The decisive battle against the Third Reich

When Qin Chuan said this, the officers basically believed it, because if we follow this line of thinking... problems that would have arisen before, such as the terrain problem of Yerzovka and the problem that Renok was easily attacked and the Soviet army was cut off again None of them exist anymore. The Soviet army will annihilate several German divisions east of Kotluban, including the 21st Armored Division. While establishing contact with Stalingrad, it can also gain a 29-kilometer-long defense depth.

"Interesting!" Colonel Slain said, stroking his chin: "So, the Soviets have become smarter!"

"No!" General Strike said as if he had thought of something: "It's not that the Soviets have become smarter, but that we don't know our opponents... I received intelligence yesterday that Zhukov has taken over Stalinger's position in the Soviet Union. Take command of the two front armies!"

The German officers couldn't help but raise their heads in shock, and then looked at each other with cautious expressions on their faces.

Qin Chuan could understand their expressions. They were originally worried that Stalingrad would be fought like the Battle of Moscow. Now the Soviets sent Zhukov, the commander of the Battle of Moscow, to command the Battle of Stalingrad. Of course, this It will give them chills in their hearts.

"General!" At this moment, the correspondent a few meters away took the phone and said to General Strike: "General Rommel on the phone!"

General Strike gave the officers a meaningful look and then answered the phone.

"Yes, General!" After listening for a while, General Strike replied: "However, we have other ideas about this!"

An hour later, the 21st Armored Division began to prepare nervously, and then drove toward Yerzovka in a mighty manner.

The news soon reached Zhukov's headquarters in Ivanovka... Zhukov had previously contacted Stalingrad and asked them to cooperate with the Air Force in reconnaissance of the 21st Armored Division located in the State Farm.

It is easy to say this but not easy to actually do it, because when the German army completed the semi-encirclement of Stalingrad, they cut off all the telephone lines from Stalingrad to the outside world, including across the Volga River to the southeast. The front army's telephone lines were also blown down. Due to reasons such as being lost, damaged, and malfunctioning during the battle retreat, none of the radio stations could be used. As a result, Stalingrad temporarily lost contact with the outside world.

With no other option, Stalingrad could only make two simple contacts with the outside world through radio stations, until the Southeastern Front braved the fierce bombing blockade by German fighter planes and sent two radio stations to Stalingrad.

The lack and backwardness of communication methods has always been one of the reasons for the slow movement and poor command of the Soviet army. The result in this battle was that the information and intelligence Zhukov could obtain was very limited because it was unable to complete the entire piece of intelligence. chain.

For example, the reconnaissance of the 21st Armored Division should have detected that the 21st Armored Division left the state farm and was driving on the way to Yeltsovka. Then it was discovered that a German tank was participating in the battle in Yeltsovka and was even confirmed to be the 21st Armored Division. Division... Only in this way can we prove that the 21st Armored Division has been fooled.

However, it is impossible to do this with the Soviet communication equipment. Especially during reconnaissance in the German-occupied areas... wired telephones were cut off and there was no radio station at all. Even if someone detected that no tanks were passing by on the way, the intelligence could not be transmitted. Spread the word.

Zhukov originally hoped to use aerial reconnaissance aircraft to ensure the integrity of the intelligence chain, but this hope soon came to nothing, because the German army quickly sent fighter planes to shoot down more than 30 Soviet fighter planes and once again seized air supremacy.

As a result, Zhukov could only pace back and forth in front of the radio station, anxiously waiting for news from the front line.

Finally, Yeremenko raised his head with joy and reported to Zhukov: "Comrade Zhukov, Yerzov's telegram revealed that a large number of enemy tanks have been put into battle, probably the enemy's 21st Armored Division!"

"Yeah!" Zhukov nodded.

What Zhukov was afraid of was the German 21st Armored Division. Before that, he had carefully checked the information of this 21st Armored Division and knew that this armored division had fought all the way in the deserts of North Africa and had rich combat experience and well-equipped equipment... This It refers not only to the fact that this division is equipped with a large number of "Plank IV" tanks, but also that its infantry is equipped with a large number of submachine guns and rocket launchers called MP43 by the Germans.

The former can effectively kill Soviet infantry in a large area, while the latter can penetrate all Soviet tank armor at close range.

As a result, all Soviet armies were vulnerable to this force.

This is also one of the reasons why the Soviet 64th Group Army and the 62nd Group Army were defeated so miserably and so quickly... The 21st Armored Division acted as a sharp spearhead in this battle. After breaking through the 64th Group Army, it was like entering no one's land. They were rushing left and right, and even the armored train that had just rolled off the production line couldn't stop them even for a moment.

And this 21st Armored Division, which made Zhukov gnash his teeth with hatred, happened to be blocking the key point that Zhukov wanted to break through... the state-owned farm.

Therefore, Zhukov of course had to find a way to move it out, hold it back in Yeltsovka, and even use artillery fire to block its way back to reinforcements.

Was the 21st Armored Division fooled? Zhukov was not sure because he knew that this division's performance on the battlefield was very flexible. It was usually the only one who could deceive others, and there were no examples of others deceiving it.

"Comrade Zhukov!" Yeremenko reported with another telegram: "Comrade Zimyev reported that they were stubbornly blocked by the enemy and could not continue the offensive!"

Zimyev was the commander of the 84th Infantry Division attacking in the direction of Yerzovka. Together with it, there was a tank regiment of the 16th Tank Corps.

After hesitating for a while, Zhukov realized that his action was "an arrow on the string and had to be fired", because if he ordered the troops to retreat because of suspicion and did nothing, Stalin, who had been eager to urge him to attack, would definitely ask the reason. , then he would not be able to explain to Stalin.

Therefore, the saying "Don't be suspicious when you employ people, don't be suspicious when you don't use them" is correct.

Sometimes it is not even suspicion. For example, Stalin's previous urging was not suspicion, but concern for the safety of Stalingrad.

But just this will put great psychological pressure on Zhukov, so he will make wrong decisions at critical moments.

"Attack!" Zhukov gritted his teeth and ordered: "Target Kotluban!"

"Yes, Comrade Zhukov!" Yereomenko responded, and then shouted back: "Attack!"

The staff officers and correspondents immediately got busy, each using the phone to convey attack orders to the front line.