The attack on the north of Stalingrad suffered a failure, and such a result was expected by Rokossovsky for a long time. The www.biquge.info did not have air supremacy, lacked enough tanks and artillery, and although the number of people could form a local advantage over the German army, too many recruits diluted the combat effectiveness and weakened the army's ability to attack fortifications.

In later generations, whenever he saw the information about the Battle of Stalingrad, he would think in his heart that the reason why the Soviet army was beaten so badly by the German army was completely related to the limited ability of the Soviet commanders and the dull tactics implemented by the Soviet army. If you let yourself command the troops to participate in this great battle, even if there is only one division, you can rewrite history and make Paulus's troops even inaccessible to Stalingrad.

Unexpectedly, after many years, his wish really came true, in this turning point in World War II, he became Rokossovsky, commanding a front army to fight on the periphery of Stalingrad, holding Paulus back, so that he could not put all his strength into the city.

However, after more than a month of fighting, Rokossovsky realized that the German army was still very strong, and although they fought with the Soviet troops on both internal and external fronts at the same time, they still fought very orderly. Although the positive actions taken by him in the valley of the two rivers according to the history he had mastered caused Paulus a lot of trouble, it was still an impossible task to achieve a rendezvous with the defenders of the city without being supplemented with troops and technical equipment, and without gaining air supremacy.

The failure of the Don Front's offensive made Stalin realize that it was not enough to solve the elite German 6th Army with only the troops of the two Fronts, so he ordered Zhukov and Vasilevsky to speed up the expansion of the Southwestern Front, and again transferred the 63rd Army from the formation of the Don Front to the Southwestern Front.

Neither Zhukov, Vasilevsky, nor Rokossovsky raised any objections to Stalin's decision. Both the 21st and 63rd armies were deployed on the landing ground on the south bank of the Don bend, and when they were placed under the command of the Southwestern Front, Rokossovsky was able to concentrate his main efforts on the Volga side.

On the third day after the defeat of the offensive, Rokossovsky called Rudenko to ask whether the cholera epidemic in the Air Force had been effectively controlled. When Rudenko's voice came out of the earpiece, he asked straight to the point: "General Rudenko, how is your situation there?" Is cholera under control and has the rodent infestation been eliminated? ”

A series of questions silenced Rudenko for a long time, and then he replied: "Report to Comrade Commander, cholera has been brought under control, and no new pilots have been infected in the past two days. As for the rodent infestation, I estimate that it will take some time to completely eliminate it. ”

"Will the Air Force be able to fight in the near future?" Rokossovsky continued.

"If you're asking about the original Air Force, I can only answer that it's not right yet." Rudenko was embarrassed and said: "We have several good pilots who died in cholera. The remaining pilots are still recovering and are temporarily unable to fly missions. ”

Rokossovsky heard a glimmer of hope from Rudenko's words, and hurriedly asked: "What did you just say, the original air force?" That means you're getting a supplement now, aren't you? ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Rudenko replied affirmatively: "The higher authorities have supplemented us with two women's flying regiments, but one of them is equipped with Po-2 bombers, which have a slow flight speed and a small bomb load, and if they are put into battle, the bombing effect on the enemy will not be good, not to mention that the enemy's anti-aircraft artillery fire can shoot them all down like harriers." ”

"Wait a minute, General Rudenko." When Rokossovsky heard half of it, he quickly interrupted the chattering Rudenko and asked tentatively: "What is the number of the women's flying group you are talking about?" ”

"587th Dive Bomber Combat Regiment and 588th Women's Night Bomber Regiment." Rudenko replied: "Although they have achieved some results in previous sorties, the price they have paid is not small. ”

"General Rudenko, when I was the commander of the 16th Army, I had dealings with the 588th Donkey Night Bomber Regiment." When Rokossovsky heard the call, he immediately remembered that in the battle at the beginning of the year, the women's flying regiment had cooperated with his own troops and bombed the enemy holding on to the village of Popkovo at night, and hurriedly introduced to Rudenko: "It is precisely because they successfully bombed the village of Popkovo that our army's offensive was successful." Since the superiors assigned them to your troops, they probably want them to make meritorious deeds again. ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander, you're right, I guess that's what my superiors meant." Rudenko said to Rokossovsky worriedly: "But these women pilots don't have parachutes, they don't have radios and radars, they only have maps and compasses. Once their plane was hit by German artillery fire or fighter jets, they had only two options: either desperately drive the plane back to the area under our control and make a forced landing, or crash with the plane. ”

Rokossovsky understood in his heart that since the superiors assigned the women's flying regiment to their own front, in addition to the consideration of allowing them to establish meritorious service again, more importantly, it was to alleviate the urgent need of the front army without air power. Therefore, after a short period of thought, he asked Rudenko: "General Rudenko, I don't know where the commanders of these two flying regiments are?" ”

"At the moment, only the 587th Dive Bomber Combat Regiment, commanded by Major Marina Roskova, has entered our airfield. The 588th Women's Night Bomber Regiment will have to wait two days before carrying out the transfer operation. Rudenko was afraid that Rokossovsky did not know who Rokossovsky was, and specially added, "Her chief of staff, Captain Melissa Catherinnova, is the sister of Tamara Catherinnova of the 586th East Air Regiment, both of whom were received by Comrade Stalin." ”

On the issue of the use of the two flying regiments, Rokossovsky, after a short period of consideration, said to Rudenko: "Comrade Rudenko, since the German army currently occupies air supremacy on the battlefield, letting the backwardly equipped women's flying regiment go to resist the enemy is bound to cause unnecessary sacrifices. In this way, let the 588th Women's Night Bomber Regiment attack every night, and under the cover of night, to attack the rear bases or warehouses of the German army, so that the enemy lives in panic every day. ”