USSR 1941

The coordination of German artillery and air force went well.

The reconnaissance plane of the Air Force guides the target for the artillery, and the artillery eliminates the enemy's ground air defense firepower for the Air Force, and the excess firepower will fully intercept the Volga River transportation channel.

As a result, the Volga River was full of water columns blasted by artillery shells and aerial bombs, fighter planes and bombers swooped down from the sky, and Soviet transport ships were blown to pieces or set on fire.

In a short time, corpses, supplies, and fragments of transport ships were floating everywhere on the river. A large area of ​​water was ignited by a raging fire due to the igniting of leaked fuel, and the river was dyed red.

Shulka, at the headquarters of the 82nd Infantry Regiment, also felt the pressure from the supply side.

These troops fighting on the front line used to get two slices of bread every day... Two slices of bread can only be said to satisfy their hunger, because fighting on the front line consumes a lot of physical strength, and their feet become weak from hunger after a while. This is not resting on the second line Time is comparable, although there is only one piece of bread when resting.

But now, the diet is reduced to a piece of bread a day.

It is conceivable that the troops that did not directly participate in the battle on the second line must also be halved.

If hunger can be tolerated for a few days, then the reduction in ammunition is even more alarming... Frontline troops like the 82nd Infantry Regiment only have half a base of about fifty rounds of ammunition.

"Half a base!" Major Mikhailvich yelled anxiously at the quartermaster on the phone: "Do you know what this means? The enemy only needs to charge us for half an hour, and we will die because we have no bullets." And can't resist their attack!"

"I know this, Comrade Mikhailvich!" the quartermaster replied: "But we only have so much ammunition, and we are trying to..."

"Then you better hurry up!" Mikhailvich hung up the phone with a bang.

In fact, Mikhailvich also knew that it was useless to urge the quartermaster. This was obviously caused by the German army's further strengthening of the blockade of Stalingrad.

Andrianka ran in from outside the rumble of gunfire, and then slapped the dust on his body while reporting worriedly: "All departments are reporting insufficient ammunition, and many soldiers are picking up enemy equipment and ammunition to use. There is food!"

At this time, two figures flashed into the commander through the smoke and dust. Shulka took a closer look, and immediately stood up and saluted Mikhailvich. It turned out that it was the commander of the army group Golikov and the staff officer, Major Akimovich.

Golikov's visit to the headquarters of the 82nd Infantry Regiment was either a matter of routine or intentional.

It is routine because the troops have serious supply problems at this time. At this time, the morale of the army is often easily shaken, so the superiors need to inspect the front line to stabilize the morale of the army.

It is intentional, but there have been many surprising situations in the 82nd Infantry Regiment recently, and Golikov wanted to see for himself.

"How's the situation?" Golikov asked.

"The situation is not good, Comrade Golikov!" Major Mikhailvich said: "There is not enough supplies, and I am afraid that if we stick to it, we will have to pay a heavy price..."

Golikov frowned and nodded.

Major Akimovich, who was on the side, explained: "The enemy suddenly increased the bombing of our transportation line, and the supplies on the east bank could hardly be transported across the Volga River. If we hadn't continued to produce ammunition in the underground factory, even these There is no guarantee of ammunition!"

Stalingrad was originally an industrial city, it has a complete production line for the production of ammunition, equipment and even tanks.

It's just that because of the bombing of the German army, the Soviet army could only move a few limited production lines to the basement to continue production. Of course, the production capacity and output were not as good as before.

"What about our air force?" Major Mikhailvich couldn't help complaining: "Why are all the planes seen in the sky are German planes? If they could share the downforce, we wouldn't be in such a situation! "

No wonder Major Mikhailevich complained.

In fact, this is a common problem in the army... Competition is everywhere in the army, there is competition within the army, there is competition between the troops, and there is competition between the arms.

Major Mikhailvich looked at the issue from the standpoint of the infantry. Those air forces usually enjoy higher ranks and better treatment, but they are almost useless in wartime, and the battles are almost carried by the infantry.

So of course I will complain a few words with dissatisfaction sometimes.

Major Akimovich shook his head and replied: "Our air force can't help, Comrade Mikhailevich! They mainly fight in the Caucasus region, and we only have a total of more than a hundred in the direction of Stalingrad... We use them more for emergency or reconnaissance!"

Shulka doesn't ask such questions at all, because he thinks more about the overall situation.

"They've increased the blockade, haven't they?" Shulka asked.

Golikov nodded, then pointed to the map and said: "In fact, we have always been in a crisis. From west to east to the Volga River, our defense depth is only 5 to 10 kilometers, while the enemy's howitzers have a maximum range of 10 kilometers. This means that the Germans only need to deploy artillery on the edge of Stalingrad to send shells across Stalingrad to the Volga River.”

After a pause, Golikov continued: "Of course, if the Germans are limited to this, they will not cause much damage to our river transportation line. However, as the German army penetrated deeper, their artillery also followed closely behind. Finally, the depth of the river section that its artillery can control is getting farther and farther, and the range is getting bigger and bigger! Especially the artillery on the front of Mamayev Post... they suppressed our army's anti-aircraft firepower and at the same time caused damage to our supply line. A devastating blow!"

"The artillery blockade is sometimes more terrifying than the enemy's aircraft!" Major Akimovich added: "Because the bombing of the aircraft at night will be restricted. Although they can also bomb at night, the number is not large. But the artillery blockade... …as long as the reconnaissance planes fire a few flares in the air, soon a cloud of artillery shells will fly to the Volga River and blow our transport ships to pieces!"

Of course Shulka knew this.

Artillery has a special status on the battlefield. If we talk about the cost-effectiveness of the equipment on the battlefield, it is undoubtedly the artillery... It can shoot out pieces of shells and cause devastating blows to the targets within the range in a simple and rough way, and it is still Long-term, large-scale and even continuous strikes, sometimes even continuous bombing for several days and nights.

This advantage is not comparable to the aircraft.