division commander was right. Sokov only had four regiments under his command, and they were all deployed in important areas. Where could there be any excess troops for their frontal operations? defense. Maybe there are troops transferred by the Russians from other areas ahead. As long as they find a way to deal with the new anti-tank weapons, they can launch another attack.
"Let's talk about it." After Lensky returned to his position from the wall and sat down, he looked at his group of subordinates and asked: "What method should we use to deal with the Russian anti-tank weapons."
"Your Excellency, division commander," as soon as Lensky finished speaking, the artillery regiment commander stood up and asked cautiously: "Can I tell you my opinion?"
"Okay." Lenski nodded at the other party, stretched out his hand and made a gesture, indicating that the other party would continue: "Tell me what you think and see if it will be helpful for the next attack."
"According to the description just now, the Russians have hidden their anti-tank weapons in craters in front of their positions. We can bombard those craters with artillery fire." The artillery regiment commander said excitedly: "Use artillery fire to destroy these anti-tank weapons."
"No, Mr. Colonel, your method is not applicable." Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, the division chief of staff shook his head and retorted: "As far as I can see, this kind of anti-tank weapon of the Russians is A kind of individual weapon. If they are bombarded by our army, they may retreat to the trenches to hide. Moreover, our current artillery shell reserves are limited. Once all the artillery shells are used up, we will not be able to get artillery fire in the next battle. support.”
…………
While Lensky and his men were discussing how to deal with the Belkin Regiment, the telecommunications department of the Southwest Front monitored frequent radio signals in the Gumlak area, which should be the location of the German Army Group Headquarters. The news was first reported to the front army. Vatutin felt that the matter was too big and did not dare to make the decision without authorization, so he reported it to Vasilevsky and the Supreme Command.
After Stalin learned that the German Army Group Headquarters might be in the Gumlak area, he immediately called Vasilevsky and asked him: "Comrade Chief of General Staff, how likely do you think the German Army Headquarters is in the Gumlak area?" ?”
"Comrade Stalin," Vasilevsky replied respectfully: "Two days ago, our telecommunications monitoring department noticed that there was busy radio activity in Gumlak. However, due to the reception of Rokossovsky Intelligence came in that the German headquarters might be located in Nizhny Chilskaya in the Nizhny Chir River basin, so all attention was shifted in this direction.”
Stalin glanced at the map spread out on the table and said thoughtfully: "Comrade Vasilevsky, do you think this is possible? In fact, the German headquarters has always been in the Gumlak area. The radio waves that appeared in the Chilskaya area may be a bait for the enemy to cause our troops to misjudge and choose the wrong attack direction."
After Stalin's reminder, Vasilevsky felt that this was indeed possible. Based on the analysis of the situation between the enemy and ourselves on the map, Rokossovsky's vanguard would have at most half a day to reach Nizhny Chilska. Ya. With the greedy and fearful character of German officers, they would never locate their headquarters so close to the front line. After thinking about this matter, Vasilevsky nodded and said in agreement: "You are right, Comrade Stalin. It is entirely possible that the enemy has set up a confusion array for us to make us confused about the specific location of their headquarters. It is possible that General Rokossovsky was deceived.”
Seeing that Vasilevsky agreed with his opinion, Stalin showed a satisfied smile on his face. He lit his pipe, held it in his mouth and asked: "So, my comrade Chief of General Staff, what are you going to do? "
"Order all the troops participating in the counterattack to carry out a centripetal attack on the Gumlak area." Vasilevskiy stared closely at the location of the Gumlak area and said through gritted teeth: "Since Paulus has sent the commander The headquarters is here, so we will concentrate our efforts to capture this place first and see where else he can run."
"Once our army captures the Gumlak area," Stalin tapped the map twice with his hand and said, "Even if Paulus is not captured alive by us, he will have no choice but to flee to the city. As long as he enters the city, Just stop thinking about leaving Stalingrad alive."
"I understand, Comrade Stalin." Vasilevsky replied respectfully: "I immediately gave orders to the troops of the three fronts to launch a centripetal attack on the Gumlak area."
…………
At around two o'clock in the afternoon, the German scouts reported the situation to Lensky via the radio and confirmed that the troops holding the front position were Sokov's reduced regiment, but it was not known when they came from the barricade. The factory withdrew and quietly moved into what is now a defensive position.
Knowing that the defenders on the front were Sokov's most elite shrinking regiment, the muscles on Lensky's face twitched violently. He knew very well that if he wanted to break through the defense line held by this unit, he would probably have to use up all the remaining tanks. Since we can't attack, we can only choose to retreat.
However, he retreated without permission from Paulus. He was afraid that after jumping out of the Russian encirclement, he would be sent to a military court. Because of this consideration, Lensky was in a dilemma.
"Your Excellency, Division Commander," just when Lenski was at a loss what to do, the division chief of staff came over with a telegram and said to Lenski with a puzzled look on his face: "We just received a telegram from the Army Group Headquarters, ordering us to stop in Ma Operations in the direction of Mayevgan were immediately transferred to the direction of Orlovka.”
For Lensky, Paulus's order to retreat was a timely blessing. He didn't even have time to figure out why the other party issued such an order, so he couldn't wait to order the chief of staff of the division: "Chief of Staff, immediately issue an order to all units and ask them to seize the time to move to Orlovka."
The division chief of staff naturally understood Lensky's psychology, and he was looking forward to no longer having to deal with Sokov's troops. Now that the division commander had given the order to retreat, he agreed unequivocally and turned around to call the commanders of each regiment.
