According to Rokossovsky's idea, the German army, which cut off Kryukov's troops, was no more than the strength of a regiment at full strength, and he used several times his strength to attack simultaneously from four directions, south, east, and north, and it was not a matter of minutes to clean them up. But as soon as the battle began, he realized that he had made a serious mistake in his judgment.

Less than five minutes after the artillery under the command of Kazakov opened fire, the long-lost German bombers appeared over the artillery positions, dived down from a high place, and dropped bombs and strafed again, interrupting the Soviet artillery preparations.

Hearing that a group of German bombers appeared in the sky over Shevsk, Rokossovsky couldn't help but be a little anxious, he dialed the phone of the Rudenko command and said angrily: "General Rudenko, the German planes are bombing our artillery positions, I want to ask you, can our planes take off?" ”

Rudenko heard Rokossovsky's anger, although he was also anxious, but he could only say helplessly: "I'm sorry, comrade commander, due to the lack of ammunition and fuel, we can only send two or three fighters in a four-plane formation to the Shevsk region to provide air support to our troops. ”

"Then you tell the pilots to take off quickly, and if it's too late, the enemy bombers will raze our artillery positions to the ground." After Rokossovsky finished speaking in a huff, he hung up the phone abruptly.

Seeing Rokossovsky's angry look, Terekin coughed, and then said with a pleasant face: "Comrade commander, I understand your mood at the moment, but General Rudenko cannot be blamed for this. We have long known that the air force lacks fuel and ammunition, and the conditions at the field airfields are very poor, and the pilots have to risk their lives every time a fighter takes off and lands. … I don't think it would have been for these factors, our fighters would have reached the skies over the battlefield long ago. ”

Terekin's words made Rokossovsky's anger half dissipated, he nodded, approved the military commissar's words, and then turned to Malinin and said: "Inform Batov and Tarasov later, and continue to attack the German army according to the original battle plan." ”

The 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps, which was surrounded by the Germans, was the 3rd Cavalry Corps under the command of General Dovator, and was awarded the title of Guards for their outstanding performance in the defense of Moscow. After the death of General Dovatol, the post of army commander was taken over by General Priev, the former commander of the 50th Cavalry Division. The army is still a two-division formation, with a total strength of 8,000 troops, and in addition to cavalry guns and sabers, it is also equipped with light and heavy machine guns and mortars.

Outside his own command, Priev saw the shelling of the German defensive positions by friendly forces, which had only been carried out for a few minutes when he was interrupted by a formation of German bombers. He looked at the enemy planes in the sky with hatred, muttered a few words in a low voice, and returned to his command headquarters to begin to study from what direction to break through.

Seeing Priev's calm look, the chief of staff of the army was a little breathless, and couldn't help but persuade: "Comrade army commander, it seems that we can't get artillery support anymore, so let's immediately organize the troops to break through!" ”

After listening to the advice of the chief of staff, Priev glanced up at him, and then said slowly: "Chief of staff, don't you know that the snow outside is too deep for our cavalry to run at all?" You know, a cavalry that loses its speed will only become a target for the enemy to shoot on the battlefield. ”

"But we can't stand still here, can we?" The chief of staff pointed to the map and said to Priev: "Comrade Army Commander, at the moment the Germans are attacking the defense zone of the 53rd Cavalry Division of the Northwestern Line, and if our line of defense is broken through by the enemy, then we are in danger of being divided and destroyed. I propose that the 50th Cavalry Division be immediately mobilized to attack the enemy on the southeastern line, to break through the line they hastily established, and to join up with the friendly forces that meet us. ”

"No, Comrade Chief of Staff, not yet." Priev raised his hand and pointed to the sky, and continued: "The enemy's bombers are still circling in the air, since our cavalry is attacking at such a time, not only will it be intercepted by dense fire from the German positions, but it will also be attacked from the air, which will inevitably cause huge casualties to the troops, so let's wait for the German planes to fly away, and then we will attack." ”

Although the Soviet artillery had suffered heavy losses and could no longer fire on the areas where the Germans were entrenched, the German bomber pilots were still not at ease, fearing that as soon as they left, the artillery positions destroyed by the bombs would be resurrected, so they continued to hover over Shevsk. As soon as you find something that can be targeted, you immediately reduce the altitude and dive down and bomb it indiscriminately.

Seeing the Soviet fighters appear on the battlefield, the German planes did not immediately return home, but used machine guns and machine guns to resist stubbornly. After a fierce battle, although the Germans had the record of shooting down one and damaging three, they themselves had four bombers shot down and three damaged. When the cunning enemy saw that he could not defeat the Soviet fighters, he immediately turned around and flew back.

Seeing that the German planes had fled the battlefield, Priev nodded at his chief of staff and said decisively: "Chief of staff, call the commander of the 50th Cavalry Division and order him to immediately command the troops to charge." ”

At the same time that Priev gave the order to attack, Rokossovsky also gave the order to attack to the commanders of three other directions through Malinin.

Malinin walked back and reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, the order to attack has been given, and our troops will attack from four directions at once, five to ten minutes later. I am sure that under our powerful offensive, the German units that cut off the Kryukov cluster will definitely be wiped out by us. ”

If you ask anyone at this time, everyone will agree with Malinin's view. If an attack launched from four directions at the same time could not destroy a single regiment in the German military district, then the combat effectiveness of these units would be too poor, and the fate that awaited them could only be to abolish their establishment.

But the situation on the battlefield did not develop as Ma Linin envisioned. The troops under the command of Bagramyan, launched an attack from the left flank of the Kryukov cluster, attempting to move closer to Shevsk after breaking through the German defenses. However, their attack was met with stubborn resistance from the German troops in the front, and after two hours of fierce fighting, the troops advanced less than 300 meters.

The division sent by Batov on the right flank, before they could approach the German lines, was subjected to a counter-assault by infantry covered by tanks, which immediately smashed Batov's troops to pieces.

The ski brigade and tank regiment under Kryukov's personal command attacked because the Germans blew up the ice with bombs and shells, leaving the fast, biting river to block their way.

The attack launched by the 50th Division was also defeated. But when more than 2,000 cavalrymen rushed to a distance of more than 300 meters from the German position, machine guns, submachine guns, rifles in the trenches, and tanks parked not far away opened fire at the same time. In the face of such dense fire, the cavalry on horseback fell from their horses like dumplings.

Seeing the fierce fire of the German army, the division commander knew that if he continued to fight, he would only increase casualties, so he could only give the order to retreat. As soon as the troops were withdrawn and he counted the number of people, tears almost fell from his eyes. Of the more than 2,000 cavalry, less than a thousand remained, and most of them were wounded.

He immediately called Priev and reported the news of the failure of the offensive to the other side, and then said with a crying voice: "Comrade commander, the German firepower is too fierce, our troops lack heavy weapons, and if we continue to attack like this, it will inevitably cause huge casualties." ”

"Comrade Division Commander." As soon as Priev waited for the other party to finish speaking, he immediately said in a stern tone: "The German army in the northwest direction is attacking General Melnik's 53rd Cavalry Division, if you can't quickly break through the German defenses, then we have the possibility of being wiped out by the German army." I order you, regroup your troops, and continue to charge at the enemy's positions, sure to break their encirclement. ”

Simultaneous attacks from all four directions ended in failure. When Rokossovsky learned the news, he sat at his table and stared at the map in front of him in a daze, thinking carefully about how to resolve the current predicament.

Malinin walked up to him, and after standing for a while, he found that his commander was always in a state of daze, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, do we order several troops to attack the German positions again?" ”

Rokossovsky waited for Malinin to finish, waved his hand, and said: "Chief of Staff, send a telegram to General Kryukov, asking them to stop all forms of offensive and strengthen the fortifications in place." ”

Regarding Rokossovsky's order, Malinin said with some puzzlement: "Comrade commander, according to the report of General Kryukov, the Germans are attacking General Melnik's 53rd Cavalry Division in an attempt to break through their lines, and then divide and destroy the 2nd Guards Cavalry Corps. ”

"I know, Comrade Chief of Staff, I know all this." Rokossovsky said impatiently: "Didn't the Germans set such a big trap just to let our troops fall into their pockets and then divide and destroy them?" But I'm not going to let them get away with it. ”

Malinin waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, and said cautiously: "Comrade commander, the ammunition and various supplies carried by the 2nd Guards Cavalry Division are limited, and if we do not take any action to help them, I am afraid that they will not be able to hold out for long." ”

Rokossovsky did not speak, but walked up and down the room with his hands behind his back, while his mind was quickly thinking about what measures should be taken to save this unit, which had fallen into the encirclement of the Germans.

At this moment, a familiar voice suddenly came from the door: "Comrade Commander, can I come in?" ”

Rokossovsky turned his head to look in the direction from which the voice came, and before he could speak, he saw two officers in military coats and dogskin hats striding in. The two of them came to a stop in front of him, and after raising their hands and saluting at the same time, one of them said in a loud voice: "Report to the commander, Comrade Commander, the commander of the 21st Army, Chistyakov, reports to you that we have all reached the Yerets region. ”

"Hello," Rokossovsky was overjoyed when he heard that it was the 21st Army that had arrived, because in this way he had more mobile forces at his disposal. While shaking hands with the two, he asked Chistyakov: "Comrade Chistyakov, your troops are all coming?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander. My troops are coming. After Chistyakov finished saying this, a hesitant look suddenly appeared on his face: "But ......"

"But what?" Although the expression on Chistyakov's face disappeared for a moment, it was still noticed by Rokossovsky, and he hurriedly asked: "Chistyakov, you hurry up and come and listen." ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Chistyakov said with an embarrassed expression: "Although our troops have reached the Yelets region, the logistics department is still in Stalingrad, and the troops are extremely short of food, oil, ammunition, etc. It may not be possible to fight for a long time until logistical supplies are obtained. ”

Chistyakov's words made Rokossovsky's smile freeze on his face, and he asked with a frown: "Comrade Chistyakov, can you tell me, why is this happening?" ”

"Comrade Commander, allow me to explain to you." Seeing that his commander was being reprimanded, Chistyakov's chief of staff, Piakovsky, hastened to defend him: "Due to the heavy snow blocking the road and the limited transportation capacity of the railway, we had to leave the cumbersome logistics department in Stalingrad and let the combat troops advance lightly and rush to the assembly point designated by the superiors. ”

"But what?" Although the expression on Chistyakov's face disappeared for a moment, it was still noticed by Rokossovsky, and he hurriedly asked: "Chistyakov, you hurry up and come and listen." ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Chistyakov said with an embarrassed expression: "Although our troops have reached the Yelets region, the logistics department is still in Stalingrad, and the troops are extremely short of food, oil, ammunition, etc. It may not be possible to fight for a long time until logistical supplies are obtained. ”

Chistyakov's words made Rokossovsky's smile freeze on his face, and he asked with a frown: "Comrade Chistyakov, can you tell me, why is this happening?" ”

"Comrade Commander, allow me to explain to you." Seeing that his commander was being reprimanded, Chistyakov's chief of staff, Piakovsky, hastened to defend him: "Due to the heavy snow blocking the road and the limited transportation capacity of the railway, we had to leave the cumbersome logistics department in Stalingrad and let the combat troops advance lightly and rush to the assembly point designated by the superiors. ”