The decisive battle against the Third Reich

When Chuikov returned to Stalingrad again, he no longer returned to the main city in the south but to the industrial area in the north.

The reason is that the main southern city has almost found unsafe places as headquarters. Even the Soviet army's last line of defense, the central ferry, will be bombed by the Germans at any time.

In principle, there is no safe zone in the northern industrial zone, but the Soviet army can create several safe zones.

This safe place was the side wall of the "Red Barricade" artillery factory that was burned down by the Germans.

The east side of the "Red Barricade" artillery factory is adjacent to the Volga River, but there is a 650-foot (200-meter) high cliff.

This cliff is undoubtedly a blind spot for German artillery fire. At the same time, the German air force cannot bomb it. In addition, there are many sewage pipes from factories, large and small, that discharge sewage into the Volga River from here... There was no environmental protection in this period. said.

Soviet soldiers blasted several caves near the cliff's sewage pipes as headquarters, and then built several communication trenches to connect these headquarters to the ground or sewage pipes.

(Note: At this time, Stalingrad’s sewage pipes, sewers, etc. were all used by the Soviet army as underground passages for guerrilla warfare)

What made Chuikov feel a little frustrated was that his headquarters once again lacked many manpower... During the process of transferring the headquarters to the east bank of the Volga River and back, many officers and staff quietly slipped away and stayed on the east bank.

In times of crisis, people who only care about their own lives and are afraid of death are the most hated. However, it is these officers and staff who usually ask the soldiers to kill the enemy bravely on the battlefield with righteousness and even unreasonable words.

"This can't go on like this!" Chuikov said worried Krylov.

"Comrade Chuikov!" Krylov comforted: "If they leave, just leave. We don't have to be disappointed for them!"

"What? Do you think I am disappointed for those who fled the headquarters?" Chuikov replied: "No, Comrade Krylov, their departure may be a good thing. You know, Stalingrad is low on supplies. At least we don’t have to feed those wastes with precious food anymore!”

Krylov nodded, and then said: "Are you talking about Stalingrad?"

"Yes!" Chuikov nodded: "Apart from Stalingrad, what else can I worry about? The enemy occupied Mamayev Heights, and we were unable to recapture it despite heavy casualties... This directly affected our Logistics, if this continues, it won’t be long before Stalingrad is completely occupied by the enemy!”

Chuikov's worries were justified. Although the Soviet army was right to use close-quarters tactics and guerrilla tactics, if the soldiers didn't even have food and bullets, none of the tactics would be effective.

"We can open a temporary ferry!" Krylov suggested.

"Many places are not suitable for ferries, Comrade Krylov!" Chuikov shook his head and sighed: "For example, like the cliffs here and the Yuni River Beach, some places are suitable for ferries, but there are not even roads... and there are still It will be blocked by enemy fighter planes, and the unloading capacity is very limited!”

After a pause, Chuikov said: "So, we still have to take back Mamayev Heights!"

"But Comrade Chuikov..." Krylov looked at Chuikov with some confusion.

"I know, Comrade Krylov!" Chuikov said: "We are short of supplies, and the enemy is using elite troops to occupy Mamayev Heights. If we continue to attack, the 13th Guards Division will be completely wiped out!"

After a pause, Chuikov said: "But, I think we can get this victory back elsewhere!"

The other places Chuikov mentioned refer to two aspects:

One is the Stalingrad Front, which is the Soviet army north of the Don River commanded by Zhukov.

In the previous battle, the Stalingrad Front took the initiative to attack the German army in order to buy Stalingrad time to prepare. Although it suffered heavy losses, it basically achieved its strategic purpose.

At this time, after several weeks of rest, the Stalingrad Front had regained a certain combat effectiveness.

Chuikov believed that now was the time for the Stalingrad Front to come into play again.

Of course, Zhukov knew that Stalingrad was at a critical juncture, so he had no objection and once again organized the First Guards Army to launch a fierce attack on the German northern defense line.

Paulus was a little panicked under the Soviet attack... If before, the German army could transfer elite armored divisions to the northern defense line for reinforcements, but now the 14th Armored Corps can't even connect the 21st Armored Division affiliated with the 4th Armored Group Army. The armored divisions were all deeply involved in the urban battle of Stalingrad.

This can also be said to be one of the reasons why the German army failed in the Battle of Stalingrad... The entire battle was a two-front battle. Even the northern defense line from Kotluban to the Volga River was actually surrounded by the Soviet army on three sides. Among them, once the Soviet army occupied Kotluban, the German army would be trapped in the dilemma of being counter-surrounded by the Soviet army at any time.

In other words, such a strategic encirclement is only suitable for a quick victory, otherwise the situation will be more unfavorable to the German army the longer it is delayed... The German army originally wanted a quick victory, but they did not expect that Stalingrad would drag on for so long, and it seemed that Will continue to drag on.

In the end, Paulus had no choice but to send the 16th Motorized Rifle Division and the 298th Infantry Division, which were directly under the group army as reserves, to reinforce the northern defense line.

In other words, the lack of manpower resulted in the German army basically having no reserves in the direction of Stalingrad.

This is exactly what Chuikov wanted.

At the same time, Chuikov implemented a counter-assault plan in Stalingrad:

Chuikov formed a commando force of one division in the north and south of Stalingrad respectively, with the main body being the 112th Infantry Division and the 193rd Infantry Division, and then added skirmishers and even armed civilians to these two units.

There are not many problems in terms of strength in forming these two commandos. Although Stalingrad is extremely short of soldiers, there is not a big problem in piecing together two divisions with skirmishers and civilians.

The bigger problem is the ammunition problem of these two commandos... If you want to attack, you must have enough ammunition and supplies, otherwise you will only die if you rush forward.

Chuikov's solution is to start from two aspects: one is to open a temporary ferry as Krylov said, and the other is to organize the airdrop of 2 transport planes.

This airdrop is a bit like the German airdrop during the Battle of Holm, which was carried out at night using gliders, parachutes, etc.

But later on, gliders and even parachutes were no longer enough, so violent airdrops could only be used... that is, weapons and equipment were wrapped in straw and dropped directly from the transport plane to the ground.