Chapter 699: Tactical Change

When Chuikov returned to Stalingrad again, he did not return to the southern main city but to the northern industrial area.

The reason was that there was almost no safe place in the southern main city as a headquarters, and even the Soviet army's last line of defense, the central ferry, could be bombed by the German army at any time.

In principle, there was no safe zone in the northern industrial area, but the Soviet army could create several safe zones.

This safe place was the side wall of the "Red Barricade" artillery factory burned by the German army.

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

This cliff was undoubtedly a blind spot for German artillery fire, and the German Air Force could not bomb it. In addition, the sewage pipes of many large and small factories discharged sewage into the Volga River from here... There was no environmental protection during this period.

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

(Note: At this time, the sewage pipes and sewers in Stalingrad were used by the Soviet army as underground passages for guerrilla warfare)

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

In times of crisis, it is these people who only care about their own lives and are afraid of death that are the most hateful, and it is these officers and staff who usually demand the soldiers to fight bravely on the battlefield with righteous words and even unreasonable demands.

"This won't work!" Chuikov said to Krylov with a worried look on his face.

"Comrade Chuikov!" Krylov comforted, "Let them leave, we don't have to be disappointed for them!"

"What? Do you think I'm disappointed for those who fled the headquarters?" Chuikov replied, "No, Comrade Krylov, their departure may be a good thing. You know, Stalingrad is short of supplies, at least we don't have to use precious food to feed those rubbish!"

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

"Yes!" Chuikov nodded, "Besides Stalingrad, what else can I worry about? The enemy occupied Mamayev Kurgan, and we suffered heavy casualties and could not recapture it... This directly affected our logistics. If this continues, Stalingrad will be completely occupied by the enemy in a short time!"

Chuikov's worries are justified. Although the Soviet army is right to use close-range tactics and guerrilla tactics, if the soldiers don't even have food and bullets, then no tactics will work.

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

"Many places are not suitable for ferry crossings, Comrade Krylov!" Chuikov shook his head and sighed, "For example, the cliffs here and the Yuni River beach are suitable for ferry crossings, but there are no roads... and they will be blocked by enemy aircraft fire, so the unloading capacity is very limited!"

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

"But Comrade Chuikov..." Krylov looked at Chuikov in confusion.

"I know, Comrade Krylov!" Chuikov said, "We are short of supplies, and the enemy is still an elite force to occupy Mamayev Kurgan. If we continue to fight, the 13th Guards Division will be wiped out!"

After a pause, Chuikov said, "But I think we can regain this victory in other places!"

The other places Chuikov mentioned refer to two aspects:

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

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

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

Chuikov believes that now is the time for the Stalingrad Front to play a role again.

Zhukov certainly knew that Stalingrad was at a critical juncture, so he did not object and once again organized the First Guards Army to attack the German northern defense line.

Paulus was a little panicked under the attack of the Soviet army... If before, the German army could still transfer the elite armored division to the northern defense line for reinforcement, but now the 14th Armored Corps and even the 21st Armored Division under the 4th Armored Army are 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 fought on two fronts, and even the northern defense line from Kotluban to the Volga River section was actually surrounded by the Soviet army on three sides. Once the Soviet army occupied Kotluban, the German army would be surrounded by the Soviet army at any time.

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

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

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

This is exactly what Chuikov hoped for.

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

Chuikov formed a commando with a strength of one division in the north and south of Stalingrad, with the 112th Infantry Division and the 193rd Infantry Division as the main force, and then added scattered soldiers and even armed civilians to these two forces.

There is not much problem in the formation of these two commandos in terms of manpower. Although Stalingrad is short of troops, it is not a big problem to piece together two divisions with scattered soldiers 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 up.

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 2 transport planes to drop.

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

But later on, there were not enough gliders or even parachutes, so they had to use violent airdrops...that is, wrap the weapons and equipment with straw and drop them directly from transport planes to the ground.