Sokov lay on the cot, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. He always felt as if he had forgotten something, but he couldn't remember it for a while. He closed his eyes tightly, thinking silently to himself, wanting to fall asleep as soon as possible. After all, there were only a few hours until dawn. Maybe the German retaliation would begin at dawn, and even if you wanted to sleep by then, you probably wouldn't have time.
Having just counted less than a hundred sheep, Sokov suddenly remembered that when he was in Moscow, he seemed to have seen a battle report saying that Manstein's troops were desperately pushing eastward, trying to join forces with the besieged Paulus troops. Where are they now? If the commander of the blocking force could send an elite force to attack the enemy's rear, it would be possible to contain Manstein's forces and prevent him from making an all-out assault to the east.
When he thought of sending troops to attack the enemy's rear, Sokov immediately remembered something he had forgotten. From the moment I came back to now, I actually forgot to ask Xidorin and the others whether the squad led by Guchakov had achieved any results behind enemy lines?
Thinking of this, Sokov sat up. He didn't even have time to put on his boots, so he walked quickly towards the headquarters with bare feet and boots, hoping to get information about Guchakov as soon as possible.
When Sokov walked to the division headquarters, he found that not only Sidorin and Ivanov were there, but also the division chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Anisimov. He quickly walked up to the three of them and asked Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, look at my memory, I actually forgot about Captain Guchakov who was active behind enemy lines. What did they achieve after going deep into enemy lines?" Result?"
Upon hearing Sokov's question, the three of them did not speak, but looked at each other. Then Sidorin showed a proud look on his face, while Ivanov and Anisimov showed a disappointed look on their faces. Then the two of them sighed, each took out a pack of cigarettes from their bags and threw them on the table. Sidorin grabbed two packs of cigarettes and put them into his pocket without ceremony.
The actions of the three people made Sokov puzzled: "Can any of you tell me what is going on?"
"Comrade division commander, let me tell you." Anisimov said with some embarrassment: "The three of us made a bet to guess when you will remember Captain Guchakov's team. The chief of staff said before dawn , you can remember it; and the opinion of the deputy division commander and I is that you can’t remember that small team until after dawn at the earliest.”
"You actually bet on me?" Sokov said, somewhat dumbfounded.
"Comrade Commander, please forgive me." Ivanov said with a smile: "Staying in the tunnel all day, life is really boring, so I need to find something to entertain myself."
"Okay, I don't have to pursue the matter you made a bet with me." Sokov sat down at the table, bent over to put on his boots, and asked: "Can any of you tell me, Captain Guchakov led With the troops deep behind enemy lines, what results have been achieved?"
"Comrade Division Commander," Sidorin said seriously: "After Guchakov and his team sensed the Gumlak area, they used rockets to attack two German barracks and a material storage point from a long distance. Although there was no It can destroy valuable command structures. However, according to the monitoring of superior telecommunications units, it was discovered that the enemy’s headquarters has disappeared from the area.”
Hearing this, Sokov asked tentatively: "Chief of Staff, do you mean that the activities of Guchakov's squad in the Gumlak area scared the German headquarters and had to relocate?"
"Exactly like this." It was a great thing that the small team he sent could scare Paulus so much that he had to move his headquarters: "Because the rockets carried by Captain Guchakov have been exhausted. Anyway, a few days ago, I ordered them to withdraw. The team's losses were not great, only three people were killed and nine were injured."
Knowing that Guchakov had returned safely, Sokov felt much more at ease. He stared at the map and asked Sidorin: "Chief of Staff, when I was in Moscow, I heard that Manstein sent out his army to march eastward desperately, trying to rush over to join Paulus's troops. Where have they advanced now? "
"Here." Sidorin quickly pointed to a place name on the map and said to Sokov: "According to the information I received from the Army Headquarters, yesterday, that is, December 24, Manstein's troops were attacking Morozovka, which is only a few dozen kilometers away from Paulus’ troops.”
Hearing the name Morozovka, Sokov frowned and thought about it for a while. He felt that in real history, Manstein, who rescued Paulus, seemed to have only progressed to this position in order to prevent being encircled by the Soviet army. , had to give up the rescue and shrink back obediently.
"Comrade Commander," Sokov was deep in thought when he suddenly heard Anisimov's voice: "Do you think Paulus will escape?"
"Paulus wants to escape from our encirclement?" Sokov has basically determined in his heart that Manstein's attack is at the end of its strength. If he continues to advance eastward, let alone rescuing Paulus, he himself may be killed. The danger of encirclement. To be on the safe side, he could only stop the rescue and docilely withdraw from the area that might be surrounded. Precisely because of his understanding of this period of history, Sokov pointed to the map on the table and pretended to analyze the three of them: "Look at the situation between the enemy and ourselves on the map, don't look at Manstein's rescue force and Paulus's There are only dozens of kilometers between the troops. But for them, these dozens of kilometers are an insurmountable chasm."
"But the Germans attacked very fiercely." Sidorin frowned and said, "Although our friendly forces put up tenacious resistance, they still could not stop the German army from advancing eastward."
"Look at the map. Due to Manstein's rapid advance, he has penetrated too far into the depth of our defense." Sokov continued: "Once our troops on the left and right launch an attack, Manstein will be surrounded. Possibility. As an excellent commander of the German army, he will never make such a mistake. Therefore, I think he may give up the eastward advance plan at any time and withdraw his troops to their original starting positions."
"Comrade Division Commander," all three of them were suspicious of Sokov's statement. Ivanov frowned and asked: "Do you really think that Manstein's troops will retreat at this time? ?”
"That's for sure, Comrade Deputy Division Commander." Sokov replied in a positive tone: "Since we can surround Paulus's army of more than 300,000 people, then we can also surround the hundreds of thousands of people commanded by Manstein. Presumably there won’t be much difficulty.”
"If Manstein's troops are encircled again, then there will be at least 400,000 enemy prisoners in our encirclement." Sidorin began to count on his fingers how many troops would be needed to guard these prisoners.
Sokov saw Sidorin's thoughts, waved his hand to him, and said: "Chief of Staff, don't count how many prisoner of war camps we need to build to hold such a large number of prisoners of war. The enemy will not surrender easily. Yes, to destroy these enemies, a huge price will inevitably be paid. Therefore, the time of this battle will definitely not be too short."
"After completing the encirclement of the Paulus Group, General Vatutin's Southwest Front Army no longer participated in the offensive, but General Golikov's Voronezh Front Army dealt with Manstein who came for reinforcements," Ivanov pointed out. Looking at the map, he said to Sokov: "The only troops left to encircle and annihilate the Paulus Group were General Rokossovsky's Don Front Army and our Stalingrad Front Army. Manstein's attack made our army Paulus's encirclement and annihilation operations had to be temporarily stopped and sufficient troops were deployed to deal with enemy reinforcements.
Yesterday, the troops of the 51st Group Army faced the crazy German attack. Although they put up tenacious resistance, they were unfortunately repelled. "
Although Ivanov did not explain how far the troops of the 51st Army were pushed back, Sokov knew very well that the troops of the Army retreated at least five to ten kilometers. Although the battle was defeated, it was not necessarily a bad thing. The front line of Manstein's troops was stretched and they had to mobilize enough troops to defend the places they had just occupied. In this way, their offensive power was weakened, and it was obviously unrealistic to continue to advance in the subsequent battle. On the contrary, they are in danger of being surrounded at any time. And the person directing the battle in that direction is Zhukov. I believe he can formulate arrangements that would make Manstein terrified.
…………
After daybreak, the German army indeed retaliated against the positions of the 41st Guards Division. They dispatched more than 40 bombers and carried out indiscriminate bombing on the positions defended by the three Guards regiments.
After receiving a call from Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko, Sokov said calmly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, don't worry. The German army is really the last madness. They don't have enough fuel and ammunition to support the crazy attack. You Commanders and soldiers must be ordered to resolutely resist the enemy."
After Sokov said this, he was deeply afraid that Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko would turn the battle into a war of attrition, so he specifically told him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, let me remind you that in battle, you must know how to preserve own strength. If the first line of defense cannot be defended, immediately withdraw to the second line of defense. After all, there are solid fortifications there, as well as minefields and barbed wire. Even if the Germans want to attack, it will probably cost a lot of money. strength."
As soon as the phone was put down, Lieutenant Colonel Starcha's call came in. He also told Sokov that his position had been bombed by German aircraft, and that according to reports from observation posts, the German army was gathering tanks and infantry. It seems that they are preparing to storm the position.
"I understand, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Sokov said calmly: "This is the last madness of the Germans, so you must find a way to hold on to your position and eliminate as many of the enemy's effective forces as possible."
While Sokov was encouraging his men, Chuikov's call came in. He asked nervously: "Colonel Sokov, I know that the enemy is indiscriminately bombing the positions of three Guards regiments. You Give me a word of truth, can you hold your position?"
Chuikov asked this because after the Battle of Stalingrad began, he saw so-called solid positions more than once. Before the crazy German attack, they were like paper and were destroyed without much effort.
"Please rest assured, Comrade Commander." Sokov waited for Chuikov to finish speaking and then assured him: "I have given orders to the troops. If the enemy's offensive is too fierce, they can retreat after consuming a large amount of the enemy's effective forces. Go to the second line of defense and continue the defense.”
"What?" Chuikov couldn't help but frown when he heard this, "Are you planning to let the troops retreat?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Sokov felt that he should explain it to Chuikov, lest he think that he was greedy for life and feared death, so he issued such an order to the commanders and soldiers without permission. He quickly explained: "I plan to order the troops to attack on the second day. The first line of defense is a tenacious defense. Moreover, the artillery deployed on the left bank can intercept enemies attacking the second line of defense with intensive artillery fire, which will help our army defend its position."
"Well, since you said so, then I agree with your plan." Chuikov said reasonably: "According to the intelligence just obtained, Manstein and Holt's troops are desperately rushing towards Stalingrad, trying to fight with The Paulus troops who are besieged here join forces. If you can hold off the enemy's attack, it will be a great achievement."
"According to the reports of the commanders of each regiment, the enemy has assembled a large number of troops and technical equipment in front of their positions." Sokov said without changing his face: "But I think our commanders and fighters are completely confident that they can block the Germans." Crazy offensive.”
"Colonel Sokov, you must not take it lightly." Chuikov said on the phone: "You know, the Germans have much more troops and technical equipment than you."
After finishing his call with Chuikov, Sokov said to the three people in front of him: "As soon as the bombing ends, the Germans will launch an attack on our positions. According to reports from the front, the enemy has assembled a large number of tanks and armored vehicles. It seems that they are preparing to launch the final attack."
"The enemy has so many tanks, can our soldiers stop them?" Sidorin asked tentatively.
"The enemy's tanks are not scary. Our rocket launchers are designed to deal with enemy tanks and armored vehicles." When Sokov said this, he immediately remembered a person he had forgotten: "Where is Lieutenant Seryosha?"
"It should be in the 124th Guards Regiment." Sidorin said in an uncertain tone: "After all, from the time they entered the position until now, they have basically not achieved any results?"
"What, they've been stationed in the position for more than a month, why haven't they seen any results yet?"
"Comrade division commander, you can't blame me for this." Sidorin said with a bit of laughter: "The enemy's recent attacks are basically based on infantry, and not many tanks have been invested. Therefore, the troops commanded by Lieutenant Seryosha have no What opportunity to engage in anti-tank warfare."
"Get in touch with Seryosha immediately and let them prepare." Sokov told Sidorin: "I hope their performance on the battlefield will never disappoint me."
