telephone rang with a call for Rokossovsky. It was General Pukhov,
commander of the Thirteenth Army, with another piece of "hard"
information. A sapper captured from the 6th Infantry Division stated
that the German offensive would roll at 3:00 that same morning.
Less than one hour away.
General Rokossovsky turned to Zhukov in his Headquarters.
"What shall we do? Inform supreme headquarters or issue
orders for the preliminary bombardment ourselves?"
"We can't waste time," Zhukov answered. Give the order
according to plan, and I will call Stalin and report the information."
In the midst of the preliminary bombardment, Stalin called.
"Well, have you begun?"
"Yes, we have." replied Zhukov.
"What's the enemy doing?"
Zhukov replied to Stalin that the Germans were attempting
to reply with fire from a few batteries.
"All right, I'll call again," Stalin said, and hung up.
During the barrage, the German soldiers dug down
deeper, and sometime during the night, a message
from Adolf Hitler was read to the troops:
The entire Russo-German War, from June 1941 to July 1943,Soldiers of the Reich!
This day you are to take part in an offensive of such importance
that the whole future of the war may depend on its outcome. More
than anything else, your victory will show the whole world that
resistance to the power of the German Army is hopeless.
had led to this point inexorably. The plans had been laid long ago.
Nothing more could be done by both sides. On the German side,
F.W. von Mellinthin, stated that "The morale of the attacking troops
was of the highest; they were prepared to endure any losses and
carry out every task given them."
The massed Panzertruppe in their tanks ranging from the small
Panzer IIs retained as scouting vehicles to the massive Tigers
and Panthers had all been given special orders for the attack:
On the Russian side, more than 1.3 million men, 3,600 tanks,In no circumstances will tanks be stopped to render
assistance to those which have been disabled. Recovery is the
responsibility of engineer units only. Tank commanders are to
press on to their objective as long as they retain mobility.
Where a tank is rendered immobile but the gun is in working
order (e.g., from mechanical failure or track damage), the
crew will continue to give fire support from a static position.
20,000 guns and 3,130 planes stood ready to meet the oncoming Panzerkeils.
Citadel was ready.
