Zhukov and Yeremenko are old classmates who have a very good relationship, and they can usually talk about it, so they subconsciously defended him: "There are not many suitable places to cross the river in the lower reaches of the Don River, and the 57th, 62nd, and 64th armies have basically occupied each river crossing point after they have been deployed, and the 2nd Guards Army cannot be used when it goes, and it is too late to rescue the 21st Army when it takes a long detour." ”

It's okay not to say this, but Stalin was even more angry: "Who told him to go to the river meanders to save people?" It is enough to have Chistyakov this stupid guy dragging Manstein there, his goal is Rostov! Our commanders at all levels should keep a clear head - since the Germans sent the main forces to the meander, how much strength is left in the Rostov direction? ”

Zhukov smiled bitterly, the Supreme Commander's words vaguely meant to blame himself, and of course, more importantly, to vent his dissatisfaction with Yeremenko's ineffective combat - he always believed that it was the negligence of the Stalingrad Front that put these Romanian warships in!

Late that night, Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev, political commissar of the Stalingrad Front, walked into the headquarters of the Front with a telegram and a gloomy face, but was stunned to find that the commander of the Front, Yeremenko, was covering his face and crying, as if he was a little boy who had come back from being naughty outside and was being taught by his mother -- Comrade Commander is 50 years old this year and is still the commander of more than 300,000 Red Army!

"What's wrong with you? Comrade Andrei Ivanovich. Khrushchev suddenly felt a little sympathetic to the commander, put aside the telegram in his hand first, and asked with concern. Who would dare to show you a look? ”

"Comrade Stalin got angry, and Comrade Zhukov also sent a telegram to accuse us."

Following the direction pointed by Yeremenko, Khrushchev saw a telegram from Zhukov. This was not the routine, only general telegram he had received from the General Staff. Yeremenko's long telegram, which was entirely sent by Zhukov in a personal tone, not only told him that Comrade Stalin was very angry and told him to be careful and work harder, but also warned him that if the 2nd Guards Army was not sent, the General Staff would have to adjust its operational subordination.

After seeing this telegram, Khrushchev knew that he did not need to take out his copy. He persuaded: "Comrade Zhukov's words are not bad, this is for the cause!" As you can see, nearly 200,000 troops of the 21st and 24th armies were besieged by the enemy. Comrade Stalin was in such a hurry that he could not eat or sleep well, Comrade Vatutin had already crossed the river, Comrade Rokossovsky's troops were stopped by warships and could not cross the river, leaving us with only us stumbling on the left bank of the Don. Of course, Moscow will not be satisfied......"

"I have sent three army groups up. What else? Yeremenko was overwhelmed, "We still have the Kleist cluster on the flank, what if we transfer all our troops to the front, and the cluster takes the opportunity to attack us?" Even if they don't attack, what if they draw troops to land along the Caucasus? Whose responsibility will be counted then? ”

"This matter is one yard at a time, at least the responsibility for landing in the Caucasus can't be borne by us, right?" Khrushchev said to himself, "That's a question of the Caucasian Front." ”

At this time, the Stalingrad Front still had two armies in its hands, one was the 2nd Guards Army, which had relatively strong combat effectiveness. There was also the 51st Army, to which Yeremenko complained: "Why don't you let the Don Front send reinforcements?" They also had the 4th Tank Army in their hands. And they are all our troops on the left and right flanks, so there is no need to worry about the enemy breaking through. ”

"But they were facing the meanders of the Don, where there were enemy warships with hundreds of German planes on them."

"Then delay crossing the river for a few more days, it will freeze soon, and we will only freeze here next month...... Can't the 200,000 people in the meanders of the river even wait for a few days? Yeremenko muttered.

"Comrade Stalin can't wait."

"You can transfer the 4th Tank Army to us here to cross the river...... The soldiers refused to be transferred to us, and they refused to die in the Don - did they understand whose responsibility for the defeat was met? Yeremenko roared, "If you don't know the specific details, others will think that it is the troops of our front army that are surrounded!" ”

"Saving soldiers is like fighting fire!" Khrushchev heard Yeremenko's dissatisfaction with Rokossovsky in his words, whether it was the usual grudges or Stalin's threat to draw the 2nd Guards Army to the Don Front, in short, Yeremenko now had a great opinion of Rokossovsky, and he felt that the other party's idea was very dangerous, so he persuaded, "We are all for the cause of the party, do not distinguish between yours and mine, our only task is to carry out the order - to attack!" ”

"Comrade Khrushchev, you don't understand, you are not a soldier, you do not feel the pain of a commander watching the troops being taken in the wrong direction."

"Comrade Yeremenko! Operational orders are given by the General Staff, and whatever your reasons are, the only thing we can do is to obey, and mistakes will have to be left to the aftermath of the war. Khrushchev raised his voice, "And this is a personal order of Comrade Stalin." ”

"Well, I will resolutely obey his orders!" Yeremenko wiped away his tears, this performance just now can be regarded as killing him, and he said to the operational staff officers in an unquestioning tone, "Order the 2nd Guards Army to complete the crossing of the river before 10 a.m. on the 13th, and there must be no mistake." ”

"What if the Kleist cluster does come calling? Can only one 51 Army work? Khrushchev suddenly became a little worried.

"Who knows, let......'s take one step at a time," Yeremenko said noncommittally, blinking his eyes, "in case we are attacked, the 4th Tank Army, which belongs to the Don Front, can be transferred to my command, right?" ”

Khrushchev shook his head, trying to dispel the worries in his mind, he wanted to say something, but after thinking about it for a long time, he still couldn't open his mouth.

In the early morning of the 13th, after a day and a night of hard fighting, the German 16th Panzer Division and the Guard Banner Panzer Division finally killed the rear troops of the 24th Army, and joined together in the area of the original pontoon bridge in the Hequ Division, and the two sides rushed to the designated position almost at the same time -- this not only meant that the two of them had completely formed a cut of the Red Army in the Hequ Division, but also meant that the relevant gambling game between the two divisions was tied. The vanguard of the special mission on both sides laughed when they saw each other's tanks, and the Count of Tank and Max Winscher clasped hands tightly.

"Let's kill it back?"

"Good!"

While they were congratulating each other, a battle situation study meeting was being held in the Hult cluster headquarters.

"Sir, according to the latest intelligence, the commander of the opposite Southwestern Front, Vatutin, sent most of the troops, including the main forces of the 5th Tank Army and the 1st Guards Army, to cross the river, and the headquarters of the Front Army remained on the other side of the Don River, and there was only one 12th Army left by his side - this is the weakest group army of the Front, we estimate that there are less than 60,000 people, only 50-70 tanks, counting the headquarters guard troops and some other technical arms left behind by Vatutin, The troops of this front that did not cross the river were at most 8-90,000 people, and the number of tanks did not exceed 100. ”

"Good!" Hult burst out laughing, "The situation is even more perfect than we thought, Vatutin, this idiot, he thinks we can't come back and beat him again when we're gone?" ”

"However, the Bryansk Front is sticking to us very tightly." Someone raised a different opinion, "In the event that we attack Vatutin, we will be attacked from behind by the Bryansk Front, we will probably be very uncomfortable." ”

"Reinhardt, what do you think?"

"I think I can let the Romanians and Italians deal with them." Reinhardt glanced at the map and compared the distribution of strength between the two sides, "If we can buy 3-4 days, our armored forces can take out Vatutin's lair - at least we can force him to withdraw troops from the direction of the Don River, which can effectively reduce the pressure on Marshal Manstein." ”

"It's to share a little for him, and now the three fronts are all in the Rostov direction, which is enough for him." Hort thought for a moment, "Can you please lead the 4th Panzer Army to assault the Russians?" I'll stay here with the Italians and Romanians to block the Bryansk Front, and we'll hold it for as long as you need us. ”

"Why don't I change tasks with you?" Reinhardt thought for a moment and explained, "This is a greater certainty of success." ”

The facts are obvious, the 4th Panzer Army will not have much problem assaulting Vatutin, Vatutin has less than 100,000 horses and 100 tanks on hand, the 4th Panzer Army has 200,000 horses and 700 tanks, but it is not optimistic to be responsible for the blocking task, the Bryansk Front has 600,000 horses and 500-600 tanks, and the Hult cluster has only 200,000 horses and 300 tanks after excluding the 4th Panzer Army, still not enough to cope with the Red Army.

"I'm sir, you should listen to me." Hoult blinked, "I'd better stay, I'll ask them not to attack and bluff as much as possible......"

"That'...... I leave you with 2 armored divisions and 1 motorized rifle division? Able to have a bit of a reserve at critical moments. Reinhardt no longer shirked, because Holt was of higher rank and older qualifications than him, and it was easier for him to control and command these Allied forces.

"It's enough to give me an armored division and 1 motorized rifle division." Holt firmly stated that "the assault force must not be weakened too much, and we must solve the command center of the Southwestern Front as soon as possible." ”

"I'm trying to solve the problem in 3-4 days." (To be continued.) )