Heavy snow fell in the middle and upper reaches of the Don River, and visibility became very poor, but the bloody battle between the two armies continued, but today the object of the German army's key assault became the 27th Army led by Karpov, according to Chistyakov's instructions, Karpov gave up the attack on the German position, gathered his troops in time, and was determined to retreat to help the army group deal with the superior German army in the rear meander, but he did not expect Manstein's movements to be faster than him, and as soon as it was dark, he sent 4 divisions to attack him, More critically, there are also 2 cavalry divisions among them.

If it had been two days earlier, Karpov would not have been afraid of the cavalry division at all, because at that time he had a tank brigade in his hands, but unfortunately in order to maintain the attack on the German positions, this tank brigade was almost wiped out, and the troops were moving backwards.

The Don River was a gathering place for the Cossacks, and the Cossacks, who had long been angry with the Bolsheviks, cheered when they heard the news of Manstein's order to go into battle, and they could not suppress their eagerness to try. The Cossacks, who were fighting at home, were not only familiar with the terrain, but also had the help of the local population, and under their leadership, under the cover of heavy snow, the two German divisions soon penetrated the gap between the joint units of the Red Army and surrounded the auxiliary units of the 27th Army. Subsequently, in view of the fact that the pressure of the Red Army's offensive had been reduced, Heinrich temporarily formed a reinforced Panzergrenadier Battalion, numbering about 1,200 men, from each of the three infantry divisions stationed on the defensive line, which was gathered into a special Southern Army Group Storm Commando. The marshal led the team, of course, in a joke. However, Manstein's relevant ideas inspired Heinrich, and after rummaging through the warehouse, he found that the STG43 and G43 rifles sent from the rear for battlefield tests were surplus in addition to equipping the headquarters garrison, so he simply mobilized them all in one go.

The mixing of two rifles in one unit can easily lead to confusion and increased logistical pressure. However, as far as the establishment of a reinforced battalion is concerned, he does not think that the problem will be too big. His original requirement for this assault team was to cooperate with the cavalry division to quickly break through the enemy's defense system, but a miracle appeared, the Storm Assault Group equipped with STG43 and G43 rifles skyrocketed in combat effectiveness, and the firepower density was far more powerful than the 2 infantry regiments using the traditional Kar98 rifles, and it only took three hours to eat a Red Army infantry regiment alive and dig a big hole in the Red Army's defense system. The last assault team turned into a dagger that was the first to break into the heart of the Red Army, and Manstein was overjoyed and ordered the assault team to adjust the direction of attack. While doing their best to put pressure on the 27th Army.

In the face of the fierce attack of 4 divisions and 1 assault team, Karpov suddenly felt a lot of pressure, even though the Germans had almost no tanks like him, but the German army's large number of half-track armored vehicles controlled the scene. It became a nightmare for the retreating troops - they were constantly being caught up and eliminated. The retreat road was littered with the bones and blood of the Red Army.

Under Yeremenko's order, the 2nd Guards Army began to reverse the detour to Kudinov, which was further downstream, and was more than 180 kilometers away from the core area of the 57th, 62nd, and 64th armies, but although they avoided the surveillance of the German army, they also left too far away and needed to conceal their whereabouts, so the army group could not realize the erection of the pontoon bridge and the crossing of the river within the specified time, and it was not until 14:00 in the afternoon that the first pontoon bridge was built. One and a half hours later, a Guards Infantry Division was the first to cross the river.

Although the location and timing chosen by the 2nd Guards Army were hidden. But their luck was really bad, when the upper reaches of the Don River and the meanders of the river were shrouded in heavy snow, the climate in the lower reaches of the Don River was cloudy, and the German planes that could not be dispatched to the middle and upper reaches had been fighting with the German defense forces downstream, and one of the lost planes accidentally discovered the Guards Second Army's attempt to cross the river, and the frightened pilots immediately reported to the army group headquarters, and by 16 o'clock, a large number of Bf-109s had arrived covering the Stukas, and 3 of the 4 pontoon bridges erected by the Red Army had been destroyed, A large number of corpses of the Red Army were left on both sides of the river, especially the 6th Guards Tank Brigade, which was lined up to cross the river and was not prepared for air defense at all, was quickly turned into a pile of scrap metal by the Luftwaffe.

Although the timely dispatch of the air force hindered the smuggling of the Second Guards Army, Manstein felt that the situation was serious: the sky was dark, the air force could no longer be dispatched, and the destroyed pontoon bridges could be repaired by the Russians in another 4-5 hours, and if the Red Army was fast enough, the main force of the army would be transported across the river at dawn tomorrow morning. Surrounded the Red Army units on this side, and then gritted his teeth and released the last reserve division in his hand, the 168th Infantry Division.

This time, no one objected to Manstein's approach, and everyone realized that the situation had reached a critical moment, and if the Red Army Group did not take the lead in destroying the Red Army in the meanders when it attacked Rostov-on-Don, the whole plan was in danger of total collapse, and the current adjustment measures were only a stopgap measure - the defense line on the lower Don had been stretched to 350 kilometers, which could not be held by 8-9 infantry divisions.

The atmosphere in the headquarters was very dull, Heinrich planned to transfer one of the infantry divisions stationed on the existing defense line for emergency support, but the overall strength was still insufficient, but at 18 o'clock, Weller, who had been frowning, received a telegram, and his dull face instantly turned into ecstasy.

"Good news, good news, Sir, Reinhardt is here......" he waved a telegraph and swept into the headquarters almost like the wind.

"Coming? Where is he? Manstein and Heinrich also stood up excitedly.

"He's gone to assault the troops of the Southwestern Front."

"What?" Everyone was taken aback, and hurriedly gathered in front of the sand table to observe, a few days ago, General Hort also informed the command that he was preparing to launch a diversionary attack on the Bryansk Front, how could it be that in a blink of an eye, he reached the flank of the Southwestern Front? Is it a small part of the troops?

Manstein asked, "How many did he send?" Is there an armor division? ”

"It is the main force of the Fourth Panzer Army, with a total of more than 500 tanks and about 160,000 ......"

"So much?" Manstein waved his hand excitedly, "Didn't Hort take them to deal with the Bryansk Front?" ”

"General Hoult led the Romanians and Italians to defend in place disguised as a group of main forces, and sent General Reinhardt to lead the armored forces to the south, and it is expected that the enemy can be met tomorrow morning...... Then the commander of the Southwestern Front of the Red Army, Vatutin, concentrated the main forces of the front and crossed the river, and there was only one army group and headquarters left around him, less than 100,000 men, and at most only 100 tanks, and they fought to get rid of him first......"

Good! Everyone was happy, and this was undoubtedly great news, because Vatutin's troops had put too much pressure on the left flank of Rostov, and they had already considered sending troops back to the defense, but they all abandoned this plan because of the excessive pressure of the enemy troops.

"Call back: We agree with his approach and will create conditions for him." Manstein thought for a moment and gave the order, "Let the left flank defense retreat and let the troops of the enemy's Southwestern Front advance." ”

"Back off?" Everyone was stunned, "What if the front army headquarters of Vatuin can't wait to cross the river?" ”

"Not so fast, let the Red Army attacking troops move forward a little, let them distance themselves from the headquarters a little, so that the rearguard troops will not have too many troops to ......rescue in the event of a surprise attack," Manstein smiled slyly, "I don't care if I can catch Vatutin, but I want the 100,000-strong rearguard troops!" ”

Everyone laughed.

At 2 o'clock in the morning, at the moment when the battle in the meanders was in full swing, and at the moment when the main forces of the Southwestern Front were successfully breaking through, Vatutin, who was caught off guard, collided with the main force of the Fourth Panzer Army that was galloping.

At 3 o'clock in the morning of the 14th, Zhukov, who was in a daze, was urgently called out from his bed, this poor man had been independently supporting the overall situation in Moscow, accepting the cynicism of Voroshilov, Timoshenko and others, and the high-pressure criticism of Stalin on the other, and he was already emaciated. Finally, Vasilevsky rushed to the headquarters of the Stalingrad Front during the day to coordinate and command, and promptly urged the Second Guards Front to cross the river, and Comrade Stalin had a smile on his face, but he was so shocked that he was speechless to receive the bad news that the headquarters of the Southwestern Front was under siege.

"Where did the German troops come from? Aren't Manstein's troops all along the Don River? ”

"It's the armored forces of the Hult cluster."

"Aren't they confronting the Bryansk Front?" Zhukov felt furious, "This afternoon the front also said that the enemy's defense system is complete and the armor is sufficient, and asked me to send more air forces and tanks to them, and it is impossible for Hot to be on both the Bryansk front and the flank of the Southwestern Front!" ”

"This ......" The staff officers on duty in the General Staff were speechless.

Soon, Zhukov's doubts were dispelled: the Southwestern Front sent a telegram clearly informing them that 3 German armored divisions and 2 motorized rifle divisions were attacking them, all of which were the main forces of the 4th Panzer Army, and they guessed that Hort was not at all on the Bryansk front, where at best the main forces in the camouflage of the Romanians, Italians......

"If this is the case, the command of the Southwestern Front will be in danger......" Zhukov said to himself, staring closely at the distribution of the enemy's situation on the map. (To be continued.) )