Although Paulus's troops were encircled by the Soviets, the soldiers did not panic. From the outbreak of the Soviet-German war to the present, although there have been cases where the German army has been surrounded by the Soviet army, but every time in the end, either the German army has successfully broken out of the encirclement, or it has given the Soviet army a counter-encirclement. The officers and men of the Sixth Army all had this illusion in their hearts: as soon as the reinforcements who came to our rescue arrived, we would be able to come to the center and annihilate all the Russians who were holding back the surroundings.

On 28 November, the Don Army Group under Manstein's command was formally formed, which included the newly formed 4th Tank Army, the encircled Romanian 4th Army, Paulus's 6th Army, and the Horlidet Campaign Group, consisting of the 17th Infantry Corps and several Romanian divisions.

Manstein summoned Hort to his headquarters, took him to a large map of the Stalingrad region, picked up the commentary stick leaning against the wall, poked at the place where Paulus was besieged, and said slowly: "General Hoth, I think you should know better than me about the situation in the Stalingrad region." Paulus's 6th Army and Romania's 4th Army were encircled at Stalingrad, and if we didn't rescue them as soon as possible, they could be wiped out by the Russians. ”

To Manstein's statement, Hort replied with some disapproval: "Your Excellency, although our army is surrounded by the Russians, we still have about 300,000 troops in this area, and it will not be so easy for them to eat us. ”

"General Hoth," seeing that Hort did not pay much attention to the fate of Paulus's troops, Manstein reminded him with a serious expression: "If the supply of this army is interrupted, not to mention that we have 300,000 men, even if we double the number, we will still be wiped out by the Russians." ”

"But, Marshal." Hort learned of Goering's rhetoric from others, so he wishfully believed that Paulus's 6th Army was fully capable of protecting itself under siege by the Soviet army. Hearing Manstein say this, he could not help but ask in surprise: "Didn't Marshal Goering of the Air Force say that he would build an air bridge for Paulus's troops with five hundred planes and provide them with everything necessary." ”

"If it had been in the early days of our war with Russia, I have no doubt that Göring had such capabilities. And now," Manstein said, shaking his head, "after more than a year of war, the Russians have learned how to fight, and they can easily destroy this supply line of Goering with the air force." As soon as the supply lines were cut off, Paulus would soon run out of ammunition and food, and the Russians would be able to easily wipe them out. ”

Hearing Manstein say this, Holt finally realized the seriousness of the problem, and he quickly straightened his back and asked, "Your Excellency, Marshal, I don't know what I should do to free Paulus and his army from the siege of the Russians?" ”

"Mr. General, the heavy task of relieving the besieged 6th Army now falls on the shoulders of you and the 4th Tank Army that you have reorganized." Manstein pointed to the map with his baton and said: "Your troops will be assembled in the Kotelnikovo area and launch a surprise attack northeast along the railway line to Stalingrad. At the same time, another unit in the area of Tormosin will also launch an offensive towards Stalingrad.

As long as your assault group is close to the inside of the encirclement, Paulus's 6th Army can quickly break through to the outside, and cooperate with you to flank the Russians in the center, and with the cooperation of the 4th Air Force, our Operation Winter Wind will be a success. ”

After waiting for Manstein to finish, Hort asked: "Your Excellency, may I ask what troops of the Russians will be facing on the route of our attack?" ”

"It's Yeremenko's 51st Army." Manstein said in a contemptuous tone: "This army group has been greatly weakened by our army in the previous battle. Although they were replenished before the siege of Paulus began, their combat effectiveness has not yet fully recovered to their peak, and your troops should be able to defeat them with ease. ”

In the early morning of December 12, the 4th and 57th Tank Divisions of the 57th Tank Army, which belonged to the 23rd Tank Army of Hoth, launched a surprise attack on the 51st Army in the direction of Kotelnikovo. After more than two hours of fierce fighting, the 51st Army, which had successfully closed the encirclement, repelled three kilometers from the foreign operations.

The commander of the 51st Army, General Trufanov, immediately reported to the commander of the Stalingrad Front, General Yeremenko. After receiving the report, Yeremenko, fearing that the enemy would break through his own defenses and join forces with the Paulus troops in the encirclement, hurriedly called Stalin and asked Stalin to put the 2nd Guards Army, which had just arrived in the Stalingrad area, under his command to deal with the Manstein Don Army Group.

Seeing that his attack was working, Hort immediately put the 17th Tank Division into battle, plus several heavy Tiger tank battalions, with the cooperation of four German infantry divisions and two Romanian divisions, it took three days to completely break through the Soviet defense line and advance 45 kilometers. The Soviet mechanized 4th Army, which was responsible for the defense, although greatly depleted the German assault force, also paid a huge price for itself.

Stalin quickly realized the seriousness of the problem, and he hurriedly ordered the troops of the three fronts to stop the encirclement of Paulus's troops, and instead use the main forces newly opened to Stalingrad to deal with the German assault in the Kotelnikovo direction.

Under the successive blows of the German army, the troops of the 36th, 59th and 60th mechanized brigades of the 4th mechanized army suffered heavy casualties, especially the tank regiment of the 60th mechanized brigade, the 21st tank regiment, after a fierce battle on December 15, only less than a company remained. The 4th Mechanized Army, having massively depleted the German assault force, withdrew across the Aksai River and retreated to the line of Verkhniy Kumsky.

Hort's troops took advantage of the victory, and on December 19, they advanced a distance of almost 100 kilometers, advanced to the Nizhny Kumsky line, and broke through the northern and southern flanks of the 4th Mechanized Army.

The Soviet mechanized 4th Army was unable to resist the German fortifications and was forced to withdraw across the Meshkova River. It was on this day that, in recognition of their heroic performance in the fight against the German offensive, the base camp officially awarded them the honorary title of the 3rd Guards Mechanized Army.

Rokossovsky, who stayed north of Stalingrad, also heard about the German offensive. Malinin asked with some concern: "Comrade commander, if things continue like this, will Paulus and his troops escape from our encirclement?" ”

"No, Comrade Chief of Staff," Rokossovsky replied with a smile after listening to Malinin's question, "I can assure you, don't look at the ferocity of Hort's army, but it will not be so easy for them to save Paulus. ”

"Even if Paulus's army can't break through, we won't be able to destroy them." Malinin said with some frustration: "You can see how many times we have launched an attack on the Germans during this time, but the results we have achieved are very limited. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff," the expression on Rokossovsky's face suddenly became serious when he heard Malinin say this, "the reason why our army has been unable to eat the encircled German army for a long time. This is closely related to the general lack of training and command of our fighters, who hesitate to attack and ignore when retreating. However, they are not useless, as long as our troops are in a well-fortified area and are already prepared for defensive operations, they perform much better. This is the reason why we say that the Germans could not break through the defenses of our army and join up with Paulus's troops. ”

Although Rokossovsky attributed the reason why Paulus and reinforcements could not converge to the fact that the Soviet army was good at fighting defensive battles, he knew very well in his heart that the reason for the elimination of Paulus's troops was because of Hitler's erroneous order, he asked Paulus to keep the positions occupied by Paulus no matter what, which was equivalent to completely pushing the 6th Army into the fire pit. Paulus did nothing at all except to continue to hold on to the territory besieged by the Soviets.

On 20 December, Hort's forces finally advanced to a distance of only 35 kilometers from Paulus's forces after paying heavy casualties. Due to the desperate defense of the Soviet army, he could not continue to push any further, so he could only send a telegram to Paulus, asking him to immediately organize his troops to break through.

When the German Army Chief of Staff Zeitzler learned that Hort's forces were no longer able to move forward, he mustered up the courage to ask Hitler to allow Paulus's 6th Army to break through.

But his proposal was rejected by Hitler: "No, absolutely not." Paulus's troops had to remain in the existing positions and absolutely could not easily leave the Volga, leaving Stalingrad. Hitler also specifically used his own orders when the German army was defeated under Moscow to justify, "Last year, our army was counterattacked by the Russians under Moscow, and I was advised to let the troops retreat, but I refused. When Napoleon retreated from Moscow, he was constantly attacked by the Russians, which eventually led to the collapse of the entire army, so in order not to repeat the mistakes of the past, I decisively ordered the troops to hold their positions, so as to avoid the collapse of the troops, and also held most of the occupied positions. ”

After listening to Hitler's words, Zeitzler hesitated for a long time before he spoke: "My Führer, allow me to report to you. The situation of our troops under Moscow last year is not the same as the situation of Paulus in Stalingrad today. They were not heavily surrounded by the Russians, and as long as they held on to their occupied positions, they were constantly supplied with men and ammunition from the rear. And Paulus's troops, with only limited air supplies, I fear they won't last long......"

Perhaps it was Zeitzler's later words that moved Hitler, and he walked up and down the house with his hands behind his back, thinking quickly about whether Paulus's troops should break through.

When he finally stopped, Zeitzler breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that Hitler would agree to his request and let Paulus's troops break through immediately and join the Hort's forces who had come to meet him. Unexpectedly, Hitler said: "I agree to let Paulus's troops break through, but only on the condition that they hold the existing positions of our troops in the city of Stalingrad." ”

When Zeitzler heard Hitler say this, he immediately understood in his heart that Paulus's 6th Army was out of play. He returned to his office, called Manstein, and said straight to the point: "Your Excellency, Marshal, although I have tried to persuade the Führer, I have asked him to let Paulus's troops break through and join up with the forces of General Hort. But he insisted that Paulus should only carry out the breakout operation if he held his existing positions in Stalingrad. I've done my best, and the rest is up to you. ”

Manstein was stunned for a moment as he held the phone with a blind tone, and then had someone connect to Hort's phone at the front. He said bluntly to Hort: "Mr. General, the Führer asked the 6th Army to hold the existing positions in the city of Stalingrad. If they do, they're all doomed. You immediately get in touch with Paulus and order him to immediately move closer to you at all costs and break through the Russian encirclement as soon as possible. Do you understand? ”

Hort made contact with Paulus in Stalingrad by radio, and he anxiously said to Paulus: "General Paulus, at the moment the Russians are fighting stubbornly, and our army cannot continue to advance. I beg you to immediately lead your troops to break through to the position of our headquarters, without the slightest further hesitation. ”

Hearing Hoult say this, Paulus was also a little moved, but he didn't dare to make such a big decision before getting Hitler's order, so he could only say vaguely: "General Hoth, I can only command the troops to break through after receiving instructions from the Führer." ”

Manstein was stunned for a moment as he held the phone with a blind tone, and then had someone connect to Hort's phone at the front. He said bluntly to Hort: "Mr. General, the Führer asked the 6th Army to hold the existing positions in the city of Stalingrad. If they do, they're all doomed. You immediately get in touch with Paulus and order him to immediately move closer to you at all costs and break through the Russian encirclement as soon as possible. Do you understand? ”

Hort made contact with Paulus in Stalingrad by radio, and he anxiously said to Paulus: "General Paulus, at the moment the Russians are fighting stubbornly, and our army cannot continue to advance. I beg you to immediately lead your troops to break through to the position of our headquarters, without the slightest further hesitation. ”

Hearing Hoult say this, Paulus was also a little moved, but he didn't dare to make such a big decision before getting Hitler's order, so he could only say vaguely: "General Hoth, I can only command the troops to break through after receiving instructions from the Führer." ”