USSR 1941

  Chapter 707 Transportation

  In this battle, the 82nd Infantry Regiment captured a total of 73 officers, of which 62 were school-level officers, 9 major generals, and 2 lieutenant generals.

  In addition to Atanaser, Chief of Staff of the Romanian Army, there is also an Italian lieutenant general... This Italian lieutenant general is even just a division commander.

However, this seems to be nothing surprising. The Italian army is not good at fighting, but they always like to toss some superficial things. For example, the Italian army has the best military posture and the most orderly queue. It's a little cheaper, and the rank of their commanders will be relatively higher.

  Anyway, there is nothing to lose if you have a high military rank.

  The 27th Infantry Division of the Italian Expeditionary Army is said to be an elite force in the country, but Shulka didn't feel it at all when he fought this battle. No one even reported to Shulka that he had encountered the Italian division until the end of the battle.

   So much so that Shulka thought the team had escaped, and asked, "Where are the Italians? Why didn't you find them?"

  Andrianka called and asked, and only got the news from Captain Harichev.

   "We may have encountered Italians!" Captain Harichev replied: "This direction of the bus station!"

   "Why didn't you report it?" Shulka asked.

   "Sorry, Comrade Major!" Lieutenant Harichev replied: "We are a little confused, because we can't understand Romanian or Italian! It was dark and we didn't notice the difference in their military uniforms!"

   "How's the situation?" Shulka asked again.

"They've already surrendered!" replied Captain Harichev. "They were baking bacon when we walked in. Yes, surrounded by black cloth to keep the light from leaking, I thought it was the command and thought they could catch a few officers , as a result...they invited us to taste their food!"

   "Have you tasted it?" Shulka asked.

   "Of course! It tastes good!" Harichev replied: "So we confiscated all the food, and the wine they got from nowhere!"

   Shulka couldn't help but smile, Italians never forget their food.

The Italian lieutenant general was captured at the general headquarters of Prodovitoje. The location of the general headquarters was confessed by a Romanian officer, so Shulka asked Vavilovic to take a company to carry out the beheading operation. The commanders, staff officers, and adjutants there were quickly taken over in one pot.

  Shuerka did this only to further paralyze the command system of the Romanian and Italian armies, although this actually doesn't make much sense, because Prodovitoye is actually out of control.

   But there is a saying that sails with care for ten thousand years. The long-term military life has taught Shulka that he must not let his guard down at any time, especially when winning a battle.

Once the battle is over, those officers don’t mean much to Shulka... Compared with ordinary soldiers, they have more embellishments on their epaulettes, and sending them to Siberia may not be as capable as a strong There are many soldiers.

   If anything, Shulka can be credited on the credit roll.

   "Now..." Khrushchev asked in the telegram: "What do you think we should do?"

   Shulka understood the meaning of Khrushchev's words. What he said was actually admitting that it was wrong not to accept Shulka's suggestion before, and now he just put it forward in another way.

"I think we should take a rest near Plodovitoye, Comrade Khrushchev!" Shulka replied: "I mean, we need time to surround or drive away the German troops who rushed into the line of defense, and in addition Still need to wait for tank troops to arrive and coordinate with them!"

   "Just do as you say!" This time, Khrushchev agreed without thinking.

  The German army inserted into the Soviet army's supply line actually didn't need to worry at all... The equipment of the German army and the Romanian army were different and the ammunition was not universal, which made the German army's supplies have to be transported by rail or road from the direction of Stalingrad.

   But now Prodovitoye, an important node between Stalingrad and the German interspersed troops, has been occupied, which means that the German army's supplies have been completely cut off.

  At this time, the German army has only two choices: either wait to be surrounded and wiped out, or withdraw from the theater.

  The German army chose the latter. They used the fastest speed to withdraw from the theater before the Soviet army had time to organize a counterattack and encirclement...the direction of retreat was the Caucasus region, where they could get sufficient supplies.

   At this point Paulus was embarrassed.

The current situation is already obvious. The German 6th Army was fighting the Soviet Army in Stalingrad. Suddenly, the Soviet Army broke through the defense line garrisoned by the Romanian and Italian troops from both wings and carried out a deep encirclement. If this continues, the 6th Army will The Army Group will be trapped in Stalingrad with nowhere to go.

  Thinking of this, Paulus immediately called Hitler.

   "Dear head of state, although I don't want to admit it, I think our plan to attack Stalingrad has failed..."

  Paulus thought that Hitler would scold him as usual, but he didn't expect Hitler's tone to be very peaceful.

   "The outcome is still unknown, my general!"

  Hitler's voice is contagious, but to Paulus' ears it's a bit creepy.

   "But Your Excellency the Head of State!" Paulus said: "We must retreat, otherwise hundreds of thousands of our troops will be besieged in Stalingrad..."

   "I assure you, my general!" Hitler said, "You will be well supplied!"

   "Sufficient supplies? This is impossible!" Paulus said: "We are about to be surrounded!"

   "Of course it is possible, everything is possible!" Hitler replied: "We may indeed be surrounded by the enemy, but you should know that we have air superiority, and air transportation of supplies is not restricted by the enemy's encirclement!"

   "No, Your Excellency the Führer!" Paulus almost exclaimed: "But we are an army group, and it is impossible for our air power to deliver such a huge amount of supplies to us!"

   "Goering assured me that he could do it!" Hitler replied: "He also proposed to me a plan, and I think it is indeed feasible!"

  Paulus's heart sank in an instant. He realized that Hitler had been obsessed with ghosts and even violated the common sense of war in order not to abandon Stalingrad.

"The geographical location of Stalingrad is very special!" Hitler continued on the phone: "It is flanked by the Volga River and the Don River respectively. They provide the Sixth Army with two natural lines of defense and defensive depth. There are more than 100 kilometers between the Volga River and such a wide area for transport planes to land..."

  (end of this chapter)