The decisive battle against the Third Reich

"Major!" General Strike couldn't help but look at Qin Chuan in confusion: "You mean... we should attack Stalingrad at this time?"

The other officers had similar expressions on their faces, because what Qin Chuan said was a bit unrealistic.

"You can say that!" Qin Chuan nodded.

"But our supplies and troops..." General Strike spread his hands.

"General!" Qin Chuan said: "I think it is equally difficult for the Soviets at this time! I am referring to the Soviet army in Stalingrad!"

"I agree with this!" General Strike replied: "But fighting on two fronts at the same time will make it difficult for us to take care of both ends, and it will also increase the potential risks to our army exponentially!"

General Strike was right.

The risk of fighting on two fronts is that one day if the ammunition or troops cannot keep up, the Soviets will be defeated by a counterattack, and all the previous results will be in vain.

In other words, the German army's current style of play is quite conservative.

Of course, they made this choice because they did not know the difficulty of attacking Stalingrad and thought that a few days' delay would not have much impact.

But in fact, it was precisely in these few days that the Southeast Front sent 50,000 troops and a large amount of supplies to Stalingrad. It was these troops and supplies that enabled Stalingrad to improve the defense of the northern industrial areas... These industrial areas It did not fall into German hands until the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, and tanks and artillery were produced almost non-stop.

Needless to say, what happened next was that although the German army attacked Stalingrad with all its strength and used fighter planes to block the Volga River from the air, the Soviet army's losses were basically equal to the reinforcements it received, so this urban tug-of-war became almost endless. If it continues, it will be like trench warfare in World War I.

"General!" Qinchuan replied: "I want to say that the strategic significance of the Soviet offensive on the northern defense line was originally to encircle our army in the eastern part of Tekoluban and get in touch with Stalingrad. So... now they are doing this at any cost. What is the purpose of attacking?”

Strike couldn't help but be startled when he heard this. He had never thought about this problem.

"I think they are compressing our living space!" Colonel Oakenbridge said: "Eventually they want to get in touch with Stalingrad!"

This makes some sense. If the Soviet army can advance a little bit every day and continuously compress the depth of the German army's defense east of Kotluban, one day the German army will not be able to withstand the pressure and withdraw from this area, so Stalingrad will again The troops on the Stalingrad Front were united.

"No!" Qin Chuan said: "What's more important for them is to consume our supplies and delay our army's strength to delay our attack on Stalingrad. In other words, they want to buy time for Stalingrad to replenish troops and supplies. In addition, And build the defenses of Stalingrad to prepare for battle!”

The officers couldn't help but nod after hearing this, because these are what is happening on the battlefield... The German army was dragged along the northern defense line and was unable to launch an attack on Stalingrad, while the Southeastern Front was urgently sending reinforcements to Stalingrad.

"But!" General Strike said: "Major, even if we know this, there is nothing we can do about it, right?"

"I don't think so, general!" Qin Chuan replied: "Although we do not have enough troops to launch a full-scale attack on Stalingrad, we can fight a local battle! A battle that does not require too many troops! "

"You mean..."

"What I mean is that we can take advantage of the fact that the Soviets are short of troops and use one or two regiments to boldly penetrate Stalingrad!" Qin Chuan replied.

"You are crazy, Major!" General Strike said: "Even if Stalingrad does not have enough troops, they still have 90,000 people. One or two regiments will be surrounded by them if they go in. What's more, what's the point of doing so? What’s the point of occupying Stalingrad?”

"General!" Qin Chuan walked to the map and pointed at the northern area of ​​Stalingrad and said: "The significance lies in this, the northern industrial zone of Stalingrad. There are tractor factories, artillery factories, chemical plants, etc. It can be predicted that these factories In the near future, when we are able to attack Stalingrad, they will play a powerful role, and they are obviously the focus of the Soviet defense!"

General Strike stopped talking after hearing this.

Qinchuan is right. The Soviet Union's economy was a planned economy. The characteristic of the planned economy was that factories and other things were planned uniformly by the state. This would make their distribution regular and densely arranged, unlike those in Western European countries. They are dotted here and there.

The industrial area of ​​Stalingrad is located in the north of the main city of Stagrad. There are four large factories from north to south along the Volga River: "Dzerzhinsky" tractor factory, "Red Barricade" artillery factory, "Red Ten" "Mon" metallurgical plant and "Lazur" chemical plant.

There are also some small factories, such as meat factories, bread factories, etc., all distributed in this area. To the west of each factory are the dormitories where workers of these factories live, named "Barricade New Village" and "Red October New Village" respectively. Waiting for naming.

Obviously, this industrial area is one of the lifeblood of Stalingrad... In addition to the defenders' supplies being transported from the other side of the Volga River, these factories can also replenish them to a certain extent.

This is especially true of the tractor factory, which actually produces tanks for the Soviet army. If such heavy equipment as tanks has to be transported from the Volga River, it will greatly increase the difficulty of transportation and affect the transportation volume.

"So, Major!" General Strike said, "You mean, we go in and capture these factories and then blow up their machines or factories?"

"Yes!" Qin Chuan nodded: "If we do this, then the supplies in Stalingrad will be much less, which will greatly reduce the difficulty of our attack!"

"Why can't we destroy them with artillery or bombers?" Colonel Olbridge asked.

"No!" General Strike shook his head and said: "These factories in Stalingrad have very good anti-aircraft and anti-artillery protection, and a considerable part of their factories are built underground. Otherwise, our air force should have blown them up long ago. "

After a pause, General Strike said: "Major, I don't know if you have thought about how to insert the troops of a regiment into its interior, or how to get out of Stalingrad when we finish doing this?"