USSR 1941

Chapter 673: Vole

??Chapter 673 Vole

?? Shulka felt a little sorry.

Although it was not his idea to let the two battalions "sacrifice" to the German army on Mamayev Post, the whole plan was made by Shulka, and they can also be said to have indirectly "died" in Shulka's hands. .

?? But what about this question?

?? Shulka didn't know whether Khrushchev was right or wrong in doing so.

To say that he is right, it is so unfair to the officers and men of the two battalions stationed on Mamayev Gang, they were all kept in the dark and even fought the enemy to the end... These two battalions are like Goliko As the husband said, they are veterans with experience and a very strong will to fight. They stood firm on Mamayev Post for three days with a serious shortage of ammunition, and were finally wiped out in a surprise attack launched by the German army in the dark.

Saying he was wrong does help the whole plan, and it can even be said to be very helpful, because maybe because of this deceptive plan, the Germans believed that they would be able to take Stalingrad in the not-too-distant future, so reinforcements, supplies And reserve forces will no longer be sent as a priority for the attack on Stalingrad, so the entire plan can be implemented smoothly.

??Therefore, sometimes things on the battlefield are unclear, and it is necessary to distinguish right from wrong. Objectively speaking, the national interest should prevail.

??The German army was really fooled, which can be seen from the fact that the German army dispersed reinforcements to the Central Army Group and the Northern Army Group.

??Paulus also protested to Hitler for this.

??It is rare for an army commander to ask the head of state for instructions beyond the army group commander, but Paulus has this capital, because the Sixth Army under his command has been the mainstay of the Stalingrad battle.

"Your Excellency!" Paulus said, "we need reinforcements, ammunition, fuel, and everything, but I know that they have been transferred to other places, including an armored division that was supposed to arrive this afternoon. An artillery regiment!"

"My general!" Hitler replied: "Perhaps you already know the situation on the front line. The enemy launched a general counterattack against our defense line. We had to send supplies and reinforcements to other directions... It is obvious that the Russians did this in order to disperse the enemy. Our army's reinforcements are delaying the progress of our army's attack on Stalingrad. I will not give up here, I am organizing another batch of reinforcements, and they will arrive in Stalingrad and be delivered to you soon! What you have to do, Just hurry up! It'll be ours soon!"

??Paulus had no choice but to put down the phone. Although he knew that the "soon" that the head of state said might be far away, he couldn't do anything.

If there is anything he can do, it is to transfer the two Italian divisions stationed on the Don Line to Stalingrad as a reserve... Mamayev Kurgan has just been taken by the Germans, he needs more troops to hold it and Expand the victories.

?? This order dissatisfied the commander of the Romanian 4th Army stationed south of Stalingrad, Dumilerescu.

??The reason is that the defense lines of these two Italian divisions were handed over to the 4th Romanian Army for defense, and the 4th Romanian Army was originally understrength.

"Our anti-tank equipment is seriously insufficient, General!" Dumilarescu complained to Paulus on the phone: "If the enemy tanks appear in front of us, even if there is only one enemy tank, then we will have nothing to do but wait for death! "

??Dumillerescu is not false threats. The Romanian 4th Army has only 34 75MM anti-tank guns in total, but they are stationed on a defense line of 75 kilometers, which means that an average of two kilometers long defense line deploys one anti-tank gun.

?? "Don't you still have an armored division?" Paulus asked back.

?? "You mean the 1st Armored Division?" Dumillerescu laughed: "We do have them, but we only have 24 tanks available!"

?? "What about the other tanks?" Paulus asked.

?? "They had the cables bitten off by the field mice!" replied Dumilarescu.

??Paulus couldn't help laughing: "You are so funny, General! I think those voles must have been sent by Stalin!"

??Paulus thought that Dumilerescu was joking, or complaining for the Romanian army, hoping to get some resources.

?? But what Paulus didn't know was that Dumilarescu was telling the truth, and a considerable part of their tanks had been bitten off by voles and could not be used.

??The reason is that most of the tanks equipped by the Romanian First Armored Division are the "No. 1" and "No. 2" tanks that were eliminated by the German army. In addition, there are also "35T", or light tanks and malfunctioning tanks captured from the Soviet army.

In terms of combat effectiveness, these tanks are still worth using, because some of them are KV1 or even T34 captured by the German army from the Soviet army... KV1 tanks cannot cooperate with German tanks because of their slow speed and maintenance and reliability issues, while T34 tanks It is because some of the captured tanks have been severely damaged, but they were thrown to the Romanian army because they were barely able to move.

?? The problem was that the Germans were running out of fuel, especially during the attack on Stalingrad.

??As a result, almost all fuel was supplied to the German armored forces attacking Stagrad and even the logistical forces (used to transport supplies by car), but no gasoline was given to Romania.

?? Which is somewhat ironic, because the gasoline was even shipped from Romania and produced by the Romanians, but the Romanian armored forces were not able to distribute the fuel.

?? But this is normal, because the Romanian armored forces are stationed on the west bank of the Don River, and they have almost no chance to participate in the battle and certainly do not need to use tanks.

??Dumillerescu recognized it, and he was even thankful for it.

??Because when fuel is needed, it is time to go to the battlefield, such as the German army fighting the Russians on the front line.

?? In this respect, the Romanians still have an advantage, so there is nothing to complain about.

??Because there was no fuel for a long time, the tank could not start. On the other hand, the tank crews were worried about being bombed by the Soviet army... If the tank was bombed by the enemy without fuel, the tank would not even be able to run.

??So, the tank soldiers of the Luo 1st Armored Division built bunkers for the tanks and camouflaged them with straw.

What they didn't expect was that there were many uncleaned rice on the straw, and at the same time, the straw was an excellent breeding ground for voles... To be exact, the inside of the tank is the best breeding ground for voles, where it is dry and comfortable. If the straw and rice Bringing it in to make a small nest is not flattering. When you have time, you can bite the cable and grind your teeth.

?? As a result, within a few months of the hundreds of tanks of various types in the First Armored Division, only 24 were left to start.

??(end of this chapter)