While the small unit was on guard, Batov informed the communications office to activate the communication line in the backup observation post, so that not only could he keep in touch with his own command and give combat orders directly to the troops; Even Rokossovsky was able to talk directly to Malinin, who was at the headquarters of the Front, through the telephone line here.

With the opening of the artillery of the army group, the fire on the German positions was suppressed, and the infantry, which was suppressed by the enemy's fire, got up from the ground again, followed the tanks and continued to attack the enemy's positions.

The troops had just stormed the first line of German trenches, and before they could complete their adjustments, German long-range artillery fire came into fire. The dense shells smashed down their heads, and the positions that the Soviets had just occupied were full of explosions, fire, and shrapnel flying everywhere, and the stumps of the fighters and the fragments of their weapons were lifted into the air by the wave of explosions and fell like raindrops. The earth shook violently, and the blood of the warriors soaked the ground, and the lumps of earth formed by the blood condensed immediately re-decomposed into dust and scattered everywhere under the extreme heat generated by the explosion. The surviving warriors in the trenches were choked by the thick smoke and dust, and their throats were irritated to the burning pain.

Seeing that his troops were under the intensive artillery fire of the German army, Batov hurriedly grabbed the phone and shouted into the microphone: "The artillery immediately aims at the German artillery positions and fires, and their artillery fire must be suppressed." ”

Rokossovsky, on the other hand, picked up another telephone and instructed Malinin into the microphone: "Chief of Staff, immediately ask General Rudenko to send a dive bomber unit to bomb the German artillery positions." ”

"What's the matter, Comrade Commander?" When Malinin heard Rokossovsky's order, he couldn't help but ask in astonishment: "Didn't we destroy the artillery positions in the depth of the German defense by bombing and artillery preparations before the attack?" ”

"I estimate that when our troops bombed and shelled early, the Germans hid their artillery, and now they see that our troops have broken through their defenses, so they have to risk opening fire on our troops." After a brief briefing on the situation, Rokossovsky urged Malinin: "Hurry up, Comrade Chief of Staff, let General Rudenko's bomber formation hurry up, our offensive forces are being hit hard by German artillery fire. ”

Before Rudenko's bomber formation arrived over the battlefield, the artillery of the 65th Army began to suppress the German artillery in deep defense. The firing of hundreds of artillery pieces successfully suppressed the fire of the German troops, and the shells that fell near the Soviet trenches became fewer and fewer, and finally all disappeared completely.

Before the choking smoke cleared, the Soviet fighters regrouped and, under the cover of the surviving tanks, prepared to storm the second line of German positions.

The Germans were not willing to lose their positions like this, so they organized regimental reserves, and under the cover of a dozen tanks, launched a counter-assault on the Soviet troops who had just left their positions. Seeing that the enemy had launched a counter-charge, the Soviet commander hurriedly ordered the troops to stop the offensive and moved to the defense on the spot. Tank guns and machine-gun fire were used to block the path of the German advance.

The fierce German soldiers, in the face of the Soviet army's dense tank artillery and machine gun fire, bravely advanced, using the large tripods, dead bodies, craters and other things they could use as cover, in the continuous explosions, distinguish the sound of shells cutting through the air, judge the distance of the explosion point, and make various evasive actions in time. Instead of looking at the gap after the shell explodes, the gun is fired quickly, and the rolling belt crawls from one crater to another.

Seeing this, Rokossovsky put down his binoculars and said to the people standing around: "Commanders, comrades, you have all seen that although the German army has fallen into the encirclement of our army, their combat effectiveness is still very strong. The battle to destroy the German army in the encirclement is of a protracted nature, so everyone must be mentally prepared and must not have the idea of underestimating the enemy and paralyzing it. Do you get it? ”

As soon as his words fell, the commanders of the 65th Army, including Batov, agreed in unison: "Understood! ”

Despite stubborn resistance from the Germans and counter-assaults in a number of areas, their lines were broken through one after another. Batov's 65th Army, which was attacking from north to south, managed to wedge the German defense five kilometers deep before dark. Chistyakov's 21st Army, which was attacking from northwest to southeast, and Tolbukhin's 57th Army, which was attacking from south to north, managed to cut off the German Marinovsky salient from Stalingrad.

At the summary meeting that night, Trubnikov, deputy commander of the Front, said in a regretful tone: "Unfortunately, although our offensive today is very fierce, due to the stubborn defense of the German army, none of the units under the Front Army have been able to complete the assigned task. ”

"General Trubnikov," Voronov waited for him to finish speaking, and immediately expressed his opinion: "As a senior commander with rich combat experience and command experience, you should understand in your heart that when the battle plan is implemented, there will always be reasons or that for one reason or another, our troops will not be able to complete the specified combat mission, but this does not mean that our commanders and fighters are not heroic. Today, together with your commander, Comrade Rokossovsky, I stayed at the observation post of the 65th Army and witnessed with my own eyes how our commanders and fighters bravely fought against the fascist aggressors......"

After waiting for Voronov's speech, Malinin said: "Comrade commanders, although our troops did not complete the scheduled tasks on the first day of the offensive, the victories of the troops of the 65th, 21st, 24th and 57th armies in the main offensive direction were of great significance, they succeeded in severing the connection between the German Marinovsky salient and Stalingrad, which led to the destruction of the main defensive areas of the German army. In order to completely crush the German defenses and not give the enemy a chance to breathe, I asked that the troops continue the offensive and launch a full-scale attack on the enemy at night. ”

Rokossovsky smiled and nodded at Malinin's proposal, then looked around and asked: "Does anyone object to this opinion of Comrade Chief of Staff?" ”

"Comrade Commander, I have a question." The commander of the artillery of the Front, Kazakov, who first raised questions, stood up and solemnly asked: "If we launch such a large-scale offensive at night, will the troops cause chaos?" How can artillery provide effective artillery support to the attacking forces? ”

After listening to Kazakov's question, Malinin hurriedly answered: "Comrade Artillery Commander, we have taken into account the problems you mentioned. The troops can continue to advance tenaciously according to the area that has been divided long ago; At most, there will be temporary stops and rests in individual sections, so that there will be time for changes and deployments within the group army. As for artillery support, I think that in order to prevent accidental damage, long-range artillery should not be used, and mortars should be used to match the attack of the troops. ”

Seeing that Malinin had already taken into account all the issues that should be considered, the other commanders of the front did not raise any further objections, but only held brief discussions with Rokossovsky and Malinin in individual areas that needed to be adjusted.

The temporary summary meeting ended quickly, and Rokossovsky waved his hand at Malinin and said: "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, you can immediately convey the decisions we made at the meeting to the armies." ”

After Malinin left, Voronov, who was sitting next to Rokossovsky, asked: "Comrade Rokossovsky, judging from today's battle, the resistance of the German army is extremely stubborn, I wonder how long the offensive of this intensity will last?" ”

Rokossovsky looked at Voronov and asked with some surprise: "Comrade Commander-in-Chief, I would like to know, what exactly are you worried about?" ”

"Rokossovsky, there are no outsiders here, and I will have something to say." Seeing that there were only himself and Rokossovsky at the conference table, Voronov said without scruples: "After destroying the enemy in the Stalingrad region, we will turn around and go to encircle and annihilate the German troops in the Caucasus." If a large amount of living forces are consumed in the recent battles, then in the next Caucasus campaign, we will only be reduced to the point of playing a supporting role. ”

Rokossovsky grinned, eager to tell the other party that in real history, even if the enemy in the Stalingrad region was eliminated, there was no chance of destroying the German troops in the Caucasus, because the Germans, seeing that there was danger, would have jumped out of the encirclement long ago. However, at such a time, he could not be a magic stick and tell Voronov what had not yet happened, so the topic could only be focused on the current offensive campaign: "Don't worry, Comrade Voronov. You don't see the Germans fighting so stubbornly today, but this is already their last madness. Their supply lines, both heavenly and earthly, have been cut off by us. It won't be long before they run out of ammunition and food, and those tanks and cannons will be turned into a pile of scrap metal due to lack of fuel and ammunition. At that point, it will be easy for us to eliminate them. ”

Although Rokossovsky said with great confidence, Voronov still asked with trepidation: "Comrade Rokossovsky, I also understand what you said. But the Germans occupied Stalingrad for so long, didn't they occupy a few warehouses for storing weapons, ammunition and all kinds of military supplies? In my estimation, in the face of a powerful offensive by our army, they will be able to hold out for at least two months. ”

"Two weeks." As soon as Voronov's words were finished, Rokossovsky stretched out two fingers and said confidently: "General Voronov, we can come and make a bet that the Germans will hold out for a maximum of two weeks in the face of our offensive." He was so confident because the Soviet air force already controlled air supremacy between the Don and the Volga, and even with fighter escorts, German transport planes would have to risk being shot down at any time if they wanted to reach the skies over Stalingrad and deliver airdrops to Paulus's troops. Therefore, the volume of Luftwaffe transportation was only a third of that in real history, or even less, and the 6th Army, which lacked weapons, ammunition and military supplies, held out for a much shorter period of time than in history.

After Rokossovsky finished speaking, seeing that Voronov still had a look of doubt on his face, he hurriedly added: "General Voronov, although our troops have not been able to complete the scheduled tasks today, I believe that as the battle progresses, they will behave more and more well." After all, the show has just begun. ”

Voronov finally believed that what Rokossovsky said would become true, so he nodded and said approvingly: "Comrade Rokossovsky, you are right. Don't look at the German army surrounded by us, there are more than 200,000 people, and there are a large number of tanks and artillery, as long as their supplies are cut off, they will sooner or later become lambs to the slaughter. ”

After Malinin gave the order, he walked back and reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, I have just received an order from General Chuikov, who is organizing troops to seize the Mamayev post. ”

"What, to seize the Mamayev Heights?" When Voronov heard this, he couldn't help but interject and ask: "Comrade Rokossovsky, as far as I know, isn't the Mamayev post in the hands of our army?" ”

"Yes, Mamayev is in the hands of our army." Rokossovsky hurriedly said to Voronov: "But our army occupies the southern side of the Mamayev post, and the northern side is still in the hands of the German army. Chuikov launched such an offensive in order to completely control the commanding heights of the entire Stalingrad in the hands of our army. ”

After Rokossovsky finished speaking, he turned his head and asked Malinin: "Do you have any difficulties with Chuikov?" ”

"They lack the technical equipment to attack the fortifications." Malinin carefully explained: "Their tank artillery, which was almost completely lost in the battle for the defense of Stalingrad, has not yet been replenished in time. ”

Rokossovsky looked at the map and asked Voronov: "Comrade Commander-in-Chief, can your artillery provide artillery support for Chuikov's troops in the event of an offensive?" ”

Voronov looked down at the map in front of him, then shook his head and said: "I'm sorry, Rokossovsky, I don't think it's possible." Artillery support for them during the day, perhaps, is not a problem. But it's night, and if we do an artillery bombardment, there's a good chance that the shells will fall on our own heads. ”

"Comrade Commander, I have a solution." Seeing Rokossovsky and Voronov's sad looks, Malinin hurriedly said: "Can we send the 588th Women's Night Bombardment Regiment to bomb the enemy occupying the north side of Mamayev Gang." With their newly equipped Mosquito bomber, they can complete such a mission. ”