The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Amidst the sound of gunfire, the Soviet and German armies launched a brutal close-quarters fight on Mamayev Hill.

There are no tanks, no aircraft, and large-caliber howitzers cannot play a role here, but the brutality of the battle is even worse than the battles involving these equipment.

Both the enemy and ourselves are adding troops to the battlefield in batches, and then fighting and consuming them on the dark hills in batches, using grenades, bayonets, and even stones and teeth... Even if the Germans have MP43s in their hands, Nothing is impossible in the dark. As long as a gap is opened somewhere by an enemy grenade or temporarily suppressed by a mortar, the Soviet troops lurking at close range will immediately surge up like a tide to fight the Germans in close combat.

But whether it is close combat or hand-to-hand combat, MP43 can perfectly interpret its firepower and continuity. As long as the Germans are given any time, they can reorganize their defense line with grenades and MP43 to repel the enemy.

Of course, this is inseparable from the quality of German soldiers.

Sometimes Qinchuan could even order all German soldiers to retreat, and then rely on the firepower of tanks to carry out intensive killings on the following Soviet troops.

The battle lasted all night, and it was not until dawn the next day that the Soviet army reluctantly stopped the attack... because if it continued to attack, German fighter planes and bombers would appear again, and then the Soviet army would obviously suffer greater losses. Kill.

However, the Soviet tanks failed to escape in the end because they had to hide in the ruins of Stalingrad to avoid being discovered by German fighters. Most of them half-buried themselves in the ruins with only a little turret exposed. That is to say, it can shoot, maneuver when necessary, and is difficult to be discovered by enemy aircraft in the air.

But now they had to be exposed in order to assist in the attack on Mamayev Heights. This exposure was closely watched by German fighter planes, followed by machine guns and bombs. In less than ten minutes, five tanks became one. A pile of scrap metal emitting black smoke and flames.

Qinchuan did not climb Mamayev Hill all night.

Because he knew that in a battle like this, it was more important to grasp the rhythm of the battle so that the German troops stationed on it could advance and retreat, or to add some troops to Mamayev Heights in a timely manner, or to command the mortar troops to suppress them.

Facts also proved that Qinchuan was right to do this. The German casualties throughout the night were only a hundred, while the Soviet corpses lying on the hill were at least a thousand.

"It's time to clean up the corpses!" Qin Chuan raised his head towards the corpse on the hill: "Otherwise, in a few days, our way up will be blocked by piles of disgusting carrion!"

"Yes, Major!" the soldiers responded and took action.

The corpses of German soldiers would be picked out and buried nearby, but the corpses of Soviet soldiers would not be treated so well. They would be piled in a pit, layer by layer, and finally piled up into a hill. It was like setting up dry firewood, then dousing it with gasoline and igniting it... The smell made the soldiers on the defense line tie their mouths and noses with towels.

Soon, the second battalion as a reserve team came up to change defenses with Qinchuan. After fighting for such a long time, it was time for the first battalion to take a rest.

Qin Chuan explained to Second Battalion Commander Bazel the layout of the defense line, the tactics the enemy might use, and some of the dangers based on the map and real scene, then shook hands with Bazel and said, "I wish you good luck. !”

"The same goes for you!" Bazel patted Qin Chuan's shoulder with deep emotion and said, "Look at you, I was just a recruit when I met you, but now you can stand alone!"

Qin Chuan nodded gratefully to Bazel. Although he didn't have much contact with this old superior and didn't even say a few words, it was precisely in this way that he could reflect Bazel's greatness... Qin Chuan has always been there. Bypassing him and contacting Colonel Slaine or even General Strike, if it were anyone else, there would be few who would be as innocent as Bazel.

After the battle at Mamayev Hills reached a stalemate, Stalingrad was a little unable to hold on.

The reason is very simple. Mamayev Hill is under the control of the German army, which directly leads to the precise blockade of the central ferry... From Mamayev Hill, German artillery observers can clearly grasp when and where the reinforcements from the east coast will land. , and then called in artillery fire to cover it.

This greatly reduced the number of soldiers and supplies available to Stalingrad, and there were even problems with bullet supply.

For this reason, Chuikov had to evacuate his underground bunker on Pushkin Street.

In fact, it was more of an escape than an evacuation.

Because at noon that day, a group of German troops suddenly attacked the entrance to Chuikov's underground bunker... Although the urban guerrilla warfare strategy formulated by Chuikov caused a lot of trouble to the German troops, it was generally successful.

But the problem is that guerrilla warfare often does not have a unified and clear line of defense, so that even oneself is not sure where the enemy or oneself is.

The appearance of the German army was completely unexpected by Chuikov, because the location of the underground bunker was very close to the central ferry.

But Chuikov did not dare to think so much. He immediately ordered his staff and guards to fight against the German army.

However, these people were not professional combatants after all, and the underground bunkers were quickly filled with wounded.

At the same time, Chuikov was also angry to see that the people around him were not as heroic as they usually showed... Drivers, orderlies and even many officers used various excuses to escape to the safety of underground bunkers. According to them, "Convenient command" and "discuss solutions".

In fact, this is not surprising at all, because most of the Soviet command structures were established during peacetime and were not merit-based selection during wartime. Many of them even squeezed themselves into the command headquarters desperately so that they did not have to go to the battlefield. There is no need to face the enemy, now it is just exposing their true nature.

Since the underground bunker has no ventilation system, the bunker quickly fills with smoke, heat and stench, and soon becomes deprived of oxygen.

Fortunately, there is another secret passage in the underground bunker, which leads directly to the Volga River a few miles away.

Chuikov fled to the Volga River in a hurry with important documents and combat situation maps, as well as his staff group, and crossed the Volga River by boat under the cover of darkness.

But Chuikov knew that he could not stay on the east bank of the Volga and command, because as he said before, he would either hold Stalingrad or die there.

If the Soviet soldiers knew that he had withdrawn across the Volga River, Stalingrad would soon be lost.

So Chuikov immediately boarded an armored speedboat and crossed the Volga River again and returned to Stalingrad.