USSR 1941

  Chapter 685 Accident

  At seven o'clock in the morning, as three red flares rose into the sky, the Soviet army's counterattack began.

  In an instant, thousands of guns burst into flames.

   Rockets, howitzers, mortars... Shells of various calibers poured towards the opposite bank of the Don River with different trajectories and different whistles.

At this time, Shulka couldn't tell whether the "rumbling" sound was the sound of the shells popping out of the barrel or the explosion sound of the shells hitting the enemy's position. He only knew that the whole ground was shaking, and there were unbearable loud noises everywhere. , can't hide and can't avoid it.

   If it can be avoided, it is to plug the ears with something, but in fact this does not have much effect, because the sound has exceeded the scope of sound insulation.

   Soon, you will feel dizzy and nauseous.

  At that time, I would think that even if these shells hit the enemy, it is best to stop.

   But the sound of the artillery did not stop, and the shelling lasted for a full 90 minutes.

From this point of view, the preparations of the Soviet army are still very sufficient, and the first round of shelling can last for 90 minutes. This is not easy when the Soviet army's industrial retreat is tense and the battle of Stalingrad is still lively. .

However, this is more because the Soviet commanders think that crossing the river is very important. If they are blocked on the Don River, it will cause a lot of trouble and even be blocked here, so they are willing to spend so much money on this step. Many shells.

   As for being fully prepared...it's really hard to say.

  Because it didn't take long for Shulka to know that only the 51st Army was actually launching the attack.

To be exact, only the 51st Army Group launched the attack on time... Yeremenko, Commander of the Stalingrad Front Army, considered the weather, which is what Shulka considered, and the Soviet Army's landing operations under such circumstances may have difficulty.

  Therefore, Ye Liaomenko temporarily decided to postpone the offensive plan for two hours, that is, until 9 o'clock in the morning.

  If it was 9 o'clock in the morning, it wouldn't be a big problem. After an hour and a half of artillery preparation, it would be 10:30, and even if there was light rain, it would be bright enough to provide better visibility for the attacking troops.

  The problem is that the temporary delay of the offensive plan was not notified to the 51st Army.

   Later investigations revealed that the staff officer had sent the wrong telegram. He sent two telegrams to the 57th Army that had delayed the plan, but thought that one of them was sent to the 51st Army.

  When Shulka knew this, he couldn't help but lamented the nerves of the Soviets again: This is an entire army group, and such an important telegram has not been confirmed.

   Then, Yeremenko was taken aback when the gunfire from the 51st Army suddenly sounded, and he immediately called Major General Trufanov, the commander of the army.

   "What's going on?" Yelymenko asked angrily, "Who told you to open fire?"

   Yelymenko thought it was the 51st Army's lurking exposure, so he didn't hold his breath.

  Major General Trufanov was trained in a daze.

   "Isn't it time to attack?" Major General Trufanov replied: "We have received an order to attack on time at seven o'clock!"

   "Seven o'clock? You haven't received an order to delay the plan?" Yeremenko seemed to realize where the problem was.

"No, we have not received the delay order, Comrade Yeremenko!" Major General Trufanov couldn't help but change his face. He knew what this meant for the 51st Army, which meant that the 51st Army might have to face it independently. Against the enemy across the river.

   Yelymenko also knew the seriousness of the situation, but there was nothing he could do about it.

   "So..." Trufanov asked again after a while: "The new attack time is... shall we stop shelling? We are only preparing for artillery fire, and have not launched an attack!"

   "No!" Yelymenko denied this option without even thinking about it: "You continue to attack. According to the original plan, we will launch an attack in two hours!"

   "Yes, Comrade Yeremenko!" Hearing this, Major General Trufanov couldn't help letting go of his heart, because two hours is still an acceptable range.

   Yelymenko's decision was correct, because at this time the Soviet army's offensive plan had actually been exposed...A bombardment on the scale of an army group, even a fool knew that it was a full-scale attack.

  If the bombardment were to stop at this point, the whole battle would become a lame joke, and the enemy could prepare for two hours of defense without any pressure.

  At the same time, with the current communication level of the Soviet army, it is very difficult to notify units that have been scattered to the front and some units that are still radio silent to stop and delay the attack.

If this is done, it is inevitable that some units in the 51st Army will receive orders and some units will not receive orders. Those who receive orders are fine, and those who do not receive orders will rush to the Don River alone without any coordination. the other side.

  So, Ye Liaomenko can only make mistakes and let the 51st Army continue to fight like this.

  In this way, the German army will think that the Soviet army only hopes to open a breakthrough from the direction of Prodovitoye, and the scale of the counterattack is only a group army, so it can play another role in deceiving the enemy.

The problem is that the 51st Army was put on the cusp in an instant... If other troops attack at the same time, the German army will be under great pressure on the entire defense line of hundreds of kilometers including Stalingrad, so even if the German army has a fast Response teams don't know where to send, because rescue is needed everywhere.

   On the other hand, if the Soviet army attacks at the same time, the air force will also bomb its communication lines simultaneously, so the German army's transportation will be paralyzed, and its quick reaction forces will of course not be able to move to Plodovittoye, which is the farthest from Stalingrad.

   But not now.

  Romanian 4th Army Commander Dumilerescu asked Paulus for help as soon as he was bombarded.

"Your Excellency General!" Dumilarescu reported, "We are under massive enemy attack, I mean...they haven't attacked yet, but they've made unprecedented artillery preparations! We need reinforcements! As I said before Speaking of which, we are extremely lacking in anti-tank equipment, and I can't imagine what will happen if the enemy's tanks appear in front of us!"

   "Don't worry, General!" Paulus said: "I'll send you reinforcements right away, they will be there in an hour!"

  In this regard, Paulus was very straightforward, because he knew that he was not only rescuing his allies, but also himself... Once the flank was broken by the Soviet army, the consequences would be disastrous.

  So, the quick reaction force that Paulus had prepared before came in handy, and an elite armored grenadier division immediately took a train to the direction of Prodovitoye.

  (end of this chapter)