While Tolbukhin and German troops were engaged in a difficult tug-of-war at Bischanka, Batov's 65th Army, near the nursery state farm, discovered an important field airfield for the German army.

Bad at grasping the fighters, Batov immediately sent the 91st Tank Brigade and the 23rd, 207th and 304th Infantry Divisions to launch a surprise attack on this place, and at dawn, successfully captured the last large airfield of the German army in the Stalingrad area, and captured 300 aircraft of various types.

Upon hearing the news of the loss of the airfield, Pauluston was furious and asked the chief of staff, Schmidt, to give orders to the troops to recapture the airfield no matter what.

Schmidt, as chief of staff, behaved much more calmly than Paulus when he learned the bad news. After waiting for Paulus to finish firing, he said cautiously: "Your Excellency, I think it is unwise to immediately organize troops to counterattack the airfield. In addition to having a strong enough reserve in the region, the Russians also have air supremacy, and if we carry out a counter-assault, their bombers can turn our tanks into piles of scrap metal. ”

"Your Excellency Chief of Staff," said General Walter Heitz, commander of the 7th Infantry Corps, with a frown as soon as Schmidt finished speaking, "the Russians have occupied our largest field airfield, and if we can't recapture it as soon as possible, the air force's ability to supply us will be greatly weakened." ”

Sitting opposite Heitz was General Carl Strecker, commander of the 11th Infantry Corps, who, after taking a sip of coffee, chimed in: "I agree with His Excellency General Heitz that we must recapture the airfield at all costs, otherwise our army's supplies can only rely on airdrops from the Air Force or the Gumkole airfield." It was a small airfield, which could only accommodate the take-off and landing of small aircraft, and could not guarantee the replenishment of the daily supplies required by the troops. ”

Schmidt waited for the two infantry commanders to finish speaking, and then said unhurriedly: "Your Excellency, two army commanders, if we send our troops directly to seize the airfield, the troops may be bombed and shelled by the Russians during the movement, so how many troops will be left when our troops enter the offensive position?" ”

Paulus and Schmidt had been working together for a long time, and immediately heard the voice-over from his words, and hurriedly asked: "Chief of Staff, do you have any good way to divert the attention of the Russians, so that our troops participating in the counter-assault can smoothly enter the attack position?" ”

Seeing that Paulus guessed his thoughts, Schmidt hurriedly got up from his seat, bowed slightly to Paulus, and said respectfully: "That's right, Your Excellency Commander, we should launch a feint in other areas to divert the attention of the Russians, and then quietly gather forces in the counterattack area." Taking advantage of the lax defenses of the Russians, they launched a surprise attack and recaptured the airfield they had captured in one fell swoop. ”

Lieutenant General Helmut Schlemmer, commander of the 14th Panzer Corps, who was sitting next to Heintz, waited for Schmidt to finish speaking, and immediately asked eagerly: "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, I don't know where we should launch a feint in order to attract the attention of the Russians. According to his thoughts, if it is not an important target of the Soviet army, no matter how many troops are invested to attack, it may not be able to attract the attention of the Soviet army.

Schmidt walked to the map hanging on the wall, picked up the stick leaning against the wall, tapped at a location on the Volga River, and then confidently said: "If we attack this place, we will definitely attract the attention of the Russians." In this way, we can secretly move the counter-assault force in the direction of the airport, and when we have completed the assembly, we can launch a surprise attack on the Russians and take them by surprise. ”

"Mamayev Gang?!" When Schlemmer saw clearly the position that Schmidt was referring to, he couldn't help but cry out in surprise. After a brief gaffe, he began to nod his head and said, "That's right, the location chosen by His Excellency the Chief of Staff is good." Mamayev Hill is a battleground for us and for the Russians. As long as our troops attack from this position, they will certainly be able to attract the attention of the Russians. ”

Paulus was very pleased with Schmidt's tactics. He looked at his chief of staff and asked, "What troops should we send to carry out this mission?" ”

"A feint in the direction of Mamayev can be put in charge of the 71st Infantry Division of Major General Roskai." Schmidt pointed to the map with his baton and said to the officers present: "As for the task of recovering the airfield, I suggest that the 60th Motorized Division of Major General Allenstorff and the 24th Panzer Division of Lieutenant General Lensky should be completed. ”

Paulus smiled when he heard Schmidt's plan. He nodded approvingly, then stood up and asked the generals sitting on either side of the table: "Gentlemen, do you have any different opinions?" ”

"Nope." The dozen or so generals sitting below replied in unison.

"Good!" Seeing that his subordinates were unanimous, Paulus immediately said to Schmidt: "Chief of Staff, immediately give orders to the three division commanders and let them prepare for the attack." ”

Two hours later, the German 71st Infantry Division launched an assault on Mamayev Heights. Although they received an order to feint, in order to confuse the Soviet army and attract the attention of the Soviet army from the direction of the airport, the German offensive was still extremely fierce, and there was a great posture of fake and real play.

Hearing that the Germans had launched another onslaught on the Mamayev Heights, Rokossovsky couldn't help but ask Malinin in wondering: "Chief of Staff, you said that our army has recaptured the Mamayev Posts for a few days, and the Germans have not made any movement. Why did you suddenly attack at this time? ”

"Comrade commander," Hearing Rokossovsky's question, Malinin also said confusedly: "Could it be that the Germans want to let the troops that we have divided into two pieces hold together, so they will launch an attack on Mamayev Hill at such a cost?" ”

Although Rokossovsky felt that the German army's move was a little strange, he couldn't say what was strange, so he could only order Malinin: "Chief of Staff, order the bomber formation of the Air Force to attack and bomb the German troops attacking Mamayev Height!" ”

After Malinin waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, he also asked specifically: "Do you need to send troops to reinforce Chuikov and them?" ”

"Zadov's 66th Army was blocked by the enemy north of the city and could no longer advance any further." Rokossovsky stared at the map, shook his head and said: "And the other armies are not able to get close to Chuikov's defense area for the time being, so the heavy task of holding the Mamayev post can only be completed by Chuikov's troops independently, and all we can do for them is to provide air support." ”