Chapter 126 Command
Yuri was not at all surprised by Chuikov's decision. In fact, considering three aspects, Yuri felt that there was no way Chuikov would let him command this operation.
First, from a pessimistic point of view, if this risky counter-assault operation fails in the future, regardless of whether it was commanded by Chuikov or not, he, as the commander of the army, must bear the main responsibility. Since he needs to bear the main responsibility, why doesn't he command it personally? Secondly, from an optimistic point of view, if this risky battle is won, Chuikov, as the commander, is not the main commander, how embarrassing it would be? Finally, no matter how much Yuri's command ability is recognized, people believe in themselves more after all, especially senior commanders like Chuikov. Facing such a highly risky military operation, Chuikov certainly feels that he has a higher chance of success if he commands it personally.
What's more, the army headquarters had just issued an order requiring commanders to go to the front line to command the battle in person. For large-scale operations like this, it is legitimate for the army commander to command in person.
In fact, for Yuri, it was no big deal whether he went to command this counter-assault operation or not. Chuikov rejected his request to fight and went to the front line himself, not necessarily to compete with him for the credit. After all, the outcome of this battle was still unpredictable so far.
Compared with this counter-assault operation, Yuri was more concerned about the brutal battle that was about to break out at Mamayev Kurgan. The future offensive direction of the German army would prove that this key point was the center of the entire Battle of Stalingrad.
A crucial battle, naturally, cannot be arranged immediately after the battle plan comes out. It involves a lot of preparatory work that needs to be arranged, such as the deployment of participating troops, the deployment of supporting firepower, the commanders' understanding of the battle plan, etc., all of which take time.
However, since Yuri was not in charge of the direct command of this battle, he had a relatively easy time in the next few days. Chuikov, who was eager to rush to the central defense line to deploy troops, gave Yuri a very important task - to take over the defense command from the mouth of the Tsaritsa River to the central railway station. At the same time, after the reinforcements arrived at the left bank of the Volga River, he coordinated with the Stalingrad City Defense Committee to bring these new troops to the city as soon as possible and arrange combat tasks for them.
At this time, no one expected that this counter-assault operation aimed at delaying time would actually lead to an accident. The arrival of this accident not only gave Yuri a chance to become famous, but also gave him the opportunity to fully command a front for the first time.
…
The blazing flames took on a strange bluish-white color under the sunlight . The pine boards, burned by the high temperature, made a popping sound from time to time. However, the sound was so weak that it was barely audible under the dense gunfire and explosions.
With binoculars in hand, Yuri, accompanied by Arseny and four guards, walked through a rubble field and a street full of craters and entered a dilapidated building with two walls missing.
Before the war broke out, this building was the office building of the Post and Telecommunications Bureau. It had four floors and was built in Stalinist style. It was very sturdy, but even so, German planes still destroyed it, at least half of it.
"Comrade General!"
"Comrade General!"
Although half of the building had been blown up, a Soviet combat squad was still hiding there . There were only a few of them, less than 20 soldiers, and most of them were injured.
Seeing Yuri walking in from the gap at the back of the building, three or five soldiers who were resting hurriedly stood up, saluted and greeted him - yes, this is the front line, the Soviet defensive position attacked by the German army in the Stalingrad area. From this building, across the street less than 10 meters wide, the Germans are hiding in the building opposite.
Then, less than 500 meters south of this building, there is the ramp in front of Mamayev Kurgan. Climb up the ramp to the top of the mountain. Below the south slope is Yuri's command post, which is also the current headquarters of the 62nd Army. In other words, at this time today, the German vanguard is less than 800 meters away from the headquarters of the 62nd Army. If it is in an open area with a good view, a German sniper can take down the headquarters of the 62nd Army. Of course, there is only Yuri in this headquarters.
Just four days ago, Chuikov led the army headquarters to move to the rear of the central defense line, where he commanded the designated troops to launch an unexpected counterattack against the German army. This counterattack was very successful. Within two days, the Soviet army successively recovered several high grounds such as 126...3, 144...3, 153...7 and an adjacent area, forcing the German army in this direction to retreat 2 kilometers.
But what happened next made the situation facing the Soviet army take a sharp turn for the worse - the army headquarters led by Chuikov was attacked by German artillery fire at the oil station in the factory area. The German artillery fire hit more than a dozen oil tanks in the oil station that were supposed to be abandoned, but no one expected that these oil tanks were full of oil. The fire caused by the explosion instantly engulfed the entire oil station. Then, in less than ten minutes, the area within a radius of nearly 3 kilometers was all buried in the sea of fire.
The army headquarters lost contact from then on, and all communications were cut off. There was no news or instructions.
As the deputy commander of the army and the only remaining senior commander in the entire 62nd Army, Yuri had to take over all the command and, at the same time, assume all the responsibilities.
However, these were not the worst. What was worse was that although the counterattack launched on the central defense line was effective, the fire at the oil station caused the German army to abandon the attack on this line. Just yesterday, Hoth's armored forces took the lead in launching an offensive in the direction of the central railway station. With military vehicles and tanks, groups of German infantry poured into the workers' area and launched an offensive against the weak defense positions of the Soviet army.
In just one afternoon, the Soviet army lost the entire central railway station and retreated a long way toward the Volga River. The German army pushed the front line to the foot of Mamayev Kurgan.
Compared with these bad news, Yuri also received good news, that is, the 13th Guards Infantry Division led by Alexander Ilyich Rodimtsev finally arrived in Stalingrad, but they were still on the left bank of the Volga River, and the crossing had to be done at night. In other words, they could not officially join the battle until the next day.
Yuri knew Rodimtsev. They had met in Kiev before. At that time, both were brigade commanders, but Yuri commanded an infantry brigade while Rodimtsev commanded an airborne brigade. Yes, it was the 5th Airborne Brigade composed of "pilots" that had scared off the German army.
During the Battle of Kiev, Rodimtsev's 5th Airborne Brigade successfully broke through the German encirclement. After that, he was transferred to the 87th Infantry Division as the division commander. In fact , the current 13th Guards Infantry Division was transformed from the 87th Infantry Division. This is a unit with strong combat effectiveness and rich combat experience. With a staff of more than 10,000 people, this division has a high combat effectiveness. As long as it can successfully complete the river crossing mission, Yuri believes that the battle in the direction of Mamayev Kurgan will definitely continue.
Holding on for 20 hours at the foot of Mamayev Kurgan to buy time for the 13th Guards Infantry Division to enter the position can be said to be Yuri's top priority.
After patrolling the upper and lower floors of the building, Yuri finally climbed to the roof. However, he did not spy on the building defended by the German army opposite. The positions of both sides were too close, and any action to spy on each other would be unwise.
This building is the tallest one in the vicinity. The Soviet army set up an artillery observation post on the roof. In addition, an anti-aircraft artillery was also placed here.
The mission of the artillery observation post was to provide bombing target guidance for the Soviet artillery deployed on the left bank of the Volga River. As for the anti-aircraft artillery, it was naturally used for air defense, but it could also be used as anti-tank guns at critical moments.
In addition to the artillery observers and anti-aircraft gun operators on the roof, there were also several Soviet soldiers holding signal guns. Their task was to fire signal flares into the air when German planes attacked. The purpose of doing so was to create obstacles for the bombing of German planes. Of course, this strategy was also an order issued by Yuri.
As the battle entered the city, especially the large-scale bombing by the German army and the fire at the oil station, thick smoke filled the sky above the entire city. It can be said that visibility was very low. Therefore, the bombing by German aircraft required ground guidance.
Through observations over the past two days, Yuri discovered a problem. That is, when German planes flew over the city, every building defended by German infantry would always fire flares into the air, sometimes seven or eight, sometimes more than ten.
After this discovery, Yuri ordered the frontline troops to be equipped with flares and fire them into the air when the German planes were bombing. It turned out that this strategy was very effective. Yesterday afternoon, the three bombings by German planes all dropped bombs behind the Soviet defense line. Obviously, they were confused.
In addition to issuing this order aimed at confusing German aircraft, Yuri also requested the front command to increase the number of snipers. He planned to use special arms combat methods to delay the German attack.
