Chapter 491 Cuikov
There was a temporary command vacuum in Stalingrad. On the one hand, it was because Stalingrad was originally commanded by the Stalingrad Front Army. At this time, the Stalingrad Front Army was trying to prevent the German army from advancing north and cutting off its connection with Stalingrad.
On the other hand, this is the time when the power of the Front Army Command is handing over... Lieutenant General Gordov was reduced from the commander-in-chief to only command the Stalingrad Front Army because of poor command and let the German troops approach the city of Stalingrad. The conductor was Yelymenko.
In fact, this is just a means of consolation, because the commander of the Stalingrad Front of Lieutenant General Gordov was also withdrawn within a few days.
It's hard to imagine that when the enemy is already approaching the city, the Soviet army is still changing generals, especially in such an important city as Stalingrad, there is no independent and unified command organization... In history, when the German army fought against Stalingrad The Soviet army realized this after launching the offensive, and then hurriedly sent Chuikov to Stalingrad to preside over the overall situation.
Shuerka hoped that more troops could fight in an organized and planned way before the German army attacked the city.
But he soon found this difficult to achieve.
Major Mikhailvich first found the 385th regiment stationed nearby. This regiment belongs to the 64th Army. It was ordered to rush from the east bank to the front line of Stalingrad reinforcements, but the front line had fallen before they could reach their destination. up.
"We should establish a unified command!" Major Mikhailvich said to Major Rogakov, the head of the 385th regiment: "In this way, we can better coordinate and organize a strong defense!"
"I don't think so, Comrade Mikhailvich!" Rodhakov replied: "The order given to us by the superior is to wait for the order!"
"This does not affect the orders of the superiors!" Mikhailvich replied: "On the contrary, we are in order to better complete the tasks assigned to us by the superiors, because the difficulties and tasks we will face are already obvious, that is, To resist the enemy's attack in Stalingrad, we just prepared earlier!"
"Maybe the superiors have already made arrangements!" Rodhakov shrugged and replied: "We don't need to worry about these, do we? Besides, if the command is unified, should we follow your orders, or you should follow our orders? What? If you want to follow our orders and join our team, I have no problem!"
Then someone around laughed: "I know, Comrade Mikhailvich, you have been forgotten by your superiors. This feeling is very bad!"
The soldiers of the 385th regiment laughed one after another.
Strictly speaking, there is nothing wrong with Rodhakov's answer, because the bounden duty of a soldier is to obey orders. If the superior ordered them to stay put, they should stay put.
The problem is that they know in their hearts that the 64th Army Command, which was overwhelmed by the German army, has no time to command them, because the command has been messed up and doesn't know how to clean up the mess.
So, the so-called "execution of orders" is just an excuse for Rodhakov and others to passively deal with the situation in front of them.
Sure enough, Rodhakov was silent for a while, then lowered his voice and said: "Comrade Mikhailvich, I don't think it is a bad thing for us to stay here... This place is only a few miles away from the Volga River, what do you think?"
It is only a few miles away from the Volga River, and its potential meaning is that if the city cannot defend and retreats, they can get the moon first.
"I don't think so, Comrade Rodhakov!" Shulka interrupted in response: "We will hold Stalingrad!"
After speaking, he left with Mikhailvich and others.
As soon as he walked out the door, Major Mikhailvich shook his head and said while putting on his military cap: "It's almost the same situation with other troops. They seem to have no command, but they are all commanded...there is a There is the 62nd Army, there is also the 64th Army, and there are also the navy, internal affairs, tank troops, etc. What should we do?"
"We can't change anything, Comrade Mikhailvich!" Shulka replied.
But Shulka didn't take it seriously, because he knew that Chuikov would come to clean up the mess soon.
But it didn't take long for Shulka to realize that wasn't the case.
The next day, when Shulka and Major Mikhailvich were analyzing the battle situation on the map, Andrianka nervously took a telegram and reported: "Major, the enemy has begun to attack!"
"You mean they are attacking the city?" asked Mikhailevich.
"Yes!" Andrianka replied: "They launched an attack from the west and south at the same time, throwing a lot of assault guns!"
Mikhailvich set his sights on Shulka.
Shuerka couldn't help but frowned and asked, "Who is in command of Stalingrad?"
"Temporarily under the command of Comrade Golikov, commander of the 62nd Army!" Andrianka replied.
"No one else?"
"No!"
Major Mikhailvich asked suspiciously: "Who else?"
Shulka did not answer.
Of course he was thinking of Chuikov, but Chuikov did not arrive as expected, and the commander of the 62nd Army, Golikov...he is not a commander who can control the situation.
The reason is that the 62nd Army suffered heavy losses in the previous blocking battle outside the city. The three tank brigades in its establishment had only a dozen tanks in total, and the mixed force composed of several brigades and divisions had only a few hundred soldiers in total. .
In this case, Golikov has completely lost confidence in the defense of Stalingrad.
So, where is Chuikov?
Immediately, Shulka quickly thought that Chuikov might have just returned from China at this time.
(Note: Cuikov was sent to China twice as a military adviser and did not return until March 1942)
To put it simply, for some reason, Stalin launched the Battle of Kharkov ahead of schedule, which eventually led to the Battle of Stalingrad breaking out ahead of schedule.
At this time, Cuikov was still recuperating, adjusting jet lag to adapt to the Russian environment.
If Chuikov didn't come or had to bring it later... Shulka couldn't imagine the future.
This gave Shulka a blow to the head, and he didn't react for a long time.
Shulka originally thought that he could gain more advantages by preparing in advance in Stalingrad, thinking that the focus of the Stalingrad defense war was supplies and tactics.
It wasn't until the war came that he realized that these were not important, what was important was Chuikov, Chuikov, Chuikov!
Because only he, only this general who has served as a military adviser in China for a long time and is familiar with the strategy and tactics of the Chinese army, can have confidence in the remnants of Stalingrad and effectively organize them and implement guerrilla tactics to deal with the German army in the city.
But now, Chuikov obviously won't appear here so soon.
(end of this chapter)
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