After thinking about it, Shulka walked to his desk and looked at the map, and then said to Mikhailvich and Andrianka, who were following him: "The focus of the enemy's attack may be here, Mamayev Gang!" ”

In fact, this does not require historical knowledge, only military knowledge can be analyzed.

Major Mikhailvich agreed: "It is the only commanding height of Stalingrad, and the capture of it will divide Stalingrad in two!" ”

Stalingrad is a rectangular shape consisting of a new town and an old town.

The old town is in the southern half and is home to a large number of residents.

The northern half of the new town is almost entirely occupied by factories and their counterparts...... The place where the workers live is called a new village, for example, opposite the "Red October" metallurgical factory is the "Red October" new village where the workers live.

Mamayev Hill is located between the New Town and the Old Town, and is close to the Volga River.

It is conceivable that once the Mamayev Hill is occupied by the Germans, it will not only cut off the connection between the old and new towns, but also set up artillery here to hit the "No. 1 Station" and the port about 10 kilometers away from it.

This would obviously cause big problems for the Stalingrad defense.

"We only have one infantry battalion there!" Major Mikhailvich said: "We must reinforce the Mamayev Gang and not let it fall into the hands of the enemy!" ”

"Comrade Major!" Andrianka said: "But we have too few troops, and the troops in Stalingrad are fighting separately and there is almost no unified command!" ”

"But what else can we do?" Major Mikhailvich said: "Do you want to see strategic points fall into the hands of the enemy? ”

"I think we should find Command!" Andrianka said: "That is, the command of the 62nd Army, find Comrade Golikov, and then establish a unified command to fight the Germans, otherwise we are nothing more than a mess...... Not only will it not be possible to keep the Mamayev Gang in this way, but even if it does, it will soon fall into the hands of the Germans again and even lead to the collapse of the entire defense line! ”

It should be said that both statements have made sense.

The holding of the Mamayev post was imminent, and the establishment of a unified command in Stalingrad was the basis for a long-term operation.

But......

"Do we know where the headquarters of the 62nd Army is?" Shulka asked.

The two couldn't help but be stunned, and then Andrianka shook her head and replied, "No, we don't know!" ”

At this time, Stalingrad was to a certain extent in a state of "not knowing the soldiers, and the soldiers not knowing the generals", which was mainly determined by the backward communication equipment of the Soviet army, coupled with the communication jamming carried out by the German army and the low morale of the commanders.

In fact, the main reason for this is that the commanders reacted negatively, or it can be said that they lost confidence in the battle.

Once people lose confidence, they will think that everything they do is in vain, so they simply do nothing and just wait for the retreat order from their superiors.

For example, as the commander of the 62nd Army, Golikov led an army of more than 100,000 people to be easily defeated by the Germans, so it was easy to have such an idea: Stalingrad was hopeless, and the only way to resist the Germans was to retreat to the east bank of the Volga River and rely on the river.

As for the collection of scattered troops in the city...... What's the point? More than 100,000 people only stood in the face of the German attack for a few days, and the gathering of this regiment and that regiment was to gather together to let the enemy destroy faster.

So it became the situation it is now.

Otherwise, even if radio and telegraph cannot be contacted, it is time for the signal corps to give orders everywhere to assemble troops.

But now, Shulka and the others don't even know the location of the headquarters of the 62nd Army, and they have nowhere to report if they want to.

"Maybe it's a good thing I can't find the headquarters!" Shulka said.

"A good thing?" Mikhailvich looked at Shulka suspiciously.

"If they find Command, what do you think they'll do next?"

"Recruit the troops!" Andrianka said: "Then unify the command of the operation!" ”

"And then?" Shulka asked again.

So the two of them understood what Shulka meant, and after unified command, it was nothing more than to transfer the troops to the line of contact between the enemy and us to build a line of defense, and then defend and charge...... At that time, the urban street fighting trained by the 82nd Infantry Regiment would not work at all.

"I think it's important to have confidence, Comrade Mikhailvich!" Shulka said: "The fundamental problem of Stalingrad is that there is a loss of confidence in this battle from top to bottom, that is, they do not believe that we can hold it, and it can even be said that a considerable part of the people are waiting for the order from their superiors to retreat, so there are all kinds of negative reactions!" ”

"I agree!" Major Mikhailvich replied: "But what can we do?" Now don't talk about anyone else, even I have lost faith in this battle! ”

"It's easy!" Shulka said: "We should fight a battle, fight a victory!" ”

Shulka was right.

The headquarters of the 62nd Army was located in a basement on the banks of the Yelishanka River in the old city.

The headquarters was located here because they did not even know the direction of the enemy's attack or where they were attacking, and they feared that the Germans would suddenly appear in front of them and surround them...... If it is located on the riverbank, at least one direction is safe, and if possible, it is possible to retreat by boat.

The equipment in the basement was rudimentary, and a wooden table covered with maps was illuminated under a kerosene lamp, and a few chairs next to it, but none of them were seated.

The commander of the army group, Golikov, was reprimanding his subordinates from the sidelines.

"You are the commander of the tank corps, and without my consent, you moved the command to the banks of the Volga! That is, my command is still ahead of you, do you know what that means? ”

"Sorry, Comrade Golikov! We couldn't get in touch with ......"

"Be brave and face your mistakes!" Golikov interrupted his subordinates: "We all know how to move the command to the banks of the Volga, or you can also move the command to the east bank of the Volga because you can't contact it?!" ”

After taking a few steps angrily, Golikov continued: "No, you're not moving the command, you're running away, shameful running away, understand? How should your actions be evaluated by the Order of the People's Commissar of Defense No. 227? Do you want me to do it as I do with Order 227? ”

With horror in his eyes, the commander begged: "No, Comrade Golikov, I hope you will give me another chance!" ”

"Then move the headquarters back with your soldiers!" Golikov said: "From now on resolutely carry out my orders, every one!" ”

"Yes, Comrade Golikov!"

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