Chapter 646 Strategic Deception

At 11 o'clock in the middle of the night, the soldiers of the 21st Armored Division were awakened one by one... They should have used whistles, but the 21st Armored Division tried to keep a low profile this time, although the sound of the tank engine could not be concealed.

After 20 minutes of preparation, the tank troops of the armored division set off under the guidance of the fluorescent lights of the engineers in front.

In the dark, the troops first drove westward, then northward. After five hours of marching, they arrived at the designated area, which was the defense area of ​​the 297th Infantry Division, at four o'clock in the morning.

Here, the 297th Infantry Division had made some preparations for the arrival of the 21st Armored Division in advance, such as paving a road that tanks could pass directly to their positions... There is a big difference in the requirements for roads for tanks and roads for cars, which is determined by the fact that tanks are several times heavier than cars.

Of course, the preparations were not limited to these. The German army had also made some strategic deceptions to the Soviet army before this.

First, the artillery bombardment and attack on the Soviet front line of defense.

The main attack direction was of course the two armored divisions on the right wing.

When the Soviet army was nervously responding, the Don River defense line on the flank suddenly started to roar, and many fighter planes even bombed the port of Karachi with flares.

Lieutenant General Lopatin of the 62nd Soviet Army was shocked to see this situation, because he once suspected that the Germans would force a crossing from the flank, that is, the Don River, because he had already detected that the main force of the German 6th Army was gathering on the other side of the Don River.

"The attack from the south is a strategic deception of the enemy!" Lieutenant General Lopatin made such a judgment at the first time: "Their attack in the direction of the Don River is real!"

"Comrade Lopatin!" Political Commissar Shumiets looked at the time and expressed doubts: "It's four o'clock in the morning, and there is still an hour before dawn. It seems inappropriate for the Germans to launch a forced crossing operation at this time!"

Schumiets was right. The most suitable time for crossing the river should be at night. If it is during the day, the German boats used to cross the river will be clearly visible on the wide river surface. On the other hand, the quality of German soldiers is generally high. They will use tactics such as armed swimming to infiltrate the Soviet coastal defense forces through some small units in advance. The poor quality Soviet army will easily be confused under this tactic, giving the German army an opportunity to take advantage.

The Soviet army has suffered losses in the battle to cross the river in the lower reaches of the Don River.

"They may think that they can successfully cross the river within an hour!" Lopatin replied: "We can't be negligent. The Germans are always unexpected!"

Lopatin is right about this. The German tactics are ever-changing, while the Soviet tactics are rigid and single.

However, what Lopatin didn't expect was that he was once again deceived by the German "ever-changing" tactics.

Lopatin immediately transferred the 169th Tank Brigade, which was originally deployed on the southern defense line, to the direction of Karachi... This was the only Soviet unit on the Don River that could stop the German 21st Armored Division.

At 4:45 in the morning, the sun slowly rose from the east.

The sunrise time was calculated, which is why the German army set the attack time at five in the morning.

For the German army, they have air superiority. If they attack the enemy's defense line with the advantage of armored forces on the left wing, it is more suitable to attack during the day.

On the other hand, the Soviet army cannot find that a large number of German armored forces have moved to the left wing and make them prepare.

Therefore, the most suitable time to attack is at dawn.

With a few bangs, several red flares rose into the sky, and the sound of artillery was heard instantly. More than a dozen bombers and reconnaissance planes also flew over the 21st Armored with a whistle towards the Soviet army... Bombers are used to bomb possible artillery or tanks of the Soviet army. Reconnaissance planes are used to correct the trajectory of artillery and to detect the defense of the Soviet army and report to the German army, which becomes the basis for the German commander to control the situation.

This is the benefit of having air superiority. It can always know more about the situation on the battlefield and make the army ready to respond or strike key targets first. They are like a multiplier of the army's combat effectiveness. The Soviet army that lost air superiority is inevitably like a headless fly and can't figure out the situation. This is also one of the reasons why the Soviet army was always defeated by the German army with fewer troops on the battlefield.

The bombardment lasted for ten minutes... The German army could not bomb for too long, because as mentioned before, the German army was not as fast as the Soviet army in terms of supply and troop replenishment from the beginning. This was determined by the long logistics supply line of the German army and the poor conditions of the Soviet railways and roads. Therefore, the German army always needed to carefully plan every bit of its ammunition.

For example, now, the German army has to consider the attack on Stalingrad in the near future.

General Strike waved his hand, and the German tank crew started the tanks one after another, and then one tank after another drove out of the hidden woods, occasionally knocking down a few birch trees as thick as calves, making a harsh creaking sound, and the camouflage nets draped on the tanks were also torn off by the soldiers at the fastest speed.

The Soviet army on the opposite side was stunned when they saw this scene.

After receiving the report, a captain came out of the command center, lay in front of the trench and looked across with a telescope, and then hurriedly said to the communicator beside him: "Connect to the command center immediately!"

"Yes, comrade captain!"

After the command center was connected, the captain reported to the commander of the Soviet 35th Infantry Division in a roaring voice amid the sound of artillery: "Comrade Grotov, I am a regiment, a large number of enemy tanks are attacking my defense line, request reinforcement, request reinforcement!"

(Note: The regiment commander is usually a major, but the rank will gradually decrease when a large number of officers are killed or wounded. During the most tragic Battle of Stalingrad, a soldier was promoted to battalion commander after surviving for a few days)

"Tanks?" Major General Grotov asked in confusion: "How could there be enemy tanks on your line of defense? How did they get here? Have the Germans built a road to your line of defense?"

The captain realized at this time that the mud in front of his position was indeed not suitable for tank charge, so he slowly stretched his head out to check with the microphone in confusion.

The scene he saw surprised the captain: "Comrade Grotov, they have a kind of tank that lays steel plates on the ground while advancing, and it is only more than 800 meters away from our line of defense!"

Grotov opened his mouth when he heard this. He had heard that the Germans used this method to attack, which was the situation when Kerch Port was captured not long ago, but he did not expect the Germans to use this method on his troops.

"Whatever the method!" Grotov shouted, "We must stop them, even if it means sacrificing our lives, understand?"

"Yes, Comrade Grotov!" the captain responded, and then realized that for them... the final moment had arrived.