The decisive battle against the Third Reich

"It's difficult for us to find an effective way to deal with this tactic!" Qin Chuan replied.

Qin Chuan didn't lie. He knew that this was the famous urban guerrilla tactic, which was to break up the enemy's punches and make them feel as if they hit the mud with no force.

In fact, there is not much difference between urban guerrilla warfare and jungle guerrilla warfare. The difference is that the former is in the ruins of the city and the latter is in the jungle.

If there were any tactics that could effectively deal with guerrilla warfare, then modern powers such as the United States and the Soviet Union would not be stuck in the quagmire of Vietnam and Afghanistan.

Of course, it's a different matter if the enemy is a veteran of guerrilla warfare.

For example, in the self-defense counterattack against Vietnam, the Chinese army used guerrilla warfare against guerrilla warfare and special operations against special operations. In the end, the Vietnamese soldiers were forced to seek peace on their own initiative.

However……

Not to mention that the German army is more suitable for regular warfare than guerrilla warfare. Even if the German army adapts to this new tactic with its high quality and fights guerrilla warfare with the Soviet army, this will definitely be a long-lasting and casualty war.

However, the German army cannot afford to waste or wait in Stalingrad, because once winter comes, it does not even need to enter winter. It only needs to enter October when the temperature drops, and the German army will lose combat effectiveness due to a lack of cold-resistant equipment.

(Note: The average temperature in Stalingrad in October is 4-12 degrees. In November, the temperature drops below zero and the river begins to freeze.)

"Uh-huh!" After listening to Qin Chuan's words, Major General Wittelsheim spread his hands indifferently and said: "Major, you said that last time, but in the end you found a way to deal with it, even though you said It's a 'dumb way'!"

Qin Chuan could only smile bitterly in return.

What Major General Wittelsheim didn't know was that Qin Chuan called the "lattice tactic" a stupid method last time. Part of the reason was that he knew that this tactic could not solve the problem in Stalingrad. He also knew that in Stalingrad The battle will turn into this war of attrition.

It's a bit like World War I.

In World War I, since there were no tanks, the enemy and we only had to dig trenches, lay barbed wire and mines in front of the trenches, then set up machine guns in the trenches, and artillery on the second line...

This line of defense is almost invincible. As long as there is enough ammunition, no matter how many people come up, they will become corpses.

So it evolved into a mutual stalemate of trench warfare, with both the enemy and ourselves digging trenches and then becoming stalemate and attrition.

The emergence of tanks broke this deadlock, but this deadlock still exists in special terrains such as highlands and cities where it is difficult for tanks to maneuver.

In other words, a large part of the reason why Stalingrad became a meat grinder was the stalemate that formed during World War I.

Now, it is not easy to break this deadlock.

"Maybe we can use artillery!" Seeing that Qin Chuan didn't speak, Colonel Slain suggested: "If we use artillery fire to blow up the enemy-controlled area into ruins, the Soviets will have no place to hide!"

"This may be a way!" Major General Wittelsheim nodded.

"Do we have that many shells?" General Strike asked.

"Maybe we do!" Major General Wittelsheim replied: "This is still related to you..."

As he spoke, Major General Wittelsheim pointed to the Caucasus region on the map and said: "You have captured the Caucasus region. Marshal Manstein has resumed the production of the arsenal in the Transcaucasus, especially artillery and artillery shells. We can use railways Bring them here besides…”

After a pause, Major General Wittelsheim continued: "We still have 'Dora'!"

The officers couldn't help but look sideways after hearing this.

Of course Qin Chuan knew what "Dora" was. It referred to the German army's giant artillery unit.

"This may work!" General Strike nodded: "You must know that it can destroy bunkers at a depth of 100 feet, which means that they can blow up or collapse the Soviet tunnels!"

"Yes!" Colonel Slain said: "If the Soviets don't have tunnels, they won't be able to crawl around us like rats!"

"Major, what do you think?" Seeing that Qin Chuan didn't speak, Wittelsheim asked: "I want to know your opinion!"

"With all due respect, General!" Qin Chuan replied: "I don't think these giant cannons are useful, although they will indeed pose a threat to the Soviet bunkers and even blow up Stalingrad into ruins!"

"Why?" Wittelsheim couldn't help but ask doubtfully.

"The problem is..." Qin Chuan didn't answer and asked instead: "After we bombed Stalingrad into ruins, will the Soviets' tactics become impossible to implement? They can still fight us in the ruins, but for us... In front of the huge craters and ruins blasted by the giant cannons, the tanks were unable to move forward or maneuver! "

This is not Qinchuan's alarmist statement, but in history the German army did use large artillery units when they attacked Stalingrad.

It was Manstein who invested in the large artillery. The reason was that it used the large artillery to achieve victory when attacking the Sevastopol Fortress, so Hitler transferred it to Stalingrad to continue bombarding the Soviet-controlled areas.

But the result was not ideal, because as Qin Chuan said, it is basically impossible to use artillery fire to destroy the enemy and destroy all the underground fortifications...especially those giant cannon shells that only have a few dozen rounds. The role it can play is very limited. The side effect it brought was that the large areas of ruins and artillery affected the German army's own maneuverability.

After hearing this, Major General Wittelsheim and other officers couldn't help but fell silent.

After hesitating for a while, Major General Wittelsheim said: "If we have no other way, why not try it?"

Qin Chuan could not refute this. After all, there was no guarantee of war. More importantly, Wittelsheim and others did not know history as well as Qin Chuan, so it was understandable that they would want to give it a try.

So in Stalingrad, when the Soviet Union and the Germans were fighting soldier against soldier and blood against blood, the plan to assemble the German artillery units was started.

But the assembly of the giant artillery troops was not as easy as imagined.

Another name for the "Dora" cannon is the "Heavy Gustav". It was the heaviest artillery in World War II, with a caliber of 31.5 inches.

A huge cannon like this would require 60 train cars just to dismantle and transport it. The operation, protection and maintenance of this artillery require 4120 people, and the launch control and operation alone require a major general, a major and 1500 soldiers.

To make matters worse, it would take a month to install the giant cannon.

The German officers did not seem to realize that time was the most important thing to them.

Or it can be said to be a kind of helplessness, helplessness towards urban guerrilla warfare like Chuikov.