Chapter 200 Battle of Dahequ Tribe (13)
Although he had a pessimistic estimate of the situation, the actual situation reported by the 21st Army's armies and divisions was even worse than Chistyakov had imagined. By 10 o'clock in the morning, two sharp armored spearheads had easily pierced the army's ribs, and several divisions that could not be contacted had actually been defeated by the Germans. His stupid order to hold on in place exacerbated this mistake: holding on meant that the divisions attacked by the Germans faced an attack by superior forces, while the troops that were not attacked could not leave the existing defense area to help resist. Since the direction of the German attack could not be accurately determined, even if the friendly troops had the strength, they dared not act on their own, because no one knew whether they would become the next target of the attack after leaving the position. If they acted on their own and caused a comprehensive collapse, the consequences would be even more serious. All command and mobilization depended entirely on the command of the army headquarters, but the headquarters did not know the German combat objectives, so the orders issued were of course blind.
After losing unified and effective overall command, the combat effectiveness of the troops depends on the ability of individual troops. Now it is not an attack by army against army, or even by division against division, but an attack by battalion against battalion and company against company. The German army also faces the problem of decentralized command system after the dispersed assault, but their excellent tactical level has played an efficient role - this is also the most fundamental starting point when Manstein made the plan, and it is also the greatest confidence that he dared to use 160,000 to besiege 140,000.
The rigid and rigid command system of the Red Army and the recruits with no combat experience usually swarmed and exploded when they encountered a surprise attack. Even if they had some veterans as the core, the weak and lack of professional officers still could not control the troops. In this regard, German officers were all formally trained and tested, and the proportion of veterans in the troops was high. They often launched and fought suddenly out of instinct and did not rely entirely on unified command. If it was a regular positional battle, even if the 160,000 German troops had some advantages in manpower, they would not be able to quickly eliminate the Red Army in front of them. However, when the 160,000 German troops and the 140,000 Red Army were mixed together to fight a chaotic battle, the difference in tactical level was immediately judged, and the result of the battle was also clear.
Take the 44th Infantry Division of the German second wave of assault troops as an example. After the two companies were dispersed, they annihilated a Red Army battalion through clever flank cooperation, and then gathered into a battle group and cooperated with other battalions to gnaw another Red Army battalion. The local advantage was like a snowball, and the loopholes in the 21st Army's defense line were getting bigger and bigger. If you look down at the battlefield situation from the air at this moment, the German attack is as easy as ink penetrating white paper. At first, it was a little black, and then it penetrated and eroded the white - although it was not very uniform, with some deep and some shallow, and there were still faint white spots in the middle. The final development goal is to dye the entire white paper black.
After the pontoon bridge was destroyed, the German troops in front and the Don River around the bend formed a natural encirclement of the Red Army. This is why Manstein did not try to deploy troops to build an encirclement along the river. As long as the control of the Don River waters is in his own hands, the Don River is like a natural chain that traps the enemy, especially the bend, which is small in area and flat in terrain, with almost no defense. The Red Army facing the German armored assault will either be driven into the river or quickly eliminated, and there is no need to go to great lengths to encircle it. More importantly, in the offensive campaign against Stalingrad in July and August, the Don River bend had allowed the German army to encircle 12 divisions of the Red Army, and all generals were familiar with the geographical characteristics of this area.
Zhukov's mind was much clearer than Chistyakov's. After learning that the German warships destroyed the pontoon bridge and controlled the key waters of the Don River, he immediately judged that the overall goal of the German army at that stage must be to destroy the entire 21st Army. Although no one has reported that the army was surrounded, looking at the natural encirclement formed by the 400-meter-wide Don River on the map, he always had a bad premonition and frowned.
After careful consideration, in addition to strictly ordering the Air Force to destroy the relevant ships on the river in accordance with Stalin's request, he immediately issued three orders in the name of the General Staff:
First, the 21st Army was required to immediately stop the attack, shrink the defense, and squeeze out the German troops that had infiltrated the army as soon as possible;
Second, it was made clear that the relevant troops of the 24th Army that had successfully crossed the river would be separated from Galanin's command and transferred to the command of Chistyakov's 21st Army, so as to maximize the strength of the army in the Don River bend and achieve unified dispatch;
Third, the Southwestern Front in the upper Don River and the Stalingrad Front in the lower Don River were strictly ordered to intensify the offensive and cross the river at all costs. In his opinion, it was a good opportunity for the remaining troops to advance in depth when the main force of the German army was attracted to the river bend - either to force the German army to return for reinforcement, or to break through the German flank defense and attack Rostov directly. If Rostov could be captured as soon as possible and the remaining troops of the Southern Army Group entrenched there could be eliminated, Comrade Stalin probably wouldn't mind losing the 21st Army - that would be a valuable sacrifice.
While Zhukov was in charge of the General Staff, Vasilevsky flew to the 8th Air Force Army to arrange for the destruction of the German warships on the Don River and arrange air cover. Now these destroyers and shallow-water gunboats have become the biggest threat to the 21st Army's restoration of contact with the 24th Army. Several attempts to build pontoon bridges have failed, and a large number of infantry and artillery have fallen on both sides of the river bend.
Not long after he walked to the headquarters, he heard a loud voice inside getting angry: "Major Vasily Dzhugashvili, the recent combat situation of the air formation under your command is simply terrible. 24 pilots failed to shoot down even one Flying an enemy plane, the entire 8th Air Force Army will be disgraced by you!"
"What?" Vasilevsky was shocked. He was most familiar with the name Vasily Dzhugashvili - he was the son of Comrade Stalin. Is there anyone in the Eighth Army who dares to reprimand Stalin’s son in person? When did the air force generals become so capable? He took a closer look and found that it was General Novikov who was in charge of the Air Force. When he thought of the other party's cannon temper, he was immediately relieved and thought: This is probably the only senior general who dares to speak out for justice, right?
Sokolov, commander of the 8th Air Force Group, stood aside awkwardly. He did not notice Vasilevsky's arrival. His attention was all on the reprimand just now, but now he could not defend Vasily. I was really in a dilemma because I couldn't stop my immediate boss from getting angry.
Novikov came to the 8th Army for a routine inspection. He became angry when he heard the gossip. Although he was facing the son of the supreme leader, he still dared to criticize this playboy's shortcomings.
Major Vasily was also stunned. This was the first time he met a senior officer who dared to speak to him like this. Usually those high-ranking major generals and lieutenant generals surrounded him like a lap dog, let alone criticizing him in person. No one said a word, everyone supported him and complimented him, so his anger gathered unconsciously. Of course, he had received a minimum military education and had a sense of honor as a soldier. He did not dare to be too presumptuous when facing the commander of the air force, but it was not his way to just stand up to scolding. He thought for a long time and accepted it without saltiness. One sentence: "Although we have not shot down many enemy aircraft recently, we have also completed other tasks such as harassment and reconnaissance, and the losses of our formation are minimal... From the beginning of the year to now, we have only lost 2 comrades, and many other squadrons have It has been completely wiped out by the Germans..."
Novikov was so angry that he was almost speechless. For the first time, he realized that he had underestimated the shamelessness of this playboy. Why did Vasily's formation suffer so little loss? Because he was always well protected and had the lowest dispatch frequency, even in the Red Army. When the aircraft fleet was dispatched when they had air superiority, the main leaders of the aviation division and the group army specifically asked other units to cover them and let the fighter jets cover the fighter jets. It was really a shame for them to do this!
Of course, there are also senior generals who have followed suit and put their nephews who are pilots into this special team. On the one hand, they are trying to build a relationship with Vasilil. On the other hand, they also understand that this formation has a special status. Following him has the least risk and death. The lowest possibility - in the Red Army team where the average flight life of pilots is only more than 100 hours, surviving is a victory.
Speaking of which, Vasily is the undisputed boss in the formation, not only because of his special status and the right words and deeds, but also because he is an experienced pilot with relatively outstanding technical skills. Before the war, he was already a fighter pilot who graduated from a regular air force school. In the second year of the war, pilots with such qualifications were already quite rare. There were only two pilots with such qualifications and only two victories, and there were probably very few pilots in the entire Red Army.
Seeing that the two were about to quarrel, Vasilevsky quickly stepped forward to break the deadlock and tried to smooth things over with Xiao Xin: "This... there are many factors for the unsatisfactory record. The Germans are relatively strong, and our troops are relatively young and experienced. The responsibility for the lack of enemy annihilation does not lie with the commander alone. Comrade Vasily's ability to ensure that the troops did not suffer losses and his achievements in ground support and other tasks also show that he is working hard. Of course, he is the best. The leader's son, Major Vasily should do better and achieve greater results. Comrade Novikov has placed high expectations on you. These words just now are not so much criticism as they are his higher encouragement and encouragement for you. Require."
Seeing Comrade Vasilevsky come out to smooth things over in person, Sokolov's anxious heart finally relaxed. He secretly gave Vasilevsky a thumbs up in his heart. He is worthy of being a great man who can be the Chief of General Staff. The ability to grow two-headed and thin mud is really not something that can be mastered easily.