Red Moscow

  Chapter 333 Troops cut off from retreat

   When Sokov followed Cuikov back to the Southern Group Command, he heard bad news. The staff officer staying here reported to Chuikov: "Comrade Commander, two hours ago, the Front Command directly issued an order to the 29th Division to immediately move from the defensive area and move eastward to Abganeyrowo. station area."

  Chuikov became particularly ugly when he learned that his reserve team had been transferred. He asked dissatisfiedly: "Who on earth gave such a **** order?"

When the staff officer heard Chuikov's question, he replied in a panic: "It's the commander of the front army, General Gordov. He said that Hoth's 4th Panzer Army had set out from Kotelnikovo and rushed to Stalinger from the south." Le. And at present, they have not found our army's troops on their way forward, so he decided to transfer Colonel Kolobin's troops to fortify."

Sokov stared at the map for a while, raised his head and said to Chuikov: "Comrade General, if the 29th Division is transferred, there will be a huge gap in our defensive area. I would like to ask, should we Which force will fill the gap?"

"To the north of the 29th Division is the 214th Division of Major General Biliukov. They are deployed along the Don River to prevent the Germans from crossing the Don River." Chuikov walked to the table and sat down, pointing to the map and said: "And To the south of them is the 255th Independent Cavalry, and I think they can fill the gap."

  Sokov silently calculated the defensive area of ​​the former 29th Division, and then asked with some concern: "Comrade General, is it a bit too difficult for the cavalry regiment to defend such a large area?"

Regarding Sokov's question, Chuikov pondered for a moment, and said: "It's okay, from all indications, the Germans will not choose this as a key offensive area, because our cavalry regiment took over the defense here, and the The role is not to hold on, but to act as a vigilant in this area."

  After Chuikov finished speaking, he asked the staff again: "When should Colonel Kolobin's troops set off?"

   "Tomorrow morning, Comrade Commander." The staff officer replied respectfully.

   "Can I get in touch with them now?" Chuikov continued to ask: "I want to talk to Colonel Kolobtin."

   "Yes," the staff officer replied, and without waiting for Chuikov to ask again, he took the initiative to say: "I will immediately connect you to the division headquarters of the 29th Division."

  After the call was connected, Chuikov took the receiver from the staff officer and whispered to his ear, "Comrade Colonel, you are going to the new defensive zone soon. How are you? Are you ready to go?"

"It's not that easy, Comrade Commander." Kolobtin on the other end of the phone said with a sad face: "Although we are ordered to set off before this evening, some troops are too scattered, and it takes a lot of time to regroup them." There is not much time, so the departure time can only be postponed until tomorrow morning."

   Kolobtin thought that when Chuikov called himself at this time, it was definitely not for small talk, and there must be something important, so he asked quickly: "Comrade commander, what instructions do you have?"

   "Since you are leaving, you must hand over the defense area." Cuikov said slowly: "After careful consideration, I decided to let the 255th Independent Cavalry Regiment take over your defense."

"What, the cavalry regiment?" Hearing what Cuikov said, Kolobutin couldn't help becoming nervous: "Comrade commander, as far as I know, the cavalry regiment only has seven or eight hundred people. It is appropriate for them to take over the defense of such a large area." Is it? If the Germans attack, they will not be able to stop them at all."

"Don't worry, Colonel Kolobin." Cuikov comforted the other party and said, "In my estimation, the Germans may not attack there. What they have to do is to guard that area. Taking a step back, even if the Germans attack With the cavalry regiment withdrawn, they can also retreat into the 118th fortification area and re-establish a new defense."

   After explaining some precautions to the other party, Chuikov put down the phone and said to Sokov: "Chief of Staff, how is our defense along the Aksee River?"

"Comrade General," Sokov hurriedly pushed the map in front of him when Chuikov asked about the line of defense, and then said: "According to the latest statistics, the troops of the 138th and 157th Divisions have already moved along the line of defense. A line of defense five kilometers wide and three kilometers deep has been built on the north bank of the Aksai River; the 208th Division, which returned with us, is now gradually entering the designated defensive positions for them..."

   "Wait a minute, Comrade Chief of Staff." Chuikov interrupted without waiting for Sokov to finish, "Do you think our defense line on the north bank of the Axel River can stop the enemy?"

   "There is no doubt about it, Comrade General." Sokov replied: "It can definitely be blocked."

  Facing Sokov answering this question in such an affirmative tone, Chuikov looked at him with some surprise: "Comrade Chief of Staff, are you really so confident?"

"We have planted a large amount of explosives on the road and railway bridges across the Aksai River. As soon as the German army reaches the bridge, we will blow up the bridge immediately." Sokov waited for Chuikov to finish speaking, and immediately Explain to him: "The German troops rushing to the river cannot carry any crossing equipment. As long as the bridge is blown up, they will be blocked on the other side of the river. If they want to rely on rubber boats and wooden beds to forcefully cross the Axe River If not, we will make them pay dearly."

   "Explosives are buried on both bridges?" Hearing what Sokov said, Chuikov asked in surprise, "When did this happen, why don't I know?"

   "Comrade General," Sokov replied quickly and respectfully, "Before we set off to find the 208th Division, I specially arranged for the engineer company commander to do it."

   "To blow up the two bridges, there must be a lot of explosives." Chuikov looked at Sukov and asked suspiciously: "I want to ask, where did you find so many explosives?"

"Where else, Comrade General?" Sokov replied with a smile: "Of course from the warehouses of the City Defense Committee, there are currently no units in Stalingrad that can supply such a huge amount of explosives, except for them. No."

   "Comrade Chief of Staff, I really didn't expect it." Cuikov said with some surprise: "You actually know someone from the City Defense Committee."

"After our brigade arrived at Mamayev Post, people from the city defense committee assisted us in building the fortifications." Sukov said calmly: "After a long time of dealing with each other, naturally I know a few people who can come in handy." friend."

  Chuikov raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said to Sokov, "Comrade Chief of Staff, you must be tired these two days. Hurry up and get some sleep, otherwise, by dawn, you will just want to sleep and have no time to sleep."

  The next morning, Sokov, who was still asleep, was awakened by the sound of rumbling explosions in the distance. He hurried into the headquarters, but found that Cuikov was not there. He quickly grabbed the staff officer and asked, "Where did Comrade General go?"

The staff officer pointed to the outside and said: "Comrade Commander and his adjutant went to the small hill in front, as if to observe some movement." Sukov secretly cried out in his heart, saying that the German army had already launched an attack And he was still sleeping soundly, seeing that he was really incompetent as the chief of staff.

   When Sokov trotted to a small mound more than 200 meters away, he saw Chuikov looking into the distance with a telescope. Sokov came up behind him and asked cautiously, "Comrade General, what happened? Where did the explosion come from?"

  Chuikov stretched out his hand and pointed forward, and said: "Just ahead of the Aksay River, the 29th Division, which is marching, is being bombed and strafed by German planes."

Sokov hurriedly raised the binoculars hanging around his neck and looked into the distance. He saw four German planes circling above the Aksai River, swooping down from high altitude from time to time, dropping bombs and bombing at the ground troops. strafing. The 29th Division, which was attacked by air, fell into chaos. The commanders and fighters fled the road one after another and ran to the grassland next to them, trying to avoid the attack of enemy planes. However, the grassland was unobstructed, and the commanders and fighters who escaped from the road still paid a high price under the bombing and strafing of enemy planes.

   Seeing this situation, Sokov quickly put down the binoculars and asked Chuikov who was standing aside: "Comrade General, what should we do now? Can we find a way to help them?"

"It's useless, Comrade Chief of Staff." Chuikov said weakly: "We are four or five kilometers away from them. By the time we rushed over, the enemy plane had already flown away. Evacuate and hide the soldiers, so as to reduce the casualties of the troops as much as possible."

   After finally waiting for the enemy plane to fly away, the 29th Division, which paid a considerable price, began to gather troops again. Chuikov sighed, and said to Sokov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, let's go back to the headquarters. I believe Colonel Kolobtin can finish the rest of the aftermath."

   As soon as the two returned to the headquarters with Klimov, the staff officer hurried over and said a little excitedly: "Comrade Commander, it's not good, something happened."

   What the staff said made Cuikov nervous, and he asked quickly, "What happened?"

   "Comrade Commander, according to Colonel Lyudnikov's report, a German tank unit is rushing towards the Aksai River." The staff officer said worriedly: "It is only three kilometers away from the river bank."

"Damn it," Chuikov couldn't help frowning when he heard the staff officer say this: "How did these enemies come so quickly?" After he finished speaking, he paused for a moment, and then asked, "What did Colonel Lyudnikov do?" measures?"

"Yes, he has already contacted the engineers, and he will blow up the bridge as soon as the German tanks drive on the bridge." The staff officer said with a serious expression: "The enemy must not use our bridge to rush to the north bank smoothly. .”

Knowing that Lyudnikov was ready to blow up the bridge, Sokov suddenly remembered something, and quickly said to Chuikov: "Comrade General, the bridge cannot be blown up yet. My third battalion is on the south bank. When the bridge blows up, their escape is cut off."

"It's too late, Comrade Chief of Staff." Chuikov shook his head and said with a regretful expression: "The distance of three kilometers is a matter of ten minutes for German tanks. Even if you want to withdraw the third battalion , but before they had finished gathering, the Germans rushed to the north bank of the Axel River."

  Sokov had already picked up the phone, planning to call Andrei and ask him to lead the troops to withdraw to the north bank immediately. But hearing what Cuikov said, he had no choice but to put down the phone. He very much agrees with Chuikov's statement. Even if the third battalion has been preparing for battle, it will take at least an hour to assemble them and bring them to the north bank. Therefore, he can only hope that Andrei's I hope he can bring the troops out smoothly.

   But without notifying Andre, just putting his troops in danger like this, Sukov couldn't do this kind of thing. He thought about it for a long time, and finally decided to call Andre, hoping that the other party would be ready. So he picked up the phone again and asked the communications soldier to connect to Andrei's battalion command post.

As soon as he heard Andrei's voice, Sokov hurriedly said: "Captain Andrei, something is wrong. A German armored force is rushing towards the bridge over the Aksai River. They passed through the bridge, and we must act decisively and take the necessary means to blow up the bridge so that the enemy cannot easily cross the Aksay River."

"Comrade Brigadier," even though Sokov is now the chief of staff of the Southern Group, Andre still used to call him the Brigadier Commander: "Comrade Brigadier, in this way, before the bridge is blown up, our battalion cannot Back on the North Shore. I want to ask, what is our next move?"

"Comrade Captain, after the two bridges on the river are blown up, you should immediately move your troops to the west." Sokov said carefully, "Find a place suitable for crossing the river, and cross the river back to the north bank. need you."

   "Understood, Comrade Brigadier Commander." Andre replied resolutely: "Please rest assured, I will resolutely carry out your order, and will definitely return to the north bank with the troops smoothly."

  Sokov had just hung up the phone when suddenly there were two dull explosions in succession from a distance. At the same time, he felt the ground under his feet vibrate. He hurriedly picked up the phone, let the communicator connect to Lyudnikov's headquarters, and said straight to the point: "Comrade Colonel, I am Chief of Staff Sokov. What happened to the explosion just now?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Lyudnikov hurriedly reported, "The two explosions you just heard were our engineers who blew up the railway and road bridges over the Aksai River. not coming."

Sokov thought to himself: "Yes, the Germans can't come back, but my troops can't come back either. I hope Andre can control the troops and take them from a suitable place to cross the border." The Aksai River in front of you."

  (end of this chapter)