The decisive battle against the Third Reich

It should be said that Qin Chuan raised this point at just the right time...when Hitler was in a good mood, and when he realized that new equipment would have a decisive influence on the war situation, it was easy for Hitler to understand.

Even Hitler soon realized after getting the MP43 that it was a rifle using intermediate-power bullets that he had repeatedly rejected.

Qin Chuan knew that Hitler was aware of this, which could be seen from the awkward expression on his face when he took the magazine... As mentioned before, Hitler had experienced World War I, so he knew the pistol very well. The length of bullets and rifle bullets, while the intermediate power bullets are in between.

But Hitler did not challenge it. He pretended that he knew nothing and remembered nothing. He let his adjutant try the MP43 with anticipation and listened to Qin Chuan explain that the reason why he liked it was its benefits.

Hitler didn't break through, and Qin Chuan and others certainly wouldn't be stupid enough to break through this layer of paper.

In fact, both of them knew that Hitler actually approved of this rifle without criticizing it.

Sure enough, it didn't take long before Hitler nodded and said: "Very good, Major. As I said before, I have no reason to refuse what the soldiers need, unless I don't want my army to win!"

"So..." Conrad looked at Hitler expectantly.

"Of course!" Hitler said: "We also need to mass-produce this rifle. However, I think we need more opinions on whether we need to use it to replace the Mauser rifle. What do you think?"

"Of course!" Qin Chuan and Conrad replied.

Qin Chuan and Conrad are not worried about this at all, because the MP43 has proven its value on the battlefield, especially on the Eastern Front.

Therefore, unless you are a sniper or have a serious nostalgia episode, no one will be reluctant to use MP43.

Finally, Hitler held Qin Chuan's hand and said: "Major, this is the most impressive display of trophies. It can even be said... It makes me feel refreshed. At the same time, it also strengthens my confidence that we can defeat the enemy. I am very much looking forward to it. Next time I get to see more and better loot and gear at once!”

After saying that, he patted Qin Chuan on the shoulder and left with his entourage.

Conrad raised his MP43 towards Qin Chuan and said, "So, it doesn't need to use MP43 to hide itself anymore, right?"

Conrad was right. Not long after Hitler returned to "Werewolf", he immediately approved the production of helicopters and MP43, and personally named this rifle using intermediate-power ammunition an "assault rifle", also known as "STG44".

But these are not the point. The point is that it can enter the mass production process, that is, for other troops, it is no longer an equipment that can only replace submachine guns, but an equipment that replaces rifles.

Obviously, in this way, the combat effectiveness of the German army will be greatly improved based on the same quality and training level.

What Qin Chuan has to do during this period is to continue training with his troops using helicopters.

To be precise, this can no longer be said to be a kind of training, it should be said to be a kind of testing and accumulation of experience.

As mentioned before, before any piece of equipment enters mass production, it must undergo extensive testing to find as many shortcomings as possible to reduce the risks of mass production.

This is what Qin Chuan and others are doing now, conducting simulation training on helicopters over and over again, discovering the shortcomings of helicopters and even modified armed helicopters, and then continuously improving them until they are satisfied before entering mass production.

On the other hand, the training and combat experience of Qinchuan's unit will be recorded and then used as a teaching material for large-scale training of helicopter rappelling units.

Of course, the First Infantry Regiment, especially the troops led by Qin Chuan, and the battle of rappelling down the sandbank have become the most classic teaching materials.

If things continue like this, the Eastern Front may be able to survive this winter peacefully. After all, neither the Soviet Union nor Germany can do anything to the other on the Don and Volga River defense lines.

But in fact, this was just a superficial calm. As time went by, the temperature gradually dropped, and the Soviet army was ready to move again.

It was the Romanian army that first discovered the problem.

The Romanian 11th Army was ordered to cover Stalingrad's left flank along the huge meander of the Don River.

General Strecker, the commander of the 11th Army, has always been worried about this, because the Don River meander he is responsible for has a total length of 60 miles, but he only has three divisions of troops, and on average each division has to defend a 20-mile stretch. Line of defense.

Although General Strecker had no combat experience, he was still a top student who graduated from the Bucharest Military Academy. He realized that with the equipment and strength of the Romanian army, it was impossible to defend along the banks of the Don River, which would make the defense line everywhere. These are all loopholes that can turn into a disaster when attacked by enemies.

Therefore, General Strecker wisely deployed the main force of the three divisions on the second line, which is the bowstring of the Great Bend of the Don River, thus shortening the defense line to 30 miles.

The disadvantage is that it gives up the banks of the Don River... Although this is a last resort, General Strekel knows that this will make the position defended by the Romanian 11th Army the first choice for the Soviets to attack.

The reason is simple. The Soviets can at least easily land here without the many difficulties of landing operations.

For this reason, General Strecker requested several times to send more troops to the 11th Army for defense, but was rejected.

The reason, of course, is that there are no more troops.

In fact, there is another reason, that is, the German army does not pay attention to the defense of the Romanian army at all, because the main force of its defense is the German mobile troops behind the defense line, and the Romanian troops on the front line are just outposts.

Then, General Streitl felt that the crisis was approaching him step by step.

First of all, Soviet reconnaissance aircraft frequently appeared in the sky, which was not common when the German army had control of the air.

Secondly, there are some reports from the frontline observation station.

This observation post is located in a small forest along the Don River. Observers only need to climb the treetops and equip them with a telescope to get an excellent view of the other side of the Don River.

What we observed was that the Soviets were transporting supplies around the clock and transporting large numbers of troops to the Don River. The direction directly facing them was the defense line deployed by the Romanian 11th Army and the defense line of the Romanian 3rd Army connected to the left. .

General Strecker hurriedly sent this information to Paulus's headquarters in Karachi, who in turn submitted this information to the army group headquarters.

But not surprisingly, this information did not receive the attention of the headquarters or, it can be said, Hitler.