Chapter 661 The Phone Is Useless

"Continue the attack early tomorrow morning. The main task of your counterattack is to keep the enemy's offensive away from the main city of Stalingrad. This will buy time for us to mobilize more troops to come."

Stalin's final order was very clear. Zhukov must command the troops to continue the counterattack to delay the German army in the suburbs outside the city, and this is also the main purpose of this counterattack.

Zhukov felt mixed emotions after hanging up the phone.

From the bottom of his heart, Zhukov understood very well why Stalin gave such an order.

This great city is not only of extraordinary significance to the entire Soviet Union, but also to Stalin personally. It belongs to the type that no matter how many troops are lost, they must defend it with their lives.

But Zhukov felt vaguely that Stalin seemed a little too neurotic. Now Stalin almost regarded any possibility of the German army entering the main city as the complete fall of the city, and tried his best to avoid such a situation.

Even when they knew that it was a "throwing an egg against a rock" situation with a serious shortage of troops, they still asked Zhukov to launch a counterattack, just to delay the German offensive and keep it away from the city.

There are many reasons for this situation. Zhukov speculated that it might be because Stalin was a little nervous because of the familiar situation in Kiev last year. Although it is a bit far-fetched to say that the city has completely fallen into the hands of the enemy after being attacked, it is one of the reasons at the moment.

Under the current unfavorable situation, leaving the city's solid bunkers and seeking a decisive battle with the German army in the wild suburbs is undoubtedly very much in the appetite of the German army.

From a personal point of view, Zhukov really doesn't want to fight this kind of proactive and losing battle.

In order to completely eliminate the German Sixth Army that launched the attack and resolve the crisis in Stalingrad, the only way Zhukov can think of is to transfer more reinforcements and formulate a larger encirclement and counterattack plan.

Zhukov was very clear that the troops currently on hand could not defeat the German army head-on. They would only waste precious manpower in vain under the enemy's superior strength.

Sitting at his desk, he spent ten minutes thinking carefully about the entire battle situation at the moment. Zhukov, who recalled every detail of the tone on the phone just now, gradually felt that Stalin should have realized the seriousness of the problem he emphasized. Stalin's tone when he gave the order to continue the attack tomorrow morning at the last moment could already read a little bit of flavor.

At the end of his thinking, Zhukov finally decided to continue the attack according to Stalin's order tomorrow. If nothing unexpected happens, he should be able to think things through when Stalin calls again tomorrow. At that time, he would add fuel to the fire and advise from the side, which might achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Under the current circumstances, it is very unwise to continue to speak out against Stalin. If not done well, it will anger Stalin and produce some unpredictable consequences. Moreover, the counterattack at this stage is not a meaningless and useless move. While destroying the German army's manpower, it has indeed delayed its original offensive against the main urban area. In the final analysis, it still has certain strategic significance.

After sorting out his thoughts, Zhukov immediately came to the conference room, participated in the second half of the combat meeting, and exchanged views with the commander of the front, Yelyomenko and others.

At the end of the meeting, Zhukov and Yelyomenko reached a consensus and made a unanimous decision.

The second round of counterattack starting tomorrow morning will increase the offensive force and put more aviation units that have been transferred to the battle, including the newly arrived Il-2 attack aircraft and Tu-2 bombers.

As for the specific tactical goals to be achieved in tomorrow's counterattack, how many German troops to destroy, and how to advance to that position and hold it, Zhukov and Yelyomenko did not issue any specific orders.

At about 8:30 in the evening, Malashenko, who had just presided over the regiment meeting, was thinking about getting some water to wash his face and head.

Malashenko couldn't remember the last time he washed his hair.

During the meeting just now, he felt itchy on his head and scratched it. Malashenko actually pulled out two flies from his hair. His hands were covered with dust and bloody dirt.

Feeling quite speechless, Malashenko immediately had the idea of ​​washing his hair. If he continued like this, the top of his head would probably become a petri dish for parasitic mosquitoes and flies. Covering himself in a tank cap all day, you never know when maggots will come out. This is no joke!

After wandering around the regiment tent for several times and not finding a decent water container, Malashenko, who was a little anxious, finally ran directly to the field hospital and took a bloody iron basin used to hold broken arms and legs after amputation.

After rinsing the basin twice with clean water and basically cleaning it, he immediately prepared to take water to wash his hair, but before Malashenko put his head into the basin and splashed water, Political Commissar Petrov, who always appeared at any time and anywhere, arrived as scheduled again.

"I've been looking for you for a while! Someone said they saw you go to the field hospital, so I went to look for you. What are you going to do? Why are you taking a basin of water?"

Malashenko, who was a little confused by the question, pointed to his head and shook it deliberately. Visible dirt particles immediately fell from the messy hair that looked like a chicken coop.

"If I don't wash my hair, I guess my head will become a gathering place for mosquitoes and flies. Why are you so anxious to find me?"

Seeing that Malashenko had returned to the topic, Political Commissar Petrov, who was still holding a freshly printed telegram in his hand, raised his arm.

"Read it yourself."

""

Malashenko, who had temporarily given up the idea of ​​washing his hair, took the telegram handed over by Political Commissar Petrov and looked down. The bright moonlight above his head was enough for Malashenko to clearly see the telegram listed on the paper, but the content of the telegram really made Malashenko unhappy.

"A counterattack tomorrow? How the hell can we attack?! The Germans have even brought out the siege cannons, and what's the point of counterattack!"

Malashenko, who was complaining in his heart, felt more and more annoyed the more he read the telegram, and finally threw it away and ignored it. With a look of annoyance, he turned around, put his head in the basin and started washing his hair immediately.

Political Commissar Petrov, who had said nothing, bent down and picked up the telegram that Malashenko had thrown away. After carefully putting it away, he suddenly said to Malashenko.

"Maybe you should call the front headquarters."

In the silence, no one else could hear the conversation between Malashenko and Political Commissar Petrov. Those who had nothing to do had gone to bed early, and those who had something to do were still busy. Malashenko, whose head was almost completely buried in the basin, almost spoke a meaningful word without thinking.

"If calling was really useful, we wouldn't have received this telegram now. This is the same for everyone."