BXBX NOVEL Chapter 487: focus
It's no wonder that Lieutenant General Gordov was so surprised, because Shulka could tell at a glance that the Soviet army's defense focus was on the north of Stalingrad rather than the south.
This is actually not difficult to guess. The Soviet Army has a 4th Tank Army in the Stalingrad Front in the north, while the Southeast Front in the south has only a few tank divisions.
Another obvious point is that to the north is the newly formed Stalingrad Front.
The so-called "Stalingrad Front Army" is the front army defending Stalingrad, so of course it is the focus of defense.
From this, it can also be seen how nervous the Soviets are. The German army can see where their main force and main defense direction are just from the naming of their troops.
"This is impossible!" Major General Filipovich said: "The terrain in the south is complicated and there are many rivers, which is not conducive to the attack of the German mechanized troops! But the north is flat!"
"The Germans also know this, Major General Filipovich!" Shulka said: "That's why they will attack from the vulnerable south!"
The officers could not help but look at each other.
This is actually not difficult to guess. It is basically impossible to launch an attack from the front of the Don River. As I said before, the ice and snow have melted at this time, especially attacking the river when the ice and snow are melting. When will the ice cubes crack, even if people step on it, plus there are bullets and shells from the enemy... risking crossing the river is almost death.
On the other hand, because the ice layer has not completely melted, crossing the river with rubber boats, assault boats, etc. is not feasible.
In the north is the stronger Stalingrad Front Army, and the German army will not be so stupid as to head-on with it.
So only the southeast front army, which is weaker in the south, remains.
This is indeed the case, because after two months of fighting, the Soviet army's development of the Stalingrad Front in the north did not play a role in defending Stalingrad at all, because it was blocked by the German army using the passage of the Don River and the Volga River. Unable to attack.
Instead, the weaker Southeast Front Army has been undertaking the main defensive tasks.
Then, not surprisingly, the Stalingrad Front was renamed the Don Front, because its main task was to defend the Don River.
The Southeastern Front was renamed the Stalingrad Front.
Of course, these are all things to say later. At this time, the Soviet army made this mistake in the defense in the direction of Stalingrad. They did not hide their strength at all before the German attack. They took it for granted that the complex terrain in the south was not suitable for the Germans to attack. .
"That is to say, we should transfer the main force to the south?" Lieutenant General Goldov said.
"I'm afraid it's too late to mobilize now!" Major General Philipovich replied palely: "The Germans have been bombing our army's railway lines, especially around Stalingrad... If we want to move our troops from Turn north to south, and may have to bypass Stalingrad from the rear!"
Major General Filipovich is telling the truth.
Although Stalingrad is stuck in the narrow throat between the Don River and the Volga River, because it is only 100 kilometers wide, several railway lines and bridges passing through here can easily become the bombing targets of the German army and be destroyed. It is not difficult to block the traffic of this throat.
So, if the Stalingrad Front Army in the north wanted to reinforce the Southeast Front Army, it had to make a big circle from the rear.
And the German army obviously would not give the Soviet army such a long preparation time.
"Order them to get ready immediately!" Lieutenant General Goldov ordered.
But this order doesn’t really have much effect...because the Southeast Front Army has been preparing, it doesn’t make much difference whether there is this order or not.
After a pause, Shulka went on to say: "I think the German army will continue to blockade Stalingrad with air power. On the one hand, it will cause panic in Stalingrad and it will be difficult to get reinforcements. On the other hand, it can also initially cut off the north and south. The connection between the two fronts. So we seem to have two fronts, but in fact there is only one front facing the German attack!"
Facts have proved that in this era of air force, the dangerous place where one man guards the gate and ten thousand men cannot open it will also be used by the enemy.
"Is there a solution?" Major General Filipovic looked up and asked.
"I don't think the Southeastern Front Army can stop the enemy's attack!" As he said, Shulka turned his attention to Major General Filipovich.
Major General Filipovich nodded in agreement.
The Southeast Front Army was the main force to attack Kharkov. The vast majority of the hundreds of thousands of people who were surrounded and wiped out were the elite of the Southeast Front Army. At this time, the Southeast Front Army was a second-line force with poor combat effectiveness and a temporary mobilization of miscellaneous brands. Troops, some are even militias drawn from Stalingrad... The Soviet army has a strong mobilization ability, mainly because Soviet workers and peasants are conducting necessary military training in their spare time. Take a rifle and be a soldier on the battlefield.
But such a force will obviously not be an opponent of the German army under the coordinated combat system of air, infantry, and tanks.
"So!" Shulka said: "If there is any way, I think we should have a planned and gradual retreat..."
"Retreat?" Lieutenant General Goldov interrupted Shulka: "What do you mean by retreat?"
"Comrade General!" Shulka replied: "It is very difficult for the Southeastern Front Army to resist the enemy's attack in the wild. The result of this is to send batches of equipment, ammunition and soldiers to the front line and hand them over to the enemy!"
This is also one of the reasons why there will be a shortage of equipment and supplies in the Stalingrad Defense War.
On the one hand, Stalingrad was almost surrounded by the German army and lost contact with the outside world.
"Almost" is used here because Stalingrad is backed by the Volga River, so it cannot completely cut off its connection with the outside world for a while.
But the German army can use the air force to block ports and rivers, so the equipment that can be transported to Stalingrad through the Volga River is very limited.
This led to a situation where two people even used one rifle in the later stages of the Battle of Stalingrad.
On the other hand, the Soviet army continuously sent the precious resources of Stalingrad to the hands of the miscellaneous troops on the front line in the wild... With the defeat of the miscellaneous troops, these materials were almost transferred and given to the enemy.
"Why didn't we retreat in a planned way?" Shulka: "In this way, we can minimize the casualties of soldiers and the loss of supplies, and then use Stalingrad to block the enemy!"
"No, Comrade Shulka!" Lieutenant General Gordov refused without thinking: "That's Stalingrad, we should defend it like Moscow. Any retreat in the direction of Stalingrad will be given to Stalin." Gele increases the danger!"
(end of this chapter)