The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Stalingrad is just a city of more than 500 square kilometers. Such a city cannot accommodate the millions of troops of the Soviet Union's two fronts.

(Note: Stalin formed the Stalingrad Front in Stalingrad, but soon split it into two fronts: one was the Stalingrad Front responsible for guarding the Don River north of Stalingrad, and the other was the Southeastern Front responsible for guarding the Don River. Stalingrad and the Volga River. Later, the Stalingrad Front was changed to the Don Front, and the Southeastern Front was changed to the Stalingrad Front.)

Therefore, as Holt said, a considerable part of the Battle of Stalingrad was due to the difficulty of amphibious landings in this era, and it was necessary to compete for Stalin, an important position to hold the river gap.

Seeing that Qin Chuan was silent while looking at the map, Holt thought Qin Chuan didn't understand, so he explained: "Sorry, maybe I should explain it in more detail..."

"No, General!" Qin Chuan replied: "I understand what you mean, but I think... amphibious landing ships and amphibious landing tanks are not suitable for use in the Battle of Stalingrad!"

"Why?" Holt couldn't help but feel disappointed.

"General!" Qinchuan replied: "There are conditions for us to use amphibious landing ships and amphibious landing tanks in the Transcaucasus region and achieve success, that is, the Soviets think that we do not have a navy, that is, the control of the sea is in their hands. In this way, we It would be impossible to attack their rear from the sea, so they would be unprepared. But if it is used to force the crossing of the Volga River or the Don River..."

Qin Chuan pointed to the map and said: "What we have to face in the direction of the Don River is the enemy's Stalingrad Front, and what we have to face in the direction of the Volga River is the Southeast Front. Their total strength is over a million people, and they are fighting along the way. Deploy defenses along the river and be well prepared. What's worse is... they will definitely deploy a large number of artillery behind the coastal defense line. Any forced crossing will inevitably be intercepted by intensive firepower from the other side, but amphibious landing ships and amphibious landing tanks cannot withstand this. of combat, especially amphibious landing tanks..."

Holt couldn't help but nodded when he heard this. He had actually read the information about the amphibious landing tank before and knew that the survivability of this thing in the water was extremely poor.

However, if Huot's idea was just that simple, then there would be no conversation today.

"You are right, Major!" Holt said, "But do you know? The biggest advantage of amphibious landing ships and amphibious landing tanks is that they can cross the river at the fastest speed and deploy on the other side to form combat effectiveness. !”

Qin Chuan does not deny this. For example, an amphibious landing ship can be driven both in the water and on the shore. Therefore, there is no need for loading and unloading when it reaches the other shore. It can move forward as soon as possible and can fight immediately. The same is true for amphibious landing tanks. Once ashore, they are the king of land battles.

"So..." Holt said, "What if we can create this brief opportunity?"

"General, you mean... airborne troops?" Qin Chuan immediately understood what Huot meant.

"Yes!" Holt nodded appreciatively: "We used airborne troops to attack the Soviet artillery units and coastal troops, making them unable to form effective fire interceptions against our landing troops in a short period of time. Taking advantage of this opportunity, we landed Troops kept crossing the river to break through their coastal defenses! "

"General!" Qinchuan replied: "A considerable part of the Soviet Southeast Front Army is composed of the North Caucasus and Transcaucasus Fronts. They know our amphibious landing ships and amphibious landing tanks. If they are prepared... "

Needless to say, there is no need to say more about the rest. Although such a strategy is feasible, it still relies on airborne troops to launch a surprise attack.

If the Soviet army was prepared, then these airborne troops and even the troops that landed on the other side would never return.

Holt nodded in agreement, then sighed: "Major, you should have invented these things later!"

Qinchuan understood what Holt meant. If Qinchuan invented amphibious landing craft and amphibious tanks later and used them in the direction of the Don River or the Volga River, then the Soviets would be defeated by this tactic because they were unprepared. Thousands of miles away, so taking Stalingrad is not a problem... The reason why Stalingrad cannot be captured is because it is backed by the Volga River defense line and cannot be completely surrounded. At the same time, the Stalingrad Front to the north will put huge pressure on the German army. preventing it from attacking Stalingrad with all its strength.

Otherwise, all we need to do is surround Stalingrad, and the Soviet troops stationed there will soon run out of ammunition and food and have no choice but to surrender.

"Then!" Holt frowned and said, "It seems that we only have one way to attack Stalingrad!"

Qinchuan had nothing to do about this, because if there were other ways to go, the Soviet and German armies in history would not have continued to invest troops in Stalingrad for six months as if to add fuel to the final total number of casualties. At two million men, it was the bloodiest battle in modern history.

Finally, Qin Chuan reminded: "General, I wonder if you have noticed that we still have a potential crisis in this battle!"

"Uh-huh, you mean..."

"The Soviets are on that side of the river, and we are on this side of the river!" Qinchuan pointed at the map and said, "We always thought that it would be difficult for us to cross the river and break through their coastal defense lines, and at the same time, it would be difficult for them to cross the river and break through our coastal defense lines!"

"Isn't it?" Holt asked in surprise.

"It is true under normal circumstances!" Qin Chuan replied: "But once winter comes..."

Admiral Holt couldn't help but said "Oh": "The river is frozen!"

"Yes!" Qin Chuan pointed at the map and replied: "When the Don and Volga rivers freeze, the Soviet defense line will form a natural encirclement around us, and the situation will be completely different!"

"So, we have to end the battle before the freezing period!" Holt nodded: "Otherwise we will have to retreat as a whole!"

"Retreat?" Rommel interrupted: "No, the Führer will never allow us to retreat!"

Holt turned his questioning eyes to Rommel.

"I know him!" Rommel spread his hands and said: "Even if I am at such a disadvantage in North Africa and fighting an enemy several times my size, the head of state still orders me not to retreat!"

After a pause, Rommel added: "Of course, I did not obey the orders of the head of state. This is also related to the small size of the Afrika Korps. If it is Army Group B with millions of people..."

Although Rommel did not finish what he said, both Holt and Qin Chuan understood its meaning.