Chapter 735 Surrounded
Rokossovsky was right, Manstein did want to surround Karachi.
This sounds a bit unbelievable. 6 German divisions surrounded 9 Soviet divisions, and there were Soviet troops everywhere. For example, the flank of the 57th Army is the 51st Army, and the 51st Army can also give reinforcements if necessary.
Manstein, however, took the risk.
This is not only because Karachi is backed by the Don River, but also because the other side of the Don River is the German Sixth Army.
This gave Manstein's troops an innate advantage. Their offensive could be assisted by artillery from the 6th Army... Although the German 6th Army was surrounded by insufficient supplies at this time, these artillery shells were countermeasures for the Soviet army. Bombing from the rear, that is, across the Don River, would greatly affect the morale of the troops.
On the other hand, the German army has air supremacy, plus it has the advantage of tanks... The German "Tiger" heavy tank battalion can be said to be almost invincible, as long as they can still move.
Therefore, it is not impossible for two German tanks to cut off Karachi's supplies from the left and right flanks.
And once this situation is formed, that is, the German army reoccupied Karachi, then Manstein successfully rescued the German 6th Army from the encirclement... To be precise, it was not to rescue the encirclement, but to break the Soviet encirclement into fragments or even The attack on Stalingrad can be continued in the anti-encirclement situation.
This is also the importance of Karachi, whoever occupies it means whoever has the initiative to encircle it.
"Their weakness is the front!" Rokossovsky made a judgment immediately: "If they concentrate the elite on the two wings, the front will inevitably be weak. This is why they want to build fortifications on the front!"
Tolbukhin agrees with this statement.
Because it is obvious that if a tank unit is sent to fight the German tanks, it is almost like hitting a stone with a pebble... At this time, although Tolbukhin did not know that the German army had a "Tiger" heavy tank battalion, the German army had air supremacy, and their "Stuka" And "Henschel" will destroy the Soviet tanks one by one like a target.
So, what the Soviet tanks have to face is not the German tanks, but the German bombers and attack aircraft.
If the Soviet tanks are lucky enough to escape the bombing of these planes, then they have to face the German tanks.
"We can't wait any longer!" Rokossovsky said: "Time is not on our side, and continuing to wait will only make the enemy's fortifications more complete! You must immediately organize a counterattack!"
"Yes, Comrade Rokossovsky!"
Torbukhin's actions were quick, and a frontal counterattack was organized after more than half an hour.
In this respect, Manstein has won a step, because he made the German army turn the enemy into the main... Originally, the German army needed to attack the Soviet defense line and the cities it defended, but now the Soviet army launched an attack on the German army.
The Soviet attack was launched under the cover of two tank regiments.
In order to prevent the tanks from being bombed by enemy fighter planes, Tolbukhin ordered the infantry to burn tires and release a large number of smoke bombs. Then hundreds of light and heavy tanks covered the two infantry divisions and charged towards the German defense line.
It should be said that Rokossovsky's strategic direction is correct.
As long as the front of the German army is broken through, the elite troops on the two wings of the German army will be divided, and the German supply line will also be hit.
The problem is that Manstein was prepared for this...
The tank divisions transferred to the two wings deliberately distracted the Soviet army's sight, making the Soviet army think that the German army had transferred the elite away.
In fact, Manstein secretly deployed two heavy tank battalions to the front line of defense.
So, when the Soviet tanks attacked the German defense line...the "Tiger" tanks "rolled" the Soviet tanks that rushed to the muzzle one by one.
Suddenly, the battlefield was full of Soviet tanks that were turned into fireballs, and the Soviet army thought it was the German anti-tank guns, until the German "Tiger" tanks fired up and came out of the bunker...
Shuerka on the other side is still working hard with the German army in Surovikino. Shurka enjoys this time, because the troops seem to only need to confront the enemy, and then occasionally make a few feints.
If you say anything about the results, it is to arrange snipers on the battlefield to "communicate" with the enemy.
"Have you heard?" While Shulka was eating American-style compressed biscuits, Trufanov called: "There is a situation with the 57th Army!"
Shuerka gave a vague "hmm" and continued to deal with the food.
American-style compressed biscuits are also only eligible for regimental officers like Shulka, and of course Shulka will not enjoy them exclusively. He usually distributes them to the staff and guards of the headquarters... this is for them Simply gourmet.
This compressed biscuit is good for everything, but it is too dry, and Shulka can hardly speak after filling his mouth.
I raised my head and drank a few sips of water before I felt better.
"Should we do something?" Trufanov asked: "I mean, if this continues, the enemy is likely to reoccupy Karachi!"
"Not yet!" Shulka replied.
"When is the time?" Trufanov asked.
"The Southwest Front Army is still far away from us!" Shulka replied while looking at the map: "More than two hundred kilometers..."
Trufanov suddenly understood what Shulka wanted to do.
Shulka never gave up the big encirclement, even when the main force of the big encirclement had been transferred to the small encirclement by Stalin.
The current facts may have proved that Stalin's approach was wrong.
Stalin was too impatient, anxious to eat Stalingrad and then make a final decision.
In fact, if the main force is placed in a large encirclement, then the Soviet army does not need to worry about Manstein's reinforcements at all... Insufficient strength is the weakness of the German army.
So, if the original plan is fought, Stalingrad may be liberated later, but the possibility of victory is greater, because the Soviet army has more space to operate and the logistics supply line is wider.
It's a pity that Stalin's set of operations disrupted the overall plan and made the anti-encirclement confusing.
Shuerka believes that there is only one way to solve this mess now...that is, when the Southwest Front Army is close enough to him, suddenly launch an attack to join forces with the Southwest Front Army.
Of course, this requires the Southwest Front Army to be strong enough.
Shulka estimated that the concentrated energy of the 51st Army may be able to break through about 100 kilometers forward, and then Manstein may react and turn back to attack the 51st Army.
So, they need to wait.
(end of this chapter)
