Germany made targeted changes to the Soviet style of play, and this matter had not yet reached the ears of the Soviet commanders. However, they did not have a good way to deal with the German army's air and ground superiority, and could only rely on the city to slowly block the German offensive.

Rokossovsky deployed his troops around Stalingrad, and did not even deploy too many troops in the direction of the Don River, he carefully studied the example of the German army's surprise attack on France, and believed that the deployment of the defensive line along the river could not completely block the German attack, so he pressed all the treasure on Stalingrad, not the Don defense line, which could be broken through.

"How's the hoarding going?" Rokossovsky had been deploying for almost a month to hold Stalingrad. He hoarded as much supplies as he could around Stalingrad in order to hold on to the city for more than a year while the Germans besieged it.

He divided his forces into several assault forces and deployed them on the outskirts of the city. As soon as the Germans broke through the Soviet lines from which direction they attempted to advance in depth, then these assault units would launch a counterattack from the flanks of the Germans and drive the Germans out of the city.

In modern warfare, ammunition, equipment, and food are fought, and Rokossovsky, who fought with the Germans all the way from the front line to Stalingrad, naturally knew the impact of these things on the outcome of the war, so he was preparing these materials that were about to be consumed in large quantities these days, just waiting for the arrival of the German army.

"Comrade General! The grain reserves are sufficient, not only in Stalingrad, we have hoarded a large amount of grain, and on the other side of the Volga I am also building a reserve station in case the grain in Stalingrad is consumed, and it will continue to be replenished. An assistant replied.

Another assistant handed Rokossovsky a copy of the document in his hand and introduced: "Comrade General, we will unify the management of all the ships on the Volga, and once the battle for the defense of the city begins, then we will have the ability to organize the transportation of transport troops across the Volga and ensure the smooth flow of supplies to Stalingrad." ”

Rokossovsky heard his men's report and nodded reassuringly. He knew that abandoning the Don defense line would be much less defensive depth for him, but in order to concentrate his forces to defend the most important points, he still chose this style of playing without hesitation to kill 800 enemies and lose 1,000 himself, because for now, this is his best choice.

In addition, he held a trump card that the Germans did not know, that is, the 30 main divisions of the Far East that supported him. This force was placed by him on the east bank of the Volga, ready to join the battle as a new force if it did not work. Rokossovsky hoped that these veterans would finally be able to drive the Germans out of Stalingrad and complete the final victory in the battle for the Caucasus after joining the battle.

It was precisely because of the reinforcements that would inevitably come that Rokossovsky gave priority to how to inflict heavy damage on the German army when formulating tactics. Once the German army was trapped in Stalingrad and could not get out, then Rokossovsky was sure that the German army could lose more than 300,000 troops.

On the Don River, the seemingly strong defensive line was actually just a trick for Rokossovsky, who took the classic example of the Germans when they built the Zeppelin Line, and designed a defensive line along the Don River to deter the Germans from crossing the Don River.

Because of the time constraints, the Soviet army has obtained a lot of outdated information about the German army before World War II, and although many of the contents have long been known to everyone, a front-line commander like Rokossovsky will be shocked by the wild imagination of the German army many times when he takes it over and studies it systematically.

The more I studied the tactics used by the Germans, the more I felt that the Germans were at some point deceitful to the extreme. The German army is good at using fiction and reality to interfere with the enemy's judgment, for example, using several classic short and rapid assaults to cut the deep and broad Soviet defense system into several small local battlefields suitable for German operations.

So this time the Soviets also played tricks, they deployed a small number of defensive troops along the Don River, relying on fortifications to prevent the Germans from crossing the river. Rokossovsky strengthened part of his forces in the easily crossed section of the Don River, and only waited for the German attack to give the most fierce counterattack, compared with the previous water release all the way, so that the German army was suddenly attacked, and misjudged the strength of the Don River defense line.

As long as the Germans were confused for a few days, then he bought Stalingrad another few days. Moreover, he felt that it was impossible for the German army to cross the Don River quickly, after all, the equipment and courage needed for large-scale river crossing could not be prepared in a moment.

So he was confident that he would stop the German advance on the Don for a few days, and with these few days, he could continue to strengthen the defenses on the periphery of Stalingrad and turn the city into a huge pillbox.

"Several lines of defense that are easy to cross the river, have they focused on strengthening the troops?" Rokossovsky asked the men in charge of the Don defense line again, and one of the generals hurriedly reported the latest situation to his superior: "Report to Comrade General, the defense line has been strengthened, and we have laid mines in most places. When the Germans crossed the river, they would definitely be met with a head-on attack by our troops. ”

"Very good! Now! We can only wait, waiting for the Germans to make a tentative attack on the Don Line!" Rokossovsky was so pleased with his deceptive tactics that he walked out of his office with his hands behind his back.

His pride is not for no reason, after all, since he went to the front line and fought with the German army in the border area between Belarus and northern Ukraine, until now he has taken the initiative to shrink his forces, he has never suffered at the hands of the German army.

When he was in the Central Theater of Operations, he escaped from the huge encirclement of the German Army Group A, and when he was in the Southern Theater, he was flanked by German special forces and paratroopers and was not injured to the bones, and now that the German army is advancing into the Caucasus, he used a move to shrink his forces and defuse the German blitzkrieg -- for a Soviet general, with Voroshilov and Khrushchev in front and Timoshenko in the back, he has the capital to be proud.

......

Just when Rokossovsky was secretly proud, on the west bank of the Don River, Guderian was looking at the surging river and issuing his order to attack. Although he didn't know whether the Soviet army was in such a hurry to shrink its forces for the Don Line or the Stalingrad Line behind it, he knew that if the Soviet Army really fought him on the Don Line, then the situation would be favorable to the German army.

"As long as the Soviets don't put their troops in Stalingrad and fight endless street battles with us. Then even across the Don River, we have a way to annihilate them in the wild. Guderian said to his assistant behind him: "Order the troops, start a tentative attack!"

Two German tanks were in makeshift bunkers, pointing their tank guns at the opposite riverbank. German sappers began to erect pontoon bridges on the banks of the river, several armored engineering vehicles put some equipment on the river, and sappers on the side of the trenches began to inflate rubber rafts.

Farther away, several German assault boats had been thrown into the Don River by the infantry, and the soldiers jumped into the boats in the icy water, the motors began to roar, and the assault boats broke through the river, rolled the bow waves, and rushed towards the opposite bank.

The Germans on the ship had their heads down, and a machine gun for cover was mounted in the bow. Behind them, the comrades-in-arms on the river bank were arranging mortars and several machine guns to cover the positions, and everyone was watching the situation on the opposite bank, as long as there was a disturbance, they would use intensive fire to cover their comrades-in-arms to establish a forward position on the opposite bank.

"Suddenly!" On the Soviet position on the opposite bank, a machine gun fired a volley of bullets, which hit the river next to the assault boat, splashing a column of water, and the river water splashed on the faces of the German soldiers on the assault boat. However, behind these German soldiers, the weapons supporting them also immediately roared, and two German machine guns fired wildly, and tracer bullets flew in a straight line towards the Soviet position.

The fire on both sides gradually escalated, and a shell fell on the water of the Don River, although it was a little far from the German assault boats, but Guderian, who was still standing on the river bank to watch the battle, frowned. He sensed that the other side seemed to be trying to stop the German advance, but for some reason, this was still a big gap from the firepower density he expected the Don Line should have.

"This is not the firepower that a division should have, and when we forced our crossings in France, the firepower of the other side was at least three times like this. Guderian said to his deputy with some disappointment: "It seems that we still have to inform Qu Hillel and let him get ready for a hard street fight." ”

"General, this is also a matter of no choice, the enemy is more difficult than we imagined, the news from General Manstein's side, the Soviet army is also using urban street fighting to block, and the battle is very hard. The deputy behind him looked at the fire coming from the other side and spoke. While he was saying these words, an assault boat was sunk, and the Germans on it were completely annihilated.

Guderian also saw this scene, he packed up his binoculars, then turned away from the river bank and walked to his armored command vehicle: "Start shelling, cover the crossing of the river! The Soviets have not invested any decent troops in the Don River at all, don't waste time here! Break through this line directly and enter Stalingrad!"

"Yes, General! Break through the Don defense line! Advance to Stalingrad!" The assistant replied immediately, then walked to the armored command vehicle and asked for a call from the commanders of several divisions on the front line: "The command of the army group orders that within two hours, break through the Don defense line!"