The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Qin Chuan didn't know all this, not even General Strike knew.

The reasons are twofold:

One is that the Soviet army, that is, the 13th Guards Infantry Division, is always competing with the 1st Infantry Regiment on the front for Mamayev Hill. Even the 13th Guards Infantry Division was quite effective... They built layer after layer of trenches on the southern slope and gradually advanced towards the high ground, which made the distance between the enemy and ourselves only about 70 meters.

The reason why we can only advance to this distance is because if we go further, the German army's grenades can be thrown into the Soviet trenches, and grenades are a very cheap thing, so it will be difficult for the Soviet army to continue digging forward. The trenches were gone.

But this was not enough, because at a distance of seventy meters, the Soviet army only needed to temporarily suppress the German army with artillery fire, and then charge to fight with the German army hand-to-hand.

This resulted in hand-to-hand combat being very common in the Mamayev Hills. At the same time, the Soviet army also hoped to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the Germans, because this could reduce the casualty ratio between the enemy and the enemy to a great extent.

It's just that the German army has gained experience after several battles. They only placed a few dozen people on the hilltop position in the highlands, and the main force was placed on the second line of defense on the reverse slope. Once the Soviet army launched an attack, these Dozens of people retreated after a little resistance... In short, they used the mountaintop position as an outpost instead of a position, so that there would be a buffer zone between the enemy and ourselves.

Therefore, the battles between the enemy and ourselves are often not actual hand-to-hand combat, but close combat.

In this kind of close combat, the German MP43 can show its prowess, causing heavy casualties to the Soviet army time and time again.

However, it was precisely because of this that Qin Chuan and Colonel Slain believed that the Soviets would continue to struggle with the 21st Armored Division at Mamayev Heights.

A more important reason is that General Paulus did not tell the 21st Armored Division about the battle situation on the northern defense line and the transfer of reserve troops to the north for reinforcements.

As mentioned before, Paulus's 6th Army had a competitive relationship with Hoth's 4th Armored Army, and even allowing the 21st Armored Division to attack Stalingrad was a helpless choice.

Therefore, Paulus believed that he did not need to notify the 21st Armored Division when he mobilized troops... After all, Paulus was the supreme commander in charge of the overall situation.

Paulus should be right to do this, because Hitler had ordered this before, and the officers only needed information related to their own battles.

The problem is that General Strike and others, and even all the German troops involved in the battle of Stalingrad, did not realize that they had no strength behind them, and of course they could not speculate on the strategic intentions of the Soviet army.

Qinchuan and others only learned about the Soviet offensive in the north from word of mouth among soldiers, but no one took it to heart. Qinchuan and others only regarded this as Zhukov's harassment to reduce the pressure on Stalingrad. action.

Until a few days later, Qin Chuan received a call.

At that time, Qinchuan's 1st Battalion had just been rotated to guard Mamayev Hill. Colonel Slaine made a phone call. His tone was a bit annoyed and a bit hasty: "Withdraw from Mamayev Hill immediately." !”

"What?" Qin Chuan couldn't help being stunned when he heard this: "Then Mamayev Hill..."

"Don't worry about Mamayev Heights!" Colonel Slain said: "We are about to be surrounded. Two Soviet divisions launched a counterattack, threatening our left and right flanks!"

Qinchuan opened his mouth for a long time and was speechless. You must know that the German army was attacking at this time, and because the German army occupied Mamayev Hill and effectively blocked the central ferry for a long time, the Soviet army was at an absolute disadvantage. It can almost be said that If they persisted like this for a few more days, the Soviet army would collapse.

But now... the Soviets actually launched a counterattack, and successfully counterattacked to the left and right wings of the 21st Armored Division. What happened? Where are the reserve teams? Why not step up? !

But thinking about it, Qinchuan did not dare to neglect, because the left and right wings of the 21st Armored Division were very weak. They almost followed a small passage, that is, the train station, school, and airport, and then fought to Mamayev Hill. Yes, if the two Soviet divisions on the left and right encircle these key points... it will be like Colonel Sline said, the 21st Armored Division will be surrounded.

Moreover, this siege is still a deadlock, with the Volga River to the east, the Banner Gorge to the north, and two ravines to the south. If the west is sealed, there will be no way out.

So without thinking much, Qin Chuan immediately put the troops into retreat procedures.

The retreat was not difficult. Mines were placed on the position along the way, and then several battalions covered each other's retreat. They abandoned the airport and a few streets and retreated to the school before stopping... The 21st Armored Division contracted back to help the friendly troops on both wings garrison. , Colonel Olbridge also commanded the tanks of the 5th Armored Regiment to be dispersed at key points between the buildings, making it impossible for the Soviet troops to break through.

However, the Soviet army's attack on the German troops in the school area was only tentative... The Soviet army's main strategic purpose was to force the German troops away from Mamayev Heights. Now that the strategic purpose had been achieved, further fighting did not matter. The exploratory attack was just that the Soviet army wanted to know whether Germany was in chaos during the retreat and wanted to see if there was an opportunity.

But this tentative attack obviously disappointed them.

"What happened?" General Strike called Paulus's headquarters as soon as he stabilized his position: "General, how come so many enemies suddenly appeared on our two wings?"

"Major General!" Paulus replied helplessly: "They moved to the rear of our army through sewers and sewage pipes and then launched a sudden attack... Before this, the Soviets' attacks were small-scale. We did not expect that they would attack this time. Concentrate two divisions to launch a sudden charge, but our troops in the rear are seriously insufficient!"

"Where are our reserves?" Major General Strike asked: "As long as there are two regiments covering our left and right wings, we can defeat the Soviet attack. But now we have to give up the airport and Mamayev Hills. come out!"

"I know, Major General!" Paulus replied: "Our reserves have already reinforced the northern defense line, and we don't have enough troops!"

General Strike asked in disbelief: "But why do we know nothing..."

"So what if you know? Major General!" Paulus asked back: "Can you defend your wings while attacking Mamayev Heights? Or can you conjure more troops like a magician?"

Then General Strike was speechless.

This retreat had a very serious consequence, that is, the artillery blockade of the central ferry was interrupted, and the Soviet army re-opened the supply line between the east coast and Stalingrad.