Chapter 490: reactions from all parties

  Chapter 490 Reactions from all parties

  The four teams that went deep into the enemy's rear used the rockets they carried to cause a lot of casualties to the German troops in different regions. After dawn, reports of Soviet attacks in different areas were placed in front of Paulus.

Paulus put on his reading glasses, and after carefully reading these reports, he raised his head and looked at the Chief of Staff Schmid standing opposite him, and asked in puzzlement, "The Chief of Staff, the survivors of the attacking troops, all spoke in unison. It is said that they were attacked by Russian artillery. I would like to ask, what kind of artillery the Russians used to attack our army. You must know that their artillery positions are 20 to 30 kilometers away from the location of the attack. They What kind of artillery can hit that far? Also, if they are shelling at close range, why didn't our soldiers notice when their artillery passed our defense line?"

"Your Excellency, Commander," Schmid waited for Paulus to finish speaking, but did not immediately answer the question, and immediately respectfully reported to the other party the incident that a regiment headquarters was attacked two days ago: "Two days ago, the 295th A regimental headquarters of an infantry division was attacked by the Russians, and the regimental headquarters and garrison were destroyed in the attack."

Paulus couldn't help frowning after listening to the chief of staff's report. He took off his reading glasses and threw them on the table, saying displeasedly: "One of our regiment headquarters was wiped out by the Russians, why didn't anyone report it to me?" This news?"

"The report of Dr. Kofes, the commander of the 295th Infantry Division, in order to find out how the Russians attacked the regiment headquarters, he sent special personnel to the site for investigation." Schmid said cautiously: "According to the site investigation The result: the Russians used rockets to carry out the attack, and they also found the firing site of the rockets nearby."

"This is impossible." Paulus couldn't help shouting when he heard this: "The regiment headquarters of the 295th Infantry Division are all located at a position of more than ten or twenty kilometers deep in our defense. At such a long distance, How could our soldiers fail to detect the Russian rocket launcher entering our defense line?"

"Your Excellency, the rockets used by the Russians who launched a sneak attack on our army are different from the rockets we know." Schmid analyzed to Paulus based on the various information he had: "This It should be a new type of rocket. The launcher has a simple, lightweight structure and strong mobility. After the launch is completed, it can be transferred immediately, so that our army cannot detect the location of the Russians."

  Paulus tapped the table lightly with his fingers, thinking about how to deal with the new Soviet rockets. After a long time, he stopped his fingers, looked up at Schmid and asked, "Chief of Staff, is there any way to eliminate the small Russian troops behind our army?"

"Your Excellency, Commander." Schmid knew very well in his heart that if the Soviet troops continue to attack important targets with impunity, it will have a negative impact on the assembly of troops, which will affect the next stage of operations. He said cautiously : "Why don't we mobilize our troops to wipe out the areas where the Russians are found, and resume the frontal attack after eliminating these damned Russians?"

Paulus hummed, thought for a moment, and said: "After a long period of fighting, our troops have lost a lot of personnel, and their weapons and ammunition have also been greatly consumed, so they are ordered to temporarily stop attacking and stick to the occupied positions. At the same time, we will deploy elite troops to clear out the areas where the Russians are infested. It is necessary to eliminate the threat behind our army before a new round of offensive begins. Now I arrange that we should be able to deploy troops to encircle and suppress the Russians. Remember the number of the troops... "

  Schmid hurriedly agreed respectfully, picked up the notebook and wrote down the unit number that Paulus said. After the recording was completed, he asked Paulus again: "Your Excellency, when should the suppression of the small Russian troops begin?"

Paulus raised his hand and looked at his watch: "The encirclement and suppression operation will officially start at 12:00 noon today, and you tell the division commanders below that if you don't want to be attacked by the Russians in the middle of the night, you should expand the search area. After finishing speaking, he waved to Schmid, motioning him to carry out his order immediately.

   Following the order of Paulus, the German attack on the Soviet army stopped, and many troops preparing to participate in the attack were transferred back to the rear to participate in the encirclement and suppression of the Soviet army squad.

  The change of the German army was quickly noticed by the Soviet army. After receiving the report, Chuikov looked at Krylov and asked in bewilderment, "Chief of Staff, tell me why the German offensive stopped?"

   Regarding the abnormal behavior of the German army, Krylov was also at a loss: "What the hell, no matter how many German casualties, but their offensive has never stopped. This is the first time I have seen such a situation today."

   Gurov, who rarely expressed his opinion, couldn't help interjecting, "Could this be a conspiracy?"

   "What conspiracy?" Krylov asked back: "It is indeed a puzzling thing that the German army stopped attacking the city, but what conspiracy can they have?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, do you think the Germans will pretend to stop the attack in order to create a misunderstanding for our army and make us feel that they are unable to attack the city again." Gurov said his judgment without any scruples : "So that our army can relax its vigilance so that we can be caught off guard in the future."

   "It's impossible." Krylov immediately objected to Gurov's statement: "If the Germans deliberately show weakness to us, aren't they worried that we will counterattack them?..."

Krylov's words reminded Gurov. He slapped the table with his hand and said with a sudden realization: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I understand that the Germans stopped attacking the city to show weakness to us on purpose. Trying to lure us into attacking them, so that they can plan to annihilate our army's effective forces in the city. When our army's strength is almost exhausted, they can attack the city again, which can achieve twice the result with half the effort."

   As for the debate between Krylov and Gurov, Chuikov did not participate. He vaguely felt that the abnormal actions of the German army today might have something to do with the squad sent by Sokov last night. Thinking of this, he raised his hand to stop Krylov and the others from continuing to argue, and said, "Stop arguing, I think this matter may have something to do with Lieutenant Colonel Sokov."

   "It's related to Sokov?!" Chuikov's words made the two feel confused, and Krylov asked in puzzlement: "Comrade commander, why do you say that?"

   "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you remember that I called Sokov last night?"

Hearing what Chuikov said, Krylov vaguely remembered that he seemed to have spoken with Mamayev Gang, so he nodded in affirmation, and then asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, if I guessed correctly, what do you think the German army is doing today?" The stop of the attack has something to do with the team that Sokov sent last night?"

   "Well, that's what I think." Chuikov nodded in affirmation. He picked up the phone and put the operator through the Mamayev post, wanting to see for himself what was actually going on.

After the call was made, although he could hear the voice of Sidolin coming from the receiver, Chuikov didn't bother to greet the other party, but asked straight to the point: "Lieutenant Colonel Sidolin, I want to ask, what did you do yesterday?" Is there any news about the small teams that were sent out in the evening?"

  A moment later, Chuikov heard Sidolin's voice trembling with excitement: "Yes, Comrade Commander, we have just received telegrams from several small teams, and they have all achieved good results."

   "Oh, good results have been achieved?!" This may be the good news that Cuikov wanted to hear the most, and he hurriedly asked: "Comrade Sidolin, hurry up and listen!"

"Comrade Commander, let me give you a brief introduction to the results achieved by each squad." Sidolin picked up the battle report on the table and said into the microphone: "The squad of the First Battalion attacked before dawn. A troop carrier convoy of the German army destroyed seven or eight trucks and two tanks, probably causing the death of hundreds of German soldiers; The entire transfer station was engulfed in a sea of ​​flames; the squad of the 4th Battalion attacked a German barracks with rockets. Due to the distance, the results cannot be counted, but the enemy suffered at least dozens of casualties; the squad of the 192nd Battalion... "

After listening to Sidolin read the battle report with great interest, Chuikov said with a smile on his face: "Good job, your soldiers are all good. I really didn't expect that they caused such a big loss to the German army in just one night." At this point, he suddenly remembered that the German army did not launch an attack today, so he asked curiously, "Comrade Sidolin, is the enemy on the opposite side doing anything unusual?"

"Abnormal behavior?" Regarding Chuikov's question, Sidolin thought for a while, and then replied: "According to the report from the observation post on the top of the hill, the enemy in front of our army shows signs of mobilization, and it seems that there is something wrong with their rear. "

"I understand, Comrade Sidolin." As an excellent senior commander, Chuikov can judge the movement of the German army from some clues. The rear was mobilized, so they guessed the matter indistinguishably: "The enemy's mobilization of troops to the rear may be to encircle and suppress the squad you sent, so that they had to temporarily stop their attack on the city."

   Knowing that the enemy is about to take action to encircle and wipe out the small unit that has penetrated behind the enemy's rear, Sidolin was a little anxious: "Comrade commander, what should we do?"

   "You immediately send a telegram to the squad to make them more vigilant." Chuikov told Sidolin: "Use the terrain to deal with the enemy and avoid falling into the enemy's siege."

  (end of this chapter)