The temporary command vacuum in Stalingrad was partly due to the fact that Stalingrad was originally under the command of the Stalingrad Front, which was trying to prevent the Germans from advancing north and cutting off its connection with Stalingrad.

On the other hand, it was at this time when the command of the Front Army was transferred power...... Lieutenant General Gordorff was demoted from commander-in-chief to commanding only the Stalingrad Front because of his ineffective command of the German army, and Yeremenko served as the commander-in-chief.

In fact, this was only a means of consolation, because within a few days the commander of the Stalingrad Front, Lieutenant General Goldov, was also removed.

It is inconceivable that the Soviet army was still changing generals when the enemy was already in the city, especially in such an important city as Stalingrad, there was no independent and unified command structure...... Historically, it was only after the German attack on Stalingrad that the Soviet army realized this, and then hurriedly sent Chuikov to Stalingrad to preside over the overall situation.

Shulka hoped that more troops would be able to fight in an organized and planned manner before the German siege of the city.

But he soon found it difficult to achieve.

Major Mikhailvich first found the nearby 385th Regiment, which was part of the 64th Army, which had been ordered to rush from the east bank to Stalingrad to reinforce the front line, but before they could reach their destination, the front line was lost.

"We should establish a unified command!" Major Mikhailvich said to the commander of the 385th Regiment, Major Rogakov: "In this way, we can better coordinate and organize a strong defense!" ”

"I don't think so, Comrade Mikhailvich!" Rogakov replied: "The order given to us by the superiors is to wait for the order!" ”

"This does not affect the orders of the superiors!" Mikhailvich replied: "On the contrary, we are trying to better fulfill the tasks assigned to us by our superiors, because the difficulties and tasks we will face are already obvious, that is, to resist the enemy's attack at Stalingrad, we are just preparing a little earlier!" ”

"Maybe the superiors have already made arrangements!" Rogakov shrugged his shoulders and replied: "None of this is something we need to worry about, do they?" And, if there is unity of command, do we obey your orders, or do you obey our orders? If you want to follow our orders and join our ranks, I have no opinion! ”

Then someone next to him laughed: "I know, Comrade Mikhailvich, you have been forgotten by your superiors, and this feeling is very bad!" ”

The soldiers of the 385th Regiment burst into laughter.

Strictly speaking, there is nothing wrong with Rogakov's answer, because the duty of a soldier is to obey orders. When they were ordered to stay put, they should be put put.

The problem was that they knew in their hearts that the command of the 64th Army, which had been crushed by the Germans, had no time to command them, because the command was already in a mess and did not know how to clean up the mess.

Therefore, the so-called "execution of orders" is nothing more than an excuse for Rogakov and others to passively respond to the situation in front of them.

Sure enough, Rogakov was silent for a while, then lowered his voice and said: "Comrade Mikhailvich, I don't think it's a bad thing for us to continue to stay here...... It's only a few miles from the Volga, what do you think? ”

It was only a few miles away from the Volga, and the underlying meaning was that if the city could not hold and had to retreat, they would be able to get close to the water and get the moon first.

"I don't think so, Comrade Rogakov!" Shulka interjected and responded: "We will hold Stalingrad!" ”

With that, he left with Mikhailvich and the others.

As soon as he walked out the door, Major Mikhailvich shook his head, put on his military cap and said: "The other units are similar to this, they don't seem to have anyone in command, but they all have someone in command...... There are the 62nd Army, there are the 64th Army, there are also the Navy, the Internal Affairs Forces, the Tank Forces, and so on. What are we going to do? ”

"We can't change anything, Comrade Mikhailvich!" Shulka replied.

But Shulka didn't take it seriously, because he knew that it wouldn't be long before Chuikov would come to clean up the mess.

But it didn't take long for Shulka to realize that this was not the case.

The next day, when Shulka and Major Mikhailvich were analyzing the battle situation on the map, Andrianka nervously took the telegram and reported: "Major, the enemy is attacking!" ”

"You're saying they're starting a siege?" Mikhailvich asked.

"Yes!" Andrianka replied: "They attacked simultaneously from the west and south, throwing a lot of assault guns!" ”

Mikhailvich set his sights on Shulka.

Shulka couldn't help frowning and asked, "Who commanded Stalingrad?" ”

"For the time being, under the command of Comrade Golikov, commander of the 62nd Army!" Adrianka replied.

"No one else?"

"Nope!"

Major Mikhailvich asked suspiciously: "Who else could there be?" ”

Shulka did not answer.

Of course, he was thinking of Chuikov, but Chuikov did not arrive as expected, and the commander of the 62nd Army, Golikov, ...... He's not a commander who can control the situation.

The reason was that the 62nd Army had suffered heavy losses in the previous blocking battle outside the city, and only a dozen tanks could be used in the three tank brigades within its establishment, and the mixed forces composed of several brigades and divisions had only a few hundred soldiers in total.

In this case, Golikov had completely lost confidence in the defense of Stalingrad.

So, where is Chuikov?

It quickly occurred to Shulka that Chuikov might have just returned from China at this time.

(Note: Chuikov was twice sent to China as a military adviser and did not return until March 1942)

To put it simply, for some reason Stalin launched the Battle of Kharkov ahead of schedule, which eventually led to the Battle of Stalingrad also breaking out ahead of schedule.

At this time, Chuikov was still recuperating and adjusting to the Russian environment.

If Chuikov doesn't come, or if he brings it later...... The rest of Shulka is unimaginable.

This gave Shulka a slap in the face, and he didn't react for a long time.

Shulka originally thought that he would be able to gain more advantages by preparing in advance at Stalingrad, and thought that the focus of the defense of Stalingrad was on supplies and tactics.

It wasn't until the war came that he realized that none of this really mattered, what mattered was Chuikov, Chuikov, Chuikov!

Because only he, the only general who had served as a military adviser in China for a long time and was familiar with the strategy and tactics of the Chinese army, could have confidence in the defeat of the remnants of Stalingrad and effectively organize them and implement guerrilla tactics to deal with the German army in the city.

But now, it is clear that Chuikov will not be here so soon.