Chapter 859: The Don River Defense Line

Germany had made targeted changes to its method of fighting the Soviet Union, a fact that had not yet reached the ears of the Soviet commanders. However, they had no good way to deal with the German army’s air-land superiority and could only rely on their cities to slowly block the German offensive.

Rokossovsky had deployed his troops around Stalingrad and had not even deployed too many forces in the direction of the Don River. He had carefully studied the case of the German surprise attack on France and believed that deploying a defense line along a river could not completely stop a German offensive. Therefore, he had placed all his bets on Stalingrad, not on the Don River defense line, which could be broken through.

“How are the supply stockpiles coming along?” For nearly a month, Rokossovsky had been deploying his forces to defend Stalingrad. He had stockpiled as many supplies as possible in the vicinity of the city, in the hope that when the German army encircled it, he could hold out for more than a year.

He had divided his forces into several assault groups and had deployed them on the outskirts of the city. Once the German army broke through the Soviet defense line in any direction and attempted to develop its advance into the depths, these assault groups would launch a counter-attack from the German flank and drive them out of the city.

Modern warfare is a battle of ammunition, equipment, and food. Rokossovsky, who had fought his way from the front line to Stalingrad, naturally knew the impact of these things on the outcome of a war. So, these days, he had been preparing these soon-to-be-heavily-consumed supplies, just waiting for the German army to arrive.

“Comrade General! The grain reserves are sufficient. Not only have we stockpiled a large amount of grain in Stalingrad, but I am also building reserve depots on the other side of the Volga River, to be used as a supplement after the grain in Stalingrad is consumed,” an aide replied.

Another aide handed a document to Rokossovsky and explained, “Comrade General, we have brought all the ships on the Volga River under unified management. Once the battle for the defense of the city begins, we will have the ability to organize transport troops to cross the Volga and ensure that the supply to Stalingrad remains open.”

Hearing his subordinates’ reports, Rokossovsky nodded with relief. He knew how much defensive depth he had lost by giving up the Don River line, but in order to concentrate his forces to defend the most crucial points, he had still, without hesitation, chosen this method of fighting that would “kill eight hundred of the enemy and lose a thousand of his own.” Because, as things stood, this was his best choice.

In addition, he was also holding a trump card that the German army did not know about: the 30 main-force divisions from the Far East that had been assigned to him. He had placed this force on the east bank of the Volga, to be committed as a fresh force only if things went badly. Rokossovsky hoped that these veterans, after joining the battle, could finally drive the German army out of Stalingrad and achieve the final victory in the battle for the Caucasus.

It was precisely because of these reinforcements that would surely arrive that Rokossovsky, when drawing up his tactics, had given priority to how to inflict a heavy blow on the German army. Once the German army was bogged down in Stalingrad and could not extricate itself, then Rokossovsky was confident that he could make the German army lose more than 300,000 troops.

On the Don, the seemingly strong defense line was actually just a feint by Rokossovsky. He had taken the classic case of the Germans building the Siegfried Line as a reference and had also designed a defense line along the Don River to deter the German army from crossing.

Due to the time factor, the Soviet army had already obtained a lot of outdated German intelligence from before World War II. Although much of the content was already known to everyone, when a frontline commander like Rokossovsky took it and studied it systematically, he would be amazed by the often-unconstrained imagination of the German army.

The more he studied the tactics used by the German army, the more he felt that the German army was, at certain times, cunning to the extreme. The German army was adept at using feints and real attacks to interfere with the enemy’s judgment. For example, by using several classic short, sharp assaults, they had managed to cut the deep and wide Soviet deep defense system into several small, local battlefields that were suitable for German army operations.

So this time, the Soviet army was also playing tricks. They had deployed a small number of defensive troops along the Don River, relying on fortifications to stop the German army from crossing. Rokossovsky had strengthened his forces in the areas where the Don was easy to cross, just waiting for the German attack to deliver the most ferocious counter-attack. By letting the German army advance unopposed all the way before suddenly meeting an attack, he hoped to make them misjudge the strength of the Don defense line.

As long as the German army was confused for a few days, then he would have bought a few more days for Stalingrad. And he felt that the German army could not quickly cross the Don. After all, the equipment and courage needed for a large-scale river crossing were not things that could be prepared in a short time.

So he was confident that he could stop the German advance on the Don for a few days. With these few days, he could continue to strengthen the defensive system on the outskirts of Stalingrad and turn this city into a giant fortress.

“The few defense lines that are easy to cross, have all the troops been strengthened there?” Rokossovsky asked his subordinate in charge of the Don defense line. A general quickly reported the latest situation to his superior. “Report, Comrade General, the defense line has been strengthened, and we have also laid mines in most places. The German army will surely be met with a head-on blow when they cross the river.”

“Very good! Now! We can only wait, wait for the Germans to make a probing attack on the Don defense line!” Rokossovsky was very satisfied with his deception tactics and walked out of his office with his hands behind his back, very pleased with himself.

His pride was not without reason. After all, from the time he had gone to the front line and had fought with the German army in the border area of Belarus and northern Ukraine, until now when he had on his own initiative contracted his forces, he had never suffered a loss at the hands of the German army.

In the central theater, he had escaped from the huge encirclement of the German Army Group A. In the southern theater, he had not been seriously hurt even when attacked by German special forces and paratroopers. Now that the German army was advancing on the Caucasus, he had used a trick of contracting his forces to neutralize the German blitzkrieg. For a Soviet general, with Voroshilov and Khrushchev before him, and Timoshenko after him, he had every right to be proud.

While Rokossovsky was secretly pleased with himself, on the west bank of the Don, Guderian was looking at the surging river and giving his order to attack. Although he did not know whether the Soviet army’s hasty contraction of its forces was for the Don defense line or for the Stalingrad defense line behind it, he knew that if the Soviet army were to engage him in a decisive battle on the Don, then the situation would be favorable for the German army.

“As long as the Soviet army doesn’t put their troops in Stalingrad and fight an endless street battle with us, then even across the Don, we have a way to annihilate them in the open field,” Guderian said to his aide behind him. “Order the troops to begin a probing attack!”

Two German tanks, in a temporarily constructed simple shelter, pointed their cannons at the opposite bank of the river. The German sappers began to build a pontoon bridge on the riverbank. Several armored engineering vehicles placed some equipment by the river, and the sappers by the side of the trench began to inflate rubber rafts.

Further in the distance, several German assault boats had already been thrown into the Don by the infantry. The soldiers, stepping into the cold river water, jumped into the boats. The motors began to roar, and the assault boats cut through the surface of the river, kicking up waves at their bows as they charged towards the opposite bank.

The German soldiers on the boats kept their heads down. A machine gun for cover was mounted on the bow. Behind them, their comrades on the riverbank were setting up mortars and several machine gun covering positions. Everyone was watching the situation on the opposite bank. As soon as there was any sign of movement, they would use a dense fire to cover their comrades in establishing a forward position on the other side.

Rat-tat! On the Soviet position on the opposite bank, a machine gun fired a burst of bullets. These bullets struck the river surface next to the assault boats, splashing up columns of water. The river water even splashed onto the faces of the German soldiers on the assault boats. But behind these German troops, the weapons supporting them also immediately let out a roar. Two German machine guns fired frantically, and a straight line of tracer rounds flew towards the Soviet positions.

The firepower of both sides gradually escalated. A shell landed in the water of the Don. Although it was some distance from the German assault boats, it still made Guderian, who was watching from the riverbank, frown. He felt that the other side was very keen on stopping the German advance, but for some reason, the density of fire was still a far cry from what he had expected from the Don defense line.

“This is not the firepower of a division. When we forced a crossing in France, the enemy’s firepower was at least three times this,” Guderian said with some disappointment to his deputy. “It seems we will still have to notify Küchler and have him prepare for a hard-fought street battle.”

“General, there is nothing we can do about it. The enemy is a bit tougher than we had imagined. The news from General Manstein’s side is that the Soviet army is also using urban street fighting to block them. The battle is very fierce,” his deputy behind him said, looking at the fire coming from the opposite bank. As he spoke, an assault boat was sunk, and all the German soldiers on it were wiped out.

Guderian also saw this scene. He put away his binoculars, then turned and left the riverbank, walking towards his armored command vehicle. “Begin the shelling, cover the river crossing! The Soviets have not committed any decent forces to the Don. Don’t waste any more time here! Break through this defense line directly and press on to Stalingrad!”

“Yes, General! Break through the Don defense line! Press on to Stalingrad!” the aide replied at attention. He then walked to the armored command vehicle and got through to the commanders of the several divisions on the front line. “Army Group Headquarters orders, within two hours, break through the Don defense line! The general offensive begins!”

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