USSR 1941

Shulka acquiesced in this lynching of the 5th Infantry Company.

Shulka thinks this is a good thing.

This aspect can solve Shulka's troubles... How to solve the problem of deserters from the 5th Infantry Company, and shoot them like the Ministry of Internal Affairs treats deserters? That would make the 82nd Infantry Regiment useless for containing deserters.

If you really want to pick words, Shulka promised the treatment of the ordinary troops of the Fifth Infantry Company, so the soldiers of the ordinary troops should be thrown into the "punishment battalion" instead of being shot when deserters are caught.

Therefore, Shulka's approach actually has an unresolvable circular contradiction from a legal point of view.

But Sokolov's lynching solved this problem perfectly.

More importantly, Shulka no longer needs to worry about the crisis Andrianka raised.

That is to say, the fifth company composed of deserters will one day reach a consensus of "running away" and unite together to stab the 82nd Infantry Regiment from the back when the battle is the most intense, bringing danger to the whole regiment.

This is because the necessary condition for an army to reach a consensus on "fleeing" is that the trend of fleeing prevails...Everyone has the idea of ​​fleeing in their hearts, and then it is proposed by several people under certain circumstances and pressure, and then everyone responds immediately.

But if there is no such "escape" atmosphere, it will be replaced by the death penalty in front of everyone as soon as deserters are found.

Then the situation will soon be different... No one dares to have the idea of ​​running away, and of course no one dares to mention running away. Even if they have this desire and thought, they will suppress it in their hearts and dare not take action.

Over time, this army will naturally form an atmosphere, style, culture, and even a belief.

This is also one of the reasons why the combat effectiveness of the Hero Army has been maintained at a high level even though the soldiers of the Hero Army have been changed wave after wave. Not only is it affected by itself, but it will also affect the next generation of recruits, so it is passed on from batch to batch.

The 5th Infantry Company has obviously formed a unique style: zero tolerance for deserters.

Shulka didn't say anything, he just nodded, said "keep trying" and left.

Sokolov was worried that the lynching would be ordered to stop, but he relaxed after seeing Shulka's reaction.

"so,

Comrade Shulka! Valery followed Shulka and asked: "What should they do?" "

"What to do?" Shulka asked.

"Fifth Infantry Company!" Valery replied with some embarrassment: "I can't command them!"

This is indeed a hassle.

The side effect of the lynching is that power is concentrated in Sokolov's hands, and Valery, the battalion commander, can't do anything to them.

After thinking about it, Shulka replied: "Don't worry, Valery! You assign them normal combat tasks, and they will work hard to complete them like other troops!"

Shulka believes that Sokolov is a smart man, and his purpose of doing this is by no means to centralize power, but to improve the morale and combat effectiveness of the troops in a short period of time.

Facts have proved that Sokolov's approach is very effective.

The 82nd Infantry Regiment was sent to the "Red October New Village" in the early morning of the third day.

The time was set in the early morning because the tactics of the Soviet army were usually to hide and defend during the day and counterattack at night.

The reason for changing defenses in the early hours of the morning is to allow the troops to better adapt to the battlefield, and even to prepare, sometimes they will enter the position a few hours in advance to exchange some experience with the original troops.

After entering the position, Major Mikhailevich called a short meeting of the principal officers.

"It goes without saying that our task is to defend the new village of 'Red October'!" Major Mikhailvich said, pointing to the map: "Let me give you an overview of the situation... The enemy's strategic goal is still Mamayev. Gang! But the new village of 'Red October' is crucial to the enemy's complete capture of Mamayev Gang!"

The reason is self-evident.

The "Red October" new village is behind the front slope of Mamayev Hill, because of it, the Soviet army can deploy artillery in this area to directly bomb the side of Mamayev Hill and even the front slope.

In other words, as long as it gets dark, the Soviet army can easily retake the front slope of Mamayev Gang by relying on artillery.

Therefore, the ownership of the "Red October" new village basically determines the ownership of Mamayev Gang, and the ownership of Mamayev Gang determines the supply line of Stalingrad.

"The Germans throw an infantry regiment here!" said Major Mikhailevich.

Hearing this, the officers could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

There is only one infantry regiment... Although the German army is of good quality and strong combat effectiveness, the 82nd Infantry Regiment has a geographical advantage, and it is not a big problem to block the attack of an infantry regiment.

But what Major Mikhailvich said next made everyone gasp.

"But they invested a large number of planes here for bombing!" Major Mikhailvich said: "Only in the area of ​​​​"Red October" Xincun, there are an average of 500 sorties per day!"

500 sorties, which is much more than the air force attendance rate of the entire Soviet Stalingrad Front and Southeastern Front.

"Are there no tanks and assault guns?" Shulka asked.

"Very few!" Major Mikhailevich replied: "There is also artillery of unknown strength!"

The Soviet army did not have air supremacy, so the understanding of the enemy's artillery was often "unknown strength."

After thinking about it, Shulka said: "The Germans are likely to adopt broken tactics!"

Major Mikhailevich nodded his head in agreement.

The so-called "broken tactics" meant that the German army did not compete with the Soviet army in charge and street fighting. Instead, they used fighter planes, artillery and infantry to blow up buildings one after another in coordination with the infantry.

This is a very clever tactic, because in this way at least everyone is fighting in the ruins, and there is no such advantage as the Soviet army has geography, defense, and familiarity with the terrain.

Of course, this tactic also has its disadvantages, that is, creating a large number of ruins so that tanks, armored vehicles, etc. cannot pass through.

The problem is that the strategic goal of the German army to capture the "Red October" new village is not to pass, but to destroy the Soviet artillery hidden in it so that it cannot provide fire cover for Mamayev Post.

So the Germans could bomb with their hands and feet free.

From this aspect, the German army is still very clear in the formulation of strategic goals.

Finally, Major Mikhailvich said: "The order from the superior is to let the fifth infantry company garrison the forward building!"

The officers glanced at each other and understood the meaning of the order... The forward building was basically exposed to the enemy's artillery fire and the bombing of fighter planes, but it could not completely defend without sending troops, because in this way the enemy would be able to defend without firing a single shot. The bombs occupied the building.