Chapter 125: Counterattack in Adversity
Although the German planes were unable to block the transport routes on the Volga River at night, the artillery units they arranged in the north of the city began to launch continuous shelling in the direction of the Volga River. Standing on the river bank, one could see the huge waves caused by the shells falling on the water.
The German artillery bombardment was blind shooting, lacking accuracy and not threatening. But the problem was that the artillery fire was very dense. It was difficult for a blind cat to catch a dead mouse, but if hundreds or thousands of blind cats gathered together, even a mouse with sharp eyes and ears could be caught.
Soviet ships trying to cross the Volga River would be hit by German artillery fire from time to time and turned into pieces in a huge ball of fire. Often, the sinking of a ship would cause dozens or even scores of casualties, so much so that the engineers responsible for collecting the bodies on the river gave up the task of salvaging the bodies.
"Comrade General, it's time for us to go," Arseni got two groups of horses from somewhere, but they were not war horses, but pack horses, and could only be used for transportation.
Yuri nodded, grabbed the reins handed to him by Arseni, jumped on the horse, and headed towards the north of the city along the streets covered with rubble and bricks and full of potholes caused by bombings.
Yuri headed north along the Tsaritsa River, a tributary of the Volga River that runs through the city. Along the way, he occasionally met officers rushing to the riverside dock to receive new troops, and small groups of Soviet soldiers armed with live ammunition searching the ruins of buildings - these soldiers were not searching for infiltrated German troops, but for Soviet deserters who were hiding out of fear. In other words, they were the anti-retreat squad that the army group had just formed.
The army headquarters issued a blackout order, and there was not a single light on the entire inner defense line. It took Yuri half an hour to reach the foot of the slope of Mamayev Kurgan and find the army's temporary headquarters hidden in a bush.
"What's the situation? Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich," Chuikov, who was sitting at the table eating dry bread, asked impatiently when he saw Yuri coming in from outside.
Previously, the army headquarters lost contact with the 23rd Tank Army commanded by Popov , and Yuri went to find Popov today.
"The situation is not good," Yuri walked to the table, took a piece of bread from Chuikov's plate, pinched off a corner and put it in his mouth, chewing and saying, "Popov's troops have less than 50 tanks, and nearly half of them have been damaged. They can only be used as fixed artillery positions."
The expectation in Chuikov's eyes disappeared. He put down the bread in his hand and reached for a cigarette.
"There is another bad news," Yuri continued, "In today's battle, our central defense line has been breached by the Germans. Aviagorodok and 126...3, 144...3, 153...7 high ground have been occupied . On the left wing, the tractor factory east of Sadovaya Station was also lost."
Cuikov's hand holding the cigarette trembled for a moment, then he stood up quickly, pushed the plate away on the table, and bent down to check the map.
"Here, here, and here, all fell into the hands of the Germans," Yuri leaned over and pointed to several locations on the map and said.
The situation marked on the map was very clear. After losing these places, the central defense line held by the 62nd Army had become vulnerable. The factory areas and workers' residential areas in the city were directly threatened by the German army. Once the German army broke through these two areas, it would be only 5 kilometers away from the Volga River.
"We need new troops, at least three infantry divisions," after looking at the map for a while, Chuikov threw away the pencil in his hand and said while stroking his forehead.
"We certainly need new reinforcements, but before that, we need to consolidate our defense," Yuri said, "I think we can launch a counterattack and at least take back the defense we lost today."
"But we don't have enough troops," said Chuikov, frowning.
"Yes, the Germans also know this." Yuri said in a deep voice.
"You mean... launch a surprise attack?" Chuikov's eyes lit up and he spoke quickly. He even choked on his own saliva because he spoke so fast.
"The current situation is too passive. I think we must regain the initiative, even if it is only partial and temporary, before new reinforcements arrive," Yuri continued.
"What do you think?" When Chuikov heard him say this, he knew that Yuri already had a mature plan in his mind, so he asked.
"I think we should focus our attention on the central defense line now, because that is obviously the main attack direction of the Germans. Their battle plan should be to launch a centripetal attack from this weak point and cut our entire army into two parts." Yuri picked up the pencil on the table and drew a line in the center of the 62nd Army. "So, we need to interrupt the German battle plan in this direction and delay their attack for two to three days to buy time for the arrival of subsequent reinforcements."
Chuikov nodded, agreeing with Yuri's opinion.
"Considering the strength of the army, I think we can only seize a few key points on this front," Yuri continued. "I suggest that the 38th Motorized Infantry Brigade be transferred to the direction of Razgulyayevka and given a reinforced artillery battalion to launch an offensive to the southeast of Razgulyayevka to attract the attention of the German troops on this line. At the same time, the troops commanded by Comrade Sarayev will launch an attack on the two high grounds 126...3 and 144...3 controlled by the Germans."
While listening to Yuri's plan, Chuikov checked the map. He thought the plan was feasible because the village of Razgulyaevka was the base of a German artillery unit, and the bombardment of the Volga River route was launched by this German unit. The German army would definitely not sit idly by if the relatively complete 38th Motorized Infantry Brigade was ordered to attack in this direction. Once the German army decided to encircle and suppress this Soviet unit, its troops guarding the two high grounds would inevitably be dispersed, which created an opportunity for Sarayev's troops.
However, Chuikov was also very clear that such a plan was actually very risky. If Sarayev's troops could not capture the two heights within the scheduled time and provide support to the 38th Brigade, then the fate of the 38th Brigade would probably not be very good.
Now, a very thorny problem was placed before Chuikov: should he approve this plan? Should he use the few remaining troops of the 62nd Army to make this gamble?
Watching Chuikov fall into deep thought, Yuri remained silent. He knew how difficult this choice was for Chuikov. Although this plan was proposed by him, Yuri, Chuikov was the commander of the army group after all. If the war went badly, he would be the one to bear the main responsibility.
After about ten minutes, just when Yuri thought Chuikov was going to give up, the commander suddenly stood up, leaned his upper body on the table, looked at the map carefully for a while, and then said calmly: "Comrade Yuri, I think this plan needs some modifications, mainly further improvement."
Yuri sighed. After hearing what Chuikov said, he thought that this plan should be rejected.
But unexpectedly, Chuikov immediately said: "I think we need to make some offensive arrangements in the direction of Aviagorodok and Hill 153...7."
Yuri was stunned and his eyes unconsciously turned to the map.
"I plan to order the 23rd Tank Army to gather a tank regiment to cooperate with the mixed regiment to launch a counterattack in the direction of Aviagorodok," Chuikov continued, "and order the 42nd Independent Brigade to launch an offensive in the direction of 153...7 Heights to support the 23rd Tank Army's offensive in the direction of Aviagorodok. What do you think?"
Yuri frowned. If his previous plan was a gamble, then Chuikov's supplementary plan was undoubtedly a one-time bet. Without any reserve troops and even with a serious shortage of its own troops, the 62nd Army faced too much risk in fighting such a counterattack. Once it failed, the entire central defense line of the 62nd Army would collapse.
But considering it from another perspective, once this operational plan succeeds, their gains will be enormous. Even if the Soviet troops can only hold these recaptured positions for one day, it will take two to three days for the German army to recapture them, readjust the defense line, and then launch a new offensive. During this time, the support troops allocated by the front will inevitably arrive.
In fact, what the 62nd Army needed now was time. The original plan was to delay the German army in defense to buy time, but now it has become to disrupt the rhythm of the German army in offense to buy time. From a military point of view, these two combat methods are actually not much different, because they pursue the same combat objectives, but from a political point of view, their significance is completely different, one is offense, the other is defense, and the political impact of the two cannot be compared at all.
"Comrade Commander, I agree with you," Yuri said after thinking for a while, raising his hand to take off his military cap and saying, "As deputy commander, I am willing to command the battle in the direction of Aviagorodok."
Chuikov hesitated, then shook his head and said, "No, Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich, I want you to stay here and organize the defense work in the direction of the Tsaritsa River estuary. As for the battle in the direction of Aviagorodok, I will go there myself."
