Chapter 123: Retreat Plan
The civilian house occupied by the temporary headquarters of the group army was very simple. Because of the bombing before, a corner of the western side of the roof had collapsed. The spacious living room was full of broken wood chips and dirt. ?
The orderly used rubble and bricks to build a table in the middle of the messy living room, which was a makeshift command platform. At this moment, Yuri, who had not even done the handover work, stood beside the table, his hand on his chin, silently looking at the map on the table.
To Yuri's left is Krylov, this general comrade who had just been promoted to major general. He was considered experienced and brave in the Soviet army's commander system. Previously, he participated in the Battle of Odessa and the even bloodier and more brutal Battle of Sevastopol. This solid qualification made his rank of major general well-deserved.
To Yuri's right is Comrade Chuikov, the current commander of the 62nd Army. At this time, Chuikov was not looking at the map, he was looking at Yuri beside him.
Speaking of which, Chuikov and Yuri first met on the Soviet-Finnish battlefield. At that time, Yuri had just won a military merit for killing a Finnish sniper, well, a very famous sniper. Unfortunately, Chuikov can't remember the name of the sniper now, because this military merit is too insignificant for Yuri today.
Looking at Yuri, who has now been promoted to major general, Chuikov couldn't help but feel a little emotional. Who would have thought that the young man who was awarded the medal on the Soviet-Finnish battlefield, who he regarded as just relying on luck, would reach this position today in less than two years? However, Chuikov's emotion was just emotion. He did not think that Yuri was unworthy of this rank. Unlike the situation during the Soviet-Finnish War, Chuikov now recognized Yuri's ability. After all, the defensive battle he commanded in Noziarsky Town was by no means a matter of luck.
In fact, when he received the order to be transferred to the 62nd Army, Chuikov made a request to the front command and the Supreme Command, which was to transfer Yuri to be his deputy. The reason was simple. He believed that this young commander was very good at defensive operations. Chuikov even believed that Yuri was the best defensive commander among the existing Soviet commanders. The already devastated 62nd Army needed such a commander on the Stalingrad battlefield.
In the current Soviet command system, there are many people who share the same idea as Chuikov, such as Comrade Shumilov, commander of the 64th Army, Comrade Rokossovsky, who is responsible for the defense of the northern line of the Volga River, Comrade Yeremenko and Comrade Zhukov.
Yuri didn't know what Chuikov was thinking at the moment. He had just seen the latest battlefield situation map, and it was the first time he truly understood the passive situation of the Stalingrad defensive operation.
Just yesterday, the German army broke through the 62nd Army's defensive positions on the Verdyach and Piskovatka lines and advanced to the banks of the Volga River. Then, in less than half a day, three infantry divisions, two motorized divisions and one tank division of the German 14th Army and the 8th Infantry Army poured into the 62nd Army's defensive positions through this gap, firmly controlling the area north of the village of Renok, thus completely separating the 62nd Army from friendly forces on the northern defense line of the Volga River.
By now, the Soviet 62nd Army and 64th Army, which were holding on the right bank of the Volga River and in front of Stalingrad, had actually been surrounded by the German army on three sides. The defensive positions of the two armies formed a horseshoe shape in the area on the right bank of the Volga River. The next goal of the German army was to cut the 62nd Army and the 64th Army into two parts again, forming a cow's hoof shape, and finally, to encircle and annihilate the 62nd Army to achieve the goal of winning the battle outside Stalingrad. In other words, the German army planned to capture Stalingrad on the march and not fight street battles with the Soviet army.
Since the Germans' combat objectives were already known, why didn't the two armies choose to retreat? Yuri didn't know the reason until now. The reason was simple, because the troops responsible for the defense of the middle and inner perimeters of Stalingrad had not yet arrived. In other words, the rear of the two armies was now empty.
With the rear empty and facing the threat of encirclement by the enemy, choosing to retreat at this time is a taboo in military command. The Battle of Kiev was defeated in this way, and the Soviet commanders learned a lesson from it. Therefore, the current retreat emphasizes retreating in stages. In other words, the 62nd and 64th armies must wait until the rear defense forces are in place and a solid defense line is established before they can choose to retreat, because only in this way can the collapse of the entire defense line be avoided.
Since the Germans' intention to attack Stalingrad was detected, the Supreme Command has tried its best to send reserve forces to this direction. According to Chuikov, starting from August 1, the Supreme Command sent 15 infantry divisions and 3 tank armies to the Stalingrad Front and the Southeast Front. However, due to limited railway transportation capacity and the bombing and interception by the Germans, as of yesterday, only 5 divisions of reinforcements had arrived in the Stalingrad area .
Among the five infantry divisions, the 315th Infantry Division commanded by Major General Kniazev was attacked by the Germans in the Verdach direction when it was heading to the Goroshkiny Corridor to seize positions, suffered heavy losses, and failed to reach the established defense line on schedule. The 35th Guards Infantry Division commanded by Major General Glazkov needed to build defenses in the middle corridor area, but they had just crossed the river when they were attacked by the Germans in the area south of Kotluban Station and were finally forced to withdraw to the Samofarovka area.
The remaining three divisions are still in the left bank of the Volga River, and it will take time for them to cross the river.
According to Chuikov, the 62nd Army would need to hold the outer area of Stalingrad for at least four days to a week to buy enough time for the rear troops .
Of course, holding on for such a long time is an impossible task for the 62nd Army. Even if Yuri is good at fighting defensive battles, it is impossible to use a remnant army to resist the attack of several or even dozens of times the enemy. Therefore, after checking the specific front-line situation, Yuri believes that the 62nd Army should retreat to the suburbs of Stalingrad.
"Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich," Chuikov said, giving Yuri 10 minutes to check the military situation map, "the good news for us right now is that the Supreme Command has ordered the front to assemble three armies in the north and launch an offensive against the German army from the flank."
As he said this, Chuikov took three small red magnetic flags and placed them one by one on the left wing of the German army to the north of the 62nd Army. At the same time, he said: "Kozlov's 24th Army, Malinovsky's 66th Army, and Moskalenko's 9th Guards Army will launch an offensive against the German army tomorrow."
Yuri looked at the positions of the three small flags and calculated silently in his mind. The offensive launched by the three armies was mainly concentrated in the northwest of Stalingrad. The German army was advancing fastest in this direction and had already advanced to the bank of the Volga River. If the three armies could launch a fierce and effective offensive against the German army in this direction, they would indeed be able to attract a large number of German troops, thereby reducing the pressure on the flank of the 62nd Army.
However, reducing pressure does not mean eliminating it. After all, the 62nd Army suffered heavy losses in previous battles. Several infantry divisions had 500 to 1,000 soldiers, and some tank brigades had only a few tanks left, and some tank brigades had no tanks at all. In this case, the 62nd Army needed to defend a position that was more than 15 kilometers wide. This battle was impossible to fight. No wonder Lopatin said so bluntly that he could not rely on the 62nd Army to defend Stalingrad.
"Comrade Commander," Yuri said after careful consideration, "I think that with the current state of the army, we cannot hold this line of defense. So, I suggest that we withdraw the troops."
As he said this, Yuri leaned forward and drew a line on the map with his finger, then continued, "Retreat to the line from Renok to the left bank of the Chernaya River."
"But we don't have any defense line to provide support in the rear. If we retreat in a hurry, how can we guarantee to build a solid defense on the new line?" asked a staff officer.
"The current situation is very unfavorable to us, that's obvious," Yuri said, looking at the map. "With the existing forces, it is only a luxury to rebuild a complete and solid defense line. So, my opinion is to give up the idea of continuing to build a complete defense line outside the central defense line, and instead choose a few key defense points, concentrate forces to block the enemy, and at the same time, use the method of phased retreat to delay the German offensive while withdrawing more troops to the central defense line."
When the people present heard this, they understood what Yuri meant. To put it bluntly, his idea was to concentrate as many troops as possible, occupy a solid defensive point in the direction of the German main attack, and fight a blocking battle. At the same time, the Soviet troops in a secondary position quickly retreated to the next defensive point and assembled at the defense point to form a second solid blocking point. In this way, the army's existing forces were divided into two or even more combat groups, which alternately covered each other and delayed the German attack while retreating.
In certain specific contexts, this tactic is feasible, but it has a difficulty, that is, the commander must be able to accurately judge the enemy's main attack direction, because once the judgment is wrong, the entire front line may collapse.
