Chapter 767 Cannon Sound
On the way, several Romanian troops fought a few small battles with the German reconnaissance troops. The vanguard of the 51st Army finally arrived in Karachi at eleven o'clock that night.
Trufanov ordered to rest on the spot, and then the exhausted soldiers immediately lay down on the ground, in the car, and fell asleep on the driver's seat of the tank.
Among them, infantry in cars seems to be the easiest, because they don't need to drive cars or tanks, they just need to hide in the car to "recharge their batteries".
But this is not the case, due to the muddy roads. Tanks, cars and artillery are in a state of being stuck in the mud, dragged out, and stuck in the mud almost all the way, even if the troops are advancing along the railway line.
This is because the railway line will inevitably be cut off by enemy bombers, and in order to avoid enemy bombing, it is necessary to leave the railway line, so it is common for tanks and the like to get stuck in the mud and cannot move.
At this time, the infantry comes into play. They use self-rescue logs, sandbags, and piles of stones... Everyone gets themselves covered in mud, and sometimes it is hard to tell whether it is a car carrying people forward or a person carrying the car Walk.
Therefore, when the first batch of troops, the 4th Mechanized Army, arrived in Karachi, Shulka suggested to rest for an hour to recover some strength or let the soldiers eat something.
"Only one hour?" Trufanov said: "Is the time too short? They have been marching for a day and two nights!"
"Now is the time!" Shulka said: "The enemy's reinforcements are gathering in Miloway, and it will only take about 20 hours or less for them to reach Karachi. We must win before that, otherwise the consequences will be terrible." Unbelievable!"
Zolotarev nodded in agreement with Shulka.
"Although this is a bit cruel to the soldiers!" Zolotarev said: "But now time is everything. We finally won about 20 hours of time. We should do everything possible to maximize its benefits!"
Trufanov nodded in agreement.
Actually, he is not ignorant of this, he is worried about whether the combat effectiveness of the troops will be affected under such circumstances.
But in this regard Trufanov's worries are unnecessary.
This is not to say that the 4th Mechanized Army has experienced many battles and has a firm will, but that if people are tired to a certain extent, they will often be in a state of numbness. And mechanical, habitual obedience to orders to charge the enemy.
So sometimes this kind of fatigue is still a good thing, but it seems that they are not suitable for hand-to-hand combat, because the overall physical strength is definitely not comparable to the German army who is resting and waiting for work.
The commander of the 143rd Infantry Brigade of the 57th Army rushed into the headquarters in a panic to report to Trufanov.
Trufanov just gave a cold "um" and then left him alone.
Shulka felt a little strange. The 143rd Infantry Brigade was located on the outskirts of Karachi and kept in contact with the German interspersed troops. That is, they had a lot of information that the 51st Army needed, such as the enemy's firepower deployment, the location of the defense line, etc., and These are very important for the 51st Army to attack in the dark.
So Trufanov shouldn't be so indifferent to the brigade commander.
Later Shulka learned that the brigade commander was called Vladislavich, and he was originally a regiment commander of the 51st Army.
Before the 51st Army was considered by everyone to be a force to be "sacrificed", Vladislavich was transferred to the 57th Army based on his relationship.
As I said before, being transferred to the 57th Army to participate in the battle for the liberation of Stalingrad will not be considered a shame by the superiors but an honor.
On the other hand, the 57th Army suffered heavy casualties when it was attacked by Manstein's Don Army, so Vladislavich was promoted to brigade commander not long after.
"How many troops do you have?" Zolotarev asked.
"Report to Comrade Political Commissar!" Vladislavich replied: "We still have more than 3,700 people, divided into two infantry regiments!"
"What about the supplies?"
"Few left!"
This is understandable, because all the supplies have been sent to the 51st Army, and the troops in other directions are basically in a state of "supply" during this period.
"We...we didn't know you would come!" After a moment of silence, Vladislavich added: "I didn't receive any orders..."
"You don't need to know this!" Zolotarev interrupted him: "These are military secrets!"
"Yes, Comrade Political Commissar!"
This is also understandable, because the change in the strategic goals of the 51st Army was not reported to the Supreme Command, so of course Vladislavich of the 57th Army would not know about it... This is a bit ironic, the Soviets themselves did not know about the 51st The real movement of the group army, but the German army is very clear about it.
Trufanov might be very cold about this Vladislavich, so he directly ordered: "Leave the information you know and go!"
"Yes, Comrade Trufanov!" Vladislavich left a document, stood up, saluted and left.
Looking at Vladislavich's back, Trufanov cursed: "This traitor!"
Zolotarev asked inexplicably, and then realized that Vladislavich was originally a subordinate of Trufanov.
Shulka also thought it was a bit funny. It seems that Trufanov is still a little emotional. Otherwise, things like "people go up and water flows down" should be more common and more realistic in the army. , because it is not related to money, position and other things outside the body, it is directly related to wealth and life.
There were no problems with these originally. Vladislavich left all the information he knew, and also left a staff officer and several signal soldiers... This is the standard mode of coordination between troops, and the staff is used to interpret intelligence and information. Trufanov may also be able to issue orders to the 143rd Brigade through this staff officer.
The problem is that Vladislavich was puzzled by the sudden appearance of the 51st Army here, so he reported the matter.
So the Supreme Command soon knew about it.
"What's going on?" Motorov, the vice chairman of the Supreme Command, called the 51st Army headquarters angrily: "We always thought you were in Milove, but they told me that you were in Karachi! Where are you? ?”
"Karachi, Comrade Motorov!" Zolotarev replied.
"Withdraw immediately!" Motorov ordered without thinking.
"Too late!" Zolotarev replied: "Listen, Comrade Motorov..."
As he spoke, he raised the microphone, and there was already a burst of gunfire outside the headquarters. It was the artillery sound of the 51st Army's attack on the German defense line.
(end of this chapter)
