South of Rostov-on-Don, south of the city of Bataiysk, the commander of the Soviet Southern Front, Lieutenant General Malinovsky, after a difficult wait, finally waited for the commander-in-chief of the Caucasus direction, and also the commander-in-chief of the North Caucasus Front, Marshal Budyonny.

Seeing Marshal Budyonny's large round face and two figure-of-eight beards above his lips, Lieutenant General Malinovsky had a sense of happiness that he had finally found something to rely on.

"Comrade Marshal, you are finally here." Lieutenant General Malinovsky, regardless of whether Marshal Budyonny wanted it or not, and the current situation of the war allowed it, strode up to Marshal Budyonny, hugged the old marshal and kissed him passionately on the cheek.

Marshal Budyonny pushed Lieutenant General Malinovsky away, and the beard on his lips curled.

"Tell me, what's going on now?"

Lieutenant General Malinovsky pointed to the map and said: "Half of the Southern Front collapsed, and the enemy was here, in the strip between the source of the Mius River and the Severodonets River, breaking through the positions of the 12th Army, and in two days, they crushed the 12th Army, as well as the 21st and 23rd Tank Corps, which had been reinforced to them, in only two days.

Having broken through the line of the Twelfth Army, the enemy sent their 1st Panzer Army and 2nd Hungarian Army to the south in a big way to outflank our forces behind the line of the Mius River. The enemy moved south at a fast pace, and the troops had no way to retreat to the east, but only to the south through Rostov-on-Don. The enemy's 17th Army to the west had already advanced east across the Mius River, and in less than two days their troops would converge. ”

"How many troops have been withdrawn?" Marshal Budyonny asked.

"Most of the troops of the Eighteenth Army remained to block the attack, and a small number of troops successfully withdrew. The defense zone of the 56th Army was relatively close to Rostov, and most of the troops were withdrawn. There were also the remnants of the 12th Army and the 21st and 23rd Tank Corps, which, combined, were able to make up ten divisions, but we suffered heavy losses in heavy weapons, especially tanks. ”

Marshal Budyonny said worriedly: "Three army groups plus two tank armies can only piece together ten divisions of troops, and I believe that you have suffered heavy losses. I also lacked tanks, and in total my front had only three separate tank brigades and three separate tank battalions. I came with the 51st Army, which had only one separate 40th Tank Brigade. Where are your troops located? ”

Lieutenant General Malinovsky said: "After I had my troops withdraw across the Don River, from west to east, the 56th, 18th and 12th armies lined up in turn, relying on the natural dangers of the Don River for defense. But just before you came, the command of the 12th Army had just sent a telegram that their line of defense in the Bagaevskaya area had been broken by the Germans. ”

Marshal Budyonny quickly found the location of Bagaevskaya on the map, and found that it was nothing more than a riverside town about fifty kilometers east of the city of Bataiysk.

Staring at the town of Bagaevskaya on the map for a while, Marshal Budyonny said: "Let's do this, let the 51st Army take over the jurisdiction of the 12th Army. The units of the 12th Army had suffered the greatest losses in the previous battles, so let them be withdrawn to rest and be used as our general reserve. ”

Lieutenant General Malinovsky said: "There are German troops on the line of the 12th Army, and it will be dangerous for them to change their guard at this time?" ”

Marshal Budyonny said: "Your concerns are very reasonable, it's just that on the way here, I received instructions from Moscow. We all know that the target of the German summer offensive was Moscow, and they would not use too many forces in such a secondary theater as the South. The judgment of the General Secretary and the Supreme High Command was that the Germans launched an attack in advance because they were afraid that when they attacked Moscow, our troops on the southern front would go north to harass their backs.

The general secretary judged that the German attack on us would stop at the Don, that is, the ultimate goal of the Germans was to drive us across the Don and eliminate the hidden danger behind their attack on Moscow. Now that our main forces have withdrawn across the Don, they will not chase after them, and I think that their next action is to seize Rostov, and then across the river from us, at most several landing fields on the left bank of the Don, to prepare in advance for later operations. But I think that should have been after the Battle of Moscow.

Our next action was to rebuild the defensive line on the left bank of the Don and at the same time regroup and replenish our troops. What is the situation in Rostov now? ”

Lieutenant General Malinovsky said: "His Royal Highness's troops are strengthening the fortified areas outside the city and the buildings inside the city, preparing for street fighting, buying time for the withdrawal of other troops across the Don River. ”

Marshal Budyonny said approvingly: "It is wise to do this, it is very unwise to let too many troops stay in Rostov, it is what we should do to withdraw across the Don and preserve the living forces, and only a few elite troops should be left in the city, especially to control the bridges over the Don, and as soon as the Germans enter Rostov and approach the bridge, let the sappers blow up the bridges immediately." ”

Lieutenant General Malinovsky said: "I have already arranged for the bombing of the bridge, and the sappers are planting explosives on the bridge. But what worries me is that the forces that have already crossed the Don in Bagaevskaya do not know how big a bridgehead they will build next on our defensive line. ”

Marshal Budyonny said: "I will put the comrades of the 51st Army on their radar, and if possible, we can launch a counteroffensive and drive this small force of the enemy into the Don." ”

Lieutenant General Malinovsky said: "It would be great if we could eliminate them." Only, when will our reinforcements arrive? How many new troops will Moscow allocate to us? ”

Marshal Budyonny said: "The Supreme High Command said that the direction of the enemy's offensive is Moscow, they will not send us too many troops, they will let Yeremenko of the Stalingrad Front, no, Comrade Rokossovsky take some troops out of us, and also say that we will use the newly produced weapons in the Stalingrad factory to form a new unit on the basis of the remnants of the 12th Army, the 21st and 23rd Tank Army." ”

"What new troops?" Lieutenant General Malinovsky asked.

"Fourth Tank Army. That's why I had to let them change their guard and retreat to the second line to rest. ”

"Since this is the case, then let the comrades of the 51st Army act as soon as possible and replace them. Then launch a counteroffensive at Bagaevskaya as soon as possible and drive the Germans there across the river. Said Lieutenant General Malinovsky.

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